Senate The Middle East Discussion Thread

Not like Donald Trump is going to care.

 

Trump is likely to applaud Assad for being "tough on ISIS."


To be fair, Obama set this as his "red line" years ago, and when Assad had previously used chemical weapons, Obama didn't act. Instead they did some kind of UN-sponsored "dismantling" of Assad's stockpiles, with Assad's permission... and surprise, looks like Assad didn't tell them about all his sites or he made new ones since then.

We can't be world policemen, and expect to solve every problem in the world, or even get involved in everything in the world. But when something reaches a certain magnitude with an immediate crisis, we need to do something. When it became clear years ago that tens of thousands (even without WMDs) were dying in Syria, we needed to do something. And with hindsight, it might have also prevented ISIS from filling the vacuum, the international refugee crisis stemming from Syria, and the xenophobic/isolationist/anti-Muslim backlash that has rushed the Nationalist Right to power across Europe and the United States.

One of Obama's biggest mistakes.

 

Obama only issued meaningless red lines because Britain and France were publicly demanding the United States to do something meaningful in Syria. And it was election year.

The Obama administration were just as silent, as Trump, on Syria.

 

I'm not denying it was one of Obama's biggest mistakes.

Though I kind of fear action from the Trump administration more than inaction. For all we know, Trump's idea of action in Syria might be to use chemical weapons ourselves (or nukes, just to make a point).


Also, to be fair, I think the UK Parliament also ended up refusing to do something more in Syria.

 

At least Obama wrung out that concession from Assad to get rid of his chemical weapon arsenal. Trump's comments so far suggest he's just going to give the green light to dictators everywhere to behave as abusively as they want.

 

Yet Assad used chemical weapons today...

 

Even if it wasn't 100% successful, the deal did get rid of most of the chemical weapons did it not? At least it means Assad has much less of them, and is mostly using improvised weapons like chlorine instead of nerve agents like sarin.

Also on a side note, guess whose interest it was in for that arsenal to magically disappear? Israel's. Look at how Netanyahu showed his gratitude.

 

The grief-stricken father cradled his 9-month-old twins, Aya and Ahmed, each in the crook of an arm. Stroking their hair, he choked back tears, mumbling, "Say goodbye, baby, say goodbye" to their lifeless bodies.
Then Abdel Hameed Alyousef took them to a mass grave where 22 members of his family were being buried. Each branch of the clan got its own trench.
More than 80 people, including at least 30 children and 20 women, were killed in the chemical attack on the Syrian town of Khan Sheikhoun early Tuesday, and the toll could still rise. The Alyousef family, one of the town's main clans, was hardest hit.
Another member of the family, Aya Fadl, recalled running from her house with her 20-month-old son in her arms, thinking she could find safety from the toxic gas in the street. Instead, the 25-year-old English teacher was confronted face to face with the horror of it: A pick-up truck piled with the bodies of the dead, including many of her own relatives and students.
"Ammar, Aya, Mohammed, Ahmad, I love you my birds. Really they were like birds. Aunt Sana, Uncle Yasser, Abdul-Kareem, please hear me," Fadl said, choking back tears as she recalled how she said farewell to her relatives in the pile.
"I saw them. They were dead. All are dead now."

https://www.yahoo.com/news/chemical-attack-kills-22-members-220438765.html

 

That's Putin for you. According to him, Assad is the legitimate, sovereign government of Syria and therefore he has the right to do these things.

 

Yes, weapons of war kill human beings. I suppose we realize that only when convenient.

 

Look, I get it...you're pissed that Bush invaded Iraq. So am I. That doesn't mean Hillary Clinton = George W. Bush or that America should go full isolationist and just turn a blind eye when there's actual atrocities being committed elsewhere.

 

Even's criticism is much broader than Iraq. And he has never cared about Hillary Clinton.

 

Absolutely heartbreaking. Sorry, I just couldn't bring myself to 'like' this post. Its high time Assad went the route of Saddam Hussein.

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Once upon a time, I believed that it was the UN's job to prevent atrocities like this. Unfortunately, its become a politicized mess. Heck, they're paying Assad, while he ignores UN resolutions against him. And then the UN wastes time condemning one of the only countries that's directly aiding Syrians (and the main stabilizing force in the region)...Israel. Just a couple examples:

Israeli hospital providing food and medical treatment to Syrians

Israelis collecting and distributing winter clothing and supplies to Syrians

Even providing free medical treatment at other Israeli hospitals

Any insinuation that Israel's aid to Syrians is from anything other than humanitarian reasons is very misguided. This is the same Syria doesn't recognize Israeli passports and was building a nuclear reactor (with aid from North Korea and Russia). The Syrian government would love to wipe Israel off the map. Yet Israelis empathize with what Syrian civilians have endured at the hands of the Assad regime, including systematic torture and executions. No one knows better than Israelis what its like to face death while the world is silent, and THAT is why they're discretely providing aid to Syrian civilians.

This and the situation in Yemen are all direct fallout from the failed Arab Spring, specifically Obama's decision to back out and let Russia take the lead. He also should have given more support to pro-democracy groups in Syria. At this point, I think we need to adopt a 'you break it, you bought it' approach to Syria especially. Yes, extremists might be the majority and would need to be dealt with. Then there's the folks like Abdel Hameed Alyousef and Aya Fadl. They're human beings, same as everyone, and they're reacting the same way to unspeakable tragedy that any parents in any Western country would. Learn from the mistakes we've made elsewhere, like in Iraq. Talk to people and work with them.

Its our duty and moral obligation to render assistance to anyone if we're better off than they are.

 

I like how you've managed to use this atrocity to shoehorn in your pro-Israeli rhetoric. The real thing that matters here: supporting Israel (despite the fact that it commits horrible atrocities to the palestinians it occupies).

 

Maybe the threat title should be changed to "Terrorists, Dictators, & Wars in the Middle East"? The original thread title was much broader than ISIS, and it looks like US foreign policy regarding Syria is going to now focus on more than ISIS, with Trump saying they will take action and Assad will go.

 

The Middle East discussion thread, perhaps?

 

Breaking News:
50 Cruise Missiles just launched and hit Syria

 

Only source I have, so far, is 4chan...

US missiles launched, intercepted by the Russians, supposedly: http://boards.4chan.org/pol/thread/119826125/real-happening-early-reports-from-local-sources

 

Pentagon says over 50 hit their target.

http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news...an-base-after-chemical-weapons-attack-n743636

 

Reminds me of 1998...

 

**** Trump, **** the United States and **** anyone who supports this insane escalation.

Spoiler

This isn't going to solve anything.

 

Huh. I guess I have some words to eat.

Well, now that we've bombed Syria, what now? What does Putin make of this? It's gotta be pretty embarrassing for him to say the least...so he's sure to retaliate in some way. Escalation in Ukraine? Arms sales to Iran? To China? Or even a full alliance with both of the latter?

 

Leaving aside everything else, the mindlessness of this is unreal. No matter what opinion any of us hold here, or how ill-informed it may be, we can at least say that we've held them for more than 24 hours. The man with control of the most extensive and powerful weapons arsenal on Earth can't say the same. Because, really, what happened that he changed his mind so radically about Syria? Is he that mercurial? That oblivious? There are no defensible options here.

I wonder which side of this conflict we'll be on by the time he wakes up tomorrow and checks Twitter again. Ye gods.