Turkey’s invasion of northeastern Syria continues apace, with the Defense Ministry claiming 228 Kurdish militants killed so far in the offensive. The Syrian Observatory had reported only 23 Kurdish fighters and 6 pro-Turkey fighters killed so far, along with 9 civilians.
Heavy fighting is reported in the area around Tal Abyad,
as Kurdish-led forces quickly mobilized to try to resist the invasion.
So far that’s not working well, as Turkey and its rebel allies have
seized several villages.
The next priority, according to Turkey’s Maj. Youssef Hamoud, is to take Tal Abyad and nearby town Ras al-Ayn outright. Both towns are reportedly surrounded at this point, with Turkish-backed Arab rebels eager to participate.
Those towns are both majority Arab towns, and would be part of what the
rebels are hoping would be a new rebel heartland carved out of former
ISIS possessions. That region fell to Kurdish forces in a prolonged
US-backed offensive, and despite lip-service to letting Arab towns be
locally ruled, the Kurds quickly came to dominate the areas.
For the time being, Turkey says that the goal is to simply take the 30 kilometer stretch along
the border, the so-called “safe zone” they’d been trying to arrange
with the US. Turkey has also said they won’t allow the US to deny them
airspace in the region, saying that territory doesn’t belong to the
United States in the first place.
Turkey’s interest in fighting the Syrian Kurds may make it difficult for
the government politically to end the offensive at 30 km, though that
point is still a ways into the future. With Kurdish forces holding
almost the entire northeast end of the Euphrates River, the temptation
will be strong to delve much deeper, particularly with rebels hoping to
gain more valuable territory bordering the Syrian government.
It’s all about the oil, baby. The Turks want it. The Kurds want it. Israel wants it. The Syrians want it back. In 2010, Syria east of the Euphrates produced around 385,000 barrels per day and every country in the region covets that oil. All talk about a “homeland” for the Kurds is BS. The US doesn’t give a crap about the Kurds. They were just placeholders while the oil went on to Israel.
With Trump’s withdrawal from “Syria east of the Euphrates”,
place-holding has ended, if indeed it ever was in effect.
Trump in no way has withdrawn US troops from Syria east of the Euphrates, just a few bases along the border with Turkey. They still control the air-space. Assad is not able to retake eastern Syria. Russia is bidding its time….
Trump withdrew from the border area currently under attack.
And Trump has asserted that the US has no national interest in taking up a fight on behalf of the Kurds.
And obviously the Turks will bump up against the Russians sooner or later. In fact that is the plan.
Mire Russia between Iran and the Turks along with every other Middle Eastern vendetta crazed factions.
Moving troops around inside of the country they illegally invaded so another country can replace them and do your bidding isn’t withdrawing troops.
This is known as changing strategy. Not ending a war or withdrawing troops.
When we see those troops land in the US we can call them withdrawn.
IS was attacking the US, therefore, the US responded.
Now there is no longer an IS caliphate and the US has withdrawn from the area.
Should the US remove all troops from Syria, absolutely.
The IS caliphate threat has been neutralized.
Will we, remains to be seen.
Have we avoided conflicts outside dealing with IS, yes, so far.
one country invades another,plans to carve out a chunk and the rest of the world says what? a SILENCE to crime is a thunderstruck on the soul of the silent
‘US Attack on Afghan Drug Lab Killed 30 Civilians’ -are you on your slanted soap box on this one or SILENT?
“The destruction of a society”: First the U.S. invaded Iraq — then we left it poisoned’
Or how about this one? Lots of SILENCE for years on this one.
Dulce Et Decorum Est III & A Taste of Armageddon
(Or the Empire has no Clothes but a Disposition Matrix)
In due homage
to Horace, Owen & Mikhail
i humbly nod
for how sweet & glorious
it must be to kill or die
for God & country
via pompous duty
asphyxiate-wrapped
in ersatz honor
with a fool’s pride
So c’mon kiddies,
any up for good jingo sport?
who’s hungry & poor,
who wants to play
the hubris ‘anything for profit’ killing game?
As newspapers, rah rah
pied piper patriotism
with journalistic integrity
star spangled objectivity ha ha!
as a new battle/fear lies just around the corner
& armed forces day just weeks away hurrah!
Rally loyal citizens
to whitewash warm innocuous blood
off disgraced musket & sullied polluted flag
strike up the marching band
parade manifest destiny down main street usa hooray!
Awaken & open thine eyes
chauvinistic folk
come & see
your overseas deeds of nefarious brutality
You’re liable
for this appalling
tax-paid supported violence
exported to hamlets & villages
Assaulting families
who’ve never
did you any harm
in lands you’ve never heard of
nor care less for
so step on up
one & all
Take a trip
to the overflowing morgues
filled with small smashed bodies
once toddlers
full of laughter & life
Deeply inhale
the rancid stench
of scorched flesh
crispy burnt
to a black bubbly mass
by phosphorus
Gaze into doll dead eyes
frozen forever
by shock & awe
renditioned
via your God blessed terror from above
From atop a cold gurney
a stiff finger of a tiny hand
amidst a mish-mosh of mangled flesh
bulls-eyed at you war supporters
Watch
as grief-stricken father’s
zombie-wander
in shattered silence
sifting through ragged debris
devastating destruction
searching
for lost sons
missing daughters
Discovering
ripped wet mangled body parts
strewn out as pieces of a human jig-saw puzzle
taking home
the ear, the hand, the foot
to be quietly buried
while 6000 miles away
heroes giggle and snicker
calling this crime against humanity
‘bugsplat’
Harken
to the heart-piercing shrieks
as soul-torn asunder mothers
wail like howling wild animals
as they find their loves buried
broken & bloody
in the rubble
of your glorious works
Then if you can
please explain
to the unresponsive moaning
neonatal orphan
why your armed forces
just murdered his parents
by accident
then wave a condolence payment
like juicy enticement in his face
Celebrate
as your special op-forces
silently & quickly
dig out bullets
from civilian bodies
to cover their tracks
from being at the wrong address
again
Declare as a national holiday
murdered women at a bridal shower
or when
4 kids are droned to smithereens
while tending sheep
rejoice
in exported evil exploits
as great american victories
for which your war crimes always are
Trust flim-flam,
the PR propaganda spin
from subjective mass media
obey leaders and church deceivers
pay your taxes
which finances anglo-terrorism
through illegal & immoral chauvinism
Raise your filthy faux flag
higher higher ever higher
to cover the rising pile where the butchered lie
however
dear good christian citizens
no civic rag
could ever soar over
the sick slaying of the innocent
Consider Fallujha
surrounded & caged
as the cowering cringing unarmed civilian inhabitants
are shot, burned & barbequed
like slaughtered sitting ducks
in a ‘free-fire zone’ shooting gallery
Ponder
upon your sanctimonious attack
at a school in Bajour
where 69 children are massacred by joystick
as you betray yourself
into believing
it did not happen
washing your hands
turning as you walk away
This is Sand Creek
Wounded Knee
My Lai
Haditha
too many other mass-media
contorted & distorted great triumphs
To whit
no doubt in my mind
the next war crime called
a ‘battle’
or a ‘humanitarian bombing’
will be patriotically anointed too
sanctioned of course
ta ta
Unless we do it?
What is missing here ? The Turkish stated aim is to return a million or so Syrian refugees to the 32 mile border area. Ok, first, we should note many of those refugees are secondary, as in, many are from Iraq, Palestine or Afghans, whom were already refugees to Syria.
Where was the diplomacy to make this return happen without war ? US militancy consider refugees a feature of their destructive aims. They know the pressure refugees make on neighboring infrastructure. Make war, build a wall.
daddy daddy
When my son has grown up
learned what this is all about
I know one day
he’ll come to me
piercingly say
daddy ,daddy
what did you do
When the planet warmed
war raged all over
as humanity committed odium
everywhere
what did you do
what did you do
While the homeless suffered
bellies slept hungry
while the 1 exploited the 99
when it all started to fall crash and burn
daddy daddy
where were you
When it was your generations turn
and you knew what you had to
what did you do
what did you do
to turn the tide
Well my son
I taught you
above all
be not less nor greater any other
to always feel deeply any injustice
done to anyone anywhere
try to do some thing about it
never forget
that there is no higher wisdom
than kindness
everything you do
has consequences
its all connected
give more than what you take
be awed,humbled and love
above all
I tried to show
that opportunities to help
are gifts for both
like when we gave that family a ride
on a cold wintery snowy night
remember
seek out to do good everywhere anywhere anytime
To eschew societies greatest banes
those bookends of selfish pernicious atrocities
nationalism and militarism
become a conscientious objector
guided by conscience
never a warrior
led as a fool by fools
But daddy daddy
when the oceans rose
as it got warmer
did the a/c go on or off
did you try to stem the tide
When the wars raged
did you salute and cheer
or did you protest the insanity
what did you do
Ah my son
I dreaded this day would come
when I was as you
I knew this question
as a sledgehammer would lunge
I suffered everyday
I whacked my brain
I wrote,strove,vied, argued and cried
I planted seeds
from my apples, peaches and pears
leftovers were tossed into the yard woods and fields
I opened windows
I voted green
I protested war
till they threatened and ostracized me
still I carried on
went to Palestine
But I admit
your daddy has failed
the wars continue
patriotism and militarism
those diseases are global pandemics
the crops are sprayed with poison
the coral is bleached
the planet warms
past the tipping point
bad times loom for you and your generation
I have failed you
I have failed you
I have failed you
please forgive me
I have failed
yet still I am
a trim tab
still turning the screws
Alas I am not no superman
just a simple man
nor a martyr
or savior
just your daddy
now old bent and broken
dented and tarnished by guilt and remorse
tortured by the worst of all
what if
what could have been
It’s up to you now
to pay for our sins
to fix what we broke
to tend
what we failed
to mend
what was given to us
Yet still I am
here and how
I know not
for now
maybe
still
somehow
we could together
right the wrong
a trim tab
still turning…
Deganwida:
I wish I could up-vote this more than once. Thank-you for sharing and for caring. And you have not failed. Failure is going quietly into the night. You are burning rage against the evil. Shine on! Your son will see the light. And bless his father.
but ah, no offense, i appreciate the sentiment of a ‘blessing’ but i refrain from acceptance…
Hard to see the Turkish end game here. Do they seriously think the Kurds will not fight them as guerillas- forever- for this chunk of land? Do they plan to annex it to Turkey? If they do annex it to Turkey, what could the rest of the world do, with the example of sanctions against Russia over Crimea sitting there? How could the EU fail to apply those same crippling sanctions to Turkey- which they will? And what would/will the legal status be of people who live there, when the dust settles? Are they Turkish or Syrian?
And what does Turkey, having such a good time with the Kurds it has now, do with a whole lot more of them?