Posts: 69247
Threads: 3759
Joined: August 2, 2009
Reputation:
259
The Third Hundred Years War Has 86 To Go
September 13, 2017 at 10:50 pm
http://hideme.be/browse.php/92glbocc/zDV...ss_3D/b13/
Quote:ISIS is near defeat in Iraq. Now comes the hard part.
Quote:“All the writing is on the wall that there will be another ISIS,” he said, using an acronym for the Islamic State. “The scale of frustration. The lack of hope. The lack of government stepping in. What can you expect?”
Meanwhile, distractions loom as Iraq’s focus shifts to the long-standing political rivalries that were put on hold by the imperative of confronting the Islamic State.
The Kurdish region is pressing ahead with a referendum on independence — over the strenuous objections of Iran, Turkey and the United States — that has the potential to ignite a new war before the present one is over. The vote is reopening the contentious question of where the borders of the Kurdistan region lie, and tensions are rising in areas where the Kurdish peshmerga forces and Iranian-backed Shiite militias have been brought face-to-face by the war against the Islamic State.
Rifts are emerging within Iraq’s governing Shiite majority, which rallied behind the country’s security forces and militias — known as al-Hashd al-Shaabi, or the popular mobilization units — for the sake of fighting the Islamic State. There are sharp divergences, however, over the future identity of the country, over whether it should tilt further toward Iran or maintain an alliance with the United States, and over how far to go to reconcile minority Sunnis with the Shiites.
These issues are expected to come to the fore in elections due in the spring that could become a focus for conflict as the political parties behind the Iranian-backed militias that played a big role in the fighting seek to capitalize on their victories by winning a bigger share in parliament.
Will we keep our noses out of it?
Do we ever?
Posts: 12150
Threads: 125
Joined: January 11, 2010
Reputation:
45
RE: The Third Hundred Years War Has 86 To Go
September 13, 2017 at 10:55 pm
(This post was last modified: September 13, 2017 at 10:56 pm by Rev. Rye.)
I think the big question is, if we keep our noses in it, can we seriously expect a better outcome?
Comparing the Universal Oneness of All Life to Yo Mama since 2010.
![[Image: harmlesskitchen.png]](https://i.postimg.cc/yxR97P23/harmlesskitchen.png)
I was born with the gift of laughter and a sense the world is mad.
Posts: 69247
Threads: 3759
Joined: August 2, 2009
Reputation:
259
RE: The Third Hundred Years War Has 86 To Go
September 13, 2017 at 10:57 pm
Ha! We have a pretty shitty track record on that.
Posts: 12150
Threads: 125
Joined: January 11, 2010
Reputation:
45
RE: The Third Hundred Years War Has 86 To Go
September 13, 2017 at 11:03 pm
(September 13, 2017 at 10:57 pm)Minimalist Wrote: Ha! We have a pretty shitty track record on that.
Yeah, taking out guerrilla groups that the public sees as the lesser of two evils has the depressing tendency to not actually work. It's why Bonaparte never fully conquered Spain, it's why DeGaulle lost Algeria, and it's why we can't seem to keep control of those Middle Eastern areas, and why we fucked up Vietnam.
Comparing the Universal Oneness of All Life to Yo Mama since 2010.
I was born with the gift of laughter and a sense the world is mad.
Posts: 19789
Threads: 57
Joined: September 24, 2010
Reputation:
85
RE: The Third Hundred Years War Has 86 To Go
September 13, 2017 at 11:04 pm
(September 13, 2017 at 10:55 pm)Rev. Rye Wrote: I think the big question is, if we keep our noses in it, can we seriously expect a better outcome?
No. Our noses at best will temporarily support an unsustainable situation that would explode with power and violence proportional to how long we've been struggling to sustain it.
Posts: 12150
Threads: 125
Joined: January 11, 2010
Reputation:
45
RE: The Third Hundred Years War Has 86 To Go
September 13, 2017 at 11:08 pm
(September 13, 2017 at 11:04 pm)Anomalocaris Wrote: (September 13, 2017 at 10:55 pm)Rev. Rye Wrote: I think the big question is, if we keep our noses in it, can we seriously expect a better outcome?
No. Our noses at best will temporarily support an unsustainable situation that would explode with power and violence proportional to how long we've been struggling to sustain it.
Well, at least this time around, it's turning out a little better than usual, but clearly that won't last very long. Maybe not even until 2020, if Trump hasn't gotten us all blown up by then.
Comparing the Universal Oneness of All Life to Yo Mama since 2010.
I was born with the gift of laughter and a sense the world is mad.
Posts: 30974
Threads: 204
Joined: July 19, 2011
Reputation:
141
RE: The Third Hundred Years War Has 86 To Go
September 13, 2017 at 11:12 pm
(September 13, 2017 at 10:55 pm)Rev. Rye Wrote: I think the big question is, if we keep our noses in it, can we seriously expect a better outcome?
Only in spite of ourselves and if we're very, very lucky.
Posts: 9868
Threads: 21
Joined: September 8, 2015
Reputation:
79
RE: The Third Hundred Years War Has 86 To Go
September 13, 2017 at 11:52 pm
After WW1, Partition is what is causing this. The smart money would have been to walk away. This area has had people killing each other for the stupidest reasons for Millennia. So, some infidels are going to walk in and "get to the bottom of it"? Please. Light Sweet Crude Oil, anyone?
If you get to thinking you’re a person of some influence, try ordering somebody else’s dog around.
Posts: 35277
Threads: 204
Joined: August 13, 2012
Reputation:
146
RE: The Third Hundred Years War Has 86 To Go
September 13, 2017 at 11:59 pm
(September 13, 2017 at 11:52 pm)Fireball Wrote: After WW1, Partition is what is causing this. The smart money would have been to walk away. This area has had people killing each other for the stupidest reasons for Millennia. So, some infidels are going to walk in and "get to the bottom of it"? Please. Light Sweet Crude Oil, anyone?
Nuke 'em from orbit.
It's the only way to be sure.
Playing Cluedo with my mum while I was at Uni:
"You did WHAT? With WHO? WHERE???"
Posts: 6843
Threads: 0
Joined: February 22, 2014
Reputation:
15
RE: The Third Hundred Years War Has 86 To Go
September 14, 2017 at 12:09 am
The easiest way for the countries in the Middle East to have peace is for them to become one party States with one sect of Islam in each one and to cut all relations with the US and the EU.
|
