My question from the post above - which Sunnites then are the better option? You’ve got JaI/JaT/aN/AQ/ISIS on the ground, while the nominally all-Syrian SDF are actually Kurds and Assyrians.
Agreed, but to whom are you sending a message? Assad is not some rogue dictator anymore who needs to be sent a message.
If anything he’s a puppet now. Alawite casualties in the meat grinder were so heavy during the past three years that despite back-to-the-wall morale booster, “government forces” seem to be mostly Russian mercenaries/Russian official troops/IRGC/Hezbollah/forced Afghan Shiite conscripts.
Assad isn’t the one making the calls anymore. If “government” forces deployed WMDs it was most definitely approved in Moscow and Tehran.
I would weigh 1300 years of history against one sentence designed to elicit a PR boon.
Yes, that’s the most heartbreaking part of the situation on the ground - women and men who defeated ISIS with mostly antiquated Soviet weaponry are now being killed by AQ with the support of Turkish hardware.
Also, Lebanese Christians are getting really pissed after they’ve realized the West (and Israel) side with the Saudis and their vision for the Fertile Crescent.
I wonder if there is ever going to be confirmation of how many of the 105 weapons really did make it on target. Might Putin be shitting his pants if non of his interception technology was proven to be of any use? Might it also be part of the reason for the strike to demonstrate the west is still at the zenith of technology?
Ah the media…
In this pic of Bush the media assumed the banner was put there by the President and his staff as a victory banner. It was not. The banner was for the ship and the crew, who had come home after completing it’s mission.
The ‘Mission Accomplish’ banner was for the ship and the crew, not the war in general. Of course the banner and pic were front page news. The retraction was on a corner on page 48 or something like that.
This was a side bar, I wasn’t discussing Trump… Just correcting an all to popular misconception about this picture. It wasn’t Bush’s banner.
We’re reactive. Pro-activeness has proven unpopular to the American people. It means we have to strike without provocation and nobody is willing to do that.
So…the words “Mission Accomplished” was never uttered…but these are major portions of Bush’s speech (which had a lot of “Talking out of both sides of his mouth” in it)…
“…Major combat operations in Iraq have ended…” (what does “major” mean? There was still major Combat yet to come…with a LOT of Lives and Treasure spent)…
“… In the battle of Iraq, the United States and our allies have prevailed…”
I’ll bet he’s got a great personality. And is very talented. And has a good sense of humor. And loves his people. And is very smart. And is a great negotiator.
“Spin” involves incomplete facts; alternative facts; placing one “side” in an evil, incompetent light, and the other in glowing terms…the list is endless…
I find myself doing it from time to time…
So rest assured that I will call out Trump and his supporters when they do it.
Forgive me but I don’t see it that way. The negotiated settlement with the Russian government over chemical weapons use was a predictable and predicted cotastrophe that was to unfold and continue to unfold for years and years to come.
After the decision had been made much of what was to unfold was pretty much set in stone irregardless of who held power in the U.S.
Hell, a lot of people even here wonder what we care? After all its not us suffering.