USA carries out air strikes on Syria

[iris lilies]

One analyst I heard yesterday on NPR, some guy who runs some kind of foreign relations think tank (how's that for credentials? Haha) said that he thought Syria's chemical attack was less of a FU to the world/U.S. than it was a direct affront for the Russians. He thought it was intended to show the Russians that Assad is independent of Putin. He presumed that Syria had an agreement with Russia (since Russia is backing them) to not use chemical warfare and this shows the Ruskies, hey, you guys don't control me.

I found that very interesting.

[razz]

Assad has been especially and horrifically cruel over the years generating a desperate opposition. The last straw was hitting the rebels not ISIS targets and doing it with deadly gases. Putin will never agree with the US at anything but will be glad that Assad has been held accountable without the Russians having to do so.
Will it solve anything? No!

The Mid-East is a cauldron of hate despite the Muslim shared faith system. Until that hate is dealt with, the problems will continue.

This is not due to religion but due to the mindset of people seeing the world as 'us' vs the 'other' which has many variations - black vs white, aboriginal vs settlers, rich vs poor, India vs Pakistan, religious vs atheist ....
I have come to believe that the world seems to want to "wait until the other sees the light of truth" and only then there will be peace. Foolishness!

ETA some thoughtful analytical comment from CNN:
"Jen Psaki, a CNN political commentator and spring fellow at the Georgetown Institute of Politics and Public Service, served as the White House communications director and State Department spokeswoman during the Obama administration. Follow her: @jrpsaki. The opinions expressed in this commentary are hers.
Trump acted without consulting Congress, without clear legal authority and without any coordinated military action by our partners and allies. President Obama did not move forward in 2013, even after stating that Syria using chemical weapons would cross a red line, without the support of Congress and the international community...
But changing the calculus on the ground in Syria will require more than military force. Is there a diplomatic plan? Is there a line of contact with the Russians about the role they can play? How will the strikes translate into a change in Assad's behavior?

[LDAHL]

Sarin gas use should be everyone's line in the sand.

I'm inclined to agree with you. If we can't agree on doing something about gassing children, what's the point of civilization?

[iris lilies]

I'm inclined to agree with you. If we can't agree on doing something about gassing children, what's the point of civilization?

Sure, ok.

But why can't the UN and others take charge of this if is clear that only outliers think this should pass without action? What the F good IS the UN and etc in this case?

Oh, wait...yeah. Ok.I guess it is clear they are fairly useless. But then, I wonder if we all should just let them be fairly useless.

[razz]

What moral authority will prevent North Korea from attacking without direct provocation with missiles? What will the world including Russia, the US and China do to North Korea? Just wondering...

[Rogar]

Maybe someone should show T photos of the starving children in Somalia.

[creaker]

Sure, ok.

But why can't the UN and others take charge of this if is clear that only outliers think this should pass without action? What the F good IS the UN and etc in this case?

Oh, wait...yeah. Ok.I guess it is clear they are fairly useless. But then, I wonder if we all should just let them be fairly useless.

As long as you have any of the permanent members of the security council at odds, not much is going to get done by the UN. To be fair US has cast its own share of vetos on the council, including ones for bans on chemical weapons https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_o...curity_Council

[flowerseverywhere]

Sure, ok.

But why can't the UN and others take charge of this if is clear that only outliers think this should pass without action? What the F good IS the UN and etc in this case?

Oh, wait...yeah. Ok.I guess it is clear they are fairly useless. But then, I wonder if we all should just let them be fairly useless.

i could not agree with you more. Why we are looked upon to police the world, even though Trump very recently said things like I am representing the world, the world is better off with less conflict. Was it not a few days ago when he was addressing a union group and reinforcing his America first ideas where he even said "I am not president of the world, just the US?

It it seems to me much of our recent messes have come from unilateral strikes instead of forming equal coolitions. Being the worlds aggressor also means less money to spend on domestic problems. Plus putting our armed forces, and all citizens for that matter, in graver danger. As horrible as these people are, will this do any good?

How quickly things inks change when you are really in charge and you try to work with your advisors to decide how to respond. But the real question is how he will respond next because we all know everyone is not going to just go away and say "oK, we'll just stop and behave however you want us to."

And another article from from a few months ago.

http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/tr...rticle/2616086

[flowerseverywhere]

I can say with certainty that the 85006 does not approve of this attack. I spoke with a Nicaraguan family here legally and they were of the opinion that the US needs to get it's own house in order before hypocritically exporting war to other countries and I could not agree more. It's beyond hypocritical to want to build a wall against your second largest trading partner (Mexico) and then send missiles to Syria. I don't know how much what little is left of middle class America or those above that level understand this but the lower social classes get this, and at least that gives me some hope and some comfort. Little good does my hope and comfort do for innocent dead Syrians, however. Rob

i am not sure how you can speak for an entire zip code, but there was a mix this morning in a group of people I was in. Some thought it was time for Trump to show he was not weak like Obama in their opinion, some thought it was a horrible waste of money that could be spent on domestic areas instead of an unwinnable conflict abroad. Many opinions. I just wish we did not go for it alone with a small group of people at the top of one government making the decision that could have huge ramifications. That is why we have congress and the UN and various coalitions.

[Teacher Terry]

I agree it should have been a UN decision. We can not be the world's policeman.