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Libluini posted:Who is that guy and what does he want to do? Send robots to Syria? Paid for by Mexico? Well, the analogy to the 30-years war is apt. Hire foreign mercenaries and pay them with looted spoils.
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Apr 17, 2018 18:06
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He is also the brother of U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos.
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Apr 17, 2018 18:12
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Libluini posted:Who is that guy and what does he want to do? Send robots to Syria? Paid for by Mexico? MiddleOne posted:So is this guy running a murder charity? He was the CEO of Blackwater, so he's a mercenary piece of poo poo who (as was pointed out) is the brother of Betsy DeVos, and may be under investigation by Robert Mueller for being a go between for Trump with Russia during the campaign. His proposal for Afghanistan involved stealing that country's mineral wealth, so I assume he'd be trying to live up to Trump's campaign promise of taking the oil. Coincidentally, that's the same deal the Russian mercenaries supposedly had.
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Apr 17, 2018 18:17
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 how many times can these guys just re-brand.
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Apr 17, 2018 18:19
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Sinteres posted:His proposal for Afghanistan involved stealing that country's mineral wealth, so I assume he'd be trying to live up to Trump's campaign promise of taking the oil. Coincidentally, that's the same deal the Russian mercenaries supposedly had. I hope it works out exactly as well for Prince and co.
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Apr 17, 2018 18:23
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Sinteres posted:Here's a way way way worse idea than the GCC plan for Syria. Does he have any plans for a nuclear armed walking tank?
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Apr 17, 2018 18:29
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If this is actually recent and from Raqqa (I know videos are often misrepresented in this war), that looks like a significant group of people who would appear to want the US/YPG out and Assad in. https://twitter.com/LinaArabii/status/986265570273316864
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Apr 17, 2018 19:27
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Sinteres posted:If this is actually recent and from Raqqa (I know videos are often misrepresented in this war), that looks like a significant group of people who would appear to want the US/YPG out and Assad in. We bombed the poo poo out of them, Assad has not yet. This is not a surprise at all.
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Apr 17, 2018 19:43
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WoodrowSkillson posted:We bombed the poo poo out of them, Assad has not yet. This is not a surprise at all. I'd guess it has more to do with not wanting to be governed by Kurds and deals some tribal leaders are working out with the regime than the US bombing the city.
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Apr 17, 2018 19:59
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Sinteres posted:I'd guess it has more to do with not wanting to be governed by Kurds and deals some tribal leaders are working out with the regime than the US bombing the city. My thought would be that if we had not been blowing people up for being too near ISIS, or not even near ISIS, then these issues might be perceived differently.
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Apr 17, 2018 20:15
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Sinteres posted:If this is actually recent and from Raqqa (I know videos are often misrepresented in this war), that looks like a significant group of people who would appear to want the US/YPG out and Assad in. Huh. I would still try to remember the fact that Raqqan population is less than half of what it was before Daesh took over. I would expect at least a fraction of those who remained till today to be sympathisers, which would no doubt have an effect on the average public opinion of the SDF. Not that it would delegitimise that protest of theirs, but does mean that the wishes of Raqqan refugees are not being represented here. So we'll see what happens I guess.
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Apr 17, 2018 20:30
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tsa posted:Sustained operations in Syria, which saved their ally there from the brink of destruction. In terms of operational capability this puts them miles ahead of any euro country which can't operate for more than a couple hours internationally without US support. Russia just looks kinda pathetic because loving nothing compares to the US military in terms of force projection, but ignoring the US, no other country in the world could do what they are doing militarily right now. Maybe China? The larger euro countries are perfectly capable of dropping unguided dumb bombs from local air bases for a sustained period of time. Libya showed they don't have sufficient stockpiles of guidance kits but as Syria shows neither do Russia.
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Apr 17, 2018 21:54
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So, I read some article about the Russians claiming that they have uncovered a rebel chemical weapons facility in Douma and that they are also claiming that several doctors in the area are being threatened to remain silent. Is there any truth to do this? Or is it just another blatant lie from the Russians so that Westerners can keep feeling good about supporting Assad as the dastardly rebels gassed themselves again?
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Apr 18, 2018 00:17
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Randarkman posted:So, I read some article about the Russians claiming that they have uncovered a rebel chemical weapons facility in Douma and that they are also claiming that several doctors in the area are being threatened to remain silent. Is there any truth to do this? Or is it just another blatant lie from the Russians so that Westerners can keep feeling good about supporting Assad as the dastardly rebels gassed themselves again? You seem to have correctly answered your own question.
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Apr 18, 2018 00:19
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Deteriorata posted:You seem to have correctly answered your own question. Well, yeah, my own suspicions about this should be pretty clear. I was just asking because this(in Norwegian) was not from RussiaToday, at least not as far as I can tell, the article isn't really clear about its sources other than stating that someone said this and someone said that. Just Fair and Balanced reporting I guess.
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Apr 18, 2018 00:23
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As it stands they're looking at trading Alawites for Kurds and Trump is talking about bringing in mercenaries from other countries to garrison them after we bombed their city to rubble. Can't blame em. We should hold a plebiscite and let em vote on it.
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Apr 18, 2018 01:09
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Sinteres posted:Here's a way way way worse idea than the GCC plan for Syria. It's a good time to point out that Erik Prince wants to be a modern day crusader. Not in some inspirational sense, he actually wants to take over the Levant and install a Christian theocratic state. His plan doesn't cost money because he just wants the US to look the other way while he creates his own fundamentalist Christian hellhole.
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Apr 18, 2018 01:33
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And just like that, Erdogan is seeing red again: https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/986432143189512192 quote:Pastor Andrew Brunson, a fine gentleman and Christian leader in the United States, is on trial and being persecuted in Turkey for no reason. They call him a Spy, but I am more a Spy than he is. Hopefully he will be allowed to come home to his beautiful family where he belongs! http://abcnews.go.com/International/emotional-day-court-us-pastor-jailed-turkey/story?id=54516349 quote:An American pastor who has been jailed in Turkey for a year and a half denied all charges against him in an emotional first day in court. Saladin Rising fucked around with this message at 04:20 on Apr 18, 2018 |
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Apr 18, 2018 04:07
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How legitimate is the case against Brunson? At first blush I'm inclined to side with Trump on this one
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Apr 18, 2018 04:46
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Brown Moses posted:A few journalists who visited Douma managed to visit the apartment building that was attack, interview witnesses and film the impact site: Speaking of which, Google News has an odd definition of "local sources". 
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Apr 18, 2018 04:59
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Sinteres posted:I'd guess it has more to do with not wanting to be governed by Kurds and deals some tribal leaders are working out with the regime than the US bombing the city. a Turkish article reported that the protest was sparked by the arrest of a prominent local tribal leader, but was also driven by resentment towards conscription and high taxes. Events like this suggest support for the SDF among the Arabs of Eastern Syria is probably shallower than a lot of posters here would like to believe. I think I've said this before but I suspect a lot of the money the U.S. gives the SDF is distributed to Sheikhs and otherwise used as patronage to buy acquiescence to YPG leadership. Without western help paying bribes and insuring conscripts and local militia get reliable wages their security forces would probably be a lot weaker and have a lot more problems. If Trump makes good on his threat to pull out of Syria and doesn't manage to replace U.S. support with something equally good I have a hard time imagining the SDF will be able to maintain control over cities like Raqqa long term.
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Apr 18, 2018 05:30
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Libluini posted:Who is that guy and what does he want to do? Send robots to Syria? Paid for by Mexico? he's no joke one of the worst people in the world today
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Apr 18, 2018 09:45
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Bates posted:The larger euro countries are perfectly capable of dropping unguided dumb bombs from local air bases for a sustained period of time. Libya showed they don't have sufficient stockpiles of guidance kits but as Syria shows neither do Russia.
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Apr 18, 2018 10:52
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Toplowtech posted:We'd rather drop concrete missiles on the enemy lovely 80s tanks than high end missiles on enemy who don't use electronic warfare. Excellent post / username combination.
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Apr 18, 2018 12:03
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Bates posted:The larger euro countries are perfectly capable of dropping unguided dumb bombs from local air bases for a sustained period of time. Libya showed they don't have sufficient stockpiles of guidance kits but as Syria shows neither do Russia.  Like no, they really can't, not in the ways US /Russia can. You are greatly underestimating the logistical capacity needed to do such things, logistical capabilities that euro countries literally don't have. tsa fucked around with this message at 13:58 on Apr 18, 2018 |
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Apr 18, 2018 13:55
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Like this is not some controversial claim, the war doctrines and militaries of european countries are entirely for defense or built on the assumption that the US will provide any of those capabilities should they be needed. Libya showed far more than just stockpile limitations, if that's the only force projection-painpoint for them you saw you simply weren't paying attention.
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Apr 18, 2018 14:03
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https://twitter.com/aykan_erdemir/status/986593278995902464 uhm, I guess we all know the results already. Expect Turkey's economy to meltdown in the next 18 month. GaussianCopula fucked around with this message at 14:39 on Apr 18, 2018 |
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Apr 18, 2018 14:36
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Harakat al-Qiyam, a Turkish backed insurgent group, seems to be getting pretty good at picking off YPG members near Manbij. Even if Turkey doesn't invade, battling an insurgency in a non-Kurdish city might end up being a real problem for the YPG.
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Apr 18, 2018 15:37
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Flavahbeast posted:How legitimate is the case against Brunson? At first blush I'm inclined to side with Trump on this one Probably as legitimate as Turkey's definition of spying or terrorism. A Turkish-American NASA scientist was sentenced to 7.5 years and I sure bet he did nothing wrong: http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2018/02/turkish-american-nasa-scientist-sentenced-75-years-prison quote:While visiting family in southern Turkey weeks after the putsch attempt, police showed up to his parents’ home and arrested him in front of his wife and children. According to Golge’s wife, a distant relative who was angered over an inheritance dispute told police Golge was a spy and supporter of Fethullah Gülen, the Islamic cleric who Turkey accuses of masterminding the coup. Of course, if we had a State Dept maybe none of this would be happening!
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Apr 18, 2018 17:27
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Brunson's phone had a picture of the Official Gulenist Casserole and I think that might be the majority of the evidence
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Apr 18, 2018 18:03
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Zas posted:he's no joke one of the worst people in the world today if he is trying to say hiring him as a mercenary leader or whatever isn't going to cost his employers something he is also one of the dumbest
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Apr 18, 2018 18:06
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Libluini posted:if he is trying to say hiring him as a mercenary leader or whatever isn't going to cost his employers something he is also one of the dumbest Like I said before, he wants to get paid with the oil we'd let him steal from Syria.
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Apr 18, 2018 18:08
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Sinteres posted:Like I said before, he wants to get paid with the oil we'd let him steal from Syria. Money isn't the only cost in the equation here, and even if we only count the money, he'll go bankrupt trying to sell that oil, I'll bet. On account on his oil wells being on fire 24/7 if it's just some dumbasses with weapons against everyone else except the US supplying their many, many enemies
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Apr 18, 2018 18:17
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Libluini posted:Money isn't the only cost in the equation here, and even if we only count the money, he'll go bankrupt trying to sell that oil, I'll bet. On account on his oil wells being on fire 24/7 if it's just some dumbasses with weapons against everyone else except the US supplying their many, many enemies Oh yeah, it definitely wouldn't work. It's just that 'might not be upfront about the costs the US government might incur' is pretty low on the list of problems for his plan to recreate 19th century colonialism in eastern Syria. Edit: This is so hosed up. Yazidis in Afrin are being threatened into conversion and their temples are being destroyed now that Turkey's hired jihadists run the place. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/syria-yazidis-isis-islam-conversion-afrin-persecution-kurdish-a8310696.html Dr Kool-AIDS fucked around with this message at 19:25 on Apr 18, 2018 |
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Apr 18, 2018 18:37
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Sinteres posted:Oh yeah, it definitely wouldn't work. It's just that 'might not be upfront about the costs the US government might incur' is pretty low on the list of problems for his plan to recreate 19th century colonialism in eastern Syria. Always fun to remember these are comparative moderates only to HTS and IS.
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Apr 18, 2018 19:28
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I just wanna say that lollontee is really smart and educated as evidenced by their posts in other forums, and when they came into the Venezuela thread, yeah they were saying some pro-regime talking points, but the main thing is that they listened. They asked questions because they had a general curiosity of the situation beyond an impenetrable cage of ideological framework, and over time a lot of their positions changed. What lollontee is now experiencing is the same thing many of us went through when we first started paying close attention to Syria and seeing those videos of the gas attacks, and that's a reaction of genuine human empathy and rage at injustice & the futility of the situation where the wicked are never punished. That's a pretty normal and understandable human reaction to have after seeing a basement full of gassed children.
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Apr 19, 2018 05:09
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Sergg posted:I just wanna say that lollontee is really smart and educated as evidenced by their posts in other forums, and when they came into the Venezuela thread, yeah they were saying some pro-regime talking points, but the main thing is that they listened. They asked questions because they had a general curiosity of the situation beyond an impenetrable cage of ideological framework, and over time a lot of their positions changed. What lollontee is now experiencing is the same thing many of us went through when we first started paying close attention to Syria and seeing those videos of the gas attacks, and that's a reaction of genuine human empathy and rage at injustice & the futility of the situation where the wicked are never punished. That's a pretty normal and understandable human reaction to have after seeing a basement full of gassed children. While this thread gets flippant at times towards various aspects of the conflict or spirals into weird leftism derails, I think that that absolute horror at all the insane poo poo perpetrated upon the people of Syria (and Yemen and Iraq and every other country tied up in all of this as well) is one of the unifying threads among everyone who posts regularly here. Also over the years like half of the people who are regulars now came in here with similarly troublesome or myopic or just straight up propaganda-sounding opinions on what was going on because holy gently caress these conflicts have been politicized to hell and back in every media source that covers them. Considering how much these conflicts have forced basically everyone to question any pre-conceived notions of who the good guys are, it's impressive how open minded people here have been.
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Apr 19, 2018 10:26
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I still feel guilty about bailing on the venezuela debate, I'll continue it later if I get something smart to say. As for ME, I've been following the Syrian Civil war from the start, so I'm not 'experiencing' anything new here. My opinion from the start of the Russian intervention has been that this war isn't going to end without more military intervention. Which does not make me happy, because I'm not an idiot and I know exactly what the price of NATO or American intervention is in lives and Doomsday Clock tick-tocking. That doesn't mean that this war is going to end any better without NATO intervention either (450k dead, going strong), which I think is the troubling fact that anti-imperialists are having such problems dealing with. My rage and empathy was spent long ago, when I was watching Assad's boys cutting heads off hundreds of women and children back in the day. Assad and Putin can indeed bring peace to Syria, eventually. It's just that their peace looks a lot like the peace that Americans left behind in Iraq. The war will not end, and blood will keep spilling no matter what the Americans do or do not. I'm just hoping that the SDF survives the Turkish attack.
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Apr 19, 2018 10:42
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Sinteres posted:Oh yeah, it definitely wouldn't work. It's just that 'might not be upfront about the costs the US government might incur' is pretty low on the list of problems for his plan to recreate 19th century colonialism in eastern Syria. Corporations with private militaries exploiting natural resources of colonies they conquered nominally in the name of a state is not 19th century colonialism. It's OG 17th century colonialism. It's straight up what the first Companies in the world (ie. the East India Companies and the West India Companies and the Virginia Company etc etc) did.
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Apr 19, 2018 10:44
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wrong thread
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