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[RedKing]

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/oct/14/turkish-jets-bombard-kurdish-positions-pkk

This why "the ISIS zone" has become a total and unmitigated clusterfuck.

You have Turkey fighting the Kurds, who are fighting ISIS, who are fighting Assad in Syria, who the Turks want gone, but not more than they want the Kurds gone. So you have this fucked-up situation of an ostensibly secular Turkey standing on the sidelines and letting ISIS massacre the Kurds, because it's the time-honored tradition of "let my two enemies fight each other and then I'll finish off the winner".

You also have "coalition" partners like the Saudis who are kinda scared of ISIS, but just as scared of a Shi'ite-dominated Iraq and the Shi'ite militia forces which are fighting ISIS in the south of Iraq. And Iranian troops fighting ISIS in the east of Iraq, in loose "we're not coordinating in the same way that SuperPACs don't coordinate" coordination with US airstrikes.

The enemy of my enemy is my friend's enemy, so we're friends until we're enemies and then we're friends again. Unless we're not.


@burningpet: At the same time, the Turks have very justified reasons for going after the PKK. Couple of decades of carbombs and drive-by grenade attacks in Ankara and elsewhere kind of put the kibosh on dialogue. The Kurds have no moral high ground to stand on, whether it be the PKK, the KDP or the KUP.

[Sinistar]

Meanwhile, Iraq:

Things looking grim in Anbar province. I'm not an expert on this field but as far as I understand it, Anbar is incredibly important as it is one of the biggest provinces and also connects to Baghdad, so any setback there means big trouble.
Iraqi city falls to ISIL as army withdraws

Meanwhile, sectarian violence just keeps on rising.
Iraqi Shia militias accused of murder spree

Unrelated, Yemen remains far from stable.
Houthi rebels seize parts of Yemeni port city


Good thing mid-east topic lives again, I was tempted to start one myself.

[Zangi]

There is an ISIS specific thread.  But yea, I reckon it fits here too.

[burningpet]

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/oct/14/turkish-jets-bombard-kurdish-positions-pkk

This why "the ISIS zone" has become a total and unmitigated clusterfuck.

You have Turkey fighting the Kurds, who are fighting ISIS, who are fighting Assad in Syria, who the Turks want gone, but not more than they want the Kurds gone. So you have this fucked-up situation of an ostensibly secular Turkey standing on the sidelines and letting ISIS massacre the Kurds, because it's the time-honored tradition of "let my two enemies fight each other and then I'll finish off the winner".

I am not sure i see the Fucked Upness of the situation.
 
Turkey is against Assad. Turkey is against the Kurds. Turkey is pro sunni islam.
Daesh is against Assad. Daesh is against the Kurds. Daesh is pro sunni islam.
Turkey give/gave free passage to Daesh members.
Daesh frees Turkish hostages unharmed.
Turkey and Daesh trade oil.

The only thing that could have made that a fucked up situation is if turkey was actually secular and not ostensibly secular.

[Sinistar]

There is an ISIS specific thread.  But yea, I reckon it fits here too.

Ah. Crap, forgot about that one.

[RedKing]

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/oct/14/turkish-jets-bombard-kurdish-positions-pkk

This why "the ISIS zone" has become a total and unmitigated clusterfuck.

You have Turkey fighting the Kurds, who are fighting ISIS, who are fighting Assad in Syria, who the Turks want gone, but not more than they want the Kurds gone. So you have this fucked-up situation of an ostensibly secular Turkey standing on the sidelines and letting ISIS massacre the Kurds, because it's the time-honored tradition of "let my two enemies fight each other and then I'll finish off the winner".

I am not sure i see the Fucked Upness of the situation.
 
Turkey is against Assad. Turkey is against the Kurds. Turkey is pro sunni islam.
Daesh is against Assad. Daesh is against the Kurds. Daesh is pro sunni islam.
Turkey give/gave free passage to Daesh members.
Daesh frees Turkish hostages unharmed.
Turkey and Daesh trade oil.

The only thing that could have made that a fucked up situation is if turkey was actually secular and not ostensibly secular.

Turkey is also against ISIS, at least by their rhetoric and popular opinion. Turkey isn't winning any friends in the region right now, because all the international focus on Kobani has made ample video of Turkish forces standing by doing nothing when they're supposed to be part of this anti-ISIS coalition.

You also can't honestly think that ISIS would stop at the Turkish border if they take full control of Iraq and Syria.

[Sheb]

Well, Turkey just doesn't really care about ISIS right now, they just hope it'll get NATO dragged in so they can attack Assad.

They actually called for a no-flight zone a couple weeks ago "To help Kobane". No shit.

[Dutchling]

Turkey gives Peshmerga forces passage to Kobane

welp

[Sheb]

Those are Iraqis Kurds they're letting in, not Turkish Kurds. There is an ongoing rivalty between the KDP and PKK for leadership of the overall Kurdish community, and Turkey had good relations with the KDP for a while.

[Wolfhunter107]

http://news.yahoo.com/palestinian-convicted-interfering-israeli-army-135453080.html
Israel continues to violate human rights

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Jerusalem (AFP) - An Israeli military court has convicted a Palestinian activist, regarded by the EU as a human rights defender, for "interfering" with the work of a soldier, his lawyer said Tuesday.

Abdullah Abu Rahma, who spent 15 months behind bars for organising weekly demonstrations against Israel's separation barrier in the village of Bilin, was convicted on Monday at Ofer military court near the West Bank city of Ramallah.

He had been released from prison in March 2011 with a four-month suspended sentence.

"He was convicted of interfering with the work of a soldier," his lawyer Gaby Laskey told AFP, saying the conviction was for an incident in May 2012 when Abu Rahma tried to prevent a tractor from working to set up a fence in the nearby village of Beitunia.

The conviction means he risks being thrown back in jail for another four months, she said. In the West Bank, a suspended sentence order remains in force for five years.

The court will pass sentence on December 1.

"Abdullah Abu Rahma is a human rights defender, he has the right to demonstrate against the occupation and there is no legal basis for his arrest," she said.

"It seems that prosecuting a Palestinian for a non-violent symbolic act against the occupation has more of a political meaning than a criminal one."

A school teacher in his mid-40s, Abu Rahma is known for coordinating the grassroots, unarmed protest movement against the West Bank separation barrier in Bilin.

His arrest in 2009 and subsequent conviction over the Bilin protests prompted expressions of concern from human rights groups as well as from EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, who has described him as a "human rights defender" committed to non-violent protest.

[Zangi]

Well, weeding out the peaceful leaders is a pretty effective tactic...  This guy probably has no real dirt on him, so he gets the kangaroo court.

[burningpet]

http://news.yahoo.com/palestinian-convicted-interfering-israeli-army-135453080.html
Israel continues to violate human rights

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Jerusalem (AFP) - An Israeli military court has convicted a Palestinian activist, regarded by the EU as a human rights defender, for "interfering" with the work of a soldier, his lawyer said Tuesday.

Abdullah Abu Rahma, who spent 15 months behind bars for organising weekly demonstrations against Israel's separation barrier in the village of Bilin, was convicted on Monday at Ofer military court near the West Bank city of Ramallah.

He had been released from prison in March 2011 with a four-month suspended sentence.

"He was convicted of interfering with the work of a soldier," his lawyer Gaby Laskey told AFP, saying the conviction was for an incident in May 2012 when Abu Rahma tried to prevent a tractor from working to set up a fence in the nearby village of Beitunia.

The conviction means he risks being thrown back in jail for another four months, she said. In the West Bank, a suspended sentence order remains in force for five years.

The court will pass sentence on December 1.

"Abdullah Abu Rahma is a human rights defender, he has the right to demonstrate against the occupation and there is no legal basis for his arrest," she said.

"It seems that prosecuting a Palestinian for a non-violent symbolic act against the occupation has more of a political meaning than a criminal one."

A school teacher in his mid-40s, Abu Rahma is known for coordinating the grassroots, unarmed protest movement against the West Bank separation barrier in Bilin.

His arrest in 2009 and subsequent conviction over the Bilin protests prompted expressions of concern from human rights groups as well as from EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, who has described him as a "human rights defender" committed to non-violent protest.

I'd take this "violation of human rights" over the real human rights violations committed by 80%+ of the current members of the human rights council AND the palestinians themselves.

And here i was thinking this thread got bumped because a palestinian terrorist just killed an israeli baby in cold blood.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/israel-bolsters-sinai-border-after-missile-attack-on-military-patrol/2014/10/22/a8ca5880-59f6-11e4-8264-deed989ae9a2_story.html

[Sheb]

I love how a guy ramming his car in a crowd, killing a baby become "Terrorist killing a baby in cold blood" in burningpet's word. The wording is priceless.

[smjjames]

Could also have been a lone wolf so to speak, not affiliated with any terrorist group (which is apparently Netanyhus automatic conclusion that every attack is by a terrorist group) and just been a palestinian who was angry and got fed up with everything and simply lashed out. Then again, the article says that he had been jailed before for being involved in terrorist activities.

[burningpet]

I love how a guy ramming his car in a crowd, killing a baby become "Terrorist killing a baby in cold blood" in burningpet's word. The wording is priceless.

He was a convicted terrorist. he killed a baby in cold blood. the fact he tried to also kill other people should not make it less monstrous, on the contrary (). my wording here is perfect.