The debate is growing in the Western world about what should be done to deal with Syria, a country that has been massacring its own people marching for democracy. Should the same type of military action used against Libya be used against the Assad regime? That is today's poll question. Sanctions are fine in principle, but in practice they often end up hurting the very people they are supposed to be liberating more than the regime they are trying to punish. Does the civilized world have the responsibility to fight against brutality?
If there is going to be an international force carrying out a Syrian mission, I trust NATO far more than the United Nations. Syria and Libya are close enough that you could probably use the same military base as the staging point for a new operation.
If anyone goes in, it should be Turkey with the backing of the Arab League.
ReplyDeleteWhat interests do we have in Syria? Or for that matter Libya?
ReplyDeletei would suggest that we let muslims kill each other until one faction becomes very dangerous to us and then we destroy them.
ReplyDeleteCanada should issue a statement to Assad that his actions are "unacceptable" or maybe even "completely unacceptable".
ReplyDeleteIf we want to get REALLY tough, maybe we should say,"utterly unacceptable".
BUT,let's not spend one goddamned red cent or one soldier's life saving another third world shithole full of people that hate us,for the sake of appearances.
Let the Syrians sort out their own mess,we are NOT big brother to the world. We're on the edge of another financial crisis,and we should look to our own Country rather than piss away tens of millions more on dubious foreign adventures.
I did not vote in the poll for the following reason. We should not be involved in Libya and neither should we be involved in Syria. Involved meaning military action of any sort. The reason is two fold; first we have no national stake in either and second there are serious doubts about the groups we are supporting. We may end up finding we have been supporting radical Islamists.
ReplyDeleteFrom the politically incorrect way of saying things (which I have nothing against) to the more eloquent, I certainly add my voice in support of the first 5 comments here.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the last 6 comments.
ReplyDeleteI don't think we have any business over there, let them sort out their own problems.
As Kissinger so famously said " If there was only a way that both sides could lose"
"Never interrupt your enemy when he is making a mistake."
ReplyDeleteNapolean Bonaparte
Wow. Fuck you guys. Over 2000 people and counting have been murdered by Assad's oppressive regime, and you guys are just gonna sit back and say "welp, not our problem?"
ReplyDeleteFurthermore, saying these people are our enemies? Bullshit. The people of Libya and Syria and Bahrain and all the fucking rest don't want shit to do with international affairs, not right now anyway. They would just like to be able to enjoy the same kind of freedoms you do (and you have them, whether or not the US and UK are "police states" is a different matter) and get rid of their asshole dictators.
Libya wouldn't be where it is now if it weren't for NATO. And the vast majority of Libyans, as far as I can tell, are pretty fucking grateful for it as long as we don't make a clusterfuck of it like we did for Iraq.
"mern mern mern I can't pay off my mortgage because the government is full of fuckwits."
You say that in any of the places I've mentioned, you'd probably get arrested and have the shit beaten out of you.
Stop thinking economics for just one goddamn minute and thing about compassion for your fellow human beings. Just because they are on the other side of the planet, just because they have beards and speak a funny language and pray to a different God (or same depending on your interpretation of Abrahamic religions), does not mean it's okay not to give a shit.
Fuck all of you.
Calm down anonymous. The writer of this post is on the record saying I'd like to see NATO wipe out the Assad regime. When we're done with Assad, I'd like to take out Mugabe next, then the Sudan. Can we invade Burma? I think we should at least be talking about it.
ReplyDeleteI tried not to inject my own opinion prior to asking this poll question because I wanted to see where the votes fell on their own.
I wasn't attacking you, I was attacking the commenters above.
ReplyDelete