Kobani

Here we go. Kobani. The embattled enclave. Kurds, poorly armed, fighting off a superior enemy. Refugees pouring into Turkey and volunteers pouring in to shore up the defences. This narrative has been presented to the world and has (sort of) caught our imagination. The Islamic State have laid siege to the town for a number of weeks and have pushed to within 1 km of the town. There appears little the Kurdish YPG force can do. The Western powers have resisted a large scale air strike against IS forces near Kobani and it appears they are ready to see it fall. This position is likely premised on two broad motivations. One, if Kobani falls Turkey may be drawn into the fighting. This is something NATO and the US want. Two, Kobani holds no real strategic value. IS already control much of the border in the north and they do not fear attacks from the Kurds.  The next 24 hours should tell us much about how much the US and Turkey love the Kurds.