When the attack by poison gas on the Syrian children and adults occurred Trump responded by tweeting that it was “a consequence of the past administration’s weakness and irresolution.” It was typical of Trump to point to the Obama administration. This is the lodestone in his mind from which he measures himself in the White House. He is continually asking “how do I measure up against that president who has conned the whole world.”
It was back in April 2011, two years into the Obama presidency that Trump was interviewed by Meredith Viera. He was speaking about tracking down Obama’s birth certificate and pointed out that perhaps Obama had pulled off that con if he wasn’t born in the United States. Asked whether he had people in Hawaii checking on this, he responded: “Absolutely, And they cannot believe what they are finding. I’m serious.”
They found nothing that proved Obama was not born in Hawaii. Yes, like Trump, I’m serious. Obama went on to serve another term. Trump was the one conning the world.
There has always been lurking somewhere in the deep recesses of the Trump head the firm belief that we had been conned by Obama. As one quite familiar with the con, Trump’s goal since elected is to out Obama as a con. As the rat Murderman Martorano would say you can’t rat a rat; so Trump would say you can’t con a con.
Trump has made it clear his first and primary mission has been to destroy Obama’s major achievement “Obamacare.” Whatever it takes Trump wants to bury that. Next, since Obama was open and kind to assisting some immigrants who were here in violation of our nation’s laws he wants to be harsh on them. Understand whatever Obama did Trump wants to undo. Obama tried to clean the air, Trump will dirty it; clean up the rivers, he’ll pollute them; stop manufacture of dangerous pesticides he’ll green light them; slow down global warming he’ll set bonfires; and on and on.
Now we have the attack on Syria. The simple reason for this attack is that Obama balked when it came to dealing with the atrocities of the Assad regime. We all recall the infamous “red line” incident when Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov threw Hairdo Kerry and his boss a life preserver that Russia would guarantee Assad give up his poison gas. Hairdo gleefully swallowed it. Obama happily ducked responsibility. Assad and Putin played the game.
The most notable part of the Obama foreign policy during his last term will be how Lavrov picked Hairdo’s pockets clean while the latter grimaced in importance.
This latest attack is said to have been motivated by Trumps seeing a program on television (very believable) which showed the horror inflicted by the poison gas on children (believable) which affected Trump greatly. (unbelievable) Trump has never been affected by the plight of Syrian children who have suffered unbelievable harm for years. Proof of that is his attempts to ban them from coming to our country. Additional proof is his silence about the endless bombing of the Syrian civilians by Assad and Putin. Trump was oblivious that he was following Obama’s example.
The sarin gas attack was different because Trump could put himself in a position of stark contrast to Obama. He would strike back but would do so in a manner designed to accomplish little but to look like a lot. He launched almost 60 cruise missiles against an airfield after first telling the Russian’s who were stationed at or near the target that it was coming. They and their Syrian counterparts took the necessary precautions to prevent themselves from being injured. They left a handful of lower ranked people in harm’s way.
Putin will huff and puff but he probably gave the green light to the attack. He would have done so knowing that it is necessary to put some space between him and Trump since they were both caught in unison promising to raid the cookie jar (the deal to lift sanctions). Now to pacify Putin a deal will be struck next week in Moscow between the lone diplomat Tex Tillerson and Lavrov to ease sanctions. Lavrov won’t be able to pick Tex’s pockets because he will gladly empty them out for him. Tillerson rightly said our policy toward Syria (keeping Assad in power as Russia wishes) has not changed because of the sarin gas or missile attacks.
Bottom line: Assad (Russia’s ally) uses sarin gas to murder children and others; our response is to blow up a couple of hangers at an airfield (hardly any damage was done to runways). All else remains as normal. The whole thing is just a big Trump/Putin con.
Good job Matt. Here is what I wrote at 5am CST on April 7. I am very happy to find we get his con. Please check out my FB page. Google my name John K Arnold.
Putin/Trump. Missile Strikes. Kushner. How do the pieces fit together? Who actually orchestrated this? Putin? Why?
Jared Kushner is not the Secretary of Everything. He is the courier.
Let’s look at what has been happening. Evidence of Trump associates meeting with Russian. Evidence of wiretapping picking up Trump associates. They now know lines are not secure. They now know they cannot count on associates not to talk to FBI.
They have a problem.
All of a sudden Jared Kushner is in everything and going everywhere. He is traveling with Trump’s long time “bodyguard”. These two would be considered to be in “the circle of trust”. Ivanka is the key member of this “Circle Of Trust”.
Messages between Putin and Trump now need to be delivered the old fashioned spy way personally with no documentation or trail. It has involve only those in circle of trust.
Kushner and the bodyguard would have opportunities to secretly connect with Putin’s couriers on their travels.
Putin lays out plans for Trump to follow.
It is very likely the Syria gassing and US strike were a Putin plan. Why would Putin want tension between them?
It is a con. It is to make us believe there isn’t or wasn’t a Putin plan to take the election and put him in office. How could that be if they are fighting?
Remember that Putin is a master of this type of power con. This type of deception is and always has been a big part of Russian and Eastern European culture.
We are in old spy story. Modern technology put Trump in the WH. Old style spy tactics are what are being used to take this US takeover to the next steps.
We have to look very suspiciously at everything. Trump only cares about his himself. He never does anything at all that is not about him.
Also watch on the strike. He is working us like crazy. He is doing what he does using our values like compassion and empathy to con us.
We can feel compassion for those suffering while not being conned by him. He will appear to care about people. He doesn’t care. He will use the enemy he creates or Putin creates to get us to unite for him.
We must be very, very diligent and realize we are being played.. When it comes to Sociopathic Narcissists we are always being played.
True, that. Trump’s a fraud.
John:
Those are my sentiments. The proof is now at hand. Tex Tillerson is now meeting with Putin. Before going he stunned the other 6 foreign ministers meeting with him with his comment that “U.S. taxpayers have no concern with what is happening in Ukraine.” Saying that just before leaving was his signal to Putin that perhaps the U.S. taxpayers have no concern with putting sanctions on Russia for its Ukrainian actions.
The attack was a joke since little damage was done and the parties were warned about two hours before that it was coming. It was as you suggest a Putin orchestration. We’ll see all this play out over the next day or two. I’d like to thinnk I am wrong but the the Trump of yesterday is the Trump of today and tomorrow and he is all about himself.
From McClatchy:
WORLD
JANUARY 16, 2014 2:20 PM
New analysis of rocket used in Syria chemical attack undercuts U.S. claims
By Matthew Schofield – McClatchy Foreign Staff
“A series of revelations about the rocket believed to have delivered poison sarin gas to a Damascus suburb last summer are challenging American intelligence assumptions about that attack and suggest that the case U.S. officials initially made for retaliatory military action was flawed.
“A team of security and arms experts, meeting this week in Washington to discuss the matter, has concluded that the range of the rocket that delivered sarin in the largest attack that night was too short for the device to have been fired from the Syrian government positions where the Obama administration insists they originated.
(The U.S. still blamed Syria, but . . .)
“But the authors of a report released Wednesday said that their study of the rocket’s design, its likely payload and its possible trajectories show that it would have been impossible for the rocket to have been fired from inside areas controlled by the government of Syrian President Bashar Assad.”
Now the above relates to 2013:
But note the contradictions this week: People say they “saw” chemical bombs dropping; others say they “saw” “missiles” fired with chemicals; (you can’t look in the sky and determine if a bomb or missile has chemicals attached); multiple witnesses heard “explosions”; one saw “yellow smoke”; one smelled nothing; many handled victims without protective covering. No doubt civilians were exposed to neurotoxic chemicals. But from where did these chemicals come? Search the web and you’ll see the video of the underground weapons plant in this town. The allegation is chemical weapons were being manufactured, prepared there, too. It’s reasonable, as the New York Times reported several months ago that ISIS used chemical weapons a dozen times; and others reported ISIS acquiring and seeking to acquire sarin gas.
Be more skeptical!
Bill:
1. The Syrians and Russians admitted that the first chemical attack was by Syria. That was the basis for the agreement to withdraw all the chemicals from Syria. Seems the experts cited by McClatchy were in one simple word: wrong.
2. As any trial lawyer can tell you eyewitness testimony is extremely unreliable. Most of the world accepts that it was sarin gas that was dropped from a Syrian airplane that caused the harm. No one suggests it was a rocket that I heard. The people you find cause with are Assad (who I assume you do not believe is a brutal murderer) and Putin.
Sometimes the tabloids tell the truth: From England’s the Daily Star (Dec. 19. 2015):
“The thieving Jihadis have made off with 12 cases of the deadly chemical weapon (sarin gas), according to ex-Libyan dictator Gaddafi’s cousin Ahmed.
He claims that the gas stores were not being properly guarded in the desert location, and even thinks the killer terror cult has already used some of it.
Daily Star Online reported last month how ISIS terrorists in Syria had received all the necessary tools to produce sarin via Turkey.
The latest stolen sarin has been trafficked to the northern part of the country to be sold.”
The Huffington Post article cited, supra, begins thusly:
“MEMORANDUM FOR: U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, and Foreign Minister of Russia Sergey Lavrov
FROM: Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity (VIPS)
SUBJECT: Sarin Attack at Ghouta on Aug. 21, 2013
In a Memorandum of Oct. 1, 2013, we asked each of you to make public the intelligence upon which you based your differing conclusions on who was responsible for the sarin chemical attack at Ghouta, outside Damascus on Aug. 21, 2013. On Dec. 10, 2015, Eren Erdem, a member of parliament in Turkey, citing official documents, blamed Turkey for facilitating the delivery of sarin to rebels in Syria.
Mr. Kerry, you had blamed the Syrian government. Mr. Lavrov, you had described the sarin as “homemade” and suggested anti-government rebels were responsible. Each of you claimed to have persuasive evidence to support your conclusion.
Neither of you responded directly to our appeal to make such evidence available to the public, although, Mr. Lavrov, you came close to doing so. In a speech at the UN on Sept. 26, 2013, you made reference to the views we presented in our VIPS Memorandum, Is Syria a Trap?, sent to President Obama three weeks earlier.
Pointing to strong doubt among chemical weapons experts regarding the evidence adduced to blame the government of Syria for the sarin attack, you also referred to the “open letter sent to President Obama by former operatives of the CIA and the Pentagon,” in which we expressed similar doubt.
Mr. Kerry, on Aug. 30, 2013, you blamed the Syrian government, publicly and repeatedly, for the sarin attack. But you failed to produce the kind of “Intelligence Assessment” customarily used to back up such claims.”
READ IT AND WEEP!
For those with an open mind (who remember the Maine, the Gulf of Tonkin, Weapons of Mass Destruction, and Yellow Cake Hysteria(Hussein and Nigeria)) please read the following:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/coleen-rowley/calling-again-for-proof-r_b_8880064.html
Granted the captured Baghdad rockets filled with sarin were largely degraded and largely beyond use, but nevertheless it shows ISIS’s intent was to acquire sarin. No doubt ISIS has used chemical weapons many times as the NYT reported last year.
FYI: “Before they were handed over to the U.S. military, rebel groups such as ISIS were able to capture stockpiles of chemical weapons from Syrian army depots. On July 9th, 2014, just weeks after the Syrian army’s handover, The Guardian reported that ISIS had captured a massive former Iraqi chemical weapons facility northwest of Baghdad, confiscating over 2,500 degraded chemical rockets filled with sarin. Research has also led to speculation that ISIS and other rebel groups may have been able to access materials for chemical weapons stored by Muammar Gaddafi in Libya. In November 2016, The New York Times acknowledged that ISIS had used chemical arms at least 52 times in Syria and Iraq.” (Those 52 times involved chlorine & mustard gas.)
But note: “ISIS captured . . . rockets filled with sarin.” (ISIS captured these rockets from “a former Iraqi chemical weapons facility northwest of Baghdad.” Supra. as reported by The Guardian in 2014.
FYI:
TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN: From 2015:
“BREAKING: ISIS Smuggled Sarin Gas Through Turkey – Terrorists Captured With Poison Gas in Switzerland:”
by Jim Hoft Dec 16th, 2015 12:00 pm
“Earlier this week Turkish lawmaker Eren Erdem, from the opposition Republican People’s Party, revealed on Russia Today that ISIS had smuggled sarin gas through Turkey to chemical labs in Syria and Turkish officials did nothing to stop them.”
I REST MY CASE!
Bill:
Was that an ISIS airplane dropping the sarin?
Who do we bomb in Michigan now that the potential intellect of many children’s brains has been nullified by the lead they have consumed by drinking from the public water supply?
In Michigan, do we bomb the Republican Governor, the Democratic Mayor, the Democratic Congressman or the Democratic President who governed during Flint?
Imagine if we put on television for hours on end pictures of children killed and maimed by American and allied bombs in the last ten years in Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, Libya, Yemen, Somalia, Gaza!
Who to bomb for the 50 million human beings aborted in America?
Maybe we should all work harder to stop the bombing and killing!
Amen, Amen, one thousand times, Amen.
Watch an evening of news and mainstream culture that is produced, sold and loved by Dick and Jane and the kids. We really do not give two shits about the millions of innocent ones that are murdered right in front of our eyes every year. Our priorities in this First World, Pig Circus SUCK!
Name the last person to sit in The Oval Office that had a set. I’ll go build toothpick models of the Nina, the Pinta and the Santa Maria while you find an answer.
Honest:
Truman and Kennedy come close to caring about others. Carter had somewhat of those instincts also. Can’t forget the two Roosevelts and Lincoln. Then the beginning group had good ideals. I’d suggest we have slipped with LBJ, Ford, Reagan, Bush, Clinton, Bush, and Trump. Obama cared but not enough to do anything which amounts to not caring.
There are a lot of things to consider regarding this strike.
1. The Trump attack was unconstitutional. This was a direct military action against a sovereign nation. This was not done in order to take out a terrorist organization. Obama’s drone wars and special operations missions were at least ostensibly authorized by the 2001 Authorization for Use of Military Force. Obama also failed to obtain Congressional authorization for the US intervention in Libya, another illegal war.
2. It is clear that the Legislative Branch, Judiciary, Media, and the American people are quite comfortable completely divesting themselves of any responsibility for American military interventions such as these. We have allowed the office of the President to become an all powerful dictator on military matters. This began after 9/11 and now we have a complete temperamental madman deciding on a whim to launch a spectacularly wasteful attack in Yemen, and the bombing of an empty airfield in Syria based on either pure emotion, or cynical politics.
3. This appears to be a purely emotional, visceral reaction by Trump. He constantly consumes cable news, and cable news had been blasting coverage and video of these attacks. Only days prior to the missile strike, Tillerson said that Assad’s place in Syria is for the Syrian people to decide. Trump has staunchly opposed any US intervention while Obama was in office, most likely oblivious to the conditions on the ground in Syria because he is not interested in learning new things or consuming information that opposes his world view.
4. I believe the attack on the Syrian air-base at least calls into question the theory (one which I will admit I believe, and have yet to give up on) that the Trump administration directly colluded with Russia. Nevertheless, they still notified Russia about the attack, and there are still way too many connections of Trumps inner-circle to halt the investigation.
5. Trump’s sagging poll numbers also most likely played a factor in this attack. Nothing galvanizes the US citizenry like a good ole fashioned war in the Middle East. It was amazing to see both the left wing and right wing media in complete, bipartisan reverence of Trump’s actions. Brian Williams on MSNBC was quoted as saying the pictures of the cruise missiles being launched from the destroyers were “beautiful.” He sounded like Trump!
6. Many pundits said this “was the night Trump became President.” The same pundits said this after his address to Congress, then he went off the rails with his wiretapping remarks. The night of the missile attack was not another “night he became President,” we are still all screwed and this country is going farther and farther down in flames with each day of this disgusting Presidency.
7. Trump justified his actions based on the deaths of children. How many children have died as a result of US military action during Trump’s presidency, or better yet, Obama’s? There are reports civilians were killed in the tomahawk strikes. If any country can take unilateral action when another country kills civilians in war, what is stopping our enemies from using the same justification to attack us? Bottom line, we were not attacked, we need to involve Congress and the international community in order to take legitimate action.
Dave:
Here my considered answers:
1. The attack on another sovereign nation is so normal for this country that it is hard to suggest it is unconstitutional. Some are justified as part of the war on terror but since terrorists are everywhere I suppose we could attack Sweden.
Think of the Mexican American war in late 1840s – we attacked Mexican forces on Mexican soil and blamed them. (Congress did though go along with this. After LBJ hit North Vietnam, Nixon hit Cambodia and Reagan hit Grenada and Bush hit Panama and Clinton Sudan the rule had become established that direct military action is all right.
2. As noted above the president has been all powerful for a long time before 9/11 in taking us to war.
3. Is there anyone with a smidgen of knowledge that does not realize our president uses the resources of the nation’s television networks to make his decisions? We could probably do away with the CIA and other intelligence agencies and rely on Fox and Friends.
4. The attack was carried out with the permission of Putin. It is all part of the game. As I said they were perceived as too close so this little venture is designed to cause no harm and to make it look like the two leaders are at odds. Wait to see if sanctions fall.
5. No doubt about that. America loves to bring out the flag in time of danger – a lot of “this flag doesn’t run” flags are out even though the flag does run to any conflict that suits its purpose.
6. Trump today is the same Trump as we had yesterday and the one we had a month ago will be the one we will have in a month. The pundits all seem to be smoking something that once was illegal.
Matt: You say everyone agrees on things that not everyone agrees on!
The 2013 Sarin attack is disputed by many. Not long ago I read an exhaustive analysis which concluded it was not Syria.
You know who started this war? Rebels armed and funded by (1) the CIA, (2) the oil sheiks (mainly Saudi Arabia and Qatar) and (3) Turkey.
The Saudis and Qatar take no Syrian refugees. Their “rebels” are losing, big time. They are the ones who are desperate.
Don’t kid yourself that the major rebels are anything but Sunni Terrorists (ISIS, Al Qaeda, etc.)
Most of the arms the Oil Sheiks, Turkey, CIA, MI-6 gave to so-called “moderate rebels” all ended up in the hands Sunni Terrorists like ISIS. Many rebels and FSA (Free Syrian Army) members defected to ISIS.
Don’t kid yourself! Ten percent of Syrians are Christians. Whose side are they are on? Assad is protecting the Christians! Assad’s people, the Alawites are also 10% of the population. Druze and Yazidis support Assad. Some Sunnis support Assad.
If you destroy Assad, the Terrorists will rule Syria. It’s a binary choice. The real bad guys are ISIS and Al Qaeda and Al Nusra.
2. And yes, I want to see peace with Russia. I want to see better relations with Russia and China. I want to see more contacts and more open doors. That’s the way to peace. Now, I see people closing lines of communication and exacerbating tensions.
3. I don’t listen to cold war warriors, neocons, and war mongers; I recall a man on this site who proposed a simple solution: send two divisions of Marines from Jordan into Syria to “pacify” the country.
4. Here’s a paradox for you Matt. We were told by our experts that if you hit an arms factory that’s manufacturing Sarin Gas, you destroy the Sarin. So, the “experts” told us the Russian “alibi” is false! Then we were told the very same day, that the reason we didn’t hit the chemical site on the Shayrat Airport with Tomahawk Missiles was because we did not want to disperse the deadly chemicals. Which is it? True or false? Think! Of course a bomb may destroy the gas and of course a bomb may release the gas. They are not mutually exclusive events. But we pretend they are to suit our narratives.
But more importantly, we are told that “a Syrian bomb” dropped from the sky containing Sarin which did explode (the bomb exploded) but the bomb did not destroy the Sarin. So, sometimes Syrian bombs destroy Sarin, sometimes not. Sometimes American bombs cannot destroy chemical gases, or so we are told.
Even if it were proven Sarin was used in 2003 (by Syria, which I doubt), why did Syria wait for 4 years to use it again? It makes no sense!
We know that chlorine gas and mustard gas has been used (people have accused both the Syrians and the rebels.)
Finally, no one can tell us whether ISIS released Sarin gas contemporaneously with the bombing. Period. End of Sentence! Reasonable doubts exists! Did ISIS load a shell with Sarin gas and fire it into the neighborhood adjacent to the bombing site? Did ISIS remotely detonate an IED laden with Sarin gas?
There are multiple reports of Syria and other combatants using chemical weapons. 2013 was not a one time thing. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Use_of_chemical_weapons_in_the_Syrian_civil_war
In general, this comports with what I’ve been reading, with one exception. See, for example, this Google cache of a recent but inexplicably disappeared Cannonfire post: http://tinyurl.com/kx5aat5. It’s also worth looking at http://cannonfire.blogspot.com/2017/04/trump-needs-war-looks-like-hes-getting.html.
The exception I referred to is the claim of sarin gas. From what I have read, people dealing with the bodies are not protecting themselves from the deadly effects of touching sarin, which would presumably be all around. As with any pronouncements from people who stand to gain from fomenting war, skepticism is the wisest course.
Bill:
It seems you read the latest Pravda edition and bring it to us. Or, is it the Russian television station RT.
1. Russian would not have agreed to have the sarin removed from Syria if it was not clear that Syria had used it. It did it more than once but regularly. The war was not started as you suggest. It came about during the Arab Spring when the Sunni Muslims in Damascas sought greater rights. The initial peaceful protests turned violent after Assad started to fire on the people. I believe it was Russian propaganda that blamed the CIA as you do. Yes, there are Christians and Alawites involved in the equation; as far as they are involved in using poison gas on the protesters they too are doing wrong. It does not follow ousting Assad will result in the terrorist taking over. They will be mostly destroyed by the time Assad falls, and he will.
2. How far do you go to have peace with Russia? Do you let them take over the Baltics? Do you let them attack from outside the election processes of the West? Do you do away with NATO? Do you let them dictate what is to be done anywhere in the world? One must have backbone and stand up to dictators. It is only when that happens that peace is achieved. We have had 70 years of peace in Europe precisely because we did not try to make peace with Russia.
3. You are wrong about me saying two divisions of Marines. I said years ago that we should have assembled at least two Army division on the border of Syria and Jordan and with the help of Israel and other allies with our air superiority move into Syria and provide safe have for the refugees, there were far less then, to settle in Syria. This would have done much to relieve the refugee problem in Europe and Turkey. I said we could slowly move the forces north toward the capital at minimum cost (no Russians were there at the time) by imposing a no fly zone. I predicted that a strong show of force moving northward toward Damascus would eventually cause Assad to step down. At that time we had other forces from Syria that could have stepped in along with some in Assad’s group to form a coalition to govern the country. I believe events have proven me right. Obama’s pusillanimity toward Syria has brought us to this point where we are on the losing side and responsible for many deaths and refugees.
4. I agree we have been told both things. Both things may be correct. The latter, the fear of dispersing the chemicals is from the administration which may be right if there are other chemicals that do not disintegrate by the high temperatures that destroy sarin. It is clear from all the experts that bombing sarin destroys it. It is also clear that sarin may be dropped from airplanes and not destroyed because the explosion is not such as will do it. I am unclear why you are confused over this.
5. If sarin was not used in 2013 why did Assad agree to give up his stockpiles of sarin. If he did not use it then why would he do it? That he gave it up (or pretended to do) is an admission of its use. You do know he has used it many times and not once. You take the position that although Assad had stockpiles of sarin and other gasses he never used them. Somehow the people without access to them used them.
6. Assad used them because despite what you may think he is a very evil man who has only one desire which is to remain in power. He used them after four years because the lame brain president and his secretary of state announced that it was no longer the American intent to remove him from power. He believed that gave him carte blanche to do what he wanted. Up until that time he dared not use them because he did not know what Obama would do.
Nausee-Tad
As usual, I agree with NC and Tadzio.
Matt: There was no motive for Assad to use Sarin gas. The only groups benefiting from a Sarin attack were the Islamist Sunni rebels (ISIS, Al-Nustra, Al-Qaeda) seeking to provoke a US response. An eye witness said she saw a plume of yellow smoke after the bomb was dropped. Sarin gas is colorless, odorless, tasteless.
How easy it’d be for ISIS to detonate (release) Sarin gas, contemporaneously with a Syrian air attack?
ISIS has used chemical weapons before. ISIS has no respect for innocent human life. Within the last few days ISIS beheaded scores of young men (aged 18-25) in Syria and Iraq.
Russia may be correct that Syrian bombs hit a Sunni-rebel chemical plant, or even a rebel truck laden with toxic chemicals. Or ISIS could have remotely detonated an IED laden with Sarin.
We all regret the killing of children: the US and Coalition bombings have killed hundreds or thousands; Saudi Arabia killed hundreds in Yemen with cluster bombs; Israel killed hundreds among 1,500 civilians killed in Gaza.
War is hell! But remember, the greatest bulwark against Sunni-Muslim terrorists groups in the Middle East is the Shia-Muslim. The Americans killed on 9-11, Boston Marathon, Orlando, San Bernardino, etc, were killed by Sunni Muslims. The attacks in London, Brussels, Paris, Nice, Berlin were done by Sunnis. ISIS and Al Qaeda are Sunni Muslims.
Support the Shia Muslims and those Sunni Muslims not affiliated with terrorist groups.
wa-llahi!
Bill: What are the doctrinal differences of the two sects that allow you to distinguish between them so clearly?
Khalid: They self-identify as Sunni or Shia! Their doctrinal differences are irrelevant: it’s like Orthodox, Protestant, Methodist, Baptist, Catholic, Mormon Christians. What matters if that from one sect, Sunni, come the world-wide terroristic scourges: ISIS, Al Nusra and Al Qaeda.
I agree. Kind of like: There were no Baptist Crusades?
I know at least one person on here that can help me find one of those fancy Latin phrases to give credence to my statement.
Like ‘oh-Nay idding-Kay’.
I will turn to my ancestors, The Russians, who have a way with words. Gorky said, “Love is man’s misinterpretation of his basic need to reproduce.”
But then again, Prokofiev said, “Love is like a potato. It should never be thrown out the window.” Sergei had an amazing sense of timing/humor.
Trump has broken one of his major rules. And we are doing the exact opposite of what we should be doing if we are really concerned with this breach. We are TALKING. That is, we are wasting time sitting on our butts staring at our computer screens and pretending we have something important to say.
Now, what was the opiate of the masses?
Hi Bill, I think you have to at least consider the Nitwit Factor. Totally stupid things do happen in war. The use of this gas could have been an idiotic screwup by somebody in the Syrian chain of command. I think we can agree that Assad, the man at the top, is not exactly a great genius. I’ve read that not even Putin can stand the man. My theory is unlikely, but it’s more plausible than blaming the victims by claiming a Syrian bomb hit a rebel Sarin factory, or some such.
All of this confusion and misery only reinforces my conviction that we should withdraw all of our military forces from the Mideast.
DanC: I agree we should get out of the Middle East as soon as possible. I don’t blame victims. I blame ISIS.
Glad to see we agree, Bill. So what’s your take on Trump? Do you think he’s become a neocon overnight? Maybe Steve Bannon is a better choice than Jared Kushner, at least insofar as the safety of the U.S. military is concerned?
Bill:
1. Assad used the gas before in 2013. Was there a motive for him to use it then. Everyone agreed back then after first denying it that he used it. That is why the Russians agreed to remove all the sarin gas from Syria which of course they did not do. You seem to want to forget the Syrian airplanes were followed by U.S. radar to the point they dropped the gas. One person’s eyewitness account which you rely on is nonsense since so many others had not such things to say. Look, Bill, you support the Russians and Assad so like them you want to blame everyone else but the people who did it. None of the people you point a finger at had sarin or were in the area to use it.
You confuse things equating Islamist Sunni rebels with ISIS, Al-Nustra, Al-Qaeda. The group that was gassed had nothing to do with them. As for a bomb setting it off that the Russians claim that has been totally laughed at by experts because a bomb would not disperse the gas but would destroy it. You know the U.S. could have dropped the sarin gas in order to attack Syria, you forgot to mention that possibility.
Amazing that you can point to other situations where civilians died in war but why do that if your claim is that Assad had nothing to do with this. As for supporting the Sunni Muslims not affiliated with the terrorist groups how do you determine that. As far as supporting the Shia Muslims does that include the Iranians?
Great news. Gorsuch confirmed. Kerry promised several years ago that our attack on Syria for crossing the red line would be incredibly small. That is what this looks like. Tokenism. A gesture. A week ago the U S killed up to two hundred civilians in an airstrike in Mosul. Many women and children no doubt. ISIS had placed the civilians in a building from which they were fighting. It may have been a propaganda stunt by ISIS to deter the U S from using air power. ISIS has no value for life. This chemical attack in Syria may also have been an ISIS propaganda stunt to lure a gullible new Administration to act. Assad had no motive or incentive to use chemical weapons. The terrorists did. The only way the terrorists can win is if they can seduce some military power to fight with them. ISIS is losing badly in Syria. ISIS has used chemical weapons before. ISIS can’t defeat Assad, Russia and Iran by themselves. Desperate times call for desperate measures.2. No question Trump was bamboozled here. We should be helping Assad and his allies defeat ISIS, Al Qaeda and Al Nusra not attacking them. America’s only enemy in the world is Islamic terrorism. Lets focus on that Trump has to realize the political campaign is over. It is not important to try to show Obama made an error and he has outdone him. 3. Matt is partially correct about Fox news. It’s Middle East coverage is bogus. It is just a shill for Saudi, Qatari and Israeli propaganda. One never hears a dissenting note on the Middle East. Al Jazeera was more objective, How many Syrian refugees did the Oil Sheiks take in? The answer is none. The dictators on the Gulf cause the war. They fund the terrorists. They provide no relief to the victims of their crimes. Sunni Muslim terror is the problem. The Shia should be our allies. Thank God for Rand Paul. He promotes America’s interest not the dictators in the Gulf
NC
1. What does this mean: “The only way the terrorists can win is if they can seduce some military power to fight with them.”
2. Wouldn’t it be nice if our only enemy was Islamic terrorism and our friends in North Korea, China and Russia wished us well.
3. How can I comment when you give me a partial credit for being right.
Less than 3 weeks ago Israeli Defense Minster and thug, Avigdor Lieberman, a man who once plead guilty to molesting a child, threatened Syrian air defenses through bombings.
http://www.cnn.com/2017/03/19/middleeast/israel-syria-air-defenses-liberman/
Israel orders and the entire, bipartisan, Washington establishment complies.
Make America Great Again cannot be accomplished if it remains a lick-spittle to zionism.
My reasons for supporting Trump exist outside of the politics of putting Israeli interests above American ones. I knew this was coming whoever won. Nonetheless I am disappointed in Trump. In this matter he is no better than the other swamp dwellers.
tadzio: From what I’ve heard, Avigdor Lieberman (certainly no friend of mine) pled guilty to assaulting a child (in the sense of beating the kid). He is not a child molester, as far as I know. There is a big difference, to my mind, even though belting your child around isn’t exactly setting him/her up for a stable, happy adulthood, is it?
Merriam-Webster: Molest: “1 : to annoy, disturb, or persecute especially with hostile intent or injurious effect.” The boy was injured from a hostile intent which surely annoyed. The child was not the molester’s own. He was retaliating for a fight his own child possibly had been bested in. I did not say sexually which would be a subcategory and would require an explicit marker. The word was used carefully in its primary sense not in a secondary one.
Please. Child molester has a clear meaning in common usage. You should have made it known that you were not saying this guy sexually abused children.
“Common usage” in your circle or the rest of the world? I live in the rest of the world and will go with M-W’s credentials over yours.
Fine and dandy. Tip: I’d be careful about calling somebody a child molester in a bar (or anyplace else, for that matter.)
I don’t know – it’s hard for me to see any U.S. ties to Russia… except for the Flynn thing and the Manafort thing
and the Tillerson thing
and the Sessions thing
and the Kushner thing
and the Carter Page thing
and the Roger Stone thing
and the Felix Sater thing
and the Boris Ephsteyn thing
and the Rosneft thing
and the Gazprom thing
and the Sergey Gorkov banker thing
and the Azerbajain thing
and the Alfa Bank, Trump Tower and DeVos Spectrum Health server connection thing
and the “I love Putin” thing
and the Donald Trump, Jr. thing
and the Sergey Kislyak thing
and the Russian Affiliated Interests thing
and the Russian Business Interests thing
and the Emoluments clause thing
And the Wilbur Ross thing
and the Svetlana Lakhova- General Misha (Flynn) thing
and the Erik Prince – brother of Betsy Devos Blackwater thing
and the Trump Tower headquarters of Russian money laundering and gambling ring,
and the California Republican Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, often called “Putin’s favorite congressman” for his outspoken support for the Kremlin thing
and the 63+ Russians who invested in Trump Florida condos thing
and Trump’s public request to Russia to hack Hillary’s email thing
and the Trump house sale for $100 million at the bottom of the housing bust to the Russian fertilizer king thing
and the Russian fertilizer king’s plane showing up in Concord, NC during Trump rally campaign thing
and the Nunes sudden flight to the White House in the night thing
and the Nunes personal investments in the Russian winery thing
and the Cyprus bank thing
and the hiding of Trumps tax returns thing
and Trump not releasing his tax returns thing
and Republicans rejection of the amendment to require Trump to show his tax returns thing
and the Alex Schnaider thing
and the hack of the DNC thing
and the Guccifer 2.0 thing
and the Mike Pence “I don’t know anything” thing
and the Russians mysteriously dying thing
and Trump not releasing his tax returns thing
and the election hacking thing using hired Russians, bots and server connections
and the GOP platform change to the Ukraine thing
and the Crimea thing and the lifting of Venezuelan sanctions thing and
and the Steele Dossier thing
and the Leninist Bannon thing
and the Sally Yates can’t testify thing
and the intelligence community’s investigative reports thing
and the Mikhail Kalugin Steele Dossier thing
and Trump’s reassurance that the Russian connection is all “fake news” thing
and Spicer’s Russian Dressing “nothing’s wrong” thing
so there’s probably nothing there
since the swamp has been drained, these people would never lie
probably why Nunes cancels the investigation meetings
all of this must be normal
“Picky, picky, picky.”
Yes, and you could write the same list of Clinton ties to Russia, or a similar list of any major political figure’s ties to Russia or to any other major nation. Which proves nothing! Ever heard of the phrase: guilt by association!
Neither Trump nor any of his political team have been credibly accused of any crime – – – none have been charged. What happened to innocent until proven guilty?
Got any more mud to throw?
Clinton isn’t President.
This has the look of a feel good attack attack, aimed at convincing Americans that Trump is tough. The optics were odd. Trump should have announced the attack directly to the American people in a live broadcast.
From the White House.
Instead, Trump shot a piece of pre-recorded video from Mar-a-Lago. He didn’t really sound into it to me. But, we’ll see. I was very surprised to see Trump pull a 180 and turn into a neocon overnight. But maybe he’ll turn back just as quickly.
Yesterday Russia recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. Total con operation.
As I read the news Russia said it would recognize West Jerusalem as the capital of Israel conditioned upon Israel recognizing East Jerusalem as the capital of an independent Palestine. Why not tell the whole story?