Syria Disintegrating: Part 2

[Savonarola]

After his death, his hairpiece will be embalmed, put on public display, and guarded by goose-stepping supermodels. 

Even better.

Also our death camps will be televised brutal contests (you'll endure a week of starvation, at the end of which you'll be forced to march twenty miles.  Whoever does so in the least amount of time wins the immunity challenge.)  At the end of every week The Donald will come out and tell the loser "You're liquidated."

[Tonitrus]

I think this might be our first Stalin/Evils of Communism thread hijack. 

[Monoriu]

I think this might be our first Stalin/Evils of Communism thread hijack. 

Will there be a second? 

[Eddie Teach]

I think this might be our first Stalin/Evils of Communism thread hijack. 

Will there be a second? 

What is Beijing's position on Stalin hijacks?

[Monoriu]

I think this might be our first Stalin/Evils of Communism thread hijack. 

Will there be a second? 

What is Beijing's position on Stalin hijacks?

I have no clue

[dps]

Well, it's a good point that Stalin was as much a product of the system as creator of it, but I don't think anyone who now studies the history of 20th century Communism will arrive at the conclusion that Stalin was "uniquely bad".  What about Mao, Pol Pot, and the North Korean leaders?

Rather, the narrative goes like this: that communist ideologues created a system with enormous appeal to people interested in a fundamental transformation of human society; however, the system had terrible flaws, which in pretty well every case enabled it to get hijacked and corrupted from within, by all-powerful leaders who siezed power and twisted the system from above to suit themselves. Stalin is simply one terrible example of that corruption.

The problem I have with that narrative is that Stalin didn't corrupt the system and twist it into a brutal, murderous, terroristic totalitarian regime.  That's what the system already was when he took power.  Was he more thorough and irrational about implementing the terror than others might have been?  Well, yeah, probably.  Did others go even further?  Yep.  So of course Stalin wasn't unique--but that's the point.  Again, what Stalin did wasn't a perversion of the system, it's what the system was.

[The Brain]

Lenin was mass-murdering scum. Communism is in theory incredibly horrible, in practice it's downright nasty.

[Razgovory]

When I talk about people saying Stalin was "uniquely bad", I'm referring to the history of the Soviet Union.  This was the official history of the Soviet Union after Stalin died.  Also know as the "Good Lenin, Bad Stalin" view of Soviet history.  It was complete bunk, but it was a widely held view by historians in and out of the Soviet Union. 

[Zanza]

[Syt]

[jimmy olsen]

Congresswoman Gabbard's take on the situation

[Valmy]

More of Putin's fans.

[Fate]

I think she has a partial point. If you look at NYTimes et al's Syrian civil war maps they do lump US supported rebels and Al-Nusra front under the label "Rebels" but will separate out ISIS with its own color/legend key. It's very misleading. I don't think many Americans will shed tears over dead Al-Qaeda affiliates.

Ex: http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2015/09/30/world/middleeast/syria-control-map-isis-rebels-airstrikes.html#compare-strikes

[jimmy olsen]

I think the Russians will call their bluff, but I'm really not sure that they're bluffing.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/10/13/us-mideast-crisis-syria-turkey-idUSKCN0S71BF20151013

Turkey warns U.S., Russia against backing Kurdish militia in Syria

ANKARA  |  By Orhan Coskun


Turkey has warned the United States and Russia it will not tolerate Kurdish territorial gains by Kurdish militia close to its frontiers in north-western Syria, two senior officials said.

"This is clear cut for us and there is no joking about it," one official said of the possibility of Syrian Kurdish militia crossing the Euphrates to extend control along Turkish borders from Iraq's Kurdistan region towards the Mediterranean coast.

Turkey fears advances by Kurdish YPG militia, backed by its PYD political wing, on the Syrian side of its 900 km (560-mile) border will fuel separatist ambitions among Kurds in its own southeastern territories. But Washington has supported YPG fighters as an effective force in combating Islamic State.

"The PYD has been getting closer with both the United States and Russia of late. We view the PYD as a terrorist group and we want all countries to consider the consequences of their cooperation," one of the Turkish officials said.

Turkey suspects Russia, which launched air strikes in Syria two weeks ago, has also been lending support to the YPG and PYD.

"With support from Russia, the PYD is trying to capture land between Jarablus and Azaz, going west of the Euphrates. We will never accept this," the official said.

He said Turkey had raised its concerns at high level meetings with the U.S., European Union and Russia.


IRAQI STRIKES

The officials did not say what action, if any, Turkey might take if YPG forces crossed the Euphrates. Ankara has carried out air strikes against Turkish Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) rebels based in the mountains of northern Iraq; but attacks on Kurds in Syria would be far riskier, bringing Ankara into possible conflict both with U.S. and Russian air forces.

The YPG said on Monday it had joined forces with Arab rebels and that their new alliance has been promised fresh weapon supplies by the United States for an assault on Islamic State forces in what is effectively their capital, Raqqa.

Turkey has accused the Kurdish militia of pursuing "demographic change" in northern Syria by forcibly displacing Turkmen and Arab communities. Ankara fears ultimately the creation of an independent Kurdish state occupying contiguous territories currently belonging to Iraq, Syria and Turkey.

Amnesty International on Tuesday accused the YPG, which has seized swathes of northern Syria from Islamic State this year, of committing war crimes by driving out thousands of non-Kurdish civilians and destroying their homes.

The Kurds, who have emerged as the U.S.-led coalition's most capable partner in Syria against Islamic State on the ground, deny such accusations. They say those who left areas they seized did so to escape fighting and are welcome to return.

Over 40,000 people have been killed in a Kurdish insurgency in Turkey since 1984. The collapse of a ceasefire in July has brought a sharp increase in conflict between security forces and Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) fighters.

[jimmy olsen]

Rumours the Cubans might get involved. It's the 1980s all over again! 

http://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-News/2015/10/15/Cuba-may-deploy-troops-in-Syria-to-aid-Russias-efforts/5781444911771/