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[Fancyarcher]

There seems to be a shocking level of ignorance by many here regarding Russia's role in the Syrian Civil War, a role that has seen Moscow act as the principle combatant in the conflict. There are Russian troops now taking part in ground operations in the country while the RuAF carries out round-the-clock bombing missions anti-Assad positions. Meanwhile Tartus Naval Base is expanding as more and more supplies for Assad arrive and the air force conducting. It's a very costly deployment for Russia, particularly at a time when their public finances are in the shit.

Putin has a deep-rooted strategic interest in keeping Assad in power.

I mean yeah, Putin's probably not happy, but I don't think this is gonna cause any major riffs between him and Trump just yet, though I admit I may be a bit too optimistic.

 

[El_Mau]

I like how liberals are stuck in a flip flop conundrum now. This is merely similar to everything Obama did for 8 years, yet suddenly it's bad because Trump did it.
Again, fuck Trump. But honestly I can't knock him down for doing this. Obama lost the plot in Syria after all that red line bullshit.

I think people are worried because they don't believe that Trump's admin has a plan to deal with Syria. I also dislike trump, but I think this wasn't a bad action at all. I only hope this helps the Syrian people.

 

[PatThePassive]

Simply untrue, and the very same argument Assad himself has made. "It's either me or the Jihadists". It's not a binary choice!

My Ideal would be a powerful ally of theirs would kinda put the regime in check....

 

[Mimosa97]

"When I talk American..." Haha I'm amused.

Sarcasm ?

I was just being honest ...

 

[ginger ninja]

Obama asked for congressional approval to intervene in Syria and didn't receive it.

What do you think he should've done?

Remember that times he asked Congress's permission for intervention in Libya ? Me neither because it never happened.

 

[Ekdrm2d1]

I think this needs to be done, so good for Trump and others backing it. It's about time something is done about that monster.

Now with that said, please answer me this. Just why did Assad drop the chemical weapons on the village in the first place? Is there a reason, no matter how twisted, other than to "make a statement"?

Spoiler

 

[Boke1879]

The red line shit was one of the few things I was ever upset with Obama over.

That was such a fuck up and Trump ends up looking better at the moment because of it, Obama should never have used that line if he knew he didn't want to respond.

Trump doesn't look good at this at all. Most people are pissed and his alt right fanboys literally feel betrayed by this.

No matter what this wasn't a popular move. No matter if it was needed or not.

 

[Crazyorloco]

I hate us launching missiles at them, but I really hope maybe this will help Assad stop doing what he's doing against his people. So maybe good will come out of this? Especially since the missiles hit an airbase that supposedly harbored the sarin chemical.

Trying to be optimistic.

 

[norm9]

I think people are worried because they don't believe that Trump's admin has a plan to deal with Syria. I also dislike trump, but I think this wasn't a bad action at all. I only hope this helps the Syrian people.

He doesn't have a plan. I can say that confidently.

 

[Kevtones]

- I think people might be blowing this out of proportion.
- There's an argument this was a good move.
- Concerned about destabilization.
- Really interesting parallel with Hillary Clinton's statement occurring hours beforehand.

 

[ColdPizza]

The red line shit was one of the few things I was ever upset with Obama over.

That was such a fuck up and Trump ends up looking better at the moment because of it, Obama should never have used that line if he knew he didn't want to respond.

Did Assad use chemicals while Obama was in office?

 

[Ac30]

THE STATE DEPARTMENT AND NSC WERENT INFORMED

WHAT THE FUCK

Where is this being reported? The NSC not being told is fucked up but there's no way that McMaster and Mattis weren't involved.

 

[Justified]

No liberals were ever calling for unilateral action against the Assad regime though

John Kerry and Hiliary Clinton did

Did Assad use chemicals while Obama was in office?

Yes: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/01/world/middleeast/syria.html

 

[ZOONAMI]

I think this needs to be done, so good for Trump and others backing it. It's about time something is done about that monster.

Now with that said, please answer me this. Just why did Assad drop the chemical weapons on the village in the first place? Is there a reason, no matter how twisted, other than to "make a statement"?

Because he's done it before, it's well known he has sarin, and he is using everything at his disposal to stem recent rebel advances?

 

[Loudninja]

Never give Trump the beneficent of the doubt that lesson has been learn many many times now.

 

[Iksenpets]

Mainly to see whether Trump would respond, apparently.

I think Assad thought he was in the clear to do whatever he liked once Trump was elected, because Trump had spent so long broadcasting that he's cool with dictators and doesn't care about human rights.

 

[jellies_two]

Florida Senator Marco Rubio was tweeting foreshadowing messages an hour before it happened.

 

[Arttemis]

CNN: Russians at the base. US gave a heads up to Russia ahead of time.

The amount of support Russia has given al-Assad is gross.

 

[Disxo]

- I think people might be blowing this out of proportion.
- There's an argument this was a good move.
- Concerned about destabilization.
- Really interesting parallel with Hillary Clinton's statement occurring hours beforehand.

/Thread

 

[bonesmccoy]

Simply untrue, and the very same argument Assad himself has made. "It's either me or the Jihadists". It's not a binary choice!

Oh, this stuff again.

 

[RustyNails]

I mean yeah, Putin's probably not happy, but I don't think this is gonna cause any major riffs between him and Trump just yet, though I admit I may be a bit too optimistic.

Putin is pragmatic. He's probably fuckin PISSED at Assad for gassing the civilians in Khan Shaikoun. Putin can only help Assad if he's ready to be helped. If he's dropping fucking nerve agents in the middle of population centers, what's Putin to do? He's not going to defend a fucking moron.

 

[Boke1879]

I think people are worried because they don't believe that Trump's admin has a plan to deal with Syria. I also dislike trump, but I think this wasn't a bad action at all. I only hope this helps the Syrian people.

I mean it would be a big help if we allowed them to take refuge in our country. That would be a good first step.

 

[rocketskates]

 

[Garrett Hawke]

Simply untrue, and the very same argument Assad himself has made. "It's either me or the Jihadists". It's not a binary choice!

that person did say "without a plan", if that changes anything.

 

[Skyzard]

.

You keep posting that but there has never been definitive proof that it was Assad that launched those attacks.

He was also already warned about consequences of a chemical attack, hence giving up his own stores.

 

[Stinkles]

Get him the fuck out of office fuckkkk

So he literally released a recorded statement from mar a lago?

 

[studyguy]

https://twitter.com/Reuters/status/850171720178831364

Reuters Top News@Reuters
UPDATE: U.S. did not target sections of the base where Russian forces were believed to be present: Pentagon

 

[norm9]

- I think people might be blowing this out of proportion.
- There's an argument this was a good move.
- Concerned about destabilization.
- Really interesting parallel with Hillary Clinton's statement occurring hours beforehand.

Twitter was buzzing slightly that the hillary tweet was a greenliggt, and here we are now.

 

[pigeon]

Remember that times he asked Congress's permission for intervention in Libya ? Me neither because it never happened.

So...you think he should've just ignored Congress and attacked Assad anyway?

John Kerry and Hiliary Clinton did

https://www.google.com/search?q=define+unilateral

 

[Ekdrm2d1]

wow

 

[NullPointer]

Now with that said, please answer me this. Just why did Assad drop the chemical weapons on the village in the first place? Is there a reason, no matter how twisted, other than to "make a statement"?

Hmm...

U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson was in Turkey on Thursday to meet leaders in a nation that has been a crucial ally in the U.S. government's fight against the extremist Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS). While there, he made official a significant change in the U.S. strategy on the six-year-old Syria war.

CBS News correspondent Elizabeth Palmer reports Tillerson held a closed-door meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan -- and the two men had a lot to talk about. The war against ISIS in Syria, which sits right on Turkey's southern border, was at the top of their list.

In the last sentence of his news conference later Thursday with Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu, Tillerson said the "longer-term status of President (Bashar) Assad will be decided by the Syrian people." That is a highly significant departure from the long-time stance of the Obama administration, which always insisted the Syrian dictator -- accused of killing thousands of his own citizens in indiscriminate bombing -- must step down as part of any negotiated political solution to the crisis.

While State Department officials in Washington have been laying the groundwork for the change in policy for weeks, Thursday was the first time Tillerson iterated it publicly.

(source)

And for those not keeping up, this policy has now been completely reversed.

 

[You Are Viewtiful]

Well deserved. A Trump decision I agree with, wow.

 

[Brashnir]

In a vacuum, as long as this was a strike at military targets in reaction to the chemical attacks, I'm OK with this.

Obviously worried about the potential for escalation, and reserve the right to be decidedly not OK with any future actions taken.

 

[JABEE]

Correct.

 

[therealist]

Meaningful discussion does not mean agreeing with you.

This isn't a difficult concept to grasp. People don't trust Trump. His presidency has been a clusterfuck of epic proportions and he's already botched a military operation before this. We can talk about what kind of responses this will elicit while also pointing out that Trump is a buffoon.

The distinction that I am making is that when you call this move a wrong move, you are projecting what you think will happen in the future. You're not criticizing this move itself, you're reacting to the future consequences of said move, something that you don't know yet. This is perfectly acceptable to write here, but don't use this argument to criticize the move.

This strike is not abnormal and therefore not something to get worked up over. I am comforted what other Presidents have done and the statements that other experts have made.

I am concerned about the man leading the charge in Trump, but that concern has existed before this military strike. This news increases my anxiety a little bit, but not to the level of fear that other people here have shown.

 

[JustenP88]

Welcome to realpolitik.

Ousting Assad without a bulletproof plan for his succession would literally mean handing the keys of the middle east to ISIS-type groups for the upcoming decades. You can't let your emotions have the best of you. There's no good solution. In an ideal world Assad would be dealt with at the same time as ISIS/Al qaeda but sadly that doesn't appear to be possible.

Not possible? Ted Cruz: “We will utterly destroy ISIS,” he said of the terrorist group also called ISIL. “We will carpet-bomb them into oblivion. I don’t know if sand can glow in the dark, but we’re going to find out!”

Donald Trump: "Why do we even have nukes if we can't use them?"

It can be done! All you need is a big old set of Republican balls and big old bombs!

I don't trust these people to not escalate like Cadillac.

 

[Volimar]

I think the best thing Hillary could do right now is say she supports his decision. Brains will explode.

 

[Obliterator]

This is a really shitty place to be in for everyone involved. I feel horrible for the Syrian people and the atrocities that have been done to them, so in a way I want US intervention.

At the same time though, the last thing we need is to be dragged into yet another war and yet another conflict.

Idk how to feel about this honestly

 

[fredrancour]

is there a viable faction in the syrian civil war that's a clear-cut least-evil one whose victory we should be hoping for?

 

[Chumley]

Putin is pragmatic. He's probably fuckin PISSED at Assad for gassing the civilians in Khan Shaikoun. Putin can only help Assad if he's ready to be helped. If he's dropping fucking nerve agents in the middle of population centers, what's Putin to do? He's not going to defend a fucking moron.

This

Putin knew Trump had to do what he did

 

[Fat4all]

https://twitter.com/Reuters/status/850171720178831364

this is a bit of a strange bombing

 

[King Tubby]

Twitter was buzzing slightly that the hillary tweet was a greenliggt, and here we are now.

I wasn't aware that Hillary was the Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces.

 

[BasicMath]

I really like this move. It was fast and to the point. I don't think anyone was hurt either or at the very least nobody was targeted. Sending a clear signal to the world that a red line was crossed, and that Trump and the United States weren't going to just sit around uselessly while Assad kills his own people mercilessly.

I hope things don't escalate to a crazy and world-ending point. But that's really up to the Russians at this point.

 

[Vostro]

Holy Shit! I don't think this will end well.

 

[ColdPizza]

Where is this being reported? The NSC not being told is fucked up but there's no way that McMaster and Mattis weren't involved.

People need to chill and stop spreading misinformation

 

[Vermillion]

Honestly, this wasn't anywhere near as bad as made to seem

Panic mode off

.

I'm glad I read a couple pages before I respond. Doesn't seem bad at all.

 

[PatThePassive]

Because he's done it before, it's well known he has sarin, and he is using everything at his disposal to stem recent rebel advances?

I love the "why would he kill his own people?" fools.

Hes been doing it for a while and often double tap civilian areas killing those trying to aid anyone who was injured.

Not saying US getting involved is good either, I still chalk this situation up to Russia

 

[DontBeThatGuy]

I think the best thing Hillary could do right now is say she supports his decision. Brains will explode.

She pretty much already did.

 

[phaonaut]

What I find weird is the fake compassion from conservatives for syrian people after they tried to have them banned from even entering the country. Willing to drop bombs, but not take in people who are fleeing the bombs.

 

[Golden_Pigeon]

Basically this. If we have to choose between ISIS or Assad, I pick Assad. He's only attacking his own people.

If we try to pick a third way by ousting Assad and fucking Donald Trump is in charge of the rebuild...I think I still rather have Assad, because holy fuck. The Bush administration was utterly incompetent and corrupt in trying to rebuild Iraq. How bad do you think Trump would fuck it up?

This is Assad rethorics and how every arabs Pinochets out there are justifying their dictatorship. Meanwhile, Isis only grow out of those dictatorships and are unable to take root elsewhere.

ISIS is an iraqi group, they don't have support among syrian. They are totally unable to take Baghdad and they would take Damas ? They were kickedout from Idlib and Alepo by the rebels. Nobody love them.