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Turkey Downs Allegedly Intruding Russian Fighter Near Syria Border (reuters.com)

jones_supa writes: Turkish fighter jets shot down a Russian Sukhoi SU-24 fighter near the Syrian border on Tuesday after repeated warnings over airspace violations. Moscow said it could prove the jet had not left Syrian air space. Footage from private Turkish broadcaster Haberturk TV showed the warplane going down in flames in a woodland area. Separate footage from Turkey's Anadolu Agency showed two pilots parachuting out of the jet before it crashed. A Syrian rebel group sent a video to Reuters that appeared to show one of the pilots immobile and badly wounded on the ground and an official from the group said he was dead. This is the first time a NATO member's armed forces have downed a Russian military aircraft since the 1950s. The Guardian is following the developments with live updates. Also covered by the BBC, which notes Russian aircraft have flown hundreds of sorties over northern Syria since September. Moscow says they have targeted only "terrorists", but activists say its strikes have mainly hit Western-backed rebel groups. Turkey, a vehement opponent of Syria's president, has warned against violations of its airspace by Russian and Syrian aircraft. Last month, Ankara said Turkish F-16s had intercepted a Russian jet that crossed its border and two Turkish jets had been harassed by an unidentified Mig-29.

600 comments

  1. I have an idea by xxxJonBoyxxx · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Let's start World War III over a piece of land in the middle east we all gave fuck-all about five years ago.

    Didn't we elect someone to get us the hell out of some sandy region where everyone hates everyone else, and the only people they hate more is anyone who shows up to help? Are we really going to do this all over again with the advisers and the airstrikes and then another Iraq/Libya/Egypt clusterfuck?

    1. Re:I have an idea by cold+fjord · · Score: 3, Insightful

      WW1 started with one man being shot dead. A downed aircraft is just as good to start WW3.

      --
      much of left-wing thought is a kind of playing with fire by people who don't even know that fire is hot - George Orwell
    2. Re:I have an idea by quenda · · Score: 5, Insightful

      and the only people they hate more is anyone who shows up to help?

      I was with you until you said "help". Don't be so naive. If not for the oil, we'd have as many "helpers" in the Middle East as we do in the Congo.

    3. Re:I have an idea by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Didn't we elect someone to get us the hell out of some sandy region where everyone hates everyone else, and the only people they hate more is anyone who shows up to help? ...and look where that naive world view got us. Keep your head in the sand and these peoples problems will find their way to your shores.

    4. Re:I have an idea by Major+Blud · · Score: 4, Funny

      "Didn't we elect someone to get us the hell out of some sandy region"

      No, but we did get free healthcare!

      --
      If you post as Anonymous Coward, don't expect a reply.
    5. Re:I have an idea by xxxJonBoyxxx · · Score: 1, Interesting

      >> look where that naive world view got us

      Except he didn't implement it. Obama dicked around with the Iraqi government and fucked up the withdrawal from Iraq, then "regime changed" Libya and Egypt in another fuck-up, then had to "reinvade" Iraq in an ongoing fuck-up and is now dicking around with Syria in still another fuck-up with a French aftermath.

    6. Re:I have an idea by codeButcher · · Score: 0

      Those people are now coming to your temperate arboreous regions.

      --
      Free, as in your money being freed from the confines of your account.
    7. Re:I have an idea by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The problem with your idea, even if it is sarcasm, is that you won't be the one starting a war, and your opinion on that piece of land is irrelevant. On the contrary, your masters will be the ones starting the war, and your masters will be the ones who benefit from it. Your only role here, if you can call it a role, is to pay for it.

    8. Re:I have an idea by smooth+wombat · · Score: 0, Troll

      No, but we did get free healthcare!

      How is it free if I'm forced to hand over my money to a private company? That's part of the definition of fascism.

      --
      We will bankrupt ourselves in the vain search for absolute security. -- Dwight D. Eisenhower
    9. Re:I have an idea by xxxJonBoyxxx · · Score: 1

      >> Your only role here, if you can call it a role, is to pay for (the war).

      No, I may also have the pleasure of sending my kids to fight and die in it. We haven't used the draft (https://www.sss.gov/) in years, but that doesn't mean it hasn't gone away.

    10. Re: I have an idea by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Who got free healthcare? I saw no free healthcare.

    11. Re:I have an idea by Major+Blud · · Score: 2

      I forgot to include the sarcasm tag.

      --
      If you post as Anonymous Coward, don't expect a reply.
    12. Re:I have an idea by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      I don't think you understand what the word "good" means.

      CAPTCHA: flunked

    13. Re:I have an idea by drunk_punk · · Score: 1

      And don't think you're out of the woods yet. Yeah there's an age limit for enlisting, but there doesn't have to be. That, coupled with possibly not having to go through BASIC means, with a quick physical, you too could be flying drones in this man's army.

    14. Re: I have an idea by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Keywords in all that are 'dicked around' and 'fucked up.' It's almost as if Reggie White was involved.

    15. Re: I have an idea by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Not going to happen.Russia regularly violates airspace as a wang waving exercise to create fear in its neighbours. But NOT China and now not Turkey. It's all bluster, relying on a weak west. China would shoot them down, so it doesn't invade their territory.
      What is needed is strong support for Ukraine and Georgia if you want to control Putin's expansionism. I thought Trump was the man for that but he turns out to be disppointingly weak on Russia and easily misled by false data.

    16. Re:I have an idea by T.E.D. · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Didn't we elect someone to get us the hell out of some sandy region where everyone hates everyone else

      ...and ironicly, staying out of it is exactly what got us into this position. That's the problem with being the USA. We have treaty commitments (eg: Turkey is a NATO member we are pledged to defend, as is France), and letting situations fester until they start to spill over onto our allies only means things will be 100x worse when we are finally forced to get involved.

      On paper it might sound nice, but ignoring the nasty political swamps of the world is simply not an option for the US.

    17. Re:I have an idea by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

      The region never got its borders sorted out through wars like Europe did. The current borders were drawn up by European colonialists, and don't reflect tribal/ethnic divisions.

    18. Re:I have an idea by njnnja · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Yes, but WWI was caused by many factors, including a network of western alliances, a rapid advance in communication technologies and globalization, a multiethnic region where nobody seemed to be able to get along, a rising industrial and economic power challenging the existing hegemon, and the last straw, Russia coming to the aid of a long time ally amidst a campaign of terrorist acts.

      Fortunately that sounds nothing like the world today!

    19. Re:I have an idea by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      No argument there. Forcing an individual to fight for his life, in a war he doesn't even support, is nothing less than the pinnacle of coercive authority.

    20. Re:I have an idea by Dan+East · · Score: 1

      Didn't we elect someone to get us the hell out of some sandy region where everyone hates everyone else

      That is exactly what has caused this. Iraq was not nearly stable enough to take over its own security. As soon as the USA pulled out, 100+ former Saddam Hussein military officers formed ISIS. Then in addition to that, Obama funnels weapons to Islamic "moderates" to topple Assad, further destabilizing the region. There's pretty much nothing Obama could have done any worse to inflame the Middle East and result in the formation of ISIS.

      --
      Better known as 318230.
    21. Re:I have an idea by Mishra100 · · Score: 4, Insightful

      What's the line then? There are millions of conflicts around the world that we can 'get involved with'. Saudi Arabia likes to behead and crucify people, should we 'get involved' with them? What is the number of wars and death it takes to make everyone do exactly what we want them to do?

      Did you know ISIS was born of intervention policies from the U.S. government? The reason why they are even around is because we are involved.

      Strangely enough, when you kill someone family members, they hate you every single time. I guess you should stamp out that hate with more death and hate...

    22. Re:I have an idea by Holi · · Score: 1

      Probably as deliberate as Bush/Cheney when they fucked around in Iraq and broke it.

      --
      Sorry, teleporters just kill you and then make a copy. A perfect, soul-less copy.
    23. Re:I have an idea by Hognoxious · · Score: 4, Funny

      Didn't we elect someone to get us the hell out of some sandy region where everyone hates everyone else, and the only people they hate more is anyone who shows up to help?

      Texas?

      --
      Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
    24. Re:I have an idea by Hognoxious · · Score: 4, Funny

      It's totally different now. What about Anglo-German rivalry?

      Hang on a minute...

      --
      Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
    25. Re:I have an idea by dave420 · · Score: 1

      If you think that sums up the complexities of the area and the actors involved you have absolutely nothing of value to give to this discussion. You not only clearly don't understand why there is conflict in the region, you don't understand why external help might not always be welcome. It's incredible you are so secure in your lacking knowledge that you thought it delightfully pertinent to share just how little you know with the rest of us. Thanks for that, I guess.

    26. Re:I have an idea by smooth+wombat · · Score: 2

      Ahh, sorry. I thought you might have been but considering the number of people on here who toss out the ridiculous, "It's free!" when obviously someone has to pay for it, I wasn't sure.

      As you can see, those same people who claim everything is free don't like when it's pointed out forcing people to pay money does make something free.

      I would hardly consider paying over $3K per year to see a doctor once every other year to be free.

      --
      We will bankrupt ourselves in the vain search for absolute security. -- Dwight D. Eisenhower
    27. Re:I have an idea by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

      Probably as deliberate as Bush/Cheney when they fucked around in Iraq and broke it.

      Nope.

      The Bush/Cheney "rush to war" wasn't poll-driven, nor was it a "rush" in that it took almost a year and included multiple attempts at UN consensus and Congressional approval.

      Obama's "policies" (to use the term generously) seem to be flailing attempts more intended to preserve whatever "legacy" he might have by not allowing facts to destroy the narrative of the "Great Light Bringer" making the world all peaceful instead of leadership making a decision and them implementing it.

      Obama can't acknowledge the seriousness of ISIS, for example, because that would invalidate his decision to withdraw from Iraq and emphasize his fuck-ups in Syria (remember the "red line"?). Read this NY Times article.

      ISIS traces its roots to Al Qaeda in Iraq under Zarqawi - read that article and note the US troop with a captures ISIS flag from 7-8 years ago - well before Obama withdrew from Iraq.

    28. Re:I have an idea by kilfarsnar · · Score: 1

      Let's start World War III over a piece of land in the middle east we all gave fuck-all about five years ago.

      Didn't we elect someone to get us the hell out of some sandy region where everyone hates everyone else, and the only people they hate more is anyone who shows up to help? Are we really going to do this all over again with the advisers and the airstrikes and then another Iraq/Libya/Egypt clusterfuck?

      Yeah, that was never going to happen. We are not there to help. We are there to advance our interests as our leaders see them. It looks like Russia and the West are now fighting a proxy war in the region, with both sides trying to advance their interests. I think the people there are pissed that world powers have been doing that in their countries since the forties if not before.

      --
      "What the American public doesn't know is what makes them the American public." -Ray Zalinsky (Tommy Boy)
    29. Re: I have an idea by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Don't forget Finland.

    30. Re:I have an idea by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

      Downvoted for speaking the truth to progressives.

      No, downvoted for being a propaganda swallowing tool.

    31. Re:I have an idea by aaaaaaargh! · · Score: 4, Insightful

      There are actually not many armed conflicts around the world, and very few of them are high-intensity conflicts. Most of them are in Africa.

      The problem is that if a country or coalition of countries decides to intervene, they also need to be prepared to ensure some minimal level of security and political stability for about 40 years or more, instead of withdrawing after 5-10 years. History has shown that again and again.

    32. Re:I have an idea by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Sure, you gave "fuck-all" about the middle east five years ago. Future history books will report another covert CIA instigation of "rebels" trying to overthrow the evil dictators, causing once more destabilization of the entire region. Arab spring? Are you fucking kidding me?

    33. Re:I have an idea by rickb928 · · Score: 1

      You write 'we' as if 'we' can actually direct events in that region.

      We could, but hat would require leadership, and that is lacking in Washington at the moment, for 7 years now, at virtually every level.

      So in that region, other players will happily do what they can. Drawing us into the end game would be bad. Letting them have really effective weapons would also be bad. And hoping they would be content with destroying only their region would be bad.

      --
      deleting the extra space after periods so i can stay relevant, yeah.
    34. Re: I have an idea by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      This.

      Putin has been pushing and pushing, seeing how far he can get before hitting some resistance. He invades Georgia, Crimea, Ukraine, but his European neighbours are too soft and naive to do anything more than send stern letters.

      Russia will make the usual diplomatic gestures of being incensed or outraged at Turkey's actions, but I'm sure such an eventuality was expected sooner or later, and they've now found out that Turkey won't be fucked with, so they'll leave Turkish airspace alone.

    35. Re:I have an idea by rickb928 · · Score: 1

      If they would go to the trenches this could be mostly harmless. But they won't.

      --
      deleting the extra space after periods so i can stay relevant, yeah.
    36. Re:I have an idea by rickb928 · · Score: 1

      "Either Obama MEANT to "dick around", as you put it, or he's COMPLETELY incompetent - as are Hillary! and Kerry, at the very least."

      If you define incompetence as 'permitting your ideology to guide your actions instead of responding to the situation as it actually is', then yes, they are all incompetent.

      Except for Obama. He is intentional, I believe, based on his own words and history.

      --
      deleting the extra space after periods so i can stay relevant, yeah.
    37. Re:I have an idea by rickb928 · · Score: 0

      Free as in 'Free for someone else'.

      --
      deleting the extra space after periods so i can stay relevant, yeah.
    38. Re:I have an idea by halivar · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Nooo... I once was driving through Plano, Texas, turning right when I should have turned left. My local friend told me to stop and put on my left blinker. When I did so, the other four lanes of cars stopped and waved me through. Craziest damn thing I ever saw. I have never met anyone nicer than a Texan.

    39. Re:I have an idea by rickb928 · · Score: 2, Informative

      Oh yeah, the Treaty of Sèvres.

      --
      deleting the extra space after periods so i can stay relevant, yeah.
    40. Re:I have an idea by DarkOx · · Score: 0

      I would argue its time we roll back our policy of NATO expansion, and even consider ending NATO. When we faced an existential threat from another single nation state actor it made sense. NATO is now just a 'dangerous entanglement.' We would be wise to encourage the core members to eject some of the newly added peripheral members under threat of our own withdraw if they don't. These fights are not worth it and the expands NATO just threatens to draw us in.

      The middle east is of rapidly decreasing value to us. EU only alliances would be better positioned to defend Western Europe geographically than we are. We don't need anyone else's help to defend our own territory if we simple concentrated or efforts on that.

      --
      Repeal the 17th Amendment TODAY! Also Please Read http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/right-to-read.html
    41. Re:I have an idea by parkinglot777 · · Score: 1

      Again, you are playing "what if" game. Well, no one will ever know what it would be now if the US still have troops in Iraq. There is NO WAY TO KNOW because IT WILL NEVER HAPPEN (unless you have a working time machine). Pushing the current situation to side with your own political point of view does NOT make it a fact or real result. I am really fed up with those who like to play "what if" game all the time. The world would be A LOT BETTER if they just look at what it is now and try to find a solution instead of keep playing "what if" game. Politic...

    42. Re:I have an idea by Sique · · Score: 4, Insightful

      The Bush/Cheney "rush to war" wasn't poll-driven, nor was it a "rush" in that it took almost a year and included multiple attempts at UN consensus and Congressional approval.

      And everyone was telling them they can get lost with it, as it makes no sense and will just create more problems. Luckily they were right, it made sense, and now all the problems are solved. Iraq is a blooming democracy, and the neighboring feudal states are rapidly reforming towards pluralistic, democratic societies.

      --
      .sig: Sique *sigh*
    43. Re:I have an idea by amiga3D · · Score: 1

      I've got a lot of family members I could live without.

    44. Re:I have an idea by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      help - americas definition of help is plunder and pillage under the guise of building shit and calling it reconstruction.

    45. Re:I have an idea by T.E.D. · · Score: 1

      What's the line then?

      That actually is a deceptively good question. Probably the best answer that can be given is that you have to use your head. Trying to make an absolute rule that can be followed brainlessly on one side or the other (eg: "We stay out no matter what" or "We go hard with troops to preempt any possible future problem") is only going to lead to utter disasters (Syria and Iraq respectively).

      Probably the best recent model is Libya. There when it became clear the people would no longer accept their leader, and he was prepared to commit military troops against civilians to enforce his rule anyway, we did what needed to be done. Khadaffi had tanks on the move to a civilian city when we intervened. Yes, Libya is not a peaceful democratic paradise now, but at least its problems are now mostly its problems and not ours. (and if you're looking for guns that cause sunshine and rainbows to erupt, I'd argue you need to start much earlier and use much more subtle methods).

      In Syria with Assad's years of barrel-bombing civilians, you see a nice alternative-universe Libya where we never intervened hard enough to force the ruler out.

    46. Re:I have an idea by Tough+Love · · Score: 1

      And it couldn't be the same without gas attacks

      --
      When all you have is a hammer, every problem starts to look like a thumb.
    47. Re:I have an idea by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      then stop you corporate government criterias and cia turning them into swaps in the first instance.

    48. Re:I have an idea by vinlud · · Score: 1

      This is a bad argument, the situation might have been already much much worse if you got involved from the start. Both ways are pure speculation

      --
      Repeat after me: We are all individuals
    49. Re:I have an idea by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      can't have an empire and an 'american' century if you arent willing to garrison it . economic control fails when you get 'terrorists with boots on the ground.

    50. Re:I have an idea by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If the west cares so much about democracy, it should start with the house of Saud.

      By far the worst financiers of terrorism, as well as a barbaric absolute monarchy that beheads people for 'sorcery'. Even wonder why so much of the 9/11 report was redacted? Why all but one of the 9/11 hijackers were Saudis?

    51. Re:I have an idea by JackieBrown · · Score: 1

      Did you know ISIS was born of intervention policies from the U.S. government? The reason why they are even around is because we are involved

      Yes. But the blame will never be blamed at Obama for his role in creating and then underestimating ISIS.

      Strangely enough, when you kill someone family members, they hate you every single time. I guess you should stamp out that hate with more death and hate...

      I don't see Germany trying to kill Americans and Britons because of the families they lost in WWII. I don't see the Native Americans killing Americans for what happened to their families.

      The problem now is that we fight wars very half-heartily which just allow them to drag out without end.

    52. Re:I have an idea by jabuzz · · Score: 4, Interesting

      This a million times over. The three most recent examples being South Korea, Japan and Germany. In all instances we are still there more than half a century later. Well OK I am British so we are not technically in South Korea or Japan these days, but we still have bases in Germany 70 years later.

    53. Re: I have an idea by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      And we got to keep our original doctors!

    54. Re:I have an idea by sociocapitalist · · Score: 1

      Let's start World War III over a piece of land in the middle east we all gave fuck-all about five years ago.

      Didn't we elect someone to get us the hell out of some sandy region where everyone hates everyone else, and the only people they hate more is anyone who shows up to help? Are we really going to do this all over again with the advisers and the airstrikes and then another Iraq/Libya/Egypt clusterfuck?

      This clusterfuck was arguably triggered by America leaving a power vacuum after the invasion of Iraq and subsequent failure to support (for good or bad, I'm not judging here) the dictators previously installed by the US to keep the region calm.

      On top of that, those stepping into that power vacuum are not friends of the US, to say the least, and will attack any American (et al) interest that they can reach - in the middle east, in Europe or in the US.

      So if you don't want IS to continue to grow in power you'll suck it up and be part of the solution instead of whining about being involved somewhere that you personally don't give a shit about.

      --
      blindly antisocialist = antisocial
    55. Re: I have an idea by O('_')O_Bush · · Score: 1

      Yea, and then he ate dinner fuck up before watching TV fuck up before going to sleep fuck up so he could be well fuck up rested for the next fuck up day. Fuckup. Everything Obama does is a fuckup.

      --
      while(1) attack(People.Sandy);
    56. Re:I have an idea by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Wow, you may have set a record in using anecdotal evidence to support a totally generalizing statement. Because four cars stopped (one per lane) to let you through, all Texans are nice? Let me counter that. Rick Perry is an idiot, hence all Texans are idiots. See, poor logic works both ways...

    57. Re:I have an idea by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      WW1 started with one man being shot dead. A downed aircraft is just as good to start WW3.

      You're actually looking forward to it, aren't you?

    58. Re: I have an idea by O('_')O_Bush · · Score: 1

      Hey, what do you know? He is allowed to criticize as if he knows better. He doesn't get his information from the liberal mainstream media, his worldview come from Fox News. That makes him an EXPERT on foreign affairs and being a president. Duh.

      --
      while(1) attack(People.Sandy);
    59. Re: I have an idea by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You're paying that $3k so helicopter mom can take her snot-nosed kid(s) in for their monthly broad spectrum antibiotics.

    60. Re:I have an idea by xxxJonBoyxxx · · Score: 1

      >> without gas attacks

      Remember those actually happened in the Iran/Iraq conflict in the early 1980s. Gas attacks (or "chemical weapons") was also one of the main reasons why claimed we needed to act in Iraq and Syria...

    61. Re:I have an idea by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Obama invaded Iraq and created a vacuum? Who knew?
      Let me guess - you're against higher taxes too?

    62. Re:I have an idea by WindBourne · · Score: 3

      Yeah. of course, the biggest importers of middle eastern oil is Europe, China, India, Japan, South Korea, and then America. So, that brings us back to wondering why America is being dragged into this quagmire?

      --
      I prefer the "u" in honour as it seems to be missing these days.
    63. Re:I have an idea by tnk1 · · Score: 1

      Except I don't see the CIA being interested in destabilizing Egypt and getting Mubarak overthrown. Egypt has been a good ally of the US. I would be willing to believe the other operations were possible, while in the case of Syria, it happened to fail miserably.

      On the other hand, the chances of the CIA being involved in a secret overthrow plan seems rather remote under an Obama administration and too subtle for the Bush administration. Obama mostly failed in Syria because he did far too little to actually try and take advantage of the unrest, and that does not seem to jibe with an covert program to overthrow Assad.

    64. Re:I have an idea by WindBourne · · Score: 1

      and where has anybody gotten free healthcare out of this?

      --
      I prefer the "u" in honour as it seems to be missing these days.
    65. Re:I have an idea by drinkypoo · · Score: 3, Funny

      I have never met anyone nicer than a Texan.

      It's funny that you mention Texans in conjunction with blinkers, and I don't really believe your anecdote, because if someone appears to be using a turn signal in Texas either they bumped it by accident while reaching for their beer, or it was stuck on when they bought the car and it's still on.

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
    66. Re:I have an idea by caseih · · Score: 1

      Well in Syria there's practically no oil.

    67. Re: I have an idea by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      We'll meet again, don't know where, don't know when, but I know we'll meet again some sunny day. ... (cue: lots of H bomb footage).

    68. Re:I have an idea by jabuzz · · Score: 1

      If you live in Europe, Libya's problems are our problems in that it has become a transit for economic migrants heading to Europe.

    69. Re:I have an idea by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      >then "regime changed" Libya and Egypt
      The west certainly had a hand in the regime change in Lybia, AFTER it has started
      About Egypt, which one was replaced by the US ? Well at least you agree with the locals, everyone there blames the US, morsi-supporters blame the US for removing Morsi, and military supporters blame the US for removing Mubarak. Of course the US doesn't have half the influence needed to do any of that, but let's not quarrel over pesky details.

    70. Re:I have an idea by Alypius · · Score: 1

      Nope. The virtue-signalling crowd has come out loud-and-clear about oil; they want it, but in the same way they buy meat: from the store with all the dirty business completely sanitized away. To answer your real question, though, I don't think so. Just because our energy security is assured doesn't mean that Indian and Chinese energy contracts (among others) will go away, to say nothing of the general security of Israel, Turkey, Egypt, the Suez, and other allies/strategic locations.

    71. Re:I have an idea by Drethon · · Score: 1

      Wow, you may have set a record in using anecdotal evidence to support a totally generalizing statement. Because four cars stopped (one per lane) to let you through, all Texans are nice? Let me counter that. Rick Perry is an idiot, hence all Texans are idiots. See, poor logic works both ways...

      An AC said something stupid, therefore all ACs say something stupid, therefore all ACs say only stupid things, therefore this statement is only made up of stupid?

    72. Re:I have an idea by drooling-dog · · Score: 1

      If we would open drilling even more in the US and more publicly support fracking...

      Have you filled you tank lately? That's exactly what we've been doing, with the result that the price of the oil has plummeted to the point where it's becoming unprofitable to extract it this way.

    73. Re:I have an idea by Plumpaquatsch · · Score: 2, Informative

      I don't think you understand what the word "good" means.

      I fucking sure you don't understand what the term "just as good" means.

      --
      Of course news about a fake are Fake News.
    74. Re:I have an idea by JackieBrown · · Score: 0

      Your timetable is off if you think that ISIS was formed in 2004

    75. Re:I have an idea by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Obama invaded Iraq and created a vacuum?

      Umm, yeah, that's EXACTLY what Obama did by withdrawing from Iraq despite it not being stable.

      Who knew?

      Damn near anyone living on the third planet from the Sun - the one with a blue sky. What color is the sky on your planet?

      Which is why Obama has been so insistent on minimizing the severity of what ISIS is doing - ISIS is on HIM as it was OBAMA'S decision to withdraw US troops from Iraq, which allowed ISIS to grow.

      Because ISIS goes back to before Obama was even President.

      And now he's forced to send them back into a worse situation then was there when he pulled them out.

      But he isn't strong enough to admit he was WRONG to pull US troops from Iraq.

      Or did you forget John McCain saying he would be willing to leave US troops in Iraq for 100 years?

      Let me guess - you're against higher taxes too?

      Irrelevant strawman from a petulant child. No wonder you're trying to deflect blame from Obama - who also gets petulant when he doesn't get what he wants.

    76. Re:I have an idea by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      How is a post addressing a +4 insightful post get modded down with the "off-topic" tag? I'd get flamebait since people hate hearing alternative viewpoints, but off topic is just intellectually dishonest.

    77. Re:I have an idea by Alypius · · Score: 1

      You assume that the administration had a goal with respect to the region other than "getting the heck out so I can dick around with domestic policy." There has yet to be a foreign policy crisis where the strategy was little more than running down the news cycle clock.

    78. Re:I have an idea by Ravaldy · · Score: 1

      Did you know ISIS was born of intervention policies from the U.S. government?

      But not their brutal ways. I don't care who you are but when you start broadcasting the beheading of civilians and the mass killing of "non Suni" people you are in serious need of a spanking. Maybe you're ok with watching the injustice while sipping on your coffee but FORTUNATELY not everybody feels that way.

      I would be of a different opinion if they were just an occupying army trying to create stability but they are the exact opposite of that..

    79. Re:I have an idea by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      THIS ^. See Germany for reference. How many years did we doddle around allowing Hitler to roll over countries before we finally said enough.

    80. Re: I have an idea by JackieBrown · · Score: 4, Informative

      And your expertize comes from where?

      We all form our ideas based on the information we have. All networks and people are biased. CNN was just busted editing Trump to make it look like he was talking about Muslim databases by editing out him talking about the wall and border security.

    81. Re:I have an idea by T.E.D. · · Score: 2

      ISIS is essentially an Al-Queda in Iraq splinter that set up shop on its own. The last "I" stands for Iraq. They wouldn't exist today without that mess having happened.

    82. Re:I have an idea by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Didn't we elect someone to get us the hell out of some sandy region where everyone hates everyone else, and the only people they hate more is anyone who shows up to help?

      Yes, we did elect him. Furthermore, he did "get us the hell out" as promised. The downward spiral in the sandy region which has followed is the entirely foreseeable consequence of this enormous blunder.

      Are we really going to do this all over again with the advisers and the airstrikes and then another Iraq/Libya/Egypt clusterfuck?

      The situation in the middle east itself is foreseeable. The response of other nations to the situation is not as predictable. In terms of foreign policy among nuclear-armed nations, we are rapidly approaching uncharted territory. All bets are off. Kyrie eleison.

    83. Re:I have an idea by halivar · · Score: 1

      Read it again. I was the one using the blinker. I also happen to be the only person in the state of Georgia that uses one.

    84. Re:I have an idea by ColdWetDog · · Score: 2

      Nah, won't be BASIC. Javascript maybe. Even C++, but not BASIC.

      --
      Faster! Faster! Faster would be better!
    85. Re:I have an idea by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Yeah. of course, the biggest importers of middle eastern oil is Europe, China, India, Japan, South Korea, and then America. So, that brings us back to wondering why America is being dragged into this quagmire?

      Isn't the USA now a net *exporter* of oil? As I understand it, we mainly still import oil because we have the cheapest/largest refinery capacity, not because we actually need oil.

      The only thing that is likely to change that is Saudi Arabia continuing to flood the market with cheap crude and causing even more idling of US extraction capacity...

    86. Re:I have an idea by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Or you could realize the history of the region and that Russia created the extremism in the region and we made the problem worse by giving them weapons.

      Also, Saudi Arabia isn't invading other countries, they are staying in their own borders and aren't belligerent to the rest of the world. That is the reason we don't get involved. Once they threaten and ally things will change. It is in not in their financial interests to do this though so don't expect it to happen anytime soon.

    87. Re:I have an idea by Actually,+I+do+RTFA · · Score: 0

      Yes, but WWI was caused by many factors, including a network of western alliances, a rapid advance in communication technologies and globalization, a multiethnic region where nobody seemed to be able to get along, a rising industrial and economic power challenging the existing hegemon, and the last straw, Russia coming to the aid of a long time ally amidst a campaign of terrorist acts.

      Fortunately that sounds nothing like the world today!

      Hey now, I'd put Russia more in Germany's place. Kinda pissed off at everyone else, issues a carte-blanche to their weaker ally (Assad, not Austro-Hungarian Emperor) to be backed up doing whatever he wants.

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    88. Re:I have an idea by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The only thing that is likely to change that is Saudi Arabia continuing to flood the market with cheap crude and causing even more idling of US extraction capacity...

      They can keep that up for as long as they like. Preferably through the holidays.

    89. Re:I have an idea by Sumus+Semper+Una · · Score: 1

      Didn't we elect someone to get us the hell out of some sandy region where everyone hates everyone else, and the only people they hate more is anyone who shows up to help? Are we really going to do this all over again with the advisers and the airstrikes and then another Iraq/Libya/Egypt clusterfuck?

      Who is "we?" The US? Did you even read the summary, much less the article? Other than Turkey and the US both being members of NATO, this story does not involve the US whatsoever. Turkey shot down a Russian aircraft for violating Turkish airspace. Russia says the aircraft was not even in Turkish airspace. End of story so far. The US was not so much as mentioned. There has been no press release or White House briefing on a US response to these actions. In short, what the hell does this comment have to do with TFA?

      At first, I thought maybe this was mislabeled sarcasm and should have been marked "funny". Then I looked at the other posts and realized you're serious. Look, I realize policy-bashing and myopic politicizing is a recurring theme on these threads, but this is by far the most masturbatory and off topic post I have seen marked "insightful" in a long time.

      Each US administration has a long list of tragic or inflammatory events that it could be argued were a direct result of the actions they took or did not take. This is not one of those events.

    90. Re:I have an idea by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The Saudis can't keep it up forever. In the mean time my wallet appreciates the current prices.

    91. Re:I have an idea by Actually,+I+do+RTFA · · Score: 1

      What's the line then?

      The line covers all of Europe, North America, the Atlantic north of the Tropic of Cancer, the Mediterranean Sea, and areas now moot in North Africa - and includes within those spaces other signatories' territory, forces, ships or aircraft come under attack by any other power, as spelled out by Articles 5 and 6 in the North Atlantic Treaty.

      Turkey is (a) in Europe and (b) a NATO member. If Russia is overflying Turkey, the other NATO powers have a treaty to come to their aid and shoot down the Russian planes. And has for 60 years (or whenever the other states joined NATO, in the case of recent members)

      --
      Your ad here. Ask me how!
    92. Re:I have an idea by Plumpaquatsch · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Probably as deliberate as Bush/Cheney when they fucked around in Iraq and broke it.

      Nope.

      The Bush/Cheney "rush to war" wasn't poll-driven,

      Duh-huhn. Of course it wasn't, the invasion of Iraq was something they wanted to do from the start, the fact that they could scare the US public into believing that not only was Saddam involved with 9/11, but that he also hoarded WMDs to attack America "again" was simply all the excuse they needed.

      Point is: they had no plan beyond getting rid of Saddam.

      --
      Of course news about a fake are Fake News.
    93. Re:I have an idea by towermac · · Score: 0

      Yep, finally somebody else sees this.

      It was time to end NATO right after the USSR fell. When Clinton was buying drinks for Yeltsin in Ukraine, he should have been signing the end of NATO instead of agreeing to substitute our nukes for theirs.

      That would have been a nice legacy for a pacifist Democrat, and things would be a lot easier for us today in a number of places.

    94. Re:I have an idea by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The Bush/Cheney "rush to war" wasn't poll-driven, nor was it a "rush" in that it took almost a year and included multiple attempts at UN consensus and Congressional approval.

      And everyone was telling them they can get lost with it, as it makes no sense and will just create more problems. Luckily they were right, it made sense, and now all the problems are solved. Iraq is a blooming democracy, and the neighboring feudal states are rapidly reforming towards pluralistic, democratic societies.

      No, not everyone.

      If it were that obvious, it wouldn't have gotten such strong support in the House and Senate - 297-133 in the House and 77-23 in the Senate.

      The problem wasn't the invasion and toppling of Saddam - it was not sending enough troops to stabilize Iraq afterwards. I wish I could find the quote, but I distinctly remember when asked if the number of troops sent to Iraq was sufficient to stabilize the region, either W or a crony replied with something like, "We sent enough troops to depose Saddam." Umm, yeah. But that didn't answer the question, now did it? Or maybe it did...

    95. Re:I have an idea by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      What world do you live in where Obama was the one that made the choice to leave Iraq? Bush negotiated the time table before Obama ever got into office. He was obligated to get the hell out. I also find it hard for you to describe Obama's reactions as petulant compared to the rhetoric cast against him. It would be pretty easy to argue that he was quite level headed throughout it all.

      You also realize the ISIS was formed by former Al Qaeda members right? So again, they were radicalized well before Obama ever got into office. He's just there to pick up the pieces of a decade of terrible foreign policy. I remember when Clinton was in office, we were actually talking about the possibility of peace in the middle east. Admittedly the start of the Bush's policy had its roots in Clinton's administration which had its roots in previous administrations going back half a century.

      The region has never known peace, having allies in the area makes it a very sticky situation for us. Perhaps we should stop giving them weapons since they keep using them against us later.

    96. Re:I have an idea by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It wasn't Obama's decision to withdraw US troops from Iraq. That was a treaty signed while Bush was still in office. Iraq was unwilling to extend the timeline, so Obama lived up to the negotiated terms.

      If you're blaming Obama for pulling troops out of Iraq when he did, then you believe:
      A) Bush was incompetent for negotiating the withdraw in the first place, and/or
      B) Think the US should ignore the terms of treaties it signs, and should have become an illegal occupation force.

    97. Re:I have an idea by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

      And you lost me when you said oil, and helpers in the congo...

      The US DOES have "helpers" in Africa-- when it comes to training, we actually spend more money and send more units there. We train nearly twice as many people in Sub-Saharan Africa compared to the Middle east and North Africa combined. source

      Also note that special forces deployments are 10x what they were in Africa ten years ago, while presence in the middle east is actually going down. source

      I know you want to make this about OIL, but I think this is a gross simplification. Even if it were about oil, none of this would apply to Syria, which is not a large producer. source

      I'm not saying that oil companies have no influence in our government (I'm sure they do--- just like military contractors and a myriad other huge industries in the US and the world influence probably every part of our lives and governments) but the US is training and policing all sorts of areas of the world, regardless of whether or not they fit some predetermined "OMG OIL" narrative. Is this a great idea? Honestly I have no idea, I'm sure some citizens are happy to have the US intervene just as sure as some will hate us for it.

    98. Re:I have an idea by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      >and don't reflect tribal/ethnic divisions

      They just need to learn to be more multicultural.

    99. Re:I have an idea by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      And don't think you're out of the woods yet. Yeah there's an age limit for enlisting, but there doesn't have to be. That, coupled with possibly not having to go through BASIC means, with a quick physical, you too could be flying drones in this man's army.

      BASIC? I was unaware learning to programme in Beginner's All-Purpose Symbolic Instruction Code was ever part of military boot camp and basic training. Though today's modern army might have some use for it for their drone-flying desk jockeys.

    100. Re:I have an idea by angel'o'sphere · · Score: 1

      There are actually around 200 armed conflicts around the world right now.
      Easy to google ...

      The rest of your post is however quite correct/insightful.

      --
      Cost free eBook I read (by iBook/Kobo/Amazon/ObookO/Gutenberg etc.): "The Green Odyssey" by Philip Jose Farmer.
    101. Re:I have an idea by Mishra100 · · Score: 1

      WW2 is no war to be looking for success in. This war is a worst possible outcome. Over 60 million people died which is a countable percentage of our world wide population at the time. Death on this level is unimaginable, painful, horrible, and a giant black mark on human history.

      Let's not talk about a successful outcome of this war. Let's talk about how to prevent these wars.

      WW2 arguably comes from more history of death, hate, and oppression. Humans have been doing this for thousands of years, and if your goal is to reduce human death & war, this has -not- been successful.

    102. Re:I have an idea by WindBourne · · Score: 2

      Actually, I think that something is about to give WRT oil exports. All of OPEC is losing money and the majority of them have already gone through their main savings and are now losing their back-up savings (i.e. gold, American T-bills, etc). Saudi Arabia would love to force American production out of business, but that is not going to happen. But, they want to increase the price, just like the rest of the OPEC does, while at the same time, not losing any % of market place. THe only way to have price increase is to have all producers esp. Russia cut their production. Russia is fighting that, but, with their now being involved in a 2 front war, they will likely be willing to cut production so as to increase their total dollars.

      --
      I prefer the "u" in honour as it seems to be missing these days.
    103. Re:I have an idea by njnnja · · Score: 2

      Oh yes I forgot to mention the need to secure access to natural resources. The growing economic power that I was thinking of was China, who gets into kinetic operations once access to petroleum is threatened.

    104. Re:I have an idea by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I thought so, too. That's why I Googled this before I posted and checked many of the references. You'd only call very few of them "armed conflicts" rather than low-profile domestic terrorism or just low state authority over thugs. Same for many of the interactive maps on the Net, most of them draw huge red dots or color whole nations red, when in reality many of the conflicts are dormant or no longer exist. For example, one of the first maps that pops up after a Google search shows a big red dot in Spain for the Basque ETA. There is no armed conflict in Spain.

      So no, I don't agree. Real, ongoing conflicts are fairly rare, only a few dozens, and you can count wars/high-intensity conflicts on one hand.

    105. Re:I have an idea by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      This is a global market you are talking about. It makes fuckall difference where OUR oil comes from; whoever controls the stuff commands power. "soft" power which isn't always so soft. Why do you think the stuff is so cheap lately? How do you think the cold war was "won"? The US Saudi alliance had much to do with it. I'm sure our strategists are still patting themselves on the back for solving the Soviet threat without WWIII. Do you think they care if they kicked a bee hive in order to wield this power?

    106. Re:I have an idea by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Hillary voted for it.

    107. Re:I have an idea by Solandri · · Score: 4, Interesting

      What's the line then? There are millions of conflicts around the world that we can 'get involved with'. Saudi Arabia likes to behead and crucify people, should we 'get involved' with them? What is the number of wars and death it takes to make everyone do exactly what we want them to do?

      The conflict in Iraq is special because the U.S. precipitated it. I was against invading Iraq, but once we did it I was absolutely committed to staying there until it was stable. While Saddam Hussein was a monster, like most monsters his grip on power provided a good deal of stability. Removing him also removed that stability, so we had a moral duty to stay there until a comparable level of stability was restored. Unfortunately, a majority of the U.S. just wanted out quickly regardless of stability and the consequences, and elected a President who promised just that and delivered. What we're seeing now with ISIS is the consequence of shirking our responsibility to fix what we broke, and not withdrawing from Iraq until it could provide its own stability.

      Did you know ISIS was born of intervention policies from the U.S. government? The reason why they are even around is because we are involved.

      Did you know U.S. inteventionist policies were born from Muslim acts against the U.S.? You've probably heard the opening line of the Marine Corps anthem:

      From the halls of Montezuma, to the shores of Tripoli...

      The Montezuma part makes sense. The U.S. fought several wars with Mexico, so of course the Marines would be involved. But Tripoli? That's way over in Libya (that's Africa for those weak in geography). What the hell were U.S. Marines doing there?

      Funny you should ask. Way back in 1800 when the U.S. was a freshly minted nation, it ran into a problem. Prior to the revolution, the U.S. was a British colony, and thus fell under British protection. When the U.S. gained independence, it lost that protection. The Muslim Barbary States decided to take advantage of the situation and began capturing U.S. merchant ships and holding the crews for ransom. Their thinking was that since these people weren't Muslim, it was ok to kidnap them and extort a ransom.

      The fledgling U.S. had its own domestic problems and didn't want to meddle with things going on in other countries. But it didn't have a navy which could deal with the situation, and attempts to negotiate a treaty with France to protect U.S. vessels fell through. So for the first few years, the U.S. just paid the ransom. Of course paying criminals just encourages them, and it became open season on U.S. flagged vessels. Eventually the payments became exorbitant, and the U.S. recommissioned a navy. President Thomas Jefferson (y'know, the guy who wrote famous things like, "We hold these truths to be self evident - that all men are created equal") launched a military operation to Africa to end the kidnappings and free the hostages.

      That is how the U.S. Marines ended up in Tripoli. That is how U.S. meddling with foreign nations began. Because a bunch of Muslims decided to take advantage of a fledgling non-Muslim nation by kidnapping its citizens and demanding ransom for their freedom. So if you want to play the blame game, the first incident, the precipitating act which began over two centuries of animosity, was actually committed by Muslims against the U.S.

    108. Re:I have an idea by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      what? Are you fucking nuts? Look up oil embargo against America, followed by oil crisis. The cold war was over in 79. Russia had lost, but was simply crashing slowly. And in the 70's Saudi Arabia was NOT helping America. In fact, they did not help America in the 80s as well.

    109. Re:I have an idea by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Downvoted for speaking the truth

      This has never happened.

    110. Re:I have an idea by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      leadership, and that is lacking in Washington at the moment, for 70 years now, at virtually every level.

      There, now it's not a self-serving partisan lie.

    111. Re:I have an idea by angel'o'sphere · · Score: 1

      Obama was not involved in anything related to ISIS.

      --
      Cost free eBook I read (by iBook/Kobo/Amazon/ObookO/Gutenberg etc.): "The Green Odyssey" by Philip Jose Farmer.
    112. Re:I have an idea by Ottawakismet · · Score: 1

      Russia was not only overflying Turkey, but it was bombing Turkey. The men on the ground claim that this jet bombed Turkey before the F-16s shot down the Su-24. Turkey claims it gaves the Russians 10 warnings in 5 minutes and a second Russian jet was closing in when they shot down the Russian plane.

    113. Re:I have an idea by Ottawakismet · · Score: 1

      I think we need NATO more than ever now. I cannot imagine Canada leaving NATO, it is unthinkable we would organize our defense without the Americans and the rest of the North Atlantic. I cannot imagine NATO ever abandoning Canada.

    114. Re:I have an idea by pjt33 · · Score: 1

      And the US still has bases in the UK from WWII.

    115. Re: I have an idea by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      But he said he wanted a database and more.

      There should be a lot of systems, beyond databases. We should have a lot of systems, and today you can do it.

      Even an unedited version has him agreeing repeatedly to registration. He even talks about when you might register people. Yes, "absolutely" was for building a wall, not registration, but to say Trump didn't want to register Muslim is a lie.

      Now show me some video of American Muslims celebrating 9/11.

    116. Re:I have an idea by angel'o'sphere · · Score: 0

      Nice history lecture.

      Annoying however is your unnecessary fiddeling of "muslims" into tit all the time.

      The "parties" involved had done the same thing, regardless if they where christians, muslims, jews, Baal followers, worshipers of Ishta, or what ever.

      The same for ISIS, the religion is just the religion they for fuck sake happen to be born with. People usually have no choice about their religion, their parents brand it on them, or the state they live in.

      The reason they go for war is simple: they are poor, starving and get payed for war.
      The reason they commit atrocities: they are in a damn army, and get executed if they don't do it.
      And another reason is: sex they either get wives or sex slaves from the war. Consider a 30 year old man who never had sex in his life (because he is not married and to poor to marry one). It is a huge motivation to be allowed to pick from the girls as spoils of war, and getting an semi legal marriage even with one of the war prices.

      I'm extremely tired that some idiots here on /. place the problems on "religion" or "islam".

      You for fuck sake would do the exact same things if you would live in those areas, regardless of your religion or "advanced intellectual education". I for my part remember the after Katrina signs posted on houses: "you loot, we shoot!" For fuck sake, 90% of the area is evacuated, and a poor soul looks for food, or got forgives: steals a TV, and a self proclaimed neighbourhood police thinks they can shoot people having the wrong skin colour? In America? Ah ... yes, amerca, ofc. you can do that in america. So why are the people doing it? Because they can get away with it!!!!

      I'm tired about a third wold country trying to police the rest of the third world. Erm, the rest of the whole world.

      --
      Cost free eBook I read (by iBook/Kobo/Amazon/ObookO/Gutenberg etc.): "The Green Odyssey" by Philip Jose Farmer.
    117. Re:I have an idea by angel'o'sphere · · Score: 0

      Turkey is (a) not in Europe.
      A very small percentage, perhaps 5% is in Europe, the rest is in minor Asia. Hint: you can look that up on a map.

      The treaty to come to aid, only works when the attacked nation calls for support. There is no "automatic obligation", hint: Falkland War. The UK handled that alone, without calling NATO members for aid.

      --
      Cost free eBook I read (by iBook/Kobo/Amazon/ObookO/Gutenberg etc.): "The Green Odyssey" by Philip Jose Farmer.
    118. Re:I have an idea by phantomfive · · Score: 1

      The region never got its borders sorted out through wars like Europe did. The current borders were drawn up by European colonialists, and don't reflect tribal/ethnic divisions.

      There are border disputes all over the place in Europe. Here are some of them, and Wikipedia is missing a lot there, like the Basque region between Spain and France that has gotten violent at times, or the Sunni tribes spread across northern Scandinavia who don't have their own country. The latter example shows that not all ethnic divisions need to incite violence.....

      --
      "First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
    119. Re:I have an idea by cyberchondriac · · Score: 1

      The reason why they are even around is because we are involved.

      Strangely enough, when you kill someone family members, they hate you every single time. I guess you should stamp out that hate with more death and hate...

      We enabled them, sadly, yes; created them, no. Their twisted ideology and version of Islam did that. The US, unlike Russia, does try to limit civilian casualties. It sometimes fails, and that can and will drive more people to groups perhaps like ISIS, but the big picture is, they only needed a catalyst. And it doesn't begin to explain in the slightest why ISIS has killed so many other muslims as well as Yazidis , who had nothing to do with the US.

      --

      Look back up at my post, now look back down, you're on the Internet. Now look back up. I'm a signature.
    120. Re: I have an idea by JackieBrown · · Score: 1

      The unedited version was him supporting registering people crossing the borders, not registering US citizens that are muslims.

    121. Re:I have an idea by dj245 · · Score: 3, Informative

      This a million times over. The three most recent examples being South Korea, Japan and Germany. In all instances we are still there more than half a century later. Well OK I am British so we are not technically in South Korea or Japan these days, but we still have bases in Germany 70 years later.

      That only works if the host nation is willing to be your buddy and ally. In the middle east, everybody hates each other. They hate the USA too, to a slightly smaller extent. Any politician in that region can score political points by pot-shotting the US, and bringing the various groups together in their shared distain for the USA. If you're a politician in a country that has serious issues, you'd be foolish to not try deflecting blame and anger at an overseas country. It works 90% of the time. Keep in mind that many of the borders in the middle east were drawn not based on culture or religious differences, or around old and established borders. They were drawn up after the end of WWI by France and the UK with a ruler.

      The only reason we got away with it in Japan and Germany was because both countries were completely and utterly destroyed. The remaining leaders could take the carrot and play ball, resign, or refuse to play ball and be forcibly removed and/or accused of war crimes. There was not much choice.

      Korea was a completely different situation. The Korean war has not officially ended, so being best buddies with the #1 military power in the world made sense, and still makes sense, no matter the cost.

      Given that there are several wealthy countries in the middle east waging proxy wars for their own selfish reasons, sectarian civil wars, the whole "new cold war" dynamic shaping up, plus widespread terrorism against basically any kind of target, civilian or military, a Japan/Germany style occupation can not work in the middle east. It probably never could.

      --
      Even those who arrange and design shrubberies are under considerable economic stress at this period in history.
    122. Re:I have an idea by Actually,+I+do+RTFA · · Score: 1

      Turkey is (a) not in Europe.

      This should be a duh point, but when Greece and Turkey were invited into NATO, the definition of Europe for the purpose of the treaty was clarified to include all the territory of those nations. Otherwise, why would they join a mutual defense pact? The boundary lines is always subject to negotiation

      The treaty to come to aid, only works when the attacked nation calls for support.

      Flat out wrong. An attack on Turkey is supposed to be considered by each member state as an attack on that state, and will take actions individually and/or in concert with each other/the primary victim. Now, de facto they can take a cue from Turkey in following their lead.

      hint: Falkland War. The UK handled that alone, without calling NATO members for aid.

      In the Atlantic, not north of the Tropic Of Cancer. North Atlantic Treat doesn't apply

      --
      Your ad here. Ask me how!
    123. Re:I have an idea by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Funny, I don't remember Obama saying 'free' healthcare.

      And when a politician uses the word 'free', it's implied that this money is going to come from somewhere else (tax.) If you honestly think they mean it's gratis, you're extremely dense. But then again, many libertarians are just that.

    124. Re:I have an idea by Solandri · · Score: 1

      The U.S. bases in Japan are there because the peace treaty ending WWII says Japan cannot have an external military, and instead the U.S. will provide for its national defense. Frankly I think it's time to revise those treaties and have Japan pay for its own defense (which would drive China nuts), but until that's done the U.S. bases in Japan have to stay.

      The U.S. bases in Germany are there because both are NATO countries. The original objective of NATO was to repel a Soviet invasion, so having U.S. troops on the ground in place was necessary. This is probably due for revision as well, given the unlikelihood of a foreign invasion of Western Europe.

      The U.S. bases in South Korea are there because there was no peace treaty ending that war, only a cease fire. Technically we're still at war with North Korea. Anyhow, the U.S. forces aren't there as an occupying force nor to provide stability. If you ask any of the troops there, they know exactly why they are there. They call themselves speed bumps. Their job in a North Korean attack is to die, so the U.S. has a reason to join the hostilities on South Korea's side. Their purpose is deterrence.

      All three countries are more than stable enough to not need a U.S. military presence anymore, and have been stable enough for at least two decades (South Korea being the most recent to transition from a military to a civilian government). Unfortunately, we abandoned Iraq before it was self-sustainably stable.

    125. Re:I have an idea by drinkypoo · · Score: 1

      Read it again. I was the one using the blinker. I also happen to be the only person in the state of Georgia that uses one.

      Right, but my point was, how would a Texan even know what that flashing light meant?

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
    126. Re: I have an idea by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Ironically those attacks were sponsored by that great bastion of freedomfreedom, the mighty US of A.

    127. Re:I have an idea by Rakarra · · Score: 1

      That oil narrative again. You are the naive one here; we buy oil from IS already, and at discount price because it's black market.

      Probably need a source for that.

      They don't want our 'help', most Muslim support Sharia law (a Islamic duty according to the Quran) and therefore the Islamic State.

      The Salafysts support that, but most Muslims do not. As a result, the Islamic State reserves the most zeal and the harshest punishments for those they consider "lapsed Muslims."

      Here is what the future hold for you: We will solve this crisis 'peacefully' by recognising the Islamic state as legitimate, just like we did with all the other asshole theocratic state of the region (Israel, Iran, Iraq, etc). We will then deport all the Muslim fanatic to there new paradise state. And the war against the barbaric Islam will be postponed for a other century.

      I'm not sure if you can recognize "the Islamic State." They certainly wouldn't accept the idea, since, following the strictest reading of the Koran, man-made law is blasphemy, and therefore, country borders are blasphemy as well. They didn't like the title of "ISIS" (the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria) because they don't recognize the legitimacy of an "Iraq" or a "Syria." They recognize only a Caliphate, a leader whose proclamations are based only on a strict reading of Muhammad's texts. They won't recognize the legitimacy of a President Obama, or President Trump, or President Clinton or President Rubio or anyone else. Since making peace with the "enemies of Islam" is also blasphemy, they will not grant so much as a cease fire for any reason to the people they would consider un-Islamic.

    128. Re:I have an idea by Rakarra · · Score: 1

      The Saudis can't keep it up forever. In the mean time my wallet appreciates the current prices.

      The Saudis are stuck between a rock and a hard place. The last time they raised the prices of oil after they had fallen like this, others didn't raise their prices and the Saudis lost a lot of countries as customers. When OPEC was the major fossil fuel power and they were all united behind OPEC, they could raise prices, and everyone else had to take it. That's not really the case anymore.

    129. Re:I have an idea by Rakarra · · Score: 1

      The US outspent the Russians on the military, not on oil.

    130. Re:I have an idea by unixisc · · Score: 0

      That oil narrative again. You are the naive one here; we buy oil from IS already, and at discount price because it's black market.

      They don't want our 'help', most Muslim support Sharia law (a Islamic duty according to the Quran) and therefore the Islamic State. But we are not there to 'help' either, the reason we are there is to stop the spread of cancer^H^H^H^H^H^HIslam which threaten us all (non-muslim anyway).

      Here is what the future hold for you: We will solve this crisis 'peacefully' by recognising the Islamic state as legitimate, just like we did with all the other asshole theocratic state of the region (Israel, Iran, Iraq, etc). We will then deport all the Muslim fanatic to there new paradise state. And the war against the barbaric Islam will be postponed for a other century.

      I would have pretty much agreed w/ you, except for the gratuitous mention of Israel as a theocratic state. While Israel has an open door for Jews worldwide, it's anything but a theocratic state. Gentiles have the same rights as Jews there. Heck, even Muslims have places that they dominate, like Nazareth, which one would have thought would be Christian. There is no need to toss Israel into the mix just to show yourself as 'broad-minded' or impartial. Islam is the only force for evil in a post Communist world.

      Also, oil is the only reason that region is 'strategic' at all. The day we can get to a stage where our transportation is completely independent on oil, and may use things like nuclear/solar, they will be as relevant as Bangladesh w/ its jute.

    131. Re:I have an idea by unixisc · · Score: 1

      Actually, if Obama just followed a policy of not letting any Muslims into the US, that policy of completely pulling out would have worked just fine

    132. Re:I have an idea by unixisc · · Score: 2

      Actually no, since one of the things the Barbary pirates did was tell Jefferson that if the US leaders wanted their ships to be free of attack, they had to convert to Islam

    133. Re:I have an idea by Rakarra · · Score: 0

      The only reason we got away with it in Japan and Germany was because both countries were completely and utterly destroyed. The remaining leaders could take the carrot and play ball, resign, or refuse to play ball and be forcibly removed and/or accused of war crimes. There was not much choice.

      They also have much different cultural norms than almost any country in the Middle East. Japan had a long tradition of being very authoritarian. When the Allied Powers became the authority in Japan, that went fairly smoothly. Germany as well, and it helps that most Germans were stunned and ashamed by what the Nazis did.

      In the Middle East, the Islamic State rules because so many of them legitimately believe that there is no higher authority than the Koran. An Allied Powers sort of force that conquered society (you have to do more than topple a government) would be seen as an outside, un-Islamic occupier. For generations. Those occupiers would be treated the same way Israel is -- outsiders attacking their religion.

    134. Re: I have an idea by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I don't think you can hear the whoosing sound of sarcasm being missed.

    135. Re:I have an idea by bluegutang · · Score: 1

      ...and ironicly, staying out of it is exactly what got us into this position. That's the problem with being the USA. We have treaty commitments (eg: Turkey is a NATO member we are pledged to defend, as is France), and letting situations fester until they start to spill over onto our allies only means things will be 100x worse when we are finally forced to get involved.

      Which is exactly our approach to health care, incidentally. Leave millions of people uninsured, let their medical problems fester because they can't afford to treat them, until they show up at the emergency room.

    136. Re:I have an idea by Rakarra · · Score: 1

      The U.S. bases in Japan are there because the peace treaty ending WWII says Japan cannot have an external military, and instead the U.S. will provide for its national defense. Frankly I think it's time to revise those treaties and have Japan pay for its own defense (which would drive China nuts), but until that's done the U.S. bases in Japan have to stay.

      Japan has had the "Japan Self-Defense Forces" since the mid-50s. They have separate land, air, and sea forces ostensibly for purely self-defense reasons. In 2010, Japan had the 6th-highest military budget in the world.

      Every time a plan is proposed to re-arm and amend the Constitution for a force that could be used outside of Japan, it meets considerable popular opposition.

    137. Re:I have an idea by Rakarra · · Score: 2

      Yes, Libya is not a peaceful democratic paradise now, but at least its problems are now mostly its problems and not ours.

      I'm not sure about that. Khadaffi was, uhh... not exactly a friend, but I think our history in the Middle East is leading to a conclusion that the countries there need strong-man leader to keep the crazies in check. We go in, create a power vacuum, and that vacuum is replaced with something far more horrible (the Islamic State at the moment).

    138. Re:I have an idea by malditaenvidia · · Score: 1

      It's "free" as in freedom, not as in "free beer".

    139. Re:I have an idea by Rakarra · · Score: 1

      ISIS was created by two "mission accomplished" screwups. First, the unseating of Hussein after Bush thought the mission was accomplished in Afghanistan, and second, Obama's pullout of Iraq under the assumption that the Iraqi people were capable of properly self-governing or that the Iraqi government was strong or fair enough to do so.

    140. Re:I have an idea by majid_aldo · · Score: 0

      Did you know U.S. inteventionist policies were born from Muslim acts against the U.S.?

      if you're referring to 9/11 then those 'muslim' acts were born from

      - US support for dictatorships

      - US support for israel (the number one pain point)

      stuff doesn't happen from in vacuum

      --
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    141. Re:I have an idea by angel'o'sphere · · Score: 1

      the definition of Europe for the purpose of the treaty was clarified to include all the territory of those nations.
      No it was not. And we are not talking about the "treaty" but geographical terms. 95% + of Turkey is not in Europe. Period.

      Flat out wrong. Nope, you are wrong ;D
      An attack on Turkey is supposed to be considered by each member state as an attack on that state
      ÂYes, and? Nevertheless the "call for defence" needs to be issued by the attacked member. there is no automatic obligation for the rest of NATO to take steps: hin for fuck sake read up about the falkland war ... which nations where involved? Hu? UK and Argentina. Who fought the war? Hu? UK and Argentina, no single NATO country was involved. Why? Because the UK where to proud to call for assistance. (Which they bottom line did not need but would likely saved a lot of lives)

      In the Atlantic, not north of the Tropic Of Cancer. North Atlantic Treat doesn't apply
      The treaty applies to any attack on any nation in the treaty regardless of position on the globe. "North Atlantik" is only part of the name of the treaty and has no meaning regarding anything else. A no brainer actually.

      Or do you think if a Russian sub sinks a USA ship in front of Australia the treaty would not apply?

      --
      Cost free eBook I read (by iBook/Kobo/Amazon/ObookO/Gutenberg etc.): "The Green Odyssey" by Philip Jose Farmer.
    142. Re:I have an idea by majid_aldo · · Score: 1

      Oh yeah, the Treaty of Sèvres.

      well more specifically sykes-picot https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...

      --
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    143. Re:I have an idea by angel'o'sphere · · Score: 1

      Does not matter, if they had been of religion X they had demanded to convert to religion X.
      Or why do you think most of the americas is "christian"? Because the people there wanted to be that? No, they where forced by the conquerers to become either christians or die.
      There is no difference regarding religion X or Y in demanding that conquered people, land or what ever converts to X or Y ... all religions are the same bullshit regarding that.

      God is with me! Otherwise I had not won/survived the war: you are now to pray to my god!

      --
      Cost free eBook I read (by iBook/Kobo/Amazon/ObookO/Gutenberg etc.): "The Green Odyssey" by Philip Jose Farmer.
    144. Re:I have an idea by budgenator · · Score: 1

      The middle east has always been an oil economy, before petroleum it was olive oil. Take out the ability for the Caliph to buy the loyalty of his subject with cheep oil money and the whole region will destabilize (stability is relative). I don't think opening up more drilling leases will help, because the world-wide demand will just absorb any increase in supply.

      --
      Apocalypse Cancelled, Sorry, No Ticket Refunds
    145. Re: I have an idea by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You didn't, I got paid to get Obamacare after the subsidy - cost I got extra tax refund!

    146. Re:I have an idea by Hognoxious · · Score: 1

      There have been a few times when I've thought along the lines of, "If it does all kick off, at least we'll know where we are. This tension and uncertainty is getting on my nerves."

      I don't know how common that is. Pretty rare among those with access to the big red button, or we wouldn't be having thi $ .(* /,./.'
      no carrier

      --
      Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
    147. Re:I have an idea by q4Fry · · Score: 1

      They were all so shocked to see someone actually using the blinker that they let you through.

    148. Re:I have an idea by Rakarra · · Score: 1

      Read it again. I was the one using the blinker. I also happen to be the only person in the state of Georgia that uses one.

      Right, but my point was, how would a Texan even know what that flashing light meant?

      Maybe they thought it was the hazard blinkers. "Poor fellow, something must be wrong, just let him through."

    149. Re:I have an idea by Glock27 · · Score: 1

      ISIS is essentially an Al-Queda in Iraq splinter that set up shop on its own.

      Yes, except it "set up shop" due to failures in the 0bama foreign policy.

      The last "I" stands for Iraq. They wouldn't exist today without that mess having happened.

      No, the last "I" stands for "In". ISIS stands for "Islamic State In Syria". President 0 favors ISIL, "Islamic State In the Levant".

      They wouldn't exist today without that mess having happened.

      They wouldn't exist today if the current administration hadn't thrown away all the blood and treasure expended on Iraq by cutting and running. Regardless of his dislike for the war, he should have acted in the best interests of both America and Iraq.

      --
      Galileo: "The Earth revolves around the Sun!"
      Score: -1 100% Flamebait
    150. Re:I have an idea by Actually,+I+do+RTFA · · Score: 1

      No it was not. And we are not talking about the "treaty" but geographical terms. 95% + of Turkey is not in Europe. Period.

      When discussing whether there is a requirement to respond, the treaty matters. Who cares what the geography is. It's not relevant, it's only relevant what was decided. Period. And all of Turkey counts. Although I am corrected that "and the Territory of Turkey" was technically added to list of "North Atlantic Territory", not to the description of Europe which is a part of the North Atlantic Territory. So you're right in detail, but wrong on whether my interpertation would have been relevant.

      Nevertheless the "call for defence" needs to be issued by the attacked member

      The words "call for defence" don't appear in the treaty. The treaty explicitly requires uniltateral action by any member in defence of any other if considers it necessary. Article 5: "[each country reacts by] taking forthwith, individually and in concert with the other Parties, such action as it deems necessary,"

      read up about the falkland wa

      At 57S, it's literally quarter of a world away from 23.5N, the lowest point anyone gives a shit about.

      The treaty applies to any attack on any nation in the treaty regardless of position on the globe.

      Articles 6 disagree with you. Like, entirely. Since it defines in detail the areas it applies

      Or do you think if a Russian sub sinks a USA ship in front of Australia the treaty would not apply?

      Correct, it would not apply. Just like it didn't apply to the French colony uprisings, the Falklands, and many other things.

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    151. Re:I have an idea by angel'o'sphere · · Score: 1

      Sorry, you are wrong with your assumption about region and "call for defence".

      As I don't know the actual wording it is up to you to find how "Verteidigungsfall" is defined in english and covered in the treaty.

      Fact is: the NATO did not engage in the Falkland war because the UK did not ask for help. Was al over the news during the war, and yes, I'm that old. But perhaps all political discussions at that time on the news where wrong ... no idea.

      Even the simplified en wikipedia article mentions the question if/when/why the US/NATO would be involved if the Argentinians had stopped the war (or if they had called the US to help as they are allied with the US, too)

      --
      Cost free eBook I read (by iBook/Kobo/Amazon/ObookO/Gutenberg etc.): "The Green Odyssey" by Philip Jose Farmer.
    152. Re:I have an idea by unixisc · · Score: 2, Informative

      You were implying that the fact that the Barbary pirates were Muslims had nothing to do w/ it. But the fact that they demanded that the new country convert to Islam clearly contradicts that contention of yours. It's not a question of whether America is or was Christian. It's the fact that you had those savages then, and you have these savages now, who demand that you either convert to Islam or accept dhimmi status under Shariah law or get killed in war. Those are your 3 options.

      And no, not every religion of even those times demanded that others convert to them. Most notable being the Mongols and Shamanism. Or Zoroastrianism w/ the Persians. After Iran became Islamic, some new converts wanted to revert to their old religion, but the remaining Zoroastrian population wouldn't take them back, since that was forbidden. Similarly, even Judaism demands a lot of effort before a person is accepted into the religion. Roman Catholicism and Islam were the only religions of the time that had any degree of coercion in them.

    153. Re:I have an idea by Coren22 · · Score: 1

      Well, on top of that, the US was pretty much kicked out of Iraq, Obama could have forced them to allow us to stay, but the President of Iraq was asking us to leave, or submit our soldiers to Iraqi law, which is something the US would not do.

      --
      APK likes to ask for responses to the same things over and over. Maybe he just likes the responses?
    154. Re: I have an idea by Coren22 · · Score: 1

      Now show me some video of American Muslims celebrating 9/11.

      I think that is him misunderstanding videos on TV. After 9/11 there were a ton of videos of Muslims celebrating the deaths, but they were from the Mid east, not the US as far as I remember.

      --
      APK likes to ask for responses to the same things over and over. Maybe he just likes the responses?
    155. Re:I have an idea by Coren22 · · Score: 1

      Where is the bill asking for a public option?

      The Republicans had no input into the ACA, so how would they have blocked a public option?

      --
      APK likes to ask for responses to the same things over and over. Maybe he just likes the responses?
    156. Re:I have an idea by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Hey, don't be so hard on them. They probably thought he had his emergency blinkers on, but one was busted.

    157. Re: I have an idea by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Interestingly, Congo is the words richest county in natural resources, just that its more the precious metal resources than oil. The real exception is that you can count on the Africans to sell out their countrymens wealth for a bit of cash on the side. But because most of the Middle East is very religious its much harder for us to rob them of the oil.

    158. Re:I have an idea by Actually,+I+do+RTFA · · Score: 1
      RTFM

      I quoted party of the treaty explaining that the is not need to wait. You did not quote any contradicting part..

      Article 6 wrote:
      For the purpose of Article 5, an armed attack on one or more of the Parties is deemed to include an armed attack: on the territory of any of the Parties in Europe or North America, on the Algerian Departments of France, on the territory of Turkey or on the islands under the jurisdiction of any of the Parties in the North Atlantic area north of the Tropic of Cancer; on the forces, vessels, or aircraft of any of the Parties, when in or over these territories or any other area in Europe in whicH occupation forces of any of the Parties were stationed on the date when the Treaty entered into force or the Mediterranean Sea or the North Atlantic area north of the Tropic of Cancer.

      Even the simplified en wikipedia article mentions the question if/when/why the US/NATO would be involved

      The Simple Wiki article does not. The en.wikipedia article says the US was thinking of getting involved, but there was no mention of NATO. The news may have suggested that NATO countries would help if asked, and indeed team-NATO has deployed outside of the treaty region as exceptions. For instance, in the former Yugoslavia and in the Gulf of Aden. In those cases, there is a a request to have a supplemental tasking. But, if France was invaded tomorrow by Russia, each NATO country is supposed to respond as they deem necessary to help ensure France's integrity, whether individually or in concert.

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    159. Re:I have an idea by Anonymous+Cow+Ward · · Score: 1

      That's actually really interesting, thanks!

      --
      Examine even your most deeply held beliefs. Nobody is always right.
    160. Re:I have an idea by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Dragged into? this particular quagmire is almost entirely the US's doing

    161. Re:I have an idea by mrchaotica · · Score: 3, Insightful

      If we would open drilling even more in the US and more publicly support fracking, we could never use another drop of middle eastern oil again.

      Don't you dumbasses realize that we're using their oil so that when it runs out we'll still have ours left? Leaving our oil in the ground for as long as possible gives us a strategic advantage, and squandering that for short-term economic gain isn't "conservative," it's just goddamn fucking stupid!

      --

      "[Regarding the 'cloud,'] ownership was what made America different than Russia." -- Woz

    162. Re:I have an idea by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You're right, it's not about oil, it's about a pipeline. Two competing pipelines to be precise, to sell gas to Europe:

      1) from quatar throuh Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Syria, Turkey
      vs.
      2) from Iran through Syria, Lebanon

      Assad does not allow pipeline 1, but allow pipeline 2. That's why US, France, Turkey and others says 'Assad must go'. And that's why Russia and Iran says that 'nobody should decide for the Syrian people'.

      map here: http://www.zerohedge.com/sites/default/files/images/user92183/imageroot/2015/07/TurkeyQatarPipeline.png

    163. Re:I have an idea by wyHunter · · Score: 1

      Because Turkey is a NATO member and NATO alliance implies that "an attack on one of us is an attack on all of us"

    164. Re:I have an idea by riverat1 · · Score: 1

      The Bush/Cheney "rush to war" wasn't poll-driven, nor was it a "rush" in that it took almost a year and included multiple attempts at UN consensus and Congressional approval.

      Bush/Cheney and the neocons were looking for any excuse they could find to invade Iraq even before they came into office in 2001. 9/11 just provided that for them. It had nothing to do with any serious threat from Iraq.

    165. Re:I have an idea by wyHunter · · Score: 1

      And if he meant to do this, he's treasonous.

    166. Re:I have an idea by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I will go offtopic to try and answer your question:

      Because the "-1 Misinformed", "-1 Stupid", and "-1 Just Plain Wrong" tags don't exist, so moderators get creative.

      As a frequent mod, I've been unhappy with the tag choices since they were invented, and they haven't changed since that day, either.

      I usually just use Underrated and Overrated, because karma doesn't mean much anymore, anyway.

    167. Re:I have an idea by quenda · · Score: 1

      Yes, it is a simplification. But without the thirst for oil, we in the west would never have allowed ourselves to be dragged so deeply into their mess.
      Supporting the Shah, House of Saud, Mubarak, etc may actually be good (look how much worse it gets when they lose control) by does not make any friends for us among the oppressed populations. And it does not matter how much oil is under Syrian soil - is it not yet plain enough the connection between Syria, Iraq, and the rest of the middle east?

      We train nearly twice as many people in Sub-Saharan Africa compared to the Middle east

      You realise that article is about military training? "Here is how to use our weapons, and here is our catalogue."

      I'm not saying the US should do more in Africa. Not until somebody figures out a way for foreign aid to do more good than harm there. So far all we have achieved is a population explosion.

    168. Re:I have an idea by bughunter · · Score: 1

      Actually, no, the Western corporations would still be meddling there, and lobbying their governments to meddle there.

      In the game of geopolitical economic domination they play, one does not let opportunities to secure a resource like oil pass by, because your rivals certainly will not. And when it comes to finite resources like petroleum, it is most definitely a zero-sum game.

      Granted, the way they're going about it is assholish and utterly sociopathic, but then what more do you expect from the asshole sociopaths who play that game?

      --
      I can see the fnords!
    169. Re:I have an idea by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Dragged into? this particular quagmire is almost entirely the US's doing

      total BS.

    170. Re:I have an idea by WindBourne · · Score: 1

      Actually, in terms of the GDP, we really did not. Russia outspent America by a LONG margin. The same is true today of China's spending.

      --
      I prefer the "u" in honour as it seems to be missing these days.
    171. Re:I have an idea by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      They never went in to "Get rid of Saddam" - the reason for going in was to secure the oil, some may even say steal the oil, there is plenty of evidence that complaisant parties became very rich through their exploitation of the situation. No wonder the locals are fucked off.

    172. Re:I have an idea by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Because even if you're not the biggest importer of a commodity, having influence over the commodity gives you influence over the importers of said commodity.

    173. Re:I have an idea by riverat1 · · Score: 1

      Obama's pull out of Iraq was based on an agreement negotiated by the Bush administration and the unwillingness of the Iraqi's to negotiate a satisfactory Status of Forces Agreement to allow US soldiers to remain. Given what ISIS/ISIL/Dae'sh has become maybe the Iraqi's are sorry about that now.

    174. Re:I have an idea by Darkling-MHCN · · Score: 1

      Not so simple as that. Unfortunately Turkey cannot get "the hell out of" there as they are there, they're also a member of NATO.

    175. Re:I have an idea by riverat1 · · Score: 1

      If you had read the rest of his post you would have seen that he was referring to the Barbary Pirates preying on US merchants way back in the early 1800's.

    176. Re:I have an idea by riverat1 · · Score: 1

      ... or the Sunni tribes spread across northern Scandinavia who don't have their own country.

      I believe you meant the Sami people.

    177. Re:I have an idea by riverat1 · · Score: 1

      The pullout from Iraq was negotiated by the Bush administration and carried out by Obama after the Iraqi's refused to negotiate a satisfactory Status of Forces Agreement that would allow us to remain. I kind of agree with you on the funneling weapons to the anti-Assad issue though.

    178. Re:I have an idea by Xyrus · · Score: 1

      Well if you're white...

      --
      ~X~
    179. Re: I have an idea by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You really have no idea what you are talking about. The U.S. Spends more than the next eight countries combined do

      https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2013/01/07/everything-chuck-hagel-needs-to-know-about-the-defense-budget-in-charts/

    180. Re:I have an idea by cavreader · · Score: 1

      Russia would need to actually attack a NATO country before Article 5 kicks in. In this particular case it was a NATO country who technically attacked another non-NATO country. With the destruction of the Russian bound passenger jet a couple of weeks ago and this current incident Russia is getting a refresher course on the chaos running rampant in the ME.

    181. Re:I have an idea by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I would have pretty much agreed w/ you, except for the gratuitous mention of Israel as a theocratic state. [...] There is no need to toss Israel into the mix just to show yourself as 'broad-minded' or impartial.

      While I agree that Israel is the most open and tolerant of all the theocracies it is still technically a theocracy; Funded on a religion myth, by religious peoples, for religious peoples. I mentioned Israel just for your kinds, I don't' really care about the Jew state. But I always find funny to see peoples so eager to prove they are not 'anti-semitic'. As if tolerating infant sexual mutilation and corruption made you a better person. Perhaps it does in the eye of the one true God? LOL.

      Islam is the only force for evil in a post Communist world.

      It is true that the Jews (Marxism, Leninism, Communist) are not the threat they use to be. But we still need to be vigilant for such is the price of freedom.

    182. Re:I have an idea by phantomfive · · Score: 1

      Yes lolol

      --
      "First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
    183. Re:I have an idea by rickb928 · · Score: 1

      You think that was partisan? 7 years we've had virtually no leadership in Washington. That's not limited to any single party.

      I don't have anyone to vote for for federal office. No Senator, no Representative, only one Presidential candidate and I'm not hopeful he will get through the primaries and nomination process, the establishment has that well rigged.

      And no, my favorite isn't who you think it is, because you're a flaming idiot. You cannot know.

      --
      deleting the extra space after periods so i can stay relevant, yeah.
    184. Re: I have an idea by WindBourne · · Score: 1
      --
      I prefer the "u" in honour as it seems to be missing these days.
    185. Re:I have an idea by unixisc · · Score: 0

      A theocracy implies a country that imposes laws based on its religion on everyone else, and makes members of other religions second class citizens. Which is true of a lot of Muslim countries, but certainly not Israel. Yeah, Israel was conceived of as a homeland for Jews the world over. It wouldn't have been needed had most countries persecuted Jews wherever they lived. It was certainly not conceived of as a land where there would be no Gentiles, the way Arabia emptied itself of all non Muslims, or Spain rid itself of all non-Catholics.

      Blaming Jews for Marxism is patently unfair. While Karl Marx may have had Jewish heritage, he was explicitly an avowed atheist (his famous quote - Man created God, God did not create man). There was nothing in Jewish scriptures or principles that made its way into Das Kapital or Kommunist Manifesto. The only other major Jew in the movement, after Marx and Engels, was Leon Trotsky, and he was completely marginalized after Lenin's death and ultimately assassinated. Blaming Jews for Karl Marx would be like saying that Nazism is a Catholic philosophy b'cos Hitler was Catholic

    186. Re: I have an idea by Bartles · · Score: 1

      Israel has a secular government, idiot. It doesn't belong on your list of eevil troublemakers.

    187. Re: I have an idea by Bartles · · Score: 1

      If the US was kicked out of Iraq, then why did Obama run around for two years giving dozens and dozens of speeches taking credit for withdrawing US soldiers? It should be noted as well that he boasted on more than one occasion, that we were leaving behind a stable functioning democracy.

    188. Re: I have an idea by Bartles · · Score: 1

      I love how modern liberalism has become so authoritarian that "liberals" have to openly mock libertarians. They are not supposed to be on opposite sides of the compass.

    189. Re:I have an idea by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      who is we? the u.s.? nah mate, the u.s. gets a total of jack and shit from the m.e. as far as oil goes. the us gets oil from their own continent mostly.

    190. Re:I have an idea by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      it could be because there's no -1 bullshit moderation? the US doesn't get oil from the ME. almost all oil that the US uses comes from the content it exists on. it comes from canada, mexico, the us, venezuala, etc but not so much the middle east - you can google this shit, it's not exactly hard to find this information

    191. Re:I have an idea by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The last "I" stands for Iraq. They wouldn't exist today without that mess having happened.

      No, the last "I" stands for "In". ISIS stands for "Islamic State In Syria". President 0 favors ISIL, "Islamic State In the Levant".

      Congratulations, you're about to learn something today. Islamic State of Iraq and Syria. Daesh's Syrian support group is called Jabhat al-Nusra, and ISIS has never stood for "Islamic State In Syria".

      I hope you take this opportunity to learn how to google. Or read newspapers.

    192. Re: I have an idea by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I totally agree, why should I pay for police or defence spending? I'm not going to be invaded or robbed, why should I pay for a fire service either? The point of all these things is that they are a public good, and having then for free *at the point of need* is the only way for them to work well. Living in the UK with it's free healthcare gives me more side benefits than you may realise. I.don't have to worry about health insurance, so I can change jobs easily or take up contracting if I want for example.

    193. Re:I have an idea by Plumpaquatsch · · Score: 1

      Actually, in terms of the GDP, we really did not. Russia outspent America by a LONG margin. The same is true today of China's spending.

      No, not really. Depending on the source, China spends between 1.2% and 2.1% of GDP on its military, while the USA spends 3.0-3.5% (in 2014).

      --
      Of course news about a fake are Fake News.
    194. Re:I have an idea by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      WW2 is no war to be looking for success in. This war is a worst possible outcome.

      No, not the worst outcome. We (the allies that is) won. If the Axis had won it would be a much worse situation. And what makes it worse is that if France and the UK had stood up to Germany in the mid thirties was Germany was beginning its rearmament program we could have nipped the whole thing in the bud, but, as with the rise of ISIS, there are too many people who view war as the last possible resort. They have learned the lesson that war is bad, but they failed to see the footnote that reads, better sooner than later.

    195. Re:I have an idea by Plumpaquatsch · · Score: 1

      And you lost me when you said oil, and helpers in the congo...

      The US DOES have "helpers" in Africa-- when it comes to training, we actually spend more money and send more units there. We train nearly twice as many people in Sub-Saharan Africa compared to the Middle east and North Africa combined. source

      Also note that special forces deployments are 10x what they were in Africa ten years ago, while presence in the middle east is actually going down. source

      I know you want to make this about OIL, but I think this is a gross simplification.

      It just coincidence that the biggest recipient listed is Nigeria - which also is a major oil producer.

      --
      Of course news about a fake are Fake News.
    196. Re:I have an idea by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      What the hell is a German doing in Georgia?

    197. Re: I have an idea by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Thats what outspent means you eediot

    198. Re:I have an idea by Plumpaquatsch · · Score: 1

      Yep, finally somebody else sees this.

      It was time to end NATO right after the USSR fell.

      At least they shouldn't have added former Warsaw Pact members to NATO.

      --
      Of course news about a fake are Fake News.
    199. Re:I have an idea by halivar · · Score: 1

      Ever been to Helen, GA? Best Jaegerschnitzel I've had since I left Germany.

    200. Re: I have an idea by Coren22 · · Score: 1

      That is what politicians do. They take credit for other people's work. The Iraqi withdrawal was already in the works when he took office, but he's the one who did it, just like he was the one who caught Osama Bin Laden, despite not putting any additional resources into the hunt compared to what Bush did, it just happened that they had a breakthrough under his watch, so he gets credit.

      --
      APK likes to ask for responses to the same things over and over. Maybe he just likes the responses?
    201. Re:I have an idea by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Whoosh

    202. Re: I have an idea by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That is false. The Iraqis developed their own chemical weapons although they did cooperate with Egypt. They had their own native chemical industries, and it isn't hard to do.

    203. Re:I have an idea by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      But if it weren't for Republicans it would be totally free. Not only that, we would have a golden age where nobody has to work and everybody gets free money.

    204. Re:I have an idea by wyHunter · · Score: 1

      What you say does not contradict what I did; clearly, Russia has not retaliated against Turkey. If they were to do so, by dropping a (conventional) bomb on Ankara, or shooting on Turkish planes, or whatever, then article 5 would be invoked.

    205. Re:I have an idea by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The decision to leave Iraq was made by Bush. Not Obama's administration.

      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Withdrawal_of_U.S._troops_from_Iraq

        In late April 2007 Congress passed a supplementary spending bill for Iraq that set a deadline for troop withdrawal but President Bush vetoed this bill, citing his concerns about setting a withdrawal deadline.[8][9][10] The Bush Administration later sought an agreement with the Iraqi government, and in 2008 George W. Bush signed the U.S.–Iraq Status of Forces Agreement. It included a deadline of 31 December 2011, before which "all the United States Forces shall withdraw from all Iraqi territory".[11][12][13] The last U.S. troops left Iraq on 18 December 2011, in accordance with this agreement.[1][11][12] US Forces, in the form of air support, resumed operations in Iraq in June 2014, to defend it against ISIS.

    206. Re:I have an idea by Rakarra · · Score: 1

      Actually, in terms of the GDP, we really did not. Russia outspent America by a LONG margin

      I think that supports the point -- the Russians needed to match absolute dollars spent to maintain parity, not a percentage of the GDP. The US outspent the USSR in real dollars, so the Russians had to spend a much higher percentage of their GDP to keep up. The US could afford it, the USSR could not before it all came tumbling down.

    207. Re:I have an idea by lsatenstein · · Score: 1

      The president of Turkey is a Muslim fundamentalist. His objective is to remain in power for the balance of his life, and to leave rulership to his descendents.

      The president is also a pro-muslim in support of the anti-Assad Syrian president, and when Russia bombed the legitimate (non ISIS) anti-Assad opposition armies, it was time to show Russia that it is vulnerable. True, the planes may have been close to Turkey, but they were not flying in the direction of the interior, but parallel, and perhaps even further away. The president is responsible for it's army and probably it was a commander or a general who gave the green light to take down the Russian plane.

      --
      Leslie Satenstein Montreal Quebec Canada
    208. Re:I have an idea by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      None of the great powers actually uphold or enforce the Treaty of Sevres, and only Russia ever tried. Otherwise, Kars, Batumi, Van and most of Eastern Turkey would be part of Armenia.

      Nice try, though.

    209. Re: I have an idea by rickb928 · · Score: 1

      As in they didn't try at all..

      --
      deleting the extra space after periods so i can stay relevant, yeah.
    210. Re:I have an idea by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I disagree. An occupation would indeed work, if you first committed genocide to eradicate the entire population of said countries, and simply repopulate them with good wholesome american/european citizenry.

      Of course, that would likely lead to world war, and certainly isn't a very moral thing to do. But it would work.

      Not exactly a very good solution though. And not something I would ever advocate.

    211. Re:I have an idea by shutdown+-p+now · · Score: 1

      While Israel has an open door for Jews worldwide, it's anything but a theocratic state. Gentiles have the same rights as Jews there.

      Try getting married in Israel, even as a non-Orthodox Jew (if your marriage somehow goes contrary to Orthodox norms), much less as an atheist.

    212. Re:I have an idea by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If you want me to convert to your 9th century barbaric religion you can go FUCK YOURSELF.

      That is what I will say to every Muslim that tries that stupid logic on me. If that then forces them to consider me dhimmi, or to actually try and kill me, it's not me that's being immoral, it's them.

      Anyone who says Islam is a religion of peace needs to read the Koran and the Hadiths.

      And frankly, this would go for anyone woosho religion (I'm atheist) but thankfully, most other religions simply accept that there are those who will refuse to believe, and they leave us alone. But not so for Islam, they simply won't accept the fact that there exists non-believers.

      One of many reasons why I consistantly turn down contracts coming from the middle east. You want my talents, you have to have a society that treats me with respect first.

    213. Re:I have an idea by shutdown+-p+now · · Score: 1

      The definition of "Europe" and "Asia" is essentially arbitrary, since geographically they form a single contiguous land mass without well-defined boundaries. Using Black Sea, which is effectively an internal lake with an outlet, as the dividing line is just as random as using Urals.

    214. Re:I have an idea by rtb61 · · Score: 0

      Turkey being a member of NATO means, according to law and treaties, Turkey did not purposefully target and shoot down a Russian bomber targeting ISIS, NATO did. The headline should properly read "NATO forces target and shot down a Russian bomber targeting ISIS terrorist forces, in order to prevent the elimination of NATO's terrorists". NATO forces knew full well the Russian bomber was no threat to NATO territory or to actual NATO forces but purposefully destroyed the plane over terrorist territory to try to ensure the crew were killed.

      Turkey did not do this NATO did. The question now is whether or not Turkey or the USA belongs in NATO because Turkey would not have acted without US approval. Consider the other outcome, that attack dropped certain share prices and raised up others, how many millions were insiders able to make out of that economic shift.

      --
      Chaos - everything, everywhere, everywhen
    215. Re:I have an idea by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It wouldn't have been needed had most countries persecuted Jews wherever they lived.

      In 6000 years of jewish story telling there was not a single land they were not expelled from. Of course everyone else is in the wrong; the jews were chosen by the single one true God and everyone else are mere beasts with no soul. The jews are bigots, they hate everyone and make this very clear everywhere they go. They also refuse to integrate to society. This is why they are universally hated. Really, fuck the jews. Until they drop the hateful cult and do some effort to integrate I don't want to hear them cry about anti-semitism. Most of them aren't even of semitic descend. What a joke.

    216. Re:I have an idea by Jack+Griffin · · Score: 1

      That only works if the host nation is willing to be your buddy and ally.

      Or you force it on them. It worked quite well in the colonies, the trick being to occupy for a couple of generations and force educate western values on everyone.
      Had we instilled an occupational government in Iraq for 50 years, and established free education and medical, equal rights, etc then we might have had a chance of leaving there by 2050 with the place in good shape. As it stands we'll be there for 50 years anyway pussy footing around trying not to be a bad guy, and it'll still be a war zone.

    217. Re:I have an idea by swalve · · Score: 1

      Why don't you just call them niggers and be done with it?

    218. Re:I have an idea by swalve · · Score: 1

      Try learning some history. Obama had nothing to do with that. Bush negotiated the pullout.

    219. Re:I have an idea by swalve · · Score: 1

      Europe versus Asia is an artificial concept. They are part of the same landmass.

    220. Re:I have an idea by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      [...] Nazism is a Catholic philosophy b'cos Hitler was Catholic philosophy b'cos Hitler was Catholic

      Perhaps it is. Catholicism is pretty bad after all.

    221. Re: I have an idea by Plumpaquatsch · · Score: 1

      Israel has a secular government, idiot. It doesn't belong on your list of eevil troublemakers.

      Israel has a secular government that has always been ruled by a coalition with an ultra-orthodox minority partner. And it never does anything without their ultra-orthodox minority partner saying it's Kosher.

      --
      Of course news about a fake are Fake News.
    222. Re:I have an idea by CrimsonAvenger · · Score: 2

      Yeah, the last time we had trench warfare, it was no big deal. Only 17 million dead, 20 million or so wounded.

      --

      "I do not agree with what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it"
    223. Re:I have an idea by unixisc · · Score: 1

      Do you have Gentile girls (or boys) getting kidnapped and married to Jews, against their own wishes and that of their families? In Islamic countries, not just Arab ones, you do have underaged non-Muslim girls get kidnapped and married to Muslims that way.

    224. Re:I have an idea by unixisc · · Score: 0

      Jews were not expelled from Holland once it got free of Spain, and they never fled India, since they never had any issues w/ Hindus

    225. Re:I have an idea by DarthVain · · Score: 1

      Yes,. but WWII was caused by many factors, including a once super power of the world, which suffering from political decisions of the past, elected to annex one of its neighbors that used to be part of the old empire...

      Fortunately that sounds nothing like the world today!

    226. Re:I have an idea by angel'o'sphere · · Score: 1

      That is not correct :)
      The only thing that is half correct is: the boundary is arbitrary.
      In the north it is the Ural, in the south it is the Bosporus, hence Turkey has a small, very small, part in Europe, and the main part in Asia.
      However as the geographs and writers about traveling figured: it is more fun, to just call the closer southern regions 'minor asia' (probably the romans called it that way already?).
      Don't get me into the mix up between 'Asians' and 'Orientals' (you might know that the british usage of both terms is the opposite of the american usage). Funnily we germans use the american definition, long before WWII even.ians, Chi

      So, near east and middle east people are called Asian in british english. Far east and south Asia (India, China, Japan etc.) the people are called Orientals.
      The USA, would call Indians, Chinese etc. Asians, but the 'english Asians' would be Middle Easterns.
      In Germany an 'Orientale' is someone from Iraq/Iran/Arabia, and everything farer east is an Asian, which by 'similarity' would put Parkistani into the group of Asians (they look like Indians, partly), but the Afghans would be either Arabs (even as they don't live close to Arabia) or Semits, what most of their peoples ethnicity is.

      So, for all involved, if the word Oriental or Asian is dropped, no one really knows what is meant without knowing from where the speaker is. And of course: germans speaking to a British would most of the time use the wrong word, as both languages have the same word with nearly the exact same pronunciation, but diametral exchanged meaning.

      --
      Cost free eBook I read (by iBook/Kobo/Amazon/ObookO/Gutenberg etc.): "The Green Odyssey" by Philip Jose Farmer.
    227. Re:I have an idea by shutdown+-p+now · · Score: 1

      I'm well aware of that. But OP's point wasn't that Israel is as bad in that regard as some Muslim countries - it's certainly not - but rather that it is a theocratic state. I disagree with that as a broad categorization, but it certainly isn't a secular state in a sense most Western countries are, and it has some pretty heavy-handed policies rooted in religion, marriage laws being one of them. I mean, when the state basically gives a monopoly by law, not even to a single religion, but to a single denomination of that religion, to conduct all marriages (with specific exclusions for a couple other recognized religions, but no provisions whatsoever for other denominations or for non-religious people), and their policy on it is restrictive enough in practice that many people have to travel abroad to marry, that's pretty messed up as far as I'm concerned. And it's not the only such thing there, just one that came to mind first. Unfortunately, a lot of that crap dates back to compromises made when the country was founded, and demographics ensure that the Orthodox minority is an important enough voting block that they get away with it.

    228. Re:I have an idea by shutdown+-p+now · · Score: 1

      Asia Minor was the Ancient Greek term for it. I don't think it's actively used these days, other than in historical accounts; at least not in English. Anatolia is the more common word for that region.

      Ural mountains are the eastern boundary of Europe, not the northern one (they stretch from north to south). The northern boundary is the Arctic ocean. Black Sea is the southern boundary, along with the straights, and further east it's Caucasus mountains and then Caspian sea.

      However, this boundary is not only arbitrary, it's relatively (as in, only a couple of centuries) new. There were other definitions before, with various major rivers used as the eastern boundary (e.g. Don or Dnieper). This is because there really isn't any good geographic definition, nor is there a particular need for one - the continent is a single one, Eurasia. Historically, Europe has been more of a political division than geographic (geography played into it only to the extent of defining easy to protect natural boundaries, like rivers and mountains, which then tend to become state boundaries.).

      Afghans are actually not Arabs at all (and Arabs are themselves Semitic people). The majority of Afghans are Pashtun, which is an Iranian sub-ethnicity, and the language that they mostly speak is Pashto, an Indo-Iranian language closely related to Persian; the second most popular language is Dari, which is a dialect of Persian. The second largest group are Tajiks, which are also an Iranian sub-ethnicity and speak an Indo-Iranian language very close to Persian. Then come Hazara, who speak Dari and are also Indo-Iranian; Uzbeks, which speak a Turkic language; and Balochi, who are again Indo-Iranian. So none of these are Arabic or Semitic in any way. Arabs and Arab-speakers are a tiny minority in Afghanistan (which kinda makes sense when you realize that it's basically all former territories of Persian Empire dating all the way back to Achaemenids, so ethnically and linguistically it's rooted in Iranian culture.

      Also, just FYI, in contemporary American usage, "Oriental" is seen at best an archaism deliberately used to evoke the atmosphere of the times when it was heavily used, and at worst is actually considered derogatory (or culturally alienating; either way, carrying a distinctive implication of racism).

    229. Re:I have an idea by angel'o'sphere · · Score: 1

      Ural mountains are the eastern boundary of Europe, not the northern one (they stretch from north to south).
      Another sign how easy it is to habe missunderstandings in writings.
      Obviously, the eastern bound of Europe versus Asia is a north to south thing.
      Not to obvious, obviously, the Ural is in the north and the Bosporus is in the south, both are oriented north to south.

      Thanks for the language, heritage education ... I will read a bit about it. From the looks Afgans don't look lieke Iranians, but that does not say muc, obviously. The german wishfull Ariers, is just a misnomer of Arians, which means Irans.

      --
      Cost free eBook I read (by iBook/Kobo/Amazon/ObookO/Gutenberg etc.): "The Green Odyssey" by Philip Jose Farmer.
    230. Re: I have an idea by Bartles · · Score: 1

      Do you mean that Israel is rally ruled by a cabal? You probably shouldn't say that in public, at least not anywhere near my family.

    231. Re: I have an idea by Plumpaquatsch · · Score: 1

      Do you mean that Israel is rally ruled by a cabal? You probably shouldn't say that in public, at least not anywhere near my family.

      http://www.haaretz.com/israel-...:

      Majority of Israelis Unhappy With Ultra-Orthodox Influence on Society

      Annual report revealed that 61 percent of Israelis support increased religion-state separation and 78 percent are dissatisfied with the government’s actions on religion-and-state issues.

      Just to make it clear: that's a major Israeli newspaper.

      --
      Of course news about a fake are Fake News.
    232. Re:I have an idea by Plumpaquatsch · · Score: 1

      The region never got its borders sorted out through wars like Europe did. The current borders were drawn up by European colonialists, and don't reflect tribal/ethnic divisions.

      There are border disputes all over the place in Europe. Here are some of them,

      There are still border disputes between the USA and Canada: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...

      And for that matter: there are also active secession movements in the USA, both from the Union itself as well as from States.

      --
      Of course news about a fake are Fake News.
    233. Re:I have an idea by Plumpaquatsch · · Score: 1

      They were all busy grabbing their gun because someone actually using the blinker that they let you through.

      FTFY. Just kidding - don't shoot.

      --
      Of course news about a fake are Fake News.
    234. Re: I have an idea by Plumpaquatsch · · Score: 1

      Not going to happen.Russia regularly violates airspace as a wang waving exercise to create fear in its neighbours.

      Cough. http://lmgtfy.com/?q=american+military+plane+violating+airspace

      The first one's good: "Aug 1, 2014: A U.S. Air Force RC-135 Rivet Joint spy plane reportedly violated Swedish air space in order to dodge Russian fighter jets"

      # 4 is the odd one: "Jun 20, 2009: In a major violation of Indian airspace, a Russian aircraft hired by the US military which was overflying India on Friday evening was instructed by the defence ministry to change its flight path mid-way and head for Mumbai airport."

      --
      Of course news about a fake are Fake News.
    235. Re: I have an idea by Bartles · · Score: 1

      Just to make it clear, Israel still has a secular government.

    236. Re:I have an idea by angel'o'sphere · · Score: 1

      Nevertheless the people look different from each other and speak different languages ;D

      --
      Cost free eBook I read (by iBook/Kobo/Amazon/ObookO/Gutenberg etc.): "The Green Odyssey" by Philip Jose Farmer.
    237. Re: I have an idea by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Jews don't integrate well? Some people need an Adam Sandler song to find out some people are Jews.

      I know many foreigners in this country who have been here 20, 30, 40 years and barely speak English. I don't know of any Jews who don't speak pretty good English.

      The Jews are probably not in my top ten of groups who don't integrate well in Canada.

    238. Re:I have an idea by beastofburdon · · Score: 1

      It must be a cold day in hell and your fjord. You actually said something that bears a very high resemblance to reality. I hope this is a sign of more to come from you.

    239. Re: I have an idea by beastofburdon · · Score: 1

      If that is so, then why do they always claim to speak for all Jews instead of the people of Israel?

    240. Re: I have an idea by Bartles · · Score: 1

      Who is they?

    241. Re: I have an idea by beastofburdon · · Score: 1

      The Israeli government.

    242. Re:I have an idea by angel'o'sphere · · Score: 1

      I stand correct.
      I wonder if it got changed during the joining of the new members, or if it always was like that.
      I believe I learned in school that a country under threat is required to actively request support.

      --
      Cost free eBook I read (by iBook/Kobo/Amazon/ObookO/Gutenberg etc.): "The Green Odyssey" by Philip Jose Farmer.
    243. Re:I have an idea by angel'o'sphere · · Score: 1

      Yeah, my statement was a bit to broad as I actually know about Judaism and Zoroastrian and a few others.

      My point was more that people should stop blaming religion for evil doing. It might often be involved, however simply being a "bad guy" and simply living in "poor conditions" is enough to get pople to commit crimes, regardless of law etc ... piracy often was not a crime, at least not in the eye of a pirate having a "letter of marque" of his crown ;D

      --
      Cost free eBook I read (by iBook/Kobo/Amazon/ObookO/Gutenberg etc.): "The Green Odyssey" by Philip Jose Farmer.
    244. Re:I have an idea by unixisc · · Score: 1

      I agree w/ you in general, except when the religion in question itself, in its various texts, advocates obliterating all other religions and making itself the only one standing. As Islam emphatically does, and as its founder Mohammed always did

    245. Re:I have an idea by angel'o'sphere · · Score: 1

      As Islam emphatically does, and as its founder Mohammed always did
      Which he actually did not. His goal was to convert heathens/infidels to the faith. However: Christians, Jews, Jesides are all neither heathens nor infidels. Islam recognizes them as Abrahamic religions or so called "book religions", because they all believe in the same god!

      --
      Cost free eBook I read (by iBook/Kobo/Amazon/ObookO/Gutenberg etc.): "The Green Odyssey" by Philip Jose Farmer.
  2. This is why ISIS wins by NotDrWho · · Score: 3, Insightful

    U.S., Iran, Turkey, Assad, Russia. All hate ISIS. All have an interest in destroying the ISIS "caliphate."

    Can't stop fighting among themselves for even a minute to even consider an alliance.

    Meanwhile, ISIS just slips across some other border that the side who happens to be fighting them at that moment can't cross.

    --
    SJW's don't eliminate discrimination. They just expropriate it for themselves.
    1. Re:This is why ISIS wins by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

      From the ISIL "Welcome to the Caliphate!" brochure:

      Getting attacked by Russians or Assad? Head to Iraq. The U.S. won't let your attackers cross the border.

      Getting attacked by Americans or Iraqis? Head to Syria. Russia/Assad won't let your attackers cross the border.

      In doubt? Go to Turkey. They won't let ANYONE cross the border!

    2. Re:This is why ISIS wins by Richard_at_work · · Score: 3, Insightful

      The situation between Turkey and ISIS is actually a lot more murky than you would think - Turkey has actually actively collaborated with ISIS on occasion when it comes to fighting the Kurds (which Turkey has a long standing conflict with). Turkey has also actively protested Russian targets within Syria as they are pro-Turkey factions of ISIS.

      Turkey will play the anti-ISIS game only as long as they have to in order to keep up international appearances - behind the scenes, the game is played completely differently.

    3. Re:This is why ISIS wins by JaredOfEuropa · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Those parties are not really fighting amongst themselves; but they do have different interests in Syria. While their common goal is to fight IS, they each want to use this conflict as an opportunity to back their own horse in this race. Russia bombs the "moderate" rebels opposing Assad, while the rest likes to support those rebels. Meanwhile, Turkey bombs the Kurds.

      By the way, Russia has a long history of violating the airspace of other nations. I'm surprised there hasn't been such an incident earlier.

      --
      If construction was anything like programming, an incorrectly fitted lock would bring down the entire building...
    4. Re:This is why ISIS wins by fustakrakich · · Score: 1

      And why doesn't the US give a friendly recommendation to Saudi Arabia to stop financing ISIS?

      Apparently that subject is taboo. It falls outside the narrative of the GWOT and its religious fanaticism.

      --
      “He’s not deformed, he’s just drunk!”
    5. Re:This is why ISIS wins by MightyMartian · · Score: 4, Informative

      But does Turkey hate ISIS? The Kurds of northern Iraq have been one of the targets of ISIS, and every Kurd killed by ISIS is another Kurd that won't cause Turkey problems. Why do you think Turkey is the porous border that is allowing people and goods to flow into Iraq and Syria? Because they want ISIS to cause mayhem, kill lots of Kurds and send the message to Turkish Kurds that they'll happily send them to the slaughter too if anyone starts thinking about Greater Kurdistan again.

      The Turks have never been allergic to the idea of genocide. Just look at the Ottoman genocide of ethnic Armenians during WWI. I'm sure if the Turkish government thought it could get away with it, it would kill every Kurd it could find

      --
      The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
    6. Re:This is why ISIS wins by NotDrWho · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Those parties are not really fighting amongst themselves; but they do have different interests in Syria. While their common goal is to fight IS, they each want to use this conflict as an opportunity to back their own horse in this race.

      I shudder to think how WWII would have ended if the alliance powers had each worried so much about what the other sides would do AFTER they defeated Hitler that they refused to ally with one another to begin with.

      Destroy ISIS. Worry about the other squabbling bullshit later.

      The U.S. once had the balls to support JOSEPH STALIN to defeat a nasty threat. Now you won't even support some petty little dictators like Putin/Assad to defeat a religious movement that threatens the entire modern world?

      --
      SJW's don't eliminate discrimination. They just expropriate it for themselves.
    7. Re:This is why ISIS wins by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      It's hard to tell who is ISIS, who is al-Qaeda, who is a pure-hearted rebel against the tyranny of the Russia-backed Assad regime, etc. Think of it as a spectrum of shifting allegiances rather than discrete camps. So, Turkey's been supplying weapons (most recently surplus US anti-tank missiles) to someone, although I doubt even the recipients know which side they'll be on next month. As long as they're used against the Russians, who cares, right?

    8. Re:This is why ISIS wins by Fire_Wraith · · Score: 2

      Turkey doesn't like ISIS - but Turkey hates the Kurds more, and views them as the real/long-term enemy or problem. Turkey is certainly not sympatico with the US (nevermind Russia) on taking out ISIS, especially not if the Kurds in Iraq are empowered by it.

      In a way, it's very similar to the situation in Afghanistan with respect to the attitude and interests of Pakistan. Their interests are not our own, and they don't consider the Taliban to be the "real problem" in the region. Granted, Turkey is not supporting ISIS the way some elements in Pakistan prop up the Taliban/AQ, but they're certainly in no rush to bring ISIS down.

    9. Re:This is why ISIS wins by halivar · · Score: 1

      Can you please give a friendly citation as to the nature of the current administration's religious fanaticism? Thanks.

    10. Re:This is why ISIS wins by MightyMartian · · Score: 2

      At some point Turkey will overplay its hand. The US and Europe have been forced to tolerate Turkey's double-dealing for some time, but as there is growing accord between the US, Europe and Russia on dealing with ISIS, Turkey's actions are going to see it increasingly isolated. If one of the end results of defeating ISIS is that Russia gains the right of a perpetual warm water port in Syria recognized by the US, then Turkey's place in NATO and as a US ally will be called into question. This downing of a Russian jet for what was the very briefest of incursions was a damned fool move that is likely to have Turkey's allies in the US and Europe scrabbling for cover.

      --
      The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
    11. Re:This is why ISIS wins by Penguinisto · · Score: 5, Informative

      I shudder to think how WWII would have ended if the alliance powers had each worried so much about what the other sides would do AFTER they defeated Hitler that they refused to ally with one another to begin with.

      Oh, believe me - they worried. Churchill openly worried about it (especially post-Yalta, where he saw that the UK got screwed pretty hard.) Roosevelt worried about it, though not as much... now post WWII, his big worry was that Gen. Patton would decide 'fuck it', and start a fight with the USSR anyway (just to get it out of the way).

      Incidentally, there were more than a few tense crises between East and West (towards and at the end of WWII) that never really made the papers - the relative silence was only because back then, the government would tell the press to shut the hell up about something, and the press (more often than not) compliantly kept quiet about it.

      --
      Quo usque tandem abutere, Nimbus, patientia nostra?
    12. Re:This is why ISIS wins by Richard_at_work · · Score: 3, Informative

      By the way, Russia has a long history of violating the airspace of other nations. I'm surprised there hasn't been such an incident earlier.

      This is ironic considering Turkey lost an F-4 to Syrian air defence a couple of years ago after the Turkish aircraft violated Syrian airspace...

    13. Re: This is why ISIS wins by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Secular Humanism falls somewhere along the religious spectrum. There is faith, and the belief in attaining a better future from following a set of guidelines.

    14. Re:This is why ISIS wins by blind+biker · · Score: 4, Informative

      U.S., Iran, Turkey, Assad, Russia. All hate ISIS. All have an interest in destroying the ISIS "caliphate."

      Can't stop fighting among themselves for even a minute to even consider an alliance.

      Meanwhile, ISIS just slips across some other border that the side who happens to be fighting them at that moment can't cross.

      Bullshit - Turkey has been supporting ISIS in many ways, including logistics, since the beginning. This includes free passage for ISIS fighters while blocking the passage of anti-ISIS forces. Turkey is also acting as a de-facto air force for ISIS, by bombing their most successful adversary, the Kurdish forces in Syria.

      --
      "The agriculture ministry is not in charge of Gundam" - Japanese ministry official.
    15. Re:This is why ISIS wins by fustakrakich · · Score: 1

      Religion is for propagandists. That is the administration's role in its PR campaign to sell the war. It is used as a distraction, and it's a damn good one. This is business.

      --
      “He’s not deformed, he’s just drunk!”
    16. Re:This is why ISIS wins by Dog-Cow · · Score: 2

      How is that ironic?

    17. Re:This is why ISIS wins by aaaaaaargh! · · Score: 2

      The Daesh are not winning anything by any stretch of imagination. They are a pathetically weak force that could be defeated in a very short time by any modern military. The sad fact is, however, that they will never be defeated without a substantial number of foreign troops on the ground in the current situation, because Assad's troops are too weak and the rest is even weaker.

    18. Re:This is why ISIS wins by halivar · · Score: 2

      You're hand-waving. Where, specifically, is this apocalyptic religious propaganda you say is employed by the Obama administration to sell this war?

    19. Re:This is why ISIS wins by Rei · · Score: 5, Informative

      It's really not, at least among the major players. In the north (where the most relevant fronts are, even if there is still lots of random fighting elsewhere) you have Daesh in the east, the YPG (kurdish "Peoples' Defense Units") to the north of them, and JaF (Jaish al-Fatah, "Army of Conquest")/FSA alliance in the center (down to just north of Hama, and edging into Latakia by the Turkish border). The FSA has many different brigades but they're all pretty unified by wanting to fight Assad and Daesh and being composed of members who explicitly didn't join the (formerly much more powerful) Islamist militias. JaF is comprised of a number of militias, mostly islamist, the two most powerful being Ahrar ash-Sham ("Supporters of the Levant") and Jabhat al-Nusra ("The Support Front for the People of the Levant").

      Let's break down the players.

      The YPG, opposed by Turkey (out of fear of links to the PKK), controls a long strip along Turkey's northeast border, as well as a couple of pockets west of there. They have a long border with Daesh territory and fight almost exclusively against Daesh (even though there's one or two Assad pockets within their territory). Recently they've launched a major anti-Daesh campaign, using US-supplied weapons, in an alliance with Arab anti-Daesh forces, under the banner of Syrian Democratic Forces. So far it seems to be progressing well.

      Daesh (aka IS/ISIS/IL) is, of course, Daesh. A group of Islamists so radical that even al-Qaeda thinks they're nuts. That said, it should be reiterated that not everyone who fights for them shares their ideology. They literally do run what is effectively a state, with locally sourced money (based around oil pumping, refining with truck-mounted mini-refineries, and sales - both domestic, to Turkey (black market), and even to Assad, who they're vehemently against. This money funds a militia far larger than their ideological base, often made up of the poor and displaced in the conflict who need the work. That said, literally armed entitity who's not part of Daesh in this conflict is an enemy of Daesh, so it's hard to imagine them surviving in the long run.

      The FSA was once the largest fighting force in early post-revolution Syria, but atrophied to a lack of financing and weaponry, becoming a paper tiger. Since 2014 however a joint US/Saudi/Turkey program under the auspices of the CIA (not to be confused with the gigantic-failure Pentagon program) has funnelled them a basically unlimited supply of TOWs, which they've been making good use of - their kill rate is reportedly about 6 out of 7 fired. Their numbers have increased since then. So far they seem to have managed their assets quite well, with reports stating that only 2 (some say 4) have fallen into other hands (Jabhat al-Nusra), and they seem to have used them. FSA works closely with JaF but is not part of the alliance itself.

      Jaish al-Fatah is as mentioned a coalition, largely Islamist, although its individual members vary significantly. Let's go into the two biggest ones.

      Ahrar ash-Sham can be thought of as sort of like the Muslim Brotherhood: Islamist, supporting sharia, but locally focused. Saudi Arabia and Qatar seem to have this group as their favored dog in the game.

      Jabhat al-Nusra is a branch of al-Qaeda operating in Syria. Strangely despite this they haven't been behaving very much like al-Qaeda usually does, and they've been a very effective force against both Assad and Daesh. While they still take part in things like suicide bombings and human shields, they have a policy of not taking any anti-western activity and have worked hard to try to not engender local resentment, such as not imposing sharia on Christian towns. Qatar has been reportedly working to try to get them to break with al-Qaeda, but so far this campaign has not yielded any fruit. A large chunk of al-Nusra's fighters are foreign volunteers attracted by the name and they would risk losing them if they were to break with al-Qaeda.

      JaF is really tricky on how one should deal with it. Ahra

      --
      I hate to bring up our imminent arrest during your crazy time, but we gotta move.
    20. Re:This is why ISIS wins by Vlad_the_Inhaler · · Score: 2

      The Russians claim they are opposing ISIL (or whatever we want to call them) but actually spend more energy attacking the other opposition to Assad.
      The Turks claim they are opposing ISIL but have a different agenda: Support the Ethnic Turks in the border area, fight the Kurds, Assad and any Shia muslims who get involved. ISIL are Sunni fanatics (as are Al Q), Turkey is mostly Sunni.

      I'd guess that the downed plane did not enter Turkish airspace, it was definitely bombing the ethnic Turks in the border area.
      If Russia actually restricted their attacks to ISIL, Turkey would still be looking to attack the Kurds whenever they could.

      The Russians only have one ally in the area - Assad. If they dropped him then they would lose face, other potential allies would not take them seriously.
      The US are allied with Saudi Arabia and have been since Eisenhower. The Saudis have done very well out of this alliance, so have - to a certain extent - the US. The problem now is that the Al Q / ISIL strain of Sunni Islam is the Wahabi strain which comes straight from the Saudi ruling house - those two organisations are practicing what the Saudis preach. Acceptance of that conflict of interest would mean the end of the US / Saudi alliance. That would leave the US out on a limb - it would take a lot to get them together with Iran and that is the main regional alternative.

      --
      Mielipiteet omiani - Opinions personal, facts suspect.
    21. Re:This is why ISIS wins by fnj · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Turkey doesn't like ISIS

      Bullshit. The western friendly Turkey as reformed by Ataturk is long gone. Erdogan's Turkey of today is being lurched back in the medeival Islamist totalitarian direction, and mark well that he was popularly elected. Turkey now sees everything through Moslem colored glasses. It has no problem with ISIS at all.

      You are right that Turkey hates Kurds with a vengeance.

    22. Re:This is why ISIS wins by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I'm sure if the Turkish government thought it could get away with it, it would kill every Kurd it could find

      That's a bullshit argument. It is true for every government (or at least parts thereof):

      • I'm sure if the Hungarian government thought it could get away with it, it would kill every Refugee it could find.
      • I'm sure if the American government thought it could get away with it, it would kill every Mexican it could find.
      • I'm sure if the German government thought it could get away with it, it would kill every Turk it could find.
      • I'm sure if the Russian government thought it could get away with it, it would kill every LGBT it could find.

      The point is that you cannot get away with genocide. It will haunt a people or a community. It was tried in the past and failed. You can kill the minority, but that misdeed will be remembered and a future generation will be ashamed at what their ancestors have done.

    23. Re:This is why ISIS wins by serviscope_minor · · Score: 3, Insightful

      The situation between Turkey and ISIS is actually a lot more murky than you would think - Turkey has actually actively collaborated with ISIS on occasion when it comes to fighting the Kurds (which Turkey has a long standing conflict with). Turkey has also actively protested Russian targets within Syria as they are pro-Turkey factions of ISIS.

      It's amazing how short sighted people can be. Yeah there's been a long conflict with the Kurds, and yeah the Kurds want to break away. But for fuck's sake, having ISIS on your border is far, far, far worse.

      The Kurds want to break away, ISIS wants to take over and bring Turkey under the Caliphate.

      --
      SJW n. One who posts facts.
    24. Re:This is why ISIS wins by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      But weren't we fighting against Oceania?

    25. Re:This is why ISIS wins by Koreantoast · · Score: 2

      Agreed, a lot of the groundwork for the Cold War was laid out toward the latter half of the Second World War. By 1944, when it looked like the Axis' fall was well on its way, they spent just as much time positioning themselves for the post-war era: the Soviets providing captured Japanese equipment to the Chinese Communists, the United States (in small part) nuking Japan to bring a quick end to the war and prevent a Soviet occupation of Japan, the rush to capture German territories by Allied powers.

    26. Re:This is why ISIS wins by MightyMartian · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Which is why ISIS is so darned convenient for Turkey. It takes the piss out of the Kurds outside Turkey's borders and thus weakens the overall Kurdish cause. I'm sure the Turkish government is happy enough to take a few suicide bombings on the chin for the strategic advantage gained from allowing ISIS to run rampant and kill lots of Iraqi and Syrian Kurds.

      --
      The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
    27. Re:This is why ISIS wins by fnj · · Score: 5, Informative

      By the way, Russia has a long history of violating the airspace of other nations.

      Ha. The USA made a wholesale business of such violations against the USSR with virtually no retaliation in kind. This little-known secret campaign began in 1946. There were losses, killed and imprisoned, kept secret. B-29s and Lockheed P2Vs were used; later C-130s and B-66s. By the 1950s, B-47 bombers were being repeatedly sent on deep penetration reconnaissance missions. Then came the U-2s. Francis Gary Powers' ill-fated spy flight was far from the only such.

      All told more than 40 US aircraft invading Soviet aircraft were shot down. Question: can you identify a single Soviet or Russian aircraft which was ever shot down over US territory? As far as I know they have never violated it; certainly not systematically and purposefully.

      Incidents of Russian aircraft probing the US which are drummed up as provocative are no more than Russians exercising their perfect right to range in international airspace "near" (gasp) to US territory.

    28. Re:This is why ISIS wins by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Want easy mode jihad? Blow you self up in France. Citizen there are defenceless, you will be the only one with a weapon.

      There is not a perfect plan. There is always the slim possibility that an American might be in the area who won't just cower in fear as you reload.

    29. Re:This is why ISIS wins by MightyMartian · · Score: 1

      Turkey has hated Kurds long before Erdogan came on the scene. I suspect every iteration of the Turkish regime would have played the same game if it meant keeping the Kurdish population inside and outside its borders in check.

      --
      The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
    30. Re:This is why ISIS wins by amiga3D · · Score: 2

      I'm pretty sure we've always been at war with East Asia.

    31. Re:This is why ISIS wins by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      He's using the Morissette definition of ironic.

    32. Re:This is why ISIS wins by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The shoot down just highlights how inept the Russians are in regards to air power. The jet was downed by another jet and not the more formidable air defense batteries Turkey has in place. Were the Russian pilots not paying attention? Did the pilots think just because they were Russian that nobody would shoot at them?

    33. Re:This is why ISIS wins by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The Russians claim they are opposing ISIL (or whatever we want to call them) but actually spend more energy attacking the other opposition to Assad.

      That's probably because the Russians are the only ones smart enough to release that there is no difference. The idea of "good rebels" in Syria is a U.S. media fantasy. If they're rebelling against Assad, they're probably allied with (if not openly supporting) ISIL. It may have been different early on in the war, but not anymore. Anyone who isn't hardcore pro-Assad or hardcore pro-ISIL got the fuck out of the country a long time ago.

    34. Re:This is why ISIS wins by vinlud · · Score: 1

      a religious movement that threatens the entire modern world?

      Seriously? Do you really believe Daesh are capable of doing that? They wished

      --
      Repeat after me: We are all individuals
    35. Re:This is why ISIS wins by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Americans can't even support each other with those nasty little Rs and Ds that everyone associates themselves with.
       
      Party politics have become such a bitter divide that it has literally weakened the nation. Politicians play it like a fiddle to keep the sheep in line.

    36. Re:This is why ISIS wins by Tough+Love · · Score: 1

      ...One can act accordingly

      Good luck with that.

      --
      When all you have is a hammer, every problem starts to look like a thumb.
    37. Re:This is why ISIS wins by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Right, but the same applies to Russia too. Russia is pretending to bomb ISIS "terrorists" in Syria, and yet for every hundred bombing raids it's done only one has actually been against ISIS and ISIS territory. The other strikes have hit everything from al Qaeda off-shoots, which we'd probably agree is fair play, through to Kurds and Turkmenis who just want to be left the fuck alone in their particular pocket of Syria just because they also oppose Assad.

      The net result is that just as the Turks were indirectly helping ISIS by fucking over the Kurds, Russia is indirectly helping ISIS by targetting everyone who isn't ISIS and Assad - and those people happen to be enemies of ISIS too.

      As the GP said, the whole situation is a mess. Effectively you have Russia defending Assad, Turkey defending people fighting against Assad but not the Kurds, the Kurds fighting ISIS, and the rest of the coalition, Iraq, and Iran also fighting ISIS.

      The Russian intervention would be far more helpful than Turkey's interventions to date if Russia was actually attacking ISIS full on, but given that it's doing more damage to one of ISIS' many sets of opponents than it is ISIS then it's doing more to help ISIS than hurt it right now, which has much been the case with Turkey to date when it was fucking the Kurds whilst they were trying to fight ISIS as you say.

      No one is directly supporting ISIS, but Russia, Turkey, and a couple of the Gulf states are most definitely indirectly supporting ISIS with their actions and all are doing so to pursue their own geopolitical ambitions - Russia to give the West no choice but to back Assad or ISIS rather than leave any group to back on the broad spectrum in between the two, Turkey to fuck the Kurds because it doesn't want Kurdistan to exist even if as part of Syrian territory, and Qatar et. al. because it's a useful proxy to battle Iranian influence with.

      The rest of the Western coalition, Iraq and to some degree Iran is at least is fighting ISIS to destroy ISIS rather than for any other overriding reason, but they're doing so in such a half arsed manner that it's wholly ineffective. Whether we like it or not, we need boots on the ground if we actually really want to defeat them - we managed to deploy 1 million troops to Iraq in 1991, if we just got it over and done with with one mass deployment like that again we could eradicate them incredibly quickly and cleanly, instead we seem now to prefer to drag this things on forever with pointless little deployments that can't ever hope to achieve anything. I'd wager whatever the massive upfront cost of such a mass deployment not seen since '91 it's still massively cheaper in terms of monetary cost and lives lost than these pointless little deployments that do nothing other than poke the hornets nest. If we're not willing to do it and do it right like that then we should leave it the fuck alone altogether. What we're doing right now is the worst possible option - we're wasting money to achieve nothing.

      The only reason ISIS exists still is because just about every country in the world right now is apparently run by some fucking retard or another that can't see past their own geopolitical ambitions at the bigger picture. One minute they're all "Aww, poor France, we absolutely must act and destroy ISIS", and the next they're "Turks!", or "Kurds!", or "Russians!". It's like the world is being run by kids with ADHD who can't focus on an issue for more than a few minutes before they get distracted.

    38. Re:This is why ISIS wins by Tough+Love · · Score: 3, Informative

      The Kurds want to break away, ISIS wants to take over and bring Turkey under the Caliphate.

      That's not quite it. The Turkish regime knows that the world will eventually get around to squashing ISIS, so from their perspective a sovereign Kurdistan is the more pressing problem. Not by any means justifying that point of view, just drawing attention to the twisted dynamic.

      --
      When all you have is a hammer, every problem starts to look like a thumb.
    39. Re:This is why ISIS wins by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      By the way, Russia has a long history of violating the airspace of other nations. I'm surprised there hasn't been such an incident earlier.

      But, but GLONASS says the Russian borders, and every other border always extend over the horizon so everything is ok, ok? If something would be not ok, then a bottle of vodka with friends, some contract and land negotiations would solve it. Then everything is ok again!

    40. Re:This is why ISIS wins by NoNeeeed · · Score: 1

      Thanks for that. Where do you get your info from? I'd like to read more and try to get a better handle for wtf is going on over there. The UK media present a very simplified view of the situation.

    41. Re:This is why ISIS wins by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Churchill was an unapologetic imperialist. It's interesting that FDR effectively made the dismantling of the British empire a precondition for war assistance. Stalin appeared to treat him with contempt. In fact, I think Churchill was one of the most overrated figures in modern history. A gift for oratory, but a scion of a degenerate class system. Basically a failure as a military strategist. A failure as a peacetime politician. A man who broadcast bravery to the frontline, while enjoying brandy, cigars, chauffeurs, and comfort for the duration of the war.

      And yet, after all that... he was a product of his environment, and gave it everything he had as a wartime leader, which is probably all that can be asked. You've got to read "The Second World War", and perhaps "A History of the English-Speaking Peoples" - the man could write.

    42. Re: This is why ISIS wins by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I believe your an idiot! So tell me, where on the religious spectrum is that belief?

    43. Re:This is why ISIS wins by T.E.D. · · Score: 1

      A lot of the problem is that things look different in Syria depending on who you are.

      For most Westerners, we see a three-sided civil war between Assad, ISIS, and "Rebels". We'd probably like to see the "Rebels" win, but not enough to actually do much about it. So mostly we just bomb ISIS territory a tad and leave the other two alone.

      For Assad (and his Iranian, Russian, and Hezbolla allies) and ISIS itself, there's the same dynamic, but to them the assorted Rebel groups are the real threat. While ISIS exists, Assad can talk about terrorists, and while Assad exists ISIS can portray themselves as saviors. So Assad and ISIS don't attack each other much, and are effectively allies. They both spend most of their effort attacking the same rebel areas.

      For Russians, Assad has been a friend, and everyone against him is a "terrorist", backed by the west. If Assad goes, so does their influence. So they are bombing Assad's biggest threat, the non-ISIS "terrorists".

      For Turks, there's Assad, ISIS, Kurdish "terrorists", and everyone else. As far as they are concerned, the Kurd "terrorists" (some of who also operate within Turkey) are the real problem, so that's who they are attacking. Nevermind that Kurdish forces are the ones that have been most effective against ISIS. ISIS isn't Turkey's main problem, Kurds with guns are. Turks also have some armed groups in Syria they are supporting. Since Russia has been bombing that area, Turkey can't be particularly happy with Russia right now, and would be only too happy to shoot down any Russian that dips so much as a toe into Turkish territory.

      So basically, if you live in a "Rebel" area, everyone except "the West" is attacking you, and the West isn't doing a whole lot of attacking. Which is why there are now millions of refugees looking to go to the West.

    44. Re:This is why ISIS wins by gerddie · · Score: 1

      Right, but the same applies to Russia too. Russia is pretending to bomb ISIS "terrorists" in Syria, and yet for every hundred bombing raids it's done only one has actually been against ISIS and ISIS territory. The other strikes have hit everything from al Qaeda off-shoots, which we'd probably agree is fair play, through to Kurds and Turkmenis who just want to be left the fuck alone in their particular pocket of Syria just because they also oppose Assad.

      AFAIK the Russians never bombed the Kurds, Turkey however did, Turkey also closed the border for Kurds when Kobani was under ISIS attack. There is an interesting analysis about why ISIS survives. Short version: Because the Turks support them in many ways.

    45. Re:This is why ISIS wins by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Assad loves ISIS, he created it, it's his insurance policy against a western intervention to remove him. He freed terrorists, he spread fears to the minorities, and of course butchered everyone. He only fights ISIS when they are a direct threat, he much prefers fighting anyone that could support an alternative syrian government.
      And Puttin supported him through all this.

    46. Re:This is why ISIS wins by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It's only bad when they do it!

    47. Re:This is why ISIS wins by tnk1 · · Score: 1

      I agree. Turkey cares more about keeping the Kurds down than about ISIS. It is thinking like this which historically can groups like ISIS the breaks they need to become a real threat.

      For the record, I do think ISIS will get squashed or fade out, but the longer that something like that festers, the longer it has to influence Muslims around the world to radicalize. Unless decisively dealt with, the ideology and the aftereffects tend to leave openings for follow-on movements, just like ISIS came out of al-Qaeda and the Baathists.

      In many ways, it feels like the right thing to do is to split up Iraq, but an Iraqi derived Kurdistan means that Turkey would have to deal with its own Kurds, and a completely Shiite dominated area will likely ally with or even join Iran. In that sense, it feels like a no-win situation because the most stable state of the region is one where you're empowering the troublemakers and enemies.

    48. Re:This is why ISIS wins by cyberchondriac · · Score: 1

      Well, I'm not so sure about Turkey, actually. But yeah, no group in modern history has generated so much hate and provoked so many nations to make war against them. China is pissed off too now, reportedly, after ISIS killed a Chinese hostage, and the UN Security Council has unanimously voted to stop ISIS. I'm trying to remember the last time they did anything major unanimously. Hell, even Anonymous has declared war on them. They don't even get along that well with other terrorists! (AQ)
      The entire world hates them and wants them stamped out, but everyone is tripping over everyone else.

      --

      Look back up at my post, now look back down, you're on the Internet. Now look back up. I'm a signature.
    49. Re:This is why ISIS wins by VorpalRodent · · Score: 1

      TL;DR - There's the People's Front of Judea and a number of splinter groups - the Judean People's Front, the Judean Popular People's Front, and the Popular People's Front of Judea (he's over there). If you want to join any of these groups, you need only to hate the Romans...a lot.

      --
      Take it to the limit, everybody to the limit, come on, everybody fhqwhgads.
    50. Re:This is why ISIS wins by Minwee · · Score: 1

      The situation all seemed much simpler when Bill O'Reilly explained it.

    51. Re:This is why ISIS wins by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Post-WWII, I don't think Roosevelt worried about anything.

    52. Re:This is why ISIS wins by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

      Ten years or so ago it was common for Russian Bear bombers to overfly Alaska. Our jets would scramble from McGrath and Elmendorf to intercept. Russian jets would turn and go home when intercepted. It seemed they where trying to see how far they could get before being intercepted.

    53. Re:This is why ISIS wins by Actually,+I+do+RTFA · · Score: 1

      Roosevelt worried ... that Gen. Patton would decide 'fuck it', and start a fight with the USSR

      Ironic, because the real problem was MacArthur almost decided that nukes were pretty good problem solvers and kicked off WWIII.

      --
      Your ad here. Ask me how!
    54. Re:This is why ISIS wins by dasgoober · · Score: 1

      Hopefully, the US will have learned from its past mistakes, turning their back on allies (the way they're using the Kurds, currently) to have it cost them $billions and American lives. So, hopefully, they wont turn their backs on the Kurds to please their Turkish NATO allies.

    55. Re:This is why ISIS wins by HeckRuler · · Score: 2, Insightful

      The U.S. once had the balls to support JOSEPH STALIN to defeat a nasty threat.

      Yep, that's true. Oh, and while we're on the history lesson:

      The U.S. also once had the balls to support Saddam Hussein to defeat a nasty threat.

      The U.S. also once had the balls to support Osama Bin Laden to defeat a nasty threat.

      Perhaps you're suggesting the USA ally with a nefarious group to bring down the larger threat. Let me remind you that ISIS is in no way a credible threat to national security. They have zero chance of ending us. We will endure. They will not. Indeed, their time on this world seems quite short. As a rogue "nation" they, at most, can conduct a terrorist campaign. And the biggest risk of said campaign, is giving in to the terror.

      Those who don't learn a little history are doomed to repeat it.

      (Which honestly applies more to our backing of Syrian rebels if anything. Seriously, why do we even have a horse in the race in the first place?)

    56. Re:This is why ISIS wins by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      By the way, Russia has a long history of violating the airspace of other nations. I'm surprised there hasn't been such an incident earlier.

      Their plane violated the turkish airspace for all of about 5-10 seconds, literally, and was shot down over Syria. It passed over a small 2km strip of turkish airspace at over 600km/h. That's not even enough time to know you've made a navigational error to begin with.

      It clearly wasn't an intentional act by the Russian pilot considering he was flying air to ground combat missions - not a strategic bomber testing airspace like you're referring to Russia doing in the past, and Turkey unlike other nations, decided they didn't want to respond to it in a civilized way.

    57. Re:This is why ISIS wins by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/worl...

      Mr Erdogan spoke of Turkey's "rage" at the decision to shoot down the F-4 Phantom on 22 June and described Syria as a "clear and present threat".
      "A short-term border violation can never be a pretext for an attack," he said. The Turkish jet was on a training flight, testing Turkey's radars in the eastern Mediterranean, he said.

      "A short-term border violation can never be a pretext for an attack," Erdogan said.

    58. Re:This is why ISIS wins by Penguinisto · · Score: 1

      Ironic, because the real problem was MacArthur almost decided that nukes were pretty good problem solvers and kicked off WWIII.

      True, but MacArthur's love affair with nukes didn't happen until the Korean War, some 5-odd years later.

      --
      Quo usque tandem abutere, Nimbus, patientia nostra?
    59. Re:This is why ISIS wins by squiggleslash · · Score: 2

      Now you won't even support some petty little dictators like Putin/Assad to defeat a religious movement that threatens the entire modern world?

      It's a bunch of pathetic terrorists not a threat to the entire modern world. FFS people, stop crapping your pants every time some nut shoots or blows up something. When that happens, terrorists might not win anything, but we definitely lose.

      Nobody religious extremist is going to kill you tomorrow. Go live your life. (But change your pants, please.)

      --
      You are not alone. This is not normal. None of this is normal.
    60. Re:This is why ISIS wins by HeckRuler · · Score: 3, Interesting

      I had this thought too. "WTF does Turkey have that can shoot down a Russian plane?" And the answer is that the target wasn't their air superiority Su-35 (which looks awesome btw), it was a Su-24 a long-range interdiction fighter made to go behind enemy lines and blow up supply trucks. It was shot down by an F-16* which is made for air superiority. Even if hostilities were made apparent and the two forces actually struggled, I'd still put money on the tool made for the job. The Su-24 isn't quite as air-insuperior as an A-2 warthog, but it's along those lines.

      But I don't even know if there was a struggle. The Russians may have just been waving their dick about believing that no one in their right mind would poke the bear. They might have simply sat their while they got shot down.

      *Which is an old bird right? But this isn't two first-world nations going at it. And while we have 195 F-22s, there are more like 4500 F-16s in the world. And there are about to be an ungodly number of cheaper drones. The cutting edge weapons we have will never really be used. The things which see action will be the workhorses and the cheaper-end products of yesteryear.

    61. Re:This is why ISIS wins by slew · · Score: 1

      For the record, I do think ISIS will get squashed or fade out, but the longer that something like that festers, the longer it has to influence Muslims around the world to radicalize.

      I'm sure the royalty in Europe thought something similar about insignificant "democracy" being declared in north america. It is easy to predict with confidence the incumbents will eventually squash or their ferver will fade out, but often to stop it requires action, and that's something the current leadership (not a specific leader, but the collective leadership) doesn't seem to have the stomach for...

      We have no allies on the ground in that region, Russia has al-Assad, but "we" don't like him. Everyone else on the ground is mostly unreliable (to us), and the caliphate is making enough money on refineries that we won't bomb/squash, so they probably won't fade-out by themselves.

      People were perhaps (rightly) upset when we "installed" vindictive leaders to clean up messes like this in the past, but sometimes in retrospect, it may be too harsh to condemn this as short sighted before you look at all the other options they had presented to them. Sometime there are simply no good options and waiting for the perfect option may not be the right answer either...

      The world is complicated.

    62. Re:This is why ISIS wins by Ottawakismet · · Score: 1

      The Kurds don't just want to break away, they want a new Communist state, with no real elections. Its probably better than ISIS, but maybe not. The PKK are crazy, paranoid lunatics, and maybe they have more in common with the Khmer Rouge and Stalin, the way that they kill their own members in paranoid purges. The Kurds are better off ruled by Ankara.

    63. Re:This is why ISIS wins by Ottawakismet · · Score: 1

      yeah you are totally right, ISIS doesn't have a hope of taking over the world I doubt they will exist in 5 years, they certainly will not still hold any territory

    64. Re:This is why ISIS wins by unixisc · · Score: 1

      It's really not, at least among the major players. In the north (where the most relevant fronts are, even if there is still lots of random fighting elsewhere) you have Daesh in the east, the YPG (kurdish "Peoples' Defense Units") to the north of them, and JaF (Jaish al-Fatah, "Army of Conquest")/FSA alliance in the center (down to just north of Hama, and edging into Latakia by the Turkish border). The FSA has many different brigades but they're all pretty unified by wanting to fight Assad and Daesh and being composed of members who explicitly didn't join the (formerly much more powerful) Islamist militias. JaF is comprised of a number of militias, mostly islamist, the two most powerful being Ahrar ash-Sham ("Supporters of the Levant") and Jabhat al-Nusra ("The Support Front for the People of the Levant").

      I actually think that the GP is correct in that when it comes to distinguishing b/w the various Sunni Arab factions, it's a distinction w/o a difference. Even if some in the GOP, like Rubio, Bush and Fiorina seem to think it all cut & dry. Also, Levant translates into Arabic as ash-Sham, so Jabhat al-Nusra can't mean anything about the Levant

      Let's break down the players.

      Thanks - a good exercise

      The YPG, opposed by Turkey (out of fear of links to the PKK), controls a long strip along Turkey's northeast border, as well as a couple of pockets west of there. They have a long border with Daesh territory and fight almost exclusively against Daesh (even though there's one or two Assad pockets within their territory). Recently they've launched a major anti-Daesh campaign, using US-supplied weapons, in an alliance with Arab anti-Daesh forces, under the banner of Syrian Democratic Forces. So far it seems to be progressing well.

      This has been a major problem - Turkey. They have a blind fanatical opposition to the Kurds just b'cos of their own issues w/ the PKK. They stopped the US from supporting an independent Iraqi Kurdistan (which the Bush idiots acquiesced - somehow, they just loved grovelling before the Arabs and the Turks), and now, they're coming in b/w the US and the one group that's fighting ISIS both in Iraq and Syria - the Kurds. The Kurds have been doing the heavy lifting here, and any Sunni Arab support has been really nominal at best

      People who think that Kurds deserve their homeland are right. There is all that demand for a Palestianian state, even though Palestinians are Arabs, plain & simple, and can easily live in Jordan, Sinai, in addition to any other Arab country. The Kurds are not. A good idea would be to merge Iraqi and Syrian Kurdistan into one independent country, and require them to include all Assyrian, Syrian and Chaldean Christians, as well as Yazidis. Make religious freedom a requirement in any constitution they draw up. And don't let either Turkey or Iran veto their existence.

      Daesh (aka IS/ISIS/IL) is, of course, Daesh. A group of Islamists so radical that even al-Qaeda thinks they're nuts. That said, it should be reiterated that not everyone who fights for them shares their ideology. They literally do run what is effectively a state, with locally sourced money (based around oil pumping, refining with truck-mounted mini-refineries, and sales - both domestic, to Turkey (black market), and even to Assad, who they're vehemently against. This money funds a militia far larger than their ideological base, often made up of the poor and displaced in the conflict who need the work. That said, literally armed entitity who's not part of Daesh in this conflict is an enemy of Daesh, so it's hard to imagine them surviving in the long run.

      Everybody has their head in the sand about ISIS, and nobody wants to face up the elephant in the room about them - that they have the overwhelming support of Sunni Arabs in both Iraq and Syria. In Iraq, once the US left and the Baghdad regime of Maliki and now Haidari were left free

    65. Re:This is why ISIS wins by unixisc · · Score: 1

      The thing to understand about Turkey is that the secular Turkey of Kemal is dead. What we have today are wannabes of the Ottoman and Seljuq heritage. During the Cold War, Turkey did its best to be a part of Europe. That's not today's Turkey: today's Turkey wants leadership of all Turkic people (the stans and Azerbaijan) and if possible, all Muslim people as well. Recently, it was they who opposed a resolution opposing all unnamed Jihadi groups worldwide. They are actually getting more extreme (if they ain't there already) than the Saudis or the Qataris. They wouldn't have any problems w/ either ISIS nor the Caliphate, and there is a reason that Turkey has been the road to Raqqa: Ankara acquiesces in it.

      Re-drawing the map of Iraq and Syria is the right thing. After WWI, it was drawn by the Brits and French according to their zones of influence, but that's not reflective of the ground realities today. The solution - take a unified map of Iraq and Syria, and draw out Kurdistan, Southern Iraq for the Shia Arabs (actually, you can throw in South West Iran's Arab territory in Abadan and Khorramshahr) centered in Basra or Najaf, Christian enclaves in Palmyra, Aleppo and Homs, Sunni Muslim territory centered in Baghdad, Druze territory centered in Damascus and Alawite territory in Latakiya. Make all these independent countries, and prevent either the Saudis nor Iranians from having anything to do w/ them. Let them sell their oil and rebuild using that.

    66. Re:This is why ISIS wins by Schmorgluck · · Score: 1

      Actually, ISIS is a secondary target for Russia, who didn't strike it as much as they stroke some of its opponents. ISIS is way too convenient as a bogeyman for Assad. As long as ISIS stands, Assad can pretend he's a shield against terrorism.

      --
      There's nothing like $HOME
    67. Re:This is why ISIS wins by J053 · · Score: 1

      The Turks have never been allergic to the idea of genocide. Just look at the Ottoman genocide of ethnic Armenians during WWI. I'm sure if the Turkish government thought it could get away with it, it would kill every Kurd it could find

      Ironically, the Armenian genocide was mainly carried out by ethnic-Kurdish Turkish troops. The Kurds have, however, acknowledged their role while the Turks still refuse to admit it ever happened.

    68. Re:This is why ISIS wins by unixisc · · Score: 1

      Wrong. The US never supported either Osama nor the Taliban. The Jihadi warlord that they supported was Gulbudin Heqmatyar. Problem was that the US let their allies in the region write their foreign policy. Hosni Mubarak wrote the policy of supporting Saddam, while General Zia ul Haq wrote the policy of supporting Heqmatyar in Afghanistan. Later, Heqmatyar had a fall out w/ Gen Zia and today, he's a Jihadi on the wanted list of Centcom, and if one was accusing the US of creating their own problems down the road

      I do however agree w/ your last statement - we don't have a horse in this race, or a dog in this fight. Only dog we have is the fight itself. Muslims massacring each other is better than them massacring us instead

    69. Re:This is why ISIS wins by majid_aldo · · Score: 1

      fuck you. just because there is islamic influence doesn't mean it doesn't have a problem with ISIS.

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    70. Re:This is why ISIS wins by majid_aldo · · Score: 1
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    71. Re:This is why ISIS wins by fustakrakich · · Score: 1

      They are using the propaganda from the "other side", to scare people, and at the same time sending money and weapons to both sides, a la Iran/Contra... You are being scammed if you believe their war mongering bullshit.

      --
      “He’s not deformed, he’s just drunk!”
    72. Re:This is why ISIS wins by bloodhawk · · Score: 1

      It is not so clear on the turkey side. Where do you think ISIS sells their oil? where do you think they import most of their weapons, vehicles etc from? Turkey's only real enemy is Assad and the kurds. ISIS they have a love hate relationship with and seem to actively be in business with them.

    73. Re:This is why ISIS wins by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I'm sure if the Turkish government thought it could get away with it, it would kill every Kurd it could find

      That's a bullshit argument. It is true for every government (or at least parts thereof):

        I'm sure if the Hungarian government thought it could get away with it, it would kill every Refugee it could find.
        I'm sure if the American government thought it could get away with it, it would kill every Mexican it could find.
        I'm sure if the German government thought it could get away with it, it would kill every Turk it could find.
        I'm sure if the Russian government thought it could get away with it, it would kill every LGBT it could find.

      The point is that you cannot get away with genocide. It will haunt a people or a community. It was tried in the past and failed. You can kill the minority, but that misdeed will be remembered and a future generation will be ashamed at what their ancestors have done.

      I'm sure that's not true for Germany, and pretty sure it isn't for Hungry and the USA either. It probably isn't true for the Russian government either as it can be useful to have people to demonise.

    74. Re:This is why ISIS wins by Rakarra · · Score: 1

      For the record, I do think ISIS will get squashed or fade out, but the longer that something like that festers, the longer it has to influence Muslims around the world to radicalize.

      I'm sure the royalty in Europe thought something similar about insignificant "democracy" being declared in north america

      Well, democracy wasn't necessarily "allowed to fester" in the US. France wasn't interested in Democracy in their borders, but they sure were willing to weaken Britain, so they gave their active support. India rebelled as well, and the American War for Independence became one of the first "World Wars," involving the fledgling US, Canada (British colony, though the US and Quebec had an agreement to allow Quebec in as an American state after the war) , Britain, India, France, the Netherlands, the British East India Company, the French-backed Kingdom of Mysore, and Spain. The American Revolutionary War was a spark that let the various powers that be take advantage of each others' weaknesses. I suppose there are parallels somewhere with Turkey/the Kurds/ISIS/Syria.

    75. Re:This is why ISIS wins by Rakarra · · Score: 1

      If they're rebelling against Assad, they're probably allied with (if not openly supporting) ISIL. It may have been different early on in the war, but not anymore.

      Or they might just be super-pissed off that their parents or their sons or someone was in one of the villages that Assad gassed and exterminated.

    76. Re:This is why ISIS wins by Rakarra · · Score: 1

      Maybe, but currently Turkey is claiming this was far more than a short-term border violation, but that it was actively bombing targets in Eastern Turkey.

    77. Re:This is why ISIS wins by Darkling-MHCN · · Score: 1

      *COUGH* The part about Turkey hating ISIS isn't all that true. The main force confronting ISIS are the kurds and Turkey is more worried about the Kurds than ISIS. If you look at Turkeys actions they could be viewed as supporting ISIS

    78. Re:This is why ISIS wins by bloodhawk · · Score: 1

      Maybe, but currently Turkey is claiming this was far more than a short-term border violation, but that it was actively bombing targets in Eastern Turkey.

      citation please? everything I have read, including the Turkish statements all say it was an incursion of just a few seconds where they crossed piece of Turkish land that protrudes into Syria, the jet was then shot down while it was in Syria, i.e. the jets were not even heading into turkey let alone on an active bombing run on turkey.

    79. Re:This is why ISIS wins by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It wasn't even an su-24 fight, it was an su-24m (the slower and less manoeuvrable bomber variant). an unsuspecting an escorted fighter bomber is an easy target even for old fighter jets.

    80. Re:This is why ISIS wins by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Not quite, they would approach Alaska from international airspace until they were intercepted. They were not incepted over US airspace but before, otherwise they would have been forced to land.

    81. Re:This is why ISIS wins by JaredOfEuropa · · Score: 1

      Seems to me most mission planners would avoid going near borders of countries they do not have an alliance with, or at the very least announce their missions up front to their more-or-less-allies (something Russia often neglects to do, and other nations active in the region have already complained about that). And Turkey is fast ceasing to be a civilized nation. This incident has all the rancid stink of a pissing contest gone wrong.

      --
      If construction was anything like programming, an incorrectly fitted lock would bring down the entire building...
    82. Re:This is why ISIS wins by Plumpaquatsch · · Score: 1

      JaF is comprised of a number of militias, mostly islamist, the two most powerful being Ahrar ash-Sham ("Supporters of the Levant") and Jabhat al-Nusra ("The Support Front for the People of the Levant").

      I actually think that the GP is correct in that when it comes to distinguishing b/w the various Sunni Arab factions, it's a distinction w/o a difference. Even if some in the GOP, like Rubio, Bush and Fiorina seem to think it all cut & dry. Also, Levant translates into Arabic as ash-Sham, so Jabhat al-Nusra can't mean anything about the Levant

      Well, you would be right if it weren't for the fact that the full name actually "Jabhat al-Nurah li-Ahli ash-Shm". Al-Nusra means "support".

      --
      Of course news about a fake are Fake News.
    83. Re:This is why ISIS wins by Plumpaquatsch · · Score: 1

      I shudder to think how WWII would have ended if the alliance powers had each worried so much about what the other sides would do AFTER they defeated Hitler that they refused to ally with one another to begin with.

      Destroy ISIS. Worry about the other squabbling bullshit later.

      The U.S. once had the balls to support JOSEPH STALIN to defeat a nasty threat. Now you won't even support some petty little dictators like Putin/Assad to defeat a religious movement that threatens the entire modern world?

      Could it be that the Nazis were actually a much bigger threat than ISIS could ever hope to be? Well, according to you that would be no.

      --
      Of course news about a fake are Fake News.
    84. Re:This is why ISIS wins by Plumpaquatsch · · Score: 1

      By the way, Russia has a long history of violating the airspace of other nations.

      Ha. The USA made a wholesale business of such violations against the USSR with virtually no retaliation in kind.

      Coincidently, in 1958 Russian MiGs shot down an American C-130 on a spy, errm, reconnaissance mission that, humh, accidently left Turkish airspace into Armenian (Soviet) airspace.

      Before any conspiracy theories pop up: the incidents happened hundreds of miles apart.

      --
      Of course news about a fake are Fake News.
    85. Re:This is why ISIS wins by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Or they might just be super-pissed off that their parents or their sons or someone was in one of the villages that Assad gassed and exterminated.

      Yeah, I'm sure everyone in ISIS has some justification that they can spout for why they joined and why it's okay them to behead and enslave civilians and shoot up theaters in Paris. Frankly though, I don't give a fuck.

    86. Re:This is why ISIS wins by dunkelfalke · · Score: 1

      It is ironic because Erdogan stated back then that a short incursion is not a reason for shooting down a military aircraft.

      --
      "It's such a fine line between stupid and clever" -- David St. Hubbins, Spinal Tap
    87. Re:This is why ISIS wins by Rakarra · · Score: 1

      Maybe, but currently Turkey is claiming this was far more than a short-term border violation, but that it was actively bombing targets in Eastern Turkey.

      citation please? everything I have read, including the Turkish statements all say it was an incursion of just a few seconds where they crossed piece of Turkish land that protrudes into Syria, the jet was then shot down while it was in Syria, i.e. the jets were not even heading into turkey let alone on an active bombing run on turkey.

      Hmmm, I can't find any references to it now.

      Maybe this is one of those CNNisms where they report some rumor, then quietly try to hide the evidence when there's nothing to substantiate it.

    88. Re:This is why ISIS wins by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Turkey is the only ally left that supports Iraqi Kurdish People. Syrian Kurds and Iraqi Kurds are in conflict. So please keep your bullshit to yourself. I am sure with your twisted logic 9/11 is made by USA to gain advantage over Middle East.

    89. Re:This is why ISIS wins by shutdown+-p+now · · Score: 1

      The sides are well-defined, but people's allegiance to them is not. Many of units currently a part of Nusra have originally been FSA, and some units that are in Daesh have previously been in Nusra, etc.

    90. Re:This is why ISIS wins by shutdown+-p+now · · Score: 1

      The surviving Russian pilot stated that they had zero warnings and zero indications that anything is going wrong right up until the point a missile blew off their tail.

      (Of course, this may well be cooked to corroborate the whole "there was no warning" take that has been the official Russian position on this so far.)

    91. Re:This is why ISIS wins by Jack+Griffin · · Score: 1

      I shudder to think how WWII would have ended if the alliance powers had each worried so much about what the other sides would do AFTER they defeated Hitler that they refused to ally with one another to begin with.

      Well considering there was 45 years of Cold War because of it, and we're nearly 50 years of Middle East issues because of it, maybe they should've.

    92. Re:This is why ISIS wins by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Churchill was an unapologetic imperialist, yes, but the empire had already decided on its own to start dissolving by the time of the Imperial Conference of 1930. The Statute of Westminster 1931 ended the UK cabinet's control over essentially all aspects of Canadian government policy, including foreign policy, almost all of that of the other Dominions, and many aspects of the government policies in all the other major colonies save Singapore and the other straits settlements, Hong Kong and India, and even there local governance was increasing. The British Empire would not have lasted through the end of the 20th century even without the Second World War, and it likely would have dismantled itself just as (mostly) peacefully as it did, in contrast to, and probably informed by, the dissolution of the other European colonial empires.

    93. Re:This is why ISIS wins by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I think when you say Turkey bombed the Kurds you're confusing factions somewhat. Turkey bombed the PKK in North Western Iraq who are not the same as the YPG in Syria, nor the Peshmerga in North Eastern Iraq.

      Which isn't to say I defend Turkey's bombing of them, the PKK were largely adhering to a peace agreement and Turkey just ripped that up and launched an attack on them turning it back into an all out war, and besides, the PKK aren't all bad - they were key in the rescue of the Yazidis when ISIS hit Sinjar. Without the PKK holding off ISIS on Mt. Sinjar there would have been a far greater massacre there.

      But Russia most definitely has been bombing the Kurds. The Kurds and Turkmenis in North Western Syria are working together to keep ISIS at bay their (ISIS' opening to Turkey is sandwiched between the Kurdish YPG to the East, and the Turkmen/Kurdish YPG alliance in the West. Russia has been bombing that Western front, preventing the Turkmen/YPG alliance closing the ISIS border gap to Turkey by expanding their reach to meet with the YPG soldiers to the East of the ISIS gap.

      So you're right that Turkey is being unhelpful in defeating ISIS, but I'd argue supporting them is a bit of a stretch, especially given the Turkish state itself has been hit by ISIS now on a number of occasions. But it is certainly also true that Russia is supporting ISIS by bombing the YPG and Turkmenis who are trying to close that ISIS border gap to Turkey.

      Interestingly, this is the exact region this Russian jet was shot down, so it would seem clear that Turkey is keen for Russia to stop bombing the Turkmeni/YPG alliance so it can progress and close the gap ISIS has on the Turkish border.

      I think Turkey's calculus on the Kurds/ISIS has changed a lot since Erdogan won Turkey's elections again, and since ISIS started targetting Turkey proper whilst Russia still sees ISIS as a useful tool for weakening the opponents of Assad. One would've probably hoped that the Egypt plane bombing would've changed Russia's calculus too, but there's been absolutely no change in targets for them. This may in part be why Turkey has shot down a Russian jet now when Russia has intruded into their airspace many times - they may have sat and hoped that Russia's calculus would change also, but as it hasn't have themselves decided to take action in defending the Turkmenis and Kurdish YPG (whom they have less of a problem with than the PKK that they have been bombing).

      I think now Turkey would love nothing more than to have the Turkmenis and Kurds close the gap on their border de-facto creating the very humanitarian corridor that Turkey themselves proposed some months back (although Turkey wanted it to be a NATO run corridor) and preventing ISIS from using Turkey as a smuggling route, but whilst Russia is bombing the Turkmenis and Kurds in the region they can't do that and ISIS remains free to cross that section of the Turkish border. This is useful for Russia because having the Turks and their allies distracted by ISIS makes it easier for Russia to keep Assad propped up which is Putin's overriding goal - no amount of attacks on Russia and it's citizens by ISIS will change someone as egocentric as Putin's calculus because that would require Putin to admit he was wrong. He never has, and never will.

  3. Russia won't retaliate by Crowd+Computing · · Score: 1

    Sure Russia won't deliberately shoot down a Turkish jet and risk war with NATO. But an "accident" just might happen.

    1. Re:Russia won't retaliate by cryptolemur · · Score: 1

      Or they provide Kurds with ample amounts of air defence weapons, and Turkish air campaign "against ISIS" could start suffering casualties...

      Now, how does Greece react to the new rules Turkey has regarding her air space violations? Pretty soon the re will be neither Turkish nor Greece Air Force.

    2. Re:Russia won't retaliate by Rei · · Score: 4, Interesting

      I don't think Russia is so much of an idiot as to give the Kurds anti-aircraft systems. Because Turkey would respond by giving the FSA anti-aircraft systems. Which would be far more devastating due to how close the Russian airbase near Latakia is to opposition troops and how Russia's been focusing so much on close air support, as well as the ratios of assets in the region that could be employed if necessary (Turkey and the other coalition states have far, far more)

      Russia's also at real risk of facing a heavy dose of irony. As the battle front has spread deeper into Latakia (yes, Russia/Iran/Hezbollah/Assad has lost ground in Assad's heartland since the Russian/Iranian surge) it's increasingly violent in Jabal al-Turkuman, aka the Turkman Mountains, aka an area to a large indigenous Turkic population. The Russian strikes there have stirred up anger in Turkey (probably no doubt a contributor to Turkey being a bit more trigger-happy on their antiaircraft missiles than usual), and in recent days pictures have started emerging of members of far-right parties in Turkeys that have crossed over to Syria and taken up arms. This has the potential to involve into a mirror of the situation in Donbas.

      BTW, and back to the original topic - why are so few people covering the helicopter downing in Syria? Look it up: one of the helicopters in Latakia on search and rescue mission for the plane crew went down. The rebels say that they hit it with a TOW. Russia says that it underwent a "hard landing", but that the crew is okay.

      Oh, and we still have Israel continuing to be a wildcard, having launched several strikes inside Syria again just the other day, in the heels of last week's attack on the Damascus airport. They seem determined to stop Iran and Russia from transferring advanced weapons to Hezbollah at any cost.

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    3. Re:Russia won't retaliate by Rei · · Score: 4, Informative

      Oh hey, speak of the devil, they just released a video of the hitting of the helicopter: link "Hard landing" my arse.

      They'd really be nowhere today if it wasn't for those TOWs. They film every attack - footage and return of the tubes is apparently part of the deal to get more, to prevent them from stockpiling them or transferring them to other militias, so there's a couple new videos put out every day. Saudi Arabia reportedly purchased 13k of them from the US which it routes through Turkey in batches of a couple hundred at a time.

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    4. Re:Russia won't retaliate by sycodon · · Score: 0

      This kind of crap is what happens when the US abdicates its leadership role and deliberately becomes a bit player.

      --
      When Fascism comes to America, it will call itself Anti-Fascism, and tell you to give up your guns.
    5. Re:Russia won't retaliate by jd.schmidt · · Score: 1

      Think again, they may not retaliate directly since that really might start WWIII, but with Syria the Russians are in the position of supporting an entrenched government. They are able to start sending all kinds of troops and support to Syria and as they are simply bolstering an existing regime, the assistance will be very direct and effective. What's more the regime, and it ethnic supporters, really have no choice but to fight to survive. Turkey shot down the plane in retaliation for the bombing of Turkmen villages near Turkey's border, this was blatantly to make it hard for Russia to run air missions and no other reason.

    6. Re:Russia won't retaliate by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The effectiveness of the TOWs are actually what forced (such as that is) Putin's hand. They would be just as effective in Ukraine. But Putin's move into Syria was incautious. Turkey has only to close the Bosporus to Russian warships and they will be marooned at Tartus, and the BlackSea Fleet would be just that. Stuck in teh Black Sea. It will be beneficial to the US that the Russians become a primary focus of the Sunni rebels of all stripes. Today's development is positive. Putin does not dare move on Turkey with the US Air Force at its back in Incirlik.

    7. Re:Russia won't retaliate by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It was hit by something else, damaged, and landed.

      That is why it was landed in the video you linked. I would consider this a 'hard landing', personally. The crew of the helicopter were unharmed.

      To be honest, you're almost propaganda tier in the way you're trying to represent this.

    8. Re:Russia won't retaliate by unixisc · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Honestly, Turkey doesn't belong in NATO any more. NATO too needs to redefine its mission, or dissolve quietly. It's now nearing 25 years since the Cold War ended, and so NATO's mission needs to be redefined.

      If Communism was the enemy in the last millenium, Islam is the enemy in this one, and NATO needs to recognize that and act accordingly. If they won't do it, then it's time for them to wind up. Turkey is not going to take the side of NATO against its Muslim comrades in Syria or anywhere else. Just like they refused to let the US fly over their space during the last US invasion of Iraq. It might take the side of the Saudis in an Islamic campaign somewhere, but that's it.

    9. Re:Russia won't retaliate by unixisc · · Score: 1

      Russia doesn't have a relationship w/ the Kurds, courtesy both Saddam and Hafez al Assad. Particularly Saddam. Since they supported Saddam when he ran things, the Kurds have no support for them.

      The only support that the Kurds have is from the US. As for Israel, they hate the Assad regime, since it was the main force in Lebanon, but since the civil war started, they have quietly chosen to hope for Assad to remain, since the devil they know is preferable to the one they don't. They know that Assad, neck deep trying to keep his regime from collapsing, won't start a war against Israel, and even Hizbullah has been drawn into that war. However, past Sunni Palestinian Jihadi groups that had offices in Damascus, like Hamas and Islamic Jihad, no longer do. The latter has seen the writing on the wall and abandoned Syria, and so Assad is less of a threat to Israel than any Sunni Arab regime that replaces him.

      That also partly explains some of the conversations Israel has been having w/ Moscow

    10. Re:Russia won't retaliate by Rei · · Score: 2

      It was hit by something else, damaged, and landed.

      That would be even more impressive on the rebel's part. In your telling, they hit it twice, with two separate weapons systems, one while it was flying?

      --
      I hate to bring up our imminent arrest during your crazy time, but we gotta move.
    11. Re:Russia won't retaliate by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Honestly, Turkey doesn't belong in NATO any more. NATO too needs to redefine its mission, or dissolve quietly. It's now nearing 25 years since the Cold War ended, and so NATO's mission needs to be redefined.

      If Communism was the enemy in the last millenium, Islam is the enemy in this one, and NATO needs to recognize that and act accordingly. If they won't do it, then it's time for them to wind up. Turkey is not going to take the side of NATO against its Muslim comrades in Syria or anywhere else. Just like they refused to let the US fly over their space during the last US invasion of Iraq. It might take the side of the Saudis in an Islamic campaign somewhere, but that's it.

      It may not be a communist state but Russia is probably the greatest threat to the rest of Europe, so I think NATO is required. In essence its a defensive alliance so if it was irrelevant it wouldn't matter that it existed.

    12. Re:Russia won't retaliate by unixisc · · Score: 1

      There is a qualitative difference b/w Putin's Russia and the ex Soviet Union

      The Soviet Union had a mission - almost a religion - to spread Communism worldwide. Be it in Europe, Asia, Africa or the Americas. So it was a threat to everybody. They had puppet regimes worldwide, which assisted them. Their goal was to make Communist as much of the world as they could.

      That's not the case w/ Russia, which is just a shadow of its former self. Their ambitions are to possess any territory where ethnic Russians live - namely the ex Soviet republics. Hence the annexation of Crimea, and the adventures into the Donbass. However, Russia doesn't have the appetite to re-rule Eastern Europe, given that they've a tough time managing their economy back home, which ain't much different than that of the Saudi Arabias in that it is almost entirely dependent on oil.

      During the Cold War, Communism was the enemy. Since 2001, Islam has been the enemy. Both the White House and the Kremlin may not realize it, but they happen to be on the same side. While al Qaeda and ISIS have supported anti US Jihadis in Iraq and Afghanistan, they have also supported Uzbek, Chechen and Uyghur Jihadis who threaten both Russia and China

    13. Re: Russia won't retaliate by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I thought it was Trotsky that was big in international communism rather than Stalin who was far more Russia centered. To be honest the idea of communism never really seemed the real threat but rather having a large aggresive neighbour. Also I in no way trust that Putin's ambitions are limited to ethnic Russian's, which is rather a hazy group anyway. Hitler claimed similar about ethnic Germans. Putin complained about Poland gaining anti-missile systems which wouldn't have been able to stop ICBMs which points to having ambitions in Poland. Whether Moscow and Washington are Allies or not, London cozing up to Putin would be a mistake.

  4. Redundant by codeButcher · · Score: 0

    Moscow says they have targeted only "terrorists", but activists say its strikes have mainly hit Western-backed rebel groups.

    I thought the whole Syrian spring thing was about (some) western countries (their governments, at least) backing Daesh against Assad????

    --
    Free, as in your money being freed from the confines of your account.
    1. Re:Redundant by cold+fjord · · Score: 1

      No, it wasn't. At one point there were moderate factions fighting against Assad, but the gifted members of the current US administration dragged their feet in providing them support until they were largely destroyed or driven out to be supplanted by extremist factions.

      --
      much of left-wing thought is a kind of playing with fire by people who don't even know that fire is hot - George Orwell
    2. Re:Redundant by fustakrakich · · Score: 1

      "moderate" factions... Yeah right, pull the other one. And please, keep passing the blame.. You wouldn't be you without that.

      --
      “He’s not deformed, he’s just drunk!”
    3. Re:Redundant by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      No the conflict is a bit more complicated than that.
      Several groups are fighting in Syria.

      The group fighting close to the border with Turkey (where the jet was shot down) are Turkmens https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turkmens

      Turkey warned Russia last week to stop bombing their villages.This is their response for non-compliance.

      Funny detail is that Assad (the President of Syria) released several ranking Daesh and AQ members to poison the insurgency and gain international support.

      Syria is a mess and the snowball is still rolling.

    4. Re:Redundant by ladoga · · Score: 4, Informative

      "moderate" factions... Yeah right, pull the other one. And please, keep passing the blame.. You wouldn't be you without that.

      There's a very good documentary about this called "Return to Homs", which everyone should see: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt31...

      It shows how secular protests turn into massacre and then to desperate fight for survival. They received no support from outside world, other than from the islamists (who had plenty of weapons and supplies, likely sponsored by such countries as Bahrain and Saudi Arabia). You can guess the rest.

      Watch it and then come here to say that they had a choice. I think that most western young people can easily relate to people shown in the film. They are not that different from us.

    5. Re:Redundant by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      You're putting the cart before the horse. Assad was to be taken down to weaken the Shia states - that was the plan. The gulf states like the Saudis, our wonderful ally who still beheads people for sorcery and apostasy, funded an 'opposition' that was armed and violent from day one.

      The fact that this would deny the Russians a key strategic port, on top of the attempted NATO expansion in Eastern Europe, just made it a convenient narrative for many. Well, trying to yoke a fanatic islamist organization has backfired... yet again. The latest example of which, is Paris. Once again, innocent people everywhere are dying because of perfidious foreign policies. I'm not a huge fan of Putin, but I take some pleasure in watching Russia derail these imperial projects while exposing the 'war on terror' as a load of shit.

      Muslims, Christians, Druze, Alawites, etc., were all safe in Syria under Assad, relative to most of the ME. None of them will be pure enough for the 'moderates'. They will all be killed or exiled. Where were the hundreds of thousands of refugees before?

    6. Re:Redundant by unixisc · · Score: 1

      During the Bush 43 administration, Syria was one of the places that the US sent Jihadi soldiers for tortured interrogations that they couldn't legally do under US law. So Assad wasn't such a bad guy then.

      And when he came to power in 2003, he released a lot of political prisoners in a Gorbachyev style attempt to reconcile the country and introduce reform. That actually went well until the Arab Spring started.

  5. Russians bombarded syrian Turks by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Well, it was bound to happen.

    Turkey was very pissed off because Russia bombarded everyone - included syrian Turks.

  6. Turkey downing plane by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    If this claim is true, then Russians planes are shitty.

    (I'm turkish),

    1. Re:Turkey downing plane by halivar · · Score: 2

      Why so? Turkey's air force is last-gen, well-seasoned, and their F-16's are more than a match for a Su-24.

    2. Re:Turkey downing plane by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative

      Because turkeys are stupid birds that don't know enough to come out of the rain and can barely fly. Obvious joke is obvious.

    3. Re:Turkey downing plane by Penguinisto · · Score: 4, Informative

      If this claim is true, then Russians planes are shitty.

      (I'm turkish),

      The F-16 is a very capable fighter (especially when flown clean - that is, not weighed down with a LANTIRN pod or wing tanks). It's capable of sustained 9G maneuvers, and can even accelerate while flying straight up - which most jets cannot do. It has superior pilot visibility, has up to 9 hardpoints on which to mount armament, and there's a built-in 20mm cannon to boot (just behind the canopy on the right-hand side above the strake).

      It may have been designed and built in the early-mid 1970s, but it was far ahead of its time, even back then. It was originally built as a 'cheap-but-plentiful' fighter (to compliment/support the expensive flagship F-15 fighters), but in the right hands, 'the little jet that could' turns out to be quite a little badass in its own right.

      --
      Quo usque tandem abutere, Nimbus, patientia nostra?
    4. Re:Turkey downing plane by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      I think the fact that he added "im turkish" at the end pretty much destroyed the joke.

    5. Re:Turkey downing plane by tnk1 · · Score: 1

      More to the point, the Russian pilot was probably not expecting the attack until he got a missile launch warning. I'd imagine that the fighters were lighting him up with their FC radars every time they came out to intercept.

      And no, Russian planes are not shitty, but this is a Su-24. That model first flew in the late 1960s, which actually makes the model somewhat older than the F-16s Turkey has.

    6. Re:Turkey downing plane by Minwee · · Score: 1

      As God is my witness, I thought turkeys could fly.

    7. Re:Turkey downing plane by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      This is what happens when they're backed into a corner by US imperialism. It's no surprise to me that this attack happened two days before Thanksgiving.

    8. Re:Turkey downing plane by Cederic · · Score: 2

      A 70s airframe killed a 70s airframe.

      It's not a surprise that a fighter kills a same generation ground attack aircraft. Reality is that the F16 would've had the advantage in the 70s, let alone when the Su-24 is intentionally ignoring the threat.

      Shit, the Tornado is an excellent airframe and I'd expect one to lose to an F16 almost every time. Also a 70s design..

    9. Re:Turkey downing plane by guestapoo · · Score: 1

      Su-24 is bomber, F-16 is air superiority fighter.

    10. Re:Turkey downing plane by shutdown+-p+now · · Score: 1

      The more relevant part here is not the age of the planes, but their respective roles. F-16 is a multirole fighter, Su-24 is a tactical bomber. One is specifically designed to hunt down the other.

  7. Light Conversation Music by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
  8. Sigh by DNS-and-BIND · · Score: 5, Insightful

    It makes me sick to see the phrase, "Western-backed rebel forces". These are Islamists. When Russia says they're only going after the terrorists, they aren't lying. See, there aren't two sides in Syria's civil war, there are three (major ones). There is Assad's government, who represent a minority that would get massacred if they ever lose power (Russia is backing them), the Islamist rebels (we're backing them *puke*), and ISIS (against everyone). There aren't any good guys. The Syrians who want Western democracy? Laughable.

    It continues to amaze me, year after year, all the journalists who simply do not comprehend that there are three (major) sides in the battle. When Russia bombs the Islamists, this is nothing more than a proxy war. Putin thinks Obama is finished, weak, and America is ready to be swept aside. This is all Obama's own fault, of course, for his miserable failure during the Syrian nerve gas crisis of 2013. His "red line" was shown to be nothing that anyone need be afraid of. Russia saw weakness and swooped in. According to Putin, this was America's "Suez Moment" and without it Russia would today not be in the civil war and NATO wouldn't have just shot down one of their aircraft.

    --
    Shutting down free speech with violence isn't fighting fascism. It IS fascism!
    1. Re:Sigh by fustakrakich · · Score: 2

      There is only one side, money. None of those "extremists" work for free. They are still paid in US dollars, more than they ever made in their regular jobs, if they had one.

      --
      “He’s not deformed, he’s just drunk!”
    2. Re:Sigh by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      So basically, Putin couldn't help himself, and fell into Obama's trap, because now Putin has to fight a war he can't afford rather than do anything useful for his own country.

      Sure worked out nice for the Kremlin.

    3. Re:Sigh by CrimsonAvenger · · Score: 3, Informative

      Umm, we're backing the Kurds. Who are NOT "Islamist"....

      --

      "I do not agree with what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it"
    4. Re:Sigh by tigersha · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Not true, there are lots of Syrians who want Western Democracy.
      The problem is, they are all leaving to live in a actual western democracy.

      Which leaves Syria with the rest.

      --
      The dangers of excessive individualism are nothing compared to the oppressiveness of excessive collectivism
    5. Re:Sigh by Richard_at_work · · Score: 1

      No, they aren't - but the Kurds are busy conducting their own little war against Turkey in the south of the country in which things have got pretty nasty.

    6. Re:Sigh by Rei · · Score: 1

      Nor is the FSA. JaF is, however, and they work with the FSA. The US isn't arming Jaf, but they're not bombing them either, as Jaf is actively fighting Daesh and seems to have no interest - at least at present - in attacks against the west.

      --
      I hate to bring up our imminent arrest during your crazy time, but we gotta move.
    7. Re:Sigh by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I would argue there are actually more 'sides' than that, but agree the additional sides do fall mostly into those 3 top level categories.
      " The Syrians who want Western democracy? Laughable. " - Completely, any of those folks, for whom there was only ever a small minority, exited the scene long ago.

    8. Re:Sigh by dave420 · · Score: 1

      Hint: When you try to sum up a civil war being supported by parties ranging from the US to Iran, Israel to Russia, from France to Turkey, in a couple of paragraphs, you will undoubtedly be wrong. And you are wrong. You've missed out so many details (and confused a few terms) that it rendered your post next to useless.

      You should probably fix your own ignorance before complaining about others'. Just sayin'.

    9. Re:Sigh by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      It wasn't Russia who swooped in. They've had bases in Syria for a long time, and have been long-term allies. What business does the US have in Syria? No one is buying the 'Assad the monster' narrative - the use of chemical weapons (the very thing that would have invited intervention) was discredited. Sy Hersh wrote a good piece on this, crediting it as a false flag orchestrated by Turkish intelligence. Turkish espionage within the US prior to 9/11 was silenced on every level. America's allies in the ME - the Saudis, Turks, Israelis - know how easy it is to manipulate the US, and get it to spend its blood and treasure on their behalf.

    10. Re:Sigh by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You forgot the anarchist kurd federation which is actually doing a bang up job of building something in the territory they occupy.

    11. Re:Sigh by Kagato · · Score: 2

      First, "The Kurds" is a pretty wide brush. There are several factions of Kurds that have different agendas. I.e. Iraqi Kurds are not lock step with Turkish Kurds.

      Second, it's not like the Turkish Kurdish con flight just started. It's been going on for decades. It was pretty common in the 90s for the US Air Force conducting surveillance on Iraq to bug out when the Turks decided to go on an indiscriminate bombing run. The US has been turning a blind eye to that region for a very long time.

      Third, the Turks are doing the same thing as the Russians are doing. For the media they are tough on ISIS, but in reality they are just continuing their Air War on various Kurdish groups.

      Fourth, you can't win a war using just air power.

    12. Re:Sigh by T.E.D. · · Score: 3, Interesting

      There aren't any good guys. The Syrians who want Western democracy? Laughable

      This is wrong at best, and bordering on malicious. You only have to hop on Twitter and follow a few Syrian accounts to see the truth, in all its complexity.

      Even saying there are three sides is a vast oversimplification. The simplest way to explain it is that most of Syria has decided that Assad is no longer an acceptable ruler. Other than that, everything is a dizzying array of faction. The two biggest factions are those who disagree and want Assad to stay on, and ISIS. That still leaves out most of Syria though, and that vast swath of people is not united on anything other than that Assad doesn't rule them.

      Are some of those people Islamists? You betcha. Some are also supporters of democracy. Some are ethnic separatists. The ones fighting ISIS most effectively right now are Kurds. Some are Turkish clients, and fight Kurds more than ISIS. Some are just psychpaths who like having guns and shooting people. And lots and lots of people just want to live their lives free of fear, and don't really give much of a crap about politics outside of that (just like here in the US).

    13. Re:Sigh by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      bigotry: assuming all Muslims are terrorists.

    14. Re:Sigh by Cederic · · Score: 1

      No one is buying the 'Assad the monster' narrative

      It's so much fun playing "spot the guy in Russia paid to post in online forums".

      Do I get a cookie?

    15. Re:Sigh by Ottawakismet · · Score: 1

      You're right, the Kurds are Communists, diehard anti-Islamists They want a Marxist state, with no elections, and summary executions

    16. Re:Sigh by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You might want to check that again.
      Reminds me of when this whole shit in Syria started and the first thing obama wanted to do was start bombing Assad.
      Do you have to destabilize every fucking country on our borders?
      Do you hate europe that much?

    17. Re:Sigh by unixisc · · Score: 1

      It's the other way around - the Turks have been opposing any Kurdistan coming into existence, be it in Iraq or Syria. They don't want their own Kurds to be inspired by such a concept.

    18. Re:Sigh by unixisc · · Score: 1

      Sez the troll who keeps pretending that Islam/Muslims are never ever the problem

    19. Re:Sigh by guestapoo · · Score: 1
      So true!

      Why the media are *not bore* to repeat "moderated rebels", I feel the same to repeat the "old" arguments, which I read from the Western sources.

      The Independent had the insight about who is who, among the groups fighting in Syria, which reveal there is not such "moderated rebels" as the propaganda interest in: Who is Russia bombing in Syria? The militant groups determined to fight to the death

      The sad truth is that after four years of war in Syria there are few moderates left and those that do exist lack military strength. The Free Syrian Army was always a mosaic of factions and is now largely ineffectual.

      The FSA, could be considered the most "moderated" group, actually showed that they are extremists, if not terrorists. Their commander ATE heart of Syrian soldier, or accused of allegedly trafficking in human organs. By no means, this organization is fighting for DEMOCRACY or FREEDOM.

      Why, the West continuously claimed, Russian is bombing "moderated groups", they unintentionally reveal, BEFORE the Russian bombing, there are only 'four or five' Syrian fighters against Isis, by top general, many were deserted, or hand the armors, weapon to Al Quaeda. Or AFTER the bombing, eventually, the Defense Secretary of U.S Ashton Carter said:

      However, the moderate Syrian forces “have not come under attack by either Assad’s forces or Russia’s forces.”

      The Pentagon explicitly admitted their 500 million program to train "moderated" rebel is FAILED.
      Where is the hell "Western-backed rebel forces" is bombed!?

    20. Re:Sigh by majid_aldo · · Score: 1

      'islamist' factions represent the will of the syrians. get over it. if they want sharia (which you only reduce to chopping off body parts probably) it's their business. it also doesn't mean they're like isis.

      --
      --- widget evolution: enhanced, plus, super, ultra, extreme, exxxtreme, ultra-extreme, ..etc.
  9. Fake! by Mats+Svensson · · Score: 0

    Turns out the "pilot" was a corpse stolen from a morgue. And it was remotely controlled by the gay nazi pro-euro mafia! And also, it was never even shot down, and never existed! All lies by the European union.

    1. Re:Fake! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Did you find the submarine or are you too busy integrating Islamists?

    2. Re:Fake! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I'd rather be disintegrating them. You know what happens to an Islamist when you fire a flamethrower at it? The same that happens to pretty much everything else.

  10. News at 11 - Islamists shoot at Christians by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Informative

    In Syria.

  11. Some innacuraties by Voice+of+satan · · Score: 5, Interesting

    No Mig-29 has ever locked a Turkish plane in the region. The Russians have none there. A F-16's RWR (Radio Warning Reciever) cannot distinguish easily between a MiG-29 or Su-30 or Su-27 radar.

    According to the data the Turks themselves have provided, the Russian plane was in Syria save for a very brief instant (5-20 seconds depending the airspeed of the Su-24). This is normal in operations. Small strays at the bad side of a border are common and are not worthy of an incident. If the Su-24 had been in a straight line towards the deep inside of Turkey then it should have been intercepted -not shot down- and either escorted outside of the airspace or sternly asked to land on some Turkish military airfield pending diplomatic exchange between the two nations.

    And you don't "warn multiple times" a plane in 20 seconds.

    The Turks are clearly looking for war with Russia for whatever reason. Or their political leaders do not realise Russia is not Armenia and they are going to react. They will think it trough but it won't be pretty.

    Until now, if you watch the images of Russian planes in Syria, you see they fly with old air-air missiles (R-27s) which show they didn't really expect anyone would be dumb enough to start a fight with them. That is going to change.

    I hope NATO will stay out of this. If they start a WW3, I desert. I won't fight or even pay taxes for islamists.

    1. Re:Some innacuraties by MightyMartian · · Score: 4, Interesting

      The Turks want Russia to stop effectively helping Kurdish populations within ISIS's grasp. Isn't that clear enough now. The Turkish government wants this war to go on long enough to wipe out the Kurds.

      --
      The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
    2. Re:Some innacuraties by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The multiple times warning was over the last month. The downed bomber attacked turkmen rebels whom Turkey supports.

    3. Re:Some innacuraties by Penguinisto · · Score: 1

      Err, small technical note: the F-16 RTWR ("Radar Threat Warning Receiver") system can certainly be updated to account for different signatures, and the antennae are located all about the perimeter of the plane for full 360-bubble-style reception.

      Pretty sure that while not a perfect setup (given the commonality of radar set components/behaviors across airframes), it would probably have zero problems telling friendlies from the not-friendlies. ;)

      --
      Quo usque tandem abutere, Nimbus, patientia nostra?
    4. Re:Some innacuraties by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Many interesting points. If only your nickname wasn't "Voice of satan".

    5. Re:Some innacuraties by Voice+of+satan · · Score: 1

      Yes, but i've been told by real life pilots that it cannot distinguish a -modern- MiG-29 from a Su-27 or 30. Disclaimer, i am not a real life pilot myself.

    6. Re:Some innacuraties by doconnor · · Score: 1

      Turkey and Russia both have political leaders who have created wars to boost their popularity. It has worked well for both of them so far.

      Since the Turkish leads started their war against the Kurds and just used it to win an election in the last couple month, I'm not sure how they would benefit from starting new trouble with Russia. I think the Russian leaders would have the most to gain over this.

      Of course it could be all an honest mistake.

    7. Re:Some innacuraties by Penguinisto · · Score: 1

      That would be correct under the condition that the jets in question all use the same radar set, which would make perfect sense, and be consistent considering that the RTWR uses radar signatures as a cue to identify the source.

      --
      Quo usque tandem abutere, Nimbus, patientia nostra?
    8. Re:Some innacuraties by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      why? what's so bad about his name?

    9. Re:Some innacuraties by Cederic · · Score: 1

      I hope NATO will stay out of this. If they start a WW3, I desert. I won't fight or even pay taxes for islamists.

      If the Russian aircraft was invading Turkish airspace, despite multiple warnings, then Turkey was acting within its rights.

      If that leads to Russia attacking Turkey, Turkey will request NATO support. At that point I hope to hell NATO steps up and provides that support, because otherwise WWIII will kick off, and in earnest.

      What's interesting right now is where the Russian aircraft was when it was attacked.

      Of course, since Russia invaded Crimea and Ukraine my general feeling is "fuck 'em", although since I admire the Kurds and their general approach to life I'm not exactly supporting Turkey either.

    10. Re:Some innacuraties by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Different AC here: You're kidding, right? Are you that culturally illiterate that you don't "get it"? You should look into that, really.

    11. Re:Some innacuraties by cold+fjord · · Score: 1

      Some innacuraties

      You see to be contributing a few yourself.

      No Mig-29 has ever locked a Turkish plane in the region. The Russians have none there.

      That's not true, it happened just last month, as shown below. Also, planes are mobile, they can come and go.

      It has happened again.a Turkish Air Force F-16 was locked on by an “unidentified” Mig-29 .

      As already reported, on Oct. 3 and 4 October the Turkish airspace was violated by Russian Air Force Su-30SM and Su-24 aircraft in the Hatay region.

      During the first incident, the Russian Su-30SM (initially referred to as a Mig-29 by the Turkish military) maintained a radar lock on one or both the F-16s for a full 5 minutes and 40 seconds before the aircraft departed the Turkish airspace. As explained, this was a rather unusual incident: violations occur every now and then, but usually aircraft involved in the interception do not lock on the “target” in order to prevent dangerous situations.

      Well it happened again on Oct. 5 and, to make the whole story more mysterious, it looks like the aircraft was identified as a Mig-29 from an unidentified nation/air force.

      According to the Turkish General Staff, the Mig-29 locked on at least one of 8 TuAF F-16s performing CAP (Combat Air Patrol) on the border with Syria. What is more, the lock on lasted 4 minutes and 30 seconds.

      ------

      Small strays at the bad side of a border are common and are not worthy of an incident.

      If you refer to that quote above, Russian aircraft have previously sent many minutes in Turkish airspace, and put a radar lock on Turkish aircraft while in Turkish airspace. The Russians haven't merely had "minor straying" into Turkish airspace, but highly provocative and lengthy ones. The Russians are playing a dangerous game.

      The Turks are clearly looking for war with Russia for whatever reason.

      You seem to have it mostly backwards there. The Russians are trying to intimidate the Turks as they have been trying to do with some other countries, such as nuclear threats against Denmark.

      Or their political leaders do not realise Russia is not Armenia and they are going to react.

      I think it is the Russians that are mistaking Turkey for a country that won't react, and they are testing NATO resolve. Will Obama's America back them? Who knows?

      Until now, if you watch the images of Russian planes in Syria, you see they fly with old air-air missiles (R-27s) which show they didn't really expect anyone would be dumb enough to start a fight with them.

      The Russians probably though nobody would push back to their provocations.

      The R-27 is still in front line service, and new variants continue to be developed. Your comment seems to be nonsense.

      I hope NATO will stay out of this. If they start a WW3, I desert. I won't fight or even pay taxes for islamists.

      If Russia attacks Turkey then Turkey is well within its rights to seek NATO assistance. Turkey would be expected to assist if another NATO country, say France, were to request assistance.

      Europe has a growing number of Islamists within its borders.

      --
      much of left-wing thought is a kind of playing with fire by people who don't even know that fire is hot - George Orwell
    12. Re:Some innacuraties by shutdown+-p+now · · Score: 1

      Russia has already announced that it will place S-400 in Syria to provide air cover for its planes.

      If you're not familiar with what it is, go and read it up on Wikipedia. Basically, it's the single biggest threat that any NATO plane can face on the battlefield.

  12. He she said by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Let's see some evidence as to actaul position.

    If fell into Syria.
    Which direction was it flying?
    That might give some idea of the position of the missile hit.
    What was the flight path before the hit?
    This might give an idea of exactly which side of the line it was flying on.

    I wonder if everybody's database agrees on the border?

    How was the warning given?
    Was the Russian jet likely listening.
    Seems like operating that near the border, prudence would dictate communicating with both sides.

    1. Re:He she said by Applehu+Akbar · · Score: 4, Informative

      The Russian violation was technical, according tothis morning's maps: in a flight across northern Syria, the SU-24 crossed a narrow finger of Turkish land sticking out of its southern border. The shootdown was over Syria, the crash was in Syria, and the crew were killed by Syrians after ejecting.

    2. Re:He she said by Rei · · Score: 2

      Turkey has released a radar track (I could dig it up if you want). See that little lobe that dips into Syria south of Yayladagi? The track shows that the plane flew straight across it rather than going around it.

      --
      I hate to bring up our imminent arrest during your crazy time, but we gotta move.
    3. Re:He she said by Dan+East · · Score: 1

      Not only that, but it flew over it twice. You can clearly see how the bomber made a big oval loop, overlapping exactly twice over Turkey. Thus whatever they were targeting was along that overlapping path that crosses through Turkey. More than likely there were hitting targets right on the border of Turkey or extremely close to it.

      --
      Better known as 318230.
    4. Re:He she said by Cederic · · Score: 1

      The downing of the plane is a nice precedent making it easier to down NATO planes once they fly over Syria and bomb or supply the 'wrong' side.

      Taking into account the overflight occurred twice, that's a whole four km of Turkey being flown over.

      This wasn't a perceived defensive move, this was aggressive posturing. Ironic that it's someone else doing that to Putin though.

    5. Re:He she said by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      This reminds me of the time my next door neighbor was walking to the house across the street, and it was obvious to me that he was about to cross over a 4-foot patch of grass that is technically my yard. I yelled at him for five minutes as he was approaching to turn around immediately, not to trespass in my yard as the recent homeowners' association memo combined with the new stand-your-ground legislation made it clear to me that I had a right to forcibly defend my home and property with lethal force.

      I don't know if he thought I was kidding, since we were having a lot of fun together last weekend at our other friend's house, and we are generally on good terms, but sure enough he stepped right onto my yard, and just before he stepped his last foot out of the grass I managed to aim my rifle at him and shoot him in the back of the head.

      You guys are all on my side though, right?

      This definitely reminds me of that.

    6. Re:He she said by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      According ato a document from the UN, the Russian planes were in Turkish airspace for.. 17 seconds as they flew over a small 2mi area that juts into Syria.

      Something doesn't add up.

    7. Re:He she said by zwarte+piet · · Score: 1

      You kick your ball over my fence, you lose it.

  13. Is the U.S. still that fucking naive? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Informative

    Moscow says they have targeted only "terrorists", but activists say its strikes have mainly hit Western-backed rebel groups.

    I know the American media is still rock-hard in their slathering love-fest with the "Arab Spring" (or, as the the sane world knows it "The Radical Islamic Takeover"). But are you STILL so naive as to not realize that most of those "Western-backed rebel groups" are just Isis or their affiliates? Do you really think there are two anti-Assad rebel factions (one side Isis, one side "good" rebels) that are somehow able to find the time to fight one another?

    Do the stupid-ass CIA agents handing out the guns to the rebels make them pinkie-promise that they're not Isis?

    1. Re:Is the U.S. still that fucking naive? by halivar · · Score: 3, Insightful

      There are more than two sides. It's not just ISIS vs Assad. I am not saying there are any clean hands, but you are taking an absurdly reductionist view of the conflict.

    2. Re:Is the U.S. still that fucking naive? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Turkey supplies men and materials to ISIS. Ever notice ISIS uses American weapons?

  14. WTF? by deaton · · Score: 1, Flamebait

    WTF? Turkeys can't fly!

  15. huh by sociocapitalist · · Score: 1

    Did they use linux to do it?

    Why is this story on /.?

    --
    blindly antisocialist = antisocial
    1. Re:huh by Fire_Wraith · · Score: 1

      No, if you want to bring down a jet, everyone knows you should install Windows on it.

    2. Re:huh by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I'm sure that in 1985, a possible catalyst for global thermonuclear war is available in every corner drug store, but in 2015 it's a little hard to come by.

    3. Re:huh by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Slashdot is to nerd news what dinosaurs are to broccoli.

    4. Re:huh by cdrudge · · Score: 2

      The tag line for /. has always been "News for nerds, stuff that matters".

      It's not specifically news just for nerds as anyone benefits by having informed knowledge of world events. I would say it would fall under stuff that matters. If it's not news for you, or something that matters to you, just skip over the article and read the next one.

  16. There's an old curse by JoshuaZ · · Score: 4, Interesting

    There's an old curse that seems relevant: "May you live in interesting times." Times are certainly interesting. At this point, it seems like some sort of full-scale war between NATO and Russia is more likely now than it has been any time since the 1980s (granted then it would have been NATO against the USSR but the basic point is the same). Worse, at least historically the military and diplomats spent much of their time making sure that things didn't spiral out of control. Without the Cold War feeling, people may feel less of a need to guard against such issues. Worse, Russian military doctrine currently describes a limited nuclear strike on conventional military targets as a de-escalation http://thebulletin.org/why-russia-calls-limited-nuclear-strike-de-escalation . While in official documents they reserve that terminology for using nuclear weapons to handle direct conventional military attacks on Russia itself, one finds very worrying the level of doublethink where one describes being the first to use nukes as de-escalating a situation.

    During the Cold War, one popular explanation for the Fermi paradox https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fermi_paradox, the apparent lack of highly advanced civilizations in the universe, was that species end up blowing themselves up. For most of my life, this belief looked almost quaint but it is not looking disturbingly likely. At this point, the evidence for some sort of serious barrier to civilizations emerging substantially is much stronger than it was a few decades ago. The apparent lack of K3 or K2.5 civilizations is at this point substantially robust https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kardashev_scale with around 100,000 galaxies searched and almost no sign of any civilization using a substantial fraction of its galactic energy output http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/alien-supercivilizations-absent-from-100-000-nearby-galaxies/. With this return to Cold War norms, it looks like we need to not only take seriously that there's a Great Filter, but that the Filter might be nuclear war. That's especially the case because a nuclear war does not need to kill every member of the civilization to completely destroy any hope of a technologically advanced civilization. If not enough natural resources have been consumed by the civilization (e.g. the easily accessible coal and oil) then even if the species survives it may not have the ability to reboot itself to a high tech level since getting to a high tech level may actually require access to these resources (in which case one gets essentially one chance to get to be a high tech civilization).

    1. Re:There's an old curse by Nidi62 · · Score: 4, Insightful

      There's an old curse that seems relevant: "May you live in interesting times." Times are certainly interesting. At this point, it seems like some sort of full-scale war between NATO and Russia is more likely now than it has been any time since the 1980s (granted then it would have been NATO against the USSR but the basic point is the same).

      This depends on who Russia focuses on as responsible, and how exactly they retaliate. Right now Putin is focusing mostly on Turkey and says it will hurt their "relationship". This could be something as small as a diplomatic tiff, maybe expel a diplomat or two; they could impose some kind of economic sanctions on them (not sure what the level of trade or cooperation there is between Russia and Turkey); or, most severely, retaliate in kind. Any kind of overt military action would be very dangerous as Turkey could immediately call in NATO for assistance. Russia doesn't want this, Putin certainly doesn't want this. He doesn't need war between Russia and the West, he just needs the relationship to be hostile enough to maintain his domestic support. The next few days will be very interesting to watch.

      --
      The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for it to be pitted against a slightly greater evil
    2. Re:There's an old curse by avandesande · · Score: 2

      During the height of the cold war a full out exchange would have resulted in billions of survivors.

      http://www.bmartin.cc/pubs/82j...

      --
      love is just extroverted narcissism
    3. Re:There's an old curse by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The minimum K scale visible from a single vantage point is directly proportional to distance. On earth, we can see K0 civilizations. On nearby stars, a K1 civilization might be visible if their technology pathway mirrored ours and was at a sufficiently similar stage (our RF glow has been decreasing for the last few decades). A K2 civilization might be visible even out to distant stars in our own galaxy if they had reached that point long enough ago that we get to see their extravagant uses of energy. A K3 civilization would likewise only be visible if it had reached galaxy-dominance over 2.5 million years ago (assuming it is ruling Andromeda).

      If the civilizations are not using actual star power but qualify for the K ratings by simply equivalent ability to manipulate their surroundings by some tech pathway not yet discovered by humans, then a high-energy civilization could be far more subtle than we anticipate. I think back to my earlier parenthetical, an alien SETI would have much more difficulty spotting earth if it didn't get the clumsy high-energy broadcasts of decades past.

    4. Re:There's an old curse by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "He doesn't need war between Russia and the West, he just needs the relationship to be hostile enough to maintain his domestic support."

      That's an interesting idea. Makes one wonder if he's been trying to get this to happen. If local support is not as solid as he'd like, he might need an incident he can firmly point to as to how the west are war mongers and the country needs to codify against them. And this could provide that very incident he needed. Of course that may be a bit overly tinfoil hat as well, but the lengths politicians of every stripe from every country will go to solidify their power, nothing would surprise me.

    5. Re:There's an old curse by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That's especially the case because a nuclear war does not need to kill every member of the civilization to completely destroy any hope of a technologically advanced civilization. If enough natural resources have been consumed by the civilization (e.g. the easily accessible coal and oil) then even if the species survives it may not have the ability to reboot itself to a high tech level since getting to a high tech level may actually require access to these resources (in which case one gets essentially one chance to get to be a high tech civilization).

      FTFY

    6. Re:There's an old curse by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      one finds very worrying the level of doublethink where one describes being the first to use nukes as de-escalating a situation.

      How about you look at your own bullshit instead of someone else's?
      The US and all western powers spread hypocrisy at every step. Just look at your own history. China and Russia look pacifist compared to you.

    7. Re:There's an old curse by JoshuaZ · · Score: 1

      Potentially yes, especially since there would have been very few targets in South America and Africa. Note that this is why I made an explicit point about losing technological civilization which one might not be able to regain.

    8. Re:There's an old curse by JoshuaZ · · Score: 1

      Please read the article I linked to. One can detect a K3 civilization not just from the total power output but from the fact that the spectrum will look different. In particular, there will be a lot more infrared radiation from waste heat than there will be in a regular galaxy so the proportion of light at different wavelengths gives one good data. There are also other ways to detect aspects of K1 and K2 civilizations such as looking for megastructures.

    9. Re:There's an old curse by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Only if they follow one of the processes that we expect. Humanity hasn't followed the processes that our ancestors expected. Assuming that today's round of super-tech guesswork is the One True Path to super-tech is as naive as the old belief in clockwork automation creating a spring-powered utopia.

      The article you linked simply concludes that there are no signs of what we would expect from an advanced civilization in the light cone we have access to. It only dismisses a very limited set of assumptions that we know how to look for. Useful, but not definitive.

    10. Re:There's an old curse by JoshuaZ · · Score: 1

      Sure, we could be deeply wrong about things. In this case though, the primary issue is whether we are correct about basic thermodynamics. It is possible that we're wrong, but it isn't that likely. And yes, of course it isn't definitive: we've barely started looking into these things. But it should be deeply concerning.

    11. Re:There's an old curse by avandesande · · Score: 1

      What is a worst case technology 'loss', like 40 years? This would hardly put us in the stone ages.

      --
      love is just extroverted narcissism
    12. Re:There's an old curse by drinkypoo · · Score: 1

      There's an old curse that seems relevant: "May you live in interesting times."

      No, there isn't.

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
    13. Re:There's an old curse by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      There are nuclear weapons that can cease the planet literally. Nuclear shaped charge, using the S-matrix principle is able to penetrate hundreds of kilometers deep, with the resulting resonance breaking up the tectonic plates. Richter scale 11 earthquakes are not survivable, there would be no houses, drinkable water or food reserves left at all. Maybe a fistful of people would survive in very remote places and then in generations degrade into mere hominids. Remember, Albert Einstein said WW4 will be fought with stones and sticks.

      Furthermore, outright planetoclasm is also possible. A large enough nuclear shaped-charge could breach until the very centre of Earth and explode the natural liquid thorium reactor, which in peacetime runs the dynamo of our planet's magnetic field. Then the planet would fly apart as if hit by the Death Star full broadside.

    14. Re:There's an old curse by JoshuaZ · · Score: 1

      I'm not sure what you think is wrong with the statement. The link you gave to debunks it as having a Chinese origin. Since I didn't assert that it did I'm not sure what your point is.

    15. Re:There's an old curse by JoshuaZ · · Score: 1

      Not really. Africa and South America both have very little in the way of high tech manufacturing and even if not many directly died there there would be substantial economic collapses. One could easily see the tech level going back much further to early 1800s or even earlier. The timespan that's a direct concern is getting technology from about 1850 levels to 1970s or so which is where we had all the bootstrapping of using fossil fuels and the like. There will be some advantages the second time around, such as the fact that many metals will have been minded and extracted and thus will be ready for reuse (e.g. a lot of aluminum and some titanium) so it isn't completely clear what would happen. The exact details might make a big difference.

    16. Re:There's an old curse by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      At this point, it seems like some sort of full-scale war between NATO and Russia is more likely now than it has been any time since the 1980s (granted then it would have been NATO against the USSR but the basic point is the same).

      GDP is a good indication of a countries ability to wage conventional warfare. I don't think that Putin is actually that stupid.

    17. Re:There's an old curse by Cederic · · Score: 1

      This could be something as small as a diplomatic tiff, maybe expel a diplomat or two; they could impose some kind of economic sanctions on them (not sure what the level of trade or cooperation there is between Russia and Turkey); or, most severely, retaliate in kind.

      They've already withdrawn a diplomatic visit, they've withdrawn military cooperation (even to the extent that they had it) and there's a big push to damage the Turkish tourism industry through reducing Russian visitors. That's just today.

      What'll be more interesting is if Turkish aircraft fly over Syria. Looks like the Russians are going to treat that as a hostile act - to Assad, if not to themselves - and probably look to shoot them down.

      Could well be that Turkey's just inhibited their own ability to support the Turkmen 'rebels' and to conduct operations against the Kurds.

    18. Re:There's an old curse by Cederic · · Score: 1

      The inventions will remain, the engineering examples and the art of the possible will be known. Plus computers to help with the mathematics.

      I suspect recovery would be pretty quick.

    19. Re:There's an old curse by Nidi62 · · Score: 1

      Could well be that Turkey's just inhibited their own ability to support the Turkmen 'rebels' and to conduct operations against the Kurds.

      Well, the Kurds part isn't too big of a loss. The Kurds are the ones who have been most successful against ISIS (especially considering their lack of heavy equipment). The West should have been backing the Kurds all along, but the Us has obviously been hesitant to because it would really destabilize Iraq and the government we've been propping up there.

      --
      The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for it to be pitted against a slightly greater evil
    20. Re:There's an old curse by Cederic · · Score: 1

      it would really destabilize Iraq and the government we've been propping up there.

      Yes, and Turkey, a fellow NATO member.

      Shame though, I agree with you, the Kurds are the most credible counter to ISIS. They just need some support.

    21. Re:There's an old curse by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Worse, Russian military doctrine currently describes a limited nuclear strike on conventional military targets as a de-escalation http://thebulletin.org/why-russia-calls-limited-nuclear-strike-de-escalation . While in official documents they reserve that terminology for using nuclear weapons to handle direct conventional military attacks on Russia itself, one finds very worrying the level of doublethink where one describes being the first to use nukes as de-escalating a situation.

      Depends on the target of the nuke.

      Using a nuclear weapon against a nuclear power practically begs retaliation in kind; the worst kind of escalation possible.

      However, if some little local warlord wants to play war in a Russian city, his war effort will be quickly de-escalated when Russia drops a nuke on his base camp.

      Or another way to say it: Don't bring conventional weapons to a nuke fight.

    22. Re:There's an old curse by drinkypoo · · Score: 1

      I'm not sure what you think is wrong with the statement. The link you gave to debunks it as having a Chinese origin. Since I didn't assert that it did I'm not sure what your point is.

      The false claim doesn't become more true because you leave a word out.

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
    23. Re:There's an old curse by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Are you so blind that you can't admit when you are wrong, or just too stupid to realize it?

      The saying obviously exists, as you were all wound up just waiting for a chance to tell that to someone when they tried to use it.

    24. Re:There's an old curse by Neo-Rio-101 · · Score: 1

      ...except that nuclear weapons damaging the hundreds of nuclear power plants around the world and sending them all critical will cause them to meltdown and spew out plutonium everywhere.

      That would likely contaminate much of the globe with nuclear fallout.

      --
      READY.
      PRINT ""+-0
    25. Re:There's an old curse by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Sure, we could be deeply wrong about things. In this case though, the primary issue is whether we are correct about basic thermodynamics. It is possible that we're wrong, but it isn't that likely. And yes, of course it isn't definitive: we've barely started looking into these things. But it should be deeply concerning.

      Sure, we could be deeply wrong about things. In this case though, the primary issue is whether we are correct about basic thermodynamics. It is possible that we're wrong, but it isn't that likely. And yes, of course it isn't definitive: we've barely started looking into these things. But it should be deeply concerning.

      Different A/C here
      It wouldn't require that we are fundamentally wrong about thermodynamics as they could just be insanely efficent so that there isn't waste heat from their none stella sources.

    26. Re:There's an old curse by JoshuaZ · · Score: 1

      I'm confused. What part do you think I said was false? The false claim is that it was of Chinese origin. Can you point to anything I said that was false?

    27. Re:There's an old curse by JoshuaZ · · Score: 1

      That doesn't really work. Even if you use things efficiently, you have to dump waste heat.

    28. Re:There's an old curse by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If not enough natural resources have been consumed by the civilization (e.g. the easily accessible coal and oil) then even if the species survives it may not have the ability to reboot itself to a high tech level since getting to a high tech level may actually require access to these resources (in which case one gets essentially one chance to get to be a high tech civilization).

      Meh. Even in the worst case scenario, nuclear war -> end of life -> snowball earth -> abiogenesis -> dinosaurs v2.0 -> meteorite/volcano/etc.. -> more oil -> another chance at high tech.

      The earth'll be fine, barring nukes big enough to blow chunks of it off into space.

    29. Re: There's an old curse by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The point is there isn't waste heat as any such energy would be converted and reused. It would be magic tech involving completly unknown systems, but not violating thermodynamics as far as I can see. I don't believe IR emission is a fundamental of thermodynamics.

    30. Re: There's an old curse by JoshuaZ · · Score: 1

      That you are going to need some waste heat does come out from pretty basic thermo. You should read the papers that the group searching for these K3 societies did. They outline why this doesn't require more than basic thermo and an extremely tiny amount of basic physics.

    31. Re: There's an old curse by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Waste heat that can be detected from across galaxies is quite a lot of waste heat, so even with a slight positive for a system this can be far from true. I thought blackbody/cavity radiation was a property of the matter involved that related to thermodynamics and didn't preclude something else existing that didn't exhibit it. Perhaps some perfectly degenerate matter that didn't have such freedom. Heat transmission in Hellium II works quite differently to in most materials which shows there can be very surprising differences.
          Perhaps a more likely method is if you could convert this radiation at a receiver (maybe in the form of a box around a system) to convert the heat difference to another form of energy then the emission would be reduced. You could then repeat this process. An incredibly crude version of this could involve thermocouples connected to the outside cold then using this energy to put water up a hill. This wouldn't be a very good system but shows you could reduced the radiative heat. These hypothetical aliens could have much more advanced systems for doing it.
          Looking at it the K guys seem focused on how to collect large amounts of energy rather than using energy hyper efficiently and collecting waste heat. I don't see anything that says it couldn't be done, just that no one has any idea how it could be done. Nor do I see any reason a galaxy spanning civilization has to utilise the vast energy sources they claim if instead they are hyper efficient.
          This is extending beyond a slashdot comment sorry. Thanks for your responses though, I'll look into it further and may come across something that causes me to say oops, they where right all along time for some humble pie :)

    32. Re:There's an old curse by shutdown+-p+now · · Score: 1

      Turkey is a fellow NATO member who has been actively supporting Daesh behind the scenes.

      At this point, the real question is why they're even in NATO at all. Their interests don't seem to be in line with other members.

    33. Re:There's an old curse by JoshuaZ · · Score: 1

      Oil and coal were not from dinosaurs but rather from well before then. It isn't at all obvious that that sort of resource would exist a second time around, and especially given that it is unlikely that even in a snowball situation that all sea life will go away. Incidentally, I find it fascinating that people who would be horrified by a few hundred or a few thousand deaths somehow react with things like "Meh" when talking about every single life on the planet which should be far worse.

    34. Re:There's an old curse by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Your vision of possible outcome is quite rudimentary.

      Here is the list of just a few things that might happen during next weeks:

      They will stop sending tourists to Turkey. That's around 5 billion dollars a year.
      They will cancel the natural gas pipeline project to Europe through Turkey.
      They will stop buying Turkish produce. That's 20% of what they import.
      They will introduce visas for Turkey, meaning that Turkey will have to give symmetric answer, thus hurting the tourism from Russia even more. This will also force Turkish guest workers to leave Russia.
      They will initiate the international investigation about the sources of ISIS money. They already said that Turkey buys oil from ISIS. They know it.

      If that's not enough, they already installed S-400 near the border of Turkey. Might be the best anti-aircraft system in existence. This means Russians are ready to use it.

      Also, you are speaking about NATO, but you are forgetting the CSTO. Attack against Russia is also attack against Belarus, Kazakhstan and Armenia. First two have armies that could give Turkey hell. And there is hardly any other nation that hates Turkish more than Armenians do.

      And, just by the way, TFA is wrong. SU-24 is not a fighter. It's bomber.

    35. Re:There's an old curse by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Nuclear power stations don't require much fuel to run, using a nuclear bomb to cause to to go critical and spew out radioactive material over a large area would be quite difficult, to the point that if that was your goal it isn't worth doing, it would be far easier and more effective to just create a dirty bomb and explode it high in the atmosphere to spread out radioactive material.

  17. Turkey has an itchy trigger by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Turkey has shown to be rather itchy about engaging anyone who encroaches their boarder. Except when its ISIS and they sit and watch while ISIS kills and attacks.
    Yet, it seems they are willing to quickly engage when a aircraft briefly enters their airspace possibly just because of the air craft maneuvering requirements. I am not discounted Russia air craft may have breached the boarder. But the question is, was this a aggressive act or did Turkey over react to this? Clearly I think we have some fair weather NATO friends in the bunch and I am not sure sometimes which side Turkey is on? This brings up questions in my mind on how much some of these Muslim countries want to defeat ISIS? Obama claims 65 country support. But all I see is France, Russia and US attacking ISIS on a aggressive basis. I thought this air traffic agreement was all worked out between NATO and Russia?

  18. Saudia Arabia = Saddam Loyalists = ISIS/ISIL by Kevin+by+the+Beach · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Almost 50% (content varies) of ISIS/ISIL are former Ba'athist that we paid not to fight against us in post Saddam Iraq.

    Like that was a great idea!

    1. Re:Saudia Arabia = Saddam Loyalists = ISIS/ISIL by halivar · · Score: 1

      We made a serious error in arresting the de-Ba'athification of post-invasion Iraq. We simultaneously protected the worst offenders of the previous regime, while engendering serious mistrust in the Shia majority that drove them into Iran's arms. It's an object lesson in the rule that if you aren't going to finish the job, don't start it.

    2. Re:Saudia Arabia = Saddam Loyalists = ISIS/ISIL by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Objectively the best thing to do would be to just nuke the whole place.
      Let god sort them out.

      DEUS VULT!

    3. Re:Saudia Arabia = Saddam Loyalists = ISIS/ISIL by Plumpaquatsch · · Score: 1

      Almost 50% (content varies) of ISIS/ISIL are former Ba'athist that we paid not to fight against us in post Saddam Iraq.

      Like that was a great idea!

      Well, it was. For the very short term it lasted. And of course for the claim that the heroic Bush administration defeated the evil Saddam regime before it could wield its WMDs. Few claimed that they had any plans beyond that.

      --
      Of course news about a fake are Fake News.
  19. Going into bunker by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I'm going into my prepper bunker now. I'd post back, but I was more interested in hoarding ammo than getting my H.A.M. radio license.

    When my 30-year shelf-life beef jerky runs out, maybe I'll post back to /. if I'm still alive.

  20. There are no "moderate rebels" by Voice+of+satan · · Score: 3

    There are no "moderate" rebels.

    They are islamists. The only "moderates" are in hotels in Turkey; They have no power and are nicknamed the "five star opposition" because of the five star hotels they live in. For the Russians, a beardie is a beardie.

    There is neither "the Russians are bombing moderates while they promised to bomb DAESH" They said form the start there were no moderate islamists and even joked they bombed moderate islamists with moderated bombs "which have more pleasant colors".

    Turkey and Saudi Arabia are backing Al Nosra which is a local branch of Al Quaeda. And UK and particularly France with that idiot Laurent Fabius timidly backs them to please the Gulf states so they buy them weapons. Airplanes in particular. Against the advices of their own military. It is changing but slowly.

    1. Re:There are no "moderate rebels" by amiga3D · · Score: 1

      Moderate is a relative term. Some of the islamists aren't as bat shit crazy as some of the others. I'd say most of the really moderate ones have already immigrated to somewhere less fucked up.

    2. Re:There are no "moderate rebels" by guestapoo · · Score: 1
      In the book "How We Lost the Vietnam War" of Cao Ky Nguyen, former Prime Minister of S. Vietnam, he vealed how American side is very sensitive with "playing words":

      page 172-173:
      A the Pentagon, Defense Secretary Melvin Laird asked the assembled group, "What shall we call the program?"
      Someone suggested. "De-Americanization."
      "No! for God's sake," I protested. "That would really prove to the world that you have been fighting the war." So since it had always been our war, we settled finally on "Vietnamization."

    3. Re:There are no "moderate rebels" by Copid · · Score: 1

      That is the problem with handing weapons over to "moderates" and hoping they'll be tenacious enough to win a civil war for us, isn't it? At best, it's the, "We'll fight to the end, kill everybody and scorch the Earth," faction against the, "We wish you guys weren't so militant," faction. Pouring crates of weapons in is just going to continue to arm the people who are aggressive and committed enough to seize them.

      --
      An interesting anagram of "BANACH TARSKI" is "BANACH TARSKI BANACH TARSKI"
  21. This is sparta by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Lolz

  22. Not X-Wing Fighter Here! And the Rebels bad guys! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Funny

    It's a junker, from the cold-war era, shot down by another junker, from the cold-war era. If it shows anything, it's that those old ruskie junkers still have the best WORKING ejection apparatus in the world, bar none! Needed since THEM's junkers always lose to US'es junkers.

    Turkey to Putin. Stay the FUCK OUT OF Turkey, turkey!

  23. Exactly by sycodon · · Score: 3, Interesting

    This

    We have an opportunity to forge an alliance between former enemies. The only reason the USSR and America were adversaries was the conflict over economic systems. that conflict no longer exists. Russia us just as capitalistic as the West, albeit a but more crude about it. But the point is that we have no reason to automatically line up against then anymore.

    We have an opportunity to create a partnership that exceeds Nato and present a united front against Islamic Radicalism. This means not only immolating ISIS terrorists, but also, diplomatically confronting the bigger players in the Mideast that are the ones actually fueling his kind of crap with their fundamentalist nonsense. We could force them all to clean up their act, and reform Islam.

    Of course, the US will need to stop supporting "moderates", mostly because there is no such thing.

    --
    When Fascism comes to America, it will call itself Anti-Fascism, and tell you to give up your guns.
    1. Re:Exactly by DarkOx · · Score: 2

      This is a very good point. Much of the mess that is the Middle East is because these despots manged to enrich themselves playing NATO against the USSR for decades. They knew perfectly well any attempt to sort them out would have been seen as an act of aggression by the other world power. That provided them with cover to run their little shit stands, and get all sorts of cool toys (fancy high tech weapons systems).

      If we could get past or conflict narrative with Russia we could re-draw the boarders agree on some buffer / DMZ regions and go in and occupy these places. If we did it long enough we could wipeout the stain on human culture that exists there.

      --
      Repeal the 17th Amendment TODAY! Also Please Read http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/right-to-read.html
    2. Re:Exactly by slew · · Score: 2

      The only reason the USSR and America were adversaries was the conflict over economic systems. that conflict no longer exists.

      Hardly. Russia and USA are adversaries over economic *power* not systems and will be in the forseeable future. They are still economic adversaries even though the economic systems have changed.

      However, they are unlikely to be closer to the USA than China because the USA would like to keep China adversary closer (because they are a bigger economic threat).

      To conflict over economic systems is a lark. Regardless of the system, it's all about economic power.

      On the other hand, the USA conflict with Cuba is about politics, regardless of their economic system. Cuba was supposed one of the "spoils" the USA got in the Spanish-American war. It was supposed to be under our sphere of influence, but they overthrew the government the USA backed, so like an rebel teenager that attempts independence we attempted to "disown" them. The cuban revolutionaries weren't originally communists (e.g., DRE, and even Castro) but mostly socialists, but the USA's fear of the experience in Southeast Asia basically set the stage for fear to manifest itself to reality.

    3. Re:Exactly by guestapoo · · Score: 1

      Russia corporate with France now, but some "NATO country" like Turkey is not, they are funding some Al-Quaeda groups, hosting some FSA leaders, and buying illegal oil from ISIS.

    4. Re:Exactly by Plumpaquatsch · · Score: 1

      This

      We have an opportunity to forge an alliance between former enemies. The only reason the USSR and America were adversaries was the conflict over economic systems. that conflict no longer exists. Russia us just as capitalistic as the West, albeit a but more crude about it. But the point is that we have no reason to automatically line up against then anymore.

      We have an opportunity to create a partnership that exceeds Nato

      Well, and right there lies the problem: the extension of NATO to former Soviet states, especially the talks with Ukraine, hardly gave the appearance of NATO not seeing Russia as a threat any more.

      "We'll put this anti-missile defence system right here next to the Polish-Russian border, just in case Europe gets attacked by, errrm, yeah, Arabs with long range missiles."

      --
      Of course news about a fake are Fake News.
  24. Flight radar track by tiagosousa · · Score: 3, Informative
  25. Vladimir Putin by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    So Vladimir Putin ordered fighters into NATO airspace and was shots down.

    Where is the storys here?

    1. Re:Vladimir Putin by tehcyder · · Score: 1

      So Vladimir Putin ordered fighters into NATO airspace and was shots down.

      Where is the storys here?

      Simples: is start of WW3. Will probably delay release of new iPhone, hence news for nerd.

      --
      To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it
  26. Comment removed by account_deleted · · Score: 1

    Comment removed based on user account deletion

  27. I Kiss You! by slashdice · · Score: 0

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    I went , Germany , Nederland , Belgium , Austria , Denmark, Sweden , Hungary

    Moldovia , Ukraina , Bulgaria , Romania , Macedonia ,Azerbaijan , Georrgia , Iran .....

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    I speake turkish , english , rusian , I want to learn otherlanguage !

    --
    Copyright (c) 1990 - 2014 Dice. All rights reserved. Use of this comment is subject to certain Terms and Conditions.
    1. Re:I Kiss You! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Mahir? The original internet celebrity!

  28. "as God is my witness, I thought turkeys could fly by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    And here I am just sittin' at the crossroads waitin' for the Archduke to drive on by.

  29. The eastern world.... by clifwlkr · · Score: 1

    It is exploding....

    It is crazy how a song from quite awhile ago is still so relevant. Somehow it feels that we will foolishly repeat the same stupid pattern over and over again. Simply using some screwed up country for the bigger countries to fight battles, all in the name of the greater good. Seems like if we really cared about solving the problems in Syria we would all join together in a common agreed upon plan. I can't imagine any government standing up to the full force of the world united.

    But instead, we are on the eve of destruction.....

  30. All Things Being Equal by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

    The Russians won't do anything to retaliate. I have a healthy respect for Russia and most people should. I grew up during the Cold War not too far from the former Soviet Union. I used to watch the Soviet submarines off the coast when I was a teenager. They would surface occasionally. My father purchased a powerful maritime telescope for my brother and I to see them better when they did surface. Once, a submarine surfaced and broadcasted an emergency. One of the crew suffered a burst appendix. Our guys sent out a helicopter and collected him and took him to hospital where he stayed for two day's time. The submarine waited off the coast, but was joined by 24 hour patrol helicopters and a frigate escort. This was 1983.

    The Russians are good people, their military is very capable, and while some of their equipment might be a generation or so behind the West, make no mistakes in thinking this limits them. Russia and Putin have something the West doesn't have at present: will and intent. It doesn't matter why Russia is in Syria, although to my estimation, they are protecting their oil and gas pipeline interests (present and future) through Iran to Syria.

    I rather admire Vladimir Putin for his nationalism and his refusal to play nice with islamists. His duty is to kill them and that he will do. Unlike the West, Russia is actually killing ISIS and other islamists and this is to be praised.

    1. Re:All Things Being Equal by guestapoo · · Score: 1
      You will soon be labeled as "Putinbot" or working in St. Petersburg.

      You MAY be the things I listed, but I find irony that when one say something "positive" about Russia, he will be "the propagandist", but their "legitimate" propagandists are "collaborators" and labeled as "expert" or "activist" who has no expertise, instead of Youtube and GoogleEarth "skill", such as Eliot Higgins, MIT's experts, real weapon expert, image forensic experts dismissed him everytime. Or, who has never been Syria for 15 years, and uses phone to call home for "collecting" information and the "news papers" cites from him.

      Rami Abdulrahman's UK based SOHR has been cited by virtually every western news outlet since the beginning of the uprising. The United Kingdom-based SOHR is run out of a two-bedroom terraced home in Coventry by one person, Rami Abdulrahman,[3] a Syrian Sunni Muslim who also runs a clothes shop.

      Some "journalists" report the news about Syria, have never put their feet on the Syria soil, they hide in Beirut, Lebanon for example, such as Martin Chulov.

      Now, when the readers of, such as The Guardian, frequently complain about the Rami Abdulrahman SOHR is constantly be the source of the news, despite their pro-FSA views, they choose the phrase "groups monitoring the war" instead.

  31. It was most likely in Syria by danbob999 · · Score: 2

    It's not as if we are ever going to learn the truth in these kinds of "incidents". Russia will say they were in Syria, Turkey will say they were in Turkey.
    However this time since the pilot parachuted in Syria, and got captured by rebels, I tend to believe the Russian story. If the plane was shot down in Turkey, the Turkish army would have recovered the pilot, isn't it?

    1. Re:It was most likely in Syria by flink · · Score: 1

      It's not as if we are ever going to learn the truth in these kinds of "incidents". Russia will say they were in Syria, Turkey will say they were in Turkey.
      However this time since the pilot parachuted in Syria, and got captured by rebels, I tend to believe the Russian story. If the plane was shot down in Turkey, the Turkish army would have recovered the pilot, isn't it?

      Jets move fast, wind blows a parachute around. It's possible that when the missile was launched, the Russian jet was in Turkey but by the time of impact, missile and jet were over Syria. Based on the description, it sounds like the Russians were flying parallel tot he border and flew across a small finger of Turkish land that protruded into Syria. It sounds like both countries are somewhat it the wrong. The Russians technically entered Turkish airspace, but they were transiting, not flying a sortie in Turkey. The Turks over reacted.

    2. Re:It was most likely in Syria by danbob999 · · Score: 1

      It's possible that when the missile was launched, the Russian jet was in Turkey but by the time of impact, missile and jet were over Syria.

      Then Turkey is still wrong and they shot down a plane in Syria and they should say so. Currently they just look like amateurs by claiming they shot down a plane in their air space, but didn't recover the pilot who ejected.

    3. Re:It was most likely in Syria by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It wasn't (though they were not in the Turkish airspace very long), but the Russian pilots were warned several times in the hour preceding the event, even US Pilots in the area heard the warnings. They were fired on when they were in Turkish airspace, the wreckage and pilots however fell approx 2.5km into Syria.

    4. Re:It was most likely in Syria by Toothpick · · Score: 1

      The Turkish military's radar track was posted on CNN Turkey's English Twitter: https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CU...

    5. Re:It was most likely in Syria by danbob999 · · Score: 1

      Yeah, it would be hard for Turkey to falsify this picture...

    6. Re:It was most likely in Syria by HiThere · · Score: 1

      Maybe. That's an official story, and it might be true.

      It's not only US politicians that are liars.

      --

      I think we've pushed this "anyone can grow up to be president" thing too far.
    7. Re:It was most likely in Syria by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Captured? They were shot dead while still coming down by their parachute. They never touched the ground alive.

    8. Re:It was most likely in Syria by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Russia flew fighter jets over a 2 mile wide piece of land that juts out into Syria. At 300mph, they were over Turkish Airspace for appx 28 seconds. The plane was shot down over Syria.

      It doesn't add up.

    9. Re:It was most likely in Syria by cfalcon · · Score: 1

      NATO has confirmed that the jet was in Turkey.

    10. Re:It was most likely in Syria by danbob999 · · Score: 1

      It's better but I still think NATO could be lying. We will never know.

    11. Re:It was most likely in Syria by Copid · · Score: 1

      I suppose it's possible that there's a different reality, but it seems to me like we have two major possibilities:

      1) Russia, which has a record of being increasingly aggressive about airspace, allowed its aircraft into Turkish airspace despite complaints and warnings and got shot down.
      2) Turkey saw some advantage in shooting down Russian aircraft and antagonizing Russia for no reason.

      I suppose there's also various forms of incompetence that could be dumped into possibility 3. But really, what does Turkey have to gain from intentionally shooting down Russian aircraft outside its borders? Is there some eleven dimensional chess operation going on here that I'm not seeing?

      --
      An interesting anagram of "BANACH TARSKI" is "BANACH TARSKI BANACH TARSKI"
  32. Thanksgiving in Russia by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    In Soviet Russia on Thanksgiving, turkey shoot you!

    1. Re:Thanksgiving in Russia by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      OMG... Gilbert Gottfried? Are you collaborating with Yakov Smirnoff now?

      CAPTCHA: chagrin

  33. Time to call by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Does anyone happen to have Vault-Tec's phone number lying around?

    1. Re:Time to call by tnk1 · · Score: 1

      Just remember that you want the farthest decontamination pod on the left when you enter the vault. It uh... decontaminates... you better than the others.

  34. Turkey is for cows. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    You are all cows. Cows say moo. MOOOO! MOOOO! Moo cows MOOOO! Moo say the cows. YOU GOBBLE GOBBLE COWS!!

  35. Queue up the late Fred Thompson by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0-JA1ffd5Ms

  36. As God is my witness by Overzeetop · · Score: 2

    As God is my witness, I thought turkeys could fly!

    --
    Is it just my observation, or are there way too many stupid people in the world?
    1. Re:As God is my witness by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lf3mgmEdfwg

    2. Re:As God is my witness by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      +3 for the WKRP In Cincinnati reference!

    3. Re:As God is my witness by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      God witnesses nothing, as there is no proof of his existence. And turkeys can fly.

  37. Just simply by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    why usa and nato get the f out of middle east, and stops making wars and stealing oil?

    1. Re:Just simply by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      why usa and nato get the f out of middle east, and stops making wars and stealing oil?

      Hey apparently its Russia trying to prop up its favoured dictator this time.

    2. Re:Just simply by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      yeah, and russia also this time, go home

  38. ^ this guy for president. Which end game reasonabl by raymorris · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Please run for president, or at least go explain to the president what a reasonable strategy might be. Based on your understanding, which is more thorough than 99.9% of people's, what do you think would be a reasonable strategy for the US going forward, considering the end game?

    It seems pretty clear we don't want Daesh in control of the territory; which group(s) can we support which have a reasonable chance of establishing some stable control and aren't barbaric, and how should we be doing that? As a voter who hasn't heard of most of the groups you mentioned, what main point(s) do I need to hear from a candidate to think he or she might have stumbled on a reasonable approach?

  39. Thanksgiving by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Just days before Thanksgiving and Turkey shoots down a Russian Jet. The turkeys have armed themselves and are fighting back! Thanksgiving meals will be changed forever.

  40. Flight path map by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Here's a map of the flight path of the "alleged incursion" by Russia. Not so alleged now, eh? Definite.

    http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-11-24/unidentified-warplane-crashes-in-syria-near-turkish-border#media-2

  41. we are helping the shit out of them by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    When help comes in the form of bombs dropped from above or troops that come in and get out with the periodic civilian casualties... I am pretty sure I would react the same way to that sort of "help". You are either all-in on the ground or supporting some side with some legitimate staying power on the ground. Otherwise you are just killing people for no good reason.

  42. Irresponsible, unaccountable media by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Early last month Hugh Hewitt went on the Sunday show circuit blabbering about a Russian jet shot down by Turkey as a central part of a WWIII "world is ending" rant. There were no follow ups to these serious yet baseless Internet rumors, no apologizes and Hugh was welcomed back.

    Meanwhile CNN's Elise Labott was suspended for two weeks for tweeting "House passes bill that could limit Syrian refugees. Statue of Liberty bows head in anguish"

    The media does not give a shit about communicating the truth or objectivity. They only care they superficially give a faux appearance of doing so. If they cared they wouldn't open the flood gates to baseless scare mongering from anonymous government goons interested only in affecting public opinion or give platform to partisan talking heads to spew their tired predictable rhetoric unchallenged. But this is the news media. They only care about ratings. Their primary responsibility is baiting the few remaining viewers with hyperbole, controversy and scaremongering.

    Belated credit to the Internet rumor mill for predicting a story a month before it happened.. and sorry (not really) for this off topic rant.

  43. Erdogan erdlosung. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    There is talk on russian webforums that Erdogan's son is a chief liaison to ISIS/ISIL/Daesh (they even posted a group photo as proof) and the russians will get him.

    I think the best option would be for the turkish military to replace Erdogan, try him and forcibly restore secularist rule in Turkey. Either that or Constantiople will very soon become the capital of Bulgaria...

    Anyhow, sunni radical islam, which Erdogan heralds, is the most dangerous thing on Earth. If you think the ayatollah was dangerous, think again! The shiite muslims at last have the ancient wisdom inherited from the sage Zarathustra.

    1. Re:Erdogan erdlosung. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Shia Muslims have nothing to do with Zarathustra. They were as Arab as the Sunnis - it's just that Shia Muslims recognize Ali as Mohammed's successor, and ignore the succession of Abu Baqr, Umar I and Uthman. Iran didn't become Shi'ite until the Safavid rulers in the 16th century converted the country from Sunni to Shia

      I'm all for all of Eastern Thrace becoming a part of Bulgaria and Greece. Constantinople should go back to Bulgaria. Only Anatolia should remain with Turkey. Oh, and give Antioch to Syria - let that too become a part of Alawite territory.

  44. We are playing a dangerous and stupid game by jd.schmidt · · Score: 2

    First off, Turkey shot down this plane for reasons important to Turkey. The plane may well have crossed into Turkey, though it sounds like it flew over a spit of land on an irregular boarder area, but the Turkish air force pursued it and shot it down over Syria, that is blatantly clear by where it crashed. Sure they "warned" the plane, for 5 whole minutes, but they obviously had the aircraft right there with the finger on the trigger and at the time of the shooting the plane would have been in Syria. Turkey was looking for an excuse an got one. The reason the plane was so easy to down was because the pilot didn't expect them to shoot. The reason for the attack is Turkey is trying to make it as difficult as possible for Russia to use it's air power, not because anyone legitimately thought Turkish forces or civilians were in serious danger. Had Russia actually been dropping bombs in Turkey, that would be a different matter and there would be undeniable proof. If our top priority was to stop ISIS, we would support Assad and simply do our best to make the support conditional on reforms. He clearly only wants to stay in power and has already agreed to any number of reforms. This isn't to say that Assad is a good guy, but rather a statement that our so called allies in the area are pretty weak to non existent. Plus, at the end of the day I don't know that their priorities really match ours, all we really know about them is they aren't Assad and they aren't ISIS. So why are we doing this? This is feeling more like a proxy war between the U.S. and Russia, and less like anyone actually cares about ISIS one way or the other. We aren't going to bomb our way to peace over there, making the war last longer is going to create more terrorists, not less. I don't know what they will call themselves, but I know we are just going to create more people with a grudge against the West, and I suppose Russia as well.

  45. The real reason by mcrbids · · Score: 1

    I will likely be downvoted, even though what I write is absolutely true.

    Revolution was predicted at least 6 years ago, a result of public land policy changes made 50 years ago and yet nobody talks about it. In fact, if anybody brings it up, they are immediately dismissed as radical, or simply silly.

    Starving people are dramatically more likely to revolt than well fed people. Somehow, mentioning this ridiculously obvious fact is universally dismissed.

    --
    I have no problem with your religion until you decide it's reason to deprive others of the truth.
  46. Oh Russia, you just had to get involved... by TiggertheMad · · Score: 1

    Don't worry, the Serbs and Croatians aren't involved in this fiasco yet. As long as nobody tries to shoot an arch-duke, we should be able to keep this contained to Asia minor.

    --

    HA! I just wasted some of your bandwidth with a frivolous sig!
  47. Re:bad idea :) by slashrio · · Score: 3, Informative

    One important reason of the destabilization of the area near and including Syria, is to get Putin's influence out of Syria and put Biden's in.
    Qatar wants to sell its gas to Europe through a pipeline through Syria, but Assad wants Putin to supply his gas to Europe. So Saudi-Arabia buys a lot of Toyota's while USA (McCain) supplies weapons for some fanatics that were trained and supported by the USA to fight the Russians in Afghanistan.
    Of course you can't simply dismiss these people without expecting some major problems, so they are now directed at Assad after a brief period in Lybia.

    Saudi-Arabia already saw that the USA was fracking too much and made that a losing proposition by lowering the oil prices through oversupply.

    Further, as Brzezinsky writes in his book, the US, in order to maintain its hegemony as a superpower, has to do anything it can to prevent other powers become too strong and successful. Creating chaos is one way of obtaining that goal so no, I don't think the USA would reduce its presence there if there were no oil.

    --
    "Trump!!", the new Godwin.
  48. Re:Still wondering by slashrio · · Score: 1

    If, as the article states, the Russian pilots came down in Syrian territory, then why should we believe they were flying above Turkeye?
    Further this incident gives Putin the possibility to start downing the French, German, Britain planes within Syria.
    The only thing I anticipate 'The Allied Forces' to do is bomb the hell out of Assad's infrastructure and military facilities.
    Just like what happened in Syria. 'The Allied' got permission to establish a no-fly zone and took the opportunity to destroy pretty much the whole irrigation system that Ghaddafi had installed.

    The downing of the plane is a nice precedent making it easier to down NATO planes once they fly over Syria and bomb or supply the 'wrong' side.

    --
    "Trump!!", the new Godwin.
  49. Misinterpreted *that* headline... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    ...thought it was going to be a heartwarming Thanksgiving story!

  50. Fail To Get It by crackspackle · · Score: 2

    The shot down the plane not even 1 km inside their border. A fighter jet would be flying casually at 600 Mph, around 900 feet per second or roughly 1 km every four seconds; yet,, the Turks were supposedly warning them for five minutes. And then they shoot them down for stepping an inch into their front lawn? Did they want to start a war or were they trying to protect. whomever Russia was after?

    1. Re:Fail To Get It by Voice+of+satan · · Score: 1

      They were trying to protect Turkmen islamists i guess. Trying to show some muscle by ambushing Russian planes which were not expecting it. I think the turkish politicians, that Erdogan redneck first, do not realize what they have done.

      By the way, the Russian ministry of defence has issued a statement:

      -Bombings will continue
      -Bombers from now on will be escorted
      -The cruiser Moskva will move north to provide cover with his 64 big big S300 surface to air missiles
      -They will deploy ground to air missiles (where ? which ones ?)
      -They will "engage" any hostile or provocative action by fighters or SAMs (Read, if we want, we shoot first)

    2. Re:Fail To Get It by guestapoo · · Score: 1

      Syrian fighter plane was shot down by Turkey before. They protect their terrorist along their border.

    3. Re:Fail To Get It by FirstOne · · Score: 1

      I suspect that Turkey's actions are payback for Syria(Russia's proxy) shoot down of a Turkish F-4 reconnaissance jet (2012).

      Note: The F-4 had left Syrian airspace approximately 4 minutes prior to the missile launch..

  51. There is more to this than catches the eye by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Full disclaimer: I have Russian heritage, but I don't live in Russia.

    Russians and Turks are not exactly friends. The nations have had a fair share of issues for centuries. Giving the recent trends--e.g., Russian support for Armenia, Assad--it does not seem to be about NATO v. Russia at all. My only hope that this problem gets resolved quickly, so this does not become another military conflict.

    For those who want to point fingers to air-space violations: Please stop. Countries that can rely on air force superiority (think members of NATO, Russia), have at some points of time engaged into this practice either involuntarily or with a specific purpose. There are ways of dealing with such situation that should not involve shooting down aircraft almost immediately, especially if the situation can be put into the context, i.e., on-going military operations in the region.

  52. Misjudgment? by argStyopa · · Score: 1

    Did someone in Ankara misunderstand when someone told them that pretty nearly everyone in the US cheers for Turkey this Thursday?

    --
    -Styopa
  53. Yeah... by ThatsNotPudding · · Score: 1

    I think this is why Washington advised "Avoid foreign entanglements".

    Maybe it would have been paid attention to if he'd prefaced it with "Hey, Dickheads!".

    Nah; war is far too profitable for (Raytheon, et al) to stop now.

  54. NATO Hostility by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    This is an effort to create hostility amongst NATO nations against Russia, who has become increasingly cozy with the EU leadership after the Paris attacks.

  55. Re:Still wondering by Cederic · · Score: 1

    If, as the article states, the Russian pilots came down in Syrian territory, then why should we believe they were flying above Turkeye?

    Crashing four kilometres from the border leaves plenty of room for doubt.

    Further this incident gives Putin the possibility to start downing the French, German, Britain planes within Syria.

    Not remotely. If he does, that's going to result in a very rapid reduction in Russian air power.

    The only thing I anticipate 'The Allied Forces' to do is bomb the hell out of Assad's infrastructure and military facilities.

    What the fuck does Assad have to do with this? Why would you bring him into it? Are you talking complete shit?

    Just like what happened in Syria. 'The Allied' got permission to establish a no-fly zone and took the opportunity to destroy pretty much the whole irrigation system that Ghaddafi had installed.

    Ah. Yes, you are.

  56. In Soviet Russia.... by Radical+Moderate · · Score: 3, Funny

    ....Turkey shoots you for Thanksgiving!

    Honestly, 325 posts and nobody pulled this out?

    --
    Never let a lack of data get in the way of a good rant.
    1. Re:In Soviet Russia.... by cfalcon · · Score: 1

      I mean, it is a perfect joke, but this is a pretty serious matter.

  57. Even the US latest cannot touch the Russian latest by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Hate to say this to you, but Russia's 5th Generation military aircraft are better than anything the Americans, British, or French currently have. I was in and around the military for 25 years. I worked on A-10s and have seen many a Russian plane in my day. Nothing we have can touch the SU-34 and SU-35 for their intended roles. As you pointed out, the SU-24 is a Cold War bird that's been in the air since 1967. The SU-34 and SU-35 are forces to be reckoned with. All things being equal, Russian flight training is far more involved and deeper than Western counterparts. Sadly, the SU-24 was shot down and pilots killed. Let's see that same attempt on one of the SU-34 or SU-35s. Even the F-22 cannot win against these or the F-35, which by all accounts is a POS that they cannot even get to work correctly half the time.

  58. Syrian oil by unixisc · · Score: 1

    There is some. A lot less than Iraq, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Libya, et al, but that's not the same as there being practically no oil

  59. Turkey, ISIS and caliphates by unixisc · · Score: 1

    U.S., Iran, Turkey, Assad, Russia. All hate ISIS. All have an interest in destroying the ISIS "caliphate."

    Can't stop fighting among themselves for even a minute to even consider an alliance.

    Meanwhile, ISIS just slips across some other border that the side who happens to be fighting them at that moment can't cross.

    Turkey doesn't belong in the above list. As discussed elsewhere in this page, they see their main enemies as the Kurds, not ISIS. The Ottoman Empire too was at the center of a caliphate by virtue of controlling Mecca and Medina. So ISIS ain't that much alien to it

  60. Re:^ this guy for president. Which end game reason by bluegutang · · Score: 2

    1) Partition Syria into Alawite, Sunni Arab, and Kurdish zones (ideally independent states).
    2) Purge the Damascus government/army of Alawites (including Bashar Assad) so it can become acceptable to the Sunni Arabs in ISIS territory.
    3) Arm and support this government (which would be much more religiously moderate than ISIS, al-Nusra, or any other rebels) as it reconquers ISIS territory.
    4) Try to reach some agreement with Iraq where most Iraqi Sunni areas are absorbed into the Sunni Arab Syrian state.

  61. Re:I have an idea... Me too! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Free healthcare isn't really free because someone has to pay -- but, yes, for those less fortunate it is indeed free.

    OTOH you have this magnificent wars to be waged far from your country. Why not kill two birds with one stone?

    Just train the people who would need healthcare and send them to these places to die. Just tell them what, er... oh, yes, say that it's for the homeland. Sing an anthem, make them happy and send them.

    Wait, how does this not look original to me?

    PS: It's not the oil, mmkay? This is called an "excuse". It's about circling some countries you want to surround (and that's what some of the others want to do to you, too). You know, that worked so well the first time with the Crusades. Why not repeat the same blunder, I mean, the same heroic mission?

    If you didn't get it, this is a sarcastic note.

  62. Moderate is just word playing, same old happened by guestapoo · · Score: 1
    In the book "How We Lost the Vietnam War" of Cao Ky Nguyen, former Prime Minister of S. Vietnam, he vealed how American side is very sensitive with "playing words":

    page 172-173:
    A the Pentagon, Defense Secretary Melvin Laird asked the assembled group, "What shall we call the program?"
    Someone suggested. "De-Americanization."
    "No! for God's sake," I protested. "That would really prove to the world that you have been fighting the war." So since it had always been our war, we settled finally on "Vietnamization."

    Imagine, Pentagon Defense Secretary Ash Carter asked the assembled group, "What shall we call our militants?"
    Someone suggested. "Moderate Terrorists"
    "No! for God's sake," imagined-me protested. "That would really prove the world that you have been support the terrorists." So since it had always been our terrorists, we settled finally on "Moderate Rebels."

  63. Coren22's "APKolypse"... apk by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    "the secretary at MalwareBytes took a look at his source code and said it looked all good to them" - by Coren22 (1625475) on Wednesday November 18, 2015

    My code went thru verification by Mr. Steven Burn of Malwarebytes' hpHosts

    hpHosts Site Admin Mr. Steven Burn quoted:

    "I've been asked to further clarify so for the record yes I've seen the code, and yes, it is safe."

    FROM http://forum.hosts-file.net/vi...

    (On my latest 9.0++ code engine above & from past versions -> http://slashdot.org/comments.p... )

    A competent coder & BEST security researcher I know of FROM THE BEST ANTIMALWARE THERE IS http://www.av-test.org/en/news...

    NOT a secretary!

    I don't give away work to be stolen OR misused like GOOGLE CHROME http://it.slashdot.org/story/1...

    ---

    "won't demonstrate security of his product be exposing the source" - by Coren22 (1625475) on Wednesday November 18, 2015

    Bullshit: 62 reputable sources + /. users say different:

    Safe by 57 antivirus programs in 64-bit model https://www.virustotal.com/en/...

    +

    the 32-bit model https://www.virustotal.com/en/...

    &

    Per VirScan (installer too)-> http://f.virscan.org/APKHostsF...

    MalwareBytes' hpHosts Admin (MalwareBytes employee) hosts & recommends it -> http://hosts-file.net/?s=Downl... & MalwareBytes = BEST antivirus per this VERY recent testing of them all http://www.av-test.org/en/news...

    APK

    P.S.=> Eat your words, scumbag:

    Tell us about AD + DNS too while you're @ it & how you said I said not to run DNS when I use it myself & said to NOT use external to network DNS with AD http://slashdot.org/comments.p...

    OR

    About how my program NEEDS admin privelege to update too (& it doesn't http://slashdot.org/comments.p... )

    LOL... fool - 'eat your words' on ALL those accounts chump!

    ... apk

  64. Coren22's "APKolypse"... apk by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    "the secretary at MalwareBytes took a look at his source code and said it looked all good to them" - by Coren22 (1625475) on Wednesday November 18, 2015

    My code went thru verification by Mr. Steven Burn of Malwarebytes' hpHosts

    hpHosts Site Admin Mr. Steven Burn quoted:

    "I've been asked to further clarify so for the record yes I've seen the code, and yes, it is safe."

    FROM http://forum.hosts-file.net/vi...

    (On my latest 9.0++ code engine above & from past versions -> http://slashdot.org/comments.p... )

    A competent coder & BEST security researcher I know of FROM THE BEST ANTIMALWARE THERE IS http://www.av-test.org/en/news...

    NOT a secretary!

    I don't give away work to be stolen OR misused like GOOGLE CHROME http://it.slashdot.org/story/1...

    ---

    "won't demonstrate security of his product be exposing the source" - by Coren22 (1625475) on Wednesday November 18, 2015

    Bullshit: 62 reputable sources + /. users say different:

    Safe by 57 antivirus programs in 64-bit model https://www.virustotal.com/en/...

    +

    the 32-bit model https://www.virustotal.com/en/...

    &

    Per VirScan (installer too)-> http://f.virscan.org/APKHostsF...

    MalwareBytes' hpHosts Admin (MalwareBytes employee) hosts & recommends it -> http://hosts-file.net/?s=Downl... & MalwareBytes = BEST antivirus per this VERY recent testing of them all http://www.av-test.org/en/news...

    APK

    P.S.=> Eat your words, scumbag:

    Tell us about AD + DNS too while you're @ it & how you said I said not to run DNS when I use it myself & said to NOT use external to network DNS with AD http://slashdot.org/comments.p...

    OR

    About how my program NEEDS admin privelege to update too (& it doesn't http://slashdot.org/comments.p... )

    LOL... fool - 'eat your words' on ALL those accounts chump!

    ... apk

  65. Su-24 not Su-25 by guestapoo · · Score: 1

    You are a bit confused, Su-24 not Su-25.
    Su-24, a bomber, Su-25 is equivalent to A-10 Warthog (not A-2). The later is close air support aircraft.

  66. Russian Su-24 violated airspace for 17s by guestapoo · · Score: 1
  67. Re:Still wondering by cfalcon · · Score: 1

    > If, as the article states, the Russian pilots came down in Syrian territory, then why should we believe they were flying above Turkeye?

    Another poster points out that it's right next to the border, but the bigger piece is that NATO says they were over Turkey, and that Russia has been flying like this for awhile, getting spammed with "gtfo" messages.

    It's still very very bad news, though.

  68. Re: Coren22's "APKolypse"... apk by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Fucking stalker.

  69. Re: Coren22's "APKolypse"... apk by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    He must have a script or something. Every time you post he does too.

  70. Re: Coren22's "APKolypse"... apk by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Fuck you stupid polish idiot. You stupid polish drunk whore mother got fucked by a drunk russian on the Black Sea, and your wife did the same, and that's why you are so bitter with life and have your head stuck up so far up your rectum it actually goes on top again. Shut the hell up and leave. All Slavic people know that the polish are the worst scum and good for nothing.

  71. Re: Coren22's "APKolypse"... apk by Fwipp · · Score: 1

    Nah, APK isn't that competent.

  72. Re: Coren22's "APKolypse"... apk by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    He's magic compared to you dolts.

  73. Proud to be polish - why? Look... apk by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    We ROCK @ programming -> https://community.topcoder.com... for such a tiny nation especially!

    * :)

    (... now, go "eat your words", trolling weasel...)

    APK

    P.S.=> You wish you were me... apk

    1. Re:Proud to be polish - why? Look... apk by Coren22 · · Score: 1

      I doubt anyone wishes they were you. No one wants to have untreated psychological issues and make an absolute fool of themselves with everything they post online.

      Who would be proud of being number 7, with such hell holes as Russia, China, Ukraine and Belarus above them? How is that rating done anyways, if the US is #5 in coders?

      --
      APK likes to ask for responses to the same things over and over. Maybe he just likes the responses?
  74. Today's hunting expedition brings what? apk by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    "Fucking stalker" - by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday November 24, 2015 @08:56PM (#50998785)

    See subject & that quote: R O T F L M A O - "the CRY of the 'Wild "ne'er-do-well"' as seen in its natural habitat once it runs out of "downmod points", lol... that's when their "howls of pain & anguish" start once their puny effete little 'weapon of last resort' is exhausted by "yours truly" (as only I can mind you) - as you can all see from the quote/recording above when their illogical ad hominem attacks begin, lol!

    * :)

    (You fail - accept it... you will ALWAYS FAIL vs. me!)

    APK

    P.S.=> It's not EASY being "world-class" (like me) - a burden of perfection the likes of which the "likes of you" (lowest of the LOW online in unidentifiable ac trolls, lol) will NEVER have the privelege of knowing (or the skills in computing either)... apk

  75. Re: Coren22's "APKolypse"... apk by Coren22 · · Score: 1

    I don't know who the AC is, but yeah, he does, my guess is he uses this page:
    http://slashdot.org/~Coren22/c...

    But occasionally he misses a comment, so it is possible he is just using Google.

    --
    APK likes to ask for responses to the same things over and over. Maybe he just likes the responses?
  76. Coren22 - I have to thank you... apk by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    For making ME look so GOOD here -> http://slashdot.org/comments.p...

    * :)

    (That would NOT have been possible minus YOUR help!)

    ---

    Lastly - Coren22: You're the one with ADMITTED MENTAL ISSUES, not I ... you're the LAST PERSON who should try to play "SiDeWaLk-ShRiNk of /.", lol... you're not only NOT professionally licensed, degreed, & certified to do the job, but you're also damaged goods mentally (& the only real difference between shrinks & normal folks is basically a certificate that says they're sane).

    APK

    P.S.=> See, I've figured you out (along w/ other trolls like you around here, maybe 10 or so): You guys are really out to make me look good, but it's SO EASY dispatching you all with facts I use vs. your b.s. that THIS VERY THOUGHT occurred to me long ago - since, i.e., a real MCSE or CODER wouldn't have messed up so much vs. me as you have & you're allegedly MCSE... apk

    1. Re:Coren22 - I have to thank you... apk by Coren22 · · Score: 1

      You think it makes you look good when random people are calling you a fucking stalker? Wow, you really have a demented view of good. It might have something to do with your untreated psychological issues.

      (& the only real difference between shrinks & normal folks is basically a certificate that says they're sane).

      You think that is what the certificate says? What kind of moron are you?

      P.S.=> See, I've figured you out (along w/ other trolls like you around here, maybe 10 or so): You guys are really out to make me look good, but it's SO EASY dispatching you all with facts I use vs. your b.s. that THIS VERY THOUGHT occurred to me long ago - since, i.e., a real MCSE or CODER wouldn't have messed up so much vs. me as you have & you're allegedly MCSE... apk

      Yeah...like you have actually made a single point yet. You like to loudly shout how you have won the argument, but you have yet to actually respond in the argument, except to loudly shout your superiority. So, when will you actually make a point that refutes anything I have said?

      --
      APK likes to ask for responses to the same things over and over. Maybe he just likes the responses?
  77. Learn to read: YOU make me look GOOD... apk by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    "secretary at MalwareBytes took a look at his source code & said it looked all good" - by Coren22 (1625475) on Wednesday November 18, 2015

    Mr. Steven Burn of Malwarebytes' hpHosts

    "I've been asked to further clarify so for the record yes I've seen the code, and yes, it is safe." FROM http://forum.hosts-file.net/vi...

    ---

    "I guess we should avoid your crap, it looks like... malware." - by Coren22 (1625475) on Monday November 02, 2015 @03:52PM (#50850445)

    60++ reputable sources say different:

    64-bit model https://www.virustotal.com/en/...

    +

    32-bit model https://www.virustotal.com/en/...

    &

    Installer-> http://f.virscan.org/APKHostsF...

    MalwareBytes' hpHosts Admin (MalwareBytes employee) hosts & recommends it -> http://hosts-file.net/?s=Downl...

    ---

    "MiTM attack opportunity his software provides" - by Coren22 (1625475) on Wednesday November 18, 2015

    Hardcoded favs users provide themselves = REVERSE DNS verified & my ware filters 5,500++ false positives - security site hosts data = false positives filtered.

    ---

    "Apk doesn't think DNS servers are worth running & believes Microsoft Active Directory can run w/out DNS." - by Coren22 (1625475) on Tuesday October 27, 2015

    Where'd I say it? Show us (not illogic logic but where I literally say it). I say AD needs internal DNS far back as 2007

    http://forums.tweaktown.com/wi...

    See "To warn users who have ActiveDirectory/AD LAN-WAN setups to NOT use external DNS servers" there.

    ---

    "why privilege escalation's a bad thing?" - by Coren22 on Tuesday September 22, 2015

    How else can I programmatically update hosts?

    "requires elevation to write hosts" - by Coren22 (1625475) on Wednesday September 23, 2015

    Hypocrite later admits it!

    Only hosts itself updates need it vs. WFP/SFP. Users set it too. It's not programmatic impersonation. Security wares need it.

    APK

    P.S.=> You fail Coren22 - this has been YOUR "APKolypse" (& those are only part of your many fails I can put out)... apk

  78. Coren22's "APKolypse" (refined)... apk by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    "secretary at MalwareBytes took a look at his source code & said it looked all good" - by Coren22 (1625475) on Wednesday November 18, 2015

    Mr. Steven Burn of Malwarebytes' hpHosts

    "I've been asked to further clarify so for the record yes I've seen the code & yes it is safe." FROM http://forum.hosts-file.net/vi...

    ---

    "I guess we should avoid your crap, it looks like malware." - by Coren22 (1625475) on Monday November 02, 2015 @03:52PM (#50850445)

    60++ reputable sources say different:

    64-bit model https://www.virustotal.com/en/...

    +

    32-bit model https://www.virustotal.com/en/...

    &

    Installer-> http://f.virscan.org/APKHostsF...

    MalwareBytes' hpHosts Admin (MalwareBytes employee) hosts & recommends it -> http://hosts-file.net/?s=Downl...

    ---

    "MiTM attack his software provides" - by Coren22 (1625475) on Wednesday November 18, 2015

    Hardcoded favs users provide = REVERSE DNS verified & my ware filters 5,500++ false positives - security site hosts data = false positives filtered.

    ---

    "Apk doesn't think DNS servers are worth running & believes Microsoft Active Directory can run w/out DNS." - by Coren22 (1625475) on Tuesday October 27, 2015

    Where'd I say it? Show us (not illogic logic but where I literally say it). I say AD needs internal DNS far back as 2007

    http://forums.tweaktown.com/wi...

    See "To warn users who have ActiveDirectory/AD LAN-WAN setups to NOT use external DNS servers" there.

    ---

    "why privilege escalation's a bad thing?" - by Coren22 on Tuesday September 22, 2015

    How else can I programmatically update hosts?

    "requires elevation to write hosts" - by Coren22 (1625475) on Wednesday September 23, 2015

    Hypocrite later admits it - hosts itself need it vs. WFP/SFP not my ware. Users set it, not programmatic impersonation. Security wares need it.

    APK

    P.S.=> You fail Coren22 - this has been YOUR "APKolypse" (& those are only part of your many fails I can put out)... apk

  79. Coren22 as far as your "signatures" about me? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    "Against my better judgement, I am going to comment instead of modding you down for trolling in your signature" - by Dog-Cow (21281) on Wednesday November 25, 2015 @04:21AM (#50999997)

    See subject: That's what others like Dog-Cow (an old acc't. here no a new sockpuppet from you & yours) thinks of them.

    * You're a FOOL...

    APK

    P.S.=> A trolling FOOL no less, that already LOST vs. myself bigtime -> http://slashdot.org/comments.p... & nicest part is, you DID IT ALL TO YOURSELF - your 'butthurt' trolling sigs about me project that butthurt of yours, lol...

    ... apk

    1. Re:Coren22 as far as your "signatures" about me? by Coren22 · · Score: 1

      I am a fool, like numerous others. But you will notice, that despite having a signature about you for over a month, I don't have many posts that are downmodded, while you have a 90% downmod rate. You have to wonder who is the one being a trolling fool.

      Some of the signatures I have found about you:

      Only two facts are certain in this world: DNS is better than hosts, and APK has a bad case of OCD.

      APK thinks spamming slashdot is good advertising... Definitely not for his doctor.

      And mine:

      APK: proving he knows nothing about networking, security, and programming, six++ posts at a time.

      --
      APK likes to ask for responses to the same things over and over. Maybe he just likes the responses?
    2. Re:Coren22 as far as your "signatures" about me? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I'd bet that if slashdot showed who downmods apk it's you and your troll friends and your sock puppets Coren22. You can mod yourself up that way and people like apk down easily.

    3. Re:Coren22 as far as your "signatures" about me? by Coren22 · · Score: 1

      I'll take that bet. Feel free to ask Dice to provide the numbers to you. Including your IP addresses, and the IPs of your downmoders.

      You will find something interesting, I never downmod you.

      --
      APK likes to ask for responses to the same things over and over. Maybe he just likes the responses?
    4. Re:Coren22 as far as your "signatures" about me? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Proxy use that you mentioned would be most convenient there for your sock puppets to issue downmods.

    5. Re:Coren22 as far as your "signatures" about me? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Downmoderating apk means nothing. Proving him wrong would. You've never managed it Coren22. He's done it to you and his post proves it quoting you to do it. Anyone can abuse moderation Coren22.

    6. Re:Coren22 as far as your "signatures" about me? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Do you honestly believe anyone even for a moment thinks this isn't you Alex? You never prove your points, and you know it. You can loudly proclaim defeat, and making people eat their words, but you actually have to argue your point to win an argument, you can't just ignore people's points and act like you won over and over again.

      Also, spamming Slashdot is not the way to get your point across, you need to actually try to make your point to do it, not just loudly proclaim your success in making someone eat their words.

  80. Re:^ this guy for president. Which end game reason by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    So, US imperial map-carving.. gerrymandering the world at large to favor their interests.
    The Russians should be just fine with that in their backyard!
    Get ready for the new era of peace!
    *Rumsfeldian cakewalk **armchair psychotic

  81. SU-24 is not a fighter by white_wyrm · · Score: 1

    Reuters is just wrong to call it " shot down a Russian Sukhoi SU-24 fighter". SU-24 is relatively old bomber, not a fighter, and that is why Turkish F-16s could down it relatively easy. I doubt they could do the same with modern Sukhoi fighters, such as SU-35. Wikipedia it, dammit.

  82. Coren22's "APKolypse"... apk by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    "secretary at MalwareBytes took a look at his source code & said it looked all good" - by Coren22 (1625475) on Wednesday November 18, 2015

    Mr. Steven Burn of Malwarebytes

    "I've been asked to further clarify so for the record yes I've seen the code & yes it is safe." FROM http://forum.hosts-file.net/vi...

    ---

    "I guess we should avoid your crap it looks like malware." - by Coren22 (1625475) on Monday November 02, 2015 @03:52PM (#50850445)

    60++ reputable sources say different:

    64-bit model https://www.virustotal.com/en/...

    +

    32-bit model https://www.virustotal.com/en/...

    &

    Installer-> http://f.virscan.org/APKHostsF...

    MalwareBytes' hpHosts Admin (MalwareBytes employee) hosts & recommends it -> http://hosts-file.net/?s=Downl...

    ---

    "MiTM... his software provides" - by Coren22 (1625475) on Wednesday November 18, 2015

    Hardcoded favs users provide = REVERSE DNS verified & my ware filters 5,500++ false positives - security site hosts data = false positives filtered.

    ---

    "privilege escalation's a bad thing" - by Coren22 on Tuesday September 22, 2015

    How else can I programmatically update hosts?

    "requires elevation to write hosts" - by Coren22 (1625475) on Wednesday September 23, 2015

    Hypocrite later admits it - hosts needs it vs. WFP/SFP not my ware. Users set it not programmatic impersonation. Security wares need it.

    ---

    "Apk doesn't think DNS servers are worth running & believes Microsoft Active Directory can run w/out DNS." - by Coren22 (1625475) on Tuesday October 27, 2015

    Show us where I say it? Not illogic logic but where I literally say it. I say AD needs internal DNS far back as 2007

    http://forums.tweaktown.com/wi...

    See "To warn users who have ActiveDirectory/AD LAN-WAN setups to NOT use external DNS servers" there.

    APK

    P.S.=>

    "modding you down for trolling in your signature" - by Dog-Cow (21281) on Wednesday November 25, 2015

    What others like Dog-Cow (old acc't. not a new sockpuppet from you) thinks of your signatures about me

    ... apk

  83. Coren22's "APKolypse"... apk by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    "secretary at MalwareBytes took a look at his source code & said it looked all good" - by Coren22 (1625475) on Wednesday November 18, 2015

    Mr. Steven Burn of Malwarebytes

    "I've been asked to further clarify so for the record yes I've seen the code & yes it is safe." FROM http://forum.hosts-file.net/vi...

    ---

    "I guess we should avoid your crap it looks like malware." - by Coren22 (1625475) on Monday November 02, 2015 @03:52PM (#50850445)

    60++ reputable sources say different:

    64-bit model https://www.virustotal.com/en/...

    +

    32-bit model https://www.virustotal.com/en/...

    &

    Installer-> http://f.virscan.org/APKHostsF...

    MalwareBytes' hpHosts Admin (MalwareBytes employee) hosts & recommends it -> http://hosts-file.net/?s=Downl...

    ---

    "MiTM... his software provides" - by Coren22 (1625475) on Wednesday November 18, 2015

    Hardcoded favs users provide = REVERSE DNS verified & my ware filters 5,500++ false positives - security site hosts data = false positives filtered.

    ---

    "privilege escalation's a bad thing" - by Coren22 on Tuesday September 22, 2015

    How else can I programmatically update hosts?

    "requires elevation to write hosts" - by Coren22 (1625475) on Wednesday September 23, 2015

    Hypocrite later admits it - hosts needs it vs. WFP/SFP not my ware. Users set it not programmatic impersonation. Security wares need it.

    ---

    "Apk doesn't think DNS servers are worth running & believes Microsoft Active Directory can run w/out DNS." - by Coren22 (1625475) on Tuesday October 27, 2015

    Show us where I say it? Not illogic logic but where I literally say it. I say AD needs internal DNS far back as 2007

    http://forums.tweaktown.com/wi...

    See "To warn users who have ActiveDirectory/AD LAN-WAN setups to NOT use external DNS servers" there.

    APK

    P.S.=>

    "modding you down for trolling in your signature" - by Dog-Cow (21281) on Wednesday November 25, 2015

    What others like Dog-Cow (old acc't. not a new sockpuppet from you) thinks of your signatures about me

    ... apk

  84. Re:^ this guy for president. Which end game reason by wienerschnizzel · · Score: 1

    My 5 cents

    Getting rid of IS should be the top priority - they are the most direct threat to the US and their allies out of these groups. Boots on the ground is not a good idea, but the good news is those are probably not necessary - you can undermine IS using good old intelligence, diplomatic and law enforcement methods:

    - shut down their online propaganda machines
    - find and shut down their recruitment
    - destroy their logistical centers
    - disconnect their international support (money, weapons)
    - stamp down on their oil business

    With the above, you can weaken the enough that the other groups would annihilate them. Other than that it's hard to support any other groups in the fight against Assad - this would effectively be a proxy war with Russia and you know how those go...

  85. Re:^ this guy for president. Which end game reason by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    It's ironic to criticize our US policy of interfering and training people that later become radicalized and turn against us, then offer "reasonable approaches" that resemble the same type of behavior being criticized, because someone knows a little more than you do about the major players in the conflict.

    Do you not think that CIA, having a lot more information than your slashdotter-for-president above, may have attempted a solution that sounded just as reasonable in the past as this one sounds now ? "Arm and support this government" / "purge government of X group" / break out region into smaller states - how can you not see this is exactly how we got to where we are today, because of "reasonable" well-intended decisions like this made 20 years or more ago.

  86. Fighter VS Bomber by DarthVain · · Score: 1

    More importantly it was an F-16 FIGHTER (i.e.e equipped for AA) VS a SU-24 BOMBER as that is how it would have been configured, as that was it's mission. It isn't like the Syrian Rebels or ISIS or whomever Russia is against has any air power. Probably hard to win an air battle when not carrying air-to-air armaments, and weighed down by bombs (though he may have unloaded already).

    Putin said as much in his immediate news release which said that from now on bombing missions would have a fighter escort. At that point, I am guessing things might turn out a bit differently.

  87. Post Cold War Realpolitic by unixisc · · Score: 1

    Occupying Eastern Europe was very much Stalin's idea, not Trotsky's. So was his support to Mao Zedong during the Communist Revolution in China, as well as the support to North Korea in the Korean war. After WWII, the Soviets decided that they needed a buffer against the West, and so claimed everything that they had liberated from the Nazis, except maybe Austria, and occupied Eastern Europe and North Korea.

    Communism was thought to be a threat b'cos of the idea that Communist countries would fall in the Soviet sphere of influence, and make more easier their attempts to make governments all over the world Communist, and swearing allegiance to them. It wasn't the fear that you'd have Russian troops in Birmingham or Boston or Fairbanks. It would also have meant things like the abolition of the US constitution and entire government set up, and making the Communist Party of the US the replacement of Congress.

    The complaints about Poland having a missile defense was made b'cos there was no recognition of the changed geopolitical realities since the end of the Cold War. For the 8 years after they collapsed, Russia had pretty much disappeared from the world map as a major influential power, and was pretty busy subduing the Chechen rebels and trying to resurrect their economy. The new enemy was Islam, which the West to this day refuses to recognize, much less acknowledge. There are still NATO troops in Iceland, Germany and Japan. But the threats to the West are more from resurgent Islamic countries - not just Iran, but potentially other Islamic countries as well via Jihad terrorism - countries like Pakistan, Afghanistan, Libya, Turkey, Yemen, Qatar, Saudi Arabia... Even if their governments may be superficially pro-US, their populations definitely ain't, and are very committed to supporting Jihadi campaigns against the West. Some may do it out of religious fervor, and others may do it just out of a good ole Third World envy and hatred of the West.

  88. Coren22's impersonation "APKolypse" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Coren22 IMPERSONATES RESPECTED MEMBERS OF THE SECURITY COMMUNITY http://slashdot.org/comments.p...

    ---

    "privilege escalation's a bad thing" - by Coren22 on Tuesday September 22, 2015

    How else programmatically update it?

    "requires elevation to write hosts" - by Coren22 (1625475) on Wednesday September 23, 2015

    Hypocrite later admits it - hosts do vs. WFP/SFP not my ware. Users set it not programmatic impersonation. Security wares need it.

    ---

    "secretary at MalwareBytes took a look at his source code & said it looked all good" - by Coren22 (1625475) on Wednesday November 18, 2015

    Mr. Steven Burn of Malwarebytes

    "yes I've seen the code & yes it is safe." FROM http://forum.hosts-file.net/vi...

    ---

    "we should avoid your crap it looks like malware." - by Coren22 (1625475) on Monday November 02, 2015 @03:52PM (#50850445)

    60++ reputable sources say different:

    64-bit model https://www.virustotal.com/en/...

    +

    32-bit model https://www.virustotal.com/en/...

    &

    Installer-> http://f.virscan.org/APKHostsF...

    MalwareBytes' hpHosts Admin (MalwareBytes employee) hosts & recommends it -> http://hosts-file.net/?s=Downl...

    ---

    "MiTM... his software provides" - by Coren22 (1625475) on Wednesday November 18, 2015

    Hardcoded favs users provide = REVERSE DNS verified & my ware filters 5,500++ false positives - security site hosts data = false positives filtered.

    ---

    "Apk doesn't think DNS servers are worth running & believes Microsoft Active Directory can run w/out DNS." - by Coren22 (1625475) on Tuesday October 27, 2015

    Show us where I say it? Not illogic logic but where I say it. I say AD needs internal DNS far back as 2007

    http://forums.tweaktown.com/wi...

    See "To warn users who have ActiveDirectory/AD LAN-WAN setups to NOT use external DNS servers" there.

    APK

    P.S.=>

    "modding you down for trolling in your signature" - by Dog-Cow (21281) on Wednesday November 25, 2015

    Dog-Cow's (old acc't. no new sockpuppet from you) thoughts of your signatures about me

    ... apk

  89. Coren22's impersonation "APKolypse" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Coren22 IMPERSONATES RESPECTED MEMBERS OF THE SECURITY COMMUNITY http://slashdot.org/comments.p...

    ---

    "privilege escalation's a bad thing" - by Coren22 on Tuesday September 22, 2015

    How else programmatically update it?

    "requires elevation to write hosts" - by Coren22 (1625475) on Wednesday September 23, 2015

    Hypocrite later admits it - hosts do vs. WFP/SFP not my ware. Users set it not programmatic impersonation. Security wares need it.

    ---

    "secretary at MalwareBytes took a look at his source code & said it looked all good" - by Coren22 (1625475) on Wednesday November 18, 2015

    Mr. Steven Burn of Malwarebytes

    "yes I've seen the code & yes it is safe." FROM http://forum.hosts-file.net/vi...

    ---

    "we should avoid your crap it looks like malware." - by Coren22 (1625475) on Monday November 02, 2015 @03:52PM (#50850445)

    60++ reputable sources say different:

    64-bit model https://www.virustotal.com/en/...

    +

    32-bit model https://www.virustotal.com/en/...

    &

    Installer-> http://f.virscan.org/APKHostsF...

    MalwareBytes' hpHosts Admin (MalwareBytes employee) hosts & recommends it -> http://hosts-file.net/?s=Downl...

    ---

    "MiTM... his software provides" - by Coren22 (1625475) on Wednesday November 18, 2015

    Hardcoded favs users provide = REVERSE DNS verified & my ware filters 5,500++ false positives - security site hosts data = false positives filtered.

    ---

    "Apk doesn't think DNS servers are worth running & believes Microsoft Active Directory can run w/out DNS." - by Coren22 (1625475) on Tuesday October 27, 2015

    Show us where I say it? Not illogic logic but where I say it. I say AD needs internal DNS far back as 2007

    http://forums.tweaktown.com/wi...

    See "To warn users who have ActiveDirectory/AD LAN-WAN setups to NOT use external DNS servers" there.

    APK

    P.S.=>

    "modding you down for trolling in your signature" - by Dog-Cow (21281) on Wednesday November 25, 2015

    Dog-Cow's (old acc't. no new sockpuppet from you) thoughts of your signatures about me

    ... apk

  90. Coren22's impersonation "APKolypse" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Coren22 IMPERSONATES RESPECTED MEMBERS OF THE SECURITY COMMUNITY http://slashdot.org/comments.p...

    ---

    "privilege escalation's a bad thing" - by Coren22 on Tuesday September 22, 2015

    How else programmatically update it?

    "requires elevation to write hosts" - by Coren22 (1625475) on Wednesday September 23, 2015

    Hypocrite later admits it - hosts do vs. WFP/SFP not my ware. Users set it not programmatic impersonation. Security wares need it.

    ---

    "secretary at MalwareBytes took a look at his source code & said it looked all good" - by Coren22 (1625475) on Wednesday November 18, 2015

    Mr. Steven Burn of Malwarebytes

    "yes I've seen the code & yes it is safe." FROM http://forum.hosts-file.net/vi...

    ---

    "we should avoid your crap it looks like malware." - by Coren22 (1625475) on Monday November 02, 2015 @03:52PM (#50850445)

    60++ reputable sources say different:

    64-bit model https://www.virustotal.com/en/...

    +

    32-bit model https://www.virustotal.com/en/...

    &

    Installer-> http://f.virscan.org/APKHostsF...

    MalwareBytes' hpHosts Admin (MalwareBytes employee) hosts & recommends it -> http://hosts-file.net/?s=Downl...

    ---

    "MiTM... his software provides" - by Coren22 (1625475) on Wednesday November 18, 2015

    Hardcoded favs users provide = REVERSE DNS verified & my ware filters 5,500++ false positives - security site hosts data = false positives filtered.

    ---

    "Apk doesn't think DNS servers are worth running & believes Microsoft Active Directory can run w/out DNS." - by Coren22 (1625475) on Tuesday October 27, 2015

    Show us where I say it? Not illogic logic but where I say it. I say AD needs internal DNS far back as 2007

    http://forums.tweaktown.com/wi...

    See "To warn users who have ActiveDirectory/AD LAN-WAN setups to NOT use external DNS servers" there.

    APK

    P.S.=>

    "modding you down for trolling in your signature" - by Dog-Cow (21281) on Wednesday November 25, 2015

    Dog-Cow's (old acc't. no new sockpuppet from you) thoughts of your signatures about me

    ... apk

  91. Coren22's impersonation "APKolypse" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Coren22 IMPERSONATES RESPECTED MEMBERS OF THE SECURITY COMMUNITY http://slashdot.org/comments.p...

    ---

    "privilege escalation's a bad thing" - by Coren22 on Tuesday September 22, 2015

    How else programmatically update it?

    "requires elevation to write hosts" - by Coren22 (1625475) on Wednesday September 23, 2015

    Hypocrite later admits it - hosts do vs. WFP/SFP not my ware. Users set it not programmatic impersonation. Security wares need it.

    ---

    "secretary at MalwareBytes took a look at his source code & said it looked all good" - by Coren22 (1625475) on Wednesday November 18, 2015

    Mr. Steven Burn of Malwarebytes

    "yes I've seen the code & yes it is safe." FROM http://forum.hosts-file.net/vi...

    ---

    "we should avoid your crap it looks like malware." - by Coren22 (1625475) on Monday November 02, 2015 @03:52PM (#50850445)

    60++ reputable sources say different:

    64-bit model https://www.virustotal.com/en/...

    +

    32-bit model https://www.virustotal.com/en/...

    &

    Installer-> http://f.virscan.org/APKHostsF...

    MalwareBytes' hpHosts Admin (MalwareBytes employee) hosts & recommends it -> http://hosts-file.net/?s=Downl...

    ---

    "MiTM... his software provides" - by Coren22 (1625475) on Wednesday November 18, 2015

    Hardcoded favs users provide = REVERSE DNS verified & my ware filters 5,500++ false positives - security site hosts data = false positives filtered.

    ---

    "Apk doesn't think DNS servers are worth running & believes Microsoft Active Directory can run w/out DNS." - by Coren22 (1625475) on Tuesday October 27, 2015

    Show us where I say it? Not illogic logic but where I say it. I say AD needs internal DNS far back as 2007

    http://forums.tweaktown.com/wi...

    See "To warn users who have ActiveDirectory/AD LAN-WAN setups to NOT use external DNS servers" there.

    APK

    P.S.=>

    "modding you down for trolling in your signature" - by Dog-Cow (21281) on Wednesday November 25, 2015

    Dog-Cow's (old acc't. no new sockpuppet from you) thoughts of your signatures about me

    ... apk

  92. Coren22's impersonation "APKolypse" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Coren22 IMPERSONATES RESPECTED MEMBERS OF THE SECURITY COMMUNITY http://slashdot.org/comments.p...

    ---

    "privilege escalation's a bad thing" - by Coren22 on Tuesday September 22, 2015

    How else programmatically update it?

    "requires elevation to write hosts" - by Coren22 (1625475) on Wednesday September 23, 2015

    Hypocrite later admits it - hosts do vs. WFP/SFP not my ware. Users set it not programmatic impersonation. Security wares need it.

    ---

    "secretary at MalwareBytes took a look at his source code & said it looked all good" - by Coren22 (1625475) on Wednesday November 18, 2015

    Mr. Steven Burn of Malwarebytes

    "yes I've seen the code & yes it is safe." FROM http://forum.hosts-file.net/vi...

    ---

    "we should avoid your crap it looks like malware." - by Coren22 (1625475) on Monday November 02, 2015 @03:52PM (#50850445)

    60++ reputable sources say different:

    64-bit model https://www.virustotal.com/en/...

    +

    32-bit model https://www.virustotal.com/en/...

    &

    Installer-> http://f.virscan.org/APKHostsF...

    MalwareBytes' hpHosts Admin (MalwareBytes employee) hosts & recommends it -> http://hosts-file.net/?s=Downl...

    ---

    "MiTM... his software provides" - by Coren22 (1625475) on Wednesday November 18, 2015

    Hardcoded favs users provide = REVERSE DNS verified & my ware filters 5,500++ false positives - security site hosts data = false positives filtered.

    ---

    "Apk doesn't think DNS servers are worth running & believes Microsoft Active Directory can run w/out DNS." - by Coren22 (1625475) on Tuesday October 27, 2015

    Show us where I say it? Not illogic logic but where I say it. I say AD needs internal DNS far back as 2007

    http://forums.tweaktown.com/wi...

    See "To warn users who have ActiveDirectory/AD LAN-WAN setups to NOT use external DNS servers" there.

    APK

    P.S.=>

    "modding you down for trolling in your signature" - by Dog-Cow (21281) on Wednesday November 25, 2015

    Dog-Cow's (old acc't. no new sockpuppet from you) thoughts of your signatures about me

    ... apk

  93. Nobody wants to be YOU impersonator by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Coren22 IMPERSONATES RESPECTED MEMBERS OF THE SECURITY COMMUNITY http://slashdot.org/comments.p...

    ---

    "privilege escalation's a bad thing" - by Coren22 on Tuesday September 22, 2015

    How else programmatically update it?

    "requires elevation to write hosts" - by Coren22 (1625475) on Wednesday September 23, 2015

    Hypocrite later admits it - hosts do vs. WFP/SFP not my ware. Users set it not programmatic impersonation. Security wares need it.

    ---

    "secretary at MalwareBytes took a look at his source code & said it looked all good" - by Coren22 (1625475) on Wednesday November 18, 2015

    Mr. Steven Burn of Malwarebytes

    "yes I've seen the code & yes it is safe." FROM http://forum.hosts-file.net/vi...

    ---

    "we should avoid your crap it looks like malware." - by Coren22 (1625475) on Monday November 02, 2015 @03:52PM (#50850445)

    60++ reputable sources say different:

    64-bit model https://www.virustotal.com/en/...

    +

    32-bit model https://www.virustotal.com/en/...

    &

    Installer-> http://f.virscan.org/APKHostsF...

    MalwareBytes' hpHosts Admin (MalwareBytes employee) hosts & recommends it -> http://hosts-file.net/?s=Downl...

    ---

    "MiTM... his software provides" - by Coren22 (1625475) on Wednesday November 18, 2015

    Hardcoded favs users provide = REVERSE DNS verified & my ware filters 5,500++ false positives - security site hosts data = false positives filtered.

    ---

    "Apk doesn't think DNS servers are worth running & believes Microsoft Active Directory can run w/out DNS." - by Coren22 (1625475) on Tuesday October 27, 2015

    Show us where I say it? Not illogic logic but where I say it. I say AD needs internal DNS far back as 2007

    http://forums.tweaktown.com/wi...

    See "To warn users who have ActiveDirectory/AD LAN-WAN setups to NOT use external DNS servers" there.

    APK

    P.S.=>

    "modding you down for trolling in your signature" - by Dog-Cow (21281) on Wednesday November 25, 2015

    Dog-Cow's (old acc't. no new sockpuppet from you) thoughts of your signatures about me

    ... apk