Thread: The crisis in Syria

U.S. military officers have deep doubts about impact, wisdom of a U.S. strike on Syria - The Washington Post

Many of America's top military brass don't want to take action against Syria either!

Former and current officers, many with the painful lessons of Iraq and Afghanistan on their minds, said the main reservations concern the potential unintended consequences of launching cruise missiles against Syria.

Some questioned the use of military force as a punitive measure and suggested that the White House lacks a coherent strategy. If the administration is ambivalent about the wisdom of defeating or crippling the Syrian leader, possibly setting the stage for Damascus to fall to fundamentalist rebels, they said, the military objective of strikes on Assad’s military targets is at best ambiguous.

Syrian Novelist Khaled al-Khalifa on a Possible US Strike

A noted Syrian novelist, opposed to American involvement, speaks out:

Tell me when did the invaders bring freedom?

“At the end I will never be in favour of any American intervention in our area, because I know them very well. They could have defended the values from day one of our revolution and could have helped us, but they waited till the country was destroyed.

Of course, the non-Russian mod will censor the truth I give.

Кстати, Лампада, кажется, что ты не русская! Жалко.

Но я должна сказать, что ты всё равно отлично говоришь по-русски!

Originally Posted by Deborski

Кстати, Лампада, кажется, что ты не русская! Жалко.

Но я должна сказать, что ты всё равно отлично говоришь по-русски!

Мой сын считает, что я русская.

Originally Posted by Lampada

Мой сын считает, что я русская.

)))))) Его кот тоже, наверное, русский!

By the way, 14, I know your attitude for different sorts of propaganda, which I have to say I like, and having said this, I'd like to bring up some point here which I think you should consider, which is, no one of the participants on this thread has come even close to the level of propaganda buying at which those fighting the war in Syria on Assad's side are

У него две кошки.
Наши евреи смеются: "Там мы были евреями, а тут мы все сразу стали русскими".

Originally Posted by Lampada

У него две кошки.
Наши евреи смеются: "Там мы были евреями, а тут мы все сразу стали русскими".

Да )))) И в Америке, кажется, что я даже русская. Я слишком часто говорю о Россие, по-этому мои друзья все называют меня "русская"

Странно, потому-что когда я жила в России, меня называли "американка"...

Я уже не знаю, кто есть я

U.S. to release information about Syria's chemical weapons use - CNN.com

So - back to topic - looks like the US is going to release its "evidence" that Assad is responsible for the chemical attacks. I have to say I am very skeptical of US intelligence, recalling how US intel about WMD's in Iraq turned out to be false. But I guess we shall see what we shall see.

The Obama administration will release declassified intelligence Friday backing up a government assessment that the Syrian regime was responsible for a chemical weapons attack, a senior administration official said.

This comes amid talk among major powers of a military response against the forces of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. The administration has said that the information would be made public by the end of the week.

But diplomatic and political developments this week raised the chances of the United States going it alone in a military intervention.

Hands Off Syria - Take action against U.S. intervention!

To get a broad picture of just how many Americans oppose military involvement in Syria, this article has a list of all the anti-war protests going on across the US. It is an extensive list!

No need for intervention. Just help to cut the flow of weapons and ammo to rebels.

I have one more thing to say on this:

You Russians think Putin is undemocratic and corrupt. Sure, this may be right, and I hope it gets sorted out one way or another. It's not really for me to comment on his domestic policies anyway, since they don't concern me.

But he has the RIGHT idea in terms of foreign policy and you should honestly be proud of that!
The USA with it's constant aggressiveness and rhetoric may have some of the European countries in its pockets...

But the rest of the world will admire Russia (and China) for acting in a principled way in world politics, and not using its military strength to bully, invade and oppress. Hopefully this will pay off -- sooner or later.

Your tax money is paying for the one English speaking international channel that tells the truth about what's going on in places like Syria.

Originally Posted by Hanna

I have one more thing to say on this:

You Russians think Putin is undemocratic and corrupt. Sure, this may be right, and I hope it gets sorted out one way or another. It's not really for me to comment on his domestic policies anyway, since they don't concern me.

But he has the RIGHT idea in terms of foreign policy and you should honestly be proud of that!
The USA with it's constant aggressiveness and rhetoric may have some of the European countries in its pockets...

But the rest of the world will admire Russia (and China) for acting in a principled way in world politics, and not using its military strength to bully, invade and oppress. Hopefully this will pay off -- sooner or later.

Your tax money is paying for the one English speaking international channel that tells the truth about what's going on in places like Syria.

It would be better if their tax money helped improve their roads and raise the scale of living in the countryside, though.

US intel report stops short of confirming Assad is responsible for chemical attack — RT USA

“Our high confidence assessment is the strongest position that the US Intelligence Community can take short of confirmation,” the report reads in part.

So in other words, US still DOES NOT ACTUALLY HAVE CONFIRMATION.

Originally Posted by Hanna

I have one more thing to say on this:

You Russians think Putin is undemocratic and corrupt. Sure, this may be right, and I hope it gets sorted out one way or another. It's not really for me to comment on his domestic policies anyway, since they don't concern me.

But he has the RIGHT idea in terms of foreign policy and you should honestly be proud of that!
The USA with it's constant aggressiveness and rhetoric may have some of the European countries in its pockets...

But the rest of the world will admire Russia (and China) for acting in a principled way in world politics, and not using its military strength to bully, invade and oppress. Hopefully this will pay off -- sooner or later.

Your tax money is paying for the one English speaking international channel that tells the truth about what's going on in places like Syria.

Blah, blah, blah... Just because they might be accurate about one thing, doesn't mean they tell 'the truth' about everything or anything else.

'It's not really for me to comment on his domestic policies anyway, since they don't concern me.'

Then why are you 'telling Russians' to think A or B about Putin at all? How do you conclude anything? LOL!

"But he has the RIGHT idea in terms of foreign policy and you should honestly be proud of that!"
Proud of what? Perhaps, they are just glad that his puppet masters are not pushing him to go full throttle (like those 'leaders' in the USA, UK and France?)?

Anyway, I agree with most of the comments regarding Syria that the USA is in the wrong.

But, there are no 'good guys' here. They are all just in for their own self-interest and what strategy is best for them. However, the USA is among the most unethical as they have participated in something so heinous in supporting rebels who gassed innocent Syrians. If there's no proof or evidence given (either way), the U.S. is committing the despicable in totally lying already without anything to substantiate their claims. Regardless, it is not their job to 'police' and people are fed up with it. Furthermore, to add to this, they are bankrupt so it is absolutely laughable that they would even engage in more military involvement. Do Americans not care about that?!? The polls show only 50% support a strike??!?!? I'm very wary of polls but this number is quite high. I wonder if it's just manufactured because the number should be ZERO.

'Syrian rebels take responsibility for the chemical attack admitting the weapons were provided by Saudis' - source - News - World - The Voice of Russia: News, Breaking news, Politics, Economics, Business, Russia, International current events,

“From numerous interviews with doctors, Ghouta residents, rebel fighters and their families….many believe that certain rebels received chemical weapons via the Saudi intelligence chief, Prince Bandar bin Sultan, and were responsible for carrying out the (deadly) gas attack,” he writes in the article.

The rebels noted it was a result of an accident caused by rebels mishandling chemical weapons provided to them.

“My son came to me two weeks ago asking what I thought the weapons were that he had been asked to carry,” said Abu Abdel-Moneim, the father of a rebel fighting to unseat Assad, who lives in Ghouta.

As Gavlak reports, Abdel-Moneim said his son and 12 other rebels died in a weapons storage tunnel. The father stated the weapons were provided to rebel forces by a Saudi militant, known as Abu Ayesha, describing them as having a “tube-like structure” while others were like a “huge gas bottle.”

“They didn’t tell us what these arms were or how to use them,” complained a female fighter named ‘K’. “We didn’t know they were chemical weapons. We never imagined they were chemical weapons.”

“When Saudi Prince Bandar gives such weapons to people, he must give them to those who know how to handle and use them,” she warned. She, like other Syrians, do not want to use their full names for fear of retribution.

Gavlak also refers to an article in the UK’s Daily Telegraph about secret Russian-Saudi talks stating that Prince Bandar threatened Russian President Vladimir Putin with terror attacks at next year’s Winter Olympics in Sochi if Russia doesn’t agree to change its stance on Syria.

Apparently there are also pretty good signs that the rebels already used chemical weapons.









And remember that this has very little to do with democracy, human rights or any concern for the Syrian people.
Eyes on the prize as far as these guys are concerned. It's Iran they really want, and Syria, from there perspective is a really worthwhile milestone in that project.

Originally Posted by Hanna

Apparently there are also pretty good signs that the rebels already used chemical weapons.

And remember that this has very little to do with democracy, human rights or any concern for the Syrian people.
Eyes on the prize as far as these guys are concerned. It's Iran they really want, and Syria, from there perspective is a really worthwhile milestone in that project.

A few days ago, it seemed that bombing was imminent. They even said the airstrikes would commence on Thursday. The fact that this has been delayed encourages me. There are massive protests going on in the US (whether our war-loving media covers them is another matter) and we have been calling the White House and our representatives NONSTOP. I hope this is a sign that Obama is backing away from a military intervention. Of course, I could be wrong.

PS, Hanna, remember what you said about trolls? As you can see, the one you were describing before, isn't the only one...

Okay. I just finished reading the whole thread.

First, I agree with post #36 (Russia vs USSR). I think there's always good and bad in any government and I think that was true for Syria. They had a decent government and they wanted even more. Now they've lost everything cause they were too impatient to wait for changes to happen.

I kinda agree with post #69. I read about the Afghan thing in 1979. The leader was too friendly with the west and the Russians wanted him out for National Security reasons. The US used that as an excuse to train Middle East terrorists to attack the new system in Afghanistan. One of those terrorists was Osama bin Laden. It was another way to set up a military base aimed at Russia. And Afghanistan became the poorest country in the world. The score was America gets everything, Afghanistan gets almost nothing.

Now the US wants Syria so they can seriously damage Iran's economy. Obama doesn't care how many Syrian people die or even how they die. If they died because of illegal chemical weapons then that's even better cause he can use that excuse to bomb Syria. Then he can put his own dictator in power and yeah, Syria can be another sweatshop country. And who gets all the profits from that? The factories.
The next thing that happens is Obama will find a reason to bomb Iran.

It's too sad to even think about all the people who will die from all these wars.
That's why I believe that Assad should win. Yeah, a lot of people will still suffer and die but not as many as there will be if Iran is attacked too. These wars need to stop!

Also, if Obama gives arms and stuff to the rebels then he's giving them to the terrorists and Al-Qaeda too. And that's called "Aiding The Enemy". And that's treason.
There's 2 things I saw and read that really scared me about all this.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/31/wo...isks.html?_r=0

akEobyCsktY

I think Medvedev may have just been saber rattling. But it was scary and that NY Times article is even scarier. It could escalate into something nobody can control.
I just hope Congress can stop Obama before any of this can happen.

Why Syria Intervention Plan Is Being Pushed by Oil Interests, Not Concern About Chemical Weapons | Alternet

From this article:

So what was this unfolding strategy to undermine Syria and Iran all about? According to retired NATO Secretary General Wesley Clark, a memo from the Office of the US Secretary of Defense just a few weeks after 9/11 revealed plans to "attack and destroy the governments in 7 countries in five years", starting with Iraq and moving on to "Syria, Lebanon, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Iran." In a subsequent interview, Clark argues that this strategy is fundamentally about control of the region's vast oil and gas resources.