In the interest of fairness, here’s a pro-Turkey video that is fairly representative. (In general, they’re not very informative as to anything that is actually going on; they’re more emotional please.

But, for what it is I figured I’d post one.

These attempts have basically the opposite of the intended effect on me. I think it’s the way this misogyny.

Meant to post it the other day in the run up. Also, FWIW, stuff coming out of Turkey is less interesting for obvious reasons:

RUDAW: Turkey cracks down on social media critics of Syria offensive

 

So Russia is basically the assigned peacekeeper to the region and they’re at least publicly claiming they don’t know of any gambling in the casino, which is doing great business, by the way.

They’re plan, whatever it is, is mysterious thus far.

I don’t always read Sputnik, but when I do, it’s to find out what Russia thinks I should know.

RT is way funnier.

So, is the US getting into the game? Or are they just intervening themselves between Turkish encroachment and the oil fields further south?

Who knows?!

Russian vehicles heading toward the front of the region that has been cleared and where in no way is there any shelling going on.

Also, a note on Conan:

[Edit: Don’t worry-they like dogs. That will become clear.]

 

So, the TA announced today that they had killed al-Baghdadi’s second in command but would not reveal his identity.

This was public knowledge on  Twitter Sunday afternoon. I figured it must not be much of a thing. Weird.

Maybe stating the obvious, but the TA has largely been reduced to posturing as we pulled out. Wondering if our return to “secure the oil” or whatever our military leaders told him to allow them some more operational freedom will change things a bit.

The American news organizations treating this as news today is… unsettling. In certain ways, this is a new low, i.e. it’s only news/real once POTUS says so, even if any jackass with two thumbs and a smart phone could figure it out.

 

dhappy42

The filming and distribution of atrocities by the side committing the atrocities is a fascinating development to me. I’m reading a history of war reporting and up until very recently, “atrocity propaganda,” true or not, was something nations used against their opponents. Nations have tended to cover-up atrocities their soldiers commit or blame them on the enemy. And made up atrocities to blame on the enemy.

Other than terrorist groups, who are by definition in the terrorize-the-enemy-civilians business, has it ever happened that nations have, in effect, bragged about committing war crimes? I mean in modern times, say, since 1800.

Turkey just hit the water supply of a town with a refugee camp?

How’s that for an answer?

That doesn’t really answer your question though, does it?  

RIC also reporting that Russians have been injured by Turkish forces. That’s obviously a big deal if true.***

But, as per your implications above that there aren’t the kind of repercussions for things we’d normally expect, I really don’t know how anyone is going to respond to that.

***But how should Russia respond? A violent attack could rip apart their best laid plans, especially if it was a stupid accident.

dhappy42

If this is a digression we can break it out to its own thread or continue via PM. My hot take hypothesis on this phenomenon — nations broadcasting their own soldiers’ atrocities — is that the world has become anesthetized to terrorism. States have always used terror, but have been checked somewhat by public opinion, donestic and international. So they’ve been careful to deny using terror and have gone to great lengths to cover it up. But now, some nations, like Turkey apparently, have calculated that if there’s no downside cost, domestically or internationally, publicizing state terrorism and atrocities against civilians magnifies its effectiveness.

(The irony is that Turkey still adamantly denies the Armenian genocide and is extraordinarily touchy when it’s brought up.)

So if Turkish soldiers bayonet babies, who’s going to do anything about it? Trump? The EU? The UN? Even if there is some short-term slap-on-the-wrist, Erdogan will never end up on trial in The Hague. Only small-state losers are ever arrested, charged and tried.

If only they had some means to send a message. Like, online maybe.

So, I wonder what the Twitters are saying.

Nobody trolls like the Russians.

 

They do such good work.

Here’s an example from a verified source of the kind of stuff that has gone on even during the cease far, like, during the fighting that kept going on. After Trump negotiated the cease fire.

Rudaw: ‘This is one of your whores’: Turkey’s Syrian proxies desecrate corpse of female SDF fighter

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region- Turkey’s Syrian Proxies, under the banner of the Syrian National Army, continued their rampage on Tuesday as they appeared to  disrespect the corpse of a female Kurdish fighter killed in battle.

On Tuesday, in a video published by the UK-based war monitor the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), a bearded fighter is seen alongside others identifying themselves as the “Mujahideen of Faylaq al-Majd,” the ‘Jihadis of the Majid corps’ who invoke the word “Allah w Akbar” (God is Great) on several occasions.

“The corpses of PKK (Kurdistan Worker’s Party) and PYD (Democratic Union Party) pigs under the feet of the Mujahideen of Faylaq (Corps) al-Majd,” the fighter who is recording the video is seen saying.

Fighters of the same faction can be seen standing on the corpse of a member of the all-Kurdish female unit Women’s Protection Units (YPJ), part of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).

“This is one of your whores whom you have sent to us. This is one of the whores under our feet,” the Turkish-backed proxy member, as he appears to chuckle from happiness, is seen saying.

According to Hawar news agency, an outlet close to the ruling Kurdish authorities in northern Syria, the Kurdish female fighter, alongside her comrades, was killed on Tuesday afternoon in battles outside of the city of Kobane.

The battles had reportedly taken place as Turkish-backed groups conducted an attack on a meeting point of YPJ, despite a US-brokered ceasefire deal being in place.

This one happens to be associated with one of the “big” stories on the ground, but there are other videos around that show militant jihadis openly and loudly operating in the area, ostensibly under Turkey’s auspices.

They also put the video at the top of the piece where someone might play it before reading the piece, which is kinda a fucked up thing to do.

Also, let’s see if this FOXNews video embeds:

<NOPE> [Edit: Stupid Word Press. This is medieval.]

Anyway, this FOXNews video that I have linked to here is worth watching. We’re sending troops to get the oil Or protect the oil. Same diff. And bad stuff is happening.

Their reporting is pretty interesting, especially given that it’s FOXNews.

dhappy42

Fox News foreign correspondents are usually, but not always, legit journalists.

Marciano490

Have protesters suddenly realized that if they do some catchy Harlem Shake viral stuff their protests will gain more attention? Because it seems so and it’s a pretty damn smart strategy.

The Kurds have their own Greta Thunberg.

Marciano490

Sorry if this is inappropriate, but all I can picture is Anne Frank with a vlog had history or technology progressed at a slightly different pace.

Follow my captivity on InstaGram, huh? Huh.

That’s the world we live in now, my friend.

Heck, some SDF types were having #FF on Twitter, so it all makes as much sense as anything else.

Currently, the US colonel who is the spokesperson for Operation Inherent Resolve in northern Iraq is giving a press conference and is really pumping up the role Kurdish Peshmerga forces have played in fighting ISIS/ISIL. It looks like it’s being pretty widely covered in the region.

Turkish coverage POV of the current cease fire and safety zone arrangement.

Hurriyet Daily News: Erdoğan says will clear terrorists from Syria border if Sochi deal fails

ISTANBUL

Turkey will clear the YPG/PKK terrorists from its border area with northeast Syria if Russiadoes not fulfill its obligations under a bilateral accord clinched this week, Turkish President Tayyip Erdoğan has said.

“If the terrorists are not cleared at the end of the 150 hours, we will take control and clean it ourselves,” he said on Oct. 26.

Speaking at a meeting of football officials in Istanbul, Erdoğan once again stressed the deadline set this week for YPG/PKK terrorists to pull back from northern Syria.

“They said ‘We cleared the YPG’ but they did not. They sent us a statement at the end of 120 hours that they cleaned the area but they could not,” Erdoğan said, accusing the U.S. of not fulfilling its commitments.

The 120 hours refer to the time span during which Turkey and the United State agreed on Oct. 17 to pause “Operation Peace Spring” to allow the withdrawal of terrorist YPG/PKK forces from the planned safe zone.

“Turkey has the power to crush the terrorist organization,” he added.

Erdoğan also urged the world’s countries to respect Turkey’s security concerns and support its safe-zone project to ensure the voluntary return of Syrian refugees.

Under the Turkish-Russian deal, the YPG has 150 hours, started at noon on Oct. 23, to withdraw from almost the entire northeastern border of Syria, from the Euphrates river to the Iraqi border.

Russia and the Syrian regime’s forces would move in to ensure that the YPG pulls back 30 kilometers (about 20 miles) from the border. The 150-hour timespan expires on Oct. 29.

After the schedule for the withdrawal concludes, joint Turkish-Russian patrols would begin along a 10-kilometer-(roughly 6 miles) wide strip of the border.

The only exception for the joint patrol will be the Qamishli town at the far-eastern end of the border.

More in there about the Russian patrols, including how they are experienced MP units from Chechnya. [Edit: I had forgotten about this… to be continued!]

The 150 hours started Oct 23 at noon so will run until Tuesday, Oct 29 at 6pm local, 12pm EST.

The Autonomous Administration seems to think that they will control the border crossing of Semalka by the tri-country border of Syria, Iraq, and Turkey, and that the Syrian army will handle military responsibilities. I place the acceptability of this arrangement to Erdogan at approximately zero.

In other news, here’s a brief thread from RIC about being a regular person in the “safe zone”:

I haven’t seen anyone who feels like they know how this is going to shake out.

barbed wire Bob

This is fine.

Time: U.S. Spies Say Turkish-Backed Militias Are Killing Civilians as They Clear Kurdish Areas in Syria

Three weeks after President Donald Trump ordered U.S. forces to pull out of northern Syria, American spy agencies are seeing disturbing intelligence. Turkish-backed militias, armed by Ankara, have killed civilians in areas abandoned by the U.S., four U.S. military and intelligence officials tell TIME. The officials say they fear that the militias committing those potential war crimes may be using weapons that the U.S. sold to Turkey.

. . .

This intelligence has led some U.S. analysts to conclude that Turkey and its allies may be preparing to clear civilian populations from the area, which has largely been controlled by the Kurds, Ankara’s long-time enemies in the region. Turkish President Recep Erdogan told the United Nations on Sept. 24 that he planned to establish a safe zone across the border in Syria, and to resettle some of the 3.6 million Syrian refugees currently sheltered in Turkey. On Oct. 26, Erdogan said Turkey planned to “clear terrorists” from the so-called safe zone if Kurdish forces aren’t gone by 3 p.m. Greenwich Mean Time on Oct. 29.

U.S. officials are worried that a full collapse of the ceasefire on Tuesday, combined with a broad Turkish campaign to remove Kurds from the security zone, will result in wide scale war crimes. They are also worried that a humanitarian crisis, combined with renewed fighting, could accelerate the return of ISIS, which thrives on disorder.

“will result in wide scale war crimes”

Love the use of the impersonal case. Shit like this is why advanced driving classes frequently don’t allow the students to say “accident” because it’s not an accident, it’s a fucking collision.

“Accident” is from the Latin for “to happen,” FWIW. The bullshit is encoded write in the roots of our vernacular. How great is that?

Ironically, Erdogan’s own personal language is far more direct, so who is the press worried about offending?

 

 

We’re baaaaaa-aaaack!

SOHR: U.S. Forces return to bases north and northeast of Syria from which they withdrew in the past few days by Trump’s decision

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights learned that the U.S. Forces are returning to bases from which they had withdrawn in the past days north and northeast of Syria, after the decision of the U.S. President Donald Trump, and in the details monitored by the Syrian Observatory: more than 500 American soldiers and military and logistical equipment reached Qaserki base, which is located on the M4 highway between Tal Tamr and Tal Baydar, in the area between the Iraqi border – Qameshly – Aleppo over the past 3 days, also Sarin Airport has been witnessing for 5 days landings movement of American warplanes and unloading of cargo planes, as well as the presence of American logistical and military vehicles and equipment.

I feel like we’ve had these poor guys cruising around the desert like aimless teenagers for like two weeks now.

canderson

They’re getting frequent continuous tracker miles in so they can get a free ride on a C-130 one day.

OilCanShotTupac

Gallows humor aside, this has the whiff of Vietnam, taking a position, abandoning it, then taking it again, to no effect (except for needless death, waste of millions of dollars, and squandering of prestige and influence).

Reverend

In about 12 hours we might have some idea of what this is.

[Edit: Narrative: They had no idea.]

Marciano490

So is Trump still Cyrus or is he Moses now?

Reverend

Lol.

Now back to reality.

Zion Oil & Gas: Dr. David Jeremiah and Zion Oil in Prophecy

Jerusalem Post: Oil in the North: Moses’ blessing coming to life

Zion Oil & Gas is currently exploring for oil and gas in Israel in areas located on-shore between Haifa and Tel Aviv.

You can’t make this shit up. You can’t-it’s all already here and baked in.

Is this the darkest possible timeline?

 

There are many things that can be said about the man, but one thing is certain: Erdogan is very clear.

HAARETZ: Turkey Will ‘Cleanse’ Syria Border if Russia Fails to Clear Kurdish Fighters, Erdogan Says

“If this area is not cleared from terrorists at the end of the 150 hours, then we will handle the situation by ourselves and will do all the cleansing work,” Erdogan said in a speech in Istanbul.

Russia has already warned the YPG that it will face the full force of Turkey’s army, the second biggest in NATO, if it fails to withdraw its fighters and weapons from the designated area in northeast Syria within the agreed deadline.

Erdogan also accused the European Union of lying because it had promised 6 billion euros to help house and feed around 3.6 million Syrian refugees currently living in Turkey but had only provided half of that amount. Turkey has spent around $40 billion euros on the refugees, Erdogan added.

The president repeated an earlier threat to send the refugees to Europe if European countries failed to provide more financial support to help resettle them in a “safe zone” Ankara wants to establish on the Syrian side of the border with Turkey.

“If Turkey’s plans for the return (of the refugees)… is not supported, we will have no choice but to open our borders. We would open the borders, they can go to Europe,” he said.