The Kurds are not Interested in Empire

The administration made the decision after abandoning the Pentagon’s failed efforts to train its own rebel army to take on the Islamic State in Syria, and it underscored a shift toward reliance on Kurdish allies, the most effective forces working with the United States. In effect, the move is an experiment: Can the small contingent of American military personnel make a difference in guiding local fighters? If so, officials made it clear they would consider sending more Americans. (A covert train-and-equip effort run by the C.I.A. is still very much active.)

The first test is likely to come in Raqqa, the Islamic State’s stronghold in Syria. American officials hope the commandos will help the Kurds and Syrian Arab allies put pressure on the Islamic State, which is also known as ISIS, ISIL or Daesh, by cutting off routes into the city and targeting leaders. Eventually, they would try to recapture the city outright.

“Ultimately, Raqqa has to be retaken and returned to its citizens and to a decent way of life, which they’re not enjoying under the barbaric rule of ISIL now,” Defense Secretary Ashton B. Carter told reporters during a refueling stop in Alaska on his way to Asia.

The plan is missing the prime element, a political union to govern Al-Raqqah.  It was a Sunni, Shia and Christian city with no Kurdish.  The Kurds will not fight and then administer a city that is not their own and dissipate their effort of for a nation of their own to do the allies' bidding.