The new 'Red Line' in Syria: Barrel Bombs
Submitted by gjohnsit on Mon, 04/10/2017 - 11:46pmIt seems the 'red line' in Syria has gotten very thin.
It seems the 'red line' in Syria has gotten very thin.
This article today at The Intercept includes a video of a 2013 interview with Gen. Mattis. I had previously accepted all the hype about him being a mad dog, but he sounds reasonable here. I would recommend watching at least part of the video in order to see his demeanor. He argues against the no-fly zone concept, including whether it even would make sense in Syria:
Remember when neocons were hated and vilified by Democrats? It wasn't that long ago that Democrats considered neocons to be the worst of the worst.
Well, those days are over.
Trump's missile strike hasn't made a lot of sense as something directed at Russia or Syria, minimally damaging as it was. Or as a message worth the blowback, to placate the neocons - they'll never be satisfied until we've annihilated ourselves.
So here's another interpretation, from Ilargi:
https://www.theautomaticearth.com/2017/04/symbols-of-strength/
Bernie, still gotta love him, started a movement going, even though he has chickened out in pursuing it, which has encouraged rising stars such as Tulsi Gabbard, Nina Turner, Tim Canova and revitalized people like Alan Grayson and Jeff Merkley. My favorite, bar none, the real deal, the real straight shooter, the one with guts, is Tulsi Gabbard.
The backstory:
While the Syrian government surrendered their chemical weapon stockpiles for destruction in 2014, evidence indicates that rebel groups in Syria have ramped up their own supplies of the deadly weapons and have not hesitated to deploy them in combat. In November 2016, the New York Times acknowledged that ISIS, alone, had used chemical arms at least 52 times in Syria and Iraq.
gjohnsit has just published about Trump going to war against Assad,
I have to say it ain't gonna happen.
From the first quotation he uses in his essay is this:
One airstrike does not make a war.
For instance, President Clinton bombed Iraq every week for eight years, but it took Bush to lead us into a disastrous war.
So are we going to war with the Assad regime? The rhetoric is unclear at this point, but it is alarming.
If you all don't mind a bit of a rant:
I have come to the point where I oppose (hate might be a better description) almost every leader from every side involved in this horrendous holocaust in the Middle East.
Oh yes, Pandora's box, that it is: