Syria

DC47 · Post by **DC47** » Fri Dec 11, 2015 12:48 pm

howard wrote:
Gunpowder wrote:As long as the US and Russia back the same peeps there can be no WW3 for the moment, at least.
Until Turkey bombs them. Or France or the UK 'by mistake'. Syrian army troops were bombed from the air twice last week. Isis doesn't have an air force.

Of course. But they have all that oil cash. I imagine they've contracted with someone who controls planes to do some bombing. Perhaps Russia is taking their money to help fund their war. Perhaps some Syrian pilots are moonlighting by bombing the Syrian army. The CIA may be bombing every side, as part of their strategy of endless war and doing favors for people who do them for the CIA.

howard · Post by **howard** » Fri Dec 11, 2015 12:54 pm

Naw, it's really quite simple:

DC47 · Post by **DC47** » Fri Dec 11, 2015 1:51 pm

Too bad that simplified explanatory diagram got cut-off around the borders, compared to the original version. Also, it's limited by using human figures who have only two hands.

howard · Post by **howard** » Fri Dec 11, 2015 2:05 pm

lemme find the original

Steve of phpBB · Post by **Steve of phpBB** » Fri Dec 11, 2015 2:17 pm

Here you go:

howard · Post by **howard** » Tue Dec 15, 2015 5:11 pm

Now, was that so hard, John?

No 'regime change' in Syria: After talks in Moscow, Kerry accepts Russian stance on Assad

MOSCOW – U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry on Tuesday accepted Russia's long-standing demand that President Bashar Assad's future be determined by his own people, as Washington and Moscow edged toward putting aside years of disagreement over how to end Syria's civil war.

"The United States and our partners are not seeking so-called regime change," Kerry told reporters in the Russian capital after meeting President Vladimir Putin. A major international conference on Syria would take place later this week in New York, Kerry announced.

howard · Post by **howard** » Sun Dec 20, 2015 4:25 pm

Latest Sy Hersh. Important.
Military to Military
Seymour M. Hersh on US intelligence sharing in the Syrian war

I have thought that there are factions within our government with vastly different foreign policy agendas, which led to schizophrenic actions. This details activity by the Joint Chiefs in direct opposition to Obama's stated (insane) policies. Amazing if Hersh's reporting is accurate; more amazing the US public just does not care.

DC47 · Post by **DC47** » Sun Dec 20, 2015 7:57 pm

howard wrote:... more amazing the US public just does not care.

I'm not amazed. First, they're not going to hear what is going on if 90% of the media reports support the bi-partisan establishment's myth. Second, the public isn't likely to respond when there are almost no American casualties in an overseas war.

America provides direct and indirect support to ISIS at the same time as we spend hundreds of millions of dollars to bomb them. This has long seemed obvious to me. But an American public that sees ISIS as this era's Nazi equivalent, with Putin's Russia a close second, is not going to believe this until is is rubbed in their faces. And that has only just barely begun.

Given that he has excellent intelligence, I'm at a loss to see what is behind Obama's Syrian strategy. One notion is that trying to drive Russia out of the Mediterranean Sea is the primary goal. Their Syrian base is their only physical location on the Mediterranean. Helping ISIS fight Russia in Syria makes some sense in this light.

Too strange to be true? So often the true is strange right up until it's obvious.

The downside is that if ISIS successfully removes the Russians from Syria, you have an expansive, militarized defacto nation-state with growing resources located in a position to attack in any direction. Perhaps the US counts on Iran's large military force to keep ISIS in check in one direction. And in the other direction, perhaps they'd be pleased if ISIS assisted Islamic guerrilla war on the frontiers of Russia and China.

Pruitt · Post by **Pruitt** » Sun Dec 20, 2015 10:57 pm

Why would the public care when Best Buy has a pre-Christmas sale on?

DC47 · Post by **DC47** » Mon Dec 21, 2015 12:21 am

Really? We need a new TV. I was going to finish that long and boring Hersh piece. But if anything he claims is actually true, I'll read about it in the New York Times this week. I count on them to cut to the chase about the mess that is the Middle East. It would be a better use of my time to read a good review of what's up with TV technology. OLEDs are more important to my family's well-being than IEDs. And what about 4K and curved screens? It's not easy to be an informed consumer in this rapidly-changing world.

howard · Post by **howard** » Wed Aug 24, 2016 4:43 pm

Syria is getting weird. Turkey joined the party officially this morning, invading a section to prevent Syrian Kurds from taking it. Invading like with tanks and ~2000 ground forces, Turkish army and assorted jihadists. US special forces and air force are supporting these particular Kurds. It is a good time to start paying attention to this little corner of paradise. Oh, and Biden is in Ankara today to meed Erdogan.

Here is one take, but there are dozens of opinions as to what this invasion means. Kurds Lose Out As Neo-Ottoman Turks Steal Syria's Jarablus

Steve of phpBB · Post by **Steve of phpBB** » Thu Aug 25, 2016 9:57 am

howard wrote:Syria is getting weird. Turkey joined the party officially this morning, invading a section to prevent Syrian Kurds from taking it. Invading like with tanks and ~2000 ground forces, Turkish army and assorted jihadists. US special forces and air force are supporting these particular Kurds. It is a good time to start paying attention to this little corner of paradise. Oh, and Biden is in Ankara today to meed Erdogan.

Here is one take, but there are dozens of opinions as to what this invasion means. Kurds Lose Out As Neo-Ottoman Turks Steal Syria's Jarablus

"getting"?

Gunpowder · Post by **Gunpowder** » Thu Aug 25, 2016 10:00 am

Well at least if we go to war with Turkey we'll be able to hate them and call them out on their shit.

howard · Post by **howard** » Sun Sep 04, 2016 3:29 pm

This made me laugh. That is Erdogan talking with Putin.

Johnnie · Post by **Johnnie** » Sun Sep 04, 2016 10:15 pm

Obama be like "I wanna nuke both of you mother fuckers."

howard · Post by **howard** » Sun Sep 04, 2016 10:31 pm

Johnnie wrote:Obama be like "I wanna nuke both of you mother fuckers."

"I don't have the balls to do it. But #45 does."

Johnnie · Post by **Johnnie** » Mon Sep 05, 2016 11:53 pm

howard wrote:
Johnnie wrote:Obama be like "I wanna nuke both of you mother fuckers."
"I don't have the balls to do it. But #45 does."

Obama has some good trigger discipline on his right hand for being a lefty

"Nah, fam. The squad 'bout to get turnt AF. Ergodan and Putin are some punk bitches. You down to fuck them up or nah?"

howard · Post by **howard** » Thu Sep 08, 2016 12:23 pm

This is a nice summary of our history of fucking up this country. Long (about 6000 words) but valuable.

Syria: Another Pipeline War
by Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.

The Sybian · Post by **The Sybian** » Thu Sep 08, 2016 12:36 pm

howard wrote:Kurds Lose Out As Neo-Ottoman Turks Steal Syria's Jarablus

Better band name, Neo-Ottoman Turks or Jarablus?

howard · Post by **howard** » Thu Sep 08, 2016 12:44 pm

Garage band - Neo Ottoman Turks (NOT for short). Rapper - Jarablus.

Giff · Post by **Giff** » Thu Sep 08, 2016 2:51 pm

What is Aleppo?

Steve of phpBB · Post by **Steve of phpBB** » Thu Sep 08, 2016 3:56 pm

Giff wrote:What is Aleppo?

A guy from ancient times whose limbs would fall off?

howard · Post by **howard** » Thu Sep 08, 2016 5:23 pm

You know, Groucho, Harpo, Chico, Zeppo and Aleppo.

Post by **Sabo** » Thu Sep 29, 2016 7:55 am

If you want to be depressed today, read this article.

Darkness and fear in Aleppo as the bombs rain down

As it is, “they can kill you at any time,” said Omar Shaban, a student who described how families cluster in the evenings on the lower floors of his apartment building to escape the bombs. Entire families sleep in one room, because they prefer to die together than to create orphans, widows or bereaved parents.

Shaban, who is 33, married two months ago and spends the evenings sitting in the dark with his new wife, listening to the bombs. They talk about their fears. “I am afraid we will be hungry after two weeks. I am afraid of the airstrikes. I am afraid to lose someone close to me,” he said.

She is afraid of becoming pregnant, he said, and of bringing a child into the world in which they live.

howard · Post by **howard** » Fri Oct 07, 2016 3:14 pm

A rare moment of sanity, from White House spokesman Josh Earnest yesterday:

“The president has discussed in some details why military action against the Assad regime to try to address the situation in Aleppo is unlikely to accomplish the goals that many envisioned now in terms of reducing the violence there. It is much more likely to lead to a bunch of unintended consequences that are clearly not in our national interest.”

Obama has had frequent opportunities to make the shitstorm worse, and he has passed on several of them. Props for that.

Johnnie · Post by **Johnnie** » Sun Dec 18, 2016 12:51 am

I don't watch the news enough, or at all. So I saw this while scrolling on YouTube:

And the evacuation of the city has been halted.

Man, that part of the world is so fucked up.

rass · Post by **rass** » Thu Apr 06, 2017 8:18 pm

mister d · Post by **mister d** » Thu Apr 06, 2017 8:21 pm

O/U draft age for WW3?

Johnnie · Post by **Johnnie** » Thu Apr 06, 2017 9:35 pm

17, probably.

Also, so many Americans are fat they'll probably be rejected when getting physicals.

And add Stop Loss on top of that, btw.

Johnnie · Post by **Johnnie** » Thu Apr 06, 2017 9:43 pm

DC47 · Post by **DC47** » Thu Apr 06, 2017 9:51 pm

How accurate are these missiles?

Would firing this many make this air base unusable for a long time? Take out a lot of planes?

A_B · Post by **A_B** » Thu Apr 06, 2017 10:03 pm

If 2-3 hit their target it could hamper an air base significantly. A well placed bomb hole has good impact on takeoffs and landings. But maybe someone with some Air Force experience could weigh in.

But he likely can't to be honest.

(I missed johnnies posts. My bad. Maybe he can).

Johnnie · Post by **Johnnie** » Thu Apr 06, 2017 10:19 pm

I'm not familiar with tomahawks. But I just asked my deployed Intel buddy.

"Accurate," he said. I'm sure specifics are classified and Facebook Messenger isn't a medium to discuss classified.

So I'm guessing this many missiles fired on this air base:

Has the specific tactical operation to render it useless for a very long time.

If you hear any politician use the term "carpet bomb," roll your eyes immediately. Precision guidance is the key because it doesn't indiscriminately target everything in one area. As opposed to specific buildings and parts of a runway.

Johnnie · Post by **Johnnie** » Thu Apr 06, 2017 10:24 pm

Johnnie · Post by **Johnnie** » Thu Apr 06, 2017 10:35 pm

Post by **brian** » Thu Apr 06, 2017 11:34 pm

I think it's fairly obvious by now I'm no Trump supporter, but under the circumstances this seems like a proportional response to gassing civilians and the kind of action it's appropriate for the United States to take. How things ravel or unravel from here is anyone's guess, but I don't think the missile attack was completely uncalled for.

DaveInSeattle · Post by **DaveInSeattle** » Thu Apr 06, 2017 11:35 pm

Melanie is in for the worst 30 seconds of her life tonight...

Pruitt · Post by **Pruitt** » Fri Apr 07, 2017 3:51 am

brian wrote:I think it's fairly obvious by now I'm no Trump supporter, but under the circumstances this seems like a proportional response to gassing civilians and the kind of action it's appropriate for the United States to take. How things ravel or unravel from here is anyone's guess, but I don't think the missile attack was completely uncalled for.

I am disturbed to find that I agree completely with this.

The war in Syria has lasted longer than World War Two and there have been so many atrocities, so many humanitarian crises...

Joe K · Post by **Joe K** » Fri Apr 07, 2017 6:27 am

Pruitt wrote:
brian wrote:I think it's fairly obvious by now I'm no Trump supporter, but under the circumstances this seems like a proportional response to gassing civilians and the kind of action it's appropriate for the United States to take. How things ravel or unravel from here is anyone's guess, but I don't think the missile attack was completely uncalled for.
I am disturbed to find that I agree completely with this.

The war in Syria has lasted longer than World War Two and there have been so many atrocities, so many humanitarian crises...

Right or wrong -- and I've read enough competing views on Syria that I have mixed feelings -- there's quite a bit of bipartisan support for this missile strike. Clinton said just a couple of days ago that she thought we should bomb Syria's airfields.

EnochRoot · Post by **EnochRoot** » Fri Apr 07, 2017 6:47 am

howard wrote:This is a nice summary of our history of fucking up this country. Long (about 6000 words) but valuable.

Syria: Another Pipeline War
by Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.

What a fucking sobering read. Thanks for posting.