URR here. Interesting goings-on in Istanbul. And an interesting take on events there involving the supposed coup against Recep Tayyip Erdogan, President/Prime Minister/President/Dictator of NATO member Turkey. An unrepentant Islamist, Erdogan has been accused of engineering his own 'coup' for the purposes of cracking down on political enemies and subjugating the Army, which is the last major institution that guards what is left of a secular state. Nearly 200 dead, 1,500 wounded, and thousands arrested, including Army officers, judges, prosecutors, and other officials whose loyalty to the regime is questioned. (Not loyalty to the Constitution, mind you.)
I can imagine Valerie and Huma echoing the Soviet ambassador in Dr. Strangelove, "You have an astonishingly good idea!"
It remains to be seen if subversion of the US Military will require a 'coup', or simply more Ash Carters and Ray Mabuses and Missy Mullens....
Good point. I also find the photo for this article (http://www.foxnews.com/world/2016/07/17/turkey-rounds-up-52-military-seeks-to-detain-53-judges.html) supremely ironic-- Erdogan condemns coup by disaffected army officers where the picture of Ataturk looks down on him.
Posted by: VMIJPP | 07/17/2016 at 07:29 AM
A depressing thought URR. BHO has taken many steps to weaken our military. BHO and HRC have made numerous statements on their desire to Federalize local and State police. I do not trust Federal LEO's, but I do still hope that our military would in the end be faithful to America and not to BHO. We've many months left of BHO's reign, who know what will happen between now and then?
Posted by: ron snyder | 07/17/2016 at 07:55 AM
I'm of the opinion that Erdogan probably staged the coup. The coup was incompetently carried out (if you're going to kill the King, you'd better kill the King!) It looks one of the most poorly planned coups I've seen in my 61 years, and all properly planned coups begin with two things,
1. Capture of the head of state who controls the military
2. Capture of all lines of communication.
Neither of those things were done. Even the Colonels know better than this.
Posted by: Quartermaster | 07/18/2016 at 06:38 AM
I generally avoid the conspiracist tripe, but I did wonder about this coup.
The Turkish Army is known for its no-nonsense attitude, and it seemed very odd that Erdogan would ask the people to take to the streets; oddly confident. It looked more like a call to suicide from over here.
QM is correct about the incompetence of the plotters.
Posted by: Casey | 07/20/2016 at 11:29 AM