Syria has used chemical weapons. Now what?

[BlueStreak]

Originally Posted by mpholland

As a constitutional law professor, Obama actually made a wise decision to go to Congress. Probably a win/win situation for him politically, too bad it might not be for the rest of the country.

That remains to be seen, on all counts. I have my doubts.

[merrylander]

Well it will sure make the GOP look stupid, along with some Dems as well.

[piece-itpete]

So the left is on board with bombing Syria all of a sudden?

Pete

[Dondilion]

Originally Posted by icenine

Assad is not a radical either?

tell me how what Assad has done to one of his neighborhoods is any different than what Al Quaeda did to New York. His bodycount is about 50 percent of 9-11 from one missle attack last week on his own city. So Assad can kill with impunity because of your fear of radical Islam? You are really starting to scare me.

Basically your OK with Assad? Is that what I am reading in all your posts?

He is not a radical Islamist. He is fighting radical Islamists. (the well
organized and discipline Jabhat Al Nusra)

Radical Islamist has indicated and has shown a determination to get us anywhere.

The sectarian destruction in that region is endemic.

There is nothing significant we can do about that....Iraq is still burning.

Our proposed action in Syria is a face saving one.....to save the face of
a president and implicitly the face of a nation. The latter is the reason
why there is such a disparate combination of ideologues supporting the
president.

[icenine]

Who brought Al Quaeda to Syria?
Assad did when he refused to back down and followed a scorched earth policy on his own people and country.

[Dondilion]

Originally Posted by icenine

Who brought Al Quaeda to Syria?
Assad did when he refused to back down and followed a scorched earth policy on his own people and country.

The question is irrelevant now from our perspective.

The fact is they are there getting bigger and bigger to the point where
they even have their own oil wells.

We should do nothing to enhance them.

[piece-itpete]

It's an old vs new look at the status quo I think. Old realpolitik says better a brutal strongman than home grown morons. New says bring 'the people' into power and work with them to control said morons.

I like the thought of the new, it's hard not to cheer for the people, but I have serious reservations.

It's something of a dead argument as much of the ME has already passed over to 'the people', at least theoretically. I have doubts that it will stay that way, and if so that the radicals will be suppressed. Look at Pakistan.

In the meantime, does the international community believe that genocide of sorts is acceptable to them, or not? NK at least is certainly watching.

Pete

[piece-itpete]

Well the debate is over. A strike on Syria without UN approval IS a war crime.

Chomsky says so

"....[T]hat aggression without UN authorization would be a war crime, a very serious one, is quite clear, despite tortured efforts to invoke other crimes as precedents," he added. ..."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/0...ef=mostpopular

We can all go home now lol.

Pete

[Dondilion]

Originally Posted by piece-itpete

In the meantime, does the international community believe that genocide of sorts is acceptable to them, or not? NK at least is certainly watching.

Pete

Not every intervention makes sense in practical terms. Each situation has different matrix. We went into Somalia and had
to leave because the price, both human and material, to control the land was too high. A fail state ...their inter communal
violence seems to be just leveling.

We went into Lebanon and had to leave also.

As to Syria. To put things right we would have to go in and punch the Alawites, Christians, Shias and radical Islamists.
What a soup?

Are you suggesting that we should invade N. Korea if there is internal upheaval.

[piece-itpete]

I'm still uncertain how far we want to go to stop things of this nature. The folks in charge have largely imposed something of an arbitrary setup on the world since WW2 but it grows like all things government.

Regardless, I have no doubt we'd go after Kim Jong Un, heck I suspect they are chomping at the bit to do so.

Pete