SYRIA WAR MEGATHREAD - Mod Note First Post

Nodin wrote: »

A stunning counter-argument, made all the better by the absence of "but the arabs....".

And yet the accusation will be made that the 'liberal lefty anti-war movement' refuses to engage in meaningful discussion.

jank wrote: »

I am just highlighting the maybe uncomfortable truth that most people don't really care about this attack or other conflicts in the world.

Don't you really think its a bit odd that the biggest anti-war movement in the country is being silent on the biggest chemcial attack on humans since Saddam used them aggainst the Kurds

You arent in a position to speak for most people in fairness unless of course you can read minds which Im guessing you cant how you can make such a statement is a little bit mystifying.

The story goes that the evil Saddam , and he was evil , gased his own people as an act of genocide in the town of Halabja. This pretext was then used and rolled out to justify and build consesus against him for future aggression against his country.

According to people in a position to speak factually, Saddam did not intentionally target the Kurds. The attack happened toward the end of the Iran/Iraq war it was a battle between the two of them and the Kurds unfortunately for them got caught in the middle of it. The Iraqis used chemical weapons , supplied by the west , to attack the Iranians who had taken over the town of Halabja. Both sides used chemical weapons in the battle a follow up study found that a large proportion of the people killed died from cyanide, a blood agent, the Iranians were known to have this the Iraqis were not they had mustard gas which is a nerve agent. The people of Halabja died from both cyanide and mustard gas.
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/01/31/opinion/a-war-crime-or-an-act-of-war.html

First casualty of war is the truth. Who knows who carried out the attack in Syria in my opinion Assad would want to be a foolish man to use that sort of weapon. Maybe he is, but who knows. Though the Americans are now moving their ships into place and putting a plan together to carry out targeted cruise missile strikes against Assad and his infrastructure a decision has not been made but the plan is being put together. History shows us an attack is highly likely. What happens after that is anyones guess but its going to be bad for all concerned that much is certain.

tipperaryguy wrote: »

This crisis in Syria is as conflicting as what's going on in Egypt at the moment. Although it is clear to all Assad has the defining qualities of a dictator, it's hard to avoid the glaring reality of the fact that large swathes of their rebels are Muslim mercenaries. also , and this is not a rhetorical question, but should people take up arms every time they disagree with the rule of a leader, even a dictator? Like in Egypt where i feel the destruction of democracy is being generally ignored in an attempt to destroy the Muslim Brotherhood (no surprise at the weak response of the Western World to it) , this Syria crisis is too complicated and multi dimensional to see it merely as a dictator crushing the weak defenceless freedom fighters. I predict the Western World will try to sit this one out as there's no strategic advantage to entering this conflict, and i imagine it would be quite tough for obama to drum up a sufficient level of support at home for major involvement with the disasters of previous invasions in the Middle East still fresh in peoples minds.

Well he was gunning them down in the streets during peaceful protests. In addition Syria had a rather brutal secret police force.

NoNewFriends wrote: »

The UN lol...what a useless, pointless organisation. Unable to stop the Iraq war; (...........)
>Criticizes Israel everyday for building houses
>Gives China a security council seat despite their government bulldozing houses to build motorways and outrageous human rights abuses
Seems legit.

Israel bulldozes Palestinian and Bedouin houses, as well as providing them for its colonists, as I included links about earlier.

I was unaware that Chinas many faults as a state cancelled out Israels. Is this some effect of quantum physics unknown to the rest of us?

It's rather interesting you condemn the UN's powerlessness in various situations, considering Israel has benefited from that for well over four decades now.

Personally, I don’t care about the leadership of the Syrian factions, as they are all enemies of the US. A thinning out of both ranks I see as a positive thing.

I do care about the innocent Syrian people though, and do a little to help out. We have been helping to care for a young Syrian girl several days a week until her parents can safely transition and relocate to Texas, where jobs are aplenty.

I'm surprised Russia isn't criticized more for their role in all this. Their relationship with Assad and this conflict doesn't seem to come under the same amount of scrutiny the US would if they were in Russias position.

I wonder will the Syrians use these if the US/UK do kick off.

“The supersonic and long-range anti-ship Yakhont missiles of the Syrian army and the Lebanese Hezbollah (resistance movement) are serious deterrents to a US naval attack by its warships in the Mediterranean Sea,” Dr. Mostafa Zahra, a military analyst and strategic studies expert, told FNA on Monday.

english.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13920604001374