The Global War on Terror 5.0: Putin on the Risk

[Kepler]

Re: The Global War on Terror 5.0: Putin on the Risk

Not sure how one does that. And just for the record, I wasn't a big fan of how we went about things in central America during that time, but it was another messy situation with few good guys on either side of things.

Nixon's on Twitter. Reagan should be Pony Express.

[Bob Gray]

Re: The Global War on Terror 5.0: Putin on the Risk

Well, take it up with him.

Not sure how one does that. And just for the record, I wasn't a big fan of how we went about things in central America during that time, but it was another messy situation with few good guys on either side of things.

[Kepler]

Re: The Global War on Terror 5.0: Putin on the Risk

Didn't figure I'd get any pushback on that one.

Well, take it up with him.

[Bob Gray]

Re: The Global War on Terror 5.0: Putin on the Risk

Oh I dunno. In Nicaragua Reagan called them "the moral equivalent of America's Founding Fathers."

Didn't figure I'd get any pushback on that one.

[Kepler]

Re: The Global War on Terror 5.0: Putin on the Risk

Not that it's ok to hire any type of death squad, obviously.

Oh I dunno. In Nicaragua Reagan called them "the moral equivalent of America's Founding Fathers."

(edit: I thought it was El Salvador. Can't keep his death squads straight.)

[Bob Gray]

Re: The Global War on Terror 5.0: Putin on the Risk

We outsource in Africa.

I'm not sure what that's about. Is the Nigerian navy considered a government death squad? Not that it's ok to hire any type of death squad, obviously.

[Kepler]

Re: The Global War on Terror 5.0: Putin on the Risk

Yes and no. Some of the African countries going through turmoil over the past decade have solid reserves of oil, so that's clearly not the only variable.

We outsource in Africa.

[St. Clown]

Re: The Global War on Terror 5.0: Putin on the Risk

Give me a minute...

Yes and no. Some of the African countries going through turmoil over the past decade have solid reserves of oil, so that's clearly not the only variable.

[Kepler]

Re: The Global War on Terror 5.0: Putin on the Risk

Ich bin ein Kobani?

Something like that.

[Bob Gray]

Re: The Global War on Terror 5.0: Putin on the Risk

There are humanitarian crises going on all over the world at this minute. How do we decide that the people of this town are more worthy than groups of people elsewhere? Humanitarian issues created by foreign powers on their own people are not reason enough to get involved in a war. We've mostly ignored Africa over the past 15 years because there was nothing for us to gain. We're already taking action against ISIS via air raids. We can only control so much.

I think part of it is how big of a humanitarian disaster a situation turns out to be. You have a situation like what happened in Rwanda, where people didn't intervene and it turned into a huge thing, then you have other situations with the potential to turn into a big mess, but they don't. And in the heat of the moment, forecasting which ones turn into really big messes is far from an exact science. If ISIS does go into Kobane and slaughter tens or hundreds of thousands, which given how ISIS operates, is a possibility, there will be a ton of handwringing about why everybody didn't do more. I agree we can only do so much, especially given that most of the rest of the world has little interest in helping out in potential humanitarian disasters. How much we should do is hard to say.

[Kepler]

Re: The Global War on Terror 5.0: Putin on the Risk

There are humanitarian crises going on all over the world at this minute. How do we decide that the people of this town are more worthy than groups of people elsewhere?

Give me a minute...

[FreshFish]

Re: The Global War on Terror 5.0: Putin on the Risk

I wonder if we could at least air drop in military supplies to the defenders or something like that?

Ich bin ein Kobani?

[FadeToBlack&Gold]

Re: The Global War on Terror 5.0: Putin on the Risk

The woman is his sister, not his wife or girlfriend (most would hope). Given how homely his father and grandfather were, there's only so much that a woman's hotness can overcome in the breeding process.

Yeah I know, I was referring to his late father. And you're probably right.

[St. Clown]

Re: The Global War on Terror 5.0: Putin on the Risk

I'm not an Obama fan, obviously, but at this point I'm not sure what a good stance going forward is. It's really tough to sit on the sidelines while humanitarian disasters unfold before your eyes. But it's also hard to stop them from happening. I wonder if we could at least air drop in military supplies to the defenders or something like that?

There are humanitarian crises going on all over the world at this minute. How do we decide that the people of this town are more worthy than groups of people elsewhere? Humanitarian issues created by foreign powers on their own people are not reason enough to get involved in a war. We've mostly ignored Africa over the past 15 years because there was nothing for us to gain. We're already taking action against ISIS via air raids. We can only control so much.

[Kepler]

Re: The Global War on Terror 5.0: Putin on the Risk

Turkey really comes off this looking awful. Apparently they not only won't lift a finger militarily, but they are blocking the Kurds in Iraq from sending in supplies through Turkey to Kobane. Given that Turkey controls the only entrance to Kobane not in ISIS hands, Turkey is sealing the fate of Kobane and should shoulder a large amount of blame for those who will lose their lives in Kobane once ISIS completes its conquest.

CBC ran a really interesting interview this morning with the Turkish ambassador to Canada (yes, there is such a person). The interviewer was relentless, and she was obviously prepared for the official Turkish government (can we bring back The Porte? That was a such a cool name.) position, as she parried every deflection and forced the line of inquiry back to the point again and again. The interview also ran, without commentary or interruption, for over a half hour. It was actual journalism -- something we haven't seen here in 30 years.

It was pretty much obvious that Turkey just can't pivot away from viewing the PKK as the enemy. Kobane has always been fertile recruiting group for the PKK, so Erdoğan is letting ISIS take care of his problem for him all the while protesting that his hands are tied. I guess the analogy would be what if ISIS was bearing down on an Iranian city on the Afghan border on the other side of which we had 2 divisions lined up and ready to go. Would we do anything to help?