Betrayal of the Kurdish People

ElaineA said:

And the President of the US is golfing and tweeting, to wit:
(Snip)
Endless Wars!
(Snip)



That's what he said.

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Why does "Endless Wars!" sound so much like a marketing slogan for the arms industry?

ElaineA said:

Turkish fighters are dressing in Kurdish uniforms and killing Kurdish fighters on the field.

A 35-year-old Kurdish political leader (Mrs. Hevrin Khalef) was raped and stoned to death on camera (I won't share a link, sorry) by Turk-backed rebel forces.

The US is withdrawing 1000 troops from Syria, and the Kurds have invited the Syrian and Russian armies in to hold the territory.

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I unfortunately saw that video (I didn't sit and watch it, but it kept turning up in my Twitter feed). It's disgusting. So many graphic videos are coming out of Syria. I know the crimes need to be recorded, but I don't think they need to be fodder for morbid people on social media.

The Western world has had the luxury of being able to sit around and plead ignorance over the past decade, as Russia and Russian allies have created fake crises and used them as excuses to invade and occupy left, right and centre (e.g. Georgia and Ukraine). Western journalists, and - frankly - US intelligence analysts, are absolutely freaking useless at seeing the bigger picture. No one event is unconnected to others. Russia knew exactly how to manoeuvre everyone in this situation into the position they wanted, and everyone fell into their trap. After so many years of the Cold War, you'd think Western leaders would be smarter about Moscow's techniques. Or maybe they just don't care.

In the meantime, while everyone's backs are turned, Russian troops are amassing on the borders of Ukraine and Belarus.

I'm exhausted. I'm Ukrainian, and my family lost their homes in the east of the country over five years ago. Our churches and community centres here in Australia have been trashed and vandalised time and again over the past six years. I've stood outside the Russian embassy with hundreds of others, protesting, more than once. I stood with politicians and ambassadors at the MH17 memorial service. The Ukrainian government warned the US about Putin - and about social media trolls - long before the 2016 election. Nobody was interested in hearing it.

And now all the Bernie Sanders fans are saying they won't vote in the next election unless he's the candidate.

People are upset about what's happening to the Kurds now, but in a few weeks there'll be a new thing and the West will turn their backs again.

Sonya Heaney said:

And now all the Bernie Sanders fans are saying they won't vote in the next election unless he's the candidate.

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Trump's bullying methods getting to the Democrats.

Will they also sue if Harris becomes the nominee?

-cb

Sonya Heaney said:

People are upset about what's happening to the Kurds now, but in a few weeks there'll be a new thing and the West will turn their backs again.

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This is so gut-wrenchingly true I don't even know how to process it.

Sonya Heaney said:

And now all the Bernie Sanders fans are saying they won't vote in the next election unless he's the candidate.

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This made me angry in 2016, because it was pretty obvious that Tmurp was an awful candidate.

But in 2020, they might as well tattoo "complicit" on their foreheads if they don't vote for whoever the Democratic nominee is. They can't plead ignorance now.

Since WWll the U.S. has continually involved itself in "foreign entanglements," often with counter-productive results. This is a legitimate concern, but instead of discussions with our allies about what to do to bring about peace and stability Trump is wandering around like a blind pig in a meat-house with no direction at all. Reminds me of the old redneck expression "git 'er done." I'm not confident of any positive outcome.

Introversion said:

But in 2020, they might as well tattoo "complicit" on their foreheads if they don't vote for whoever the Democratic nominee is. They can't plead ignorance now.

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Whenever I hear someone claim they won't vote (or will vote for a third party) if their preferred candidate isn't the Democratic nominee, I wonder how they feel about four more years of misery and chaos. Children can suffer, the environment can burn, and minorities can be killed, but these are, I suppose, lesser evils than Bernie Sanders not getting the nomination?

porlock said:

Since WWll the U.S. has continually involved itself in "foreign entanglements," often with counter-productive results. This is a legitimate concern, but instead of discussions with our allies about what to do to bring about peace and stability Trump is wandering around like a blind pig in a meat-house with no direction at all. Reminds me of the old redneck expression "git 'er done." I'm not confident of any positive outcome.

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I think it's worse than simply having no direction at all.

Given who benefits from all his missteps, someone (several someones, I suspect) knows how to lead that blind pig to blunder about in personally beneficial ways. Which is why so much effort went into installing him, and so much effort goes into keeping him installed when it's blatantly obvious he has no idea what the job of president actually entails.

Marian Perera said:

Whenever I hear someone claim they won't vote (or will vote for a third party) if their preferred candidate isn't the Democratic nominee, I wonder how they feel about four more years of misery and chaos. Children can suffer, the environment can burn, and minorities can be killed, but these are, I suppose, lesser evils than Bernie Sanders not getting the nomination?

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I believe they think they have enough privilege (even if they refuse to admit they have it) to ride out anything. That the global shitstorm won't affect them

RedRajah said:

I believe they think they have enough privilege (even if they refuse to admit they have it) to ride out anything. That the global shitstorm won't affect them

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This, plus a certain level of denial about the worst possible consequences ever coming to pass. If it hasn't happened yet, it won't ever happen, and all those people claiming that it can and will happen are just being Chicken Littles, right?

Is anyone really surprised if this turns out to be true?

Trump thought Turkey was bluffing and would never actually invade Syria, report says

Business Insider said:

But according to Axios, even Erdogan was surprised by how quickly Trump acceded to his demands. He had expected Trump to push back and broker a compromise, the news site reported.

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Aside from grifting rubes (of which America seems to have more than I realized before 2016), is the man good at anything at all? Anything?

Introversion said:

Aside from grifting rubes (of which America seems to have more than I realized before 2016), is the man good at anything at all? Anything?

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He's quite adept at destroying things, bankrupting things, dominating media, and distracting from ongoing criminal coups.

What sad excuse of a cease-fire is that? So Turkey kindly agrees to stop bombing people if the Kurds withdraw...

Withdraw from where? They live there. You can't withdraw from your home, that is called an eviction. Long-term bloody conflicts are started with evicting people, it never started a peace. What Pence and Turkey are doing is creating another Gaza.

I really feel bad for the Kurds, absolutely everybody is not just letting them down but actively f*ing them over.

Introversion said:

Is anyone really surprised if this turns out to be true?

Trump thought Turkey was bluffing and would never actually invade Syria, report says

Aside from grifting rubes (of which America seems to have more than I realized before 2016), is the man good at anything at all? Anything?

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There is a whole other story going on here. Things are not what they appear.

BBC Oct 7, 2019: Trump makes way for Turkey operation against Kurds in Syria

The US says it is stepping aside for an imminent Turkish operation against Kurdish-led forces within Syria that have until now been a key US ally.

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Say what? That's not the lie Trump was spreading around about withdrawing US troops because he believed the US needed to get out and he was taking that action.

However, a White House statement issued on Sunday makes no reference to the Kurdish fighters.

The statement followed a phone call between President Donald Trump and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

What did the White House say?
"Turkey will soon be moving forward with its long-planned operation into northern Syria," the statement said.

"The United States Armed Forces will not support or be involved in the operation, and United States forces, having defeated the Isis territorial 'Caliphate', will no longer be in the immediate area."

The White House also said that Turkey would take over all responsibility for IS fighters captured by Kurdish forces over the past two years.

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How did Trump caving in to Erdogan who wanted the Kurds moved away from the border turn into Trump acting on his own?

What is Turkey planning?
Late on Sunday, Mr Erdogan's office said that he and President Trump had spoken on the phone about Turkey's plan to set up a "safe zone" in north-eastern Syria.

It said the 20-mile (32km) zone along the border was needed to combat "terrorists" and create "the conditions necessary for the return of Syrian refugees".

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That was Oct 7th. The mainstream media in the US didn't notice until Oct 13:
NYT: Trump Orders Withdrawal of U.S. Troops From Northern Syria


And now we have Pence acting like Trump's economic threats resulted in Erdogan withdrawing from Syria. In magic Trump-land Trump's tough letter got results.

In reality, Erdogan threw the arrogant Trump letter in the trash. Turkey is ceasing fire for five days giving the Kurds time to evacuate.

MaeZe said:

Turkey is ceasing fire for five days giving the Kurds time to evacuate.

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You meant five hours, right?

Kurds say Turkey is violating hours-old 'ceasefire' in northern Syria
https://www.cnn.com/2019/10/18/middleeast/syria-turkey-ceasefire-violations-intl/index.html


-cb

Trump lifted sanctions against Turkey and praised Erdogan and himself for doing a great job. Sidebar on that page:

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan met yesterday to broker a deal regarding Syria's civil war. Under the agreement, the Russian military police and Turkish military patrol the border. The US was not included in the negotiation.

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Also in the linked article: Trump said all escaped ISIS terrorists were recaptured. They have not been recaptured.

I fear the endgame is total elimination of the Kurds.

Their enemies are all around and no one is prepared to lift up a hand.

They are so desperate, they are talking to the Russians, but i would not put it past Putin to deliver them up to Assad.