Assad needs to be put down like a dog

Enough already with this fucker, I mean he ruthlessly attacks his own citizens through Ramadan, and now more attacks on Eid? that's like western countries being attacked on Christmas.

http://www.allvoices.com/contributed-news/10199467-in-syria-seven-deaths-mark-the-first-day-of-eid-elfitr

Jeez, that's horrible. I hadn't even heard of this guy, nor did I know what was going on in Syria.

There's too much bad shit going on in the world.

Edit: Interesting news website. I might give it a chance. I've been switching between BBC World and The Guardian as of late.

Syria's bad, arguably the worst crackdowns of the Arab Spring protests. I should get myself up to speed on the situation, though I know Turkey is getting quite concerned...might even lead another NATO operation

A year later and this monster is still a blight on humanity.

Too bad neither presidential candidate made it a priority to get rid of this guy. They're probably hoping Turkey will instigate a conflict anyway.

  On 9/10/2012 at 4:34 PM, Rubin Farr said:

A year later and this monster is still a blight on humanity.

 

Too bad neither presidential candidate made it a priority to get rid of this guy. They're probably hoping Turkey will instigate a conflict anyway.

the US is too focused on Mahmoud, who in some fucked up alternate universe way is one of the more secular leaders in the region

  On 9/10/2012 at 4:50 PM, Smettingham Rutherford IV said:

  On 9/10/2012 at 4:34 PM, Rubin Farr said:

A year later and this monster is still a blight on humanity.

 

Too bad neither presidential candidate made it a priority to get rid of this guy. They're probably hoping Turkey will instigate a conflict anyway.

 

the US is too focused on Mahmoud, who in some fucked up alternate universe way is one of the more secular leaders in the region

Well he is, but Khamenei is the supreme leader. Iran has one of the most secular and democratic governments on paper, though the reality is the complete opposite.

I can't say I want either candidate to make a priority to "get rid of Assad" nor criticize each other (Romney might bash Obama though, and then say Libya was "risky" - that's been a GOP/Talk Radio theme for the last year or so). Turkey is too involved with NATO to act alone, beyond protecting it's border. We probably haven't stepped in, with Europe and Middle Eastern allies, via air power because of the vast Syrian WMD arsenal that would be either used, inadvertanly released, or looted - people forget that we actually made a lot of progress getting Gaddafi to eliminate his WMD programs by lifting sanctions in 2004. Italy, among others, was a close trading partner with Libya. They had oil fields to secure, vaster airspace to operate in, more stable border countries, etc. Syria is a tricky geographical spot. They rival Iran or even North Korea in terms of isolation and state oppression. That's why Obama and others are pushing for diplomacy first and foremost and really just waiting it out.

The United States, regardless of the president in power, has always maintained a pragmatic strategy regarding the Middle East. It's realpolitik mentality at it's most pure. We went from supplying Israel with tanks in their war with Egypt in the 70s to conducting military operations with Egypt in 1981. We supply Lebanon, the PA, Israel, Iraq, Egypt and Jordan with arms simultaneously (obviously with far more to the last three). Obama's Libyan no-fly zones and eventually bombing campaign is very similar to Reagan's actions against Iran and Libya in the 1988 - that's why the liberal versus conservative "rhetoric" in US politics regarding foreign policy is full of so many lies and distortions - the efforts are always the same. Even the Iraq invasion, despite being neoconservative policy at it's most pure, was done to establish a US base of operations in the region and wedge a "border" between Shia and Sunni states. Regarding Iran, we listen to the Gulf States and Saudi Arabia just as much, if not more, as we do Israel. In fact, if there's going to be US and Iranian combat, it's going to happen at sea in the Strait of Hormuz. The US Navy has policed that area nonstop since WWII.

Israel is the wrench in the policy. We seek to appease their government, but honestly we do the same amount toward the Gulf States as well. It's all a lot of buying off with everyone we can in the region. The main difference between Democrats and Republicans in office is the lobbying forces that influence them, especially the religious right toward the GOP - actual US policy towards Israel has hardly changed between Clinton, Bush, and Obama in regards to arms sales and efforts toward peace talks. The criticism towards Obama now by the right is nothing but hot air. I will be honest, I worry about Romney being in office because he might be swayed to the absurd "religious" aspects of the Israeli-Arab conflict and maybe more likely to support airstrikes against Iran's facilities - but no one is fucking stupid enough to actually initiate a war with Iran, at least in the Oval Office. He might be quicker to deploy US troops into hotspots, but he's probably just talking "tough." It's not going to be a night and day change in actual policies though if he's elected. In fact, I would guess he'd try to keep us in Afghanistan longer, that's about it.

^I've probably sounded more alarmed at the idea of Romney being elected, but that's probably more of concern toward the views of his voting base and enabling them to get even more attention on their batshit insane views toward the middle east. My reluctant decision to vote for Obama is less a cynical "lesser of two evils" stance and mostly now a giant "fuck you" to the amount of hateful ignorance directed toward him for being things he's factually not: a "socialist," a "dove," a Kenyan, etc. We're literally going to watch an election decided by people not grounded in reality. Sadly, I feel like voting for either Johnson or Stein is not only irrelevant because of the electoral college, but because the public can't even appreciate what it means to support them over the two parties.

I think sadly since Obama's introduction to the national stage, race will be a huge factor going forward in US elections.

I haven't seen this much racial bias surface in this country in my entire lifetime.

Leave mahmoud or assad alone and shoot obama.

a realpolitik pragmatism in the Middle East would be one without Israeli support. Realpolitik is far from what we want to do there.

The sad fact of the matter is that past govt. interference in the Middle East will make any other strategy near impossible.

The Iranian war-hawking is a completely empty statement; if people think the Iraq invasion was a failure, an Iranian invasion would be a bloodbath.

  On 9/10/2012 at 5:39 PM, Rubin Farr said:

I think sadly since Obama's introduction to the national stage, race will be a huge factor going forward in US elections.

 

I haven't seen this much racial bias surface in this country in my entire lifetime.

trust me, its all on one side. I abhor the race card, but its clear undeniable fact that the GOP and its supporters are guilty of constant extreme and blatant dog-whistle racism .

If people really can't let fucking skin color go now, I say so be it. Let it run the race. If we run our country into the ground because we don't like black people, we had it coming.

PS. I dunno if you guys are watching the polling stats, but Obama has a consistently large boost because of Romney and Friends' idiotic comments flooding the FOX news network and others.

Obama has no balls, but seriously, motherfuck a Romney.

Romney sucks a Mormon dick, just like 12 year olds.

  On 9/10/2012 at 5:51 PM, Smettingham Rutherford IV said:

Obama has no balls, but seriously, motherfuck a Romney.

this, you just worded it brilliantly

so ive pretty muched agreed to most of what is being said here. this fucker does need to die but i do have a question. why does it need to be obama/romney (america in general) that needs to do it? hasn't america fucked up enough with our world politics? ever since WWII ended it almost seems like we're the only ones that get called in to kill some crazy despot in some 3rd world country. we don't need another war. unless its a seal team six in and out type operation then i really don't think we should get involved with this.

*shakes fist at another country for abusing human rights*

i always have to be pretty skeptical when there is a worldwide push to 'take out' the dictator of an arab country when people like the leader of Sudan and Bahrain are left alone when they pretty much do the same thing and in some instances far far worse. But i guess selective enforcement is pretty bad ass