Syria, Here We Go Again

[pat]

Invade Syria!

[loppar]

Erdogan already did because your Trump gave him the green light.

[pfury]

@pat

I am to old, you’ll have to go in my stead

I didn’t say infantry. There’s a slew of jobs that can (and are) done by older people like you, with true belief in the war they support

@pat

but I would be grateful.

People in favor of sending other people off to war usually are. For all the (none) good it does.

[zecarlo]

Grateful when they go, indifferent when they come back.

[H_factor]

That’s unreal. It’s like exactly the opposite speech given just one year ago.

What an embarrassment. “They’ve got a lot of sand over there so they’ve got a lot of sand they can play with.”

[Bismark]

@Jewbacca

They have a terrorist group, the PKK, that are just as bad as anything there.

If you subscribe to Turkish propaganda and support its ethic cleansing campaign, sure. The PKK is a regionally focused independence movement. It isn’t a millennial or Salafist organization that has aspirations to conduct external operations against the West unlike al-Qaeda’s Al-Nusra Front or the soon to be reconstituted ISIL. No one at the US National Counter Terrorism Center (NCTC) or CIA’s Counter-Terrorism Center is losing sleep over the PKK. They are, however, being kept up at night by the developments of the past few days.

Not to be a moral-relativist (and at the risk of being historically reductionist), Israel was essentially founded through similar tactics. I’m not making a value judgement here, merely an objective observation.

King David Hotel bombing

Israel even had a future prime minister that participated:

Menachem Begin

More germane to the topic at hand, Trump’s shameful betrayal of the Kurds can’t be seen by a reasonable observer as anything less than capitulation to Ankara, Moscow, and Tehran (intentional and unintentional). It will prove to be extremely deleterious to American foreign policy and national security for decades to come.

[Bismark]

@pat

Time to bring the vote for war to congress.

Against who, exactly? US Special Operations Forces were deployed to Syria in support of the anti-ISIL campaign, Operation Inherent Resolve. Those rightfully criticizing Trump’s imbecilic and repugnant betrayal of our Kurdish allies are not calling for military action against Syria or Turkey.

More relevant to the “need to declare war” argument: under American and international law, the use of force against ISIL in Syria was justified by the Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF) of 2001 and the invitation by the Iraqi government to support its self defense.

[Bismark]

@doogie

We protected the Kurdish airspace and provided enough ground forces to keep Turkey at bay at a relatively small cost in U.S. Lives.

Unless that cost of life was your kid.

This is an emotive and myopic argument. The benefits of forward deployed American SOF in Syria far outweighed the material and human costs (which have been extraordinarily low by the way). Military deployments are rarely as favorable as the ratio observed here.

It’s also worth noting that the SOF community itself is livid about this development. By and large it sees Trump’s cowardly betrayal as nothing short of strategic and moral capitulation.

The bottom line is that US credibility and American counter-terrorism efforts have been dealt decades worth of damage over the course of a few days.

[loppar]

Interesting tidbit - one of the things that surprised me in Jerusalem was the flippant tone of the supposedly “commemorative” plaque for the King David Hotel bombing - “it’s your fault you’ve been blown up”

[NickViar]

@Bismark

This is an emotive and myopic argument. The benefits of forward deployed American SOF in Syria far outweighed the material and human costs (which have been extraordinarily low by the way). Military deployments are rarely as favorable as the ratio observed here.

It’s also worth noting that the SOF community itself is livid about this development. By and large it sees Trump’s cowardly betrayal as nothing short of strategic and moral capitulation.

The bottom line is that US credibility and American counter-terrorism efforts have been dealt decades worth of damage over the course of a few days.

@doogie, I have to agree with @Bismark. Luckily, his parents would not have to worry about losing him as, in his own words:

@Bismark

My inability to serve in the military is, and will remain, the biggest disappointment of my life. Since the tragic events of September 11th, the only thing I wanted was to serve the nation as a soldier. Young as I was, I came to understand that this unfolding “War on Terror” would become my generation’s war; a Manichean worldwide struggle which I felt obliged to contribute to.

I recited the Soldier’s Creed, the Infantryman’s Creed, and the Ranger Creed daily. I studied military history, strategy, and small unit tactics assiduously. Upon graduating high school, I began the process to serve in the 75th Ranger Regiment - the Army’s elite light infantry special operations force. I maxed the Army Physical Fitness Test (APFT) while being able to squat, bench press, and deadlift a 1,200+ raw total at 165 lbs.

I registered a 97/99 on the Armed Services Aptitude Battery (ASVAB) Unfortunately, medical maladies ended my incipient military career before it could formally begin. Even though chance and circumstance foiled my ambitions, I still occasionally feel deep pangs of guilt for not being able to directly contribute to what I view as a patriotic obligation. I resolved to serve in another way, and have since worked toward my goal of serving warfighters and national security policymakers as an analyst.

I retain the deepest respect for our service members, especially those who serve in the combat arms, and would consider it my life’s honor to be able to contribute to their charge of protecting and advancing the national interest.

(/s)

[thefourthruffian]

@NickViar

I registered a 97/99 on the Armed Services Aptitude Battery (ASVAB) Unfortunately. . .

ROFLMAO. This has to be a parody. Fits too cleanly into the jokes.

[NickViar]

@thefourthruffian

This has to be a parody.

We can hope.

[zecarlo]

What am I missing?

[dinwinchester]

when will it all stop

[thefourthruffian]

@zecarlo

What am I missing?

He (apparently unknowingly) compacted about 20 jokes about keyboard warriors/wannabes made by actual soldiers into 12 words.

It’s either a shocking haiku of stupidity and lack of self-awareness or a brilliant parody, depending, I don’t know.

Regardless, I’ve emailed it to friends.

[zecarlo]

Wait, I see that it’s a quoted post from another poster but I thought it was something that poster had originally quoted. Meaning, I thought it was a joke because it does seem like a typical wannabe story. The poster was actually referring to himself?

I also wonder what kind of maladies would keep someone out given that after 9/11, they had waivers for everything. I remember seeing dudes with asthma inhalers in Basic.

[thefourthruffian]

@zecarlo

Wait, I see that it’s a quoted post from another poster but I thought it was something that poster had originally quoted.

No, sorry. Hard to use quote function with an iPhone. Tend to over delete or lose a closing of the quote.

For clarity, Nick was quoting Bismark. I was commenting on Bismark’s comment.

[zecarlo]

I thought it was a quote of a quote. I thought Bismark quoted someone else because it seemed like stuff I’ve heard before. I didn’t realize Nick was quoting an actual post that Bismark made about himself. So when you said it had to be a parody or something I was thinking no shit, he’s obviously posting something someone else said, so why mock him? But I was wrong.

[pat]

So I am clear, you are in favor of American troops being involved with foreign wars?

[pat]

I am still to old. The only way I could be involved is a military contract where my company would be involved. Otherwise, I would love to be a fighter pilot. The only way to play with the biggest and baddest toys is to be in the military.