It’s the weekend, so it’s time for the third edition of “Tweets of the Week.” My twitter feed was again filled with some interesting micro-blogging.
By the way, I apologize for the way last week’s home page post looked. Obviously, I’m doing something wrong with the images, though it seems to be fine once the reader clicks the link to Continue Reading. I hope readers can see the image at the top of this page.
This week, the bombing campaign against ISIS/ISIL was ramped up thanks to new air strikes in Syria. I believe that most people in my feed are unenthusiastic about the entire enterprise — though for a variety of reasons:
A two minute video that explains why Obama's bombing campaign in Syria is very unlikely to destroy ISIS: https://t.co/j1MHNhgUzz
— Zack Beauchamp (@zackbeauchamp) September 23, 2014
1. Bomb a country 2. Bomb radicals created by bombing that country. 3. Bomb radicals created by bombing 1st radicals. 4. Repeat! #EndlessWar
— Rosa (@PersianPrinzess) September 24, 2014
The blue check marked Newt Gingrich. RT @jonlovett: Correction pic.twitter.com/AEYkmpjVqt
— Rodger Payne (@RodgerPayne) September 23, 2014
Of course, the campaign has significant implications for neighboring states like Turkey:
Turkish Government's new figure: 100,000 Syrians flee to #Turkey over the weekend https://t.co/ss36yGxMUs via @dailysabah
— Melissa Fleming (@melissarfleming) September 21, 2014
And for Syria:
Congratulations to the administration on finally figuring out how to unite the Syrian opposition pic.twitter.com/rQeAMvjq44
— J.M. Berger (@intelwire) September 23, 2014
To build support for the attacks, the U.S. made much of the fact that it was joined by 5 regional Arab partners:
How dead is the Arab Spring? The US is relying on the military involvement of Arab monarchs and rulers for life for LEGITIMACY.
— Yousef Munayyer (@YousefMunayyer) September 23, 2014
In any event, there were plenty of reminders in my feed that Middle East politics are complicated in myriad ways. Did you see this?
Wow – despite airstrikes, "conspiracy theories still circulating" in Iraq "that the CIA is secretly behind" ISIS: https://t.co/foDQO8sxjD
— Brendan Nyhan (@BrendanNyhan) September 21, 2014
Or this? While the governments of 5 regional Arab partners may be participating in the air strikes, some of their affluent citizens are backing the other side:
Dangers of idle rich, part 9345 MT @samueloakford: Who's Funding ISIS? Wealthy Gulf 'Angel Investors,' Officials Say https://t.co/rhITz1FaJI
— Rodger Payne (@RodgerPayne) September 22, 2014
Indeed, U.S. enemies and allies in the region have long been complicated:
This letter to the editor perfectly captures what makes the Middle East so confusing: https://t.co/ZUueoLuI8i pic.twitter.com/tWvbrmitir
— Vox (@voxdotcom) September 26, 2014
The war wasn’t the only interesting development in global politics last week.
Last Sunday’s climate change march in New York City provoked a flood (sorry) of terrific tweets about the future of the planet. First, though, a tweet with a drone’s view of the event:
So. Cool. "@Revkin: #PeoplesClimate March along Central Park West, Remarkable drone footage: https://t.co/Ou7WyYnxjn ht @algore”
— Stacy D VanDeveer (@StacyDVanDeveer) September 21, 2014
And here’s a reminder of why the participants see this issue as so vital:
No biggie, just the end of life as we know it. RT @fordm: Oh. https://t.co/JNwRJ4eH43 pic.twitter.com/qiFkdhvvNK
— Andrew Kaczynski (@BuzzFeedAndrew) September 21, 2014
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