Syria reported to have use Chemical Warfare

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

But Cain, Turkey is perfect and beautiful and there is no corruption there.

And it's way more free than America.

Unless you wish to say unkind things about the government or the founding father.  Then grab your ass.

Interestingly enough, both Rat and Purple Eris loved Turkey so much, they moved to England.

Probably only because the love was so intense that they couldn't stand being so near it, and needed to love it even better from a distance.

[Cain]

I'm still astounded Rat came to any conclusions close to that about Turkey.  The place is about 3 steps away from a military dictatorship at any given moment.

Admittedly, with no knowledge of the history of the country or the language, looking at it from the surface, things seem simple enough, and you could mistake it for any Eastern European democracy in terms of development.  But you've got a horribly Islamist (if somewhat democratic) government.  You've got a horribly horrible and undemocratic military, which trumpets secular values at every given moment but, historically, has had little issue with working with Islamists or Fascists to achieve their goals.  You've got the centuries long suppression of the Kurds and Armenians. 

And, lets never forget, Turkey is both a major NATO ally and the location of the terminus of the Baku–Tbilisi–Ceyhan pipeline and the proposed Qatar-Turkey pipeline (which likely has an impact on the violence in Syria currently, and also undercuts the possibility of the Iranian-Iraqi-Syrian pipeline ever being built).  So, the political currents run deep, and you can bet both American "deep state" power brokers and international corporations with vested interests in such things are never far from the picture.

Turkey jammed itself fist deep into the Syrian mess, right from the start.  They and Qatar wanted the Muslim Brotherhood to come to power - by peaceful protest if possible, but as soon as things turned violent, Turkey opened its borders and allowed refugees to spill over.  And then spill back, with arms and training (no doubt helpfully provided by Qatar and "retired" Turkish military officers).  They allowed Jabhat al-Nusra to set up shop when they appeared to be the major fighting force in Syria, and then after the ISIS-AQ dustup, they started helping them, too.

Problem is, if you can believe Sibel Edmonds (and that is a big if....though I generally trust her on this point, as it was her revelation as a whistleblower which got her gagged in the first place), American politicians with some political influence have taken significant bribes from Turkish officials in America.  Interestingly, these bribes were geographically located in DC and in Chicago, from the 1990s onwards, and were not party-specific.

So, the question is are American politicians turning a blind eye to Turkey because it serves their interests, because they've been caught out yet again in a region whose politics continue to confound them or because a select group of American officials are under pressure to protect Turkish interests?  Or, more likely, is it a mix of all three?

[LMNO]

Honestly, I think it was something similar to when I took a road trip down south in the US.  In Alabama, we were treated very well, everyone was friendly, the food was excellent, the music was great, the land itself is beautiful... and so long as you didn't scratch the surface too deeply, you'd think it was one of the better places in the country to live.

[Cain]

Could well be.  Istanbul and Ankara are cosmopolitan, modern cities, vibrant and exciting places to live.

But the ruling party's social base is located in the rural south.  Poor, isolated, very religious and quite resentful of the major urban centres.  Much of the military high command, by contrast, do seem to come from the Istanbul area...though given the relationship of secularism, political extremes and the Turkish military, that doesn't necessarily mean a predisposition to liberalism.

[Cain]

So, this is working out well.

US air strikes in Syria are encouraging anti-regime fighters to forge alliances with or even defect to Islamic State (Isis), according to a series of interviews conducted by the Guardian.

Fighters from the Free Syrian Army (FSA) and Islamic military groups are joining forces with Isis, which has gained control of swaths of Syria and Iraq and has beheaded six western hostages in the past few months.

Some brigades have transferred their allegiance, while others are forming tactical alliances or truces. Support among civilians also appears to be growing in some areas as a result of resentment over US-led military action.

"Isis now is like a magnet that attracts large numbers of Muslims," said Abu Talha, who defected from the FSA a few months ago and is now in negotiations with other fighters from groups such as the al-Nusra Front to follow suit.

I seem to recall saying something about our fairweather friends in Syria.

Also, this seems like a curious re-run of 2007:

The United States plans to buy arms for Sunni tribesmen in Iraq including AK-47s, rocket-propelled grenades and mortar rounds to help bolster the battle against Islamic State militants in Anbar province, according to a Pentagon document prepared for Congress.

The plan to spend $24.1 million represents a small fraction of the larger, $1.6 billion spending request to Congress focusing on training and arming Iraqi and Kurdish forces.

But the document underscored the importance the Pentagon places on the Sunni tribesmen to its overall strategy to diminish Islamic State, and cautioned Congress about the consequences of failing to assist them.

I say curious, because clearly arms are not the issue.  The region is awash in US arms from the last time the US armed Sunni clans in the region.  The problem is a central government so odious and awful that allying with ISIS seemed like a decent alternative. 

[Cain]

Compare and contrast:

April 15th, 2015

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/04/15/pentagon-isis-hasn-t-taken-ramadi-yet.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+thedailybeast%2Farticles+%28The+Daily+Beast+-+Latest+Articles%29

Pentagon officials stopped short of confirming reports that a key Iraqi city is close to falling to the self-proclaimed Islamic State.

If the city of Ramadi was truly in danger on being overrun by ISIS, it would be a devastating setback to those hoping that the terror group has been thrown back on its heels.

But some Pentagon officials were skeptical.

"As of yesterday, Ramadi was not about to fall," a defense official explained to The Daily Beast.

And at U.S. Central Command, which leads the American military effort in the region, said they had no indications that there had been an immediate change in the security situation in Ramadi.

Residents reportedly told local reporters Wednesday that ISIS had claimed the villages of Sjariyah, Albu-Ghanim and Soufiya, in Iraq's restive Anbar province. Those villages lead to Ramadi, the capital of the province. There were several tweets from locals suggesting that Ramadi was about to fall.

Reports that Ramadi is about to fall comes as the Iraqi government is take the campaign against ISIS to the Sunni-dominated Anbar province.  ISIS has been pressing onto Ramadi for nearly a year.

On Monday, Pentagon officials said that Iraqi forces, backed by U.S.-led coalition air strikes, had reclaimed 25 percent of Iraqi territory from ISIS since June 2014, when the group took Mosul, Iraq's second largest city.  And earlier this month, Iraqi officials said they had regained control of the Sunni central city of Tikrit from ISIS. The campaign, which Iraqi launched without American help, faltered until U.S.-led coalition air strikes began.

And today, May 15th:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-32751728

Islamic State militants have seized the main government building in Ramadi, the capital of Iraq's largest province.

As many as six suicide car bombs and mortars were used in the assault on the compound that houses the main police HQ and governor's office.

At least 50 police officers are reported to have been taken prisoner at the site.

IS and Iraqi troops have been battling for months to take control of the strategically important Anbar province.

[Cain]

And American officials are now telling the Times (London) that they suspect Saudi Arabia has ordered nuclear weapons from Pakistan.

[Cain]

Once again, ISIS shows it doesn't look at Syria and Iraq as two different countries, but part of the same theatre of war.  Days after the capture of Ramadi, ISIS forces in Syria have taken Tadmur and Palmyra.

[LMNO]

Sounds like they have different ideas what the "borders" should be.

[Cain]

Yeah.  While of course, those same borders hamper US efforts to fight ISIS.

I'm also amused at the failure of the nonstop news cycle to realise that ISIS are fighting an insurgent war, and thus will not play to their timetable.  Go back a few months, and you'll see more than a few writers prophesying the decline and death of Islamic State, how they were on the defensive and failing to hold territory.

They don't fucking get it.  ISIS is Al-Qaeda in Iraq.  It took a beating from the US and Awakening Councils, it retreated into the Iraqi desert and licked its wounds before striking again.  It took Fallujah, then feigned weakness while building up sufficient forces for the Mosul offensive last summer.  And here, yet again, they fell back, adapted their tactics and struck where their enemies were weak.  Because they're insurgents.

[Doktor Howl]

Yeah.  While of course, those same borders hamper US efforts to fight ISIS.

The US and our allies & client states have never been good at recognizing when the rules have changed.

[LMNO]

Yeah.  While of course, those same borders hamper US efforts to fight ISIS.

I'm also amused at the failure of the nonstop news cycle to realise that ISIS are fighting an insurgent war, and thus will not play to their timetable.  Go back a few months, and you'll see more than a few writers prophesying the decline and death of Islamic State, how they were on the defensive and failing to hold territory.

They don't fucking get it.  ISIS is Al-Qaeda in Iraq.  It took a beating from the US and Awakening Councils, it retreated into the Iraqi desert and licked its wounds before striking again.  It took Fallujah, then feigned weakness while building up sufficient forces for the Mosul offensive last summer.  And here, yet again, they fell back, adapted their tactics and struck where their enemies were weak.  Because they're insurgents.

Is there some financial interest involved why no reporter/"expert" mentions this?

[Doktor Howl]

Yeah.  While of course, those same borders hamper US efforts to fight ISIS.

I'm also amused at the failure of the nonstop news cycle to realise that ISIS are fighting an insurgent war, and thus will not play to their timetable.  Go back a few months, and you'll see more than a few writers prophesying the decline and death of Islamic State, how they were on the defensive and failing to hold territory.

They don't fucking get it.  ISIS is Al-Qaeda in Iraq.  It took a beating from the US and Awakening Councils, it retreated into the Iraqi desert and licked its wounds before striking again.  It took Fallujah, then feigned weakness while building up sufficient forces for the Mosul offensive last summer.  And here, yet again, they fell back, adapted their tactics and struck where their enemies were weak.  Because they're insurgents.

Is there some financial interest involved why no reporter/"expert" mentions this?

Is there a financial interest in being at war forever?

[Cain]

Yeah.  While of course, those same borders hamper US efforts to fight ISIS.

The US and our allies & client states have never been good at recognizing when the rules have changed.

One of the benefits of hegemony.  Being at the top means your own stupidity may not actually destroy you.

Well, up until the point it does, of course.

[Doktor Howl]

Yeah.  While of course, those same borders hamper US efforts to fight ISIS.

The US and our allies & client states have never been good at recognizing when the rules have changed.

One of the benefits of hegemony.  Being at the top means your own stupidity may not actually destroy you.

Well, up until the point it does, of course.

Thing is, people here have been whining since Vietnam that enemy won't fight fair.

Then they scream that we ought to <name conventional war tactic>.