Over the last decades, and especially since the (foreign induced) Salafi insurrection weakened the states of Syria and Iraq, the Kurds had made huge territorial and political gains. But they became overly greedy and did not see that these gains were not sustainable. Iraq and Syria reasserted themselves. The "western" allies of the Kurds rediscovered that their strategic interests are best served by intact nation states.I don't know where Bernhard gets all of his information regarding the Kurds, but so far the "facts on the ground" support his views, and such views make a lot of sense to me. It will be very interesting if future events support his interpretation of events at the current stage. One thing that I am reasonably certain is that the terrorists remaining in ISIS will be saved by the Empire and its vassals for another day elsewhere in the world. Terrorist proxies have been far too useful to them to dispose of such battle-hardened armies now. Already they appear to be showing up in the Philippines and Myanmar (Burma).
Also, if his views of events are accurate, this situation marks a tremendous setback to the plans of the Empire and associates (Israel and Saudi Arabia) in that region, and this is likely to have a major impact on the ruling classes in the Empire which I can't imagine will be to the good. Some people think that a war with Iran looks likely (see this, this, and this), others imagine in Ukraine. In either or both, nuclear weapons are quite likely to be used.
