The problem with a no-fly zone is that someone has to enforce it. Once you start shooting down aircraft, your involved in their war. No thanks. I'd rather let them work it out. Go Blazers
I don't follow? The region has lived under brutal, authoritarian rule for centuries. Whether it was the Caliphates, the Ottoman suzerainty, British and French colonial rule, or Ba'athist strong-men like Assad and Hussein. Nihil sub sole novum.
You didn't answer the question. Did Assad routinely arrest people in the dead of night and torture them like Saddam did? What daily brutality did he impose on his people?
Syrian minority groups (Christians, Shia, etc.) have definitely suffered under both Assads. I think the son maybe started off with better intentions than his father - even intimating democratic reforms in the past - but by many accounts Syria has operated under the same police-state tactics that marked the rein of the elder; since a "state of emergency was declared" in 1963. I suppose I don't have any off-the-cuff anecdotes, but I don't think it's any big secret either that the human rights situation in that country has been pretty poor for fifty+ years (maybe hundreds of years?).
For what it's worth I have serious doubts about the situation improving even a little bit if Assad's regime falls to the insurrectionists and revolutionaries. It'll be just another Islamic state employing brutality and strong-arm tactics under the banner of Sharia law.
Maybe true, but I never see or hear about it in the news. From what I've read, there have been several coups d'etat since 1963.
I'm not saying it's a "special" sort of brutality or repression as far as dictatorships go, but I'm guessing people don't hear much about it because Syrians live in such a heavily monitored police-state and aren't allowed to leave the country without an exit visa. There have been a few attempts, but they've all been quickly and/or violently put down. This is probably the most "famous" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hama_massacre
Can't we just talk Mexico into selling Baja California to the Israelis? That way people will sneak in to clean hotel rooms and mow lawns rather than blow up children...
Sorry, Nik, I'm just trying to make some sense of this. The Sunni govt. is suppressing Shia, like in Iraq. So the Shia fight on the government side and the government fires rockets into Sunni towns. If the Shia were so oppressed, wouldn't they be on the rebellion side?
Obama's coalition of the willing seems to be France and Pelosi. Can we just send in a bunch of community organizers to fix everything?
Could Saudi Arabia be behind the chemical weapons attack? http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2013-...out-who-really-behind-syrian-chemical-attacks
I live in Israel, we and Syrians are neighbors, I've never been to Syria. You don't think I support democracy in Syria? I think that's definitely Israel's interest but mostly Syrian interest, I believe in democracy and share most of the rebels' democratic aspirations but there is more to this. One thing is Assad׳s personal situation. He probably made a mistake standing against his people's rights, some would even say he has sinned. IMO deciding to fight militarily his People's call for democracy proves he was never deserving of being a king. I do believe, however, that until that point he was at least trying to give Syrian people as good a life as possible. Right now he has power to fight and no legitimacy, if he feels he has nothing to lose I'm worried cities in Israel could be targeted. You may think "come on, take one for the team" but I wouldn't. The war in Syria is their own, the resolution of this situation can only happen when Syrians reach it. I'm not saying the world should be oblivious to what's happening but Syrians should decide their future, not have it decided for them. Eveb if I also hope for democracy to emerge it wouldn't be worth much if won by another country's missiles. Obama wants to prevent incidents like the chemical assault to reoccur, he wants to live up to his word but I think what he wants most is for things to regain relative normalcy. There is a book that in English is called 100 years of solitude, in which one of the characters, Aaurliano Buandia, is asked if he'll vote for the liberals or for the conservatives in the upcoming elections. At first he sayes he doesn't really care until he somehow witnesses the conservatives forging the elections and goes on to lead a civil war for most of his life. I believe in democracy, I think it's a basic human right, I even think it's worth fighting for but it's the Syrians' battle, no one can fight it for them.
You have every reason to worry. Israel is the Middle East's favorite punching bag. If Assad wants to curry favor with other Middle East leaders, he can attack Israel. What worries me more is that the High Holy Days are coming up shortly. The Syrians may view either Rosh Hashanah or Yom Kippur as the ideal time to strike. You live in a neighborhood of crazy people where you're the only sane one.
Israel is not a good target if you have something to lose, our Air Force, technology enables us to strike back fiercefully. My point is not that I don't want missiles on Tel Aviv, that's the subtext, my point is that this conflict should be resolved by the world in a diplomatic manner, it will not be resolved by the region being dragged to war, even if Obama does know better than them... I don't think they are crazy, what they're going through is a conflict between monarchy and democracy that isn't simple, it isn't simple because monarchy is what they've had for many years. When the people in Suria started calling for change Assad answered by force which IMO was his mistake. He then went on to appear before Parliament and was only applauded, that kind of regime is not good for civilians, can't be good. The rebels' cause should prevail because it's progress, because it's a better political system but it's a difficult change that's causing a painful war. It also should be their own cause, it's not for other countries to decide, other countries can only make it worse. It's like Aurliano Buandia's fight, after years of fighting he'll say he did it mostly for pride.
Notice that the gas attack was timed for when Congress was on summer vacation, so that Obama would act unilaterally. In Britain they called Parliament into special session, but not here. I just came on the board to show this article http://www.examiner.com/article/bre...attack-result-of-mishandling-chemical-weapons but I see that Masbee already linked to a similar one.
