I oppose the whole damn thing.
If you all don't mind a bit of a rant:
I have come to the point where I oppose (hate might be a better description) almost every leader from every side involved in this horrendous holocaust in the Middle East.
Since I read all sides commentary, watch videos, news reports etc. I have come to the conclusion that not only Daesh, Al Qaedah, the FSA, the Syrian, Yemeni etc. governments are criminals, but also the whole pack of leaders of nations from the USA to Russia to the Saudis, and inwards and outward, their staffs, generals are also bloodthirsty criminals.
Everyday the same fucking headlines:
" ___ civilians, including ___ children were massacred by an attack by the ___ ___ ___.
"________'s of children in danger of starving. . ."
"________'s of refugees ____ ____ ____."
One side blaming another side blaming another side, blaming the first side or the second side or the 12th side blaming the 4th and 6th side for the massacre, starvation, misery. Troops, air strikes, suicide bombers, moving here to there and back to here and there massacring whoever is in the way of their ideology or military objective.
Always resulting in the same thing, a video of a miserable, hungry little girl with bare feet in ice cold mud in front of a tent somewhere in the middle of a barren wasteland.
Until the USA got involved with the SDF, I favored them for the following reasons: They manage to defeat Daesh without the use of heavy weaponry, without utterly destroying the towns they take over, and with minimal civilian casualties. After which, the civilians can return home, set up their own governance and defense apparatus in the village and town no matter what their ethnicity. Part of this, and I have seen it on video a hundred times at least, is the obvious joy of the refugees at being liberated by SDF forces and later returning to their still mostly intact villages and towns.
I have read their ideology (Bookchin & Ocalan based democratic confederalism i.e. anarcho-communitarian ideology) and heard their speakers talk sincerely about it and independent authors and reporters confirm it. The ideology is directly opposed to the type of strong man and corporate fascism that I have always opposed.
I also realize that their people, all of the people of northern Syria, have been victims of Daesh, subject to some of the most brutal fundamentalist ideologies I have had the misfortune to encounter in modern times. Fifty-two verified chemical attacks that no one ever bothered to complain about, enslaved women sold back and forth between bearded brutes, beheadings, mass executions and displacements, kidnapped indoctrinated children. . . thats the tip of the iceberg.
So now I am watching. If (factions of) the SDF needs to turn Raqqa or anywhere else into a wasteland using USA air power and heavy artillery, I can't stand behind it. I will stand behind those factions of the SDF who oppose it.
For those of you who have lost track of the Tabqah (Euphrates) Dam situation I am including this video. I could add a lot more but I really need to get away from the international scene.
Comments
Another short video concerning IDF's from Raqqa.
https://twitter.com/FreeEuphrates/status/849918578534907908
From the Light House.
If being human isn't the cause for how much the species sucks,
then it is some condition unique to humans. Must have something to do with power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Other animals fight for power, but when they achieve, they don't seem to want more power.
"Religion is what keeps the poor from murdering the rich."--Napoleon
@dkmich"All peoples around the
One of the fundamental problems that the west has in the Middle East and Afganistan/Pakistan etc. is that they don't have any understanding whatsoever of indigenous tribal culture. The "Kurds" for example have numerous languages, dialects, tribal confederations etc. The "Arabs", Afghans, Yemeni have strong tribal cultures and ways of doing things.
The west just lumps everyone together as "Kurds" or "Arabs" or "Houthis" or whatever and bases their bloody foreign "policy" on complete ignorance of reality and ignore the indigenous cultures completely, unless one or the other cn be used for whatever motive of the moment to off some other tribe.
It seems like the main goal of Turkey, Syria and Iraq has always been to eradicate the different ethnicities or assimilate them into becoming Arabs or Turks. The past hundred years of history in the region reminds me of the USA and their genocide of indigenous people in North America.
The way the SDF appears to be organizing recognizes the autonomy of local groups of indigenous peoples, as well as the more intercultural groupings in urban areas. The same can't be said of the Kurdish governance (KDP, KRG) in Iraq vis-a-vis Yezidi people.
The KRG’s Relationship with the Yazidi Minority and the Future of the Yazidis in Shingal
From the Light House.
SDF. Had to look that one up.
Isn't that a lot like the democratic Syria currently under attack by the CIA-Sunnis? Or to put it another way, if there are differences, wouldn't consensus and social evolution be a simple matter going forward?
This, then, caught my eye:
The rapid continent-wide genocide of tens of millions indigenous reminds everyone of the "possibilities."
Hitler, for example, was obsessed with the highly efficient US genocide. And, in observing the deliberate extermination (or cleansing) of Shiites in the Middle East, up to the border of Iran, I sense that the Sunnis are also deeply inspired by the US genocide, tribalism aside. It solves their pressing religious problems, in their minds. I suppose that's why it is so important to so many to erase the Persians from existence — they're too successful and they chose the wrong religion to follow.
The whole thing is probably an accident of evolution-in-isolation, which began about 100,000 years ago when humans walked out of the Congo. Not all indigenous races default that way, but anytime there is enforced scarcity, rivalry with "the other" get intense. Pushing the idea further, the pressures of over-population triggers ruthless behavior in animals, too.
I know what you mean about being disgusted with the entire region. Lately, I blame all regional chaos on the 3N's — Nazis, Nationalists, and Neocons.
____________________
The political system is what it is because the People are who they are. — Plato
That basic map was drawn for Israel. It dates back to
the early 1980's. This is still Israel's existential requirement and you know that Big Daddy Warbucks has to do their bidding.
The entire pipeline situation has changed considerably in the last 10 years since the US fracking will make the US the world's largest gas producer if all else remains the same. The entire energy thing has kinda turned upside down. There's a coming glut of LNG in the markets. Russia is going ahead with twinning the Nord Stream pipeline and the South/Turk Stream looks viable again. Israel, Egypt and Russia are opening some good sized gas wells in the Med along their coasts. Gas will remain too cheap to pay for a long and expensive pipeline that has way too many flash points along its route.
@dkmich
Actually, we are social creatures who have to learn how to recognize and keep psychopaths out of power - and propaganda.
There have been isolated cultures (among, I believe the Inuit and some Hawaiian populations - I'm reacting rather badly to some chemicals in the house right now, and can't recall the instances, but somebody probably will,) who disposed of psychopaths as they appeared within the population and which developed none of the related societal problems which their ruthless rise to predominance imposes.
But herd/group survival depends upon individuals working together to at least some extent and inter-species cooperation with regard to mutual warning systems against predators is also not unknown. And the nurturing/empathetic tendencies required for nurtured offspring to survive often carries over not only to other herd members, including adults, but sometimes to the young of other species, because empathy - an innate survival characteristic - is a tendency enhancing both individual and herd/group survival under various circumstances. The defining characteristic of psychopathy is the lack of empathy; the remainder of the descriptive list stems from this deficiency.
(Edited to add the following - hit the wrong button, lol.)
An entirely psychopathic society cannot even value civilization, lacking the mental capacity to do so, (this clearly demonstrated in numerous corporate, billionaire and political figures, who simply cannot grasp what we lower life forms are talking about with this long-range and empathetic thinking, this democracy and survival stuff; that portion of the human brain simply does not function for them - think of a blind-from-birth madman driving a busful of people and unable to see the obstacles or the cliff ahead, and unaware that they exist or matter regardless what's said to him - he wants to drive now for the sensation of speed and has never been in a vehicle crash himself before, so it can't possibly happen to him) and is anti-survival by the missing essential survival capacities, the resulting tendencies and effects - which is what we see 'social-engineering' society, taking over governance in all branches and agencies and eagerly destroying life on the planet out of pathological greed and totalitarian control-freakery issues, something psychopaths have not previously had power to do so thoroughly.
So, it's now or never to clean them out - and keep them out - of positions where they can take and use power over others toward harm and ultimate destruction which they may have no ability to even comprehend.
Psychopathy is not a political position, whether labeled 'conservatism', 'centrism' or 'left'.
A tin labeled 'coffee' may be a can of worms or pathology identified by a lack of empathy/willingness to harm others to achieve personal desires.
Yes!
Since I was a kid reading Kropotkin I have believed that humans could somehow organize themselves in such a way that empathy and cooperation would be the driving force. Unfortunately, the monsters are everywhere, not just under the bed or in the closet. They are here locally down the block, on the city council, and in most if not all nation-state governments, NGO's and international bodies.
Even here in little Dominica where we are all the same tribe more or less, we have psychopaths who try and destroy people's lives, instigate chaos, attempted coups and destruction. And, seek help from the other psychopaths in other countries.
From the Light House.
@Alex Ocana
They're everywhere, aren't they? Some occur naturally, some are brutalized or trained into the perceptions and behaviours, while others have their 'human' perceptual faculties damaged by nutritional deficiencies and the flood of industrial (in which I include medical) neurotoxins to which we're subjected.
The following thoughts added (are probably kinda muddled by the effects of petrochemicals being used in reno, and to which I react badly, and) cover rather obvious ground which many people here probably understand better than I, but I'm sticking them in anyway, as something which needs to be more commonly considered than it is, being essentially the root of the problem, and which I rarely see mentioned as what most needs to be yanked out of politics.
Psychopaths naturally regard their viewpoints and behaviours as the norm, that being all that they can experience. (I have a theory that behaviourists, regarding life as being machine-like, are likely successful psychopaths, having learnt to mimic appropriate behaviours well enough for normal function and careers but, through no fault of their own, being unable to feel - and therefore comprehend as real in others - particular of the emotions felt by animals which, in our circumstances, make us human and psychopaths therefore spending their lives isolated in that respect. Psychopaths cannot be considered, as I've seen claimed, a 'normal' human variant - they are disabled in this area and therefore perceptually affected. Blind men simply cannot be permitted to drive buses, because they lack the perception required, making them a hazard to others.)
The job and other descriptions I have read of various of the billionaires interfering in and taking over US policy seem heavily tilted toward such as hedge fund managers and financial interests, polluting industry giants, those who profit from using or physically harming others - and tech giants.
Mercer, Trump's most prominent sponsoring billionaire appears to be most comfortable, according to an article I read a while back quoting and about him, with computers, with which he seems perhaps happier than with human company.
People generally need a connection with nature (unfortunately not really possible for many in large cities and with the high and growing poverty rates, which I consider to be highly understated, going by pensions and the like in 'wealthy' [for some] countries) and with humanity for optimum health, but those lacking human emotions can never feel that human connection and could never understand such human needs, lacking them themselves. (Thus Thatcher and her denial of society as a reality.)
And the NeoCon/NeoLib (same deal, from my perspective, sounds to me more like a PR shift to move 'liberal' into that territory) denial of any human link with, or of even basic physical need for, nature, with and of which we evolved and upon which we depend for everything (including often-forgotten air supplies), because 'patented genetic engineering food monopoly control is better' and 'machines do things better than humans' - and this theory makes potential increased profits and absolute control out of everything possible and even from the impossible/the con-jobs.
Therefore, lacking understanding in so many areas or and seeking to supersede reality by imposing their own, they believe that they can kill off the natural, self-sustaining life-support system to replace it with artificial and high-maintenance-pay-or-die systems for personal profit and replace natural life with patented versions for not only profit but for ownership and control of literally everything...
The incapacity for 'the softer human emotions' produces also a profound disconnect from reality; it goes with the territory.
The natural state of a healthy child in a loving home (apart from the usual stages, such as that of 'the Terrible Twos' where 'NO!' is discovered, lol,) is typically exemplified by curiosity and the acceptance of positive new experiences. Suspicion of strangers, bigotry/misogyny are learnt reactions, not inherent to young humans. And while children must be taught manners, most can learn that others do not like being hurt any more than do they and can overall understand the concept of empathy, even if it slips in moments of high emotion.
We are, it would appear by the behaviors of most very young children (much of the time, lol,), more naturally 'wired' for sharing and cooperation - survival characteristics in our social group - than we are for bullying and abusive behaviours, unless taught differently, whether by example or by an encouraging response.
Psychopaths/those with psychopathic tendencies may indeed group together and can cooperate with each other to achieve shared self-interested goals, as long as the other psychopaths appear to be useful and therefore haven't yet been shifted into the 'useless' range.
Currently, rather a lot of them appear to have organized within government against the very concept of civilization/democracy and of the continuation of life on the planet...
Our problem lies in identifying and neutralizing them in order to protect ourselves, as they do tend to seek power over others and lack conscience to inhibit them from ruthlessness in achieving their goals and so rise into precisely the sort of positions they must be kept out of... and that typical behaviour self-identifies the psychopathic, whether born as such or acculturated into the behaviours.
Dr. Robert Hare has developed a psychopathy checklist - but anyone who demonstrates any tendency toward a willingness to harm others to serve his or her own aims has, in my opinion, thereby shown themselves unfit for any position in the public service or any position of responsibility in industry or anywhere that power can be exerted to the detriment of others.
More cheerfully:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aXZ3Ez5NrLs
Green Day - 99 Revolutions
Psychopathy is not a political position, whether labeled 'conservatism', 'centrism' or 'left'.
A tin labeled 'coffee' may be a can of worms or pathology identified by a lack of empathy/willingness to harm others to achieve personal desires.
I guess the traditional answer would be “Original Sin” …
http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/christianity/beliefs/originalsin...
A Kudish backed SDF would not be viable
further south than Raqqa. In fact, it took considerable negotiations for the Kurds to agree to fight ISIS in Raqqa. The SDF forces consist of about 20% Arabs and 80% Kurds. Once Raqqa is taken, there is no way that the US can convince them to venture further south.
The US military is providing heavy firepower, air cover and logistics in the area. The US had dropped leaflets telling people to leave the city before they started bombing the town.
Since Trump came to power, there has been a much more aggressive use of American forces in Syria. The US now has a fully functional airport in Kobane that can take the largest military air-frames. It was the Pentagon under Obama who set up the program in the first place. I'm not sure if Obama really had any true input in this. He was always schizo on foreign policy in the MENA.
The Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR) estimates that the civilian deaths by the US coalition surpassed those from both ISIS and Russia last month.
The US moving into southern Syria using the Kurdish backed SDF would create a backlash that would pull many of the anti-Assad fighters into a new conflict against the Americans.
I believe the following is what Syria will eventually look like if the US, UK, France, KSA and especially Israel get their way. This Balkanization of Syria has been in the works since the early 80's in one form or another.
Here's what Syria looked like in Sept 14, 2015 just before Russia entered the war.
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-qfbyi3mVl14/Vfc6qWSPR-I/AAAAAAAAEFg/1uS9R8AKy1...
Here is what the current situation looks like today:
https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-LBp6siDwAOA/WOcDzMlO15I/AAAAAAAAIaI/3elmuXVJN...
You can view day-to-day changes here:
http://syria.liveuamap.com/en/
The American forces will now greatly increase their footprint in an attempt to freeze the situation on the ground.
There are hundreds of pieces of heavy fighting equipment now staged at a NATO airbase in Romania. They are all painted in desert camo and ready to roll at a moments notice.
Looking at that map, it makes you wonder
…how many of the people involved know they are fighting for a pipeline route — no other goal will be satisfied. The folks funding the chaos certainly have their eye on the prize, including Iran. That's how they get to the big bucks.
Everyone else, not so much.
____________________
The political system is what it is because the People are who they are. — Plato
Just want to say thank you so
Just want to say thank you so much for your analysis and information! And that I hope you're doing well?
(Ongoing renovations subject me to petrochemicals, some of which seriously scramble my brain, and I probably shouldn't be commenting, at least not until breathing in my room with the window open for a while after venturing out for coffee or whatever, but I so much appreciate your posts, experience and input, and often don't think to mention this, actually to any of the essayists here... and if I waited for brain function, I'd be locked in silence, lol.)
Edit to add that your verification of reported observations re movements around Syria kinda clinches things. Funny how the word of a liar-in-office is still regarded hopefully by some... do you think there's hope that Trump's need to be admired might influence at least a stall on this for a breather?
I worry about the planned cyber and other attacks on Russia's defense systems as well - the Psychopaths That Be do like shooting sitting ducks, torturing helpless victims to get the right lies they can then 'source', always going for the vulnerable - and I suspect that Russia's way ahead of them and will be able to strike back in some unsuspected manner which, in many cases, I rather doubt most of us North Americans would live to see. Not that we'd survive anyway, and I do have a firm belief in victims having a right to defend/avenge themselves... just such a waste of billions of years of evolution, all for the pathological greed and control-freakery of a relative few.
But Putin is sane and may have figured out something which will not result in MAD, since this is not his aim, unlike the PTB in the US and elsewhere.
Psychopathy is not a political position, whether labeled 'conservatism', 'centrism' or 'left'.
A tin labeled 'coffee' may be a can of worms or pathology identified by a lack of empathy/willingness to harm others to achieve personal desires.
Alex Ocana,
everything you say is so clear and made of common sense that I have to shake myself when I read it because you end the stupor of confusion caused by our foreign policy. Thank you for saying this about the SDF:
Would you mind sending this statement to Trump personally? Seriously, please communicate this truth to him.
From the start of this bullshit I have felt that there is a faction of the American military that agrees with you. Trump wanting to end it quickly and forcefully by applying airpower in ISIS-controlled populated areas has resulted in thousands of civilian deaths and an intensified refugee crises. So maybe Trump is realizing that you and some of his military advisors are right, that destroying ISIS will mean going door to door to find them, without pulverizing whole cities full of children.
Alex Ocana, you are an impassioned and forceful writer whose feelings add strength to the truth you are conveying.