How should the world deal with Syria?

Nothing. It’s none of our business. The USA that is. If the whole world wants to do something simply refuse to trade with Syria.

It’s a frickin’ mess: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foreign_involvement_in_the_Syrian_Civil_War

If we really needed to stick our noses in, perhaps we could see how to support our Middle Eastern allies, e.g. Israel There is a cool interactive map here: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/untangling-the-middle-east-guide-to-regions-web-of-alliances/article21533409/ Israel seems to have good relations with Jordan and Egypt.

Using nerve agents such as Sarin on civilians and then bombing the clinics used to treat them are war crimes that cannot be ignored. If ever there was a case where the lies and fake news must be cut though so those responsible can be identified and brought to justice this is it. In the words of the song “if you tolerate this then your children will be next.”

Let the UN handle it.

The UN needs to act.

The US has (as usual) no right to interfere. Most importantly, there is little to no chance of a positive outcome. Interference by other countries is why it isn’t resolved already.

It is a tragedy. It will not end well. It will change Europe forever. But until the world elects the US as World Police, we need to mind our business.

As sad as it is I agree with @MrGrimm888 The U.S. has become a highly codependent nation, always sticking our nose into others business while the cobblers children have no shoes. Charity begins at home and we need to put our energies into the mess we have going on right here.

Almost anything we do would make things worse. I don’t know what to do.

My opinion will not be popular and will likely lose friends on this site, but I did ask the question and it would be cowardly of me not to answer it.

So for those of you who think the United States should do nothing, does that mean we sit and watch children be gassed? Does anybody think that economic sanctions will really do anything now that there is Soviet Russian support? Does anybody really think the United Nations can do anything with the Russia veto in the Security Council?

No, if the United States does not act somehow, children will continue to be gassed, hospitals will be bombed, and more people will die.

Syria is the great foreign policy failure of the Obama administration. I believe the United States has a moral imperative to act. Obama was a good president in many ways. He did not shine here.

In terms of how to act, I have no idea. I’m not a military person. However, just like Obama, I do not think that the people that Trump has the ability to do it. So, sadly, more people are going to die.

I don’t know. I’ve never much understood military actions, and when it’s wise to interfere.

I do know that I want the good people of Syria to be saved from what is happening. I think most Americans can’t really imagine the devastation, and what it’s like to live under constant threat. My heart breaks thinking this can still happen in the world.

I see how all too often America does something and it backfires. It’s not the same as when we did something in Europe during WWII to stop Hitler.

I hope someone figures out the right answers.

@Rarebear . You won’t lose me over a such an opinion, but I respectfully disagree.

Obviously nobody wants to see children get gased. Over 100,000 people have been said to have died already in the conflict. Many cities,and lots if infrastructure lay in ruins. There are Assad’s troops, rebels, kurds, ISIS fighters, Russians, civilians, and multiple groups that fall in between, all fighting for what remains of Syria. Speaking of children dying. The US is the most likely culprit in bringing down a building that killed over 200 civilians there. The theory, is that we were using a sort of smart bomb, that would have only hit a nearby target. But the surrounding buildings were already weakened by previous explosions. So when our airstrike hit, the building collapsed, trapping, or killing the innocent people hiding inside. Such events are inevitable in that particular war,as ISIS’s air defense strategy is to use groups of people as human shields. These incidents are precisely what we don’t want. We killed a bunch of people we were trying to help, and bolstered the already negative perception of America, whilst also helping ISIS’s recruiting.

IMO. The only realistic hope is that the war will end. Russia doesn’t care about casualties. If we pull out, they will pound the rebels into submission. Yes,the bad guys win,and Assad will again be in charge, but it will be over… That will save lives, and bring some stability back to the region. It will also stop the refugee crisis ,which has thousands drowning ,and Europe reeling with what to do with the influx of people. The Kurds may even benefit, as they are establishing a caliphate for themselves.

The Syrian conflict is MUCH more than just a terrible war. It has become a battlefield for multiple groups,coming from all around the world, to fight for different reasons. Lots of the region’s centuries old issues are being fought about there. Worst of all is the possibility of a Russian /American military incident that will usher in WWIII. Tensions between Russian, and American forces are already high in the Black Sea. Russian jets routinely buzz our ships, and aircraft, leaving the door open for a mistake to start a war. A full out war between Russia, and the US would be catastrophic.
I know it’s not a happy ending, but we should let Russia help Assad regain the country, and pummel ISIS. Yes, Assad is a tyrant, and should be brought up on a multitude of charges, including genocide. But there are others like him in the world, who at least keep their countries from all out war.

The people in that region have hated each other for millenia, and there will never be peace there. It sucks. But we should leave them to their own devices.

Children dying? What about North Korea? What about the 16 million people in Africa that the UN says are about to starve to death? The child soldiers, and warlords that America trades guns for diamonds, gold, and other minerals? Malaria? Zika? Aids? Haiti? Etc, etc, etc….

The sad truth, is that there are many humanitarian crises to choose from. We simply cannot help them all, and have no right to kill people to help alleviate any of these problems.

@Coloma has a valid point about charity beginning at home. We have starving, unhealthy, impoverished, underemployed, uninsured people right here. Parts of Chicago are a war zone, our infrastructure is in horrible shape. We have to spend a lot of money, and resources fighting giant wild fires, and helping out after Hurricanes, and other natural disasters. Miami, and many other American coastal cities will be under 2 or 3 feet of water in 50–100 years…

I could go on, and on…. America should get it’s own house in order. There is your “moral imperative to act.” Trump , and his goons have a LOT of work to do here.

@Rarebear , I appreciate your concern for other’s lives, but let’s clean up our own mess. THEN, we can choose from hundreds of problems in the international community to try and help with.

Fin….

I would like to add that I think Obama did the best he could, in regards to Syria.

The rebels wanted the US to arm them, to fight Assad’s regime. Last time we aided someone in that way was helping a guy named Osama bin Laden. That didn’t work out well…

We did give the rebels small arms,and ammo. They wanted/needed antitank, and antiaircraft weapons. Obama wisely didn’t supply them. There would have been zero oversight of such weapons in that mess. Sooner or later, someone would have used our weapons on civilian aircraft, or our own troops that were still filtering out of the region (yes,Obama brought our boys back.)

The worst issue with Obama, was his “red line,” which was drawn to prevent civilians from being gased. I personally don’t understand that whole thing. We’re OK if you kill civilians, blow them to bits, shoot them, burn them, or chop them up. BUT NO GASING… What a joke…

The US isn’t the only country with a military, or the means to help the rebels in Syria. Europe is far closer. They could have collectively helped the rebels overthrow Assad (not that it was their right either.) But the rebels were asking for help. And would have taken it. It would have been of great benefit to Europe, as they are now being destabilized by millions of refugees, that they apparently don’t want there.

America isn’t the only country that didn’t act. Seeing this, Putin decided to slide in,and help his old biddy Assad. Now it’s really a cluster f☆☆k… Russia won’t leave now, until Assad is back, and neither the US, or the rest of the world want that.

This isn’t “Obama’s fault.”

It’s Assad’s fault, for f☆☆k’s sake….

Obama inherited a dumpster fire from the Bush administration. The Republican congress made sure he only had a bucket of water to fight it…

Horrible things are happening all over the world but it does not mean the USA has sole responsibility to right all the wrongs. Children are killed across the globe every day.

^Unfortunately….

It would be complicated for us Americans to go in – whose side are we with, whose are we against, which group is against Assad but not against our Middle Eastern allies? We can go in, but what should our exit strategy be? Would we have to set up a functioning govt. if we depose Assad (see Iraq, Afghanistan)? Or can we just leave (previously) Assad resources in ruin?

Here is a video outlining the complications: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NKb9GVU8bHE

Of course it would be complicated. Nobody said it would be easy. Also I am not advocating for regime change. I am advocating for going in to protect innocents. Nobody else is fucking going to do it.

Nope – not Putin (friend of Assad), not Trump (friend of Putin). Anyone else have some big military?

That’s my point exactly.

Today, Trump, and his cohorts have tabled military action. We’ll see how this goes…

Send in the mission impossible team to knock off Assad and all will be right with the world.

^That’s exactly the problem though. Creating a void in leadership, without a plug and play replacement, won’t fix much….

Update USA (Trump) launched missiles at Syria. On my news feed. I don’t have flash so can’t get details.

Yep, just caught this a bit ago.
Way to go Trump, the beginning of the end.

Fuck….

I was wrong about Trump, then. He ordered the bombing, but now Putin is mad at us and calling us out. Did Trump just get outplayed by Putin? I guess some politicians play chess, while others…

and the irony…children were killed in our strike as well. Reports of 4 children on that base that were killed. Fucking war mongers, all of us/them.

@Coloma The report of four children being killed came from Syria state media and there is no independent confirmation. I doubt if it is true. Why would children be present on a military airfield especially at a time like this and especially when a warning had been given that it would be attacked?

@flutherother I hope it’s not true but, children could have been there for whatever reasons maybe with a parent. Lets hope it’s only a rumor.

Of course Syria will say our strikes killed children.

@ARE_you_kidding_me Well…bombs don’t discriminate, the ugly side of all conflict the innocent get peppered too. I don’t disbelieve it.

~I would totally recommend unfriending Bashar al-Assad. He gets some support from Russia. I would convince Russia to stop supporting Syria in exchange for lifting the sanctions on Russia. Or give political favors in exchange for Russian support.

The better question to ask is how will we deal with a post Assad Syria if he is removed? The most likely answer is that no one will be able to control this power vacuum for many decades to come, as it will quickly morph into something between a Somalia, “Big” Lebanon (and it will spread to Lebanon), post Soviet Afghanistan, and Bosnia. Any army that tries to control this situation, be it Western, Turkish, Arabic, or Israeli, will find themselves in an attritional meat grinder. You really think the Al Qaeda groups that have we have been supporting against Assad are going to stay cooperative? You really think the Turks are going to accept independent Kurdish regions on its southern borders? I guess the AQ groups can justify themselves by acting as Turkey’s Kurd killers. If you want to believe in a stable post Assad environment, keep smoking your hash hish (hell maybe Syria will become the world’s biggest producer of hash hish in this environment, as the warring factions need some funding).

I actually see Hezbohallah emerging as the premier fighting force in this Mad Max vacation land, as it will be supported by numerous Middle Eastern states as the only real containment mechanism against the complete anarchy that this vacuum will create. Bye bye Jordan..(unless it is used for hash hish smuggling, like Iraq will be).

Brian Ghilliotti

BTW, there is NO evidence that Assad delivered these chemical agents that supposedly killed kids. If these kids were really killed by nerve agents what would the white helmet volunteers be doing handling these recently nerve gassed bodies without protective gear? Ignorance is a resource for many politicians, and a voting populace that can’t critically think is the most valuable of all resources for politicians.

Brian Ghilliotti

@Brian_Ghilliotti Mattis (who is the only person in the Trump administration who I like) said today that there was proof that Assad’s regime did have the chemical weapons. And they didn’t “supposedly” kill kids. They did kill kids.

Your second post is absolute bullshit, but I agree completely with your first post. So 50% isn’t bad. Gave you a GA for both, though mostly because I look forward to future debates.

@Brian Ghilliotti The Turkish authorities have carried out autopsies on the victims which show conclusively that Sarin was used.

You really think the Turks, who would like to see Assad go, would provide a fair and impartial investigation? Well if sarin was used, I bet the Turks supplied the sarin to the rebels who used it, just like in the summer of 2013. Keep believing the propaganda. The facts speak for themselves; if real sarin was used, and the AQ white helmets were really first responding to these sarin gas victims, they would not have been able to do so without chemical weapons gear on.

Brian Ghilliotti

As I wrote, 50% isn’t bad.

Name calling and mocking when no other answer is available…BTW, the US backed rebels also killed kids…there is a particularly gruesome video where a US backed AQ group cut the head off a Palestinian boy on the back of a pick up truck, supposedly for “spying on them”. It showed the blood gushing and all, with that weird jihadi music in the background. It WAS NOT some faked CIA / ISIS skit. It came out last summer, around the same time the media was going nuts over this “Allepo dust boy” bullshit. NO mention of the Palestinian kid getting his head cut off about 2 weeks earlier in the media…“fair and balanced”.

Brian Ghilliottti

Yup. Never said that the US backed rebels didn’t kill kids. Where did I write that?