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Squalid posted:https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2018/02/afghanistan-us/552644/ The way things are going, shallow graves
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Feb 13, 2018 10:36
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Saladin Rising posted:
I bet this was an easy sell to Trump. Half the money is going to "border security." 
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Feb 13, 2018 12:50
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Erdogan's really working hard to dispel the notion that he has an Ottomanist foreign policy. https://twitter.com/p_zalewski/status/963339808083972096
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Feb 13, 2018 13:11
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Is it just me or has he been overplaying his hand more than usual in the last month?
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Feb 13, 2018 13:25
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When you're on a hot streak, you can start to believe you're invincible. Disapproval of the US is over 80% in Turkey now, so even if he doesn't bring us into open conflict, I think the alliance is going to have trouble limping along.
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Feb 13, 2018 13:40
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Russia's Blackwater lost 100+ Russian contractors in their little skirmish with the US in Deir Ezzor. Learning is fun.
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Feb 13, 2018 13:53
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I wonder if anyone's told Trump yet that he's the first US president since at least Vietnam to have killed a bunch of Russians.
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Feb 13, 2018 14:10
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Bates posted:Russia's Blackwater lost 100+ Russian contractors in their little skirmish with the US in Deir Ezzor. Is Bloomberg pretty reliable? Because that's a loving crazy number of Russians to be killed. Iranian militias are one thing, but presumably Russian mercenaries are reasonably well-trained and reasonably well supported by the motherland. Unless Russian mercenary doesn't mean "Russian national" but "somebody on the payroll of a Russian company".
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Feb 13, 2018 14:42
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Pretty sure the "Russian contractors" were ISIS hubters, not actual russians.
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Feb 13, 2018 14:48
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OctaMurk posted:Pretty sure the "Russian contractors" were ISIS hubters, not actual russians. At least some actual Russians have been confirmed dead.
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Feb 13, 2018 14:50
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Sinteres posted:At least some actual Russians have been confirmed dead. 100+ Russians though?
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Feb 13, 2018 14:54
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What is a hubter?
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Feb 13, 2018 15:23
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hunter*
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Feb 13, 2018 15:30
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Nightgull posted:What is a hubter? Isis hunters, sorry for phone posting
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Feb 13, 2018 15:31
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I think they were contractors hired by Assad. Apparently it is over 100 dead and a couple hundred more wounded. Pretty crazy. Edit: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-02-13/u-s-strikes-said-to-kill-scores-of-russian-fighters-in-syria quote:U.S. forces killed scores of Russian mercenaries in Syria last week in what may be the deadliest clash between citizens of the former foes since the Cold War, according to one U.S. official and three Russians familiar with the matter. Mozi fucked around with this message at 16:00 on Feb 13, 2018 |
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Feb 13, 2018 15:39
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A frontal assault on a US military position with artillery and air support is still an extremely stupid idea in 2018
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Feb 13, 2018 15:44
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As much as the last 15 years proved that the US military has no idea on how to prop up a failing government or suppress an insurrection it's also proved that they are bar none the best at killing every human in the room.
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Feb 13, 2018 16:53
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OctaMurk posted:Isis hunters, sorry for phone posting No big. I just wanted to say I really...enjoy? is that the appropriate word? reading this thread, so thanks to everyone who contributes.
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Feb 13, 2018 16:58
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Saladman posted:How political are the YPG really? Like I kind of assumed that they just paid lip service to socialism/Ocalanism but that realistically it was a broad assortment of people of different ideologies united temporarily under the banner of making an autonomous province in Syria, and that the minute they actually succeed they’ll divide in intercine conflicts like the Kurds of Iraq. FWIW I've met representatives of the YPG/YPJ, and they seem more or less on the level. Basic democracy, gender equality, collectivized economy and they try to integrate ideas from anarchist socialist thinkers in the areas under their control.
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Feb 13, 2018 17:26
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Looks like we are going to get a chance to see if Turkey has learned anything about trying to take a settlement larger than a village. The last village before Jandairis has apparently been taken and they may soon be marching on the town itself. https://twitter.com/QalaatAlMudiq/status/963419856019304448
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Feb 13, 2018 17:36
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If Erdogan could tone down the lebensraum talk for a minute and be a little more suave, he could try directly negotiating with Trump on Syria. Shower him with flattery, commiserate with him about refugees/illegal immigrants, and offer him some "favorable trade deals" in return for leaving Syria, with the pitch that he won't be "wasting" the money spent on occupying a middle eastern country, AND hey, here's a NATO ally willing to step up and do their part to "fight terrorism" and build a buffer against Iran. His generals would probably talk him out of it in the end, but it's worth a shot, at least.
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Feb 13, 2018 17:43
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Ikasuhito posted:Looks like we are going to get a chance to see if Turkey has learned anything about trying to take a settlement larger than a village. The last village before Jandairis has apparently been taken and they may soon be marching on the town itself. Gonnaa get towed in one of those btrs.
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Feb 13, 2018 17:46
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Ramrod Hotshot posted:If Erdogan could tone down the lebensraum talk for a minute and be a little more suave, he could try directly negotiating with Trump on Syria. Shower him with flattery, commiserate with him about refugees/illegal immigrants, and offer him some "favorable trade deals" in return for leaving Syria, with the pitch that he won't be "wasting" the money spent on occupying a middle eastern country, AND hey, here's a NATO ally willing to step up and do their part to "fight terrorism" and build a buffer against Iran. Erdogan already tried that and got a commitment from Trump to stop arming the YPG, which Trump reneged on the second he talked to his generals. The US has consistently been dishonest when it comes to what we were doing in Syria, so it's no surprise Erdogan doesn't believe a word we say anymore, even if raging about "accidentally" killing US forces isn't likely to help his case. Erdogan's far from blameless in creating this situation for himself by allowing ISIS free use of his border in the first place, so I'm not saying the US is the only party to blame for the breakdown in the alliance at all. I just don't think our mission creep has helped. Dr Kool-AIDS fucked around with this message at 18:03 on Feb 13, 2018 |
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Feb 13, 2018 17:57
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Ramrod Hotshot posted:If Erdogan could tone down the lebensraum talk for a minute and be a little more suave, he could try directly negotiating with Trump on Syria. Shower him with flattery, commiserate with him about refugees/illegal immigrants, and offer him some "favorable trade deals" in return for leaving Syria, with the pitch that he won't be "wasting" the money spent on occupying a middle eastern country, AND hey, here's a NATO ally willing to step up and do their part to "fight terrorism" and build a buffer against Iran. If the last years have taught us anything it's that Erdogan will always find a way to horribly misplay the hand he's dealt.
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Feb 13, 2018 18:10
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Mozi posted:I think they were contractors hired by Assad. Apparently it is over 100 dead and a couple hundred more wounded. Pretty crazy. When was the last time anyone was dumb enough to try that against US forces?
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Feb 13, 2018 18:23
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Those Wagner PMC’s were supposedly to be compensated with a percentage of any oil fields they captured. Crazy that they tried, but their goal makes sense.
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Feb 13, 2018 18:28
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Rent-A-Cop posted:I guess this answers the "Why did they use so much ordnance?" questions from up-thread. Repelled a battalion sized assault with only a handful of friendly casualties. There was also at least one T-72 in the assault that was destroyed.
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Feb 13, 2018 18:45
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Herstory Begins Now posted:If we killed 100 Syrians and Russians with that range of stuff, p much guaranteed they killed Americans in the original attack, that's a serious 'send a loud and clear message' type of strike. Also god drat they got half a region's worth of air support and fire support called in and allocated to them. I'm... curious for more details now. Looks this way. Earlier in this thread there was a lot of chuckling about what a weird mix of stuff it was, but that's what it looks like when you have a sudden threat you didn't expect, and that threat has massively miscalculated your response. All of those assets are also ones that have been regularly in use in Syria. F-22s have been dropping bombs and doing surveillance in Syria for a few years now.
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Feb 13, 2018 22:22
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It wouldn’t surprise me if there are American contractors, and along with them American soldiers, at the oil field helping to run it. I doubt the SDF has many experienced oil industry technicians.
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Feb 13, 2018 22:33
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Herstory Begins Now posted:If we killed 100 Syrians and Russians with that range of stuff, p much guaranteed they killed Americans in the original attack, that's a serious 'send a loud and clear message' type of strike. Also god drat they got half a region's worth of air support and fire support called in and allocated to them. I'm... curious for more details now. The current military leadership is very much in favor of suppressing hostile forces through decisive show of power, and they aren't kept in check. It's entirely possible they chose to demonstrate their superiority as a means to deter further Russian meddling.
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Feb 13, 2018 22:39
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Darkman Fanpage posted:It wouldn’t surprise me if there are American contractors, and along with them American soldiers, at the oil field helping to run it. I doubt the SDF has many experienced oil industry technicians. Probably at least SOME of the original workers fled to SDF held territory at some point or another/were kept there by ISIS and are happy to actually be getting paid now (that was basically what happened with a lot of the Dam engineers.)
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Feb 13, 2018 22:44
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US bombing Russian and SAA positions in Dier ez zor https://twitter.com/JakeGodin/status/963463570376810497
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Feb 13, 2018 23:23
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mlmp08 posted:Looks this way. Earlier in this thread there was a lot of chuckling about what a weird mix of stuff it was, but that's what it looks like when you have a sudden threat you didn't expect, and that threat has massively miscalculated your response. All of those assets are also ones that have been regularly in use in Syria. F-22s have been dropping bombs and doing surveillance in Syria for a few years now. steinrokkan posted:The current military leadership is very much in favor of suppressing hostile forces through decisive show of power, and they aren't kept in check. It's entirely possible they chose to demonstrate their superiority as a means to deter further Russian meddling. Mozi posted:I think they were contractors hired by Assad. Apparently it is over 100 dead and a couple hundred more wounded. Pretty crazy. quote:Last week’s offensive began about 8 kilometers (5 miles) east of the Euphrates River deconfliction line late Feb. 7, when pro-Assad forces fired rounds and advanced in a “battalion-sized formation supported by artillery, tanks, multiple-launch rocket systems and mortars,” Colonel Thomas F. Veale, a spokesman for the U.S. military, said in a statement. E: HorrificExistence posted:US bombing Russian and SAA positions in Dier ez zor Saladin Rising fucked around with this message at 23:51 on Feb 13, 2018 |
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Feb 13, 2018 23:29
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quote:“Coalition officials were in regular communication with Russian counterparts before, during and after the thwarted, unprovoked attack,” Veale said. No fatalities were reported on the coalition side and “enemy vehicles and personnel who turned around and headed back west were not targeted.” It makes me wonder what those communications were like. 'Hey, why are there hundreds of russians attacking our base?' '*shrug*'
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Feb 13, 2018 23:39
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Sinteres posted:Erdogan's really working hard to dispel the notion that he has an Ottomanist foreign policy. Dude isn't talking nationalism, the Ottoman slap is literally just a wrestling move where you smack someone in the temple. He wants to take on the Kurds now that ISIS has stopped jobbing.
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Feb 14, 2018 00:04
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I'm the guy intercepting an absolute fuckton of russian language comms coming from a battalion-sized and equipped force that looks like it's about to attack a literal US SOF base.TheDeadlyShoe posted:It makes me wonder what those communications were like. You can kind of piece it together by reading between the lines, but that's basically what happened. US calls up 'we've got a ton of vehicles and artillery massing to assault one of our SOF bases and in our intercepts they're mostly speaking Russian. Maybe pass it along that this is a US base?" Both sides probably ran that up the chain, Russians found nothing, US apparently said 'well wait and see.' The advance didn't stop and then the US *shrugged* and we had yet another iteration of hapless convoys advancing into US air strikes and artillery with the exact same results as always. Herstory Begins Now fucked around with this message at 00:30 on Feb 14, 2018 |
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Feb 14, 2018 00:23
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Frogfingers posted:Dude isn't talking nationalism, the Ottoman slap is literally just a wrestling move where you smack someone in the temple. He wants to take on the Kurds now that ISIS has stopped jobbing. Now I want to see Erdogan and Tillerson fight a wrestling match.
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Feb 14, 2018 00:34
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To be a bit more serious and big-picture about this: it's open season on contractors now. That's a gently caress of a lot of dead contractors and I'm curious what percentage of the entire oil facility protection force that was. This is the first time we've seen both the US and Russia apparently agree openly that no one is going to start a war over dead PMCs. That's a big deal.
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Feb 14, 2018 00:39
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Frogfingers posted:Dude isn't talking nationalism, the Ottoman slap is literally just a wrestling move where you smack someone in the temple. He wants to take on the Kurds now that ISIS has stopped jobbing. yeah but lol in context
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Feb 14, 2018 00:40
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Herstory Begins Now posted:To be a bit more serious and big-picture about this: it's open season on contractors now. That's a gently caress of a lot of dead contractors and I'm curious what percentage of the entire oil facility protection force that was. From what I understand most of the casualties were Russian mercs in the area to "kill ISIS" i.e. everyone but ISIS and SAA
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Feb 14, 2018 00:54
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