Everybody is looking for a way to end the conflict in Syria…..but not one of these chest thumping morons have given any thought to what will happen if and when Assad takes it on the lamb…
An objective piece that bears consideration before the US goes all in…..could be making a terrible mistake……
You would think that McCain would be more cautious after his experience in Vietnam when calling for Americans to get more involved in the world’s hot spots……apparently he has amnesia or he just does not care….either way….he WRONG!
Sen. McCain’s mistaken rationale over Syria | Guest opinion.
Inkwell Institute
Middle East Desk
Crap! Just when I thought it was safe to go to a couple doctor’s appointments…..all Hell breaks loss!
I mean a guy cannot go to the doc for a finger wave without the world going into overload….I mean I had much rather stayed at the office reading news instead of hearing….”turn your head and cough”………
But I digress…….
This is what I found when I returned to my office……
Newser) – The Syrian war seems to have tipped lately in favor of Bashar al-Assad, but here’s one development with at least the potential to change things: The US has concluded that Syria used chemical weapons on a small scale multiple times, reports the New York Times. President Obama has long said that would be a game-changer—he called it a “red line”—though he never spelled out exactly what the consequences would be. That is now the subject of fierce debate within the administration, says the Times.
The new finding comes from US and European intelligence analysts citing a slew of evidence, including sarin found in the hair samples of dead rebel fighters. The memo estimates that up to 150 people have been killed by chemical weapons, and the analysts found no evidence that anti-government forces used any.
So far there has been NO evidence offered other than someone’s word…….but this gives the excuse to use….”Assad has crossed the red line”….which will open up the flow of American arms and such…….
(Newser) – Now that the US has determined that Bashar al-Assad’s regime used chemical weapons, the Obama administration intends to help arm Syrian rebels, officials tell the New York Times. The US will send light arms and ammunition; antitank weapons are also a possibility. Rebel leaders have called for antiaircraft weapons, but Washington currently has no plans to send those, officials say. “The president has said that the use of chemical weapons would change his calculus, and it has,” a top national security official tells the Washington Post.
“Suffice it to say this is going to be different in both scope and scale,” adds Benjamin Rhodes. President Obama won’t, however, send ground troops, and he has “not made any decision” on strategies like a no-fly zone. The CIA will be in charge of delivery, with weapons likely flown to Turkey or Jordan then taken via rebel-controlled routes into Syria, the Post notes. The US remains in favor of political negotiation to end the violence, Rhodes says. But many in Washington fear that Assad now has a clear upper hand and the military aid is coming too late, the Times notes; some in the State Department are urging airstrikes against key Assad sites.
I waited to see or hear what the warhawk McCain and his wing man Graham had to say…..and I did not have to wait long………
Two leading Republican senators called for the United States to establish a no-fly zone to aid Syrian opposition rebels following word that Syrian President Basher Assad has used chemical weapons multiple times during the conflict.
The White House confirmed Thursday that Assad had crossed a “red line” established by President Barack Obama under which the United States would be willing to become more involved in the conflict.
Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., called for Obama to establish a no-fly zone, which would aid the rebels without having Americans put boots on the ground.
McCain secretly entered Syria in late May 3 to meet with opposition leaders and has been calling on the White House to get involved because he said the fight is growing into a regional conflict.
“This isn’t just a bunch of demonstrators being beaten up. This a regional conflict. It spilled over. Jordan is destabilized, Lebanon is about to erupt into sectarian violence, jihadists are falling in from all over the Middle East. This is erupting,” McCain told CNN.
“The goal is to end the war. And the only way this war is going to end quickly and on our terms is to neutralize the air assets that Assad enjoys,” Graham told Politico. “We can crater the runways. There are four air bases he uses. We can stop the planes from flying. We can shoot planes down without having one boot on the ground.”
Everybody wants to do something…..but “no fly” zone will cost over $50 million…..and McCain is for an ever expanding US roll…….but what can we look forward to if and when Assad leaves or is destroyed?
The factions will vie for power and the killing and refugees suffering will continue…….and the country will be awash with weaponry…..does anyone remember Afghanistan in the 90’s? What happens if an American made weapon is used to bring down an Israeli commercial jet filled with passengers? Who will McCain and his cronies blame for that? Certainly not themselves for demand more weaponry for the rebels.
No matter what decisions are being made Syria has many years more of this civil war…..and America’s intervention can only make it longer and more bad……
The question should be…..If the US gets more involved in Syria, will it be a game change or a quagmire?
We all are well aware of the knee jerk reactions of those ditterheads on the Right……remember back in the good old days when the Tea Party was having all their protests around the country? All the “Don’t Tread on Me” rhetoric and flags……(is there a reason that flag has a YELLOW background?) We got a front row seat thanx to the MSM……and we got to see the gun nuts show up with their loaded handguns and assault weapons…….and they were allowed to demonstrate their particular grievance……all the while carrying a loaded weapon…..
All this got me to thinking back in the days when I was a strong radical and protester……I got to thinking what would have happened if anyone of us had showed up with loaded weapons while protesting the war? Would we have been met as some sort of hero? Very doubtful! And yet these same people are protesting the government and threatening to carry out some sort of armed resistance….Is that not what you were worried that us “pinkos” were trying to do?
Why would I bring this up today?
(Newser) – There’s a pretty disturbing result in a new Fairleigh Dickinson University poll on gun violence out today: 44% of Republicans say they believe that “in the next few years an armed revolution might be necessary to protect our liberties.” To be fair, Republicans aren’t alone—27% of independents and 18% of Democrats agreed with the statement as well—but the GOP was the only group in which more agreed with the sentiment than didn’t.
The poll raises some “disturbing” questions, writes David Sirota at Salon. Like, how many Republicans “are buying weapons to arm themselves in order to foment an armed revolution? Maybe none, but maybe a lot. I don’t have an answer, but this poll suggests the question should at least be aired.” Second, can democracy even exist “when almost one-half of one of the major parties seems to support the concept of violently thwarting it?” You could argue that these people are only hypothetically supporting a revolution “to protect liberties.” But then, in the “incendiary language” the conservative media uses, “everything in the Democratic/liberal agenda is an assault on ‘liberty.'” Click for the full column.
And now there is a plan for thousands of gun “people” to show up on the Mall in DC on the 4th of July with loaded guns as a protest against the government…..
When is enough enough?
sorry I could resist this image…..
What would these douche bags have said if a Leftist had showed up with a gun?…..would they have accepted the 2nd amendment argument?
These people are making me sick. They are the sole protectors of so-called “liberty”….a term that few understand or embrace…….it is a con job, one that has been used numerous times in history to do what is unpopular……a dangerous game is being played by the NRA and others and in the end innocents will pay the price……