PaddockLad

In an outburst unusual even by his standards, President Trump explained one reason why he could not regard the Kurds as long-term partners: their failure to help the US and its allies in the Normandy landings. “The Kurds are fighting for their land,” he told reporters. “As somebody wrote in a very powerful article today, they didn’t help us in the Second World War, they didn’t help us with Normandy as an example . . . But they were there to help us with their land, and that’s a different thing.” In spirit, he seems to have been making a technical point about the difference between a longstanding alliance, such as the West’s with Turkey, and short-term co-operation with countries or local forces with which the West has a passing common interest His comments were immediately ridiculed, however, with critics pointing out that as of D-Day the Kurds, a landlocked, mountainous people living in the Middle East and Central Asia, were not well endowed with Marines and landing-craft. Moreover, Mr Trump was wrong in any case. The Kurds did help the British, US, and Allied efforts in Normandy, albeit obliquely. The raw facts were pointed out quickly by Akil Awan, an academic at Royal Holloway, University of London: the Kurds played a key role in the British occupation of Iraq during the Second World War, fighting alongside British troops who stepped in to block a pro-Nazi coup. Britain had been given responsibility for Iraq after the First World War under the Sykes-Picot agreement and, while the country won notional independence in 1932, London continued to keep a close strategic eye on it. It maintained a military presence, particularly on the RAF Habbaniyeh air base west of Baghdad, where fox-hunting British officers were supported by the so-called Iraqi Levies This force, first raised to support British rule at the end of the First World War, contained Iraqis of all sects and ethnicities but was dominated by minorities, particularly Assyrian Christians, Kurds and Yazidis. When a pro-Nazi politician seized power in 1941, the British invaded from Basra in the south. RAF Habbaniyeh was surrounded by pro-Nazi Iraqi forces, but the RAF, supported by contingents of the Iraqi Levies, broke out, pushed back and eventually reversed the coup. Dr Awan estimates that by 1942 Kurds made up 25 per cent of the fighting force of the Levies, and certainly in records from a year later ten of the 44 companies were said to be Kurdish. The Iraqi front was, of course, a long way from Normandy, and Hitler’s crack Panzer divisions were not involved. But there was a reason why Iraq was so strategically important: oil was the main driver of western interest in Iraq from 1918 onwards. Not for nothing did Britain demand — and win — control of the key northern Iraqi city of Mosul, which Sykes-Picot initially gave to French-controlled Syria. With major wells unveiled in the 1920s in nearby Kirkuk, the city the Kurds regard as their spiritual capital, the Kurds came to play a central role in world history for the first time, even if it was one from which they benefited little. The Americans and the British did benefit however, not least as they fuelled the landing craft on June 5, 1944

Well I got all that wrong didn't I?.... Not to mention the Japan v Scotland game being in doubt now to say the least. They won't move it bacause they won't move the other two that have been called off. Those out there with UK media seem to think the game will go ahead on Sunday. There's 170mph winds forecast for Saturday in Yokohama though. If that hit this country there'd be fuck all left of it 😳

Varadker chipper and confident of a agreement before the end of the month.....he doesn't have to win a vote in Westminster on it though

All electric Nissan Leaf plant opened in 2017. The future of the car industry purpose built for them on their doorsteps I don't think anything would've stopped them from voting leave mind. I hate generalising about groups of people from anywhere but of you worked at nissan and voted leave you're likely to give pigshit a bad name

Anyone got an Apple TV box? What are they good for v a Chromecast or Amazon stick??

Old Jezza appears to have properly rattled Ashley. Chap. https://www.nufc.co.uk/news/latest-news/club-statement-jeremy-corbyn/

Yeah I played all the way through school (no formal football in PE at any Borders high school in the 80s) but almost always for B teams as I was frankly bone idle. I played with and against some serious lads though, quite a few Scotland u18s/U21s and a sprinkling of late 80s/early 90s full caps. Some of them are in the pic; Kelso RFC Scottish champions 1988(?) 6 Scottish internationals, two of of whom went to our village school, one of them was a British Lion (the skipper) there also four other lads from our village in the pic, including my old man’s best mates son. I came across the pic a few years back and realised how steeped I was in rugby as a teenager, how high the standard was and how much I did actually enjoy it. I knocked it on the head when I left school to go and watch Pedro & Gazza every other week. I was asked to go back to the U18s by a club stalwart (this was also the man who first took me to St James Park) but declined. He didn’t speak to me for two decades after that

Someone saw all this shit coming..

All time rugger bugger great I see Ireland's last game my be hit by a 160 mph typhoon which will make qualification for the knock out stages very difficult indeed as the game will go down as a 0-0 draw. Scotland may benefit enormously from this. Oh dear how sad never mind

I've succumbed £2 a month for the athletic...not bad...

Fergie took them on and lost. Who knows what would've happened if everything had remained stable at board level.

Woodward has kept all the shareholders happy by increasing the commercial revenue by a gazillion%. In that regard he's been a huge success. The Glazers are ultimately responsible for appointing him and all the managers since Fergie. They've also loaded the club with debt due to the leavarged buyout in the first instance and then skimmed millions out of the club and stuffed it into their back pockets. They've gone from all conquering with zero debt a decade ago to being a shareholders dividend paradise with no real need for sporting success due to the sheer financial power of the Manchester United brand. They, a bit like us, don't really exist for sporting reasons any longer.

I hate being fair to man u but they had half a dozen out though injury. Thing is you'd think they of all clubs would have a squad to cope better than this mob are. The Glazers have fucked them over royally.

On the contrary that’s precisely how Rafa played it once we had Almiron in the side 👍 Away at Spurs was a typical Rafa away performance too

Nowts each

I always come first. The missus was telling me just last night. She mentions it a lot....

I wonder if Bruce realises how Insipidly weak he’s sounded this week? Rata was on an abysmal run this time last year. The same shit was being thrown at him as is being thrown at Bruce. He didn’t whinge to the press about the players. He got them on the training ground and drilled them till they dropped. He also got Rondon fully fit, something Andy Carroll is unlikely ever to be able to be. I think there’s an argument for starting him today and Stone Age Bruce must be very tempted. If he doesn’t start I don’t think he ever will. But Bruce definitely wanted him. Regardless of being on pay as you play, a crock like Carroll takes a squad place up.

I’n the absence of an official match thread (what’s the fuckin point?) I’ll just leave this here....this shit hasn’t happened before folks...

Are we actually witnessing the very public death of the Tory party as we know it?

Try nufc.com archives mate

Rory to stand for Mayor of London as an independent Swapping Penrith for London wtf is he thinking??

I take it Arlene has accepted another bung though? Bad for the optics to make it public...