jakee 1,489 #26 December 9, 2024 1 hour ago, brenthutch said: Back on topic. As I predicted Russia is abandoning its naval and air bases in Syria. Score one for Biden. 2 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jakee 1,489 #27 December 9, 2024 1 hour ago, brenthutch said: Like what happened to Trump If you can't even fool yourself, what make you think you can fool anyone else? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TriGirl 318 #28 December 9, 2024 It was really interesting to see the recent spate of news about the opposition making gains in Syria last week. Amazing to hear the news about Assad. It's easy to celebrate these milestones (and we should), but we should still be very concerned about what's next. ISIS could decide to make a power play, the forces in power could totally fail to deliver public services, or someone else could simply step up with his own brand of authoritarianism as just a different kind of "bad" for Syria. I'm not sure we should be a part of the re-building of institutions and democracy, considering our penchant for "getting ahead of our skis" when we start out trying to do the right thing. But I certainly think we should support our allies stepping in to assist in the process. The earlier a new government can get off the ground, the better the whole region will be. 3 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
billvon 2,989 #29 December 9, 2024 4 hours ago, brenthutch said: Like what happened to Trump Thank you! My job is done here. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
riggerrob 643 #30 December 9, 2024 58 minutes ago, TriGirl said: It was really interesting to see the recent spate of news about the opposition making gains in Syria last week. Amazing to hear the news about Assad. It's easy to celebrate these milestones (and we should), but we should still be very concerned about what's next. ISIS could decide to make a power play, the forces in power could totally fail to deliver public services, or someone else could simply step up with his own brand of authoritarianism as just a different kind of "bad" for Syria. I'm not sure we should be a part of the re-building of institutions and democracy, considering our penchant for "getting ahead of our skis" when we start out trying to do the right thing. But I certainly think we should support our allies stepping in to assist in the process. The earlier a new government can get off the ground, the better the whole region will be. Agreed. Welcome the end of a 5-way civil war. Now it is only a 4-way civil war. It will be interesting to see how power settles in the next few months. Will the various factions continue to cooperate? Will the Kurds be satisfied with autonomy in Northern Syria? Will Druze be satisfied with autonomy in Southern Syria? Will HTS make good on their promises of moderation and religious toleration? etc.??????????? Asad lost because his supporters got distracted by other conflicts. With Russia distracted in Ukraine and Iran distracted by their proxies Hamas and Hezbollah losing battles, Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SkyDekker 1,465 #31 December 9, 2024 4 hours ago, brenthutch said: Like what happened to Trump What does he have to worry about if he hasn't committed any crimes? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
wolfriverjoe 1,523 #32 December 12, 2024 On 12/9/2024 at 11:19 AM, SkyDekker said: What does he have to worry about if he hasn't committed any crimes? His own communications director said that if he (Trumpty Dumpty) hadn't won the election, he likely would have spent the rest of his life in prison. OTOH, Roger Stone committed almost the exact same tax crimes. HE was pardoned, under the excuse that 'he just made some accounting mistakes'. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
riggerrob 643 #33 December 12, 2024 On 12/8/2024 at 11:29 AM, JoeWeber said: Perfect. Now, while the getting is good, let's drop the 82nd Airborne onto Damascus International Airport and the 101st onto Al-Nasiriyah Military Airbase to help keep security in these trying times and to protect our 900 troops there from another Afghanistan debacle. Then sit back and watch how the Russians come to grips with the United States controlling the nation with their only warm water port accessing the Mediterranean: Tartus. The USA would be wise to stay out of that long-running civil war. Just because a 5-way civil war has been reduced to a 4-way civil war is not cause to celebrate. Russia and Iran backed the Asad family. Iran backed a variety of Sunnis minority sects especially in Eastern Syria. Turkey was busy shooting up Kurds. Kurds in Northern Syria were backed by the USA. Druze in Southern Syria (Golan Heights) were backed by Israel. Al Queda and ISIS/ISIL backed Muslim fundamentalists in Central Syria. Those fundamentalists really how to put the "fun" in fundamentalism: beheadings, beatings. covering womens' heads, banning every holy book except the Koran, etc. Who has a clue which faction will dominate Syria in the long run????????? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
