Concerning our involvement with terrorism. Now, this is quite a stretch; but everyone here knows, we are very capable of this ( and infinitely infinitely more ). There have been moments in history where the only choice was to pull out all stops. Anyone remember this film?---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Stanley:
War? Who are we at war with?
Gabriel:
Anyone who impinges on America’s freedom. Terrorist states, Stanley. Someone must bring their war to them. They bomb a church, we bomb 10. They hijack a plane, we take out an airport. They execute American tourist, we tactically nuke an entire city. Our job is to make terrorism so horrific that it becomes unthinkable to attack Americans. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- There is only so much blood than can flow, until options are exhausted, and only one option is left. It has happened before. Trying to clean the slate an inch at a time, or just wiping the slate clean in one move. Nagasaki - Hiroshima.
So about the same time we get involved with a war with Iran and Russia ? The only way this BS will end is when we are at WAR !!! Everyone knows we can NOT b e in close proximity to Russian fighters without a major war and the Iranians have been itching to start a war with the USA , If Obama had balls we would have destroyed their navy when they disrespected our sailors .Later (the chin) Kerry handed over BILLIONS !!!
I am expecting that Erdoğan is planning to create a home for Kurds in whatever part of Syria he can control. And then he will deport Kurds in Turkey to that region.
I’m not an expert in those affairs and write mostly from the gut but the reasons I have this opinion are
Erdoğan wants an ethnically( or maybe I mean culturally) “pure” Turkey.
Kurds are scattered throughout Turkey and are a threat to this “purity”.
Proud Turks look down on Kurds and see them as having an inferior culture or none at all.
Kurds have resorted to violence to call attention to what they feel as oppression.
But even with all the past killing and hate, Turks are a tolerant people. They want a solution that preserves Turkish culture without oppressing the Kurds.
Erdoğan knows that he cannot be seen as the perpetrator of another genocide… especially of people with Islamic faith if he is to be a big Kahuna of Islam… even within Turkey. The stain of an Armenian (and Greek) genocide of a hundred years ago still plagues Turkey within its borders and in the international arena.
Erdoğan has such an ego that he imagines himself to be remembered as a new Soloman throughout Islam… and beyond.
Opportunity and motive.
Maybe this is more “hope” than knowledge on my part. Yeah… but there is some knowledge mixed in too.
They have been F-35 partners for awhile. They are also partners in other systems that will help Turkey build a better indigenous capability. Turks need help to do this.
Do you agree, if we are at war, we should pull out all the stops? Or do we gain ground by slowly trickling lives in to the equation? Sometimes it’s necessary to make the world hold it’s breath. When TR was notified an American was being held hostage by some Arab, he sent in the Marines. He was TRAP SHOOTING on the White House lawn, when one of his advisers told him, it could lead to war. His reply, well, then we’ll be at war. PULL.
But… I’ve read about Israel training Kurdish pilots. So maybe the Kurds will have something of an Air Force someday. Until then, the F-35 won’t be much use in fighting Kurds (IMHO. Yeah …yeah… yeah… F-35 has CAS capability… my ass) Rotorcraft… on the other hand…would be a more serious threat. I know that the Turks had some joint program with Sikorsky. So they are gonna get some serious helicopter technology.
Erdoğan runs a country in a very strategic position… culturally, geographically, politically, militarily. He knows how to take advantage of his position too. I don’t consider him “evil” though as some do. But he is famous for this line…
"Democracy is like a train; When you reach your destination, you get off.”
Still, I dont see him wiping out the Kurds. Deportation yes. Mass murder no.
Both. But they already have sufficient ground attack capability (against the Kurds) with all the AGM missiles and JDAM, etc that their F-16 block 30/40/50 aircraft can carry. They are built in Turkey under license to US companies.
So the F-35 adds very little that they don’t already have to their capability against the Kurds.
Turkey ordered F-35A, which will excel at air superiority… at a distance, at least. I suspect that is primarily how they intend to use them, but will keep some crews and aircraft dedicated to other missions.
The ignorance in this post is so bad it should be painful.
US and Russian forces have been operating in close proximity to one another without a major war breaking out since the beginning of the cold war. The entire purpose of moving over a 100,000 US combat troops to Europe as part of NATO was to counter the Russian threat directly.
Many times throughout the cold war era we sat on one side of the line looking through Bino’s at them looking back at us through binos as both sides could carry out war games along the border.
Throughout that era US and Russian Naval fleets operated and continue to operate within close proximity of one another as well.
US and Russian fighters were frequently scrambled to run intercepts against each other and each other’s bombers. The same happened several times during Obama’s two terms.
Through all of this no major war has broken out between us.
As for Iran we’ve been operating within a few thousand yards of Iranian soil as our ships pass through the Straits of Hormuz moving our carrier groups and other warships in and out of the Persian gulf for at least five decades without a “major war” breaking out.
It is only our constant presence in the region that has kept Iran constrained at all and their biggest expansion occurred during the Obama Administration because Obama telegraphed to them constantly that he had no stomach for a fight and would not confront them directly barring a direct attack on US forces.
It is our presence more than anything else that creates and maintains stability of any kind in that region and it is we withdraw or otherwise show weakness that the tyrants and terrorists go on the march.
I’m more concerned they’ll use them on US and/or Israel starting a real shit storm.
They are by far the least reliable ally we have in the region and the Kurds the most reliable.
I have to say though that if we are ever to get in a serious scrap over there with the Saudis, Kurds, and Israelis on our side I’d say we’re in pretty good shape.
I seriously doubt there will ever be another aircraft as ideal in the CAS and Ground attack mode as the A-10 unless it’s an upgraded A-10 or a tilt wing hybrid modeled after the A-10.
It’s a flying tank that can loiter over a battle zone for a ridiculously long time and when called appear out of nowhere in minutes putting exactly what you need on target with pinpoint accuracy every time.
They meant as much, if not more to us on the ground as the P-51 meant to the soldiers on the ground in Europe, or the A-26 meant to the grunts on the ground in the Pacific during WWII.
I’ll give you this Ish it’s a damned interesting theory and one I hadn’t considered.
I do hope you’re right for many reasons not the least of which is the allies have promised them their own nation every time we’ve asked for their help since and including WWI.
Kurdistan actually existed as a nation state for a thousand years before it was absorbed by the Ottomans.
The World’s ■■■■ were given a homeland where they originated after WWII and the Kurds have done far more as a people to aid the Allies for the last hundred years than they have in very real terms as a people rather than individuals.
I agree it will be another Vietnam , we will be very limited on what we could do and waste years and thousands of American lives , only to spend BILLIONS of taxpayer dollars rebuilding their waste land . Why do you think we are referred to as the " ugly americans " ? At some point Countries need to get along or learn to fight and protect themselves !!!
Are you reading CNN AGAIN ? How f-ing stupid do you sound with that nonsense . Wars have started over the littlest of things . So you believe Russian , Iranian and American troops can fire weapons in close proximity to each other without bad things happening because you were involved in several conflicts in the past ? Or are you just flapping your lips to hear the wind blow by ?
My father was a seasoned jungle fighter; and he was dead against our involvement in Vietnam. Not because we were there; but because of the way it was handled. He told me, it could have been laid to rest in a few months. He quoted Monty Python, and called Vietnam, the 100 yard dash for people with no sense of direction.
