Betrayal of the Kurdish People

ElaineA

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I think we need a thread for this. Count me among those who feel sick about this betrayal.

Beyond everything in the "Case for Impeachment" thread, Trump, when asked the possibility of jailed ISIS fighters being freed, said this
Trump was asked in the Roosevelt Room of the White House about the potential threat of an ISIS resurgence, should its fighters escape once the U.S. leaves the region.

"Well they’re going to be escaping to Europe. That’s where they want to go. They want to go back to their homes," Trump said.

He cares about nothing but himself. This is a terrible, terrible tragedy in the making, beyond the squandering of any good will we had left in the progressive-leaning world. And meanwhile, he's been withholding US payments to the UN. We are $1BN in arrears and the UN is struggling.

Those "two beautiful towers" in Ankara, though.
 

Lyv

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Well, all those ISIS terrorists are just going to go home to Europe. I'm following reporters on the ground with the Kurds and it is genocide. Not that the US hasn't committed or enabled genocide before, but this is all because one man of dubious mental stability, motivated as always by some combination of greed, ego, and revenge, decided to betray US allies, condemning them to death. And the GOP is either defending him or expressing some degree of disappointment or disapproval. I'm not holding my breath for more from them. But still, demanding it. This is Russia's dream scenario, and they are all ok with it.

What is it going to take?
 

Kjbartolotta

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I try not to let myself get astonished by the awfulness any more, but this one got me.
 

MaeZe

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I think we need a thread for this. Count me among those who feel sick about this betrayal.

Beyond everything in the "Case for Impeachment" thread, Trump, when asked the possibility of jailed ISIS fighters being freed, said this


He cares about nothing but himself. This is a terrible, terrible tragedy in the making, beyond the squandering of any good will we had left in the progressive-leaning world. And meanwhile, he's been withholding US payments to the UN. We are $1BN in arrears and the UN is struggling.

Those "two beautiful towers" in Ankara, though.
Bingo.

NBC: Donald Trump's longtime business connections in Turkey back in the spotlight
The president's decision to remove troops from Northern Syria has put renewed focus on his relationship with Turkish President Erdogan.

A call Sunday between Trump and Erdogan, which NBC News reported was set up to ease Erdogan’s anger for not getting a one-on-one meeting with Trump at last month’s United Nations General Assembly gathering, was the latest chapter in a relationship that goes back to before the president’s election and marked yet another milestone Tuesday when Trump announced that he is inviting Erdogan to the White House in November.

Trump has appeared to side with Erdogan at times throughout his presidency. For example, when Republican senators sought to punish Turkey this summer for its purchase of a Russian missile defense system by pushing the president to impose congressionally mandated sanctions, Trump invited them to a White House meeting to ask for "flexibility" in dealing with the issue. Those sanctions have not been implemented.

And the fact that Trump made his decision to pull the U.S. troops out of Syria shortly after the phone call with Erdogan has raised alarm bells from policymakers, as well as government ethics watchdog groups who have long seen Trump’s extensive business interests as a potential area for conflicts of interest.

“It’s absolutely staggering” that Trump made a decision that “has put us on the brink of causing genocide in Syria,” said Wendy Sherman, an undersecretary at the State Department during the Obama administration. The decision underscores the “impulsiveness” and “the transactional, quid pro quo-ness of the president,” she said.

That “transactional” charge is based on the Trump family’s multitude of continuing business entities and interests, all separated from the president — at least on paper — by the trust that now controls them. But the president is the beneficiary of that trust and two of his children have roles in it.

"It always is a concern that those business ties, at the very least, color his judgment," Sherman said, "and at the very worst are the reasons for his judgment."
I think we have abundant evidence via Trump's pattern that it is the latter.
 
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RedRajah

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Lindsey Graham dishes on Trump in hoax calls with Russians

The substance of Graham’s conversation with Stolyarov, who was posing as Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar, is newly relevant in light of the South Carolina senator’s push for sanctions on Turkey as punishment for their offensive against the Kurds in northern Syria. Graham labeled the Kurds a “threat” to Turkey in the call, seemingly contradicting what he has said publicly in recent days.
 

MaeZe

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Lyv

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JUST IN from @MarthaRaddatz: ISIS has breached several prisons in northern Syria. Official says Turkey is deliberately targeting American bases so we will depart.

Is the GOP now the party of ISIS? They sure don't seem to care about the Kurds, even though some have sent out some strongly worded tweets and statements. But maybe this will....? Nah. They're beyond hope. I'd love for them to prove me wrong, but they've stuck with Trump through all his law-breaking and hate. It's his party now and they're ok with that. What's a little more blood on their hands?
 

ElaineA

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Brightdreamer

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Is the GOP now the party of ISIS? They sure don't seem to care about the Kurds, even though some have sent out some strongly worded tweets and statements. But maybe this will....? Nah. They're beyond hope. I'd love for them to prove me wrong, but they've stuck with Trump through all his law-breaking and hate. It's his party now and they're ok with that. What's a little more blood on their hands?

Well, what they want for America is essentially what ISIS wants for their homeland, and both parties are willing to burn the world to the ground in the name of their respective gods to see it happen.

With their extreme tactics, their utter disregard for the country over their ideals, their fetishising of holy wars and martial means to their ends, their co-opting and twisting of religion, their rejection of the modern world as it stands, their viewpoint that people who aren't themselves are utterly disposable... the entire TeaOP is about one step removed from domestic terrorists, as far as I'm concerned - if that far.
 

Lyv

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Well, what they want for America is essentially what ISIS wants for their homeland, and both parties are willing to burn the world to the ground in the name of their respective gods to see it happen.
Could you clarify which "two parties" you're referring to.
 

Mclesh

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My husband mentioned to me that it's become customary for the Kurdish fighters to sew little American flag patches on their uniforms because they have felt so allied with the U.S.

Tmurp's betrayal of our Kurdish allies makes me sick to my stomach.
 

Helix

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Well, this is all going marvellously.

https://www.newsweek.com/us-troops-syria-turkey-1464727

A contingent of U.S. Special Forces was caught up in Turkish shelling against U.S.-backed Kurdish positions in northern Syria, days after President Donald Trump told his Turkish counterpart he would withdraw U.S. troops from certain positions in the area. A senior Pentagon official said shelling by the Turkish forces was so heavy that the U.S. personnel considered firing back in self-defense.
 

Lyv

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At least 750 Isis affiliates escape camp after Turkish shelling

Operation Peace Spring, as Ankara has designated it, was triggered by Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw US troops partnered with the SDF from the region. The US special forces have long acted as a buffer stopping the SDF and Turkey from clashing: Ankara considers the Kurdish YPG, which makes up the majority of the multi-ethnic SDF, a terrorist group indistinguishable from the outlawed militant group the Kurdistan Workers’ party (PKK). Trump has denied the decision to abandon the SDF to a likely attack from Turkey as a betrayal.

A reminder:

Pentagon says US forces came under Turkish artillery fire in Syria

The Pentagon confirmed Friday that US troops in Syria "came under artillery fire from Turkish positions" and demanded that Turkey halt all operations that could require the US to take "immediate defensive action."

"US troops in the vicinity of Kobani came under artillery fire from Turkish positions at approximately 9 p.m. local Oct. 11," Navy Capt. Brook DeWalt, a Pentagon spokesman, said in a statement. "The explosion occurred within a few hundred meters of a location outside the Security Mechanism zone and in an area known by the Turks to have U.S. forces present."
The Pentagon's confirmation stands in stark contrast with the Turkish Defense Ministry's comments on the incident. The ministry issued a statement late Friday night denying that its forces had fired on US troops in Syria and instead said Turkish troops were targeting Kurdish fighters nearby.

All because Trump is motivated only by ego, greed, and revenge, and is terribly mentally unwell. What that says about those who are support him, I can't say.

Even Fox News has the first story. I don't click on their links, so I don't know if they're still slanting stories to protect Trump, but even they covered this.
 

ElaineA

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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.

War crimes are being committed in the open.

And the President of the US is golfing and tweeting, to wit:

.....The Kurds and Turkey have been fighting for many years. Turkey considers the PKK the worst terrorists of all. Others may want to come in and fight for one side or the other. Let them! We are monitoring the situation closely. Endless Wars!

Let them.

That's what he said.
 

Lyv

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Kurds reach deal with Damascus in face of Turkish offensive

Kurdish fighters controlling the region would surrender the border towns of Manbij and Kobane to Damascus in a deal brokered by Russia, officials said on Sunday night.

Syrian state media said units from President Bashar al-Assad’s army were moving north to “confront Turkish aggression on Syrian territory”. Unconfirmed reports said the deal between the Kurds and the regime would be extended to apply to the whole of north-east Syria.


“After everything, it seems that the fate of the Kurdish people [is to be abandoned]. We did everything that we could, we called upon the international community … but it did not result in a solution. We urged all Kurdish [groups] to show solidarity, but no one listened,” Ismat Sheikh Hassan, the leader of the military council in Kobane, told local television.


The deal is likely to be a bitter end to five years of semi-autonomy for Kurdish groups in north-east Syria, forced by Ankara’s offensive on the area. Turkey’s Operation Peace Spring started on Wednesday after Donald Trump’s announcement that US forces would withdraw from the region.

The Trump-Blessed War in Northeastern Syria Is Already a Full-Blown Disaster

ess than a week after President Trump gave Turkey the green light to attack the U.S.-allied, Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces in northeastern Syria, the conflict in the border region has already become a full-blown disaster and seems likely to get far worse.

As the fighting has intensified, nearly 800 suspected ISIS members have now escaped from SDF custody following a Turkish airstrike, and there have been other attempted escapes at other facilities, including a prison, which has been the site of at least two ISIS car-bomb attacks since the fighting began. An ISIS flag has also reportedly been raised in a region between a Kurdish-controlled town and the Turkish border. Furthermore, there have been confirmed incidents of sectarian atrocities perpetrated by Turkish-backed Syrian Arab militants, as well as indications that Turkey has already expanded their offensive beyond the limited scope it promised ahead of the invasion. Meanwhile, the civilian death toll is rising, as more than 130,000 people have now been displaced in what may soon become a humanitarian disaster for half a million.


On top of all that, U.S. troops appear to have been deliberately targeted by Turkish forces in an attempt to force them to withdraw — which they now are. U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper announced on Sunday that the Pentagon is evacuating 1,000 American troops from the region after President Trump ordered a “deliberate withdrawal” on Saturday night. Esper, who just days ago promised that the U.S. would not abandon the region and its SDF allies, called the escalating violence a “terrible situation.”

U.S. Forces Leave ‘High-Value’ ISIS Detainees Behind in Retreat From Syria

The American military was unable to carry out a plan to transfer about five dozen “high value” Islamic State detainees out of Kurdish-run wartime prisons before the Pentagon decided to move its forces out of northern Syria and pave the way for a Turkish-led invasion, according to two American officials.

In the same area on Sunday, hundreds of Islamic State sympathizers escaped from a low-security detention camp in the region, taking advantage of the chaos caused by the Turkish ground invasion and the accompanying strikes.


Both developments underscored the pandemonium unleashed by President Trump’s sudden decision to order American troops to evacuate part of the Syrian region bordering Turkey.

Much more info at the links, especially the last. I can't find the words. The GOP, all of them, have a lot of blood on their hands. And the unloved, unlovable, insecure madman that is their leader, is destroying more than one country. It's trainwreck, all right, but we're watching from inside the train.