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SimonCat posted:The United States has spent billions building infrastructure in Afghanistan. Aren’t we contributing to reconstruction in Mosul and Raqqah, too?
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Dec 22, 2018 17:30
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CherryCola posted:Aren’t we contributing to reconstruction in Mosul and Raqqah, too? Solely a token raqqa is not going to be rebuilt like ever. The kurds may give the outward appearance of helping the raqqa communitybut thats necause thibgs are shaky and the kurds dont need any more 4th gen elements tearing up the countryside But what people arent talking about is the fact that the us now exports oil. We spent hard cash for a ring road and a pipeline etc rememberr the peace pipeline? Lol https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.nytimes.com/2018/02/23/world/asia/afghanistan-pipeline-tapi.amp.html Notice the article is from 10 months ago so i doubt completion will ever happen. WAR CRIME GIGOLO fucked around with this message at 20:13 on Dec 22, 2018 |
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Dec 22, 2018 18:30
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https://twitter.com/elintnews/status/1076274067886559234?s=21 I wonder how true this is
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Dec 22, 2018 22:58
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SimonCat posted:I'm no in a position to judge if it's been worthwhile, but to say that the US hasn't tried to build some infrastructure is inaccurate. I really don't know what a successful plan would be short of instituting the type of direct colonial rule the US is accused of doing. I'm not advocating for that, I've seen first hand that we're not accomplishing much in Afghanistan against the Taliban, but I don't think that trying to run the country through proxies works. Running the country through proxies work, when you're Pakistan and your proxies are the Taliban. CherryCola posted:
That's the best thing they can possibly do in their situation. Give all the land on the Turkish border to the Syrian regime. It's either that or the Turks and their pet jihadists.
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Dec 22, 2018 23:49
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Manbij is also the place where it’s been suggested Turkey is most likely to invade, I don’t think Erdogan was planning to push across all of Northern Syria at once. It was the place Erdogan was specifically pushing Trump to pull US forces from when he decided to leave Syria completely.
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Dec 23, 2018 00:32
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Their only friends are Kataib Hezbollah. https://twitter.com/Bosni94/status/1076532491140374529 Brett McGurk resigned https://www.cbsnews.com/news/brett-mcgurk-top-u-s-envoy-in-isis-fight-to-quit/
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Dec 23, 2018 02:27
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Cat Mattress posted:Running the country through proxies work, when you're Pakistan and your proxies are the Taliban. That's the best thing they can possibly do in their situation. Give all the land on the Turkish border to the Syrian regime. It's either that or the Turks and their pet jihadists. [/quote] I wonder what happens with Kobane.
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Dec 23, 2018 02:45
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Count Roland posted:That's the best thing they can possibly do in their situation. Give all the land on the Turkish border to the Syrian regime. It's either that or the Turks and their pet jihadists. Probably some regime integration like reconciled rebels. If it shakes out like that.
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Dec 23, 2018 05:52
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quote:Deputy Defence Secretary Patrick Shanahan has been appointed acting Pentagon chief, President Donald Trump has announced. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-46668260 Mattis isn't even staying on until February, he's out in a week.
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Dec 23, 2018 18:55
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https://twitter.com/VivaRevolt/stat...ingawful.com%2F I'd probably take that deal.
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Dec 23, 2018 19:05
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Surely the Russians will want nothing in return... But yeah, probably better than what Turkey will do which they are going to do quickly apparently: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/dec/23/turkey-masses-troops-near-kurdish-held-town-in-northern-syria
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Dec 23, 2018 19:10
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The withdrawal has gone from immediate to "slow & highly coordinated". https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1076884984873607169
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Dec 23, 2018 19:28
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Count Roland posted:The withdrawal has gone from immediate to "slow & highly coordinated". coordinating with Turkey so they can invade at their convenience is probably not an improvement hail Putin, defender of ethnic minorities, I guess 
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Dec 23, 2018 20:13
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So the pull out is slow now? Trump is such a pathetic follower.
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Dec 23, 2018 20:33
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https://twitter.com/AlanSipress/status/1076916003496513536
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Dec 23, 2018 21:16
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Count Roland posted:The withdrawal has gone from immediate to "slow & highly coordinated". It sounds like a Turkish-US rapprochement is being pushed at the heart of this policy. Of course the issue is trying to flip-flop between the Saudis and Turkey without gaining any real leverage on either one. (Also Turkey is in rough shape economically and it is going to be hit hard in the coming year.)
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Dec 23, 2018 21:49
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Ardennes posted:It sounds like a Turkish-US rapprochement is being pushed at the heart of this policy. Of course the issue is trying to flip-flop between the Saudis and Turkey without gaining any real leverage on either one. What is this statement based on? Maybe I don't understand what you mean by "this policy," but the withdrawal from Syria seems less about rapprochement with Turkey and more about how Trump sees US troops in the region as a liability with no little upside. It's a flip away from Saudi Arabia insofar as the US and Saudi generally work together on containing Iran but I don't think troops in Syria gives America leverage over Saudi Arabia. He's switched to saying the pullout will be "slow and highly coordinated" because people tell him that sounds better, and maybe the Generals talked him into slowing down at least to improve the logistics.
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Dec 23, 2018 22:01
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Ardennes posted:It sounds like a Turkish-US rapprochement is being pushed at the heart of this policy. That's one way to describe a green light for Kurdish ethnic cleansing.
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Dec 23, 2018 22:04
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Squalid posted:What is this statement based on? Maybe I don't understand what you mean by "this policy," but the withdrawal from Syria seems less about rapprochement with Turkey and more about how Trump sees US troops in the region as a liability with no little upside. It's a flip away from Saudi Arabia insofar as the US and Saudi generally work together on containing Iran but I don't think troops in Syria gives America leverage over Saudi Arabia. This policy being backing off the sanctions we were hitting Turkey with in August (remember that?) and giving them what they always wanted which is control over the Northern Syrian border. Also, for Trump, it could be both that he sees little upside in protecting the Kurds versus appeasing Turkey and the fact that US troops obviously aren't putting pressure on SAA supply lines they were supposed to. The "highly coordinated" remark is just another Trumpism, but it is clear there is some type of pivot going on here. Grape posted:That's one way to describe a green light for Kurdish ethnic cleansing. I mean it is pretty much the same thing...that said it isn't the first or twelveth time that the US has turned its back on the Turks killing Kurds en masse. Admittedly, it is also sending a message to the Saudis (not that they care about Kurds), that the US will be willing to play each side off each other including promoting shale to put more pressure on Riyadh. Ardennes fucked around with this message at 22:34 on Dec 23, 2018 |
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Dec 23, 2018 22:31
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Dunno how long it'll last after the US actually pull out, but this is nice: https://twitter.com/MHJournalist/status/1076934445351997443 https://twitter.com/MHJournalist/status/1076940388479524864
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Dec 24, 2018 02:02
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Ardennes posted:It sounds like a Turkish-US rapprochement is being pushed at the heart of this policy. Of course the issue is trying to flip-flop between the Saudis and Turkey without gaining any real leverage on either one. There is no grand strategy here. Bolton approached Trump about expanding the military presence in Syria and instead Trump, acting on impulse, ordered a complete withdrawal without consulting his advisers.
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Dec 24, 2018 02:57
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Cat Mattress posted:Dunno how long it'll last after the US actually pull out, but this is nice: Goodguy France!
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Dec 24, 2018 03:52
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Grape posted:That's one way to describe a green light for Kurdish ethnic cleansing. My thoughts exactly.
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Dec 24, 2018 06:02
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Fallen Hamprince posted:There is no grand strategy here. Bolton approached Trump about expanding the military presence in Syria and instead Trump, acting on impulse, ordered a complete withdrawal without consulting his advisers. I don't think this can be overstated enough. I mean...I know this thread is p much *the* place to speculate what each side is aiming for and such, but Trump is a very WYSIWYG kinda guy once you learn to look at his earliest and first impulse decision and remember that it's all about his most basest and egotistical needs. He is literally Joffrey from Game of Thrones getting hit by a cow pie, then screaming on impulse to find the man who did that and quickly upgrading it to 'Kill them all!' while we're the peasant rabble that speculate if he actually meant a 'show of force' or 'stern leadership' by that, but no...he was just a spoiled brat who got mad and threw a tantrum that got people killed, like usual. It's for the exact same reason that I thought: "Hmm...maybe he wants Mattis to be replaced well before his proposed date, so as to expedite US troop withdrawal for his buddy Erdogan?" and then I remembered that he doesn't have even that much foresight. Instead it's the simpler reason: "He's privately pissed off at his resignation and wants a yes-man to replace him ASAP." CrazyLoon fucked around with this message at 12:21 on Dec 24, 2018 |
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Dec 24, 2018 12:04
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And then people talk like we're supposed to give Trump credit for ending the wars as if he didn't make his decisions on a whim and won't change them on a whim.
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Dec 24, 2018 14:45
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chances of manpads being left behind are about zero, noone wants ISIS (or whoever) to get their hands on a stockpile.
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Dec 24, 2018 14:55
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https://twitter.com/Reuters/status/1077207396328574976?s=19 It's done.
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Dec 24, 2018 15:42
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Assad is liquidating all his prisons.
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Dec 24, 2018 16:35
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Sergg posted:Assad is liquidating all his prisons. Is this actually a breaking story, or is it that Syria is big in the news again so papers are publishing stories they've been working on, while the spotlight is already on?
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Dec 24, 2018 16:51
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Count Roland posted:Is this actually a breaking story, or is it that Syria is big in the news again so papers are publishing stories they've been working on, while the spotlight is already on? Yes it is a new story that he has recently greatly picked up the pace of executions. There's a few reasons why he might be (from needing the space for a new wave, to finally feeling like there is zero threat of the world intervening against any scale of crime, to the likelihood that he's trying to free up manpower for the eventual showdown with Turkey).
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Dec 24, 2018 16:54
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Yeah, I don't think Al-Qaeda and ISIS have the right to be considered political prisoners.
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Dec 24, 2018 17:15
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svenkatesh posted:Yeah, I don't think Al-Qaeda and ISIS have the right to be considered political prisoners. Or get access to lawyers who might make "arguments" like "there's no evidence this person is Al-Qaeda or ISIS."
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Dec 24, 2018 17:18
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Chef Boyardeez Nuts posted:Or get access to lawyers who might make "arguments" like "there's no evidence this person is Al-Qaeda or ISIS." At least Assad gives them their day in court. ISIS and Al-Qaeda decapitate civilians for not having good enough beards (for men) or showing too much ankle (for women). (USER WAS PUT ON PROBATION FOR THIS POST)
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Dec 24, 2018 17:55
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svenkatesh posted:At least Assad gives them their day in court. I think the concern here is maybe all these people aren't AQ or ISIS members....
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Dec 24, 2018 17:57
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svenkatesh posted:At least Assad gives them their day in court. It's one thing to say 'at least he's not Al Qaeda or ISIS' as a reason for the US not to invade and overthrow him. It's another to use it to say actually mass murder is fine.
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Dec 24, 2018 18:04
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svenkatesh posted:At least Assad gives them their day in court. Lmao if by day in court you mean a 30 second show trial as a final humiliation to people who may not even by Aq or ISIS at all
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Dec 24, 2018 18:15
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svenkatesh posted:Yeah, I don't think Al-Qaeda and ISIS have the right to be considered political prisoners. https://twitter.com/sergwalden/status/917139103803756544?s=21
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Dec 24, 2018 19:10
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svenkatesh posted:At least Assad gives them their day in court. What an amazing loving take. Yeah Assad definitely doesn't disappear people who oppose him and then turn them to ash.
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Dec 24, 2018 19:13
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I’m a bit surprised Assad is bothering with show trials
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Dec 24, 2018 19:56
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FlamingLiberal posted:I’m a bit surprised Assad is bothering with show trials quote: svenkatesh posted:At least Assad gives them their day in court.
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Dec 24, 2018 20:07
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