Duterte sounds like a loon. Doubt the greater Philippine population forget the nation that fought side by side to liberate them from Japan.
Last week was full of events. Russian backed pro regime forces tried to attack US backed Kurdish militia in Northeast Syria and the attack came close to US special forces. US Air force raided the attackers and killed roughly 100 people that included Syrian soldiers. Russia is now getting ready to start a new attack using Syrian army and Iranian militia. Centcom General Funk said his job is war and they will attack anybody that comes close to Manbij where US forces are located. Also yesterday in Southwest Syria Israel intercepted an Iranian drone while Syria shot down an Israeli F-16. Right now there is a defacto alliance between Russia-Iran-Syria against Kurdish forces-USA-Israel.
That alliance has been around for at least a decade, maybe longer. The difference this time is that Saudi Arabia and The Gulf States are no longer constantly agitating against Israel. This suggests fear on the part of the Sunni world that they are in real peril.
That is correct. Saudi Arabia gave permission to Israel to use its air space just recently. Ironically Turkey which is a Sunni country and an American ally is siding with Russia and Iran. Turkish president is hosting Putin and Iranian President in Istanbul next week to discuss Syria. Meantime Turkish army has entered Syria to take the city of Afrin from Kurdish militia.
Erdogan might be looking for Russian permission to annex slices of Kurdistan that are in Syria. Right now all parties are a strong no on annexation of territory in Syria. Working on Putin may be the first step in trying to change that fact. Russia's ok would not be enough for Turkey to try to take pieces of Syria but it would lay the groundwork for further attempts. For instance, Russia could ask Turkey to further minimize NATO commitments as part of any annexation process. The Russians are the only party that could pressure the Assad government to make that type of concession. Also, NATO would be a strong no on any annexation of territory at this point - which would put huge stresses on Turkey's role in NATO if it occurred. The reason that Syria might agree to something like that is their poor control of areas of majority Kurdish population as it is. Making the Kurds a Turkish and Iraqi problem might appeal to Assad as he tries to cement his grip on power again.
https://www.cnn.com/2018/02/13/middleeast/russians-killed-us-airstrikes-syria-intl/index.html Reading this made me realize that not even the major powers in the area know what is going on at ground level a lot of the time. WWIII is not going to break out in Syria for a lot of different reasons but the Spanish Civil War was a precursor to WWII and this reads like the Spanish Civil War.
Okay folks. Turkey is very clearly threatening US forces in Syria. Tillerson will be visiting Turkey in the next 2 days. This is the first time a NATO member is telling USA to get out of the way in Middle East. Typically USA organizes a military coupe to take care of things but this time I want USA to maybe assasinate the Dictator Erdogan. @Dierking @Br4d . Would that be too cruel?
. .So, .you get to suggest assassinating a head of state but we get banned if we troll Jethro Tull? .
Lol. You really scored a goal joe. Well done. I promise. If Jethro orders the killing of thousands of Kurds I will hunt him myself.
So Will Trump do anything about the latest Chemical Attack in Syria? He called out Putin today. Russia issued a statement saying if an attack happens this will have serious consequences. Let's see how how the stock market will react tomorrow.
Russian jets are operating under code red. If Tomahawks hit Syrian bases that have Russian soldiers this thing might spiral out of control. UK already has very tense relationship with Russia. French Army is now operating with American army near Turkish border. Things are fluid at the field right now.
Who are the experts and what are they saying? Why the fuck are we always involved in these conflicts over there?
His National Security Team? The director of the CIA? The highest ranking officers in our military? And they are saying to pull out know like Trump wants would be a terrible idea.