So, About ISIS

Turkey is a member of NATO. How could the US be on the sidelines if they went to war with Iran and/or Russia?

Kill yourself.

^This one's obvious, right? Pretty sure our 'mutual defense' treaty only applies if Turkey is attacked. Are you asking 'what if Russia invades Istanbul?'

As mentioned upthread, before we can 'decouple' from Turkey we gotta remove our nukes and our bases from within Turkey. If it turns out Trump avoided a war with Turkey, which could have become the natural escalation if US troops were killed by Turkish bombardment had we not removed our guys, perhaps the establishment perspective will need to be rewritten.

I was actually thinking more about Iran doing it since they're mobilizing to their own border with Turkey.

A fair point. We should probably un-ass Turkey from NATO sooner than later.

It's 7,000 miles away! Not our circus, not our monkeys. [/sarcasm]

Mutual defense treaties and decades of cooperation are just pieces of paper that hold no meaning with this administration that can't see past the end of the current news cycle.

Let's reiterate.

I actually agree with you on a lot of this, but the US did not slaughter ISIS.

The only Obama rule @Tuttle likes is counting every casualty as ISIS. Oh my, we dropped bombs on a hospital and look at all the ISIS people we killed. We dropped a bomb on a wedding, look at all the ISIS warriors we killed. It is almost like drone bombs magically transform everyone into ISIS. If only the planes that hit the trade centers had US bombs on them then 9/11 would have been a huge victory for the american people. We would have killed all those terrorists before they attacked us.

Liz Cheney hopes the Democrats are happy with all the slaughter they caused in Syria by opening their impeachment inquery.

https://www.newsweek.com/gop-liz-ch...e-democrats-impeachment-inquiry-trump-1465003

She's right about it not being an accident though.

okay I read the article but I still don't see the direct connection between the impeachment inquery and the Turks crossing into Syria.

It's because,like her father, she's full of shit.

No, but it's the kind of line certain voting demographics will just love.

You’ve got to be shiting me.

Covered it yesterday, without the word "handover." Just facts without the opinionated trigger words, so it passed unnoticed.

These are the main points in the agreement between the #SDF and the Syrian government. #Syria 

1/ The abolishment of the #SDF (Syrian Democratic Forces), with all the current Kurdish forces and military groups joining the 5th Corps (Assault Legion) under Russian control 

2/ A solid guarantee of full Kurdish rights in the new Syrian constitution with autonomy which will be agreed upon by Kurdish leadership & Syrian state. 

3/ Joint coordinated effort by Syrian/Kurdish forces to remove Turkish presence in northern #Syria including #Afrin (Idleb doesn't count) 

4/ #Manbej & #Kobani were agreed upon for #SAA to enter quickly, whilst #Hasakeh has seen a wide scale deployment of Syrian troops, this will continue in #Qamishly and other joint areas 

5/ With Syrian forces now on the border area with #Turkey it's clear that this starts a new phase in the 8-year-long war where some sort of endgame is now taking shape - all border areas and administrational centres will be taken over by the Syrian government 

6/ Within one month Kurdish leadership with start to take up some official roles within the current Syrian government to ease the transition period of N. #Syria until an new constitution/government is formed in the future 

7/ #Tabqa in #Raqqa was also on the agreement, Syrian forces entered the city and took control of the military airbase earlier today 

8/ #Russia had brokered a similar deal a few days ago, yet it was rejected by #Damascus who wanted more concessions from the #SDF. 

9/ As per-agreement Syrian forces entered Ein Issa in N. #Raqqa today

10/ The agreement between #SDF and Syrian gov is yet to be fully completed, the finer details will be fleshed out over the next four days. 

11/ For now all #ISIS prisoners remain under the control of the #Kurds 

12/ The agreement thus far is effectively a military one, based on self-defense and mutual interest with a number of set aims. The governance/land delegation/isis prisoners part will follow later 

13/ Syrian forces will deployed on the entirety of the border with #Turkey, this is the first time in 6 years that the Syrian army will have a serious presence in N. East #Syria 

14/ Although #Manbej is one of the cities that the Syrian army would take according to the agreement, the situation there is still tense and it is unclear exactly who will control it. #complications 

15/ Breaking: reports of imminent Turkish attack on #Manbej
/quote

Sorry, Makki added more and thought I updated it. Here's the rest through today:

15/ Breaking: reports of imminent Turkish attack on #Manbej 

16/ The Syrian army has taken control over the Euphrates Dam in #Raqqa 

17/ Brigade 93 headquarters in #Raqqa now under control of Syrian military forces 

18/ Syrian military forces inside #tabqa airbase in #Raqqa a short while ago

19/ The Syrian army has entered #Manbej 

20/ #Manbej pocket now under Syrian army control with #Russia/#Syria jets patrolling 

21/ Syrian army with Kurdish forces now patrolling in #Raqqa city 

22/ Russian jets have struck Turkish backed militants around #Manbej this evening 

23/ More information has been released regarding the agreement between the Syrian gov and the #SDF. SDF commits to preserving the territorial integrity of #Syria under the Syrian flag & fighting alongside #SAA. 

24/ #SDF will allow the Syrian army to take control of the strech of land between Ayn Diwar (east) to #jarablus (west) from 3 parallel axis in #Tabqa #Manbej #Hasakeh, Syrian forces are already deployed in these three areas. 

25/ Syrian army will have a significant presence east and north of the #Euphrates, whereas the area between #Talabyad and #RasAlAin is deemed a theatre of military operations. 
26/ Syrian military convoy moving through #Raqqa this evening as per-agreement with #SDF

27/ Officially, the Syrian army entered the city of #Manbij, while Russian military police have taken over the former U.S base there. 

28/ Ultimately the political situation around #Manbij is complicated, but the map below shows the boundaries of the buffer zone (Yellow Line) as agreed upon by #Russia & #Turkey

29/ This map by @MaximMansour shows us the areas the Syrian army is expected to or already has taken over in Northern #Syria

30/ Incident occured in #Manbej earlier on where the Manbej Military Council & some of the residents fired on Syrian TV filming in the area before Russian military police intervened and calmed the situation down. 

31/ #Russia and its forces intervening in small disputes and solving them such as #Manbej today shows how it carved out a super-power status in the country, with no rivals to its hegemony today. 

32/ US forces blocked the advance of the Syrian army towards #Kobani today, stopping their columns at the Manbij-Hasakeh Highway. 

33/ Quoted in this @CNN piece fact-checking #Trump's claims on the #Kurds and #Syria "The invasion by #Turkey has forced the #SDF to strike a deal with the Syrian government."
m.cnn.com/en/article/h_7… 

34/ Quoted in this piece by @_RichardHall in the @Independent on the #SAA & #SDF agreement.
“While the general lines of the deal entail mutual self-defence and jointly fighting Turkey, long-term it spells the end of complete autonomy for the Kurds"
independent.co.uk/news/world/mid… 

What could possibly go wrong?

so this whole chaotic scene might turn out to be not as horrific as it could have been. Time will tell I guess!

Are you forgetting all the ISIS prisoners who've escaped?

Read the thread

Yeah, what's a little raping and murdering between allies.

all military actions are bad, but realistically compared to an entire full blown shit-storm war of "raping and murdering" I would prefer the lite version.

You'd like the lesser of two evils, fair enough, but there needn't have been either.

You'll get no argument from me! This whole "buffer zone" plan has been in the works for quite a while and jumping the gun (no pun intended) was not a good idea or so it would seem.

That said once it started it was a local and seemingly personal decision for the Turkish soldier(s) to execute civilians on the road. I don't quite follow what that was all about.

The Turks have a historical hatred of the Kurds squiggly guts. Everybody knows this except Trump apparently. That's why the whole executing civilians thing was predictable to the point of foregone conclusion once Trump green lit the Turkish invasion.

Oh I see! Weird that Turkey would be a member of NATO with the whole execution thing being accepted as status quo. Yes there is a difference between typical chaotic fire fights where you might make a bad decision because your life is in danger, and strolling up and shooting somebody in cold blood right there in front of Allah and everybody.

Those weren't regular military forces doing the summary executions. They were "Turkish backed militias". I guess there's a loophole.

Turkish-backed militias are also Al-Qaeda-linked militias, just so we know.