General Trump hilarity free-for-all thread

[Roly Poly Oly-Garch]

I'm seeing a lot of anti-SDF sentiment from communist sources. I'm hella confused by all that. I know that they were working with the US, but they were also working with the SAA, selling oil to Syria, Israel, Saudi--pretty much anyone who would buy it (help finance them). I don't really get what the hard-on is for.

[Cain]

Are these the kind of communists who think that working against the USA = anti-imperialist?

[Roly Poly Oly-Garch]

Are these the kind of communists who think that working against the USA = anti-imperialist?

100%.

One dude literally wrote, "The Turkish Government and the YPG/SDF are both part of NATO."

[Cain]

Oh dear. Well, that explains a lot. In my experience, most of these kinds of Communists think Assad is some kind of plucky underdog, rather than, you know, a dictator who inherited his rule from Daddy and decided torturing a bunch of kids to death and dropping their corpses off in the town square was the best way to deal with peaceful protests against his rule.

These same people tend to accuse everyone of opposing Assad of working with Al-Qaeda, ISIS, or both. Rather than, you know, Turkey, who was letting ISIS enter troop formations into their territory to wipe out the YPG on the border and buying ISIS oil.

Like, there are valid criticisms from the left to be made of the YPG. The way Arabs seem locked out of the political process and generally discriminated against, for one (though even these Arabs will concede the YPG are much better than Assad or the militias). There is torture going on, there are summary executions at times, the YPG definitely do not adhere to the Geneva Conventions, though their crimes are much closer to western norms than other actors in the region (less chemical weapons, suicide attacks and carpet bombing, more "we killed a bunch of people on dodgy intel or to send a message not to fuck with us"). 

[Doktor Howl]

I am beginning to think the ONLY politician that can be trusted is Toyama Koichi.

[Doktor Howl]

How does the underside of that bus look, Rudy? 

https://www.apnews.com/bd7b2b04b101440e9a5559b9501e24b4

"I don't know those gentlemen," said Trump, speaking on the South Lawn of the White House. "Now it's possible that I have a picture with them, because I have a picture with everybody...I don't know them. I don't know about them. I don't know what they do. ... Maybe they were clients of Rudy. You have to ask Rudy."

[Doktor Howl]

Also, more racist jabber from the Combover Caligula.

https://www.apnews.com/968b42f83fc743258d8caadecf2b6258

[Cain]

ISIS tried to breach a second prison under SDF control using a car bomb. As you can see, it failed, but they won't always fuck it up.

[Cain]

Turkey is also deliberately targeting American troops now. Specifically, American troops in Kobane are under artillery fire and the Pentagon has confirmed that it notified the Turkish military of their position.

[Magpie]

What's the point in attacking American troops? They've already been ordered to withdraw, or is this just to make them pull back further so even if Trump changes his mind there will be a longer response time?

Turkey is of course claiming that they didn't target the Americans and that their only targeting the YPG, not the Kurds themselves, not like being Kurdish was illegal in Turkey in living memory or anything.

[Doktor Howl]

What's the point in attacking American troops?

Because why not?  Erdogan knows there will be no penalty for it.

[Cain]

What's the point in attacking American troops?

1. To drive them out faster.
2. To ensure there are no international witnesses to the war crimes they are about to commit.
3. To show Trump who is in charge here.

[Q. G. Pennyworth]

I knew this would get Americans killed. I assumed it would be less direct and immediate, because I guess I'm still a fuckin optimist.

[Doktor Howl]

So this is going to be a full-out regional conflict.

https://www.apnews.com/a7033640aad04506b2e8aa139d9edabe

[Doktor Howl]

In other Trump news, he is about to get skinned by the Chinese.

https://www.apnews.com/c2b8338d087a4d4898d8ac0c12992971