The Arab Spring

And here I thought war made us noble and brought out the best of humankind.

It does, but only in some people. The others fold like harmonicas and become little better than rats - a war's effect is mainly removing the proverbial grey that makes most of us "okay" instead of good or bad. And the war in Syria is not the kind of war that has a lot of good people fighting in it, not after most of them either fled, died or radicalised.

There're good books and memoirs written about precisely this phenomenon during the siege of my home city, Leningrad. If you're interested in how extreme hardship affects the human psyche, you could do worse than giving some of them a read.

edited 9th Feb '16 11:27:52 AM by KnitTie

I cannot really say it is worth it to use war to teste the mettle of people's morality. No, I am not suggesting you are saying war is good because of that, I am just saying that I am very wary of painting war in any positive light, particularly when speaking of morality.

It may be a social necesity at times but that is about the most positive thing I would ever say of any war.

Oh, I agree with you entirely. War is bad. The fact that some people end up being good during it is exclusively the achievement of those people.

edited 9th Feb '16 1:03:16 PM by KnitTie

Okay so at the moment, it's a rumor, but its a significant enough rumor to bring here:

Seems someone tried to assassinate Assad at his mother's funeral.

EDIT-

Okay, so its being reported that's probably not true. Never mind, nothing to see here.

edited 9th Feb '16 3:40:29 PM by FFShinra

I'm surprised at how there haven't been any serious attempts at Assad's life. You'd think somebody would've tried offing him by now out of sheer hatred, if nothing else.

They have no idea how to murder him because he does not smoke cigars

And there isn't an ACME company to produce the right kind of cigars.

So it looks like the Kurds are in bed with Russia and the partners have already started kissing.

edited 10th Feb '16 12:24:25 PM by KnitTie

He's referring to an alleged method the CIA used to try and kill Castro.

US policy in Syria is under fire. France has just cause to complain. A part of me still can't believe that it was the the French who were gung ho about intervening against Assad. Oh and Ed Miliband and the British Labor party can go fuck themselves. But Turkey had the opportunity to intervene for years, and chose to do nothing.

edited 10th Feb '16 12:25:15 PM by JackOLantern1337

Erdogan throws another fit: news at 11.

Turkey says the US is bathing in a sea of blood for supporting the Kurds. Dam it the Kurds are turning to the Russians, Turkey is going rouge, and Suadi Arabia continues to spread the very ideology that spawned ISIS. Why can't the US get good solid allies like Russia has.

edited 10th Feb '16 4:47:48 PM by JackOLantern1337

Rouge Angles of Satin much, Jack?

The spell check on my computer sucks balls, what can I say?

Well, the colours of Turkey's flag are 'le rouge et le blanc, après tout'.

edited 10th Feb '16 4:56:14 PM by KnitTie

Don't start Knit. Jack has a tendency to overstate and exagerate.

For God's sake! Just how deep goes the problem with the Kurds that Turkey has to throw fits like that?

edited 10th Feb '16 5:38:15 PM by raziel365

Deep into history and geography, that's how deep it goes.

"Going rouge"? Dammit. I knew the Turkish flag looked suspicious. I guess it is time to inflict some FREEDOM.◊

Official SDF statement:

edited 10th Feb '16 7:32:20 PM by Nihlus1

Interesting. Not that Menagh fell (thats been reported since late yesterday), but that the FSA units are defecting to the SDF.

...Makes me wonder if the Kurds can accomplish some sort of critical mass among Arab rebels and thus become a national movement to challenge Assad. Neither Russia nor Iran would really disapprove....

Of course, I get that at the speed the war is at just now, there won't be time for that to happen. But should there be another stalemate or if Russia adheres to the March 1 ceasefire it proposed......basically a new Syria would arise much like the old one in that a minority group is governing but its a secular regime that governs the whole of Syria. Would probably be the only way to keep the current borders intact without federalization....

But Turkey was mad before, they'd probably actually go to war if that happened...

So much to think about so much to analyze....<descends into incoherent muttering>

edited 10th Feb '16 8:19:13 PM by FFShinra

I was wondering that myself after our earlier discussion, if the Kurdish aligned rebels are safe, could that be used by the Kurds to draw more rebel groups into their orbit? The territory is technically Kurdish yellow but in reality it's governed by regular rebels who are safe from Assad due to being Kurdish aligned.

As for the battle, I've got no issue with AQ getting the same treatment as ISIS and being ganked by Assad, the Kurds, the Russians and the moderate rebels.

Any news from Aleppo?

The offensive in the north has taken another city (Kafr Naya) putting them ever closer to Azaz, the border town with Turkey.

But outside of Aleppo Governorate, to the south of it in fact, it seems the SAA are pushing from the Homs-Raqqa road (where they currently only control just enough to give Assad loyalists a land supply route to Aleppo) toward Taqba Dam, the taking of which would give them control of another major air base and, more importantly, will cut off the southern approach from Lake Assad (with Tishrin Dam being the northern approach), and thus cutting Raqqa off completely from Daesh forces in the Aleppo Governorate, and removing one of the four remaining crossings to the western bank of the Euphrates, another being directly south of Raqqa proper, one between that and Tishrin, and one waaaay down river, about half way between Raqqa and Deir Ez Zor.