Bashar Jarrar writes from Washington DC on the US withdrawal from Afghanistan

No, and definitely not. No withdrawal from Iraq without a full-fledged and solidly sustained new “Mega Deal” with Iran. President Joseph R. Biden, the 46th President of The United States of America, is aware of the detrimental damage his withdrawal from Afghanistan has caused for America’s image as a power of “right not might.” It is not right to leave our citizens “stranded,” as the Pentagon admits. This fact is beyond any political or media spin. Biden’s administration, the Democratic Party seats in the House and Senate cannot afford an encore to Iraq or a sequel to Iraq and Syria.
It is known that not many have dual nationality in both countries. However those who have trusted the US and partnered with its women and men of honor are not happy at all about the images we have been bombarded with since mid-August. The pictures of C-17 aircraft with Afghani men literally clinging to their lives as they holding on to the sides of the the wings – those images will haunt everyone involved in the withdrawal decision. It has nothing to do with ending the war, it is simply common sense: the military is the last to leave after securing civilians and allies.
I have had many recent encounters on television political shows on Middle East and US politics. During many of these, the issues were raised by hosts or other guests, including those from North and East Syria, about the ramifications of “Afghanistangate” or “The Fall of Kabul” on Iraq and Syria. More specifically, issues were raised regarding the Syrian Democratic Forces who are still committed relentlessly in the fight against terror, as its regional transitional autonomous government is building an oasis of democracy.
Those who are against the Kurds and other ethnic minorities in the regional autonomous government in North and East Syria are unequivocally chanting for a similar withdrawal in Syria. They are joining in the wishful thinking for a Kabul encore in North and East Syria. But this will never happen before a genuine peace treaty is established that transcends what is falsely projected as an internal Syrian affair.
Before a real transition to a peaceful, democratic – and multi-ethnic – Syria, the US and other superpowers and regional powers must remain committed to the players on the ground. All non-Syrian troops have to be out first, then a real talk on the future of North and East Syria can bear fruit. This could not be better served by a sustainable deal with Iran, and it would be even better served with a full peace treaty with both Syria as a unified country, including its self-governing authority in the northeast.
If all concerned parties have an interest to work it out, there are known workable solutions that enjoy historical credibility. Among those workable solutions are federalism and allowing the formation of what is known in America as the National Guard or what is knows across the “Sykes Picot” borders, Peshmerga in Northern Iraq. Where there is a will, there is a way.