A Possible 'Syrian War'

[WinePusher]

The United States believes that Assad used chemical weapons on civilians. This has led many in the public to believe that the United States will intervene militarily in Syria.

1) Should the United States be involved at all in Syria? If so, why and to what extent?

[bluethread]

[Replying to Nickman]

I agree, and it seems that unlike your previous leader, this one actually takes into account how the international community is reacting atm.

But just a quick point, you can't really compare a bullet to an indiscriminating gas cloud. There's a reason the use of chemical weapons in warfare is an absolute no-go.
Not saying killing civilians is ever acceptable, but something as vile, unpredictable and indiscriminate as a chemical attack is completely different from firing a mortar on a specified target.

Yes, a sword to the neck of a nun is much better. Who is going to stop the atrocities of the rebels? By the way, it was moving to see our president come before the people and declare "Wo'!".

[Nickman]

Assad has no side worth listening to.

All these dictators all around the world can be compared to Ted Bundy taking over an entire country.

How is Asad a dictator? Did you watch his interview? It looks like you didn't. Syria is a republic, BTW.

[Nickman]

[Replying to Nickman]

I agree, and it seems that unlike your previous leader, this one actually takes into account how the international community is reacting atm.

But just a quick point, you can't really compare a bullet to an indiscriminating gas cloud. There's a reason the use of chemical weapons in warfare is an absolute no-go.
Not saying killing civilians is ever acceptable, but something as vile, unpredictable and indiscriminate as a chemical attack is completely different from firing a mortar on a specified target.

Who said anything about bullets? Bombs have no respect to persons, whether that be non-combatants or combatants. There is still the same amount of bloodshed. We are also the only country to use nuclear weapons and now we feel that we have to be the good guys and police everyone for some nerve gas? It is hypocrisy. Let this man Asad deal with the situation on his own. Let us deal with immigration reform, Glass-Steagall, getting money out of politics, securing our borders, health care, and all the other issues we keep putting on the back burner because of war.

[Nickman]

@ Dantalion,
In 2004 I was in Iraq and we would get attacked by mortars anytime of day or night. The enemy would get as close as they could to our huge berm surrounding the base. They would then launch mortars on base and hope to hit something. It didn't matter what they hit. They were not aiming. Chemical weapons can be used in a specific strike and for specific people. We can determine the wind factor and the plume as we call it. From these factors we can determine who and what will be affected. Im not excusing them, but we can target specific individuals if we want.

[bluethread]

Thomas Jefferson: "The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants." Looks to me like this is a job for Syrian patriots and tyrants."[/b]

[Philbert]

How is Asad a dictator? Did you watch his interview? It looks like you didn't. Syria is a republic, BTW.

I respect your service, but not your analysis. It's pretty silly in the extreme to ask how is Assad a dictator. He was given the job by his father who ruled the country with an iron fist for decades. Hopefully you are joking and I missed the joke.

I don't disagree we have plenty of our own business to attend to. My point was that we could do that and rid the middle east of psychopathic dictators too if we had more help from the rest of the world, and didn't always have to do most of the heavy lifting ourselves. Our European friends could be fully equal partners, but they decline to do so.

My parents, perhaps your grandparents, learned the very hard way how well walking away from psychopathic dictators works. We tried to ignore the German and Japanese fascists, and it came back to bite us big time. What's happening is that lesson is now being lost as that generation fades from the scene.

The civil war in Syria could spill over in to the rest of region, maybe even engulfing the entire world in war again. It's happened before. Psychopathic dictators are a contagious cancer that can't always be contained to somebody else's body.

Why was it heroic for us to invade Europe and liberate it from murderous fascists, but it's warmongering to invade the middle east and liberate it from murderous fascists? Are middle easterners somehow less human, less qualified, less worthy of our support?

[Nickman]

How is Asad a dictator? Did you watch his interview? It looks like you didn't. Syria is a republic, BTW.

I respect your service, but not your analysis. It's pretty silly in the extreme to ask how is Assad a dictator. He was given the job by his father who ruled the country with an iron fist for decades. Hopefully you are joking and I missed the joke.

I don't disagree we have plenty of our own business to attend to. My point was that we could do that and rid the middle east of psychopathic dictators too if we had more help from the rest of the world, and didn't always have to do most of the heavy lifting ourselves. Our European friends could be fully equal partners, but they decline to do so.

My parents, perhaps your grandparents, learned the very hard way how well walking away from psychopathic dictators works. We tried to ignore the German and Japanese fascists, and it came back to bite us big time. What's happening is that lesson is now being lost as that generation fades from the scene.

The civil war in Syria could spill over in to the rest of region, maybe even engulfing the entire world in war again. It's happened before. Psychopathic dictators are a contagious cancer that can't always be contained to somebody else's body.

Why was it heroic for us to invade Europe and liberate it from murderous fascists, but it's warmongering to invade the middle east and liberate it from murderous fascists? Are middle easterners somehow less human, less qualified, less worthy of our support?

Are you going to help in the fight if we go? So many Americans, mainly right-wingers, are pro-war at every chance they get, but they are not the ones who have to leave their families and police the world. I am. All my military compadres as well. We are tired of war, especially the ones that lead to nothing. I am all for fighting for my country, but there is no fight to fight FOR my country in Syria. Let Assad take care of his own and we will do the same. Everytime someone makes a stink in the world, we are like the dog sitting in the house who hears it and starts yapping.

[Goat]

Assad has no side worth listening to.

All these dictators all around the world can be compared to Ted Bundy taking over an entire country.

How is Asad a dictator? Did you watch his interview? It looks like you didn't. Syria is a republic, BTW.

That is the claim. However, notice how Assad's father 'always' won, and assad immediately followed. The form might be a republic, but the elections are rigged.

[Goat]

How is Asad a dictator? Did you watch his interview? It looks like you didn't. Syria is a republic, BTW.

I respect your service, but not your analysis. It's pretty silly in the extreme to ask how is Assad a dictator. He was given the job by his father who ruled the country with an iron fist for decades. Hopefully you are joking and I missed the joke.

I don't disagree we have plenty of our own business to attend to. My point was that we could do that and rid the middle east of psychopathic dictators too if we had more help from the rest of the world, and didn't always have to do most of the heavy lifting ourselves. Our European friends could be fully equal partners, but they decline to do so.

My parents, perhaps your grandparents, learned the very hard way how well walking away from psychopathic dictators works. We tried to ignore the German and Japanese fascists, and it came back to bite us big time. What's happening is that lesson is now being lost as that generation fades from the scene.

The civil war in Syria could spill over in to the rest of region, maybe even engulfing the entire world in war again. It's happened before. Psychopathic dictators are a contagious cancer that can't always be contained to somebody else's body.

Why was it heroic for us to invade Europe and liberate it from murderous fascists, but it's warmongering to invade the middle east and liberate it from murderous fascists? Are middle easterners somehow less human, less qualified, less worthy of our support?

Are you going to help in the fight if we go? So many Americans, mainly right-wingers, are pro-war at every chance they get, but they are not the ones who have to leave their families and police the world. I am. All my military compadres as well. We are tired of war, especially the ones that lead to nothing. I am all for fighting for my country, but there is no fight to fight FOR my country in Syria. Let Assad take care of his own and we will do the same. Everytime someone makes a stink in the world, we are like the dog sitting in the house who hears it and starts yapping.

I personally really hope the U.S. does not do any military action, even launching missles and that's it. That being said, I find it somewhat amusing that Obama turned to put the issue to Congress, where so many of the conservatives are conflicted, because their natural instinct is to 'go to war', which is conflicting terrible with 'I will never agree with anything Obama does'. It is also forcing people to take a stand, rather than play 20/20 hindsight.

[Nickman]

How is Asad a dictator? Did you watch his interview? It looks like you didn't. Syria is a republic, BTW.

I respect your service, but not your analysis. It's pretty silly in the extreme to ask how is Assad a dictator. He was given the job by his father who ruled the country with an iron fist for decades. Hopefully you are joking and I missed the joke.

I don't disagree we have plenty of our own business to attend to. My point was that we could do that and rid the middle east of psychopathic dictators too if we had more help from the rest of the world, and didn't always have to do most of the heavy lifting ourselves. Our European friends could be fully equal partners, but they decline to do so.

My parents, perhaps your grandparents, learned the very hard way how well walking away from psychopathic dictators works. We tried to ignore the German and Japanese fascists, and it came back to bite us big time. What's happening is that lesson is now being lost as that generation fades from the scene.

The civil war in Syria could spill over in to the rest of region, maybe even engulfing the entire world in war again. It's happened before. Psychopathic dictators are a contagious cancer that can't always be contained to somebody else's body.

Why was it heroic for us to invade Europe and liberate it from murderous fascists, but it's warmongering to invade the middle east and liberate it from murderous fascists? Are middle easterners somehow less human, less qualified, less worthy of our support?

Are you going to help in the fight if we go? So many Americans, mainly right-wingers, are pro-war at every chance they get, but they are not the ones who have to leave their families and police the world. I am. All my military compadres as well. We are tired of war, especially the ones that lead to nothing. I am all for fighting for my country, but there is no fight to fight FOR my country in Syria. Let Assad take care of his own and we will do the same. Everytime someone makes a stink in the world, we are like the dog sitting in the house who hears it and starts yapping.

I personally really hope the U.S. does not do any military action, even launching missles and that's it. That being said, I find it somewhat amusing that Obama turned to put the issue to Congress, where so many of the conservatives are conflicted, because their natural instinct is to 'go to war', which is conflicting terrible with 'I will never agree with anything Obama does'. It is also forcing people to take a stand, rather than play 20/20 hindsight.

I have been watching the right-wing squirm on this issue. It just cracks me up. They are so conflicted. This has led to many good videos from TYT.