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Politics Political discussion will only be allowed in here. |
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YPG is supported by US in fight against ISIS.
New Batch of US-backed Forces Finish Border Training in Northern Syria |
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Mixed Messages From U.S. as Turkey Attacks Syrian Kurds - The New York Times
Middle East Institute Turkey’s assault on Afrin: the long view Robert S. Ford, Senior Fellow The Turkish assault on Afrin in northern Syrian demonstrates the difficulties of the American position in Syria. Secretary of Defense James Mattis downplayed the strain in U.S.-Turkish relations to the press. Washington says that Afrin, which lies well west of the Euphrates, is not an area it would contest, but the Turkish brush-off of American advice made America look weak. Turkey instead turned to Russia and secured its agreement to redeploy the small Russian force in Afrin to facilitate Turkish operations. The Russians are not confronting Turkish aircraft operating over Afrin even though Russia controls that airspace. Russia wants Syrian government control reestablished throughout Syria, including Afrin. Turkey prefers Syrian government control to autonomous Syrian Kurdish governance, and in northern Syria at least there is an outline of a Russian-Turkish alignment. Meanwhile, many Kurdish observers accuse the Americans of being unreliable allies and are reconsidering how they could secure greater help from Russia. Over the longer term, it is hard to see how the U.S. will secure its stated political goal of stabilization in eastern Syria and genuine governance reforms in Syria. The U.S. hopes that Russia could and would exert unprecedented pressure on Syria and its Iranian backers to reach a political deal acceptable to America’s Syrian Kurdish and Syrian Arab allies in eastern Syria. Russia’s attitude in Afrin is not encouraging. Without that political deal, a regionally isolated U.S. will have either to entrench with its local allies in eastern Syria over the long term, parrying off the unconventional attacks that will come, or quit eastern Syria altogether. Last edited by BFDwager; 01-24-2018 at 01:52 PM. |
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The human toll in Syria is unbelievable.
Exodus: The Journey Continues | Watch S36 E4 | FRONTLINE | PBS | Official Site
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The PBS thing is worth the watch, pretty sad stuff families literally broken to pieces.
And yes we move closer to large scale conflict
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Continuing conflict not even a footnote in US MSM.
Syria says rare US strike an effort 'to support terrorism' *Asked if Russia was responsible for not stopping the attack, Veale said: “The de-confliction effort has served its purpose. Just as the coalition does not direct the operations of the SDF, the Russians do not direct operations of the Syrian regime.” How about w/o their blessings? ![]() Yeah, and I've got some prime real estate for ya' in the Fla. Everglades. ![]() At US outpost in Syria, US general backs Kurdish fighters |
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They probed, we repelled.
Mattis: 'Self-Defense' Attack Doesn't Mean US Getting into Syrian Civil War |
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Sports is like a ninja. He quietly sneaks in and posts his picks and then slips out. Nobody knows where he's at or what he's doing. He is is the silent assassin. 2nd annual Cappersmall/Espn College Pik`em Champion "The object of war is not to die for your country but to make the other bastard die for his." -Gen. George Patton |
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2nd annual Cappersmall/Espn College Pik`em Champion "The object of war is not to die for your country but to make the other bastard die for his." -Gen. George Patton |
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Peace ![]() Last edited by Bozzie; 02-13-2018 at 09:32 AM. |
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#13
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Got to think Russia being stuck in a quagmire is to the US advantage despite the Russians supporting Bashar al-Assad.. It's a strange balance in Syria right now.
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#15
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[QUOTE=BFDwager;8025896]Match getting closer to the fuse...
Closer to the fuse... Part II Turkish Leader Vows to Expand Military Campaign in Syria, Risking Clash with US In my view the US should stand firm w/the Kurds. My belief goes back further than the No Fly Zone in Iraq incl Mosul. Last edited by BFDwager; 03-20-2018 at 05:55 PM. |
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A brief review....
GPF Weekly: Turkey’s Middle East Aspirations Beyond Afrin Excerpt: With Afrin taken, the path to Manbij and greater control of its border with Syria is almost wide open for Turkey. Except, of course, for one major complication: the U.S. presence in northern Syria and its alliance with Kurdish militias. Impasse in U.S.-Turkey Relations Though the U.S. effectively greenlighted Turkey’s invasion of Afrin, it made clear that it would not withdraw its support from the Manbij-based Kurds. This is exactly what Turkey is demanding from the U.S.; Turkey sees no difference between Kurdish forces in Afrin and those in Manbij. For its part, the U.S. remains concerned about a resurgent Islamic State (oh, and the oil field that the US is "protecting"), which it was able to contain in part through its military cooperation with the YPG. This is no idle threat – while Kurdish forces were diverted from anti-IS operations to Afrin to combat Turkey, IS has been re-emerging and is again gaining control of territory. This is the fundamental impasse in U.S.-Turkish relations. The U.S. needs a ground force to fight IS, and so far groups consisting primarily of Syrian Kurdish militias have been the only ones willing to follow U.S. orders. Yet it is those same Syrian Kurdish militias that Turkey feels it must eliminate to extinguish the threat along its border. One of two things can happen: Either Turkey and the U.S. reach an agreement regarding Manbij and the Kurds, or they don’t. If they do, there will be some form of U.S. withdrawal from Syrian Kurdish territories. Turkey would enter provinces formerly occupied by the U.S. and its allies, with the blessing of the U.S., in exchange for agreeing to cooperate with the U.S. in its war against IS. In other words, another Kurdish group would be sold out by a former ally. Such an arrangement would pose its own challenges to the United States. Unlike the Kurds, Turkey will be willing to cooperate with the U.S. only when it does not require subsuming its own interests in the process. And as the quagmire in northern Syria demonstrates, the U.S. and Turkey no longer find themselves consistently on the same side of the table. Turkey has also repeatedly shown itself willing to work with jihadists who would be distinctly unpalatable allies to the United States. Further, there is the risk that Turkey, harnessing the legacy of its Ottoman past to identify itself as the rightful heir to the caliphate, could even find ways to cooperate with IS or other such groups in an attempt to coalesce the disenfranchised Sunni Arab majority in Syria to further challenge Iran’s position there and in Iraq. *w/tongue firmly in cheek! |
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USA TODAY...
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All the while I've got to believe that the Saudi's are just SMFH. ![]() |
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There’s no easy solution to this. But ISIS does have their backs against the wall. A lot of funding was cut from them and many resource silos were taken out. ISIS is nothing compared to what Erdogan can and probably might be. As declared Sultan, he has undisputed rule and funding to do what he pleases. And what he pleases to do, and has said many times, is bring back the Ottoman Empire. Sadly, not that many people know about the Ottomans throughout history at any point in time. The genocides, massacres and slavery by past sultans like Abdul Hamid are incomparable. And Erdoğan wants to bring that back.
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Good points PPM....
It's one of those things that comes full circle. So much chaos in the Cradle of Civilization... For the US... it's like that old adage, There are those who make it happen, those who watch it happen and, those that wonder, what to hell happened! ![]()
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EU Urges Russia, Iran, Turkey To Press For Pause In Syria Conflict
A real head scratcher here boys. ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() "Meanwhile, UN humanitarian chief Mark Lowcock told reporters on April 25 he expected donors to pledge $4.4 billion in aid for 2018 for Syria and neighboring countries that are sheltering refugees from the war. He earlier told the AFP news agency that he hoped to see $8 billion pledged at the conference. Lowcock thanked the EU, Germany, and Britain for their "exceptionally large" offers and noted that some big donors, such as the United States, had not yet been able to confirm their pledges because of domestic budget processes. Britain announced 450 million pounds ($628 million) for 2018 and another 300 million pounds ($418 million) for next year, while Germany said it would donate more than a billion euros ($1.22 billion). Lowcock added that he expected pledges to be made for a further $3.3 billion for 2019 and afterward from some of the more than 80 countries, aid groups, and agencies at the conference." |
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Last edited by BFDwager; 12-20-2018 at 08:03 PM. |
#24
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trump also just ordered half the troops home in afghanistan
and just got funding for the wall in the house good day overall after a bad few weeks
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http://stuffin.space/ |
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Needs 60 votes in Senate and Mitch can't count that high that is, unless a miracle took place this AM
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fight, isis, offensive, supported, syria |
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