Breaking: US and Russia to announce Syria cease fire

[Zlaxer]

It is inevitable that we will piss certain groups off by leaving the ME....still worth it...I feel bad for the Kurds, but we told them way in advance we intended to do this...

Time to detach from other people's battles.....

Don't give a shit if the Ruskies get a deep water port out of this...not my concern...they're not going to be invading CONUS or Alaska/Hawaii anytime soon.

[BjornP]

What a difference a couple of years make... Back when they were fighting ISIS, Kurds were everyone's darlings. Even the PYG-commies were respected. Now? "You know, a century ago Kurds were helping genocide Armenians...".

Finally! Kurds will get their comeuppance for that horrible Armenian genocide. At the hands of the Turks...

Not my point. The Kurds did well against ISIS, but they are in tough spot. In that region it often changes who are on top and who gets genocideed. You need strong allies who you can trust or you need to be stronger and meaner than those around you.
Christians are more or less cleansed from the region by now. Nobody cares. It's everyone for themselves.
If the Kurds want a homeland they can go ahead and make one for themselves. Look at what the Jews did. They didn't wait for anyone to give them permission. It's all about creating the facts on the ground and then get everyone else to accept them.

The Jews made Israel happen by lobbying the British government to enable mass immigration into the British mandate of Palestine, followed by the Balfour Declaration guarenteeing them the creation of a Jewish state in Palestine. Israel was created when it was simply because the Jewish settlers became impatient. And if Czechoslovakia hadn't provided weapons and airplanes to the emerging Israeli state, they'd have been a footnote today. Can Kurds pull off the same? No. And they also already have a homeland without needing to invade some land that hasn't belonged to them in nearly two millenia, they just don't have their political control over it. Not without very powerful friends. Russia doesn't want anything to do with them, and China has no interest or motive in helping them either, and the EU wants to be on good terms with Turkey so they won't allow unchecked refugee hordes into EU again.

Also, the PYG aren't (openly) fighting an indepence fight. They're not actively fighting Assad, yet Assad's no fan of having to share power, so it's convenient for him to have Erdogan do the dirty work for him. If they started buying massive amounts of guns, armor and aircrafts, then they'd be fighting and losing to both the Turkish military, the Syrian - and probably the Russian and Iranian and Hizbollah military, as well, before their orders for armaments were even sent off. The Kurds ain't got Balfour no declaration.

[pineapplemike]

i didn't get a christmas card from the kurds last year, fuck em

[Montegriffo]

Well, that didn't take long.

Turkish warplanes have bombed parts of north-eastern Syria at the start of an offensive which could lead to conflict with Kurdish-led allies of the US.

Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the operation was to create a "safe zone" cleared of Kurdish militias which will also house Syrian refugees.

According to the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), civilian areas came under attack from Turkish planes.

Turkish ground forces have also been massing on the border.

The offensive was launched just days after President Donald Trump controversially withdrew US troops from northern Syria, a decision announced after a phone call with Mr Erdogan that sparked widespread criticism at home and abroad.

The Kurds - key US allies in defeating the jihadist group Islamic State (IS) in Syria - guard thousands of IS fighters and their relatives in prisons and camps in areas under their control and it is unclear whether they will continue to be safely detained.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-49983357

Now is Trump going to honour his threat to destroy Turkey economically or was that just more empty rhetoric from President Tweet?

[Fife]

He can't keep getting away with it.

[BjornP]

Must be weird to be Assad these days. On one hand, the Turks are taking out a potential, future threat to the Assad regime. On the other... he's also forced to accept Turkey invading his country to set up a giant refugee zone.

[TheReal_ND]

[TheReal_ND]

[Speaker to Animals]

LOL

“Hey, when you’re a celebrity, you can do whatever you want.”

Not all Syrian Kurds were outraged at US policy, however. One unnamed YPJ fighter strongly disagreed with the SDC’s statement, adding “Trump fucked us so good we ought to be taking his ass to Red Lobster.”

https://www.duffelblog.com/2019/10/syri ... us-dinner/

[TheReal_ND]

Welcome to the club motherfuckers