Monday, August 29, 2016

The Washington Post Continues to Ignore the Escalating Conflict in Turkey



The top story in today's online Washington Post? An article enlightening WaPo's readers concerning Turkey's armored ground incursion into Syria and the battles currently being waged between the Turkish army and Syria's Kurds, with whom, by the way, the US has been working to fight ISIS? An article mentioning Kurdish civilian casualties at the hands of the Turks? Not a chance. Rather, in a lead article entitled "A ramshackle village at the center of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict," William Booth writes:

"SUSIYA, West Bank — For a quick reality check on the current stalemate in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, there’s no better place to visit than this little village of miserable huts and sheep pens in the middle of nowhere.

The hamlet in the hills south of Hebron has become an improbable proxy in a cold war waged among Jewish settlers, the Israeli government, Western diplomats, peace activists and the 340 or so Arab herders who once inhabited caves on the site and now live in squalid tents.

. . . .

A final order to bulldoze the hamlet was delayed in mid-August when Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office asked the courts to stay a ruling on the dispute for two months — until after the U.S. presidential election — according to lawyers involved in the case on both sides.

The Obama administration this month warned Israel that it finds the proposed eviction 'very troubling.'"

Fascinating. The Washington Post is more concerned with a legal battle involving Susiya than a deadly escalation of the conflict in Syria involving many civilian deaths.

Why am I not surprised?

2 comments:

  1. HRC never mentions Syria; WaPo obliges.

    If Biden can throw Syrian Kurds under the bus, it is possible Gulen will be "disappeared" from the Poconos...

    Far more interesting is the idea of Egypt offering asylum to Gulen:
    http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2016/08/egypt-asylum-gulen-turkey-sisi.html

    "...Egyptian parliamentarian Imad Mahrous recently presented a draft statement to his government proposing political asylum for Gulen.
    ...
    “Erdogan is supporting terrorist gangs across the world and seeking to undermine Egypt’s national stability by harboring the terrorist Muslim Brotherhood in Turkey, and [by] financing a number of Brotherhood channels that have sprouted up over Turkish territory with the official backing of Erdogan and other Arab states,” Mahrous said.

    He added that the idea of hosting Gulen will be accepted “not only among the official circles of the Egyptian government, but at the popular level as well, along with wide swaths of Egyptian society that believe him to be a modern man of faith who repudiates religious extremism and believes in the importance of dialogue and tolerance.”
    ..."

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  2. Despite WaPo's indifference*, some notice the Turkey in a tempest...

    http://www.the-american-interest.com/2016/08/30/turks-arabs-and-kurds-gird-for-a-fight/

    "...A nasty mess appears to be in the offing. Our genius Syria policy has taken another step down the road paved with the President’s good intentions: our allies are girding to fight one another, even as Russia, Iran and Assad laugh themselves silly."

    * perhaps WaPo's interest in Susiya is part of the planned October surprise, when the USA hands over control of the Internet to the United Nations on October 1, whilst forcing Israel to negotiate a "final solution" before the municipal elections in Judea and Samaria.

    Or, perhaps the October surprise will be HRC's announcement of Anthony Weiner to be her next ambassador to the United Nations, where he can get help from the UN to better manage his Twitter account.

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