#our army at war 1952

[ufonaut]

What do you expect of these people -- "thanks"? "Thanks" for conquering them, Marcus?

Our Army at War (1952) #241

(Bob Haney, Alex Toth)

[inhousearchive]

House-ad for G.I. Combat (1951), Our Fighting Forces (1954), Star Spangled War Stories (1952), and Our Army At War (1952).

[pulpsandcomics2]

Our Army at War #1 -#3 1952

[adrl-pt]

What to blame for the ones who hide behind civilians? Who to help this week. Homosexuality is not a disease.

You are watching news from the weekly rally at the Russian Embassy in Lisbon. Today is May 18, 14:30.

On May 15, Russian rapper Misha Mavashi posted a video on his Telegram channel of a Grad MLRS firing while on the road surrounded by cars stuck in a traffic jam. In his comments, he explained that if the Russian army is “working like this,” “it means there is a permission for that.” https://novosti.dn.ua/ru/news/373813-rossijskij-reper-zasvetil-v-seti-strelbu-grada-iz-belgoroda-po-ukraine

The "Important Stories" media found out that this is the road near Shebekino in the Belgorod region, and the direction of fire corresponds to the territory in the north of the Kharkiv region. https://istories.media/news/2024/05/15/poyavilos-video-strelbi-rszo-grad-iz-probki-grazhdanskikh-avto-pod-belgorodom/

On the “Khodorkovsky Live” channel, international lawyer Sergei Golubok explained that this is “the use of a human shield. The same thing that Hamas does when launching rockets from hospitals… Article 51 of the additional protocol to the Geneva Conventions clearly states this… In this case, this MLRS will be a legitimate target for a Ukrainian strike, and civilians around will be legitimately damaged." https://www.youtube.com/live/DePwmNTB4Zo?feature=shared&t=1081

The "Go by the Forest" project, which helps Russians not participate in this war and tries to stop it, is holding the "Run through the Forest" campaign to raise funds for their work. The first race will be on May 19. In Lisbon we start at 10 AM from the Belem Tower. https://t.me/iditelesom_help/3287

On May 23 at 7 PM in Lisbon, the Sputnik bar will host a charity screening of the documentary film “The Hardest Hour”. This is an honest film about how Ukrainians lived until February 24, 2024 and how their lives changed on that day. https://maps.app.goo.gl/uQseM5w78gyvvvoF7

The screening is in support of the Orphans Feeding Foundation's Bring Kids Back UA program. The Foundation has already been able to return 36 children illegally deported from Ukraine. https://www.orphans-feeding-foundation.org/bring-kids-back-ua-program/

Former municipal deputy Alexei Gorinov asks for help with publicizing the fact that they are trying to fabricate a case of extremism for him. Gorinov is in prison for speaking out against holding a children's drawing competition during the war with Ukraine. https://t.me/alexei_gorinov_2022/713

The repression that suppresses dissent and opens the door to war begins with small, vulnerable groups of people. May 17 is the International Day against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia. On this day in 1990, the WHO General Assembly removed homosexuality from its list of diseases, declaring that "it is not a disease, disorder or perversion." https://www.europarl.europa.eu/topics/en/article/20110513STO19333/17-may-international-day-against-homophobia

The English mathematician Alan Turing did a lot for the invention of the computers that we all use. https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%A2%D1%8C%D1%8E%D1%80%D0%B8%D0%BD%D0%B3,_%D0%90%D0%BB%D0%B0%D0%BD

After the outbreak of World War II, Turing worked to crack the code of the German Enigma cipher machine. Winston Churchill said about it this way: “No one else made the same contribution to our victory in the war.” In 1952, Turing was arrested for a homosexual act, which was illegal then. He was given a choice: prison or treatment, which was essentially chemical castration. He agreed to treatment. He was pardoned only posthumously, in 2013. https://www.bbc.com/russian/society/2014/11/141112_imitation_game_turing

Proofs and links are in the description. Subscribe and help.

[scotianostra]

The poet Edwin Morgan was born on April 27th 1920.

The Scotsman newspaper described Morgan (as) "he most dynamic, brilliant, free-wheeling poet around, endlessly accessible and inventive" and I have to agree!

Morgan is one of the poets associated with the Scottish Renaissance. He is widely recognised as one of the foremost Scottish poets of the 20th century.

An only child, he attended Rutherglen Academy and the High School of Glasgow, before studying English at Glasgow University. During the Second World War he registered as a conscientious objector, before serving in the Royal Army Medical Corps, mainly in the Middle East.

He resumed his studies in 1946, and the following year began lecturing in English at Glasgow University. His first books – original poems and translations – appeared in 1952.

Edwin Morgan produced an extensive body of work. Endlessly curious and open-minded, he experimented with the language of machines as well as translating from a variety of European languages. He was a poet who was willing to give a voice to everything around him, whether it was an apple, the Loch Ness Monster, a cancer cell or the source of the Big Bang.

Edwin Morgan became a professor at Glasgow University in 1975, and retired from full-time teaching in 1980. In the 1980s he also began publishing with Glasgow’s Mariscat Press, notably Sonnets from Scotland. In 1990 when he turned 70, it was then he came out publicly for the first time as a gay man.

In the 21st century, and his eighties, he continued to write and publish prolifically, enjoying collaborations with young musicians. In 2004 he was appointed the first Scottish Makar by the Scottish Parliament.

Edwin Morgan marked his 90th birthday in April 2010 with the publication of a new collection of poetry, he died a few months later, on 19th August 2010.

'I love the poem here, where he has a wee pop at Rabbie Burns.

James Macfarlan by Edwin Morgan

'A man's a man for a' that' – how does he know? Traipsing with his plough, the rural hero, Swaggering down the lea-rigs, talking to mice, Sweating his sickly verses to entice Lassies he'd never see again, strutting Through the salons in his best breeches, rutting In a cloud of claret, buttonholing Lord This, sweet-talking Doctor That, bowling His wit down levees, bosoms, siller quaichs – D'ye think he's ever heard the groans and skraighs Of city gutters, or marked the shapes that wrap Fog and smoke about them as if they could hap Homelessness or keep hunger at bay? What, Not heard or seen, but has he even thought How some, and many, and more than many, survive, Or don't survive, on factory floors, or thrive Or fail to thrive by foundry fires, or try To find the words – sparks scatter and bolts fly – That's feeble – to show the new age its dark face? The Carron Ironworks – how he laughed at the place, Made a joke of our misery, passed on To window-scratch his diamond-trivia, and swan Through country-house and customs-post, servile To the very gods from which he ought to resile! 'Liberty's a glorious feast,' you said. Is that right? Wouldn't the poor rather have bread? Burns man, I'm hard on you, I'm sorry for it. I think such poetry is dangerous, that's all. Poetry must pierce the filthy wall With cries that die on country ways. The glow Of bonhomie will not let the future grow.

[jawanaka]

Sins of Fathers snippet

I forgot to upload the last quote before I posted the new chapter it seems. Please let me rectify that

The ending of the northern wars and the mass demobilization that followed would naturally lead to equally major changes in the Nilfgaardian military posture as the armies moved from holding- or advancing along broad lines to peacetime garrisoning of the newly conquered territories. This change was not just administrative but also physical, moving from the previous a ‘lateral’ orientation from the river to the mountains to a ‘vertical’, oriented north to south along the major communication routes. We can see this in virtually all the remaining military documents of the time: while previously the armies where named from their position in line such as the always dominant Army Group Center, armies where instead oftentimes named after geographical features. As most major communication routes followed rivers, most armies were naturally named after these, such as the Army of the Pontar that formed the main field force commanded by general Morvran Voorhis during the future empress Cirilla I sojourn as viceroy of the northern territories. Imperial Armies of the 13th century: the expansion era. Fishhawk publishing, 1952

[brookstonalmanac]

Events 5.13 (before 1955)

1373 – Julian of Norwich has visions of Jesus while suffering from a life-threatening illness, visions which are later described and interpreted in her book Revelations of Divine Love. 1501 – Amerigo Vespucci, this time under Portuguese flag, set sail for western lands. 1568 – Mary Queen of Scots is defeated at the Battle of Langside, part of the civil war between Queen Mary and the supporters of her son, James VI. 1612 – Sword duel between Miyamoto Musashi and Sasaki Kojiro on the shores of Ganryū Island. Kojiro dies at the end. 1619 – Dutch statesman Johan van Oldenbarnevelt is executed in The Hague after being convicted of treason. 1654 – A Venetian fleet under Admiral Cort Adeler breaks through a line of galleys and defeats the Turkish navy. 1779 – War of the Bavarian Succession: Russian and French mediators at the Congress of Teschen negotiate an end to the war. In the agreement Austria receives the part of its territory that was taken from it (the Innviertel). 1780 – The Cumberland Compact is signed by leaders of the settlers in the Cumberland River area of what would become the U.S. state of Tennessee, providing for democratic government and a formal system of justice. 1804 – Forces sent by Yusuf Karamanli of Tripoli to retake Derna from the Americans attack the city. 1830 – Ecuador gains its independence from Gran Colombia. 1846 – Mexican–American War: The United States declares war on the Federal Republic of Mexico following a dispute over the American annexation of the Republic of Texas and a Mexican military incursion. 1861 – American Civil War: Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom issues a "proclamation of neutrality" which recognizes the Confederacy as having belligerent rights. 1861 – The Great Comet of 1861 is discovered by John Tebbutt of Windsor, New South Wales, Australia. 1861 – Pakistan's (then a part of British India) first railway line opens, from Karachi to Kotri. 1862 – The USS Planter, a steamer and gunship, steals through Confederate lines and is passed to the Union, by a southern slave, Robert Smalls, who later was officially appointed as captain, becoming the first black man to command a United States ship. 1888 – With the passage of the Lei Áurea ("Golden Law"), the Empire of Brazil abolishes slavery. 1909 – The first edition of the Giro d'Italia, a long-distance multiple-stage bicycle race, began in Milan; the Italian cyclist Luigi Ganna was the eventual winner. 1912 – The Royal Flying Corps, the forerunner of the Royal Air Force, is established in the United Kingdom. 1917 – Three children report the first apparition of Our Lady of Fátima in Fátima, Portugal. 1940 – World War II: Germany's conquest of France begins, as the German army crosses the Meuse. Winston Churchill makes his "blood, toil, tears, and sweat" speech to the House of Commons. 1941 – World War II: Yugoslav royal colonel Dragoljub Mihailović starts fighting against German occupation troops, beginning the Serbian resistance. 1943 – World War II: Operations Vulcan and Strike force the surrender of the last Axis troops in Tunisia. 1945 – World War II: Yevgeny Khaldei's photograph Raising a Flag over the Reichstag is published in Ogonyok magazine. 1948 – Arab–Israeli War: The Kfar Etzion massacre occurs, a day prior to the Israeli Declaration of Independence. 1950 – The inaugural Formula One World Championship race takes place at Silverstone Circuit. The race was won by Giuseppe Farina, who would go on to become the inaugural champion that year. 1951 – The 400th anniversary of the founding of the National University of San Marcos is commemorated by the opening of the first large-capacity stadium in Peru. 1952 – The Rajya Sabha, the upper house of the Parliament of India, holds its first sitting. 1954 – The anti-National Service Riots, by Chinese middle school students in Singapore, take place.

[stfrancisprayer]

Hi Parm! I’m looking at your OC’s intro post again, and I love all the details you included🖤 I was wondering what the patch on her jacket means? It’s super interesting! - @lostloveletters

HELLO BATTIE!!! very glad you asked this question, the patch is not super common knowledge so i'm excited to talk about it.

TL;DR she's a WAC, and the patch is ETOUSA (european theater of operations, united states army) specifically the patch iteration pre-1944.

historical ramblings about the ETOUSA under the cut :)

The origins of the ETOUSA trace back to early 1941, before the US had "officially" entered the war. At this point the US portrays themselves as a neutral power because they want to keep their military operations a secret. To be prepared, they send a small group of military personnel to Britain to observe how the government was using American lend-lease supplies, should there ever be a time that the US will need to do the same on home soil. This small group of personnel were known as SPOBS, or the US Army Special Observer Group. The US joins the war in December 1941, and the SPOBS converts into the US Army Forces in the British Isles, or USAFBI. Their whole mission was to coordinate US forces in the British Isles in conjunction with the British, but the theater is changing so quickly that they end up throwing that plan out the window, and now the USFABI is sort of a sitting duck. (source, source) In June of 1942 the US Department of War decides to take the USFABI and turn it into ETOUSA (European Theater of Operations, United States Army). The brand-new department's job was to administrate, plan, and operate control over US forces in the European Theater. (source) Members of the ETOUSA included Generals (like General Patton!) to lower-ranking officials. Most of their domain was in the Communications Zone of the war rather than the front lines. With such a broad scope of administrative duties, a lot of manpower and womanpower was needed to manage it all-- enter our lovely WACs!! The Women's Army Corporation had a huge part in the ETOUSA as a whole, but many could also be found in their headquarters. (source, source, source) Without revealing too much about her story, my OC (who I don't have a set name for yet, oops) works with administrative duties related to the strategic planning of attacks. Now, the patch. While I was cooking her up this website was a saving grace for me, it's got such good info on WAC uniform guidelines/regulations-- this section features the information on the ETOUSA patch that I referenced.

In her illustration she's sporting the first design of the ETOUSA patch from September 1943. You might notice how there's also a version of the ETOUSA patch with the service forces star atop it. Let me get into that. So now it's February 1944, the US had been making some pretty big strides across Europe (especially France), and now they want to focus on western Europe; so they make sure there's enough forces over there to justify a new command post. This new organization is called the SHAEF, or the Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force, whose job was to administrate, plan, and operate control over US forces in the European Theater...which is currently the ETOUSA's job. But we're dealing with western Europe now, so they split the job down the middle; SHAEF takes the commanding part and the ETOUSA settles in France with the administrative and supplying part. Befitting of the new rebrand they modify their patch to the second iteration, the one that includes the service forces star, in February of 1944. The ETOUSA continues with these duties until shortly after Germany surrenders on May 7, 1945, and on July 1, 1945 it is redesignated as the USFET, the United States Forces European Theater. It retains that name until March 15, 1947, when it is redesignated as the EUCOM, Headquarters European Command. The EUCOM would be absorbed into the United States European Command (USEUCOM) on August 1, 1952. The end.

***Obviously I'm not a historian, so if somebody reads this and spots a place where I've gotten info wrong or misunderstood something important let me know and I'll add a footnote asap👍

Thank you for reading!! 💗💗💗💗 My apologies because I know this is very long-winded but I really appreciate the interest Battie <3 You reminded me I need to get on it and write a formal intro post for her tbh... but both the ETOUSA and SHAEF are in this OC's future... i got stuff brewing. let me cook

[all-action-all-picture]

Our Army at War No. 301, dated February 1977. Sgt. Rock cover by Joe Kubert. This was the final issue of Our Army at War, which had been published from 1952, although it continued as Sgt. Rock No. 302 with the March cover dated issue.

[garadinervi]

[Weiße Rose], Leaflet of the Resistance, Leaflet #5 [November, 1942 – January, 1943] [Weiße Rose Stiftung e.V., München. United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Washington, D.C.]

Leaflet of the Resistance, The Fifth Leaflet

«A Call to All Germans!

The war is approaching its destined end. As in the year 1918, the German government is trying to focus attention exclusively on the growing threat of submarine warfare, while in the East the armies are constantly in retreat and invasion is imminent in the West. Mobilization in the United States has not yet reached its climax, but already it exceeds anything that the world has ever seen. It has become a mathematical certainty that Hitler is leading the German people into the abyss. Hitler cannot win the war; he can only prolong it. The guilt of Hitler and his minions goes beyond all measure. Retribution comes closer and closer.

But what are the German people doing? They will not see and will not listen. Blindly they follow their seducers into ruin. Victory at any price! is inscribed on their banner. “I will fight to the last man,” says Hitler—but in the meantime the war has already been lost.

Germans! Do you and your children want to suffer the same fate that befell the Jews? Do you want to be judged by the same standards as your traducers? Are we to be forever the nation which is hated and rejected by all mankind? No. Dissociate yourselves from National Socialist gangsterism. Prove by your deeds that you think otherwise. A new war of liberation is about to begin. The better part of the nation will fight on our side. Cast off the cloak of indifference you have wrapped around you. Make the decision before it is too late! Do not believe the National Socialist propaganda which has driven the fear of Bolshevism into your bones. Do not believe that Germany’s welfare is linked to the victory of National Socialism for good or ill.

A criminal regime cannot achieve a German victory. Separate yourselves in time from everything connected with National Socialism. In the aftermath a terrible but just judgment will be meted out to those who stayed in hiding, who were cowardly and hesitant.

What can we learn from the outcome of this war—this war that never was a national war?

The imperialist ideology of force, from whatever side it comes, must be shattered for all time. A one-sided Prussian militarism must never again be allowed to assume power. Only in large-scale cooperation among the nations of Europe can the ground be prepared for reconstruction. Centralized hegemony, such as the Prussian state has tried to exercise in Germany and in Europe, must be cut down at its inception. The Germany of the future must be a federal state. At this juncture only a sound federal system can imbue a weakened Europe with a new life. The workers must be liberated from their condition of down-trodden slavery under National Socialism. The illusory structure of autonomous national industry must disappear. Every nation and each man have a right to the goods of the whole world!

Freedom of speech, freedom of religion, the protection of individual citizens from the arbitrary will of criminal regimes of violence—these will be the bases of the New Europe.

Support the resistance. Distribute the leaflets!»

– Inge Scholl, (1952), The White Rose. Munich 1942-1943, With an Introduction by Dorothee Sölle, Translated from the German by Arthur R. Schultz, Wesleyan University Press, Middletown, CT, 1983, pp. 89-90

[lboogie1906]

Lieutenant Colonel Harriet M. Waddy (known as Harriet West; June 20, 1904 – February 21, 1999) was a military officer. She graduated from Kansas State University and worked as an aide for Mary McLeod Bethune. During WoWII, she attained the rank of major in the Women’s Army Corps. She was one of the highest-ranking African American officers during the war and served as a wartime adviser on racial issues.

She was born in Jefferson City, Missouri. Following the death of her mother, she was raised by her maternal grandmother. During the Great Depression, she worked as an aide for Mary McLeod Bethune when Bethune was director of the Division of Negro Affairs.

In 1942 she joined the Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps officer candidate school at Fort Des Moines. She became an aide to WAC director Oveta Culp Hobby and an adviser on racial issues.

She was dispatched to the South where she listened to grievances from Black women in the Women’s Army Corps. She made a recommendation that official memoranda posted on information boards eliminate “all reference to white and colored personnel”, saying that it would bring “less embarrassment to the colored personnel” and a “feeling that a forward step has been made toward democracy.” She encouraged Black women to join the military. Her broadcast acknowledged that the segregated status of the armed forces did “not represent an ideal of democracy”, but said that joining the military was not “a retreat from our fight,” but “our contribution to its realization.”

She and Charity Adams were the only Black women with the rank of major in the Women’s Army Corps. Adams recalled that she was both charming and well-disciplined. In 1948, she was promoted to lieutenant colonel. She retired from the military in 1952.

She was hired by the FAA. She worked at a Job Corps center as a counselor for troubled girls.

She lived in Eugene, Oregon, and married four times. She married physician Charles West. In 1998, following the end of her fourth marriage to Major Edward Waddy, she moved to Las Vegas. The Army Women’s Museum in Fort Lee, Virginia, holds a collection of memorabilia related to her. #africanhistory365 #africanexcellence

[ufonaut]

'Enjoy' it--? Didn't they tell you--?

Our Army at War (1952) #254

(Robert Kanigher, Alex Toth)

[inhousearchive]

House-ad for Our Army at War (1952) #203, a special-edition 80-page giant issue featuring five new stories written by Robert Kanigher.

[project1939]

100+ Films of 1952

Film number 124: Red Snow 

Release date: July 7th, 1952 

Studio: All American Film Corporation 

Genre: adventure 

Director: Boris Petroff, Harry S. Franklin 

Producer: Boris Petroff 

Actors: Guy Madison, Ray Mala, Carole Mathews

Plot Summary: In the North Arctic, at the Bering Strait, cold war tensions rise when the U.S. notices Soviets testing a strange new weapon. A US Air Force pilot and a local Inuit man, who is also a sergeant in the army, are tasked with discovering what is happening and neutralizing it. 

My Rating (out of five stars): ** 

Well, I can certainly give this film credit for being unique! It’s basically what would happen if you crossed Nanook of the North with a Soviet spy film. The ostensible hero is a white pilot, but the character with by far the most screen time is an Inuit named Koovuk. When the film opened with this text, my interest was especially piqued: “Dedicated to the men who stand watch on our frozen frontier, the men of the Alaskan Rescue Service... and to a G.I. whose skill and courage has long been unheralded- the loyal American Eskimo.” Would this film avoid racist stereotypes of Inuit people? Ummm... Kinda? And also not really? (Some spoilers) 

The Good: 

The Inuit people were generally respected here- a main purpose of the film was to highlight the fact that some Inuit people do brave work in the US Armed Forces, and we should honor it. There are some caveats about the way they are portrayed as a people, however... 

There was a lot of real arctic footage used. It was almost exactly like Nanook of the North.

On a superficial note, Guy Madison, as Lt. Phil Johnson, was gorgeous! 

There were some pretty adorable Inuit nose-rubs in this! 

The Bad: 

White people and Koreans playing Inuit people! Yuck. Most of the Inuit people in the film appeared to actually be so in real life, but a few of the larger roles were not. Especially egregious were the actors playing Koovuk’s fiancée and the bad guy in the tribe. 

The aforementioned bad guy, Tuglu, was played by a Korean man, which was odd enough, but the character was so over the top, it was hard not to laugh. He had shifty eyes, a raised eyebrow, and I almost expected him to twirl a moustache! There was absolutely no suspense about who the spy was.

The movie seemed to have positive motives in portraying a different race and culture, but it also fell into the trap of “exoticizing” the people it was trying to humanize. It also made the Inuit people seem somewhat simple and child-like, which was off-putting. 

Accents again! The “Russian” characters were ridiculous. Most of them just sounded like Americans, but some of them were wildly inconsistent and awful! 

This reminded me of a recent film I watched, The Jungle, where it seemed like the writers made a bullet list of unrelated things they wanted to show and just shoehorned a plot into it. “Let’s have a hunting scene! Now an Inuit wedding ceremony! Now a dramatic ice floe! Now a polar bear chase!” etc 

Because of the above, the plot was all over the place, and I found myself getting bored at times. 

You could tell most of the movie was filmed silent and dubbed over later, and it looked cheap. 

A scene where a polar bear was killed. I don’t know how real it was, but it was horrifying. 

The dialogue the Inuit characters spoke was that awful movie dialect where they said things like- “Danger on trip. Koovuk be careful. Alak worry.” 

The anti-Soviet message wasn’t overly heavy-handed for the most part, but a prospective defector at the end gave a cringy speech about his family being killed “for believing in God.” Get out your Bingo cards! “We’re better than Commies cause religion!” 

The side romance between Lt. Johnson and Lt. Jane lasted all of maybe 120 seconds, so saying it was an afterthought is an understatement. 

[xtruss]

NATO Biggest Threat to Turkey's Independence and Sovereignty, Turkish Observers Say

Turkey celebrated the 70th anniversary of its NATO membership with much fanfare on February 18, 2022. Roughly a year later on January 19, Turkey’s Patriotic (Vatan) Party kicked off a nationwide campaign urging the national government to leave the bloc as soon as possible. What's behind the trend?

"After the nationwide 'Let's leave NATO' campaign was launched by our party, the number of collected signatures approached 100,000 in six days and is growing daily," Ozgur Bursali, general secretary of the Vatan Party, told Sputnik.

We see a great interest in the campaign. The Turkish people oppose NATO because they understand that the alliance and the United States are the main threat to our country. There are irresolvable contradictions between Turkey and NATO. These contradictions will further intensify in the near future, as a result of which Turkey will leave NATO and create an alliance with truly friendly countries — Ozgur Bursali, General Secretary of the Vatan Party

Earlier this week on January 25, Deputy Leader of the Vatan Party Ethem Sancak told the press that Turkey could leave the US-led military bloc in five to six months. He quoted US-Turkey differences in the Middle East and campaigns against the Quran in Sweden and the Netherlands. Sancak referred to recent polls apparently showing that roughly 80% of Turkish respondents believe that the US' policies towards their country are hostile and destructive.

However, spokesman for President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s Justice and Development Party (AK Party) Omer Celik denied Sancak's statement the same day. "This is out of the question. We are one of the founding countries of NATO," stated Celik.

Still, it's hard to deny that clouds have been gathering on the horizon of Turkey-NATO relations for quite a while.

Ankara Not Discussing Turkey’s Withdrawal From NATO: Ruling Party! Ankara View © Sputnik/Anton Denisov/Go to the mediabank

Turkey's NATO Membership in a Nutshell

Turkey’s membership protocol to NATO was signed on October 17, 1951, and the nation became a NATO member on February 18, 1952. The country has the second-largest army in the bloc and hosts the Allied Land Command Headquarters.

Even though Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the founder of the Turkish Republic, maintained friendly ties with the USSR, his successors joined the western bloc at the beginning of the Cold War. Turkey benefitted from the Truman Doctrine (1947) and the Marshall Plan (1948) offered by the US. In 1950, Turkey even sent its troops to fight on the US side in the Korean War (1950-53).

With a foot both in Europe and Asia and control over the Dardanelles and the Bosphorus, Turkey offered utter geopolitical importance for the transatlantic military alliance. At the same time, however, NATO had to reconcile itself with the decades-long enmity between Turkey and Greece, both alliance members. In July 1974, Turkey militarily intervened into the Republic of Cyprus to thwart a coup d'etat by Greek Cypriots and shield Turkish Cypriot civilians.

On November 15, 1983, the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) was proclaimed. The republic’s independence was recognized only by Turkey. The UN Security Council condemned the move, while NATO turned a blind eye to the fact that a territorial dispute over Northern Cyprus contradicted its founding principles.

Still, during the Cold War, Turkey largely followed NATO's major imperatives considering the Soviet Union an adversary like the rest of the military bloc. The situation drastically changed after the USSR's collapse.

Exactly on the day when the USSR ceased to exist, then-Russian President Boris Yeltsin wrote to NATO saying Russia hoped to join the alliance some time in the future. The letter was read at the alliance's headquarters by then-Ambassador to Belgium Nikolai N. Afanasyevsky. (Instead of permitting Russia to join, NATO opted to breach its non-expansion vow and opened the door to Moscow's allies from 1997.) In the aftermath of the USSR's collapse began the era of Russo-Turkish rapprochement.

Over the past several decades, Russia and Turkey have intensified economic, political and military cooperation which triggered sharp criticism from the US-led NATO bloc. In particular, Turkey's decision to acquire the Russian-made S-400 missile defense systems in December 2017 led to Ankara's expulsion from the US-led multinational fifth-generation F-35 fighter jet program in 2019 - even though Turkey invested $1.4 billion (TL 24.2 billion) in it. Washington also froze the sale of F-16 fighters to the republic.

Russia Begins Supplies of Second S-400 Regiment to Turkey: Defense Cooperation Agency, 08.18.2022

In response, the Turkish Presidency of Defense Industries signaled in October 2021 that it could acquire Russia's Su-35 and Su-57 fighters instead. To cap it off, Turkey has not joined the anti-Russia sanctions regime spearheaded by the US and its NATO allies following the beginning of Moscow's special military operation to demilitarize and de-Nazify Ukraine.

Likewise, regardless of the displeasure from the US and its NATO allies, Turkey carried out three major operations in northern Syria against Kurdish militias and organizations backed by Washington between 2016 and 2019.

In 2018, Berlin expressed discontent with Ankara's use of the German-made Leopard 2A4 main battle tanks against Kurdish militants. European press wrote at the time that the tanks were sold to Turkey on the understanding that they were not used against the Kurds. For its part, Ankara drew attention to massive NATO weapons supplies to the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) outlawed in Turkey as terrorists along with the Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK).

Ankara has also repeatedly expressed concerns over NATO's growing closeness with Greece. The Turkish security expert drew attention to US plans to move main military assets from the Incirlik Air Base to Crete.

Turkey Can Purchase Russia's Su-35, Su-57 Fighters If US Does Not Sell F-16, Official Says. "If the process [F-16 purchase and upgrade] does not bring results, then Turkey will not be left without alternatives. If necessary, the topic of Su-35s and Su-57s can be opened at any time. Our industry will do everything to ensure our security, and if something extra is needed, then we can always find a way out", Demir said on air of Kanal 7. © Sputnik/Evgeny Odinokov/Go to the mediabank. 10.24.2022

In July 2022, Greek Defense Minister Nikolaos Panagiotopoulos announced that he had discussed Greece's potential entry into the F-35 program with US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Sean Burke, the director of the Pentagon’s F-35 joint program office. Turkey is also dissatisfied with Greece's reported military deployments on the east Aegean islands, which were ceded to Greece by the Ottoman Empire on the specific and strict condition that they be kept demilitarized.

The most recent bone of contention between Turkey and the bloc is the accession of Finland and Sweden to NATO. Ankara agreed to green-light Helsinki and Stockholm's NATO membership under a set of conditions concerning the activities of Kurdish and Fethulla Gulen's organizations (FETO), banned by Turkey, in the two European states.

Nonetheless, these conditions have not been fully met so far, according to Ankara. To pour more gasoline on the flames, a copy of the Quran was burnt in front of the Turkish embassy in Stockholm on January 21. The police didn't intervene to stop the action. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned Sweden on January 23 that it should not expect his backing to join NATO following the incident - which was seen as insulting by Turkey and other Muslim countries.

US Politicians Issue Threats to Erdogan Ahead of Elections

Washington hawks have not concealed their irritation with Ankara's unwillingness to bow down.

Last week, former US National Security Advisor John Bolton called on the NATO military alliance to expel Turkey from the bloc. Furthermore, Bolton urged the alliance to support Turkey's opposition parties ahead of the general elections scheduled for May 14, 2023.

"With Recep Tayyip Erdoğan at the helm, Turkey is again 'the sick man of Europe'," Bolton claimed in his January 16 op-ed. "Yet there’s a chance he can be stopped, if the West takes bold action to help ensure his domestic opposition gets a fair shake in upcoming presidential elections (…) No country is entitled to participate in the alliance, and Mr. Erdogan hasn’t been behaving like an ally."

Bolton is well known as an ardent proponent of regime change operations in the countries not following Washington's dictat. To complicate matters further, some Turkish politicians already have deep suspicions that the US had a hand in the failed military coup d'etat attempt against Erdogan on July 15-16, 2016, along with Turkish scholar Fethullah Gulen's operatives.

Turkey coup protestors in Taksim Square. © AP Photo/Emrah Gurel

"NATO is an occupation tool of US imperialism," Baris Doster, Turkish political scientist and international relations expert from the University of Marmara, columnist for the major socio-political newspaper Cumhuriyet, told Sputnik.

"This is an organization created in order to keep allied countries in the sphere of influence of the United States, to shape not only the foreign policy and national security of these countries but also their domestic policy in accordance with American interests."

Doster argued that the interests of the US-NATO and Turkey did not coincide and will never coincide.

"NATO is the biggest threat to Turkey's independence and sovereignty," the political scientist underscored. "When it comes to the activities of the terrorist organizations PKK, YPG and FETO, support for coups and other sensitive issues for Turkey, NATO always takes the side opposite to Ankara. Therefore, Turkey must definitely leave the alliance."

— Ekaterina Blinova | Friday January 27, 2023

[ljones41]

Favorite Best Picture Oscar Winners

With the nominations for the 95th Academy Awards on the horizon, I had decided to list my favorite Best Picture Oscar winners (in chronological order):

FAVORITE BEST PICTURE OSCAR WINNERS

“It Happened One Night” (1934) - A renegade reporter trailing a young runaway heiress for a big story joins her on a bus heading from Florida to New York, and they end up stuck with each other when the bus leaves them behind at one of the stops.  Directed by Frank Capra, the movie starred Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert.

“Mutiny on the Bounty” (1935) - This adaptation of Charles Nordhoff and James Norman Hall’s 1932 novel is about the mutiny against Lieutenant William Bligh, commanding officer of the H.M.S. Bounty in 1789.  Directed by Frank Lloyd, the movie starred Clark Gable, Charles Laughton and Franchot Tone. 

“Casablanca” (1943) - This wartime romantic drama focused on an American expatriate torn between his love for a woman and helping her husband, a Czech resistance leader, escape from the Vichy-controlled city of Casablanca.  Directed by Michael Curtiz, the movie starred Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman and Paul Henreid.

“The Best Years of Our Lives” (1946) - This adaptation of MacKinlay Kantor‘s 1945 novella, “Glory for Me” told the story of three servicemen re-adjusting to societal changes and civilian life after coming home from World War II.  Directed by William Wyler, the movie starred Fredric March, Dana Andrews and Harold Russell.

“The Bridge on the River Kwai” (1957) - This adaptation of Pierre Boulle‘s 1952 novel told the story of Allied prisoners-of-war forced by the Japanese Army to work on the construction of the Burma Railway during World War II.  Directed by David Lean, the movie starred Alec Guinness and William Holden. 

“Gigi” (1958) - This adaptation of Collette’s 1944 novella is about a young Parisian girl being groomed for a career as a courtesan and her relationship with a wealthy cultured man who falls in love with her and eventually marries her.  Directed by Vincente Minelli, the movie starred Leslie Caron, Louis Jordan, Hermione Gingold and Maurice Chevalier.

“The Apartment” (1960) - This romantic comedy-drama told the story of an insurance clerk who, in the hope of climbing the corporate ladder, lets more senior coworkers use his Upper West Side apartment to conduct extramarital affairs.  Directed by Billy Wilder, the movie starred Jack Lemmon, Shirley MacLaine and Fred MacMurray.

“Tom Jones” (1963) - This adaptation of Henry Fielding’s 1749 novel, “The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling”, told about the romantic and chivalrous adventures of the adopted bastard of an English landowner in 18th-century England.  Directed by Tony Richardson, the movie starred Albert Finney and Susannah York.

“The Sound of Music” (1965) - This adaptation of Maria von Trapp’s 1949 memoir, “The Story of the Trapp Family Singers“, and the 1959 Broadway musical told the story about a young Catholic novice sent by her convent to become a governess to the seven children of a widowed naval officer during the months before the Anschluss in 1938 Austria.  Directed by Robert Wise, Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer starred.

“The Godfather” (1972) - This adaptation of Mario Puzo’s 1969 novel told the story of the Corleone crime family in post-World War II New York City.  Directed by Francis Ford Coppola, the movie starred Marlon Brando and Al Pacino.

“The Sting” (1973) - This movie told the story of two professional grifters who plot to con a violent mob boss in 1936 Chicago.  Directed by George Roy Hill, the movie starred Paul Newman and Robert Redford.

“The Godfather Part II” (1974) - This sequel to “The Godfather” continued the Corleone family’s story in the late 1950s and chronicled the early life of its original patriarch, Vito Corleone, during the early 20th century.  Directed by Francis Ford Coppola, the movie starred Al Pacino, Robert Duvall, Diane Keaton and Robert DeNiro.

“Unforgiven” (1992) - This western told the story of an aging outlaw and killer who takes on one more job, years after he had turned to farming.  Directed by Clint Eastwood, the movie starred him, Morgan Freeman and Gene Hackman.

“Shakespeare in Love” (1998) - This movie depicted a fictional love affair between playwright William Shakespeare and the daughter of a wealthy merchant, while the former wrote “Romeo and Juliet”.  Directed by John Madden, the movie starred Gwyneth Paltrow and Joseph Fiennes.

“Gladiator” (2000) - This movie told the story of a Spanish-born general for the Roman army who sets out to exact vengeance against the corrupt emperor who murdered his family and sent him into slavery.  Directed by Ridley Scott, the  movie starred Russell Crowe.

“The Departed” (2006) - This remake of the 2002 crime movie, “Infernal Affairs”, told the story about an undercover cop and a police mole for the Irish mob and their attempts to identify each other in South Boston.  Directed by Martin Scorsese, the movie starred Leonardo Di Caprio and Matt Damon.

 “No Country for Old Men” (2007) - In this adaptation of Cormac McCarthy’s 2005 novel, violence and mayhem ensue in 1980 West Texas after a hunter stumble upon a drug deal gone wrong and over two million dollars in cash near the Rio Grande.  Directed by Ethan and Joel Coen, the movie starred Tommy Lee Jones, Josh Brolin and Javier Bardem.

“Argo” (2012) - In this adaptation of Tony Mendez’s 1999 memoir, “The Master of Disguise“ and Joshuah Bearman’s 2007 “WIRED” article "The Great Escape: How the CIA Used a Fake Sci-Fi Flick to Rescue Americans from Tehran"; the C.I.A. led the rescue of six U.S. diplomats from Tehran, Iran, under the guise of a film crew for a science-fiction movie during the 1979–1981 Iran Hostage Crisis.  Ben Affleck directed and starred in the movie.

“12 Years a Slave” (2013) - This film is an adaptation of Solomon Northup’s 1853 memoir, “Twelve Years a Slave”, about his experiences as a free man in New York State who is kidnapped and sold into slavery.  Directed by Steve McQueen, the movie starred Chiwetel Ejiofor.