with the shooting down by NATO member Turkey of a Russian jet and the apparent death of one pilot and the apparent capture of the other, things are getting even more complicated. Turkey, being a NATO member, has done little to help us. They would not allow us to use their territory for the invasion of Iraq back in 2003. They tacitly support ISIS-they are enemies of the Kurds who are our allies in fighting ISIS. Turkish soccer fans jeered France during a moment of silence last week in the aftermath of the Paris attacks. Some ally.
Meanwhile, we have Russia-who with the bombing of their civilian airliner, was primed to be an ally in fighting ISIS. Of course, Russia has an ulterior motive in helping Assad's regime in Syria (a regime the Turks despise). Undoubtedly, the Russians did violate Turkish airspace. the Russians make a habit of testing boundaries as they have recently exhibited in buzzing our aircraft carriers with fighter jets, sending subs into our ally's ports, and sending strategic bombers just off our west coast.
The Russians will do something against Turkey. And if they attack Turkey, an attack on one NATO member is an attack on all. So there's the possibility of an escalation. But as much as I think Putin is a jagoff, I think I trust him more than the Turks. It is not in his interests to go to war with Turkey and thereby be at war with NATO and the US. But he can't let this slide-even though his jets were probably in Turkish airspace.
I'm not sure who said it, but some general I think once said "never get involved in a land war in Asia". Tiome an again-from the French in Vietnam, us in Vietnam, Russia in afghanistan, us in Afghanistan and Iraq, that seems like good advice. What a mess W and his neocons created. Democracy spreading across the ME? Laughable. Who knows where this will end. But it won't be democracy spreading in that hellhole of a region.
Meanwhile, we have Russia-who with the bombing of their civilian airliner, was primed to be an ally in fighting ISIS. Of course, Russia has an ulterior motive in helping Assad's regime in Syria (a regime the Turks despise). Undoubtedly, the Russians did violate Turkish airspace. the Russians make a habit of testing boundaries as they have recently exhibited in buzzing our aircraft carriers with fighter jets, sending subs into our ally's ports, and sending strategic bombers just off our west coast.
The Russians will do something against Turkey. And if they attack Turkey, an attack on one NATO member is an attack on all. So there's the possibility of an escalation. But as much as I think Putin is a jagoff, I think I trust him more than the Turks. It is not in his interests to go to war with Turkey and thereby be at war with NATO and the US. But he can't let this slide-even though his jets were probably in Turkish airspace.
I'm not sure who said it, but some general I think once said "never get involved in a land war in Asia". Tiome an again-from the French in Vietnam, us in Vietnam, Russia in afghanistan, us in Afghanistan and Iraq, that seems like good advice. What a mess W and his neocons created. Democracy spreading across the ME? Laughable. Who knows where this will end. But it won't be democracy spreading in that hellhole of a region.
