Ahmadinejad has submitted his name for the presidential elections.
― On Some Faraday Beach (Le Bateau Ivre), Wednesday, 12 April 2017 08:47 (seven years ago) link
Banner day for Iran lunatics:
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/12/opinion/why-is-trump-fighting-isis-in-syria.html?smid=fb-share&_r=0
This is a time for Trump to be Trump — utterly cynical and unpredictable. ISIS right now is the biggest threat to Iran, Hezbollah, Russia and pro-Shiite Iranian militias — because ISIS is a Sunni terrorist group that plays as dirty as Iran and Russia.Trump should want to defeat ISIS in Iraq. But in Syria? Not for free, not now. In Syria, Trump should let ISIS be Assad’s, Iran’s, Hezbollah’s and Russia’s headache — the same way we encouraged the mujahedeen fighters to bleed Russia in Afghanistan.
Trump should want to defeat ISIS in Iraq. But in Syria? Not for free, not now. In Syria, Trump should let ISIS be Assad’s, Iran’s, Hezbollah’s and Russia’s headache — the same way we encouraged the mujahedeen fighters to bleed Russia in Afghanistan.
That worked out grand last time, didn't it?
― Wag1 Shree Rajneesh (ShariVari), Wednesday, 12 April 2017 19:56 (seven years ago) link
Oh, a Thomas L. Friedman column.
― curmudgeon, Friday, 14 April 2017 17:02 (seven years ago) link
no surprise--Krauthammer is excited about one-off strike in Syria, others not so
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/13/world/middleeast/why-the-syrian-chemical-weapons-problem-is-so-hard-to-solve.html?rref=collection%2Ftimestopic%2FSyria&action=click&contentCollection=world®ion=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=4&pgtype=collection
― curmudgeon, Friday, 14 April 2017 18:02 (seven years ago) link
didn't link to Krauthamer's column
So Erdogan had unlimited funds, controls the media, silenced opposition, intimidated voters, and still only manages a 51vs49% win in the referendum. Embarrassing.
― On Some Faraday Beach (Le Bateau Ivre), Sunday, 16 April 2017 19:09 (seven years ago) link
tbf after almost a century ppl are probably pretty attached to democracy
― Mordy, Sunday, 16 April 2017 19:13 (seven years ago) link
Shame half of the ppl voted democracy in the bin then.
― On Some Faraday Beach (Le Bateau Ivre), Sunday, 16 April 2017 19:26 (seven years ago) link
if u were wondering what the US gov thought about all thishttps://twitter.com/CNNTURK_ENG/status/854059951106424836
BREAKING Presidential sources: US President Trump calls Turkish President Erdoğan to congratulate him on #Turkeyreferendum result.
― Mordy, Monday, 17 April 2017 23:33 (seven years ago) link
Ugh, though not surprised.
― curmudgeon, Tuesday, 18 April 2017 04:49 (seven years ago) link
same old, same old
Syria's military said Israel struck a military installation southwest of Damascus International Airport before dawn Thursday, setting off a series of explosions and raising tensions further between the two neighbors.
Apparently seeking to interrupt weapons transfers to the Hezbollah group in Lebanon, Israel has struck inside Syria with increasing frequency in recent weeks, making the war-torn country a proxy theater for Israel's wider war with Iran.
http://time.com/4758928/israel-syria-strikes-iran/
― curmudgeon, Friday, 28 April 2017 14:53 (seven years ago) link
There was this recently as well-
American officials expressed indignation at the Turkish bombing, which killed as many as 20 Kurdish fighters in Syria and, according to the U.S. military, five Kurdish peshmerga troops in a coordinated attack across the border in northern Iraq. According to the Turkish government, both attacks targeted members of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which both Ankara and Washington consider a terrorist group.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/checkpoint/wp/2017/04/26/pentagon-expands-rebuke-of-turkey-over-iraq-syria-strikes/
― curmudgeon, Friday, 28 April 2017 15:01 (seven years ago) link
The Palestinian Islamist group Hamas will drop its longstanding call for Israel's destruction as well as its association with the Muslim Brotherhood, in a policy document to be issued on Monday, Gulf Arab sources said.
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-palestinians-hamas-document-idUSKBN17X1N8
― Punnet of the Grapes (Tom D.), Monday, 1 May 2017 18:20 (seven years ago) link
(raises eyebrows)
― a little too mature to be cute (Aimless), Monday, 1 May 2017 18:22 (seven years ago) link
But the document, to be announced later on Monday, will still reject Israel's right to exist and back "armed struggle" against it, the Gulf Arab sources told Reuters.
obviously i'm missing some finer distinction here
― Mordy, Monday, 1 May 2017 18:29 (seven years ago) link
oh, the first point is more of an obstacle than the second. armed struggle is contingent and negotiable, while a right to exist is absolute.
― a little too mature to be cute (Aimless), Monday, 1 May 2017 18:31 (seven years ago) link
'We don't think it should not exist, we just don't think it should not not exist...'
― Frederik B, Monday, 1 May 2017 18:39 (seven years ago) link
I wonder, also, if there's some nuance to the Arabic that we're not getting.
― behavioral sink (Sanpaku), Monday, 1 May 2017 19:27 (seven years ago) link
it sounds to me like they want to have their cake (the appearance of reasonableness and moderation) and eat it too (still get to pursue same policies without making any real conciliatory gestures)
― Mordy, Monday, 1 May 2017 19:32 (seven years ago) link
It seems pretty unambiguous: "But, he said, "unlike Fatah, Hamas does not accept Israel's right to exist on the rest of the land. Hamas's constant position is not to cede any of our historical rights and not to recognize the (Israeli) occupation.""
― Frederik B, Monday, 1 May 2017 19:46 (seven years ago) link
I kinda thought they were getting weapons from Hezbollah/Syria/Iran, though, or am I completely messing things up?
― Frederik B, Monday, 1 May 2017 19:47 (seven years ago) link
Well, Hamas is Sunni, Hezbollah is Shia. Why the fuck didn't I fact-check that before I posted... Sorry.
― Frederik B, Monday, 1 May 2017 19:48 (seven years ago) link
Iran has funded Hamas recently, especially as they've become alienated from the Sunni world (esp in light of Muslim Brotherhood losing their position in Egypt - there seemed like a brief moment that Hamas was going to be able to renew their historical funding from Egypt), but it's unclear to me how extensive that funding is. You'd think it would be less successful than their funding of Hezbollah since it's easier to pass weapons through Syria than through the Sinai but idk exactly what those numbers are. Hezbollah wouldn't fund Hamas directly bc they're both client states.
― Mordy, Monday, 1 May 2017 19:54 (seven years ago) link
Also there was a period recently when the Iran funding had dried up - after Hamas had criticized Assad and taken the side of the rebels - but I think that has since been mended.
― Mordy, Monday, 1 May 2017 19:55 (seven years ago) link
U.S. to arm Kurdshttps://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/09/us/politics/trump-kurds-syria-army.html
― Mordy, Tuesday, 9 May 2017 18:43 (seven years ago) link
trump is good now
― -_- (jim in vancouver), Tuesday, 9 May 2017 18:46 (seven years ago) link
stopped clock etc
― Οὖτις, Tuesday, 9 May 2017 18:49 (seven years ago) link
presumably he's just more malleable than bho & ppl have wanted this for a while
― Mordy, Tuesday, 9 May 2017 18:51 (seven years ago) link
It is the first sensible thing he has done since in office (but yeah, stopped clock etc)
― On Some Faraday Beach (Le Bateau Ivre), Tuesday, 9 May 2017 20:39 (seven years ago) link
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/us-accuses-syria-of-mass-executions-and-burning-bodies/2017/05/15/b7b66c86-3986-11e7-8854-21f359183e8c_story.html
― Mordy, Monday, 15 May 2017 20:34 (seven years ago) link
I'm sure 45 also told the Russian ambassador to get Syria to stop doing that. I wonder what he'll say in his meeting with Erdogan today.
― curmudgeon, Tuesday, 16 May 2017 16:11 (seven years ago) link
#Erdogan’s guards fight with #Kurdish protesters in front of Turkish Embassy in Washington DC pic.twitter.com/w3Q0BLzJUK— Turkey Observed (@TurkeyObserved) May 17, 2017
Erdogans henchmen were having some good old fun again this morning kicking Kurdish protestors. In DC.
― Le Bateau Ivre, Wednesday, 17 May 2017 13:42 (seven years ago) link
Land of the Free to Kick Some Kurds in the Head
― Punnet of the Grapes (Tom D.), Wednesday, 17 May 2017 13:45 (seven years ago) link
I read that this is not the first time they've done that.
― curmudgeon, Wednesday, 17 May 2017 15:09 (seven years ago) link
kinda awesome news from iran today
― Mordy, Saturday, 20 May 2017 22:42 (seven years ago) link
http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2017/05/strikes-kill-106-civilians-mayadeen-170526132541011.html
Al Jazeera's Patty Culhane, reporting from Washington DC, said the latest air strikes may relate to the so-called 'December Directive' - a memo sent by former US President Barack Obama changing the command structure enabling commanders on the ground to bypass the Pentagon and order air strikes, while also easing the restrictions on when they could fire. US President Donald Trump has maintained this directive.
"They used to have to have 'near certainty' that no civilians would be killed - it's a much looser rule now," she said.
"And that's why you're seeing many human rights groups coming out and saying that those changes need to go back to how they were before the 'December Directive'."
US military admits killing more than 100 civilians in Mosul air strike The latest strike came as the UN urged all countries bombing ISIL, or the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant group, in Syria to better distinguish between civilian and military targets.
― curmudgeon, Friday, 26 May 2017 15:23 (seven years ago) link
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/gunmen-kill-23-christians-in-central-egypt/2017/05/26/3d2693dc-41fc-11e7-adba-394ee67a7582_story.html?hpid=hp_hp-more-top-stories_egypt-635a%3Ahomepage%2Fstory&utm_term=.66f4e99bb70d
Christians have been generally supportive of Sissi’s military-backed government, but have become increasingly critical of the inability of the country’s security forces to protect their places of worship.
― curmudgeon, Friday, 26 May 2017 16:55 (seven years ago) link
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2017/may/31/sensitive-uk-terror-funding-inquiry-findings-may-never-be-published-saudi-arabia
― Punnet of the Grapes (Tom D.), Wednesday, 31 May 2017 16:21 (seven years ago) link
whats the fucking point of 'fighting' terrorism when you can't even level with your own people about the causes of it?
― officer sonny bonds, lytton pd (mayor jingleberries), Wednesday, 31 May 2017 16:36 (seven years ago) link
What a different world had Britain supported the sherif of Mecca Hussein bin Ali (and then his son Faisal) as suzerain of Arabia in the early 20s, rather than Ibn Saud. Wahabism would be a minor sect in Najd (rather than exported globally), Arabia would have been ruled by a moderate with deep ties to Britain (T.E. Laurence fought with Faisal), and Iraq would have gotten leadership with local roots (Faisal was installed in the midst of the post-Ottoman sectarian conflict there). One of those great "what ifs" of the 20th century.
― it's just locker room treason (Sanpaku), Wednesday, 31 May 2017 19:54 (seven years ago) link
This is pretty big:
http://mobile.reuters.com/article/amp/idUSKBN18W0DQ
KSA, UAE and Egypt are cutting ties with Qatar, accusing it of promoting terrorism among other things.
― Wag1 Shree Rajneesh (ShariVari), Monday, 5 June 2017 06:55 (seven years ago) link
The Qatari news agency apparently broadcast claims that the ruling family support Iran and Israel - which seems to have been the catalyst for this. Qatar says they were hacked.
― Wag1 Shree Rajneesh (ShariVari), Monday, 5 June 2017 06:59 (seven years ago) link
Lots of speculation that Qatar will aim to get back into their good books by shutting al Jazeera - which wasn't the network hacked but has apparently annoyed Saudi in the past.
― Wag1 Shree Rajneesh (ShariVari), Monday, 5 June 2017 07:57 (seven years ago) link
It's been a long time coming. Qatar supported Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, Islamists in Libya (UAE supports former Tripoli elites), and permits open funding for Jabhat Fateh al-Sham (formerly al-Nusra) by wealthy individuals, though that accusation is a bit rich, considering sheikh al-Ajmi is based in Kuwait and draws from Kuwaiti and Saudi individuals, too.
From what I've read, it seems unlikely Qatar has supported ISIS or Sh'ia militants in eastern Arabia.
― it's just locker room treason (Sanpaku), Monday, 5 June 2017 18:42 (seven years ago) link
FT has a good summary on the proximate cause.
https://www.ft.com/content/dd033082-49e9-11e7-a3f4-c742b9791d43
― American Fear of Pranksterism (Ed), Tuesday, 6 June 2017 02:06 (seven years ago) link
CNN: US suspects Russian hackers planted fake news behind Qatar crisis
Intelligence gathered by the US security agencies indicates that Russian hackers were behind the intrusion first reported by the Qatari government two weeks ago, US officials say.
― it's just locker room treason (Sanpaku), Tuesday, 6 June 2017 23:05 (seven years ago) link
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/06/world/middleeast/adnan-khashoggi-dead-saudi-arms-trader.html?smid=tw-share
"In his later years, Mr. Khashoggi lived well but in much-reduced circumstances. He flew on commercial jets, fended off creditors and dismissed his bodyguard, a Korean martial arts expert known as Mr. Kill."
― mark s, Thursday, 8 June 2017 08:35 (seven years ago) link
“What did I do wrong? Nothing,” he said toward the end of his life. “I behaved unethically, for ethical reasons.”
― curmudgeon, Thursday, 8 June 2017 18:20 (seven years ago) link
same
― mark s, Thursday, 8 June 2017 18:23 (seven years ago) link
converse. I behave ethically, but in regretable cases for non-ethical reasons. The first time I became a vegetarian it was to get into a vegetarian's pants, etc.
― it's just locker room treason (Sanpaku), Friday, 9 June 2017 01:44 (seven years ago) link