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  1. #41
    The Shitlord
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    im just curious, why would having multiple smaller, weaker neighbors be a bad thing for iran/etc?

  2. #42
    I'll change yer fuckin rate you derivative piece of shit
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    AG, if they take Kirkuk, do you think they'll continue, or will they be happy to allow the Kurds to retreat and stay in their more traditional stomping grounds?

    Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

  3. #43

    Sweaty Dick Punching Enthusiast

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    well, the Iraqis have taken it. reports are the Peshmerga withdrew in good order without deigning to put up a fight, which is probably the smartest thing they could have done. Kirkuk lies outside Kurdistan and if they are banking on international, particularly American, sentiment to support their movement towards independence the last thing they need to be seen as is grasping for territory and resources and populations that don't really belong to them.

    and if i had to hazard a guess Baghdad will be content with Kirkuk and its oil fields for now. constitutionally the Kurds are allowed to administer their own region so any further advance would be illegal in the extreme, and the Iraqis have to know the Peshmerga won't stand down a second time when the matter is one of defending their homelands.

    that calculation changes if the Kurds keep moving towards independence though. it now seems probable any such declaration will trigger a civil war, or perhaps something broader if Turkey and Iran decide to intervene.

    Quote Originally Posted by BaneTheBrawler View Post
    im just curious, why would having multiple smaller, weaker neighbors be a bad thing for iran/etc?
    Iran and Turkey both have large Kurdish populations, roughly 14 million in Turkey and 7 million in Iran. an independent Kurdistan is naturally going to exert a strong pull on those peoples's's loyalties, and the partition of Iraq could well establish a precedent encouraging the partition of their own countries to allow the Kurdish regions to join the new state.

    moreover along with Iran Iraq is the only nation in the region with a Shia majority population and a Shia government, and the countries have grown quite close both economically and militarily. the weakening of one's ally is the weakening of one's self.

  4. #44
    The Anti Miz
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    Wouldn't Turkey just fuck around and annihilate all their Kurds if other Kurds even got a little froggy. They are due for another genocide if you think about it.

  5. #45
    Fuck It, I'm Goin Deep Fan Club President
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    Quote Originally Posted by tyven View Post
    Wouldn't Turkey just fuck around and annihilate all their Kurds if other Kurds even got a little froggy. They are due for another genocide if you think about it.
    Its been a little over 100 years so....

  6. #46
    Ridill
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  7. #47

    Sweaty Dick Punching Enthusiast

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    but of course. the greater region is awash with longstanding misunderstandings

  8. #48
    Tekki's Bitch
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  9. #49
    Ridill
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    omg she ugly.

  10. #50
    Ninja Ninja
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    http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-41646802

    Raqqa just fell to US backed Syrian forces.

  11. #51
    Ridill
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    Quote Originally Posted by thetruepandagod View Post
    The comments on it are gold though.

  12. #52

    Sweaty Dick Punching Enthusiast

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    Quote Originally Posted by Ragnus View Post
    http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-41646802

    Raqqa just fell to US backed Syrian forces.
    unexpected but outstanding news, the pawn shop Caliphate's fall was a certainty but i don't think many observers expected such a rapid collapse following the fight for Mosul.

    we shouldn't sit around and start sucking each other's dicks, ISIS will remain in some capacity, likely returning to the cell-based terrorist insurgency they originated as, and in a region that nearly saw the Peshmerga and Iraqi army get into a fight the remaining political problems are obviously legion. but ISIS was a unique threat and a unique evil, one of the most vicious polities seen in modernity and certainly the most aggressively expansionist state since at least Saddam's Iraq, arguably since Stalin's Russia. though it took some time the West responded as it should, a muscular intervention defined by a committed engagement with regional allies to combat the threat. the world is a better place for the decision to intervene, made by Obama, continued by Trump, supported by our European allies, and while the region is still in a ghastly state it is a bad day for the bad guys and worth at least your next toast.

  13. #53

    Sweaty Dick Punching Enthusiast

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    we shant fellate, but we shall toast

    thanks for the kind update

  14. #54
    Fuck It, I'm Goin Deep Fan Club President
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    From NYT:
    The escalating confrontation over Catalonia’s independence drive took its most serious turn on Saturday as Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy of Spain announced that he would remove the leadership of the restive region and initiate a process of direct rule by the central government in Madrid.

    It was the first time that Spain’s government had moved to strip the autonomy of one of its 17 regions, and the first time that a leader had invoked Article 155 of the Spanish Constitution — a broad tool intended to protect the “general interests” of the nation.

    The unexpectedly forceful moves by Mr. Rajoy, made after an emergency cabinet meeting, thrust Spain into uncharted waters as he tried to put down one of the gravest constitutional crises his country has faced since embracing democracy after the death of its dictator Gen. Francisco Franco in 1975.

    The steps were immediately condemned by Catalan leaders and risked further inflaming an already volatile atmosphere in the prosperous northeastern region, where thousands braved national police wielding truncheons to vote in a contentious independence referendum on Oct. 1, even after it was declared illegal by the Spanish government and courts.

  15. #55

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    p serious development in the land of the Saud, in their continuing efforts at both political and economic liberalization Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman ends 50 years of Saudi tradition and very publicly breaks with the Wahhabists within the Kingdom, promising a return to a 'moderate Islam'. bin Salman is widely viewed as the driving force behind Saudi Arabia's recent reforms, including granting women the right to drive and rescinding the ability of the religious police to arrest or detain suspects.

    the wary among us may doubt the Prince's words as wind, the historically inclined may remember de Tocqueville's warning that "the most dangerous moment for a bad government is when it begins to reform", but bin Salman and his supporters within the House of Saud represent the most promise for a better tomorrow Saudi Arabia has seen in decades. the reaction among the retrograde elements of the Kingdom is yet to come, i imagine it will be fierce, but we shall see, and we can hope.

    https://www.cnbc.com/2017/10/25/saud...ate-islam.html

  16. #56
    I'll change yer fuckin rate you derivative piece of shit
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    Interesting analysis.

    Let's go to Facebook

    Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

  17. #57

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    Catalan Parliament declares independence, with Madrid seemingly poised to impose direct rule.

    https://www.bbc.com/news/amp/world-europe-41780116

  18. #58
    Ridill
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    rip Barcelona

  19. #59

    Sweaty Dick Punching Enthusiast

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    man they done did it now, this is potentially disastrous

    The vote was 70 yay, 10 nay, 2 blank in a 135-seat chamber. Other individuals opposed walked out before the vote.

    There is a zero percent chance Madrid and the EU for that matter will recognize an independent Catalonia.

    Madrid will declare Article 155 of the Spanish constitution. We'll have to see how exactly that unfolds. I can't imagine the conversations taking place right now. There's a decent chance the Spanish government will arrest and replace Catalan leaders and officials, take control of regional police, public media, and public schools.

    Edit: It also remains to be seen if any independence movements in France or Italy or elsewhere are emboldened by today's events.

  20. #60
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    Why would the EU have a problem with this if Catalonia remains in the union?

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