Trump's Real Plan for Iran Might Be Coming Into View

"If President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu can't force regime change in Iran or control what comes afterward, it seems their Plan B is to break the country into pieces, maybe spark a sectarian civil war, or in any case spawn such internal strife that it can no longer threaten its neighbors."

"For stirring trouble and fighting bad guys, there are few more formidable forces than the Kurds. Soldiers, aid workers, and journalists who have observed the Kurds in action tend to come away starstruck. In both Iraq wars (the 1991 Gulf War and the 2003 invasion), as well as the ensuing counterinsurgency fights against ISIS in Iraq and Syria, the Kurds were our most skilled, ferocious, and effective allies."

"In the wake of World War I, the Sykes-Picot Agreement-the pact between Britain and France to redraw the map of the Middle East by carving the crumbling Ottoman Empire into separate spheres of influence-created whole new states and declared Jerusalem a free city with open entry for Jews. But it gave no strip of land to the Kurds, who now number between 25 and 40 million people."

Trump and Netanyahu appear to be pursuing a strategy to destabilize Iran through Kurdish militias rather than attempting direct regime change. By encouraging Kurdish forces to join the fight against Tehran, they may aim to fragment Iran, spark sectarian conflict, or create internal strife that prevents the country from threatening neighbors. The Kurds have proven to be formidable and effective military allies in previous Middle Eastern conflicts, including both Iraq wars and counterinsurgency operations against ISIS. However, this strategy raises historical complexities, as the Kurds have long sought independence and territorial recognition. The Sykes-Picot Agreement after World War I failed to grant Kurds their own state, leaving approximately 25-40 million Kurds scattered across the region in an area called Kurdistan.

Read at Slate Magazine