IS/Daesh Burn POW Alive

[Boreas]

Originally Posted by Ike Bana

What the PKK is is a matter of circumstances and who's the commander of the ship of this state. Back in 2003 Turkish PKK were all terrorists, while Iraqi PKK were all heroic freedom fighters.

You're mistaken. The "Western Democracies" have considered the PKK to be terrorists regardless of where they happen to be. As for Ira, you're probably thinking of the Peshmerga fighters of the KDP (as opposed to the Peshmerga of the Iranian backed PUK). From time to time the KDP and the PKK have actually fought each other but they're now coperating against ISIS in Iraq.

John

[Ike Bana]

Originally Posted by Boreas

You're mistaken.

Actually, no I'm not thinking of the KDP or the PUK or any other Kurdish organization in northern Iraq. It's like the politics everywhere else in the world actually. Somebody's got a beef with somebody else, and they get into bed with whoever they're stupid enough to think is going to benefit them in the short term. Any Kurd taking up arms against Saddam was identified as a heroic freedom fighter by the Bush administration. Plenty of Kurds who took up arms against Saddam at various times were PKK, or affiliated with PKK. Plenty of Kurdish fighters who were promised financial and materiel support by old man Bush after the first Gulf War (and who were subsequently hung out to dry and left twisting in the wind by old man Bush and his people) were PKK.

[Ike Bana]

Originally Posted by Zeke

September 11 was chickens coming home to roost and we reacted emotionally -- not intelligently -- by swatting a fly with a Buick (and it wasn't even the right fly).

HAAAAHAHAH! The chickens coming home to roost!!! It's the Rev. Zeke of PC.

[Boreas]

Originally Posted by Ike Bana

Plenty of Kurdish fighters who were promised financial and materiel support by old man Bush after the first Gulf War (and who were subsequently hung out to dry and left twisting in the wind by old man Bush and his people) were PKK.

You're mistaken. Again. You just make shit up to suit whatever narrative you're trying to push, don't you?

PKK is in Iraq, Iran, Syria and, primarily, Turkey and have been for years. We have never previously afforded them any assistance at all, directly or indirectly.

With respect to the aftermath of Desert Storm and Operation Iraqi Liberation, we couldn't figure out who to back in Northern Iraq, the PUK under Jalal Talabani or the KDP under Masoud Barzani so, in a way, we backed them both, favoring Talabani for the presidency of Iraqi Kurdistan and Barzani for the Iraqi presidency. This way we kept the PUK and KDP more or less on our side and also kept them from fighting each other.

We have never assisted the PKK until the last 6 months or so. Our present aid is in the form of direct weapons drops to them on the battlefield, notably around Kobani. It's this aid which allowed the PKK to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat and kick ISIS out.

Turkey, of course, is none too happy with us for arming the PKK. They're justifiably concerned about the PKK fighters bringing these arms home.

John

[Ike Bana]

Originally Posted by Boreas

You're mistaken. Again. You just make shit up to suit whatever narrative you're trying to push, don't you?

PKK is in Iraq, Iran, Syria and, primarily, Turkey and have been for years. We have never previously afforded them any assistance at all, directly or indirectly.

With respect to the aftermath of Desert Storm and Operation Iraqi Liberation, we couldn't figure out who to back in Northern Iraq, the PUK under Jalal Talabani or the KDP under Masoud Barzani so, in a way, we backed them both, favoring Talabani for the presidency of Iraqi Kurdistan and Barzani for the Iraqi presidency. This way we kept the PUK and KDP more or less on our side and also kept them from fighting each other.

We have never assisted the PKK until the last 6 months or so. Our present aid is in the form of direct weapons drops to them on the battlefield, notably around Kobani. It's this aid which allowed the PKK to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat and kick ISIS out.

Turkey, of course, is none too happy with us for arming the PKK. They're justifiably concerned about the PKK fighters bringing these arms home.

John

I know all about PKK. I have a friend who was PKK, and who's been battling for permanent asylum in this country for 15 years now, because he was PKK. I'm gonna believe what he tells me, as opposed to an expert like you.

All I said was that when it comes to PKK and other Kurdish organizations in Turkey and in northern Iraq, the Bush administrations, both of them, used very convenient criteria for who was a terrorist and who was a freedom fighter.

I defy you to find a post of mine where I said this country ever gave direct support to any PKK. What I said was old man Bush promised support and reneged.

And I'm the one who makes shit up? Get an integrity transplant.

[Boreas]

My friend in the PKK says your friend in the PKK is full of shit.

And what did I make up?

John

[piece-itpete]

Not to get in the middle of whatever, but the PKK is Marxist. Bush Sr did reneg on them, same as folks elected Obama to do to the Iraqis and the Afghanis. Bush Sr also did what a lot of folks say they want now (and then), to follow the dictates of the UN. He had zero support for ground invasion at the time.

I realize that the middle east now is a wreck because of Bush, or WW2, or Napoleon or however far back you'd like to go.

Sadly Obama had the clear choice to fight ISIS in its infancy, without boots on the ground. He didn't.

He just sent another 1500 soldiers over to Iraq. Stay tuned.

Pete

[merrylander]

For those who object to carpet bombing their HQ city the latest news is that ISIS is torturing and killing captured children.

[donquixote99]

One of the worst things about this stuff is what it does to us, mentally. It makes us more like them.

[HarmanKardon]

Originally Posted by donquixote99

It's hardly unprecedented....

Learning German with Political Chat is always such a pleasure...