stanley_white wrote:I hope it lasts as long as possible and the U.S. pops some popcorn and watches while our enemies kill each other.
Assad showed the world (again) that using WMDs doesn't have to be the last act of a desperate man. One has to presume that if he does go down, it will be accompanied by far more clouds of Sarin Gas and maybe not just in Syria.
What you would then hope is that we could turn one of his underlings who is not so set on martyrdom, and have a backed coup in exchange for the WMDs.
Stop posting.
Best chance of Assad getting killed and no WMDs is if one of cohorts does it, knife in the back style. You against that?
I don't really give a shit one way or another. '
It's a civil war, it's ugly, and it's no business of ours trying to influence the outcome.
I just want to influence not getting a shipping container full of Sarin Gas let loose where there are Merkins. Hope is not a strategy.
Neither is picking sides when both have ties to extremists. Rebels linked to AQ, Assad linked to Hezbollah, neither much of a good thing for the U.S.
Getting involved, in any way and with either side, increases the chance that the winner becomes even more hostile to the U.S. should the other win.
And there's no guarantee we can keep that container from getting here or anywhere else, no matter who wins, even the side we decide are "the good guys" happens to win.
Stay out = best strategy. No hope needed.
"Gentle in what you do, Firm in how you do it"
- Buck Brannaman
stanley_white wrote:I hope it lasts as long as possible and the U.S. pops some popcorn and watches while our enemies kill each other.
Assad showed the world (again) that using WMDs doesn't have to be the last act of a desperate man. One has to presume that if he does go down, it will be accompanied by far more clouds of Sarin Gas and maybe not just in Syria.
What you would then hope is that we could turn one of his underlings who is not so set on martyrdom, and have a backed coup in exchange for the WMDs.
Stop posting.
Best chance of Assad getting killed and no WMDs is if one of cohorts does it, knife in the back style. You against that?
I don't really give a shit one way or another. '
It's a civil war, it's ugly, and it's no business of ours trying to influence the outcome.
I just want to influence not getting a shipping container full of Sarin Gas let loose where there are Merkins. Hope is not a strategy.
Neither is picking sides when both have ties to extremists. Rebels linked to AQ, Assad linked to Hezbollah, neither much of a good thing for the U.S.
Getting involved, in any way and with either side, increases the chance that the winner becomes even more hostile to the U.S. should the other win.
And there's no guarantee we can keep that container from getting here or anywhere else, no matter who wins, even the side we decide are "the good guys" happens to win.
Stay out = best strategy. No hope needed.
Concur with Baffled.
As long as both sides keep fighting each other their attention is not on attacking the U.S.
So, as i read in news, strike will be at Thursday.
Eheheh... America... America...
I am sorry for the shocking image, but you need to know what governments are doing in your name. Drone strikes have killed 176 children in Pakistan alone!
Free Talk Live
The President does not have power under the Constitution to unilaterally authorize a military attack in a situation that does not involve stopping an actual or imminent threat to the nation.
"The biggest problems that we’re facing right now have to do with George Bush trying to bring more and more power into the executive branch and not go through Congress at all."
Testimony from victims of the conflict in Syria suggests rebels have used the nerve agent, sarin, a leading member of a UN commission of inquiry has said.
Carla Del Ponte told Swiss TV that there were "strong, concrete suspicions but not yet incontrovertible proof".
Of course, there's this:
Ms Del Ponte did not rule out the possibility that government forces might also have used chemical weapons.
What I take from that is that both sides may have gassed each other, or they may not have used anything other than more conventional weaponry.
Either way, there are no good guys here, and the presence of AQ affiliated groups in the rebel effort still makes me wonder how we may be better off without Assad in power.
Trying to engineer a coup from the inside of his power circle does... what? How do we know they wouldn't create a state even more hostile to the West?
"Gentle in what you do, Firm in how you do it"
- Buck Brannaman
baffled wrote:Either way, there are no good guys here, and the presence of AQ affiliated groups in the rebel effort still makes me wonder how we may be better off without Assad in power.
Trying to engineer a coup from the inside of his power circle does... what? How do we know they wouldn't create a state even more hostile to the West?
People seem to get fixated on the figurehead at the top of organizations and ignore the structure and environment that surround that person, especially recently as countries are terrified of the commitment behind "nation building" kind of talk.
The upside is that the US serving as air support for Al Qaeda will certainly lead to a regime that is far more repressive than Assad ever could have imagined, leading to US involvement and increased military contracts for another good decade.
WildGorillaMan wrote:Enthusiasm combined with no skill whatsoever can sometimes carry the day.
"The biggest problems that we’re facing right now have to do with George Bush trying to bring more and more power into the executive branch and not go through Congress at all."
We will regret removing Assad from power. The religious minorities of the middle east will pay the majority of the bill though.
We really need to stop this Willsonian nation building shit. These savages are in no way ready for democracy; they'll just vote in the jihadist dumb asses that have help fuck up the culture for close to 1300 years.
I have been of the belief (since 2001) that we should treat the Middle East as one huge hunting preserve. No nation building, no holding of huge tracks of territory and no convention troops. Let Special Opperations off their leash and get them killing jihadist mother fuckers in thier sleep.
Arms are the only true badge of liberty. The possession of arms is the distinction of the free man from the slave.
VO2 maxed wrote:Obama wants to punish them for an "alleged" chemical attack ? I'm not seeing enough outrage over this. Its going to create a huge shit storm.
It's ok. He's going to do it the right way.
Blaidd Drwg wrote:Disengage from the outcome and do work.