Trump's attitude to Iraq and Syria kindles hope

Trump is showing the marks of a great leader of the world in foreign policy.

There are sizable changes occurring in the battle against ISIS in Syria and Iraq. In Syria, Syrian Kurds are being given more prominence by the Trump Administration in defeating ISIS, yet are also giving territory back to Bashar Al-Assad to protect themselves from Turkey. The Trump Administration's analysis that the Syrian Kurds are the better middle ground between Assad and America is spot-on.

America is also assisting the Syrian Government - via airstrikes - in retaking territory from ISIS. This occurred in Palmyra, which was lost after Obama had a hissy-fit about Assad regaining Aleppo, refusing to target ISIS returning to Palmyra. It is not too hard to see that Assad, with the help of Russian and American airstrikes, will soon be pushing east towards the embattled Deir Ez-Zor city, a city under siege by ISIS for the past 2 years, which is in desperate need of liberation.

Keeping Turkish involvement to a minimum means that Syria will be less complex by the conclusion of the Syrian War. It will mean that nearly all previous Syrian territory held by Turkey - as well as all Syrian Arab territory currently held by the Kurds - will be handed back to Bashar Al-Assad, with the reward to the Kurds being semi-autonomy.

In Iraq, a mainly Sunni Arab offensive is about to get underway against the ISIS stronghold of Hawija, one of ISIS' last strongholds in the country. This shows a willingness on the side of the Abadi government to give Sunni Arabs more prominence in military and political matters, which is a great sign that tensions between Sunni and Shi'ite Iraqi Arabs will be defused. It's not too hard to see that this was probably encouraged by the Trump Administration.

Trump also removed Iraq from the revised travel ban, which in the words of the spokesperson for the Iraqi foreign minister,

“emboldens the strategic alliance between Baghdad and Washington in several fields, most importantly countering terrorism.”

This is terrific news. Trump has stuck to his promise of offering Iraq strong and firm support, while not alienating Iraq into becoming more of a puppet state of Iran.

With Iraq set to get Mosul, Hawija and western Anbar province from ISIS' filthy hands, there are still enormous challenges ahead for the country. Unlike Syria, which has a strong government which will stabilize the country, much of Iraq is still in chaos. Sadly, an Arab-Kurdish war may begin shortly after Iraq is liberated from ISIS' grip.

Trump is likely to remain neutral in such a fight, as a smaller Iraq (the likely outcome of the war) stands to weaken Iran's influence in the region. On the one hand, the Kurdish region of Iraq would have complete independence from Baghdad. On the other hand, losing Kurdistan would force the remnants of Iraq - the Sunni and Shi'ite Arab regions - to come together in unity behind a stronger government, to prevent Iraq from fracturing further.

Whether Trump will flood Iraq with more American boots on the ground as before is unclear. What is clear is that both Iraq and Syria have more hope ahead of them than since the beginning of the Syrian Civil War and withdrawal of American troops from Iraq.