Posted on 01/10/2017 3:59:55 PM PST by Texas Fossil
The Christian town of Qaraqosh, Iraq, located on the Nineveh Plain, is in ruins. It is far worse than its appearance, which is bad enough. Other than a handful of volunteers to clean up the streets, and the 300 or so members of the Nineveh Protection Unit, or NPU, the town is deserted.
The Christian town has enemies other than the ruthless Islamic State, or ISIS, which left it in ruins. Currently the Kurdish militia, the Peshmerga, is blocking aid to the NPU that guards the town, because the NPU is the Assyrian Christian militia. It is the only armed Christian group in Iraq.
The Kurds and some Shia have territorial claims on the Nineveh Plain. While for appearance and funding from Washington, the Kurdish support Christian interests for now, the historical relationship between the two groups includes participation in the slaughter of Christians by the tens of thousands. There is no room for a Christian enclave, particularly one that is armed, in the future of an independent state of Kurdistan, which the Kurds are foolish enough to believe that Washington will support.
(Excerpt) Read more at wnd.com ...
The American public perception regarding the Kurds (at least in Iraq) is much more favourable, because they are promoted as US allies. The same goes for Afghan, Egyptian, Pakistani, Saudi Arabian, the Gulf states, and Jordanian regimes; none have a good human rights record, and almost all Islamic terrorists in the last 25 years have been from those countries.
In my opinion, there is a big difference in Kurds in Iraq and Syria. Kurds in Iraq seems to be cooperating at some level with Iran. (I don't think this is necessarily a good thing as far as corruption is concerned.) Kurds in Syria are assaulted from all sides and in my opinion have a better relationship with the Christian element. Kurds in Iraq did step in during Kobani to help Kurds in Syria but there are some corruption issues in Iraq that are dividing them at some level.
In my opinion, Egypt and Jordan are not the same as the rest of the list you gave. Egypt especially. A large part of that is because of president Sisi. Such is the case in most of the ME. Whether they are civil to "other than Muslims" is a temporary condition dependent on the leader. Leaders die or are killed, leading to brutality which is preached within Islam. Turkey is going through one of those transitions. Erdogan is an islamist, he's a dictator, he thinks he is God. God knows he is not. Too many of his subjects don't get it. The ones who do are put in jail if they talk about it. Huge numbers are being put in prison for long terms for internet discussion. It is happening.
OK, that is a part of their more recent history that I did not know about.
Thanks.
Talabani and especially Barzani are pretty good at doing the diplomatic juggling and maneuvering with all their neighbours and ‘others’. Corruption is and will always be an issue in the ME and actually is prevalent in Southeast Asian countries too. That’s cultural. But Iraqi Kurds have been pretty close to Iran for decades at least. When Saddam was attacking them they often crossed the border into Iran to receive medical treatment. Also there is a Yazidi population in Western Iran too, so there is a close connection. It’s natural since the Kurds are ethnically ‘Iranic’ as i was saying before. When ISIS was fighting Peshmerga and also Kurds in Syria, Iranian pepole were vocal in urging the regime to help them.
Okay, Egyptians and Jordanians regimes may be a slight improvement compared to KSA or Gulf States. But if you do some digging up you’ll see they don’t have a good human rights record, including ‘extraordinary rendition’ (torture). More importantly, I was talking about people from mentioned countries who frequently engage in islamic terrorism. I do recall reading a number of them being from Jordan and Egypt. Zarqawi was a more well-known one.
Yep, the British govt has a long history of being deliberately divisive and playing groups of people against each other, using ethnic or religious differences or sensitivities. They did this to shia and sunnis, kurds and assyrians, iranians and afghans, and since I’m part Irish, can say to Ireland as well with protestants and catholics - it was an English created problem. That’s their divide and conquer approach.
“From” is the operative word. President Sisi has been relentless enemy of the terrorists, including MB.
Egypt was very lucky to have someone like el-Sisi appear and take control at a critical time for and in Egypt.
He certainly *seems to be* against MB and pro fighting (Islamic) terrorism in Egypt. Then, we can argue that Mullahs in Iran have also been fighting ISIS, and AQ offshoots (aka moderate rebels in Syria).
el-Sisi is clever, plays his cards very close to his chest, is politically & diplomatically skillful (similar to Iranian mullahs), hard to read, and I don’t trust him (yet). If you do your own research, you’ll find out that el-Sisi has contradicted himself in words at least regarding his stance on Islam and Islamism (as an ideology).
All the above, IMO, doesn’t make him a ‘bad’ person. And, I acknowledge the situation in the ME and North Africa is very convoluted, complex, and fluid, with loyalties that can change at a drop of a hat. So I’d err on the side of caution and try not to pigeon-hole (including Israel and Bibi, they are a BIG player). We shall see how matters continue to develop and what happens...
Solidwood: I’m just including you in the conversation thinking you might be interested - let me know if you don’t want me to ping you here.
Sisi was an intelligence officer educated in the US by the military.
He is the real deal. He is an Egyptian patriot. The Egyptians (except for Islamist Terrorists) absolutely love him. Yes, he can seem brutal to those who seek to harm him. But this is the ME, need I say more.
I’m Pro Israel. End of discussion.
Erdogan is going to embroil the entire ME into a disaster soon unless our military and NATO can convince him “not to”. Turkey has an un-admitted history of genocide. And Erdogan is on the verge of doing it again.
SA is an evil kingdom with lots of money, bent on domination. Extremely brutal and capable of genocide.
Iran, which you defend, is run by religious fanatics who hate Israel more than life itself. As long as they are in power in Iran it will be this way. Iranian Mullahs are capable of genocide.
Jordan is not a real threat to the ME stability. It appears to me they are run by adult leadership. But do associate with SA.
Obama has created total chaos in 1/2 of the ME. He has left the crippled nations open for Islamists to take over.
The Globalist Bastards hands are all over this mess too. Their designs are even greater than the ME Despots.
We witness the convergence of the Godless Left, Globalist Fascists and the Islamists against the Christians, Jews and Freedom Lovers. Each of the 1st 3 believes they will win over the other 2 and rule the world. In the end, none of them will win, but it will be a great blood bath. In the end God will prevail.
Each time man has tried to “rule the world” it has failed. It will remain the same. Has been so since the Tower of Babel.
What do you think the US should do about the chaos in the ME, and Iran specifically?
BTW, I do defend Iran, NOT the Mullahs’ regime.
Almost everyone who knows anything about Iranian regime also knows the regime is brutal and oppressive, that’s stating the obvious. What should be the solution that the US must employ to address the problem, in your view?
First step? Don’t approve the shipping of the Uranium.
Stupid more.
2nd step: Enter honest communication with Russia, Iran, Syria, Turkey. (and better with Kurds)
3rd step: Pressure Erdogan to back off his grand plan. He will probably not be “persuaded” to leave either Iraq or Syria.
Note:
Turkey cut a 60 mile area and bulldozed olive groves to make a barrier along Turkey & Syrian border. pic.twitter.com/Fa0sB9YMol
Details available are still sketchy.
Found this researching that info this morning:
Staring Into Syria’s Diplomatic Fog
https://tcf.org/content/commentary/staring-syrias-diplomatic-fog/?gclid=CNSToqKRxNECFcm4wAod8aEGew …
I’m not sure of perspective bias, but relates to what is happening today in Northern Syria.
I like your steps. Also, your link shows how complex and fluid the situation is (as I was saying in a previous post here).
Though, IMO, the very 1st step should be a one-on-one meeting between new US administration (after 20th Jan) and Russia.
In relation to the ME, two issues must be discussed during that meeting. 1) Syria 2) Israel and Palestine. Both are connected, critical, and can significantly contribute to either peace/stability or ongoing hostilities (and terrorism) in that region at least, medium to long-term.
These all broke today:
Turkish parliament strengthens Erdogan’s grip on power as latest round of constitutional reforms approved http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/turkey-president-recep-tayyip-erdogan-parliament-approves-latest-round-constitutional-reforms-a7525841.html
How Erdogan is redefining who is a Turk http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2017/01/turkey-erdogan-gives-takes-away-citizenship-at-will.html He now has super powers, He’s Dictator. #tcot #TX #OK
Another journalist detained over terror charges http://turkeypurge.com/another-journalist-detained-over-terror-charges
HRW’s Roth: Turkey’s Erdogan, Egypt’s Sisi violate human rights to great extremes http://turkeypurge.com/hrws-roth-turkeys-erdogan-egypts-sisi-violate-human-rights-to-great-extremes
Former NATO commander ‘behind failed coup against Erdogan’ – Turkish daily https://www.rt.com/news/353126-campbell-nato-coup-turkey/#.WHpHsreXb4A.twitter
—
NOW. That is a real can of worms. This engineered chaos was done by Obama & Hillary’s meddling in the Middle East. A lot of lives may be lost as a consequences. Erdogan has totally lost it. He will kill his own in large numbers if someone does not “convince” him to back off some.
There has been a *gradual* build up with Erdo since 2006-2007, when his party and he won the elections. Thereafter, gradually trying to change the constitution to become more Islamic and purging Turkish military, originally designed by Ataturk to be secular and in fact defenders of that secular constitution.
In my old blog about Iran I mentioned before here, I wrote about it, and some secular Turks fully saw this coming too. Other Turks accused them of being “Kemalists” and what Erdo was doing wasn’t to be taken seriously. Now we see it was always to be taken VERY seriously.
More recently, he went and shot down that Russian jet, got into sanctions & tit for tat with Putin, all because Turkey is in NATO and Erdo thinks he can - he got too big for his shoes.
Putin few months ago began to rebuild bridges, partly to exercise influence and to rein him in. But then, the US doesn’t take kindly to shifting alliances, especially since Turkey is in NATO. Hence the coup attempt, and following that a series of ‘unfortunate disturbances’ in Turkey.
Moreover, Gulen is being positioned and sold as a “modernizer of Islam” (ha ha), and potentially the alternative to Erdo. Now Gulen is another Islamist, be it one who is favoured by the US because he may be seen as more manageable.
Erdo realises they are trying to get rid of him, and is scared. All his efforts (including ‘Human rights violations’ & executive power/decree) are because he is on the defensive & wants total control. The silly goof perhaps doesn’t realise that as he goes on his rampage, he also increases the possibility of shooting himself more in the foot.
I am not surprised about the article mentioning Sisi’s violation of human rights too. It’s the ME and that’s what happens and often needs to happen to regain complete control. But just depends on who is being arrested/killed/jailed, and who is the alternative to take power.
For example, what Sisi is doing is what the Shah should’ve done in Iran too when the Khomeinists, Marxists and Communists were cutting off electricity several hours a day to generate public discontent, were blowing up crowded cinemas, distributing anti-Shah propaganda, and so on.. (and blaming it all on the Shah and his govt). There was a build up to the revolution in Iran too; 7 years in the making, at least. Towards the end it got worse. Carter, OTOH, was screaming and pressuring the Shah and the military to exercise democracy and give the thugs more freedom!
Anyway, the discussion about Egypt and Iran is whole different topic worthy of its own thread. My points at moment are: 1) there are similarities between how these countries are destabilised or controlled. 2) what happens in each ultimately contributes to collective chaos in that region.
Yes. Cloward-Priven
Thanks for the excellent explanation. Totally reasonable logic.
Gloom ... I am afraid your post is correct ... more gloom.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.