The Red Line: Part Deux

#1,576
#1,576
Velo Vol said:
The U.N. is making as much progress as could reasonably be expected over the last two weeks. This resolution doesn't have very sharp teeth--seems that's a bridge we'll cross if we get there.

UN unanimously adopts Syria arms resolution - Middle East - Al Jazeera English

I am disappointed that there doesn't seem to be much effort to punish Assad for gassing children and such. I guess bygones are bygones.
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It was never about punishing him - oh wait a minute the POTUS went on national TV to make a case about why we had to punish him. Nevermind.
 
#1,577
#1,577
CIA ramping up covert training program for moderate Syrian rebels - The Washington Post

The CIA’s mission, officials said, has been defined by the White House’s desire to seek a political settlement, a scenario that relies on an eventual stalemate among the warring factions rather than a clear victor. As a result, officials said, limits on the agency’s authorities enable it to provide enough support to help ensure that politically moderate, U.S.-supported militias don’t lose but not enough for them to win.

The officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss intelligence matters, said the agency has sent additional paramilitary teams to secret bases in Jordan in recent weeks in a push to double the number of rebel fighters getting CIA instruction and weapons before being sent back to Syria.
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Sounds like a difficult balance to strike. But if anyone knows how to execute a good stalemate, it's our government.
 
#1,578
#1,578
#1,579
#1,579
volinbham said:
Specifics aside if this isn't an argument for how interventionist we've become I don't know what is.

We are involving ourselves in a civil war with the goal of preventing either side from winning.
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But that civil war is just a smaller portion of the bigger civil war in the Middle East where we have aligned ourselves with the Saudis. At the end if the day, they might be the worst of the bunch. At least there are very modern thinking and pro-west people in Iran and Syria. I'm not sure they exist in Saudi Arabia.
 
#1,580
#1,580
Meanwhile, back on the crazy train:

“This happened and as of today the United States is willingly, knowingly, intentionally sending arms to terrorists, now what this says to me, I’m a believer in Jesus Christ, as I look at the End Times scripture, this says to me that the leaf is on the fig tree and we are to understand the signs of the times, which is your ministry, we are to understand where we are in God’s end times history," Bachmann told Jan Markell, radio host of "Understanding the Times," on Saturday.

“Rather than seeing this as a negative, we need to rejoice, Maranatha Come Lord Jesus, His day is at hand,” Bachmann added later. “And so when we see up is down and right is called wrong, when this is happening, we were told this; that these days would be as the days of Noah. We are seeing that in our time. Yes it gives us fear in some respects because we want the retirement that our parents enjoyed. Well they will, if they know Jesus Christ.”
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Uh, she is aware the Reagan administration supported the mujahideen, right?
 
#1,582
#1,582
Velo Vol said:
Progress.

"Syria Is Said to Destroy All Chemical Arms Production Sites"

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/01/world/middleeast/syria.html?hp&_r=0

No one cares.
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I found this interesting

said in a statement that a joint team of its inspectors and United Nations officials had visited 21 of the 23 chemical sites Syria declared to them.
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“The joint mission is now satisfied that it has verified — and seen destroyed — all of Syria’s declared critical production and mixing/filling equipment,” it added. “Given the progress made, no further inspection activities are currently planned.”
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I'm obviously not an expert here but how is what Syria
"declares" verified?
 
#1,584
#1,584
Hmm, déjà vu:

Barack Obama did not tell the whole story this autumn when he tried to make the case that Bashar al-Assad was responsible for the chemical weapons attack near Damascus on 21 August. In some instances, he omitted important intelligence, and in others he presented assumptions as facts. Most significant, he failed to acknowledge something known to the US intelligence community: that the Syrian army is not the only party in the country’s civil war with access to sarin, the nerve agent that a UN study concluded – without assessing responsibility – had been used in the rocket attack. In the months before the attack, the American intelligence agencies produced a series of highly classified reports, culminating in a formal Operations Order – a planning document that precedes a ground invasion – citing evidence that the al-Nusra Front, a jihadi group affiliated with al-Qaida, had mastered the mechanics of creating sarin and was capable of manufacturing it in quantity. When the attack occurred al-Nusra should have been a suspect, but the administration cherry-picked intelligence to justify a strike against Assad.
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Hersh speculates that a reason Obama may have backed away from his "red line" is that he finally confronted the dubious nature of the intelligence.

Funny how unconcerned everyone seems to be about Islamist rebels obtaining chemical weapons in Syria. I'm so old I can remember America invading a foreign country over such a scenario.
 
#1,585
#1,585
The Obama administration quashed intelligence reports that suggested an al Qaeda-linked group could have been responsible for the sarin gas attack carried out in Syria last August, according to a news report published in London on Sunday.

In threatening a U.S. military strike on Syria during the weeks that followed after the Aug. 21 chemical attack, President Obama and Secretary of State John F. Kerry cited “definitive” evidence that Syrian President Bashar Assad had been responsible for the incident.

What they kept secret, according to an article by Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative journalist Seymour Hersh, was the belief of U.S. spy agencies that military forces loyal to Mr. Assad were not ones in Syria’s civil war to have access to sarin.


Obama lied about Syrian chemical attack, 'cherry-picked' intelligence: report - Washington Times
 
#1,586
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volmaverick said:
The Obama administration quashed intelligence reports that suggested an al Qaeda-linked group could have been responsible for the sarin gas attack carried out in Syria last August, according to a news report published in London on Sunday.

In threatening a U.S. military strike on Syria during the weeks that followed after the Aug. 21 chemical attack, President Obama and Secretary of State John F. Kerry cited “definitive” evidence that Syrian President Bashar Assad had been responsible for the incident.

What they kept secret, according to an article by Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative journalist Seymour Hersh, was the belief of U.S. spy agencies that military forces loyal to Mr. Assad were not ones in Syria’s civil war to have access to sarin.


Obama lied about Syrian chemical attack, 'cherry-picked' intelligence: report - Washington Times
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So did Bush, just glad we didn't go through with it this time.
 
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#1,588
#1,588
volmaverick said:
What they kept secret, according to an article by Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative journalist Seymour Hersh, was the belief of U.S. spy agencies that military forces loyal to Mr. Assad were not ones in Syria’s civil war to have access to sarin.
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the Russians are more trust-worthy than the American govt. Strange times we live in
 
#1,591
#1,591
Gramps said:
You cannot seriously believe that.
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didn't they tell us this wasn't the work of Assad?

but honestly I would put them on the same level. Difference is the Russians actually don't pretend to be something they aren't like the US govt does.
 
#1,592
#1,592
utvolpj said:
didn't they tell us this wasn't the work of Assad?

but honestly I would put them on the same level. Difference is the Russians actually don't pretend to be something they aren't like the US govt does.
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This I can agree with.
 
#1,593
#1,593
Ah - that most transparent administration in history strikes again. If this doesn't also make you question what they've told us about FnF, IRS, DoJ and Benghazi then you aren't paying attention.

We know they "misled" about NSA and ACA. This looks like 3 for 3.
 
#1,594
#1,594
If you only watched the evening or headline news, you might have forgotten this war was still going on. It's as if it doesn't exist.

Is America arming rebels?
 
#1,595
#1,595
Velo Vol said:
If you only watched the evening or headline news, you might have forgotten this war was still going on. It's as if it doesn't exist.

Is America arming rebels?
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I try to stay updated as best as I can on it, the government is basically winning at this point.
 
#1,598
#1,598
This doesn't specify arms. That could be because (1) we aren't arming, or (2) it's a secret. At any rate, shocking turn of events:

The United States has suspended the delivery of nonlethal aid to the Syrian opposition in northern Syria after concluding that some of it has fallen into the hands of extremist Islamic fighters, American officials said on Wednesday.

The decision was made after moderate Syrian rebel forces reporting to Gen. Salim Idris, the nominal head of the rebel Free Syrian Army, came under attack last week from fighters aligned with Al Qaeda, according to an account provided by an American official.
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I wonder if Secretary of State McCain approves?
 
#1,599
#1,599
Secretary of State McCain weighs in. He does not approve:

This catastrophe is a direct result of the absence of American leadership. The deteriorating conflict in Syria continues to grow into a threat to U.S. national security interests, and unfortunately the Administration has no realistic policy to address it. To protect U.S. interests and prevent extremism from flourishing in the region, we must support the democratic aspirations of the Syrian people and provide moderate leaders with the assistance they need to succeed.
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Clearly, as the world's police force, we're to blame for Islamic fighters migrating into Syria.
 
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