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The Kurdish people are currently seeing exactly how much Canadian allyship is worth.

On Sunday, American President Donald Trump announced — via a tweet — that he would be withdrawing U.S. forces from northern Syria. Such a move had been rumoured for months, but it was nevertheless jarring. As the drawdown began on Monday, there were already unconfirmed reports that Turkish fighter jets had hit targets in the Kurdish-controlled area.

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On the campaign trail, Canadian leaders offered little more than handwringing in response to the looming military campaign against the vulnerable population — our close military and political ally.

This should have come as no surprise. This was a disaster long in the making.

American troops were in northern Syria to battle the Islamic State, and were doing so side-by-side with local Kurdish fighters. Canada set up a similar training operation in northern Iraq.