Never forget: Two years ago today, Turkey began airstrikes and howitzer attacks on Kurdish towns on the Syrian border, resulting in the displacement of over 300,000 people and the death of more than 70 Syrian civilians. Human-rights violations were reported and Amnesty International stated that it had gathered evidence of war crimes committed by Turkey and Turkish-backed Syrian forces. The forces "displayed a shameful disregard for civilian life, carrying out serious violations and war crimes, including summary killings and unlawful attacks that have killed and injured civilians," according to Amnesty.
Three days earlier, disgraced, twice-impeached former "President" Trump obeyed orders from Putin and Erdoğan, and directed the U.S. troops in northeastern Syria to withdraw, leaving our Kurdish allies, Syrian civilians, and possibly even American citizens behind and defenseless.
A Kurdish spokesman stated that Turkey was targeting civilians with the cross-border shelling. In response, six rockets were later launched at the Turkish city of Nusaybin, and two rockets reportedly hit the Turkish town Ceylanpınar. The Kurdish forces also announced that in response to the Turkish shelling, they would be halting anti-ISIS operations and called upon the U.S. to establish a no-fly zone over northern Syria.
During the day, under pressure from Congress and public opinion, Trump sent a letter to Erdoğan proposing to make a deal, and threatened to destroy the Turkish economy if he did not cooperate. Erdoğan took offense to the letter, reportedly throwing it in the trash. When the White House released the letter to the press on October 2019, it received wide ridicule.
When people criticize the recent U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan and ask, "When before did we ever leave citizens and allies behind in a war zone before?," the answer is "Kurdistan, 2019" (you also get credit if you answer "Vietnam").
Did you watch the Red Sox last night in Game 2 of the American League Division Series? If not, you missed one hell of a game. Chris Sale, Boston's ace pitcher, gave up a grand slam home run in the First Inning, and at the end of the First, Boston trailed Tampa Bay by a score of 5-2. But in the Third Inning, Boston got back-to-back solo home runs, making the score 5-4, and eventually won the game by a score of 14-6. The Sox are off today, but Game 3 of the series is tomorrow afternoon at Fenway.
The No. 2 ranked Georgia Bulldogs (5-0) play No. 18 Auburn (4-1) today, so I have some more sports watching ahead.
My days pass by leisurely. This morning, I completed the NY Times Spelling Bee puzzle over black coffee, trolled the MAGAs on social media, and then took my regular 2-mile walk along the Beltline. Such activities make up my days lately. I have tickets tonight to see the experimental post-punk band Algiers perform at The Earl, but I still haven't decided yet whether or not I feel safe going (today's average number of new covid cases in Georgia is 2,849, which is actually slightly higher than last Wednesday's 2,694 cases).
I've seen Algiers perform at least three times already. I was at their very first, debut performance (a show at The Earl), and I saw them at Atlanta's Terminal West. In 2018, I saw them at Knoxville's Big Ears festival. Can I forego a fourth performance, at least until the covid pandemic fully recedes?
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