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Remember when St Ronnie was allied with and supplying Saddam, and Rummy was photographed in Iraq shaking Saddam's hand?
Damn even the sheep are getting out of that hole.
Displaced Iraqis walking to the Syrian border.
Remember when St Ronnie was allied with and supplying Saddam, and Rummy was photographed in Iraq shaking Saddam's hand?
I did note religions in my description.This country's arbitrary boundaries included groups of differing ethnicities and religions that had been killing each other for centuries before it became a country.
Figure it out yet?
I was talking about Yugoslavia, of course. You may not be old enough to remember the Christian on Muslim violence, and vice-versa. That is what I meant by Iraq's arc in the last decade being entirely predictable, and why the Bush administration was ing stupid for not recognizing it.
Yugoslavia's war got resolved when everybody got their own freakin country.
Iraq is on track to do the same thing. Shia, Sunni, Kurd.
Given that we are also on track to build the Peshmurga into a de facto standing army, that adds to the momentum.
You do realize that Kerry is not the secretary of defense, right?Obama and Kerry are possibly as stupid as W Jr and Rummy. Its really close.
Obama and Kerry need to send Putin and Lavrov thank you presents for saving their legacies and country tbh. Can u imagine if US had gone to war for ISIS and Assad was toppled??? would make W's Iraq war blunder a minor mistake
Remember when Kerry and Obama were calling the ISIS militants "freedom fighters"??????
Or maybe you didn't realize that Rumsfeld was not the secretary of state?
Which was it?
You haven't read about the concentration camps the british ran in africa, then.
Kinda hard to point to that as being "better" than what the US did or does.
Unless, of course, you like to talk out of your ass about things. Then, by all means, compare away. Don't let things like facts stop your confirmation bias fueled rants.
Not that I am a huge supporter of the ty things the US does. I just don't view it as some uber-conspiracy, as I have little evidence of such a thing.
Feel free to present any evidence that the US policy is directly aimed at setting Arab countries at each other in some machiavellian plot. That would be fun to watch you try to justify.
http://www.theguardian.com/world/201...ama-airstrikes
President Obama authorised targeted air strikes against the Islamic State's positions to stop its fighters from advancing further towards the Iraqi Kurdish region and to help avert an act of genocide against a religious minority the group considers devil-worshippers, the Yezidis.
The move, uncharacteristic of intervention-averse Obama, highlights how the jihadist group has expanded and become an unstoppable force, six months after it seemed it would not even complete a year in existence, when major rebel factions in Syria declared war against it earlier this year.
The group, which became known as the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (Isis) after it broke away from the al-Qaida-affiliated Jabhat al-Nusra in April last year, had been driven out of most of Syria, and rebel factions and al-Qaida affiliates threatened to chase it out of Iraq. But the group has made a remarkable comeback, seizing stretches of at least seven provinces in the two countries, and marching steadily into other areas.
In the last two weeks alone, Isis has fought on five fronts: against the Iraqi army, the Kurdish peshmerga, the Syrian regime, the Syrian opposition and the Lebanese army. In Syria the group has all but consolidated control of the eastern provinces of Raqqa and Deir Ezzor, as it made advances against government forces in Raqqa and subdued most of the rebel forces in Deir Ezzor. It is also advancing into Aleppo, reaching the city's eastern outskirts, and in Hasaka, and is battling the Kurdish militias in the north-east. In Iraq it has advanced to a point only half an hour's drive from Irbil, the Kurdish capital.
Yet these advances appear to be only the tip of the iceberg. Away from the publicised gains, Isis is quietly making progress on other fronts. Perhaps the most worrying is the fact that armed groups backed by the US have been co-opted by Isis.
After its sweeping military success in Iraq in June, Isis moved to take over the strategic province in Deir Ezzor, where the rebels controlled lucrative oil and gas resources. To the surprise of many, the group quickly controlled towns and villages that were home to some of the group's most powerful adversaries, including Jabhat al-Nusra and locally rooted tribal militias.
According to Samer al-Ani, an opposition media activist from Deir Ezzor, several fighting groups affiliated to the western-backed Military Council worked discreetly with Isis, even before the group's latest offensive. Liwa al-Ansar and Liwa Jund al-Aziz, he said, pledged allegiance to Isis in secret, with reports that Isis is using them to put down a revolt by the Sha'itat tribe near the Iraqi border.
He warned that money being sent through members of the National Coalition to rebels in Deir Ezzor risks going to Isis. Another source from Deir Ezzor said that these groups pledged loyalty to Isis four months ago, so this was not forced as a result of Isis's latest push, as happened elsewhere. Such collaboration was key to the takeover of Deir Ezzor in recent weeks, especially in areas where Isis could not defeat the local forces so easily.
This is not the first, or the only, time in which groups affiliated to the military structures backed by the US and the Gulf states have worked with Isis. Saddam al-Jamal, a top commander for the Free Syrian Army's eastern front, pledged allegiance to Isis in November and fought in its ranks, wreaking a grisly carnage in his hometown of Abu Kamal in April. Other groups affiliated to the western-backed military councils that have pledged allegiance to Isis include Liwa Fajr al-Islam in Homs.
Moderate religious groups that had been established mostly to fight jihadists are now working closely, if quietly, with Isis. Liwa Ahl al-Athar, for example, has discreetly pledged allegiance to Isis. The Salafi-leaning rebel alliance, which has a strong presence in many areas in Deir Ezzor and beyond, is financially backed by private donors from the Arab Gulf states, but is said to be in the "good guys" list by governments that back the Syrian opposition.
A provincial leader of the alliance in Abu Kamal, according to an influential opposition figure in the area, is related to an Iraqi emir of Isis and has worked with the jihadist group to mediate a truce with the Sha'itat tribe. According to the same source, other rebel groups have often travelled to the Iraqi border town of Husaiba to win support from Isis for leadership in their areas.
Moreover, Isis has followed new strategies during its latest offensive, in Iraq and Syria, to establish long-term presence in the areas it controls. Such strategies include greater leeway for local forces to run their daily state of affairs, instead of the old strategy of directly managing these areas. In areas where it still fears an uprising, the group maintains direct control. Isis is also planning to recruit foreign jihadists within the ranks of groups co-opted by it to ensure their loyalty.
Even in Deraa, where Jabhat al-Nusra has steadily consolidated its presence, sources say that Isis has supporters close to the top leadership of the al-Qaida affiliate and there are clans willing to declare allegiance to Isis. Increasingly, Isis is becoming more sophisticated and resilient. Contrary to speculations that the group is overreaching itself, Isis gains the loyalty of more forces every time it controls a new area. It is expected that if the group makes headway into Aleppo, members of like-minded jihadi factions such as Ahrar al-Sham will defect and join its ranks.
Beyond its advertised victories, Isis is building a vast network of supporters even within moderate ranks that could help it persist in the face of a military action similar to this weekend's American air strikes.
Time appears to be on its side, and unless there is a comprehensive political and military approach to fight it in both Iraq and Syria the group is here to stay.
Typical. The intervention-averse Obama could care less about genocide against Christians and es, but send in the troops as soon as the start slaughtering they devil-worshipers.
I bet I'm older than you. I'm also 100% in agreement, there was no fixing anything in that region. You just don't walk in a region like that and tell them how it's going to be. You either wipe them all out and start again, or just don't go.
well, I thought it was wonderful how the Iraqi's immediately appreciated Bremer's Baghdad stock exchange.
I'm 43. And I would agree. If they can't fix their own , it ain't gonna happen.
You have me beat by a mere couple years...
Well if you ever get to San Antonio, you can pay up on that bet and buy me a beer.You have me beat by a mere couple years...
Keep trying to get Agloco to meet me for a beer again, but being busy... it ain't easy.
bull . The Ottoman Empire was a good solid empire with no more internal violence than Europe. the Arabs and other tribes lived happily and relatively peacefully under the Ottoman Empire for over 400 years.
And before that there was the Persian Empire. A beautiful empire that had lots of culture and technology.
This myth that these lands were always warring against each other is one of the biggest lies in history.
Oil was discovered in the area and with Ottomans siding with Germany in WWI, it made the western empires to wreak havoc, break up the Ottoman Empire and untimately divide it like I said before, like a birthday cake. Not to mention they added a small country in the middle called Israel. Since then as I said the Western empires have been benefiting from keeping these people warring against each other.
Yes, I'm sure the Ottoman and Persian empires were paradise.
Anyway, back to current times
ing punks.You have me beat by a mere couple years...
I visit family at the RGV often... sometimes we make the drive up to San Antonio... it's normally just for a day, but I'll let you know if we're not in a hurry...
The plans for reconfiguring the Middle East started several years before the First World War. It was during the First World War, however, that the manifestation of these colonial designs could visibly be seen with the “Great Arab Revolt” against the Ottoman Empire.
Despite the fact that the British, French, and Italians were colonial powers which had prevented the Arabs from enjoying any freedom in countries like Algeria, Libya, Egypt, and Sudan, these colonial powers managed to portray themselves as the friends and allies of Arab liberation.
During the “Great Arab Revolt” the British and the French actually used the Arabs as foot soldiers against the Ottomans to further their own geo-political schemes. The secret Sykes–Picot Agreement between London and Paris is a case in point. France and Britain merely managed to use and manipulate the Arabs by selling them the idea of Arab liberation from the so-called “repression” of the Ottomans.
In reality, the Ottoman Empire was a multi-ethnic empire. It gave local and cultural autonomy to all its peoples, but was manipulated into the direction of becoming a Turkish en y. Even the Armenian Genocide that would ensue in Ottoman Anatolia has to be analyzed in the same context as the contemporary targeting of Christians in Iraq as part of a sectarian scheme unleashed by external actors to divide the Ottoman Empire, Anatolia, and the citizens of the Ottoman Empire.
After the collapse of the Ottoman Empire, it was London and Paris which denied freedom to the Arabs, while sowing the seeds of discord amongst the Arab peoples. Local corrupt Arab leaders were also partners in the project and many of them were all too happy to become clients of Britain and France. In the same sense, the “Arab Spring” is being manipulated today. The U.S., Britain, France, and others are now working with the help of corrupt Arab leaders and figures to restructure the Arab World and Africa.
The Yinon Plan, which is a continuation of British stratagem in the Middle East, is an Israeli strategic plan to ensure Israeli regional superiority. It insists and stipulates that Israel must reconfigure its geo-political environment through the balkanization of the surrounding Arab states into smaller and weaker states.
Israeli strategists viewed Iraq as their biggest strategic challenge from an Arab state. This is why Iraq was outlined as the centerpiece to the balkanization of the Middle East and the Arab World. In Iraq, on the basis of the concepts of the Yinon Plan, Israeli strategists have called for the division of Iraq into a Kurdish state and two Arab states, one for Shiite Muslims and the other for Sunni Muslims. The first step towards establishing this was a war between Iraq and Iran, which the Yinon Plan discusses.
Today, the imperialist designs of the United States, Britain, France, and Germany have not changed. What has changed is the pretext and justification for waging their neo-colonial wars of conquest. During the colonial period, the narratives and justifications for waging war were accepted by public opinion in the colonizing countries, such as Britain and France. Today’s “just wars” and “just causes” are now being conducted under the banners of women’s rights, human rights, humanitarianism, and democracy.
http://www.globalresearch.ca/prepari...dle-east/27786
A few days ago you were characterizing as not going along with the rest of NATO. Now you have characterizing them as having the same brain.
Cognitive dissonance or ignorance or both?
So, you said this, but don't have any evidence for it, is that correct?
Well, Maliki is backing out, so the US plan worked. Now they just have to put the genie back in the lamp.
Obama and Kerry were selling the bombing of Syria as helping the freedom fighters vs Assad's dictatorship. They were selling their bull to anyone who would listen
Read history on the Ottoman Empire and you will see it was a magnificent empire. Read history books is all I can say, can't help you much more than that. Good luck.
I know that you insist on dumbing down what was and is clearly multiple factions into a singular.Obama and Kerry were selling the bombing of Syria as helping the freedom fighters vs Assad's dictatorship. They were selling their bull to anyone who would listen
Read history on the Ottoman Empire and you will see it was a magnificent empire. Read history books is all I can say, can't help you much more than that. Good luck.
Oh and btw fun fact: the Ottomans were still slaving in 1917. From a technology standpoint, the Arabs were ahead of the Europeans up until the renaissance. Their guns were what took down the walls of Constantinople. Hungary and Kiev getting raped by Genghis didn't help. After that though, rationalism in Europe started to pull ahead and by the 19th century they were buying their from Europe.
You really like glamorizing every civilization but your own. You that bored that you get your attention this way or you really think its valid? Either way it doesn't put you in the most glamorous light.
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