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Trump Timeline ... Trumpocalypse
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Kirkuk suggests that America has become dispensable in Iraq, writes Emma Sky:
America Has Become Dispensable in Iraq
[Z]oomed out, this appears to be yet another Iranian success. Iran is showing everyone in the region that it is the indispensable ally—not the United States. It is securing its corridors across Iraq and Syria, mediating between the different groups on the ground, while the United States occupies a shrinking space. Once more, Iran is playing the key role, helping to broker a deal between the PUK and the Iraqi government and guiding the Shia militias supporting the Iraqis. Iran has every interest in maintaining these militias—making it increasingly difficult for any Iraqi prime minister to demobilize them. And Turkey, which used to be a U.S. ally, is moving closer to Iran and Russia.
A compromise of some sort could be reached on confederation for Kurdistan and a special status for Kirkuk. But that would require mediation. And it is unlikely to be from Americans.
Why should this matter? Because the Iranian settlement will not bring stability to the region. It will endure long enough to defeat U.S. interests and allies. But left unchecked, Iran and its allies will sooner or later come into collision with Israel. And then the U.S. will be forced to take action.
America Has Become Dispensable in Iraq
[Z]oomed out, this appears to be yet another Iranian success. Iran is showing everyone in the region that it is the indispensable ally—not the United States. It is securing its corridors across Iraq and Syria, mediating between the different groups on the ground, while the United States occupies a shrinking space. Once more, Iran is playing the key role, helping to broker a deal between the PUK and the Iraqi government and guiding the Shia militias supporting the Iraqis. Iran has every interest in maintaining these militias—making it increasingly difficult for any Iraqi prime minister to demobilize them. And Turkey, which used to be a U.S. ally, is moving closer to Iran and Russia.
A compromise of some sort could be reached on confederation for Kurdistan and a special status for Kirkuk. But that would require mediation. And it is unlikely to be from Americans.
Why should this matter? Because the Iranian settlement will not bring stability to the region. It will endure long enough to defeat U.S. interests and allies. But left unchecked, Iran and its allies will sooner or later come into collision with Israel. And then the U.S. will be forced to take action.
A few days after the Trump administration announced a new, get-tough approach to Iran, one of that country's top military commanders and the armed Shiite militias he supports played a key role in the seizure of an important Iraqi city from the U.S.-backed Kurds, according to Iraqi, Kurdish and American officials.
Former U.S. national security officials told NBC News the Iranian-brokered seizure of oil-rich Kirkuk by the Iraqi government and its militia partners, which heightens the risk of civil war, amounts to an embarrassing strategic blow to the U.S. at the hands of Iran.
"It is a catastrophic defeat for the United States and a fantastic victory for Iran's Revolutionary Guard, proving that Qassem Soleimani gets his way once again," said Ali Khedery, a former senior adviser on Iraq policy in the Bush and Obama administrations.
Soleimani is head of the Iranian military's special forces and extraterritorial operations. The major general commands an elite unit known as the Quds Force and has been dubbed the most powerful intelligence operative in the Middle East. According to Kurdish and Iraqi officials, he traveled to Kirkuk last week to weigh in on the dispute between Baghdad and the Kurds over the strategically important city of Kirkuk.
TrumPropaganda ...
Relatives of nine of the 43 military members who have died during Trump's presidency (21%) tell AP that they haven't heard from him: Axios AM
- "Despite Trump's boast that he reaches out personally to all families of the fallen, interviews with families members did not support his claim. Some never heard from him at all, and a few who did came away more upset."
- AP "reached out to the families of all 43 people who have died in military service since Trump became president and made contact with about half the families. Of those who would address the question, relatives of nine said they had heard from Trump by phone or mail. Relatives of nine others said they haven't."
- "Chris Baldridge of Zebulon, North Carolina, told The Washington Post that Trump promised him $25,000 of his own money when they spoke in the summer about the loss of his son, Army Sgt. Dillon Baldridge, killed in Afghanistan, but the check never came. The White House said [yesterday] that 'the check has been sent.'"
- "After Army Sgt. Jonathon M. Hunter [23] died in a suicide bombing attack in Afghanistan in August ... Mark Hunter, his father, said a military casualty officer informed the family that Trump would call and the family was let down when he didn't."
- Why it matters ... Trump told Fox News Radio's "Brian Kilmeade Show' on Tuesday: "[T]o the best of my knowledge, I think I've called every family of somebody that's died ... I have called, I believe everybody but certainly I'll use the word 'virtually' everybody ... I've called virtually everybody."
master.on
New Member
GOP donor JOKES about grabbing them by the pussy.
Dem donor DOES grab them by the neck + rape.
Dem rep on Weinstein scandal: Women have ‘responsibility’ to watch their attire and behavior
Not far from blaming the victim
Rejected asylum seeker convicted of rape in Germany amid victim insults
Dem donor DOES grab them by the neck + rape.
Dem rep on Weinstein scandal: Women have ‘responsibility’ to watch their attire and behavior
Not far from blaming the victim
Rejected asylum seeker convicted of rape in Germany amid victim insults
master.on
New Member
Relax liberals
Finally, evidence of Russian collusion is about to surface
Gregg Jarrett: The Clinton cover-up, brought to you by the same guys who are investigating Trump
The catch is that evidence involves Hillary, not Trump
Finally, evidence of Russian collusion is about to surface
Gregg Jarrett: The Clinton cover-up, brought to you by the same guys who are investigating Trump
The catch is that evidence involves Hillary, not Trump
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