Month: July 2015

Woody Allen and the Non-Threatening Jewish Man

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Woody Allen admits, at least in theory, that he (and the media upon whom he bases his opinions) might be wrong.

Unintentionally, he makes an important point about the left-wing media in the USA and the West generally: the people whom they admire, and who admire them, are precisely those who are the least equipped to deal with the rough realities of a brutal world. They are the artists, the intellectuals, the liberals – those who have no tools in their toolkit other than their creative talents and their immense self-regard.

The woody allens of the world aspire to being the Non-Threatening Jewish Man who’s adored by the sophisticates. But Benjamin Netanyahu – בנימין נתניהו isn’t playing that game.

Turkey, the Kurds, and Islamic State

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Business Insider: Turkey – IS links called ‘undeniable’.

A US-led raid on the compound housing the Islamic State’s “chief financial officer” produced evidence that Turkish officials directly dealt with ranking ISIS members, Martin Chulov of the Guardian reported recently.

The officer killed in the raid, Islamic State official Abu Sayyaf, was responsible for directing the terror army’s oil and gas operations in Syria. The Islamic State (aka ISIS, ISIL, or Daesh) earns up to $10 million a month selling oil on black markets.

Documents and flash drives seized during the Sayyaf raid reportedly revealed links “so clear” and “undeniable” between Turkey and ISIS “that they could end up having profound policy implications for the relationship between us and Ankara,” senior Western official familiar with the captured intelligence told the Guardian.

Radio Free Liberty / Radio Europe: Turkey seeks to stop Kurdish autonomy.

Plans by Turkey and the United States to create an “Islamic State-free zone” in northern Syria along the Turkish border will serve Ankara’s aims of stopping Kurdish militias from advancing in the area, analysts and Kurdish political leaders say.

The plan follows significant gains by the Kurdish People’s Protection Units militia (YPG) against the IS militant group in northern Syria. …

The YPG’s gains against IS have caused consternation bordering on hysteria in Ankara, which fears Kurdish autonomy.

Rudaw: Kurds angered at Turkish attacks on PKK, accuse Obama of betrayal.

Kurds took to social media to express their frustrations at Turkish air strikes on its Kurdish opposition, with many accusing Washington of giving Ankara the green light for attacks in return for use of a strategic air base.

In online postings, Kurds accused US President Barack Obama of allow Turkey to bomb the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in return for use of the Incirlik airbase in Diyarbakir for the war against the Islamic State (ISIS) group.

Rudaw posted a question on its Facebook page on Tuesday, asking if there is a connection between the PKK bombardment that Turkey has carried out since Friday, and permission to the US to use Incirlik. The question generated nearly 200 responses from Kurds and Americans who believe Obama betrayed the Kurds, while the Americans apologized on behalf of their country to the Kurds.

Richard Fernandez at the Belmont Club has more.

Interestingly, the Turks did not appear bent on annihilating ISIS with their planned strikes, simply hurting them enough to keep them on their best behavior. The Institute for the Study of War continued its description on how the planning proceeded.

The successful conclusion of these negotiations following months of talks likely came as a product of the intensifying security concerns facing the Turkish government. Turkey had previously avoided overt confrontation with ISIS and other militant groups transiting through its territory in order to apply indirect pressure to both the Syrian regime and the Syrian Kurdish YPG, which the Turkish government views as an offshoot of the PKK. This stance also enabled Turkey to limit the potential for violent terrorist attacks within its borders by providing an incentive for ISIS and other extremist groups to avoid jeopardizing their supply routes through Turkey by disrupting the status quo.

What really alarmed the Turks was that the Kurds were holding their own against ISIS.  This, plus the decline of Assad, may have pushed them into getting directly involved.

Read the whole thing at the link.