The letter maybe in the bin, but there is a ceasefire, something happened.
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The letter maybe in the bin, but there is a ceasefire, something happened.
Somewhere buried in there is a fair point. I did/do oppose military intervention by outside powers in the Middle East, whether to impose regime change, steal the oil, set up a client regime or (in theory if not practice) keep the peace.
But Trump is not pulling out the token US military presence because he shares my views. The opposite. He is deflecting from the impeachment investigations and fishing for better domestic headlines (and failing). He has been played by Erdogan, and betrayed the Kurds who represent the most progressive and liberal (democratic, respecting women's rights....) of the players in the region. He has encouraged reaction, murder and repression and accepted the Turkish claims that the Syrian Kurds are terrorists. That and their failure to attack the Normandy beaches sealed their fate!
Trump will use any economic or military tools available (he has trashed the diplomatic ones) to serve the interests of rich Americans - especially the one called Trump. He is not an anti-interventionist despite his 'bring the boys home' election slogans. He doesn't want to pay for his foreign wars but if he (or USA Corp) can turn a profit he is in there.
You've got to be kidding, only a non-politician willing to ignore the opposition and media created hysteria could have pulled off a deal like this. Washington is full of hawks and lobbyists who make vast sums of money out of military conflicts. Whether the peace can last is another matter, but this is the best that it has been in over 15 years, and it was an issue that previous politicians couldn't or weren't willing to sort out.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">In what is becoming more and more a clown show, <a href="https://twitter.com/jimmomo?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@jimmomo</a> also raises doubts about the Italian media strategy over the Mifsud problem. If his British phones were given to Durham, then who is withholding his Italian phones?<a href="https://t.co/XLXUNi6GZD">https://t.co/XLXUNi6GZD</a></p>— Giulio Occhionero (@g_occhionero) <a href="https://twitter.com/g_occhionero/status/1185071389650362368?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 18, 2019</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Gary Younge is one of the good things about the Guardian (plenty bad in my view) and he has got Trump dead to rights here:
https://www.theguardian.com/commenti...st-nationalism
"....in his desire to blame everyone but himself, in his lies, bullying, despotism, insecurity, ineptitude, cheating, scapegoating, preening self-regard, vanity and ignorance, Trump is an emblem of the free-market, white supremacist nationalism that is ascendant in this moment."
My attitude with Trump has always been look at the man (because it's always a man) rather than the politics, but that article does a good job of showing that he is not alone. For example, we have a Prime Minister who told his sister he wanted to be "King of the World" when he was five - while that could be something that a kid might come out with at that age I suppose, it could be said that it says a lot about the man he has become.
"Preening self regard" is a phrase which puts me in mind of someone from a long time ago, but there are more than a few heirs apparent to that aspect of Mussolini's character around today.
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/trump...VWnqwf9Ulf-15i
Keep on drinking the Kool Aid fellas. The people with the TDS problems are the ones who keep on believing all the BS dished up by the media. It's all one big psyop, and you are the intended target.
Meanwhile, last night in Dallas, the cult of Trump marches on..
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EHI9n7WX4AAAM5z?format=jpg
What is Kool Aid? :shrug:
Just for you old timer :biggrin:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drinking_the_Kool-Aid
Has Gluey told you to keep "drinking the Kool Aid" by any chance? It's a term used to describe a cult-like following of orders/beliefs. It's derived from the 'Jonestown Massacre' when the followers (cult) of 'Reverend' Jim Jones all drank poisoned Kool Aid (a sugary drink that's popular in America) in a mass suicide.
There's an amazing documentary about the Jonestown Massacre called 'Jonestown'. Not sure if it's on Netflix or Amazon at the moment, but worth a watch if you enjoy documentaries and can find it online somewhere.
I found the documentary on YouTube for those who may be interested:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sOqszjh_9es
'Jonestown - The Life and Death of People's Temple'
I read an in-depth article on Jonestown and they never once mentioned Kool-Aid. In fact, until today I never knew there was any connection. The expression itself has been in general usage for as long as I can remember, and like many such phrases there is no direct link to its origins. I've never even thought of it in terms of a cult either, but more of a lack of critical thinking, and repeating the same behaviours.
For those of you who thought Saint Bob was a God with special exoneration powers..
AG Barr's special Russia investigator John Durham obtained BlackBerrys tied to launch of FBI Russia-Trump probe
"The FBI and special counsel Robert Mueller have always contended that Mr. Mifsud was a Russian asset. Mr. Mueller’s final report made no mention of the numerous associations Mr. Mifsud maintained with Western diplomats and intelligence figures."
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news...nvestigator-o/
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">When the dust settles on this bonkers week, this remains:<br><br>The President’s chief of staff publicly admitted Trump withheld security aid from Ukraine unless they helped him undermine Hillary Clinton.<br><br>The literal definition of an aid-for-political help quid pro quo.</p>— Chris Murphy (@ChrisMurphyCT) <a href="https://twitter.com/ChrisMurphyCT/status/1185301889979686912?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 18, 2019</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
TDS in action :biggrin:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">While having lunch with <a href="https://twitter.com/RandPaul?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@RandPaul</a> in California, we got verbally assaulted by these aggressive libs complaining about incivility. Check out the vid! <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/unhinged?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#unhing ed</a> <a href="https://t.co/IdOTdc3pOC">pic.twitter.com/IdOTdc3pOC</a></p>— Sergio Gor (@SergioGor) <a href="https://twitter.com/SergioGor/status/1185329130922860544?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 18, 2019</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/...ategic-mistake
That's now two of Trump's closest allies in the senate to criticise him this week regarding Syria.
He was elected on a promise to curtail overseas military involvement, and all he did in Syria was withdraw 28 military personnel from the border area who were placed there as a "tripwire". If anything had happened to them there would have been a huge escalation in the conflict.
'All he did was withdraw 28 military personnel'?
Utter nonsense.
What he did was a telephone call with Erdogan where he gave the green light for accelerated invasion, ethnic cleansing and all out attack on the Kurdish forces that his government had previously regarded as allies.
Then almost a week later panicked in the face of almost universal condemnation (especially from his Republican mates) and tried to half backtrack. Far too late. The Pence/Pompeo mission to Turkey got a few days partial pause in the attack but otherwise confirmed the position Trump took originally with Erdogan.
Getting out of Syria (or anywhere else the US has put its military) is never just about troops- it is what chaos is left behind and who is given a free run to fill the political/military vacuum. I suspect Trump has got to where he is now through stupidity, ignorance and ineptitude rather than as part of some ingenious master-plan, but that doesn't help Kurdish kids being shelled with white phosphorous.
https://www.foxnews.com/world/us-tro...di-arabia-iran
You've got it all wrong, Jon. All Trump did was send 1,800 military personnel to Saudi Arabia after withdrawing the "28 military personnel" from Syria... to help curtail US overseas military involvement.
It's depressing.
"They’ve got a lot of sand over there. So, there’s a lot of sand that they can play with. Let them fight their own wars" was the line that he used to talk about the potential deaths of innocent civilians.
But wait... there's this tweet from 2014 too...
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Saudi Arabia should fight their own wars, which they won't, or pay us an absolute fortune to protect them and their great wealth-$ trillion!</p>— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/506198852933013504?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 31, 2014</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
What he's doing is completely obvious and indefensible.