Turkey Bombs Kurds Fighting ISIS, Then Hires Same Lobbying Firm Supporting U.S. Presidential Candidates

By Michael Krieger: The one group in the Middle East that is actually standing up to ISIS and successfully resisting it militarily are the Kurds. So what does U.S. ally Turkey do to the Kurds? It bombs the shit out of them, naturally.
From the New York Times:

On the same day that Turkey announced it would help fight the Islamic State, Turkish forces began an airstrike campaign against one of the very groups that has been crucial to stopping the advance of the Islamic State.

Since the July 24 announcement, Turkey has launched several waves of airstrikes against elements of a Kurdish separatist group known as the P.K.K., which is widely listed as a terrorist group. But that group and its allies in Syria, who have been closely working with American forces, are pushing Islamic State militants out of areas they once controlled.

Clearly cognizant of how bad this looks, the government of Turkey went ahead and hired lobbying firm, Squire Patton Boggs, the same firm tied to 2016 Presidential candidates Jeb Bush and Hillary Clinton.

We learn from the Intercept that:

On July 24, Turkey launched a massive military campaign that included sweeping attacks against Kurdish forces as well as minor strikes on Islamic State positions south of Turkey’s border. Just five days later, the Turkish government inked a contract to hire a team of prominent lobbyists to add to its already formidable army of influence-peddlers in Washington.
The contract, revealed Wednesday in a filing with the Justice Department, shows that the law and lobbying firm Squire Patton Boggs was retained on July 29 on a $32,000 a month retainer — as a subcontractor to Gephardt Government Affairs, acting for Turkey on its own 10-month, $1.7 million contract.
Squire Patton Boggs is no ordinary lobbying firm. It is among the highest grossing firms inside the Beltway, with a roster of former senior government officials and lawmakers. Individuals from the firm are now helping to fundraise for Jeb Bush and are among the top 20 donors to Hillary Clinton over the course of her political career.
The lobbying registration documents show that Turkey will now be assisted by a Squire Patton Boggs team that includes former Sens. Trent Lott and John Breaux, along with former White House official Robert Kapla and former Republican congressional aide Bret Boyles.

The team from Squire Patton Boggs joins a small army of lobbyists employed by Turkey. They include former Democratic lawmakers Dick Gephardt and Al Wynn; former Republican Senator Tim Hutchinson; retired Central Intelligence Agency Director Porter Goss; former Democratic aide Brian Fornil; the law firm Greenberg Traurig; and Goldin Solutions, a media strategy firm. The Turkish government also uses a number of affiliated nonprofits to organize pro-Turkey publicity events and to organize vacation-style junkets for American journalists, politicians and other influential individuals.

This is how foreign nations buy American foreign policy by paying off former U.S. Congressmen. 
Feel dirty yet? Yeah, me too.

In Liberty,
Michael Krieger

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