War

The reason why the US is supporting Kurdish autonomy in Iraq.

"Iraq’s Kurds, who have defied the central government by selling oil independently, are working to quadruple the capacity of their export pipeline within months, according to an official with knowledge of the situation.
The Kurdistan Regional Government, or KRG, more than doubled daily capacity to 300,000 barrels on its pipeline to Turkey as of yesterday with installation of a new booster station at Fishkabur, the official said, asking not to be named because of policy. The region is considering a fourth booster to allow delivery of as much as 500,000 barrels a day to the Mediterranean port of Ceyhan within as little as three months, he said. The KRG didn’t answer phone calls to its press office outside working hours today."

It's the petrodollar.

The role of the Saudis and Pakistanis in creating ISIS.

James Foley may have been a spook with a journalist cover.

Response to ISIS fearmongering.

"Dear Friend: I know that you have lots of “evidence” about how ISIS is going to begin beheading people is downtown Phoenix any day now. Good for you. But let me save you a little time. Please just skip to the part that really matters to you: telling me which few remaining freedoms I should immediately surrender and how we need to give the government more money and more power to battle this latest “existential threat.”"

Better yet, just stop.

Cynic wonders if ISIS fearmongering is an attempt to change the subject since the militarization of the police became a mainstream story. Sounds likely.

They may fearmonger, but they reject working with Syria to defeat ISIS.

Not so fast. Obama considers bombing ISIS in Syria. This would be an admission of policy failure.

Critics told Obama so.

"The irony of the moment is tragic. But to some, it doesn't come as much of a surprise. Many cautioned against the earlier insistence of the Obama administration (as well as other governments) that Assad must go, fearing what would take hold in the vacuum.
One of those critics happened to be Russian President Vladimir Putin, who warned against U.S. intervention in Syria in a New York Times op-ed last September. He wrote:

A strike would increase violence and unleash a new wave of terrorism. It could undermine multilateral efforts to resolve the Iranian nuclear problem and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and further destabilize the Middle East and North Africa. It could throw the entire system of international law and order out of balance.

Some of the crises Putin catalogs have worsened anyway, no matter American action or inaction. But Putin's insistence was couched in a reading of the conflict in Syria that's more cold-blooded than the view initially held by some in Washington. "Syria is not witnessing a battle for democracy, but an armed conflict between government and opposition in a multireligious country," Putin wrote, suggesting that the nominally secular Assad regime, despite its misdeeds, was a stabilizing force preferable to what could possibly replace it."

Lots of people said the same. Only US were that stupid.

Ukraine close to default because wars are expensive.

NATO claims Russia is shelling Ukraine.

WWI sparked an epidemic of sex, cocaine and binge drinking by civilians. Fear of imminent death can do that.