canflam

I think there's a chance that with enough backlash he'll change his mind, but the damage seems to have already been done.

sunnykerr

I'm just waiting for the death toll to come in. Right now, they're talking about hundreds of thousands fleeing (adding to the already record number of refugees worldwide), which is terrible enough.

It's bad enough that these people can't go home again, not the home they knew anyway. But whatever Trump decides to do with his troops next, dead people can't be brought back period.

canflam

Here's Trump's odd letter to Tayip Erdogan if anyone hasn't seen it. It's not I think suppose to be funny, but it's Trump after all.


His Excellency
Recep Tayyip Erdogan
President of the Republic of Turkey
Ankara

Dear Mr. President:

Let's work out a good deal! You don't want to be responsible for slaughtering thousands of people, and I don't want to be responsible for destroying the Turkish economy — and I will. I've already given you a little sample with respect to Pastor Brunson.

I have worked hard to solve some of your problems. Don't let the world down. You can make a great deal. General Mazloum is willing to negotiate with you, and he is willing to make concessions that they would never have made in the past. I am confidentially enclosing a copy of his letter to me, just received.

History will look upon you favorably if you get this done the right and humane way. It will look upon you forever as the devil if good things don't happen. Don't be a tough guy. Don't be a fool!

I will call you later.

Sincerely,





This is 1 of the strangest things that I've ever read. ''Let's work out a good deal'' is the first sentence in his letter to a foreign leader. I mean that's funny. I wish this wasn't such a serious topic, but this our government at work apparently. This guy is too much. Here's a link to the original document https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/...er-turkey.html

sunnykerr

Yup. Hundreds of thousands of U.S. allies being run out of their homes and/or slaughtered because your president doesn't have the intellectual wherewithal to handle the complexities of a lemonade stand.

canflam

I finally watched last week's episode of ''Face The Nation'' yesterday & a Kurdish commander named ''Khalil'' was being interviewed & here's a quote of his that I found notable regarding Trump & the U.S.: ''We fought beside his soldiers for many years. We were brothers in arms. He promised he'd protect us, he has done nothing.''

I find that quote interesting, because it shows still how much unaware people are about Trump & what he as shown to stand for & that how the Kurds didn't know what they were getting with Trump when he became U.S. President. The Mitt Romney quote about Trump that included words ''His promises are as worthless as a degree from Trump University'' I think should be shown to every world leader. Because then they could potentially do their homework on Trump University & know more about who they are dealing with as U.S. Commander in Chief.

Anyway, Mick Mulvaney has not yet resigned after his blunder last week. Do you think that he should do so?

sunnykerr

You think it's the Kurds who should have realized the United States can't be trusted? That's interesting. The last 70 years of global politics have all been about the U.S. positioning themselves as the good guys. Even under the worse of Reagan's administration, the argument was still that y'all had the moral high ground.

I guess it should be refreshing that the pretence is over. But I can't help but still feel terrible for the Kurds who trusted your government.

'America is running away': Syrian withdrawal turns chaotic

I guess the next step will be Trump "ruining" Turkey's economy, as he promsed to do, since Erdogan didn't even hesitate to begin the invasion, huh?

canflam

Yes. More disturbing news involving Turkish soldiers in Syria. The War crimes have been posted online. Now I think that YouTube has been taking them down. What do you think about that? Should people be allowed to see them online or not? I don't need to see them, but I think it helps shed more light to the dier situation there. Here's a link to some more info on that if people are interested: https://www.axios.com/us-envoy-war-c...6ccd192c5.html

sunnykerr

YouTube already has a terrible reputation for censoring/removing arbitrarily LGBTQ+ content, so at least they're censoring real offensive stuff? Like, I don't need to see the last moments of a person's life to understand that an atrocity has happened or what it means. But the removal of LGBTQ+ content is more troubling for me considering the persecution the community faces all over the world.

canflam

OK. This is a local story, but it's just heartbreaking along with maddening about young teens killing an elderly man. 2 of the 3 teens have been arrested & charged with murder as adults. They are only 15. The other 1 is 14. We have a measure in Oregon that allows 15 & older individuals to be charged as adults for specific crimes. The D.A. released more details & here's a link to that story if anyone's interested. I guess I just wonder what goes through youths heads when they decide to this or shoot up schools besides anger & or revenge I'm assuming. https://www.koin.com/news/crime/teen...-due-in-court/

Also, about the wildfires currently going on in California. PG&E That's Pacific Gas & Electric are cutting off power to almost 940,000 customers this weekend. This fire has burned at least 20 homes already & is last I saw only 10% contained & it could very well get worse. Wish everyone the best that's affected by these fires.https://www.washingtonpost.com/natio...-kincade-tick/

sunnykerr

Another day, another mass shooting in the United States: Texas shooting at college party leaves two people dead and 14 injured I know better than to hope for Texas to be rational about school shootings.

Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi: IS leader 'dead after US raid' in Syria So this is what Trump's super duper important Sunday press conference was about. As if it wipes the slate clean for leaving Kurdish allies to be slaughtered. As if Daesh doesn't have another leader waiting in the wings to replace al-Baghdadi. As if this makes his a president that shouldn't be impeached. I think half the world was hoping, at least a bit, that he'd quit. Not that the army killed someone. Like, isn't that what the U.S. army does?

Man arrested in Dublin 'delivered lorry deaths trailer to Zeebrugge' This is what happen when you thighten the reins on immigration. You give human trafficking scumbags more room to operate.

canflam

Yeah. Trump's language about Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi & he how died was was odd & I didn't quite frankly need to hear it. Also him bringing up Osama bin Ladin wasn't necessary I thought. This can happen with an egomanic as president though, such as we do. It's great that Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi is dead. Was he well known by most people do you think? I hadn't heard much of him until less than 24 hours ago. Also, on ''Face The Nation'' last week Will Hurd who is retiring. Yep another Republican congressman doing that this year, anyway he was asked if Erdogan should visit the White House. His response was ''That's a tough question.'' OK, I'd say it's an easy question & the answer is ''no.'' Erdogan doesn't belong nor should he be invited to The White House. This is if I remember correctly the same guy that had bodyguards beat up protestors in 2017 outside The White House.

sunnykerr

Trump describing al-Baghdadi as a vicious and violent man who met a vicious and violent end put you all on the same level as a terrorist, so that's always a weird way to announce the death of someone.

The rest of it was just so much about Obama... it was cringe-worthy. But then, that's Trump, isn't it? An immature git who gets off on petty revenges that are absolutely pointless in the grand scheme of things.

I've heard a couple of times of al-Baghdadi. I don't know whether that he's well known or not, though. I just know he's been reported dead several times before. Not to imply that wasn't killed this time. I'm just saying that's how I've heard of him.

Erdogan's a dictator. An Islamic dictator. So it would be completely inappropriate for him to be invited to the White House at any time. But then this is also the administration that didn't see a problem with inviting the Taliban to Camp David the week of the anniversary of the attacks of September 11, 2001. So who knows?

canflam

Thanks for helping clear that up. I also thought that Trump believed Barrack Obama & Hillary Clinton were the ''founders of ISIS'' as he's claimed before. I didn't think they were, but apparently it's this guy that was. Also, blowing one's self up is not ''dying like a dog'' I'd say. Just based on logic. Here is a link to more details about this & the title of the story is: ''Officials cringe as Trump spills sensitive details of al-Baghdadi raid''

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/o...-raid-n1073001

Trump has stated that he's considering releasing footage of this raid.

sunnykerr

And this is why people who think Trump will find a way to hang onto power (whether he's defeated at the next election or when the two-mandate run ends) get it wrong, I think. Because the troops won't allow that once his legimacy is done.

Also, it seems that sanity prevails in some courts in your land: Alabama abortion law: Judge blocks bill from taking effect Funny how Republicans are all about as little government intervention as possible when it comes to the environment or civil rights, but can't have enough government meddling in women's right to privacy, agency and equality, isn't it?

canflam

Thankfully that ban is in place or going to be. I did also want to mention the following from an N.Y. Times report this week: ''At the Pentagon on Sunday, officials steered clear of any description of al-Baghdadi whimpering or crying. Trump would not have received any real-time dialogue from the scene, the officials said, becasue the last thing American military planners want is to invite critique, second guessing or even new orders from the Situation Room in the middle of an active military raid.'' Here's a link to that story: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/27/w...ideo-raid.html

Also, Trump compared himself to ISIS yesterday, but remember that al-Baghdadi was killed not because of President Trump, but despite him. After all he did turn his back on the Kurds.