Stupid is

[Suff]

as stupid does.

I saw this yesterday and didn't add it into my comments on the whole Syria affair because I thought it would get lost in the noise.

When are the Turks going to realise that the world has changed in the ME again and not for the better. They are still banging on about their own stupid internal internecine strife and ignoring the war going on right on their doorstep.

IS is absolutely not stupid and not unaware of the political balance on their doorstep. This act of horrific barbarism has the fingerprints of IS all over it. What happens when they murder Kurdish peace protestors?

1. The Kurds try to express their grief and mourning
2. The Turkish police attack them

It's right out of Pavlov's Dogs. Those maniacs in IS must be doing backflips with delight.

So I was thinking. What would serve the Russians best? Perhaps a Kurdistan reunited. Turkey booted out of NATO for "crimes against humanity" during the civil war. An oil and gas pipeline which goes through Iraq, Kurdistan, Syria and over that short stretch of water to the Greek islands and onwards to the rest of the EU....

Wheels within wheels within wheels. Who's screwing whom is a game that I'm sure all the spy agencies will be playing right now.

The only thing which is guaranteed is that the "Islamic faith" response to all of this is going to be out of step with reality, misguided and, basically, denying reality.

Ho hum, another day another bit of idiocy.

Life really isn't a box of chocolates because, in this case, it's all too easy to know what's coming next....

[Workingman]

I said the other day that a united Kurdistan would please Putin.

It would weaken Turkey and essentially lead to the break-up of Iraq. Rump Iraq would then become a Shia state forming a band of such states from the Med to the sub-continent - Syria, rIraq and Iran.

The attacks in Ankara could have been carried out by anyone. The hand of IS is one obvious suspect, but they could have been the work of Turkish Nationalists. However, what was equally as sickening as the explosions were the actions of the Turkish police and security forces. Hemming some in to stop them fleeing the scene whilst keeping others out who wanted to aid the sick and dying was barbaric.

Seeing those things happen turned my stomach and they appear to have united many Turks and Kurds against the President and the government.

[Suff]

I know WM, I included your bit about united Kurdistan. I've been thinking that way for a while too now. Mulling it over.

Interestingly I have an apartment 2 doors up from a Turkish Kurdish school here in Brussels. I'm contemplating making a move if I can get something which is as good or better to move to... I'm not paranoid enough to think it's a target, just yet, but I'm wary enough to keep my options open.