Home › Forums › Open Discussion › Really? The pawn in another Middle East conflict? Are we Syria's this time?
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August 31, 2013 at 4:44 pm #608916
Myr-myrParticipantHow do you feel about it?
August 31, 2013 at 5:07 pm #796852
BreezyParticipantNo. This article cites some, if not all, of the reasons this is a bad, very bad, idea. Yes, it’s 2 months old, but the reasoning is still current.
August 31, 2013 at 5:24 pm #796853
anonymeParticipantI’ll bet Halliburton is salivating.
August 31, 2013 at 7:41 pm #796854
Myr-myrParticipantA friend just sent a link to this article: http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/wp/2013/08/29/9-questions-about-syria-you-were-too-embarrassed-to-ask/
August 31, 2013 at 8:02 pm #796855
JanSParticipantI think what Syria is doing is reprehensible…crimes against humanity. I don’t think this is the time to get into another fray in the middle east. We need to be very cautious. I don’t think Assad would back down before attempting to bring it to our shores. We need to be very careful, indeed. Having said that, I think the world needs to stop all business with this country for now.Hit them where it hurts, in the pocketbook. Are they still getting aid? from us? how much? and why?
September 1, 2013 at 3:44 pm #796856
EdSaneParticipantPersonally, I want to hit Syria hard and fast. The chemical weapons and Assad’s other tactics are appalling. But when we use force it is specifically about our own interests. And this should send Iran a message about American resolve regarding the proliferation and use of such weapons.
September 1, 2013 at 4:17 pm #796857
carolbarrelParticipantAre there any groups in West Seattle (or Seattle) that are actively trying to stop the president from bombing Syria?
September 1, 2013 at 6:42 pm #796858
elikapekaParticipantAs much as I hate to say it, I think we have to take some action. Certainly not a full on intervention, but the flagrant disregard of a ban on chemical weapons that has been in place since WWI must be addressed, especially when used on the civilian population.
Jan, we do not aid the Syrian government, but the Russians and Chinese and Iranians do, and don’t seem inclined to pull their support. Another reason I think we have to do at least some targeted strikes, because otherwise Iran and others will be emboldened to cross this line in the future.
Unfortunately, there are no “good guys” (from the US perspective) to get behind there. It’s a bad situation all the way around.
September 1, 2013 at 7:29 pm #796859
JanSParticipantSeptember 1, 2013 at 7:42 pm #796860
For LibertyParticipantThere have been various Seattle protests in the last few days, mostly coordinated on Facebook as far as I’ve seen. https://www.facebook.com/nowarinsyriaseattle , and the Cascadia Project has an anti-war coalition meeting tonight – https://www.facebook.com/events/577192125679054/?ref=22
Obama doesn’t adhere to the Constitution and has a proven record of entering us into unconstitutional, interventionist war without Congressional approval (e.g. when he bombed Libya in 2011), but he is now at least saying that he will put the Syrian war to a vote in Congress, so its worth contacting our Senators Cantwell and Murray and Rep. McDermott to voice your opinion. Its also concerning that the narrative on the chemical weapons story keeps changing.
September 1, 2013 at 8:15 pm #796861
JanSParticipantI’m glad he’s being cautious….and , truly, Congress is getting what it wished for. Hope they can handle it. John Boehner, I’m sure, isn’t crazy about this. There will be no time to try and repeal Obamacare for the umpteenth time :-
September 1, 2013 at 8:46 pm #796862
miwsParticipantSeptember 1, 2013 at 10:43 pm #796863
JanSParticipantI’m so glad you posted that, Mike… :D. Serves him right. Let Mr. Boehner and his cohorts duke it out…can Paul Ryan and Rand Paul even grasp the significance of this? Eric Cantor? Somehow, I’m thinking “not”…sigh…
September 1, 2013 at 10:45 pm #796864
JanSParticipantWhat chaps my hide is that all the Repubs were screaming for him to go to Congress first, so he is…and now, starting with dear Mr. Peter King of NY, they are saying he’s abdicating his responsibilities…he can’t win, no matter what…what a bunch of loons…
September 1, 2013 at 11:29 pm #796865
For LibertyParticipantHuh? I don’t see the evidence that Syria is a partisan issue. There has been bipartisan opposition to the Syrian intervention for many months, e.g. back in May, three members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee (including Rand Paul) voted against authorizing the President to arm and train Syrian rebels (unfortunately the vote failed 15-3, despite having a DEMOCRAT majority in the committee), and then in June, Rand Paul and Tom Udall (D) introduced a bipartisan bill to prohibit funding military operations in Syria. I don’t extrapolate Democrat Nancy Pelosi’s warhawk statements to mean the Democrat party is full of “loons”, instead I would say that it shows that she belongs to the shadow party of crony corporatist war profiteers that has infiltrated both parties. I respect Rep. McDermott’s cautionary voice on interventionist wars as much as I appreciate Rand Paul’s advocacy for Constitutional govt. that mandates Congressional restraint on Executive overreach – they are the good guys on this issue, and I wish both parties had more like them (on this issue).
September 2, 2013 at 4:37 am #796866
JoBParticipanti too appreciated Rep mcDermott’s remarks on this issue..
if we are going to intervene in syria over chemical weapons
shouldn’t we sanction the country that sold them to him as well?
jolly old England did so knowing full well that what they would be used for..
September 2, 2013 at 6:58 am #796867
JanSParticipantJob…agree with that, most definitely…
September 2, 2013 at 4:06 pm #796868
SmittyParticipantObama drew the “red line” on Syria’s use of chemical weapons, and now that he is boxed in decides to punt. Playing politics while thousands die is reprehensible. Make a decision.
This is cowardly, even for a guy who voted “present” to cover his butt 129 times as an Illinois senator.
September 2, 2013 at 4:22 pm #796869
dobroParticipantI’d much rather have Congress making the decision about warmaking, kind of like it outlines in the Constitution. Remember that document? It puts war powers in the hands of the branch that is most accountable to the people. I’m glad to see Obama inviting them to do their job as prescribed by our founding document.
So what some would call “playing politics” I would call setting a precedent for a return to Constitutional limits on war powers that previous Presidents have usurped and on which Congress has abdicated responsibility.
September 2, 2013 at 4:40 pm #796870
waynsterParticipantI hate to bust the bubble of playing politics and cowardly claims your tea party faves and both party’s want this vote Smitty its a place we as a country don’t want to go into and just it blow up as some claim ask the Israelis….. Syria has the most modern sophisticated air defense systems the Russians sell this is no Iraq….remember Lebanon and what happen there…..who is supporting us on this the U.K. nope NATO nope…oh the French are that’s a switch…..We are not the world police as some might think if this isn’t done right look out…. even 80% of the American public want this vote its not just about politics…..
http://www.cnn.com/2013/09/01/world/meast/syria-weapons-capability/index.html?hpt=hp_c2
http://www.cnn.com/2013/09/02/world/syria-developments/index.html?hpt=hp_c2
September 2, 2013 at 5:18 pm #796871
JanSParticipantso, people complain when the Prez takes matters into his own hands, and then, when he decides to do the right thing, slow down, go the correct route through Congress (about time they actually did something), people like Smitty complain because he isn’t taking matters into his own hands. I hesitate to think the attitude if he had just stormed Syria, gotten us into another fray…how many of you all would bitch about that…how dare he do that? This isn’t some place where we need to be having a knee jerk reaction…this needs to be well thought out. The majority of the American people do not want us to go in there…but who ever paid attention to what we actually want?
September 2, 2013 at 5:48 pm #796872
SmittyParticipantIf you guys think he would have punted to Congress had he received UN backing – or even UK backing I want what you are smoking. He would have done exactly what Clinton did in Kosovo. Sometimes you don’t have time to debate (like, for example, while people are dying) and need to take action. The WPA allows for that, even though it is widely considered unconstitutional.
The only reason he is going this route is CYA.
It works, he takes credit.
It fails, he blames Congress.
Be a man (is that PC?) and make a decision.
September 2, 2013 at 5:59 pm #796873
dobroParticipant“He would have done exactly what…”
Mind reading is an awesome power. Please try to use it only in service to good, not evil.
September 2, 2013 at 6:15 pm #796874
JanSParticipantSeptember 2, 2013 at 7:15 pm #796875 -
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