What Do You MENA (Middle East, North Africa and other nearby Political Hotspots) 2019

Meanwhile in Iraq and Syria:

Five months after American-backed forces ousted the Islamic State from its last shard of territory in Syria, the terrorist group is gathering new strength, conducting guerrilla attacks across Iraq and Syria, retooling its financial networks and targeting new recruits at an allied-run tent camp, American and Iraqi military and intelligence officers said.

Though President Trump hailed a total defeat of the Islamic State this year, defense officials in the region see things differently, acknowledging that what remains of the terrorist group is here to stay...

....the terrorist group has still mobilized as many as 18,000 remaining fighters in Iraq and Syria. These sleeper cells and strike teams have carried out sniper attacks, ambushes, kidnappings and assassinations against security forces and community leaders...

... ISIS uses extortion to finance clandestine operations: Farmers in northern Iraq who refuse to pay have had their crops burned to the ground.

Over the past several months, ISIS has made inroads into a sprawling tent camp in northeast Syria, and there is no ready plan to deal with the 70,000 people there, including thousands of family members of ISIS fighters. American intelligence officials say the Al Hol camp, managed by Syrian Kurdish allies with little aid or security, is evolving into a hotbed of ISIS ideology and a huge breeding ground for future terrorists. The American-backed Syrian Kurdish force also holds more than 10,000 ISIS fighters, including 2,000 foreigners, in separate makeshift prisons....Defense officials in the region say the Islamic State is now entrenched in mostly rural territory, fighting in small elements of roughly a dozen fighters and taking advantage of the porous border between Iraq and Syria, along with the informal border between Iraqi Kurdistan and the rest of the country, where security forces are spread thin and responsibilities for public safety are sometimes disputed....

A particularly brutal episode of the kind not seen since the Islamic State was in control of territory in northern Iraq occurred in early August when armed men claiming ISIS allegiance held a public beheading of a policeman in a rural village south of the city of Samarra in Salahuddin Province, about two hours north of Baghdad.

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/19/us/politics/isis-iraq-syria.html

x-post-- I mean war helped create , along with all the subsequent peace-related stuff establishing rule of law again, helping the economy etc.

Eh, it took a while in Korea ;) Like, forty years or so.

Nobody really condemns the invasion of Afghanistan, because sheltering Osama bin Laden while he planned 9/11 was a really really really bad idea, but the way that war just got... ignored... until it just became the usual stalemate / quagmire, is one of those just stupid things the US has done. No, war is bad for bringing democracy, but imagine all the money wasted on the Iraq war had been spent on a Marshall plan for Afghanistan.

It didn't get ignored. Hundreds of billions spent, and thousands of lives (incl 43 Danes) lost. Tens of billions on development, perhaps more per capita than any other spot on the planet (incl during the Marshall Plan), though overwhelmingly spent on Western contractors rather than indigenous engineers/labor.

The problem seems to be that the 1) cultural issues of the "graveyard of empires" will take many decades to resolve; 2) from 2001, the US and NATO backed warlords and some of the most corrupt in Afghan society; 3) progress won't happen so long as Pakistan's ISI has more interest leveraging fundamentalism to play geopolitical games than supporting peace; and 4) Western democracies now lack the ideological conviction that made the endless sacrifices of colonialism possible (for better or worse).

Neither military force or money would be sufficient for these problems. Cultivating non-corrupt indigenous pro-development strongmen, getting Pakistan and other regional powers to sign on, and committing to the project for 40+ years (and accepting a constant dribble of losses) were prerequisites. Western democracies just haven't been very good at "nation building" since the early 20th century, and Afghanistan lacked the sort of political center of gravity that nationalist strongmen like Chiang Ching-kuo (Taiwan), Park Chung-hee (S Korea), or Lee Kuan Yew (Singapore) provided.

Western democracies just haven't been very good at "nation building" since the early 20th century

This 'since' in this sentence might turn it into the wrongest historical statement of all time

My wife has been working in Afghanistan specifically to empower the women over there - made some good friends - so I’m really hoping we don’t walk away without some path forward for them

Lots of newly independent nations in the 50s and 60s only could become "nations" thanks to transport/communications infrastructure and governmental frameworks left by colonial powers. Not saying colonialism was moral or justified, just that the colonial inheritance made states larger than small provinces governable. The historical anomaly becomes just how ineffectual externally driven state building exercises have been in the post-colonial era.

the colonial inheritance made states larger than small provinces governable.

If, by "governable" you indicate only that a central government can largely extend its effective monopoly of force within its own borders, then I agree. But almost every sizeable ex-colonial "nation" has no organically developed national identity and has many large groups of "citizens" who are disaffected, disenfranchised and held down though brutal military and police power. Such "governance" is really not much different from or better than the Taliban.

it feels like you're overlooking the way the national boundaries were deliberately structured to cross/disrupt tribal boundaries and enhance existing divisions. kind of made the whole exercise a moot point.

granted, that was more pronounced in Africa, but this is the MENA thread

https://edition.cnn.com/2019/09/03/middleeast/yemen-war-crimes-un-panel-intl/index.html

UN panel says UK, France, US & Iran may be complicit in war crimes in Yemen

every sizeable ex-colonial "nation" has no organically developed national identity and has many large groups of "citizens" who are disaffected, disenfranchised and held down

Pretty much the experience of Western Europe, for 2 to 6 centuries prior to national unification. We shouldn't be surprised if humans in the developing world behave much like humans in developing Europe. Nations require a lot of suppression of competing feudal and tribal interests.

XP sleeve: Personally, I wouldn't have managed independence as the Europeans did. I would have defined the smallest feasible voting districts with respect to natural geographic borders, called for elections to transition governments, and then partition based on the electoral results, so each ethnic/religious/political minority that had any local majorities would have its own state. The Balkan model. There would be a natural Fulani nation stretching from Mali to Sudan. The Pakistan/India border would be a mess, but so were the demographics.

This is totally relevant to the current situation in MENA, particularly in Iraq, Syria and Palestine. The post-colonial nations don't reflect underlying demographics, and they've suffered as a result.

Above, I'm just saying the success of post-colonial states in independence has had a lot to do with how well colonial nations provided infrastructure and transfered models of governance. I don't think its a coincidence that some of the modern nations with the poorest outcomes had the misfortune of being ruled by competing European powers in succession, or by fascist Italy.

Pretty much the experience of Western Europe, for 2 to 6 centuries prior to national unification.

True up to a point, but in Europe national entities evolved and amalgamated purely based upon local European interests, through shifting alliances, local conquests, assimilation and integration, or violent rejection and expulsion. It was an organic, self-generating process. Europe did this to itself.

The ex-colonial nations had their present borders imposed purely by external western interests and those western interests still exert pressure upon them to maintain those borders and to conform their policies to western needs and desires. Thus, we are heavily implicated in the brutality and violent repressions exercised there.

This is extraordinary even by the US’ standards:

Having failed at piracy, the US resorts to outright blackmail—deliver us Iran’s oil and receive several million dollars or be sanctioned yourself.

Sounds very similar to the Oval Office invitation I received a few weeks back.

It is becoming a pattern.#BTeamGangsters pic.twitter.com/B1oQTLghWZ

— Javad Zarif (@JZarif) September 4, 2019

Having failed in the attempt to get the EU to apply sanctions they’re not party to wrt Iranian oil tankers, captains are apparently being offered bribes to pilot ships into jurisdictions that will.

^ Those tactics would only be justified between nations actively at war. Basically, they are acts of war.

70% of Iranian oil goes to China, Japan, India, S.Korea, and Turkey. I wonder which nation(s) on the Hormuz/S. China route are so beholden to US/Saudi Arabia they'd play along. Maybe Indonesia?

Worth keeping an eye on Abqaiq, largest oil processing plant in the world, responsible for 6.8 Mbpd of production, and attacked in 2008 by Al Qaeda.

Multiple fires (now under control), reports of gunfire. If I wanted to undermine the Saudi state (from within or without), this facility would be my target.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZP3OTW9K-y0

Houthi drone use is interesting. Low tech having decent enough results.

Worrying prospects obviously in many respects, while SA deserve everything sent at them imo

BBC

The Houthi spokesman, Yahya Sarea, told al-Masirah TV, which is owned by the Houthi movement and is based in Beirut, that further attacks could be expected in the future.

He said Saturday's attack was one of the biggest operations the Houthi forces had undertaken inside Saudi Arabia and was carried out in "co-operation with the honourable people inside the kingdom".

Houthi collaborating with the Sh'ia of Qatif. Driving cargo trucks with Qasef-1 (or better) drones to within 150 km (and probably a lot less) of Abqaiq.

Saudi Arabia is going to finish demolishing Al-Awamiyah with artillery. And if you thought it was a police state before...

I'll be keeping my tanks topped off.

Who didn't think Saudi Arabia was a police state?

He is not implying that anyone didn't think that.

No streetview on Buqaiq/Abqaiq, but the video appears to come from the rooftop of the Hardee's on the west side of King Abdulaziz Rd from the compound. It's remarkable looking at satelite maps how easy it would be to target the critical elements like the ones around 25°55'54.8 N 49°40'43.3 E.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-afghanistan-attack-drones/u-s-drone-strike-kills-30-pine-nut-farm-workers-in-afghanistan-idUSKBN1W40NW?

business as usual

Erdogan has vowed to create a buffer zone inside Syria by pushing back Kurdish militants and settling Syrian refugees in the country’s north. Turkey suspects that the U.S. is backing Kurdish aspirations for self-rule in Syria and is prepared to use military force to prevent what it perceives as an attempt to redraw the region’s map.

Erdogan has vowed to create a buffer zone inside Syria by pushing back Kurdish militants and settling Syrian refugees in the country’s north. Turkey suspects that the U.S. is backing Kurdish aspirations for self-rule in Syria and is prepared to use military force to prevent what it perceives as an attempt to redraw the region’s map.

Erdogan has vowed to create a buffer zone inside Syria by pushing back Kurdish militants and settling Syrian refugees in the country’s north. Turkey suspects that the U.S. is backing Kurdish aspirations for self-rule in Syria and is prepared to use military force to prevent what it perceives as an attempt to redraw the region’s map.

oops

The old Kurdish proverb comes to mind again: 'No friends but the mountains'. This time it's Trump's turn to fuck up the Kurds once again. Never mind they did the dirty work in defeating IS. This is giving nothing less than giving complete carte blanche to one of the worst dictators around, Erdogan, to kill thousands of Kurds. Appalling.

:(

I don't know what to say, it's just tragic.

Tragic but predictable.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trump_Towers_Istanbul

This must play a factor sadly

disgusting

nothing to worry about folks bigly brain is on it

As I have stated strongly before, and just to reiterate, if Turkey does anything that I, in my great and unmatched wisdom, consider to be off limits, I will totally destroy and obliterate the Economy of Turkey (I’ve done before!). They must, with Europe and others, watch over...

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 7, 2019

man FUUUUUUCK this guy

Yeah, that. Already dreaded the fucking monstrous Trump tweets popping up (not blaming you Carne tbh). It's a license to kill people and family and friends of mine and of people I know. Sick to the stomach.

When you lose heaven’s mandated...

Pat Robertson is "appalled" by Trump's decision to withdraw U.S. troops from northern Syria: "The President of the United States is in great danger of losing the mandate of Heaven if he permits this to happen." pic.twitter.com/YGeNYpbGrF

— Right Wing Watch (@RightWingWatch) October 7, 2019

these absolute fucking hobgoblins

It is hard to imagine the kind of will and toughness that keeps the Kurds intact in the face of so many enemies and so many betrayals. Or the kind of psychological damage it does to maintain that will and toughness.

I recognize that this is one of the few areas where there's a positive to troop prescence but this is surely something that should happen under the UN not the US (illegal anyway, not that that means anything)

I know, the UN is dead and long buried.

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/10/07/just-hours-after-trump-bends-erdogan-reports-indicate-turkeys-bombing-kurdish-forces

Turkish troops launch offensive into northern Syria

surprised this is the only place where discussion is taking place, although, like many people, i'm not sure what to say.

has Assad given any sort of statement?

i don't think assad is too bothered about developments and it seems like erdogan has talked to putin about his plans etc. turkey allies with syrian national army opposition elements, which obviously isn't that chill for assad, but will also possibly push ypg into allying with the regime (they've nowhere else to turn).

Turkey is NATO, which obviously isn't that chill for putin. assad's spokesperson said Syria will defend its territorial integrity and demands the withdrawal of all foreign troops, which seems like a SOP kind of response for any nation.

erdogan and putin have a pretty good relationship and for a NATO country turkey is the most favorably oriented towards russia (even buying weapons from them).

https://www.cnn.com/2019/10/09/politics/syria-turkey-invasion-intl-hnk/index.html

An SDF commander has confirmed to me that the Ain Issa camp has fallen and all the detainees (a population of thousands that includes ISIS supporters, ISIS relatives and civilians) have fled. “An unbelievable mess,” the commander said. Latest message: pic.twitter.com/yDehTSKkux

— Rukmini Callimachi (@rcallimachi) October 13, 2019

Assad appears to have struck a deal to send Syrian Army troops to support the YPG/SDF against the FSA / Turkish-backed factions, with Russia providing air cover.