Posted on 10/13/2019 7:17:52 AM PDT by McGruff
Do you remember two years ago when Iraq was going to fight the Kurds in a different part of Syria. Many people wanted us to fight with the Kurds against Iraq, who we just fought for. I said no, and the Kurds left the fight, twice. Now the same thing is happening with Turkey......
.....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!
Dealing with @LindseyGrahamSC and many members of Congress, including Democrats, about imposing powerful Sanctions on Turkey. Treasury is ready to go, additional legislation may be sought. There is great consensus on this. Turkey has asked that it not be done. Stay tuned!
Trump basically told the haters in congress to give him a declaration of war if they want US troops to stay in Syria and fight the Turks.
Love that man!
He ate more than the Carpenter, though, said Tweedledee. You see he held his handkerchief in front, so that the Carpenter couldnt count how many he took: contrariwise.
That was mean! Alice said indignantly. Then I like the Carpenter bestif he didnt eat so many as the Walrus.
But he ate as many as he could get, said Tweedledum.
Unless you are going to take on Iraq, Iran, Syria and Turkey to create a country of Kurdistan, we have no reason to be there.
Okay, but why ONLY stop/sanction Turkey? I agree with the action but if the PKK is as bad as Trump mentions. Who will stop the PKK? If PKK are indeed terrorists to Turkey.
Turkey?
The Kurd's agenda has coincided with some of ours, on and off, since Bush decided to put them on a pedestal to make his decision to arm them look smarter, but what they want and what the need/deserve are two different things. The enemy of my enemy may have the appearance of being my friend in some instances but it doesn't make him an actual friend.
The Kurds in northern Iraq are the only ones we should be supporting. They should have their own country. This situation is so complicated that all we should be doing is killing radical Islamists where ever they stick their heads up. Including here in the U.S.
So we should be supporting the Maoists? You do realize they are Maoist commies don’t you? They were fighting for their land. It is not like the Kurds were yelling America Akbar storming Raqqa. They were screaming Allah Akbar.
1) Last time we supported Commies it was WWII. There was a tiny issue with that after the war, no? 2) Last time we supported Muslims it was the Taliban vs problem 1) and how did that work out for us? So you are proposing supporting 1) + 2) creating 3) another teensy little problem, eh?
Even a pack mule doesn’t bump his head on the same branch twice in a row walking the same path.
There are three different Kurd trubes. Iraqi Kurds, Syrian Kurds, and Turkish Kurds.
We protected the Iraqi Kurds after Gulf War I with the Northern no-fly. Zone against Hussein.
The goal of the separate Kurdish tribes is to unite and carve out a new country Kurdistan out of northern Iraq, eastern Syria, and western Turkey.
Unsurprisingly, none of these countries want to donate territory to a new Kurdistan, thus the conflict.
That's alot of countries to go to war for the Kurds. How many troops?
SYRIA: There are unconfirmed reports that journalists are amongst the wounded after a Turkish airstrike hit a convoy in Northern Syria. More info as we have it.
Various tribes and ethnic groups have been fighting each other in the Middle East for 5000 years. Assyrians, Babylonians, Persians, Medes, Egyptians, Sumerians, Philistines, Israelites, Turks, Macedonians, Arabs, Romans and other ethnic groups and peoples have pillaged, killed, destroyed and ruled territory from present day Iran to Turkey to Arabia, to Egypt.
The Romans, various Crusade groups, Ottoman Turks, the British Empire, the French, and the United States have all tried to pacify this region without success. Alliances are constantly shifting and even the Muslim religion that dominates the region is fragmented by competing beliefs (Sunni vs Shia) and religious leaders with their own agenda.
Since WWII the US foreign policy and military establishment has been fixated on the US policing various regions of the world from east Asia through the Middle East with little success. Despite the exercise of US economic power, diplomatic influence, and military power China fell to communism, Korea was divided, Vietnam fell to communism, Iran fell to extreme Islamists, Afghanistan remains a battleground of competing tribes, Iraq is a battleground between Shiites and Sunnis, Saudi Arabia financed the 9/11 attacks on the US, Yemen is the same battleground it was under British rule. Iran, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey are competing for power in the region. The Kurds and other ethnic and religious groups battle for land and influence. Then there is the presence of the Jewish state of Israel which has been a contributor to tensions in the region since its creation in 1948.
What do we have to show for the blood of our soldiers, the blood of the natives of these lands, and the trillions of dollars invested in allying with one side or another in these regional conflicts. Is the United States homeland safer as a result of our manipulations, interventions, sanctions, and displays of military force or have we simply become hated by people who would not care about us if we had not butted into their lives?
Trump realizes the nation is not benefiting from endless wars and the United States can no longer protect ethnic and religious groups from the consequences of strife in their homelands. Just as the European powers wisely chose not to become involved in the US Civil War, it is time for the US to step back from choosing winners in regional conflicts. Let the Europeans secure their fossil fuel supply in the Middle East. Let India, Vietnam, Japan, South Korea, Australia, Indonesia, and the Philippines deal with Chinese expansionism. Let Turkey, Israel and Saudi Arabia contain Iranian expansion.
Pull out of the Middle East and let the people of the region settle their issues.
The enemy of my enemy may have the appearance of being my friend in some instances but it doesn’t make him an actual friend.
Kurds, like Iranians are not arabs, but the vast majority of are Muslims. Muslims worldwide are problem children, no matter what nationality or ethnicity that they are. The Kurds will only be our friends while our interests are aligned. After that you can forget it... they are every bit as likely to be slicing off heads, taking down airliners and blowing up people as any other group of Muslims. They are not people we should be arming, training, and spending billions of dollar on. It will come back to bite us later.
Yes he did, and the cowards in Congress won't do it. None of 'em have the backbone.
Love my President!
Very good post! Thank you.
President Trump is the best president ever. Keeping our boys out of endless wars in far away lands. We have a lot of work to do here.
Let them all kill one another. Anyone who wants to fight can go themselves.
He should propose drafting the sons and daughters of all CongressCritters that vote for war. Send their own kids first.
The problem with that is that these Kurds dont recognize the border with Turkey; they see part of Turkey as being part of this country they want for themselves.
Which is why were back to Turkey taking military action against the Kurds.
It was what Britain promised when it defeated and broke up the Ottoman Empire. The Kurds took the promise to the League of Nations and the Brits reneged. Why? They made separate deals putting Arab cronies of theirs in power in Syria and Iraq, and allowed Turkey to retain the Kurdish area in Anatolia in the formation of their nationalist state there. In return did Turkey sever its friendly relations with Germany? No. As WWII approached Turkey claimed neutrality until 1945.
> The Kurds in northern Iraq are the only ones we should be supporting. They should have their own country. <
Oh, man I hate to say it. But Joe Biden was probably right. After the invasion he suggested that Iraq be split up into three separate countries. One for the Kurds, one for the Shiites, and one for the Sunnis.
Seeing as Iraq is an artificial country in the first place (set up by the British in 1921), Bidens suggestion does make some sense.
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