Middle East: A Layperson's View of Turkey's Bombing ISIL and Kurdish Targets

Just when I think things can't get worse in the Middle East, it does.

Now Turkey, which had/has been allowing safe passage to ISIL and did nothing while the Battle of Kobani went on, does a turnaround and is bombing ISIL targets and Kurdish targets in Northern Iraq.

I'm fairly certain that the US made some deal with Turkey to be able to use their bases but that the US did not count on Turkey bombing the Kurds who have been the "boots on the ground" to fight ISIL.

If you ask me what I think, I would say the US should not trust Erdogan. I remember how he promised to help when the situation in Kobani was critical but did nothing. In fact, Turkey blocked the entry point between Turkey and Kobani, trapping people in Kobani. Erdogan also forced Joe Biden to apologize when Biden had said the truth that Turkey was being used as the entry point of ISIL jihadists to Syria.

While this complicated dance goes on, people are dying, people are displaced, and peace remains elusive.


Read on
Turkey Launches Heaviest Air Strikes Yet on Kurdish Group
Turkey Escalates Airstrikes on Turkish Targets in Northern Iraq
How Turkey's Fight Against Isis Advances Its War Against the Kurds
Erdogan Takes Turkey to War to Avenge Kurdish Gains: Opposition
Turkish Journalist Sacked Over Critical Erdogan Tweet on Suruc Bombing
Turkey Blocks Kurdish Websites as Twitter and Facebook Slows Down

Photo courtesy of The Guardian

Tags: Turkey, Syria, Iraq, Middle East, Erdogan, Kurds, PKK, #turkey, #kurds, #middleeast

This is all for now,
Cecilia

Cebu Politics Philippines: Cebu's Cuenco Family in 1932

Cuenco Family, photo taken 1932 when Mariano Jesus Cuenco was Governor of  Cebu
My mother, Concepcion, is standing far left

My cousin, Manny Gonzalez, found a cache of Cuenco family pictures including this family picture of Mariano Jesus and Filomena Cuenco.  Manny's and my mother are in the picture. His mother Teresita is the youngest one, standing between Filomena and Mariano Jesus. Mine (Concepcion) is standing, far left.

The other members of the family are: seated left, Consuelo, seated right, Carmen; standing beside my mother is Manuel, and to his left is Lourdes.  The photo was taken in Cebu City in 1932. At the time, my grandfather was Governor of Cebu; my mother had been Cebu's Petit Carnival Queen in 1931, a coveted title.

What people don't know is the story of vindication behind the glow of success.

Philippines: Cuenco Family of Cebu and Lopez Family of Naic, Cavite

Percival Cruz sent me a picture that includes my grandfather, Mariano Jesus Cuenco. Mariano is the gentleman in the middle of the page, behind women in black. This photo was taken at the funeral of Mariano's maternal aunt, Concepcion Lopez.

THOUGHTS ON DOCUMENTARY ABOUT TIBET, The Sun Behind the Clouds

I saw the documentary The Sun Behind the Clouds (directed by Sarin and Sonam) about Tibet's fight for independence from China and the tension between the Dalai Lama's Middle Road policy and the younger generation's desire for total independence. The documentary is very moving and makes the point that China is a Big Bully. If I'm not mistaken 2 Tibetan monks burned themselves in March and August of this year as a political protest.


For some time now, I check all labels of food, clothing, etc. and if I can help it, I don't buy if made in China. In fact, a friend told me recently that she found apple juice that at first glance indicated it came from Canada, but the fine print indicated it actually came from China; she did not buy it.


Further, the Chinese people better wake up; LA Times featured an article yesterday about how organic food in China is sold exclusively to high Communist Party leaders. Do you recall how China has provided tainted milk, poisonous cat food, and lead-laden toys to the world?

Politics VS Good Manners, Maryknoll College Graduates bickering over politics again!

What happened to the old etiquette rule about not discussing politics and religion with friends? It seems my college classmates, who graduated from the exclusive convent school of Maryknoll College, Quezon City, where the nuns did their best to teach us not only academics but proper bearing, have forgotten this simple rule.

It's happened again. My classmates at Maryknoll College are bickering once again over US politics. The first time this happened was last year, during the heart of election season when someone posted an email about Obama being a Muslim and therefore dangerous and evil. The email quarreling started, Republicans versus Democrats. It got quite ugly with name-calling and insults hurled into cyberspace. The email fighting went on for weeks, and lifelong friendships hung on the balance (a cliche, forgive me).

Now, another one of those who was involved in that ugly fracas "innocently" sent an email to 67 of her email addresses something about a Tea Party/Tax Revolt (anti-Obama). Well, here, let me post those emails, without names. I will continue to air this quarrel on this blog until the person who started this political row has the commonsense to delete me from her email list:
~~~~~
Email #1: FW Tea Party/Tax Revolt
I will be attending so if anyone wants to join me, let me know.

Here is the info on the Tea Party/Tax Revolt. Please make plans to attend. It is time to stand up and be heard. We must stop letting the lazy, worthless low life's dictate how us hard working tax paying CITIZENS will live and spend OUR money.

Please try to round up some more sane people and make this a gargantuan event.
Go to the web site below for more details.
God bless you patriots, now lets kick some ass!!!
~~~
Email #2:
I'm sorry you all (whom I love and cherish.) But this is a croc of _____. Obama's plan is to fund health care - mostly for the working poor, to refurbish education for our youth - our collective future and to develop alternative fuel - for our global future. Why didn't you all throw a tea party when "W" racked up the biggest deficit in our history and spent our taxes on wars that haven't made us any safer?
~~~~
Email #3:
This is now beyond partisanship or politics. Decisions being made today involve amounts of money many of us never heard of even in the recent past. A trillion has 12 zeroes!!! What this administration wants to spend is now getting closer to 4 trillion, and compounded with interests, experts say will run up to 10 trillion before it's paid - who knows when, and at what real cost in human sacrifices (ours, mind you, not the ones who signed these bills). They're supposed to be stimulating the economy which is hanging on a string. The urgency here and the approval from tax payers rest on that assumption alone - stimulate the economy so people can go back to work!!!

Other good causes (to be sure) such as education, health care, etc. should go through the usual debates and discussions for their allocations to make sure every penny is spent wisely (these are our pennies!) not bamboozled down our throats as if schools and hospitals will close overnight if billions of $'s were not approved for them today - pronto!! What a cheap liberal tactic to ride on the miseries of honest, hard working people who are losing their jobs by the thousands on a daily basis. He (Obama), it seems to me, at least by his rhetoric, expects and wants all these people to be permanently out of job, on welfare and dependent on the government for health care and food stamps as long as they live!

For all the controversies behind the war in Iraq, the fact remains that there were no further successful attacks on US soil after 9/11 in the last 8 years (do you realize how scary it would have been if a similar attack got through again?) I think we can all agree that our enemies kept trying every single day to do it again, and again -- until we're ruined because that is their single-minded aim.

We went through difficult times the last 8 years, yes, but our economy and democratic way of life survived. The houseing market got out of hand, yes - but those who follow the reasons behind it know that there's enough blame to go around and it cannot be blamed only on the past President - in fact records show that he tried to steer the direction the other way, but opposing parties have so successfully smeared his name and honor, no one listened to him or his party. Indeed, 4-5 years ago, if you predicted what's going on now, you would've gotton rotten tomatoes thrown at you!! Well, we don't need Alqaida attacking us now --- all they need to do is watch us destroy our society morally and economically all by ourselves.

But some of us won't let that happen. We're going to a Tea Party!!!! Pleeese --- be heard and be counted. Political campaigns are OVER. We're talking real problems and real life situations. They're stacking us with debts we do not want, fund projects even they did not read "line by line" (music to everybody's ears when promised by Obama during his campaign) and as icing on this rotten cake, they're going to higher our taxes too! Can we be that stupid???
~~~~~
Email #4:
It looks like I've stirred up some passion again which I didn't mean to. I thought the tea party would be a good way to let our politicians know to quit their reckless spending that will hurt all of us eventually. I did not agree with Bush runaway spending either nor what our California governor is doing to California. Our politicians are spending too much no matter what affiliation you belong to. We are in the trouble we're in because of Bush runaway spending and Obama is following in the same path. We can't spend ourselves out of our problems. That money they are spending has to come somewhere. That is just basic accounting or economics.

Lets keep a healthy discussion. If we don't agree, then lets agree to dissagree. Our friendship is too valuable. Like you, I hope and pray Obama can solve the health care problems of our country. I don't think our schools are broken. They can tighten their belts like everybody else are doing nowadays. We have to make some sacrifices now for the future of our children. No more runaway spending and no more higher taxes! Give us some real stimulus, cut taxes!
~~~
Email #5:
As I’ve requested in the past, I would appreciate it if you would just send emails pertaining to personal news or upcoming social events.

Religion and Politics are two topics that most people would rather not discuss. That said, I hope this will be the last time I’d get emails of this nature.

WHO WON THE PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE?

Second presidential debate done in the Town Hall format, which did not appeal to me. The candidates (McCain and Obama)repeated what they had said in the first debate.

What did I think? Obama did fine; he was calm, presidential, composed, and he answered intelligently. He is an intelligent man, more of an intellectual than a politician, although he has good political instincts or has surrounded himself with people who know about these matters.

McCain looked like an angry old man, just simmering, simmering...he looked like he'd snap at any second. He IS an angry person; he jokes around, grins a lot, tries to be personable but you can feel his seething anger. He answered the questions fine, and repeated what he had said beforehand, and attacked Obama as he had done so in the first debate. Once, the camera caught him walking and apparently communicating with someone in the audience, and McCain was making a face and moved his right hand as if to indicate so-so. Further, McCain rudely referred to Obama as "that one."

The debate wasn't dramatic; in fact I became bored in the middle of the event. I don't know if the format was to blame, but it lacked energy, and the candidates didn't always answer the questions but took the time to attack the other. McCain was really doing this more, although Obama also pointed out McCain's weaknesses. They'd run out of time, and finally Brokaw had to chastise them to limit their talks.

Political analysts had indicated McCain needed to do something dramatic to turn the downward dive of his campaign. He didn't do this; he didn't excel. So, if what the analysts said is true, then the McCain campaign should continue it's descent. And factoring that aspect into the fact that he appeared like an angry old man - McCain lost to the cool, calm (albeit tired) Obama.

However, I am holding my breath because nothing's a given here. Republicans have a lot of tricks up their sleeve including cheating...and there's the race issue. There are people who simply will not vote for a black man even if their ship were sinking, which is happening right now - the US economy is in the worst state since the Great Depression.

But we shall see what happens. As mentioned, the American people will have to choose.

MORE COMMENTS RE BENAZIR BHUTTO ASSASSINATION

I have a few more things to say about the Benazir Bhutto assassination:

1. The incident reminds me of what happened to Ninoy Aquino. Aquino had been in exile in the United States and had been encouraged by the United States to return to the Philippines in 1983. He barely got off the plane when he was shot dead in Manila International Airport's tarmack. The military or police immediately killed his assailant, and the Marcos government had a lot of stories about Ninoy's assassination. Not too long after, the government of Ferdinand Marcos, that had enjoyed quite a lengthy dictatorship, toppled.

2. American foreign policy - I cannot understand how the United States can talk about installing democracy in other countries such as Pakistan, when all it is doing is installing dictators. Haven't we seen the United States prop up dictators like Diem, the Shah of Iran, Ferdinand Marcos - all in the name of democracy? The American people must understand that when the United States props up these dictatorial governments, there is no freedom in those countries. None. Zilch. Nada.

In this sense the United States foreign policy is screwed up. The U.S. is so eager to support "friendly" governments where it has interests, and in so doing creates despots that oppress their people. This is not democracy.

This was what the U.S. has done in Pakistan - after 9/11, it pumped a lot of money into supporting Pervez Musharraf with the understanding that he'd fight the Taliban and Al Qaeda. According to a recent CNN documentary, Musharraf has made deals with the Taliban and Al Qaeda not to attack Pakistan military, which has made certain places in Pakistan nesting grounds of these militant groups.

Musharraf has suspended judges in Pakistan, and reportedly had placed Benazir in house arrest. He definitely did not provide adequate protection to her, and now there is some Pakistani government story that Bhutto had died from banging her head on the lever of her vehicle.

I've seen this kind of obsfucation - muddle the story so as to confuse the people, so that they fail to see what is important.

ASSASSINATION OF BENAZIR BHUTTO

I was shocked to learn that Benazir Bhutto of Pakistan was assassinated. A couple of months ago, shortly after her return to Pakistan, there had already been an assassination attempt. (In fact,there had been numerous assassination attempts on her life, for which she blamed the Al Queda.) Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf had not been happy with Bhutto's return, and the world now turns to look at him regarding this assassination.

Bhutto comes from an ill-starred political family: her father was hanged in jail; one brother poisoned in France, and another shot by the police.

I feel sad at the turmoil going on in Pakistan and in Burma and other places in the world.

I am appalled that despots are able to silence opposition, and seem to get way with it. I want to believe in Justice, and I know that Justice does not know "time" as we humans do, but I get impatient when I see oppression, injustice, abuse of human rights continue, and perpetrators getting away with such deeds.

MYANMAR BLOG FOR CURRENT NEWS

The political situation in Myanmar breaks my heart. Here's a news excerpt dated September 22. There have been more protests and subsequent crackdown of Myanmar's military junta. Recently they have been raiding Buddhist monasteries to prevent the monks from protesting:

"Detained Myanmar democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi stepped out of her home in tears on Saturday to greet Buddhist monks marching past the compound where she is confined by the military junta, witnesses said.

Armed guards usually block the road leading to the rambling lakeside house, but in an unprecedented move, they allowed about 1,000 monks to walk past the home where she was been detained for most of the last 18 years.

Under rainy skies, Suu Kyi walked out with two other women and cried as she paid her respects to the monks as they marched past in the mid-afternoon, the witnesses said.

The monks stopped outside her home for about 15 minutes and chanted a Buddhist prayer: "May we be completely free from all danger, may we be completely free from all grief, may we be completely free from poverty, may we have peace in heart and mind."

The witnesses said she did not appear to speak to the monks, who have been leading a series of protests against the military government since Monday."



For more current news, go to Ko Htike's blog:

http://ko-htike.blogspot.com/