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Kurdish forces seize most of Islamic State-controlled border town: monitor
Source: Reuters
AMMAN (Reuters) - The Syrian Kurdish YPG militia, aided by U.S.-led air strikes, have seized most of the town of Tel Abyad, pushing Islamic State fighters who had controlled the town back towards their de facto capital in Raqqa, a monitoring group said on Monday.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which tracks violence across the country, said a handful of Islamic State militants and their Arab tribal allies remained in a few pockets inside the strategic town on the Turkish border.
Read more: https://en-maktoob.news.yahoo.com/kurdish-forces-seize-most-islamic-state-controlled-border-190401801.html
18 replies
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= new reply since forum marked as read
leaving all that fresh, modern US-made weaponry behind! 
but like most of these ancient areas they have always had agendas that I doubt many in the West will ever grasp.
http://www.ibtimes.com/why-turkey-nato-704333
IMO, which is not professional by any means, Turkey has been long romancing restoring the Caliphate when they were very influential:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ottoman_Caliphate
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/wp/2015/03/19/the-caliph-is-coming-get-ready-pro-erdogan-turkish-politician-tweets/
Just like some in Russia want the Empire restored:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_Empire
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-30518054
This is by no means a new thing in many countries, and with great wealth and the rewards of organized societies, empires will be created, and powerful entities will push for them. So will their citizens to ensure their own position in their society.
Many Westerners came to believe that the modern nation states formed out of WW2 were going to prove themselves so valuable no one would want to return to the past. FDR was in favor of 'self-determination' to bring about world peace:
http://www.fdrlibrary.marist.edu/aboutfdr/atlanticcharter.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atlantic_Charter
But he died before he could achieve that change in thinking or the Four Freedoms which are a bulwark against demagogues:
In the future days, which we seek to make secure, we look forward to a world founded upon four essential human freedoms.
The first is freedom of speech and expression -- everywhere in the world.
The second is freedom of every person to worship God in his own way -- everywhere in the world.
The third is freedom from want -- which, translated into world terms, means economic understandings which will secure to every nation a healthy peacetime life for its inhabitants -- everywhere in the world.
The fourth is freedom from fear -- which, translated into world terms, means a world-wide reduction of armaments to such a point and in such a thorough fashion that no nation will be in a position to commit an act of physical aggression against any neighbor-- anywhere in the world.
http://edsitement.neh.gov/lesson-plan/fdrs-four-freedoms-speech-freedom-fireside
We haven;t failed totally, but still have much work to do and we're talking about a part of the world that waged generational warfare of the type we can only imagine, for many centuries. They know their history and are related more by blood and religion than we understand, having been founded as a secular nation.
We thought and still do, that the wisdom of our vision spoke for itself and was undeniable. But some was been built on bad alliances we perhaps should not have made; but it was thought they had to be made to survive.
We'll see.
One of the objections of some surrounding and rejecting the Kurds is their secularist bent. This endears them to me. I wish I could help. I saw this today:
Kurdish fighters cut key supply line to Islamic State capital Raqqa
15 June 2015
“There is nowhere Daesh can escape to,” he said, using the Arabic acronym for Isis...
The advance is a blow to the jihadist group, which is battling to hold onto Tal Abyad and preserve its main supply line between Raqqa and the Turkish border.
Kurdish fighters and Syrian rebels began their main advance on Tal Abyad on 11 June, backed by air strikes from the US-led coalition.
The clashes have prompted thousands of civilians to flee, with some 16,000 crossing into Turkey since last week, despite sporadic border closures...
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jun/16/kurdish-fighters-cut-key-supply-line-to-islamic-state-capital-raqqa
Raqqa is hugely symbolic to the Daesh as they consider it to be the place of the Apocalpyse, in which they will slaughter all their enemies and then their saviour will return to rule Earth, IIRC from a Salon article.
It is also 50 miles north of Tal Abyad which is where their incoming fighters and weapons enter the area and from which they ship out black market oil. And Tal Abyad is 49 miles east of Kobani. All of these places have great strategic importance.
http://www.ibtimes.com/why-turkey-nato-704333
IMO, which is not professional by any means, Turkey has been long romancing restoring the Caliphate when they were very influential:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ottoman_Caliphate
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/wp/2015/03/19/the-caliph-is-coming-get-ready-pro-erdogan-turkish-politician-tweets/
Just like some in Russia want the Empire restored:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_Empire
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-30518054
This is by no means a new thing in many countries, and with great wealth and the rewards of organized societies, empires will be created, and powerful entities will push for them. So will their citizens to ensure their own position in their society.
Many Westerners came to believe that the modern nation states formed out of WW2 were going to prove themselves so valuable no one would want to return to the past. FDR was in favor of 'self-determination' to bring about world peace:
http://www.fdrlibrary.marist.edu/aboutfdr/atlanticcharter.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atlantic_Charter
But he died before he could achieve that change in thinking or the Four Freedoms which are a bulwark against demagogues:
In the future days, which we seek to make secure, we look forward to a world founded upon four essential human freedoms.
The first is freedom of speech and expression -- everywhere in the world.
The second is freedom of every person to worship God in his own way -- everywhere in the world.
The third is freedom from want -- which, translated into world terms, means economic understandings which will secure to every nation a healthy peacetime life for its inhabitants -- everywhere in the world.
The fourth is freedom from fear -- which, translated into world terms, means a world-wide reduction of armaments to such a point and in such a thorough fashion that no nation will be in a position to commit an act of physical aggression against any neighbor-- anywhere in the world.
http://edsitement.neh.gov/lesson-plan/fdrs-four-freedoms-speech-freedom-fireside
We haven;t failed totally, but still have much work to do and we're talking about a part of the world that waged generational warfare of the type we can only imagine, for many centuries. They know their history and are related more by blood and religion than we understand, having been founded as a secular nation.
We thought and still do, that the wisdom of our vision spoke for itself and was undeniable. But some was been built on bad alliances we perhaps should not have made; but it was thought they had to be made to survive.
We'll see.
One of the objections of some surrounding and rejecting the Kurds is their secularist bent. This endears them to me. I wish I could help. I saw this today:
Kurdish fighters cut key supply line to Islamic State capital Raqqa
15 June 2015
“There is nowhere Daesh can escape to,” he said, using the Arabic acronym for Isis...
The advance is a blow to the jihadist group, which is battling to hold onto Tal Abyad and preserve its main supply line between Raqqa and the Turkish border.
Kurdish fighters and Syrian rebels began their main advance on Tal Abyad on 11 June, backed by air strikes from the US-led coalition.
The clashes have prompted thousands of civilians to flee, with some 16,000 crossing into Turkey since last week, despite sporadic border closures...
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jun/16/kurdish-fighters-cut-key-supply-line-to-islamic-state-capital-raqqa
Raqqa is hugely symbolic to the Daesh as they consider it to be the place of the Apocalpyse, in which they will slaughter all their enemies and then their saviour will return to rule Earth, IIRC from a Salon article.
It is also 50 miles north of Tal Abyad which is where their incoming fighters and weapons enter the area and from which they ship out black market oil. And Tal Abyad is 49 miles east of Kobani. All of these places have great strategic importance.
