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  • What just changed about Syria?

    Posted by kaldridgewv2211 on April 6, 2017 at 1:02 pm

    Happened to notice that Rex Tillerson is now on TV saying something along the lines have been crossed, we’re working on a coaltion to remove Assad.  Basically the US is saying Assad is out and he has no role governing the Syrian people.  What about this chemical attack is different that ones that’ve been happening?  
     
    “Those steps are underway” – Rex Tillerson in regards to building coalition to remove Assad.

    btomba_77 replied 1 year, 7 months ago 11 Members · 76 Replies
  • 76 Replies
  • Unknown Member

    Deleted User
    April 6, 2017 at 1:07 pm

    The blatant use of chemical weapons on civilians

    The images of the children were disturbing

    That said I think Nikki Haley really did a good job during this event

    • kaldridgewv2211

      Member
      April 6, 2017 at 1:17 pm

      Quote from kpack123

      The blatant use of chemical weapons on civilians

      The images of the children were disturbing

      That said I think Nikki Haley really did a good job during this event

      That’s been happening though.  Assad has destroyed his own country and they’ve been indiscriminately killing for a while (normal bombs and chemicals).  So it escalated rather quickly when Rex comes out and says Assad removal is in motion.

      • btomba_77

        Member
        April 6, 2017 at 1:52 pm

        Trump realized that his campaign position on Syria was untenable.  He is playing under the “never let a crisis go to waste” adage.     The latest attack provides Trump with an opportunity to pivot (despite the fact that incidents like these for been ongoing for years).
         
         
        There is a lot at risk here.  The Russians are fully embedded with Syrian troops.  This could end up with the US in direct confrontation with Russian aircraft/air defences and/or could become a proxy war.
         
        Also, the question of “What comes [i]after[/i] Assad?” needs to be answered.  Are we planning Iraq/Afghanistan type long term occupation and nation building? Putting a new dictator in charge? Praying against hope for a stable western-friendly democracy to emerge out of the rubble? … Or will we just create yet another power vacuum where radicals find safe havens? 
         
        The questions are no different today than they were for Obama in 2013.

        • kaldridgewv2211

          Member
          April 6, 2017 at 3:06 pm

          Quote from dergon

          Trump realized that his campaign position on Syria was untenable.  He is playing under the “never let a crisis go to waste” adage.     The latest attack provides Trump with an opportunity to pivot (despite the fact that incidents like these for been ongoing for years).

          There is a lot at risk here.  The Russians are fully embedded with Syrian troops.  This could end up with the US in direct confrontation with Russian aircraft/air defences and/or could become a proxy war.

          Also, the question of “What comes [i]after[/i] Assad?” needs to be answered.  Are we planning Iraq/Afghanistan type long term occupation and nation building? Putting a new dictator in charge? Praying against hope for a stable western-friendly democracy to emerge out of the rubble? … Or will we just create yet another power vacuum where radicals find safe havens? 

          The questions are no different today than they were for Obama in 2013.

           
          And that’s where I get lost.  I agree about all the same questions, especially the what comes after Assad.  The tough talk on Assad all the sudden doesn’t make sense because this has been going on for years.
           
          One thing you’ll hear from Mattis is that we need the middle dealings to have Arab leadership at the helm.

          • btomba_77

            Member
            April 6, 2017 at 3:26 pm

            [link=https://theintercept.com/2017/04/06/u-s-weighs-saturation-strike-on-syrian-government-in-response-to-chemical-attack/]The Intercept[/link]: One of the proposals drawn up is a saturation strike using dozens of cruise missiles designed to hit Syrian military targets including military air fields in an effort to limit future Syrian Air Force attacks on rebel positions, according to the two U.S. military officials.
             
            The proposed strike would involve launching Tomahawk cruise missiles to overwhelm Russian air defense systems used by the Syrian military. The Russian government currently helps maintain the air defense sites and advises the Syrian military.
             
            According to both U.S. military officials, the current proposal would likely result in Russian military deaths and mark a drastic escalation of U.S. force in Syria.
             

            • 100574

              Member
              April 6, 2017 at 4:18 pm

              so the Russian troops embedded with the syrians will do a secret handshake in the air and that will tell our pilots to not bomb them–

              • 100574

                Member
                April 6, 2017 at 4:19 pm

                are we willing to risk death to save  the sinking ratings of a President? –what do they say when failing at home–you move to foreign policy or do a trip

                • eyoab2011_711

                  Member
                  April 6, 2017 at 5:01 pm

                  Trump has no idea what he is doing. The world doesn’t take him seriously hence we have NK firing off missiles and chemical weapons in Syria. Trump won’t cross Putin when all is said and done

                  • 100574

                    Member
                    April 6, 2017 at 6:29 pm

                    big deal they drop a few bombs when Turkey is the only one that says it was a gas attack–all for show and changes nothing

                    • 100574

                      Member
                      April 6, 2017 at 6:50 pm

                      per Brian Williams we just spent 30 million dollars with this attack

                    • tdetlie_105

                      Member
                      April 6, 2017 at 6:55 pm

                      Quote from sentinel lymph node

                      per Brian Williams we just spent 30 million dollars with this attack

                      money worth spent [u]if[/u] it prevents further chemical attacks on civilians? 

                    • 100574

                      Member
                      April 6, 2017 at 7:00 pm

                      was it a chemical attack–only Turkey’s word( old Flynn friends to help Trump’s sinking ratings) –given Putin put his reputation on the line in the past that he backed a deal  that Assad gave up his gas weapons–to planned out especially since Nunes sank today
                      Assad had probably removed most of the aircraft there after given the warning by Putin
                       

                      Quote from jd4540

                      Quote from sentinel lymph node

                      per Brian Williams we just spent 30 million dollars with this attack

                      money worth spent [u]if[/u] it prevents further chemical attacks on civilians? 

                    • afazio.uk_887

                      Member
                      April 6, 2017 at 7:21 pm

                      Trump needs to send in some drones and take out Assad directly.  He dropped sarin gas on babies….
                       
                       
                       

                    • tdetlie_105

                      Member
                      April 6, 2017 at 7:29 pm

                      Quote from yesterdaysnews

                      Trump needs to send in some drones and take out Assad directly.  He dropped sarin gas on babies….

                       
                      Don’t disagree but why does the US have to take sole responsibility to do this?

                    • 100574

                      Member
                      April 6, 2017 at 8:00 pm

                      pretty sad that Trump gave another bad odd teleprompter response

                    • kaldridgewv2211

                      Member
                      April 6, 2017 at 8:18 pm

                      Trump had meetings with Egyptian and Jordan leaders I believe. Chinese president tomorrow. China and Russia have been the cowards vetoing UN resolutions. Should be an interesting weekend at Mar a lago.

                      He dropped some no BS ordinance on a large Syrian air base. The professional sailors of the 2 Arleigh Burke class destroyers the Ross and Porter launching precision guided missiles.

                    • 100574

                      Member
                      April 6, 2017 at 8:10 pm

                      and was the act legal???–Congress never voted on this and given the US killed civilians in a recent event–I guess this is for the international court to decide as Trump’s people want us to avoid Nunes departure and given Trump’s prior comments when this happened in the past
                      morality suddenly hits this President with his ban–the pictures of the child dead on the beach did not provoke a change of heart

                      Quote from jd4540

                      Quote from yesterdaysnews

                      Trump needs to send in some drones and take out Assad directly.  He dropped sarin gas on babies….

                      Don’t disagree but why does the US have to take sole responsibility to do this?

                    • btomba_77

                      Member
                      April 7, 2017 at 2:52 am

                      Quote from jd4540

                      Quote from sentinel lymph node

                      per Brian Williams we just spent 30 million dollars with this attack

                      money worth spent [u]if[/u] it prevents further chemical attacks on civilians? 

                      This was retaliatory.
                       
                       
                      It was not preventative.   
                       
                      Will it have any effect on the future behavior of the Assad regime? Depends on how the Russians respond.

                    • kaldridgewv2211

                      Member
                      April 7, 2017 at 4:54 am

                      Just a few things I’ve seen in the news.  It is preventative in a sense that they took out the largest air base.  This is where they had all kinds of planes, helicopters, fuel, runways (maybe even the chemicals).   Supposedly all of those things were the targets.
                       
                      Spain ceased $737 million in Assad assets over night.
                       
                      Russia calling for UN security council meeting because we violated international law.  Interesting.  If anything the Russians are way outside the box.  They were supposed to see to the removal of chemical weapons but yet somehow Syria still had some.  See Crimea, Ukraine, Election engineering, Syria.   

                    • kayla.meyer_144

                      Member
                      April 7, 2017 at 8:20 am

                      Isn’t this strike “illegal?” At least according to the GOP and Trump before Jan 20, 2017? Isn’t it all their arguments that he requires Congress’s explicit permission?
                       
                      I mean that was before yesterday anyway, wasn’t it?

                    • btomba_77

                      Member
                      April 7, 2017 at 8:41 am

                      [link=https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump]Donald J. Trump @realDonaldTrump[/link]

                      [B]Now that Obamas poll numbers are in tailspin watch for him to launch a strike in Libya or Iran. He is desperate.[/B]
                      [link=https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/255784560904773633]5:39 PM – 9 Oct 2012[/link]

                       
                       
                      [link=http://metro.co.uk/2017/04/07/trump-tweet-about-world-war-iii-comes-back-to-haunt-him-6560159/]http://metro.co.uk/2017/0…-to-haunt-him-6560159/[/link]

                    • kaldridgewv2211

                      Member
                      April 7, 2017 at 8:42 am

                      I think there’s a lot of gray area on current military action and there has been since we’ve gone into Afghanistan and Iraq.  We operate drones and blow stuff up.  Plus we’re only serving as advisors right?  I’ll bet the US military is armed to the teeth wherever we have them embedded.  So the chemical attack was Wed, the strikes were overnight.  I’m not sure of the timing but it’s plausible he could’ve notified congress. I think it’s 48 hours, but I’m not sure if time zones affect that.  He can commit forces for 60 days without their approval.  What’s a commitment though?  Does launching missiles from middle of the sea qualify.  

                    • btomba_77

                      Member
                      April 7, 2017 at 9:14 am

                      Obama was pretty adamant that the post-9/11 AUMF would cover any military action he took in Syria. (Even though he never actually took any)
                       
                      It’s a grey area, but Trump has pretty broad latitude to act here.  Notification of Congress is a [i]political[/i] act, not a legal one.

                    • 100574

                      Member
                      April 7, 2017 at 10:51 am

                      quite sad that he criticized President Obama on everything but wants to so imitate him in every way–what a sad crew this looks like with Jared and his zero experience/ Ross looks so old like he is about to fall asleep….. President Obama did not break international law and he did not have to do an attack to save his sagging Presidency
                      from the Presidential cake to this faux pic–a sad 70 year old man trying to be someone he will never be

                    • 100574

                      Member
                      April 7, 2017 at 11:31 am

                      President Obama did not have amateurs like SpiceGirl and Jared in their room

                    • Unknown Member

                      Deleted User
                      April 7, 2017 at 3:57 pm

                      If Trump goes a step further on this, he’ll have a tough time cobbling together even 1 million votes for his reelection. I didn’t vote for warmongering policies.

                      Not our people – not our problem.

                    • kayla.meyer_144

                      Member
                      April 9, 2017 at 6:06 am

                      Quote from Jan the Third

                      If Trump goes a step further on this, he’ll have a tough time cobbling together even 1 million votes for his reelection. I didn’t vote for warmongering policies.

                       
                      Of course you did, if you listened to what Mr Macho Orange-man says & acts. His whole act for decades has been preening armchair masculinity. 
                       

                      Quote from Jan the Third

                       
                      Not our people – not our problem.

                      Not Europeans, wrong religion.

                    • kaldridgewv2211

                      Member
                      April 9, 2017 at 7:13 am

                      McMasters on with Chris Wallace being pretty dodgey about if Trump will stop them from killing civilians with conventional weapons.

                      Also no good answer on what we will do if Russia decides to intervene. Supposedly the Ruskies are sending a battle ship to where we have the destroyers operating. More or less a suicide mission if they decide to attack those ships with their diesel powered dingy.

                    • 100574

                      Member
                      April 7, 2017 at 5:49 pm

                      pretty good reason why he did not go there in light of we went to war with Iraq on inaccurate information and did not attack a single country that supplied 9/11 attackers–grey area??
                      Trump has multiple hotels in other countries and his attacks in Muslim countries have increased–this could create a quagmire worse than Iraq

                      Quote from dergon

                      Obama was pretty adamant that the post-9/11 AUMF would cover any military action he took in Syria. (Even though he never actually took any)

                      It’s a grey area, but Trump has pretty broad latitude to act here.  Notification of Congress is a [i]political[/i] act, not a legal one.

                    • 100574

                      Member
                      April 7, 2017 at 5:56 pm

                      pretty bad picture of amateurs–Bannon with the gut and disheveled hair, bald spot Preibus, Ross looking geriatric and about to fall asleep, Clueless Rex who has a very befuddled look, 70 year old old draft dodger Trump in a slouch position and the 2 Jewish guys( Jared, etc with ZERO military experience) and last but not least SpiceGirl Spicer
                      a picture of the absurd/ridiculous–how low can this country sink–

                    • 100574

                      Member
                      April 7, 2017 at 7:13 pm

                      Syrian is back to using the airport—cynical but I guess Putin is like ok I got u some good press so send Rex here next week and we get the sanctions shut down

                    • 100574

                      Member
                      April 8, 2017 at 12:41 am

                      when u are tanking
                       

                    • 100574

                      Member
                      April 8, 2017 at 8:22 pm

                      after Xi leaves US, Chinese media called the strike an act of a weakened politician who needed to flex his muscle to distance himself from Syria’s backers in Russia–they know a smoke and mirrors act

                    • kayla.meyer_144

                      Member
                      April 9, 2017 at 6:02 am

                      Quote from sentinel lymph node

                      Syrian is back to using the airport—cynical but I guess Putin is like ok I got u some good press so send Rex here next week and we get the sanctions shut down

                      Weren’t Trump & the Republicans critical of “pin-pr1ck” attacks before?
                       
                      Death by a thousand mosquito bites. Too bad Syria has calamine lotion, “Apply & back to business of murdering children.”
                       
                       
                       

                    • 100574

                      Member
                      April 6, 2017 at 6:55 pm

                      Putin put his backing in the past that Assad had given up his chemical weapons–smoke and mirrors to divert from Nunes dropping from the committee and the Russia investigation

                  • tdetlie_105

                    Member
                    April 6, 2017 at 6:30 pm

                    Quote from Thor

                    Trump has no idea what he is doing. [b]The world doesn’t take him seriously [/b]hence we have NK firing off missiles and chemical weapons in Syria. Trump won’t cross Putin when all is said and done

                     
                    wonder if 59 tomahawks changes that attitude

    • 100574

      Member
      April 6, 2017 at 2:54 pm

      mixed review on Nikki–remember she started at the UN with this I am taking names approach and got a frigid response
      then last week she and Rex gave the George Bush not concern about finding Osama response when they were both like I guess Assad can stay( not recalling history that Israel reportedly bomb Syria in the past for questionable nuclear site)
      so now I see McCain banging the drum for us to use military action which is essentially let’s go to war with Russia
      I guess Gorbschev was right when he recently said the world is preparing for war and we have a draft dodger in charge–
       

      Quote from kpack123

      The blatant use of chemical weapons on civilians

      The images of the children were disturbing

      That said I think Nikki Haley really did a good job during this event

  • btomba_77

    Member
    April 9, 2017 at 1:34 pm

    [i]Times of London[/i]: [url=https://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/news/russia-accused-of-complicity-in-syria-war-crime-k6nb0whsk]Britain and America will this week directly accuse Russia of complicity in war crimes in Syria[/url]

    Britain and America will this week directly accuse Russia of complicity in war crimes in Syria and demand that Vladimir Putin pull the rug from Bashar al-Assads blood-soaked regime.

    Rex Tillerson President Donald Trumps secretary of state will fly to Moscow to confront Russia with evidence that it had knowledge of, and sought to cover up, the regimes deadly sarin strike last week that left 87 people dead.

    Turning the screws on the Kremlin, Sir Michael Fallon, the defence secretary, accused Russia of being by proxy responsible for every civilian death last week because this latest war crime happened on their watch.

    • kaldridgewv2211

      Member
      April 9, 2017 at 4:18 pm

      It’s really weird the admin can’t get on the same page. Tillerson seems to imply we’re working with the regime, Hayley on the other hand sounds more like we’re working on ousting the regime. Mixed messages don’t paint a strong picture.

      • 100574

        Member
        April 10, 2017 at 12:40 am

        because their leader has no policy and is completely clueless –why would u have the commerce Secretary sitting in a makeshift situation room at Mar-largo or ZERo military experience Jared who was so smart he bought a building with address 666 –well u have a reality TV draft dodger as President
        –This pic of Jared shows  how Clueless he is and reminded me of the Bush guy during the start of the Iraq war acting like he is cowboy Joe cool– Jared looks as ridiculous as Mike Dukk did in that helmet
        God–it is the start of the holy week –please help our country from this ignorance

        Quote from DICOM_Dan

        It’s really weird the admin can’t get on the same page. Tillerson seems to imply we’re working with the regime, Hayley on the other hand sounds more like we’re working on ousting the regime. Mixed messages don’t paint a strong picture.

        • 100574

          Member
          April 10, 2017 at 12:43 am

          only idiots try to do these Joe cool pic moments during a war where both sides have casualties
          Jared/ Trump are completely tone death–learn from Pepsi on what being tone death can do

          • 100574

            Member
            April 10, 2017 at 1:03 am

            Jared’s ridiculous picture reminds me of

      • 100574

        Member
        April 10, 2017 at 1:30 am

        In Trump’s America women don’t have a seat at the table
        HRC was sitting with President Obama and of course Israel wiped out her pic at the table
        President Obama was way ahead– a true Progressive millennial President
        Ivanka go back and read what webster says complicit means–u have no clue just like Jared

        • kayla.meyer_144

          Member
          April 10, 2017 at 2:15 am

          Nothing like a Republican and military action to bring out the cheerleaders.
           

          • jquinones8812_854

            Member
            April 10, 2017 at 7:13 am

            I opposed this strategy when it was Obama…oppose it now.

            It is funny to find out the Obama Administration spent the last three years outright lying to the American people about WMD in Syria though.

            • kayla.meyer_144

              Member
              April 10, 2017 at 7:36 am

              Quote from MISTRAD

              I opposed this strategy when it was Obama…oppose it now.

              It is funny to find out the Obama Administration spent the last three years outright lying to the American people about WMD in Syria though.

              2 caveats required for those statements. 
               
              1st is that Obama did request authorization from a Republican Congress to attack Syria. Congress never authorized the request as it was too fearful of making a decision & preferred throwing weasel criticisms from a safe non-committal distance, keeping their hands “clean” as it were. That weaseling continues to this day.
               
              2nd, there was a lot of chemical weapons removed but never confirmed that all were.
               
              [link=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/fact-checker/wp/2017/04/10/susan-rices-claim-that-obama-got-syria-to-verifiably-give-up-its-chemical-weapons-stockpile/]https://www.washingtonpos…cal-weapons-stockpile/[/link]
               

              The removal of vast quantities of chemical weapons from Syrias soil was indeed an achievement. When Obama contemplated attacking Syria, a major problem with his plan was that most of the chemical weapons would not have been destroyed.
               
              But the Obama administration had a tendency to oversell what was accomplished, perhaps because Obama received so much criticism for not following through on an attack if Syria crossed what Obama had called a red line. We have a reasonable-person test here at The Fact Checker, and its doubtful many NPR listeners realized that known was code for the fact that Rice only was referring to chemical weapons stocks declared by Syria or that chlorine weapons were not covered by the agreement.
               
              The reality is that there were continued chemical-weapons attacks by Syria and that U.S. and international officials had good evidence that Syria had not been completely forthcoming in its declaration and possibly retained sarin and VX nerve agent. Yet Rice said: We were able to get the Syrian government to voluntarily and verifiably give up its chemical weapons stockpile. She did not explain that Syrias declaration was believed to be incomplete and thus was not fully verified and that the Syrian government still attacked citizens with chemical weapons not covered by the 2013 agreement. That tipped her wordsmithing toward a Four.

               
               

              • kaldridgewv2211

                Member
                April 10, 2017 at 8:07 am

                Russia’s complicit in these attacks as far as I can tell.  They were supposed to have removed all the chemical agents, and yet the regime is doing these attacks right under the supervision of Russian advisers.  As bad as the Sarin is the VX is much worse.  That’s what was used to kill Kim Ding Dong’s half brother.   Hopefully that nut job Assad doesn’t start dropping that out of helicopters. 
                 
                In the news cycle today I’m seeing Russia new in advance of the chemical attack and also that they bombed a hospital in an attempt to cover up the chemical attack.

                • 100574

                  Member
                  April 11, 2017 at 5:13 pm

                  well turns out the UN helped to get rid of Syria’s chemical weapons per Colonel Wilkerson and he out Mad do for inaccurate facts on the true number of planes destroyed–told u guys so with respect to mad dog–was never a fan after I saw him let Trump use him as a prop at a campaign rally

                  • kaldridgewv2211

                    Member
                    May 15, 2017 at 9:40 am

                    Yikes.
                     
                    “The Syrian government has constructed and is using a crematorium inside its notorious Sednaya military prison outside Damascus to clandestinely dispose of thousands of prisoners it continues to execute inside the facility.”
                     
                     
                    [link=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/us-accuses-syria-of-mass-executions-and-burning-bodies/2017/05/15/b7b66c86-3986-11e7-8854-21f359183e8c_story.html?utm_term=.0221fccef271&wpisrc=al_alert-COMBO-world%252Bnation&wpmk=1]https://www.washingtonpos…%252Bnation&wpmk=1[/link]

                    • kaldridgewv2211

                      Member
                      February 10, 2018 at 11:56 am

                      Syria’s a proxy war but looks like things have escalated with Israel jet getting shot down and they hit back hard including Iranian targets.

                      [link=https://mobile.nytimes.com/2018/02/10/world/middleeast/israel-iran-syria.html?referer=https://news.google.com/]https://mobile.nytimes.co…tps://news.google.com/[/link]

                    • kaldridgewv2211

                      Member
                      March 7, 2018 at 2:49 pm

                      There’s allegation in Ghouta from medical workers that they’re being bombed/shelled/shot with Chlorine, cluster bombs, phosphorus, and napalm.  Some particularly nasty stuff and being used on civilians.

                    • kaldridgewv2211

                      Member
                      March 13, 2018 at 5:46 pm

                      Ok. So who is not telling the truth? Russians are saying we’re going to have this fake chemical attack and bomb Damascus. How’d they find this information? Really oddly specific conspiracy theory stuff here.

                      “Valery Gerasimov, head of Russia’s General Staff, said Moscow had information that rebels in the enclave of eastern Ghouta were planning to fake a chemical weapons attack against civilians and blame it on the Syrian army.

                      He said the United States intended to use the fake attack as a pretext to bomb the government quarter in nearby Damascus where he said Russian military advisers, Russian military police and Russian ceasefire monitors were based.”

                      [link=https://mobile.reuters.com/article/amp/idUSKCN1GP0TY?__twitter_impression=true]https://mobile.reuters.co…witter_impression=true[/link]

                    • kaldridgewv2211

                      Member
                      April 13, 2018 at 7:51 pm

                      Looks like it’s on. US, UK, and the French are launching strikes on Syria. It would appear their supposed awesome Russian air defense is not so hot or maybe they are not using it. Notably there’s reporting we also laid some hate on Hezbollah and Iran bases.

                    • 100574

                      Member
                      April 13, 2018 at 8:13 pm

                      Bolton /Cheney start up the war call for mid-east with this strike–such a convenient thing to do as Comey /Cohen blow up
                      Russia was warned by Trump days ago

                    • btomba_77

                      Member
                      April 14, 2018 at 9:58 am

                      [img]https://i.imgur.com/0WbPZeil.png[/img]

                    • kaldridgewv2211

                      Member
                      April 15, 2018 at 8:28 am

                      There’s a tweet for everything. todays tweets are off the deepens. Like he meant to use “mission accomplished”:

                    • btomba_77

                      Member
                      April 15, 2018 at 9:20 am

                      [link=https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/global-opinions/trump-is-drowning-in-scandal-he-cant-focus-on-syria/2018/04/14/e3e7253a-400f-11e8-974f-aacd97698cef_story.html?utm_term=.bc68595a5c7a]Max Boot[/link]: It is hard to imagine how Trump can do his job for example, approving military strikes on Syria while drowning in this rising tide of scandal. There is an old tradition, more honored in theory than fact, that issues of national security are kept separate from domestic politics, but Trump is utterly incapable of making any such distinction. For him, everything is political and all politics is personal.

                      Its hard to imagine that Trump, who in the best of times has the attention span of a hyperactive 8-year-old, can focus on strategy for Syria amid the far more pressing threats that he faces from an ever-expanding criminal investigation. If the United States had a parliamentary government, Congress could pass a motion of no confidence, thus allowing Trump to devote 100percent of his attention to fighting the multiplying charges against him without the distractions of running the government. Instead, we must hope that the institutions of the U.S. government are strong enough to function more or less on autopilot while Trump is consumed by the wages of his own sins.

                      _____

                      Michael Che on [link=https://www.thewrap.com/snl-weekend-updates-michael-che-jokes-trump-pee-pee-kind-charming-video/]SNL ‘Weekend Update'[/link]: I mean, I knew he was going to try to create a distraction, but I thought it would be something small like tweeting the n-word at Tristan Thompson. I didnt know he was going to put us in a full war. Plus isnt he going to jail soon? He shouldnt be signing us up for stuff, he should be kissing us on the forehead and telling us to take care of mommy.

                    • kayla.meyer_144

                      Member
                      April 15, 2018 at 1:57 pm

                      Mission Accomplished with another pinprick attack. Death by a thousand pinpricks. 
                       
                      Or is Assad just ticklish?
                       
                      [link=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/syrias-assad-said-to-be-in-good-mood-scorns-us-weaponry-after-airstrikes/2018/04/15/a5e313cb-727a-4dda-98da-d582d86f0add_story.html]https://www.washingtonpos…582d86f0add_story.html[/link]
                       

                      Assad made the comments during a meeting in Damascus with Russian lawmakers, who later told reporters that he was in a good mood, according to Russian news reports. Footage of the meeting broadcast by state television showed an animated Assad smiling and laughing as he met with the Russians.
                       
                      President Assad was in absolutely positive spirits. He is in a good mood, the Interfax news agency quoted Natalya Komarova, governor of Russias autonomous Khanty-Mansiysk district, as saying.
                       
                      The meeting came a day after U.S.-led strikes, launched together with Britain and France, [link=https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2018/world/syria-strikes/?utm_term=.844a49651d14]hit three Syrian chemical weapons facilities.[/link] The airstrikes were in response to the suspected April 7 chemical attack in Douma, a Damascus suburb.
                      Despite claims by President Trump that the operation was an [link=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/after-syria-attack-us-and-russia-tensions-rise-but-military-confrontation-fears-ease/2018/04/14/d7a48d32-3fdb-11e8-a7d1-e4efec6389f0_story.html?utm_term=.dec98bac7dbc]enormous success,[/link]it is being interpreted in Syria as a win for Assad because the limited scope of the strikes suggested that Western powers do not intend to challenge his rule.
                       
                      Yesterday we saw the American aggression, and we were able to counter it with Soviet missiles manufactured in the 1970s, Russian lawmaker Dmitry Sablin quoted Assad as saying, according to Russian news agencies.
                       
                      The American movies have shown since the 1990s that Russian-made weapons are backward. However, today we can see who is really lagging behind, Assad said, according to Sablin.

                       
                       
                      Trump will win by his twits. So much winninggg.

                    • 100574

                      Member
                      April 15, 2018 at 11:05 pm

                      the reason why they did not feel a good assault is because the military knew they were being used as a wag the dog encounter due to Comey/Cohen/and Stormy–so they just soothed the idiot with a few fireworks
                      Huckaberry Sanders is so stupid she tweeted a fake situation room image with Pence by his side( impossible since Pence was not in the country) but they had to feed a lie because this President is a flop with Flynn taking a plea and his fixer being raided with an indictment probably about to drop
                      recall that original situation pic they took place with the first strike–well Reince/Rex/McMaster/Cohn/Bannon are gone and Jared no longer qualifies to be in the room due to lost security clearance–the disappearing white men on the Trump train–someone should write a book on that
                      Comey is right about being unfit–this is just a pure trainwreck
                       

                      Quote from Frumious

                      Mission Accomplished with another pin**** attack. Death by a thousand pin****s. 

                      Or is Assad just ticklish?

                      [link=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/syrias-assad-said-to-be-in-good-mood-scorns-us-weaponry-after-airstrikes/2018/04/15/a5e313cb-727a-4dda-98da-d582d86f0add_story.html]https://www.washingtonpos…582d86f0add_story.html[/link]

                      Assad made the comments during a meeting in Damascus with Russian lawmakers, who later told reporters that he was in a good mood, according to Russian news reports. Footage of the meeting broadcast by state television showed an animated Assad smiling and laughing as he met with the Russians.

                      President Assad was in absolutely positive spirits. He is in a good mood, the Interfax news agency quoted Natalya Komarova, governor of Russias autonomous Khanty-Mansiysk district, as saying.

                      The meeting came a day after U.S.-led strikes, launched together with Britain and France, [link=https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2018/world/syria-strikes/?utm_term=.844a49651d14]hit three Syrian chemical weapons facilities.[/link] The airstrikes were in response to the suspected April 7 chemical attack in Douma, a Damascus suburb.
                      Despite claims by President Trump that the operation was an [link=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/after-syria-attack-us-and-russia-tensions-rise-but-military-confrontation-fears-ease/2018/04/14/d7a48d32-3fdb-11e8-a7d1-e4efec6389f0_story.html?utm_term=.dec98bac7dbc]enormous success,[/link]it is being interpreted in Syria as a win for Assad because the limited scope of the strikes suggested that Western powers do not intend to challenge his rule.

                      Yesterday we saw the American aggression, and we were able to counter it with Soviet missiles manufactured in the 1970s, Russian lawmaker Dmitry Sablin quoted Assad as saying, according to Russian news agencies.

                      The American movies have shown since the 1990s that Russian-made weapons are backward. However, today we can see who is really lagging behind, Assad said, according to Sablin.

                      Trump will win by his twits. So much winninggg.

                    • kaldridgewv2211

                      Member
                      April 16, 2018 at 3:50 pm

                      Reports coming out now that Israel is actively bombing an air Base near Homs.

                    • kaldridgewv2211

                      Member
                      April 20, 2018 at 10:48 am

                      Strange.  I thought last week Lavrov was talking about shooting down missiles and sinking the ships that fired them.
                       
                       
                      “Russias foreign minister said Friday that the U.S. sought out and respected Moscows positions in Syria when it launched its air strikes last week.
                      Lavrov noted that despite the escalating tensions between Moscow and Washington, the U.S. made sure it didnt harm any Russian personnel and positions during the strikes against the regime of President Bashar Assad following a suspected chemical attack on the town of Douma.
                      We told them where our red lines were, including the geographical red lines, Lavrov told Russian state television. The results have shown that they havent crossed those lines.
                       
                      [link=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/russia-trump-promised-to-make-reciprocal-visit-to-moscow/2018/04/20/8d30841e-449e-11e8-b2dc-b0a403e4720a_story.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.af58a0079645]https://www.washingtonpos…utm_term=.af58a0079645[/link]

                    • kaldridgewv2211

                      Member
                      December 19, 2018 at 7:45 am

                      based on coverage I’ve seen of Syria this seems like a bad idea.  We’ve fought to control parts of Syria in order to keep them from the Russians, ISIS, Iran.  So if he pulls out I guess that means we’re giving it over to Russia/Iran.  Maybe Israel will keep them at bay.
                       
                      “The Trump administration has decided to pull all U.S. troops out of Syria, a defense official said on Wednesday.
                      The official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss a decision that has not yet been announced, said the decision was made on Tuesday and would include the entire force of more than 2,000 U.S. service members.”
                       
                       
                      [link=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/trump-administration-plans-to-pull-us-troops-from-syria-immediately-defense-official-says/2018/12/19/4fcf188e-0397-11e9-b5df-5d3874f1ac36_story.html?utm_term=.c8cb79b4aba1]https://www.washingtonpos…utm_term=.c8cb79b4aba1[/link]
                       
                       
                      It looks like this is almost unanimously being considered a bad idea and will put the US at risk.  His #1 ally Graham even thinks so.  Bolton said no way we’re leaving Syria a few months ago (not until Iran did).  How’s DJT still the POTUS?
                       
                      Apparently a state department spokeman also said it would be reckless to declare the physical caliphate gone and leave.  This was just last week.  So this would mean his state department thinks he’s being reckless.

                    • kayla.meyer_144

                      Member
                      December 20, 2018 at 7:41 am

                      Vlad praising Trump for his decision to pull out of Syria. Meanwhile our “other allies” are not happy with the decision.
                       
                      So long as Putin is happy all is well. Someday that Trump Tower in Moscow will go up & we’ll all be better for it.

                    • heenadevk1119_462

                      Member
                      December 20, 2018 at 8:55 am

                      Now Frumi is a war hawk
                       
                      She’ll take any side that is the one against Trump
                       
                      what a hack

                    • kayla.meyer_144

                      Member
                      December 20, 2018 at 10:07 am

                      Your gynophobia is acting up again, F@gan. Or has it never improved.
                       
                      I’m sure you do have multiple Putin calendars on your walls showing his bare chest making you all turgid and all.
                       
                      My point is that if Putin is cheering us on we are highly likely on the wrong track giving our influence away for free to the likes of Putin. But then Trump is not a good negotiator, is he. But he’s still hoping for that Moscow Tower.
                       
                      But I’m sure this is too complicated for you to grasp now you are thinking of Putin’s gynecomastia pecs.
                       
                       

                    • Unknown Member

                      Deleted User
                      December 23, 2018 at 6:34 am

                      One thing to watch in trumps swamp is the farming out of Syria oversight to these military contractors

                      Basically we give these crooks like Eric Prince a bunch of money and they put most in their pocket

                      This is the most corrupt administration in our history

                    • btomba_77

                      Member
                      December 23, 2018 at 7:00 am

                      [link=https://thehill.com/policy/defense/operations/422595-top-us-envoy-in-isis-fight-to-resign-report]Top US Envoy in fight against ISIS to resign[/link]

                      Brett McGurk, the special presidential envoy for the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS at the State Department, was reportedly planning to the leave the administration in Feb. of 2019, but accelerated his departure over Trump’s plans to withdraw troops from Syria.

                      He is expect to resign on Dec. 31, CBS reported.

                      I think it’s fair to say Americans will remain on the ground after the physical defeat of the caliphate, until we have the pieces in place to ensure that that defeat is enduring,” he told reporters at the State Department days earlier.

                      [/QUOTE]
                       
                      ______
                       
                       
                      [link=https://www.auntminnie.com/Forum/"https:/thehill.com/policy/defense/422628-dem-senator-trump-saying-he-doesnt-know-his-top-isis-envoy-should-scare-the"]Trump says he doesn’t know Brett McGurk, his ISIS envoy[/link]

                      “Uhhhh…you dont know your own coordinator of the anti-ISIS campaign?

                      Over the past 5 years, no one has done more to put ISIS on its heels than Brett. We all know and rely on him. The fact that our President has no clue who Brett is should scare the hell out of every American.”

                      ~ Sen. Chris Murphy (D – CT)

                    • btomba_77

                      Member
                      February 25, 2021 at 6:22 pm

                      [b]Biden Orders Air Strikes In Syria[/b][/h1]  
                       
                      The US military struck a site in Syria on Thursday used by two Iranian-backed militia groups following rocket attacks on American forces in the region in the past two weeks, [link=https://www.cnn.com/2021/02/25/politics/us-iraq-iran/index.html]CNN[/link] reports.
                       
                      The strikes mark the militarys first known action under President Joe Biden. The site was not specifically tied to the rocket attacks, but were believed to be used by Iranian-backed Shia militias operating in the region.

                       

                    • kaldridgewv2211

                      Member
                      February 25, 2021 at 8:03 pm

                      Syria has been out of the news for a while.

                    • kaldridgewv2211

                      Member
                      December 20, 2018 at 8:56 am

                      kind of makes you wonder what he agreed to in his one on one meeting in Helsinki.  That was around the time he starting talk about being out of Syria I believe.

      • btomba_77

        Member
        March 5, 2021 at 6:44 am

        [link=https://www.politico.com/news/2021/03/05/biden-war-powers-congress-473843]https://www.politico.com/…powers-congress-473843[/link]

        Biden backs a new war powers vote in Congress amid a bipartisan push to repeal outdated war authorizations. Biden wants AUMFs replaced with a narrow and specific framework & has already indicated that to senators

        • clickpenguin_460

          Member
          March 5, 2021 at 6:57 am

          There are snap decisions that need to be made by the commander in chief.  Running those decisions through the partisan glacial Congress first would be an extremely bad idea.  Biden is the elected President and that’s part of his job.
           
          Planned/pre-meditated military decisions are a different story obviously.

        • kaldridgewv2211

          Member
          March 5, 2021 at 7:41 am

          Quote from dergon

          [link=https://www.politico.com/news/2021/03/05/biden-war-powers-congress-473843]https://www.politico.com/…powers-congress-473843[/link]

          Biden backs a new war powers vote in Congress amid a bipartisan push to repeal outdated war authorizations. Biden wants AUMFs replaced with a narrow and specific framework & has already indicated that to senators

          Not specifically Syria but he’s headed toward deep water ASAP.  Trump signed a deal that we’d leave Afghanistan by May 1st.  If we don’t it’s understood the Taliban will start fighting us again.  There’s supposedly active negotiations going on between Afghan government and the Taliban in Doha.  It sounds like the Taliban want all the power.  They’ve also been assassinating a lot of the educated people.  Something like 500 assassinations.  I fully expect if we pulled out of there they’d run amuck over the whole country.  So it’s a real crap sandwich.  I don’t think there’s any warming hearts and minds with the Towlies.  So what do you do?  I guess you can leave and say don’t make me come back.  It’d be hard to purge them if they take over cities.  If we had to come back I think it’d have to be to purge them from the earth.  Sodom and Gomora style.

          • btomba_77

            Member
            June 16, 2021 at 1:14 pm

            Senate Will Vote to Repeal Iraq War Authorization[/h1]  
             
             
            Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer announced his support on Wednesday for repealing the 2002 war authorization for Iraq, vowing to hold a vote on scrapping the outdated measure later this year, [link=https://www.politico.com/news/2021/06/16/senate-vote-iraq-war-authorization-494845]Politico[/link] reports.

             

            • btomba_77

              Member
              March 16, 2023 at 10:33 am

              [link=https://twitter.com/NOgnanovich/status/1636415670543085569]https://twitter.com/NOgnanovich/status/1636415670543085569[/link]

              Senate finally moving to revoke AUMF for Iraq

              • btomba_77

                Member
                March 30, 2023 at 2:24 am

                The Senate has voted to repeal the AUMFs, 66-30.
                 
                Now on to the House where the GOP split comes into full view-
                 
                [link=https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/redirect-to/?redirect=https%3A%2F%2Fthehill.com%2Fhomenews%2Fsenate%2F3924776-gop-rift-exposed-as-senators-warn-mccarthy-against-iraq-vote%2F]https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/…nst-iraq-vote/[/link]

                GOP no votes in the Senate, led by Graham and Rubio, pressuring McCarthy in the House to not support the AUMF repeal as is. Rand Paul leads the anti-interventionalist wing and wants McCarthy to just take it up and pass.

                It would pass easily if brought to the floor with nearly all House Dems and maybe half of the GOP caucus. But we have to see what McCarthy does (or doesn’t do) with it.