We're betraying the kurds again...

[KevinNYC]

cockburn is fantastic.

Lots of folks seem to think the Hassan Hassan book on ISIS is more accurate.

[RidonKs]

Lots of folks seem to think the Hassan Hassan book on ISIS is more accurate.

care to source that claim? i've only read the first chapter of his latest jihadis book, have not read the hassan hassan

[Dresta]

given the history of us/turk relations with the kurds, plus the hussein history dating back to the late 80s in iraq..... where the hell do you see this thing going? it's incredibly unpredictable with the ridiculous crossbalance of forces.

Who knows really? I suspect Erdogan is using the PKK in an attempt to divide the Kurds, as the fight against ISIS had given them some degree of unity, and also bolstered calls for statehood, which scares his type of Turkish Islamist-Nationalist, who will use any excuse to repress Kurds (this also explains his willingness to bomb civilian areas in Iraq, so the Iraqi Kurds will blame the PKK). These crackdowns are in no way limited to the PKK, however, who Erdogan is using as an excuse to increase his power - i would not be at all surprised if Ankara soon calls a new election, and uses the recent murders as a pretext to persecute the moderate Kurd party that prevented a supermajority, which will basically end the semi-democracy that has recently existed in Turkey. This could lead to further civil unrest and another chaotic muslim nation - great.

Though it is not like the PKK doesn't have justification for attacking Turkish security services: they have been heavily involved in aiding and abetting the growth of IS, which has reigned misery upon the Kurds. This is proven, and really shows the hollowness of NATO, which needs to be disbanded:

http://www.theguardian.com/world/201...P=share_btn_tw.

In the wake of the raid that killed Abu Sayyaf, suspicions of an undeclared alliance have hardened. One senior western official familiar with the intelligence gathered at the slain leader’s compound said that direct dealings between Turkish officials and ranking Isis members was now “undeniable”.

“There are hundreds of flash drives and documents that were seized there,” the official told the Observer. “They are being analysed at the moment, but the links are already so clear that they could end up having profound policy implications for the relationship between us and Ankara.”

The Kurds are, quite rightly, pissed at Obama, who seems to have no idea what he is doing, the walking teleprompter that he is - this was circulating on their twitter accounts:






This could all end up destabilising Turkey, and doing very little to weaken IS, who are clearly not a priority for the Turkish government, which is instead focused on suppressing all kinds of peaceful dissent within its own borders.

[RidonKs]

Who knows really? I suspect Erdogan is using the PKK in an attempt to divide the Kurds, as the fight against ISIS had given them some degree of unity, and also bolstered calls for statehood, which scares his type of Turkish Islamist-Nationalist, who will use any excuse to repress Kurds (this also explains his willingness to bomb civilian areas in Iraq, so the Iraqi Kurds will blame the PKK).

presumably erdogan feels emboldened enough to piss off his allies and pursue his own nationalistic ends. it's unlikely nato can make any threat significant enough to turkey's interests to prevent them from consolidating their territory. kurds on either side who will finally unify around a single state... this is exactly what the turks have been fighting for decades now.

will the kurds be tossed to the side in the midst of this? they have a lot of momentum on their side, popular and diplomatic support. the general assembly would almost unanimously support a commission to draw borders and grant them state status. the security council on the other hand... the other possibility is that it will escalate further and the pending humanitarian catastrophe that will butt ends with the syrian civil war and israel's eye on isis and a republican will be elected in 2016 and world war 3 will erupt.

shit is actually scary. maybe everybody leaves well enough alone and a lot of people die in a single region rather than way more all over the world..

[KevinNYC]

care to source that claim? i've only read the first chapter of his latest jihadis book, have not read the hassan hassan

there have been a lot of book reviews that compared both books.

[KevinNYC]

This is proven, and really shows the hollowness of NATO, which needs to be disbanded:

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015......

http://www.insidehoops.com/forum/sho...5&postcount=18

http://www.insidehoops.com/forum/sho...34&postcount=4

[RidonKs]

http://www.insidehoops.com/forum/sho...5&postcount=18

http://www.insidehoops.com/forum/sho...34&postcount=4

the guardian is the equivalent of the times at this point. you take em seriously in certain sections of certain paragraphs.

[Nick Young]

The dream of Kurdistan is rising.

Get hype

[UK2K]

We should be helping the Kurds. Whatever happens in Turkey, happens.

[Nick Young]

We should install a secular puppet in Turkey or allow them real democratic elections and hope that they don't put another fundamentalist dictator in charge (but they probably will).


Then we should help create Kurdistan. Kurdistan and Israel can hold down the fort in the Middle East and allow us to focus our attention on China.