The Syrian War

[Filikieteria1821]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n9-KoUxcYFc

Lindsey is pretty much spot on with what he says here - even though people will say "oh he's back to his warmongering ways"

When we got involved in the first place it was a mistake, now that we're there we cannot go this swiftly with all that's at stake.

[Soprano76]

Trump's betrayal of the Kurdish people should not be taken lightly. IMO they are probably one of the most persecuted groups in the Middle East and absolutely deserve their own nation state. In addition, a strong Kurdish state helps to weaken Turkey... directly benefitting Greece

[Filikieteria1821]

Yep, aside from the kurds and arab christians, the yazidis are also persecuted to the extreme. People worldwide will remember the betrayal of the kurds as a moment that highlighted American selfishness and betrayal.

The kurds should have their own country, but just as the west has done for the last century or so, Turkey's concerns and well being will always come first. Trump, even if it isn't true, seems to have capitulated to Erdogan in a phone conversation. Not only did he offer a 3.5 billion patriot defense system, but he essentially gave erdogan the green light to commit genocide against Syrian kurds.

Sad day for the Kurds, and in a distant sense, Greece, who would have benefited greatly from the creation of a kurdish state.

[Don Giovanni]

Turkey is no longer going ahead with their planned invasion. I think Syria will reclaim their lost territory. Kurds will need to accept a deal with Syria. I don't know what sort of deal Trump worked out, but it's proving to be better than I could have imagined.

Everything the media is claiming is preposterous. Iran is the country being isolated, not Israel. For Trump to do this, a condition was met that would limit Iran's influence. I think Turkey may be getting the same message from Russia and Trump, to accept the conditions they set, with Netanyahu playing go-between. Turkey in the past would play one side against the other. What's happening here is Russia and Trump are on the same page and Turkey can't play one against the other. Turkey won't invade because Syria, US, and Russia will not accept a Kurdish state, so they're fine with it.

James Jeffrey and the rest of Trotskyites can suck a lemon. Mattis too. Good riddance.

[Filikieteria1821]

Trump is trusting Turkey to clear ISIS...except turkey is isis.

If this moves blows up in Trumps face (which to me seems like a foregone conclusion) then it will have horrific consequences. Erdogan has already begun moving more turkish forces to the border and I think, even though the offensive has been delayed, it won't be for too long. Erdogan having full control and the blessing of trump to pretty much invade/annex northern syria = neo-ottoman empire in the making. If we are going to just consider greece in this scenario, what if trump gives erdogan his blessing in the aegean and in cyprus?

Back to Syria - At this point, the only 2 entities that may be able to stop this is the french, or russia themselves.

I'm not a warhawk, nor do I think meddling in the middle east has ever been smart, but we are there and the haphazard decision to quickly withdraw, and then hand control to the turks is going to result in a huge humanitarian crisis.

Trump went from putting tariffs on Turkish goods to giving the keys to northern syria in a matter of months. Something doesn't smell right

[Filikieteria1821]

Imagine being the world's richest and militarily powerful country, and heeding to the pressure of the barbarous/backwards turks.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ROjwfIp_G3Q

I can't back trump on this

[Soprano76]

Trump is, has and will always be an absolute fool with little to no concept on political or geo-strategic matters. What does it say when arguably the most respected person the executive branch, General James Mattis, resigns in protest to this decision?

At least we are only looking at what is, likely, two more years of Trump at the max. And that's if he doesn't get nabbed by the FBI or Congress for the Russian collusion, campaign finance violations and whatever else.

[Reaper]

Which democrat would be better?

[LoneHorseman]

^^^^^^
Tulsi Gabbard... Also doesn't hurt that she is one of the hottest looking politicians and go figure, she's a DEMONcrat

[Filikieteria1821]

I don’t want this to turn into a flame war regarding whether trump is shit or democrats are shit.

i just feel like you can’t expect people to fight your wars and then stab them in the back. People take notice of it. Unfortunately for the Kurds, fighting ISIS was almost a necessity.

Macron has just recently come out saying that he will back the SDF (aka the Kurds) and I think in an effort to deflect pressure in France, macron may opt to go all in, in Syria

[Filikieteria1821]

Didn't take long but apparently the turks have already moved heavy weaponry to the border, and some turkish reports have indicated that some have already crossed the border. So much for Erdogan waiting.

To me, this is a foreign policy disaster.

The videos, pictures and news reports of Turkish army and their terrorist buddies committing genocide on the kurds, and unarmed civilians will fill the inter-webs.

Question is, will it force any reaction?

[Don Giovanni]

Turks are gearing up to go in, but both Russia and the US have instructed them not to. The Kurds will have to come terms with Assad's rule and in the face of the Turkish threat they will have no choice. Netanyahu is calling for a snap election and is trying to look tough on Syria and make sure Syria delivers on their end of the bargain. This whole move is designed to have Russia and Syria make sure Iran lose influence in the region. Those were the terms Trump had set with the Russians in order to end the conflict in Syria.

[Don Giovanni]

And to those who disagree me, you may wish to read this to get a clear idea as to why it's not in Erdogan's interest to invade:

https://www.moonofalabama.org/2018/1...yria.html#more

Erdogan had planned to only occupy a 10 miles deep strip along the Syrian-Turkish border. Some 15,000 Turkish controlled 'Syrian rebels' stand ready for that. He would need some 50-100,000 troops to occupy all of east Syria northward of the Euphrates. It would be a hostile occupation among well armed Kurds who would oppose it and an Arab population that is not exactly friendly towards a neo-Ottoman Turkey.

Erdogan knows this well. Today he announced to delay the planned invasion:

Any larger occupation of northeast Syria would create a serious mess for Turkey. Its army can do it, but it would cost a lot of casualties and financial resources. Turkey will hold local government election in March and Erdogan does not want any negative headlines. He will invade, but only if Syria and Russia fail to get the Kurds under control.

Unfortunately the leaders of the anarcho-marxist PKK/YPK in Syria have still not learned their lesson. They make the same demands to Damascus that were already rejected when similar demands were made for Afrin canton before Turkey invaded and destroyed it. It is not (only) Russia that is holding Erdogan back. As seen above he has serious concerns about such an operation. Moreover, he does not have enough troops yet and the U.S. troops have not yet changed their pattern. As of today they still patrolled on the Turkish border and yesterday new U.S. war material was still coming in from Iraq. Erdogan does not dare to attack U.S. troops.

He will most likely want to avoid any additional military involvement in Syria. If Damascus and Moscow can get the PKK under control, Ankara will be satisfied.

The Kurds may continue to think that Trump can be dissuaded and that the Americans won't leave. If they bet on that, they're morons. They have to agree with Assad and come around to his terms. If Turkey wants to get suckered into a Vietnam-like war, they can go right ahead.

Also bare in mind, the Kurds have historically persecuted Christians. The PKK and YPG are anti-Christian.

https://www.nationalreview.com/2018/...-nationalists/

Assad is the protector of Christians in Syria. If you want to support anyone in Syria, it would be more beneficial to support Assad who himself ascribes to a crypto-Christian faith.

https://www.haaretz.com/middle-east-...ians-1.5460758

[Filikieteria1821]

The Kurds will likely have to accept a deal with Assad at this point, so an actual independent nation that they had harped on about will likely never come to fruition.

Kurds are no friends of Greeks as they aided turkey in committing genocide against the Greek population of turkey in the past, but in 2018, any group of peoples seeking to fight turkey, should be considered Greece's friend.

If we're being honest, and had Greece actually been a serious player, Greece would have been best served arming the kurds in their fight.

The saying my enemy's enemy is my friend is the exact premise, but Greece is run by a turd, and the Greek economy can barely allow for Greeks to keep up militarily with Turkey, let alone giving funds and weaponry to the kurds.

[Don Giovanni]

https://ca.news.yahoo.com/erdogan-sa...115226252.html

ANKARA (Reuters) - Turkey will have nothing left to do in the Syrian town of Manbij once "terrorist organisations" leave the area, President Tayyip Erdogan said on Friday, hours after the Syrian army said it had entered the town.

[....]

"In the current situation, we are still supporting the integrity of Syrian soil. These areas belong to Syria. Once the terrorist organisations leave the area, we will have nothing left to do there," Erdogan told reporters after Friday prayers in Istanbul.

Earlier on Friday, the Syrian army said it had entered Manbij for the first time in years, after the YPG urged Damascus to protect the town from the threat of Turkish attacks.

So Turkey will be pulling out too. That leaves Iran and then this war is as good as over. This is proving to be a lot better than I had thought and the president is beginning to secure his legacy with the prospect of ending two wars (in Syria and Afghanistan) and one armistice (with North Korea).

I just hope the president, or his successor, leans off of Israel The sooner the US stops mixing in with Israel and Saudi Arabia, then the more can be accomplished as a neutral party in regional issues. It will be impossible to reach a peaceful settlement with Iran and Palestine if there is a bias towards Israel and Saudi Arabia. The only way these countries will learn to make a deal is if the US, China, and Russia stop picking sides and force the regional players to the table. It's the only way to prevent what may eventually lead to a preventable world war.