Exposed: The Obama Invasion of Syria

[Violet]

And this is why we are not a democracy, but a republic. Thank the powers that be

[Rayaan]

All of this seems like points for Putin... And that should be the name of a game show.

[festive1]

It's a weird feeling when you find yourself agreeing with a foreign leader in such ways... But Putin NAILS it: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/12/opinio...p&_r=1&
I still think everything is coming up Putin currently...

[Something completely different]

It's a weird feeling when you find yourself agreeing with a foreign leader in such ways... But Putin NAILS it: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/12/opinio...p&_r=1&
I still think everything is coming up Putin currently...

A pathetic plea by a sociopath. The man is a thug and no matter how nice the pressreleases designated to be published in the west may sound, this will not change the fact that Russia is supporting the Syrian goverment and not international law. No public official in the western hemisphere is in any way proposing support of suni fundermentalist elemts. Putin is merely smearing honey arround the mouths of readers who have already made up their minds. The resolvement of this conflict in a way which benefits Russia will certainly not add in even the slightest way to the resolvement of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict let alone to the Iranian nuclear problem. If there is no intervention or no consequence for the use of chemical weapons, it is more of an encouragement for Iran to proceed with it`s nuclear program since it can further expect to not confront reprisals. And the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has absolutly nothing to do with the matter. The Arab league has expelled Syria, the Syrian goverment has absolutly no leverage and anything to say in the resolving of that conflict. The situation in Iraq still is bad, but Syria is not Iraq. Other than the Tuarek rebellion in Mali was without any doubt caused by the intervention in Lybia, but that rebellion was succesfully quelled by the French army. And the situation in Lybia is not as bad as alot of people want to paint it. The muslim brotherhood was almoust completly rejected during the elections, Lybia has not given up democracy unlike Egypt and the countrys goverment has certainly not splitt up into shattered pieces which control one region after another in the form of tribes. To mention the UN security council is lame. The security council is structured as a democratic institution, a democratic institution requires democratic participants, Russia is not a democratic participant. Other than that there is no evidence which in any way proves that the chemical weapons were used by the opposition. The indications all lead to the Syrian goverment. The missles carrying the chemicals were fired from areas controlled by the regime, troops surrounding the erea where the missles hit started wearing gasmasks shortly before the attack took place, the erea which was hit was mostly in opposition hands. The Syrian goverment has constantly kept a very tight grip on it`s chemical arsenal, at one point even alegedly trying to transport them into Lebanon. Other than that, the Rebells lack the suffistication to gain a scud missle and the launcher needed for a scud missle, let alone the capacities to arm a scud missle with a chemical warhead and to aim it at one very destinctive erea. The theory that the missles were launched by overly aggressive officers of Assads army without the approval of Assad is plausible.

To simply rely on a conspiracy which is based on "feelings" about war and some mysterious theory over how the goverment manipulates the free press, will not make the various indications that point to the Syrian goverment go away. And an article writen by Putin, will not change the fact that the man is a sociopath who has brutaly cracked down on every single form of opposition and dissent ever since he started his career as a KGB agent whos job it was to hunt soviet soldiers who tried to desert into the west.

[sarcasticgeographer]

I do not trust Putin and his motives. I am not sure how many of you know about the conflict in South Ossetia during July 2008, but Putin was a savage. Although most international authorities blame Georgia for the conflict, Putin also was not very "diplomatic" in his negotiations with Saakashvili, president of Georgia.

He is an abomination of truth, since he clearly does not value civilian lives as much as he tries to champion them in his op-ed trash. Look at how many civilian lives have been decimated by Russia's aggression. Please do not fall prey to Putin's words, since his actions clearly oppose his words. There are ulterior motives for his op-ed and I fear his forked tongue. Also, please look at his treatment of Chechen citizens. He is NOT a champion of civilian rights.

Article on the South Ossetia conflict: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008_South_Ossetia_war

Putin is not a man to be trusted and I remain skeptical of his motives.

Another link to Chechya: http://www.ushmm.org/genocide/take_actio...ya-russia/

Putin is not in a position to champion diplomacy and civilian lives.

[festive1]

I typed out a very wordy response Germans... Then I deleted it... Basically it went: Putin is a shady guy, not a cuddly teddy bear, but that doesn't make him wrong in this instance.

I know full well what Putin is saying is a poisoned apple... It all sounds just a wee bit too good. But that doesn't make him incorrect in certain regards. He's as slimy as a politician can get, but he makes some very valid points. Really, what his op-ed is doing is destabilizing Obama. Politically speaking, it's really quite smart.
The rest of the world is watching the US's political, geopolitical, and economic decline. It's obvious our two party system isn't working the way it should. Without some changes it's clear the current political situation is not sustainable. The Republicans are eating themselves alive and getting crazier by the day. The Democrats are spineless, oligarchs, though the Republicans have more than their fair share of oligarchs too. I think the rest of the world is waiting with baited breath to see how the mighty will fall. Everyone loves a good tragedy after all. The US's situation is a culmination of self-inflicted wounds. What could be more tragic? It's clear the US is in a pronounced period of decline, much like Western Europe following WWII. How will the US handle such damage to their reputation? Will the US continue to dominate in the one arena we clearly have the upper hand in (ie. military power)? Or will we look inwards and fix some of our very serious internal issues? We certainly won't handle it with as much grace as Europe did... which doesn't exactly bode well...

As to Putin not being in a position to champion diplomacy and civilian lives... Well, one would think the Nobel Peace Prize winner would do that instead of insisting on military action against a sovereign nation that has done no direct harm to those outside of their country. One would think Obama would have been the one to seek a diplomatic solution. But no, it wasn't him... It was the thug Russian. That deserves some props, because it takes some balls to stand up to the US who is notorious for simply waltzing in and intervening militarily in various countries, no matter what Putin's personal motivations are.

[Anomalocaris]

A pathetic plea by a sociopath. The man is a thug and no matter how nice the pressreleases designated to be published in the west may sound, this will not change the fact that Russia is supporting the Syrian goverment and not international law.

Ah, no. There is no international law that says it is illegal to support a government that the west wants to remove for any reason. There is an international law that say attacking a country that doesn't pose a direct threat to you is illegal without UN sanction.

So Russia is supporting international law where international law has something to say. Russia is supporting Syria where international law has nothing to say.

Don't make the mistake of thinking internaitonal law is whatever suits your personal conception of what western sensibility is for the moment.

[sarcasticgeographer]

I know full well what Putin is saying is a poisoned apple... It all sounds just a wee bit too good. But that doesn't make him incorrect in certain regards. He's as slimy as a politician can get, but he makes some very valid points. Really, what his op-ed is doing is destabilizing Obama. Politically speaking, it's really quite smart.
The rest of the world is watching the US's political, geopolitical, and economic decline. It's obvious our two party system isn't working the way it should. Without some changes it's clear the current political situation is not sustainable. The Republicans are eating themselves alive and getting crazier by the day. The Democrats are spineless, oligarchs, though the Republicans have more than their fair share of oligarchs too. I think the rest of the world is waiting with baited breath to see how the mighty will fall. Everyone loves a good tragedy after all. The US's situation is a culmination of self-inflicted wounds. What could be more tragic? It's clear the US is in a pronounced period of decline, much like Western Europe following WWII. How will the US handle such damage to their reputation? Will the US continue to dominate in the one arena we clearly have the upper hand in (ie. military power)? Or will we look inwards and fix some of our very serious internal issues? We certainly won't handle it with as much grace as Europe did... which doesn't exactly bode well...

Festive: The Syria situation is truly a catch-22 situation. It has been known that some of the opponents to Assad are groups funded by terrorist organizations. In my opinion, the chemical weapons that Assad has should never be given to the rebels represented by terrorists. I also have read that Hezbollah has recently been given chemical weapons by Assad. Source: http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013...-chemical/ Can the US really trust Hezbollah, my position is an unconditional NO. Yet, due to the oil in this area, other countries (china/Russia) have vested interests in this as well. There is no clear solution in this matter and only time will tell what will happen. If the US does bomb Syria, I see the possibility of another scenario similar to the assassination of the Archduke Francis Ferdinand.

Even more scary is the fact that the US economy has been very slow in recovery. Sadly, it is an unfortunate truth that war can stimulate an economy. I just hope Obama's swordplaying becomes more open to diplomacy. There are way too many parameters involved to just bomb away.

Yet, does the world want terrorist groups like Hezbollah with chemical weapons? This is the dilemma and by some accounts it may be already too late.

[festive1]

Geographer... Citing sources from an exceedingly conservative paper founded by Sun Myung Moon does not aid your cause. It's like citing Fox News.
That being said, these chemical weapons not falling into terrorist hands is of vital importance to our national security and that of some of our closest allies. Assad has agreed to turn over said weapons, as reported by many news outlets, not just a conservative paper with an agenda. If he turns them over I see no need to get further involved in the matter.

[Rayaan]

It's a weird feeling when you find yourself agreeing with a foreign leader in such ways... But Putin NAILS it: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/12/opinio...p&_r=1&
I still think everything is coming up Putin currently...

I was thinking that also. It's kind of funny that we like and respect the leader of another country more than our own.


At first people thought that Obama was going to be soooo much better than Bush and soooo much smarter than Bush after hearing all his speeches and his "promises" and stuff.

But nah. They are really not so different, afterall. One of them just has a better suntan.