MESZOPOTAMIA KURDISTAN DAILY INDEPENDENT NEWSSERVICE
Mezopotamian Development Society (Registered) GERMANY – FRANKFURT
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MESOP TODAYS HEADLINE : THERE IS MONEY !
- The World Bank and other international donor groups are proposing billions of dollars in interest-free development loans to countries hosting Syrian refugees to close large shortfalls in humanitarian aid; the idea will be discussed further at a donor conference on February 4.
MESOP : ….. AND THE BEAT GOES ON ! THE LAST DAYS OF EUROPE
Migrant Teen Stabs, Kills Refugee Worker
A 15-year-old asylum-seeker is in custody after fatally stabbing a female refugee worker Monday in Sweden. The 22-year-old Swedish woman, who worked at a home for young migrants where the boy was staying, was alone with the eight male refugees living there at the time of the incident, officials said. The identity of the boy has not been released; a police spokesman said this was not an act of terrorism.
…… not “terrorism” – just only “terror”
MESOP TODAYS RELEVANT TWEETS & SHORT CUTS
Tide turns in #Syria after the fall of #Sheikh_Miskeen http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2016/01/syrian-army-captures-key-southern-town-rebels-160126040829177.html …
Every time #Syria rebels had to fight #SAA without their #AlQaeda affiliated allies, they lost #Sheikh_Miskeen http://bit.ly/1JBRMbw
#BREAKING – Hundreds of Peshmerga have gone on strike south of #Kirkuk over delay in payment of salaries. #KRG
How Turkey may be losing Abu Dhabi as key trade partner: tensions behind closed doors.Insightful read by Ufuk Sanli.http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2016/01/turkey-uae-erdogan-about-to-lose-his-partner-in-gulf.html …
Kurds bomb ISIS Sharia Court, security center in Jarablus near Turkish border – ARA News http://aranews.net/2016/01/kurds-bomb-isis-headquarters-in-jarablus/ … via @twitterapi
Pentagon may recommend moving US forces closer to battlefield for Mosul http://thehill.com/policy/defense/266899-pentagon-may-recommend-moving-us-forces-closer-to-battlefield-for-mosul …
Charles Lister @Charles_Lister 13m13 minutes ago – Tough words frm UK #Syria Envoy @garethbayley pre-#Geneva. Accuses #Russia of “hypocrisy” & “massive destruction”
Amir Tibon @amirtibon 1h1 hour ago – Amir Tibon Retweeted tal lev-ram
“IDF says Iran has recently cut funding for Hezbollah by 10%, group is in a deep financial crisis”
Charles Lister @Charles_Lister 15m15 minutes ago – #Syria’s opposition negotiating team are meeting now, to discuss whether to attend #Geneva talks. Armed groups strongly opposed as of now. Big day for fate of #Syria talks tomorrow. @Mohammed_Aloush has hit back vs US pressure, but decision still to come.
Charles Lister @Charles_Lister 16h16 hours ago – US Envoy to #Syria, Ratney: -Kerry didn’t threaten opposition w. loss of support -We still support TGB & Geneva 2
Ahrar al-Sham (whose status in political track is unclear) refuse foreign influence on opposition negotiating team:
Charles Lister @Charles_Lister 19h19 hours ago – Charles Lister Retweeted Charles Lister
When commentators talk of the need for effective local forces to fight #ISIS, these sub-humans don’t fit the bill: A truly horrific video circulating showing a Shia militiaman disemboweling &/or skinning a Sunni corpse in #Iraq, with 2 other men beheaded.
Assad Has It His Way https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/syria/2016-01-19/assad-has-it-his-way?cid=soc-tw-rdr … via ForeignAffairs
Denise Natali @dnataliDC 3h3 hours ago – Reviving Iran – “The Great Race for the last goldmine on earth has begun”. http://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/iran-is-back-in-business?intcid=mod-latest …
CNN International @cnni 18h18 hours ago – Report: Al Qaeda Syrian affiliate Jabhat al-Nusra “much more dangerous” to U.S. than #ISIS http://cnn.it/1PO08tl
Diffusing Turkey-Iraq tensions r essential 2 defeating Daesh, particularly in Mosul & post – Daesh settlement. http://mobile.todayszaman.com/diplomacy_us-envoy-calls-for-settlement-of-turkey-iraq-dispute_410546.html …
Aymenn J Al-Tamimi@ajaltamimi – My latest: account of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi and Islamic State leadership succession lines http://www.aymennjawad.org/2016/01/an-account-of-abu-bakr-al-baghdadi-islamic-state … #Iraq #Syria
Peshmergas in a Kirkuk frontline protest to get their payments, they raised 250 ID notes #TwitterKurds
MESOP TODAYS COMMENTARY BY COUNCIL ON FOREIGN RELATIONS / Syria’s Agonizing Diplomatic Path
Interviewee: Philip H. Gordon, Senior Fellow – Interviewer: Zachary Laub, Online Writer/Editor – January 22, 2016 – As conflict in Syria approaches its sixth year, major powers on both sides of the conflict have endorsed UN efforts to mediate between the government and opposition. Talks initially slated for January 25 in Geneva are jeopardized by disagreement over who will represent the opposition. But the more fundamental obstacle to negotiating a settlement is dispute over Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s future, says CFR’s Philip H. Gordon. U.S. diplomats are aiming “to find a path between the extremes of immediate regime change and no regime change at all,” says Gordon, who previously handled Syria policy at the National Security Council, but “it is unclear if that circle can be squared.” Read all http://www.mesop.de/?p=70523
MESOP OPINION : Are this week’s Geneva talks on Syria doomed to fail? – By Mustafa al Haj
Al Monitor – 26 Jan 2016 – DAMASCUS, Syria — There is no glimmer of hope for a solution to the Syrian crisis, even with the Geneva III peace talks planned for Jan. 25 between delegations of the regime and the opposition. As if the process weren’t fragile enough, Army of Islam (Jaish al-Islam) political leader Mohammed Alloush was named chief negotiator for the opposition. The Russian and the Syrian governments consider the Army of Islam a terrorist organization. Read all http://www.mesop.de/?p=70525
MESOP TODAYS ANALYSIS : The Islamic State lexical battleground: US foreign policy and the abstraction of threat
Authors – ASAF SINIVER, SCOTT LUCAS – First published: 8 January 2016 – CHATHAM HOUSE – INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS
Abstract – This article suggests that President Obama’s consistent references to the extremist Sunni group as ‘ISIL’ (Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant) is not a trivial matter of nomenclature. Instead, the Obama administration’s deliberate usage of the ISIL acronym (as opposed to other commonly-used terms such as ‘Islamic State of Iraq and Syria’ or ‘ISIS’, ‘Islamic State’, ‘IS’, ‘so-called Islamic State’ and ‘Daesh’) frames the public perception of the threat to avoid engagement with the requirements of strategy and operations. Both the labelling and the approach could be defended as a response to the unique challenge of a transnational group claiming religious and political legitimacy. However, we suggest that the labelling is an evasion of the necessary response, reflecting instead a lack of coherence in strategy and operations—in particular after the Islamic State’s lightning offensive in Iraq and expansion in Syria in mid-2014. This tension between rhetoric, strategy and operations means that ‘ISIL’ does not provide a stable depiction of the Islamic State. While it may draw upon the post-9/11 depiction of ‘terrorism’, the tag leads to dissonance between official and media representations. The administration’s depiction of a considered approach leading to victory has been undermined by the abstraction of ‘ISIL’, which in turn produced strategic ambiguity about the prospect of any political, economic or military challenge to the Islamic State. Read all http://www.mesop.de/?p=70529
WEST KURDISTAN (SYRIA)
MESOP NEWS : Russian FM says it would be ‘unfair’ to hold Syria peace talks without Syrian Kurds
MOSCOW – Hurriyet – 26 Jan 2016 – It is impossible to reach a peace agreement in Syria without inviting Kurds to take part in the negotiating process, as it would be “unfair” and “counter-productive,” Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Jan. 26.It would be “unfair” and “counter-productive” to stop Syrian Kurds from taking part in the peace talks, Lavrov said at his annual news conference, according to Reuters. Read more http://www.mesop.de/?p=70541
MESOP : THE RUSSIAN OBAMA CALCULATED RE-INSTALLATION OF BASHAR AL ASSAD
Rebels in North-Western Syria Buckle under Russian Bombardment
ARON LUND – Carnegie Endowment – JANUARY 25, 2016 – Syria news right now is all about the peace process that is set to start on Friday in Geneva, Switzerland, despite its limited chances of success. But even as they talk, the parties continue to fight and the Russian-Iranian military intervention continues to wear down Syrian rebels. On September 30, the Russian Air Force dropped its first bombs in Syria. The government of Iran joined in by raising an expeditionary corps of Iranian, Iraqi, and Afghan Shia Islamists for the front south of Aleppo.In a recent article for Vice News, the American freelance writer and Syria expert Sam Heller notes a flurry of desperate-sounding calls for outside support from rebels in northwestern Syria. Though most frontlines have held with little or limited change, four months of relentless Russian bombardment and offensives by the Syrian Arab Army and its Shia allies seem to have left the insurgents exhausted. Read all http://www.mesop.de/?p=70543
SOUTH KURDISTAN (IRAQ)
MESOP IRAQ SITUATION REPORT : 20 – 25 January 2016
By Patrick Martin and ISW Iraq Team – Key Take-Away: The U.S. is actively searching for ways to increase its impact on the anti-ISIS fight in Iraq. U.S. Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter called on Coalition members on January 22 to increase the amount of support they provide, and the U.S. indicated plans to intensify its own assistance for anti-ISIS actors in Iraq. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Joseph Dunford stated that the U.S. was exploring the option to embed U.S. advisers with Iraqi units at bases and outposts in northern Iraq for a future operation to recapture Mosul. Operation Inherent Resolve Spokesperson Col. Steve Warren stated that the new advisers would total “hundreds” at most to advise and assist Peshmerga and Iraqi Security Forces in recapturing Mosul. Read all http://www.mesop.de/?p=70519
MESOP : CRIME HERE : CRIME THERE – MORE CRIME EVERYWHERE
Crime on the rise in Iraqi Kurdistan due to financial crisis: SULAIMANI / REFUGEES RESPONSIBLE
Nrttvv – 26 Jan 2016 – SULAIMANI, Kurdistan region ‘Iraq’,— In Sulaimani city in Iraq’s Kurdistan Region, crime and kidnappings are on the rise according to a recent statement by the city’s police spokesperson. In the current environment, including an economic and political crisis, tensions are high and the overall situation in Sulaimani is bleak for many citizens. Some residents are stoking ethnic divides by blaming the current crisis on those entering the Kurdistan Region due to displacement from the ongoing conflict, regardless of the connection in these factors. Read all http://www.mesop.de/?p=70532
EAST KURDISTAN (IRAN)
MESOP: RENZI & MOGHERINI & HOLLANDE PRO TEHRAN & PUTIN / THE LAST DAYS OF THE EU
Iran Daily: Tehran and Italy Sign Contracts Worth $18.4 Billion
January 26 – by Scott Lucas – eaworldview – Iran and Italy have signed contracts worth up to $18.4 billion, in Iran’s first major economic agreement since implementation of the July 2015 nuclear deal.President Rouhani and Italian counterpart Sergio Mattarella confirmed the arrangements for sectors including health, transportation, agriculture, and energy in a ceremony in Rome on Monday night.Among the deals is a pipeline contract worth between $4 billion and $5 billion for Italian oil services group Saipem, whose shares rose 18.5% on Monday.Italian steel firm Danieli said it will sign commercial agreements worth up to $6.1 billion, and infrastructure company Condotte d’Acqua is expected to agree contracts worth up to $4.3 billion. Read all http://www.mesop.de/?p=70527
NORTH KURDISTAN (TURKEY)
Turkey against PYD, not Syrian Kurds: Davutoglu – “WE KNOW THEM & HOST THEM”
26 Jan 2016 – KURDPRESS – Syrian Kurds need to be a part of the peace process to end the civil war, but those treating the PYD group as a legitimate partner “do not live in the reality of the region”, Turkey’s prime minister said Monday. “Without Syrian Kurds, the table cannot be complete. What we are against is YPG”, Ahmet Davutoglu told CNN’s Christiane Amanpour, referring to the armed wing of PYD.”Those who are recognizing them as a legitimate partner, they do not live in the reality of the region,” said Davutoglu. “Nobody can convince us that [PYD] is for peace”. Read all http://www.mesop.de/?p=70534
MESOP INSIGHT : Turkey grants Syrians right to work, but is it too little, too late? / By Author Mehmet Cetingulec
January 25, 2016 – Al Monitor – In mid-January, Turkey finally granted Syrian refugees the right to work legally, five years after the influx from its war-torn southern neighbor began. However, many of the more highly qualified Syrians who fled to Turkey have already made their way to Europe, either as selected migrants or by braving clandestine sea and land journeys.In dealing with the incessant wave of refugees, Ankara had focused on accommodation, and the issue of work permits was not treated as a priority. Similarly, combing out more highly qualified, well-trained Syrians and benefiting from them was not seen as something worthy of quick action. An overwhelming number of working refugees were employed illegally in low-paid, unattractive jobs. Read all http://www.mesop.de/?p=70536
MESOP SPECIAL : The Economics Of ISIS
By Prateek Sharma and Swati Sharma – Prateek Sharma is an Assistant Professor of Finance at the Institute of Management Technology, Ghaziabad. Swati Sharma is a Doctoral Student at the Centre for the Study of Regional Development, Jawaharlal Nehru University.
On August 18, 2015, Khaled Mohamad al-Asaad, a Syrian archaeologist, was publically beheaded by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS). The cruel fate of Assad was not brought upon by conflicting with the religious ideology of ISIS, but because he refused to reveal information about thousands of invaluable artefacts hidden in the ancient city of Palmyra. Read all http://www.mesop.de/?p=70536
THE GERMAN KURDISH CHAPTER
MESOP : DIE LETZTEN TAGE VON EUROPA – Irans Präsident in Italien: Rom verhüllt Statuen für Rohani
Der Staatsgast aus Teheran wurde in Rom besonders vorsichtig empfangen: Bei der Visite von Irans Präsident Hassan Rohani ließen die Behörden mehrere nackte Statuen in den Museen auf dem berühmten Kapitol verhüllen. http://www.spiegel.de/politik/ausland/iran-nacktstatuen-in-rom-wegen-rohani-verhuellt-a-1073959.html
DER TENDENZIELLE FALL ADORNO’S BEI DAVID KIRSCH’S VERSUCH DER “AUSTREIBUNG DER RESTEMPATHIE”
David Kirsch (Wien) facebook: Treffender Beitrag zur Sehnsucht nach dem Ausnahmezustand nach Köln und der “Austreibung der Restempathie”:
„Was „der Mob“, die Verdächtigen und die unterschiedlichen Täter gemein haben sollen, und was sie von den ja ebenfalls am Dom anwesenden Geschädigten unterscheidet, was es also letztlich erlaubt, sie zum Kollektivsubjekt zu machen, ist nach übereinstimmenden Berichten wahlweise ihr „Migrationshintergrund“, ihr „nordafrikanisches“ oder „arabisches“ Aussehen. Nach Silveste…“ (Kirsch)
Treffender kann Empathie wohl nicht ausgetrieben werden als in ihrer Herabwürdigung zur Sehnsucht nach dem erwünschten Ausnahmezustand der eigenen Vergewaltigung. Schon hier wäre mindestens eine Kopfnuss fällig.
Aber Kirsch geht aufs Ganze: der Unterschied zwischen den sexuell Genötigten und den Urhebern der Nötigung besteht darin, daß die einen eine etwas andere Hautfarbe besitzen. Sonst sind sie diesem Emphatiker gleich und in einem Topf, dem dringend an einer Verwischung des klaren Täter-Opfer-Verhältnisses gelegen ist, weil es ihm ideologisch so besser in den Kram passt.
Von daher läßt er sich beweiskräftig von einer wohl adornitisch angehauchten „AG Kritische Theorie“ aus dem Wiener Sumpf zusätzlich beraten, die ihn sogar noch um einiges übertrifft, wenn es um die zwanghafte Relativierung der Ereignisse von Köln geht:
Nach einem ganzen Block von vorausgeschickten umständlich-verquälten Sätzen heißt es hier resümierend:
„Was genau in jener Nacht an der Kölner Domplatte geschah, lässt sich nachträglich kaum rekonstruieren. (…..) Doch schon das Ausmaß der Straftaten lässt sich kaum seriös angeben: Haben bis zum Abend des 2. Januar rund 30 Geschädigte Anzeige erstattet, waren es einige Tage später, nachdem die Zeitungen bereits begonnen hatten, sich mit stets neuen Schreckensmeldungen zu übertrumpfen, schon über 800; je mehr Anzeigen es wurden, darin war sich die Presse weitgehend einig, desto mehr sei „das Ausmaß deutlich“ geworden. (…) denkbar ist aber auch, zumal bei der immer stärker angedrehten öffentlichen Hysterie, dass viele Anzeigen auf Sachverhalten basieren, die unterhalb der Grenzen der Strafbarkeit liegen. „
Es gab gewiß weit schlimmere Ereignisse in der deutschen Geschichte, aber der sprachliche Modus der Verleugnung wird nie verleugnet. Sätze wie aus dem Vokabular des Unmenschen (Sternberger) entsprungen : „nachträglich lässt sich nicht“ – „seriöse Untersuchung“ nie gegeben – Ausmaß übertrieben – Hysterie“.
Was denn bitte wie und durch wen eine seriöse Untersuchung gewesen wäre, erspart uns diese „AG Kritische Theorie“, weil sie es nicht weiß, aber lügen will. Wenn längst empirisch konstatierbar ist, daß tags nach dem Ereignis nur 9 (!) Kölner Beamte zur Anzeigenerfassung delegiert waren, welche die betroffene Frauen deswegen erst einmal wegschickten, und sich die Zahl der Anzeigen erst dann steigerte, als auf erheblichen Protest und 4-tägige Berichtsunterdrückung allein durch den WDR die Beamtenschaft zahlenmässig erweitert werden – das zu wissen und zu sagen gehört für diese Kritischen Kritiker nicht zur Sphäre der Seriosität.
Bleibt also die oben auch erwähnte ursachenerklärende Kategorie der „Hysterie“! – Neben dem „Schwachsinn des Weibes“ existierte seit dem 19. Jahrhundert kongruent das „Hysterische Weib“. Empathie und Empfindsamkeit wie alles Leiden der Frauen wurden denunziert als die „Hysterie der Weiber“. Karl Kraus wußte das. Kirsch nicht: er will auf diesem Niveau der restlichen Empathie noch ihren allerletzten Rest austreiben.
https://kritischetheorie.wordpress.com/2016/01/23/austreibung-der-restempathie/