Yup... i think people seem to think it's worse is that MAYBE it's a slightly worse way to go and that it's not as 'Targeted' as a bomb (although you can get stray bombs). The other thing is you get to see the aftermath of a gas attack (the affected/dead people are intact although i guess you get limbs and **** from a bomb). The people going on about 80 odd people dying from the chemical attacks, seem to be forgetting that an estimated 400,000 have already died. I don't get how people think that having a dictator around controlling all the forces (unless it's someone like Kim Jong Un) is preferable to a bloody civil war. Anyone who thinks that just by toppling Assad this whole thing is over is in cloud cuckoo land. It will just be a power vacuum which people will want to fill and fight for see Iraq, Libya etc.
Dictators are fine so long as their our dictators. Assad is Putin's pet dictator, so he's not o.k. I hope this clears things up for any of you that thought the situation was more complicated.
Russia (and before them the USSR) have politically backed Syria for decades. What morons think they will just walk away now because of the past 6+ years ??
Surprised there's been nothing here but i will stir up the hornets nest. donald trump has just gone and bombed assad. Does it feel weird agreeing with Trump for a couple of you boys?
1. How big was that airfield that it required FIFTY cruise missiles to flatten it !!?? 2. If this was the response to the chemical weapons incident, WTF will Trump authorise if North Korea did anything close to their usual sabre-rattling threats ??
I can't anything good coming out of this it muddies the waters in Syria further. Apparently the Russian forces were warned 2 hours in advance so it's more than likely they in turn would warn their Syrian allies; seems to me a cosmetic exercise for US audience and perhaps stealing the limelight from the Senate investigations?
Trumps decision overnight completely contradicts his public statements of less than a week ago when he said that Assads future was not a primary concern for him. Or in other words it was pure domestic political opportunism to appear to be decisive / differentiate himself from Obama who he loudly accused of indecision - without any thought for the overall stability for Syria or the region. Pretty much classic Dumpf!!
And as news comes in of a 'truck into crowd' incident in Stockholm, the Twitterati are already awash with Trump supporters saying 'he was right about Sweden - what prescience'!!! (Well most didn't use those exact words but the general gist) It is more worrying that most hold the POTUS in such contempt and with such suspicion that they would actually consider the possibility that he would be behind such an horrific event..... ( to prove himself right) But for now just thoughts and condolences for those affected in Stockholm!
I said this yesterday on the Premier League board's politics thread just after 8 o'clock: Given the almost total lack of casualties and that Russia was told about the strikes, while congress wasn't, I think I might be right. Trump gets his distraction, Assad gets a relatively harmless slap and Putin gets to do his thing in Syria. They all win. Shame about those kids getting hit with a bit of chemical warfare, but what can you do, eh?
If USA intell reports cannot show an utter train wreck of an airfield in terms of aircraft and runway damage (military casualties not so important unless Russia immediately replaces every splatted aircraft etc) , then I suspect this is a shameless PR exercise. So, awaiting said reports with interest ...
They told Russia and Russia clearly told Syria. They'll have moved anything particularly valuable. Scratch one airfield, but that's not much of a loss, really. Russia's now acting like this was a close call and that they're pissed, but not enough to do anything. Pretty much what I was expecting, so far.
I also got the impression that Assad may well have launched his attack without Putin's knowledge. Putin has had to take a lot of flak internationally for what happened. If I'm right, he can't be too pleased with Assad right now.
I think he told him to do it. Trump's getting too much **** for his Russian connections and needs something to act as a distraction. This is perfect. What did Assad gain by it, otherwise? I know he's a ****bag, but he didn't need to do it. I'll just add one that Croydon missed: How's Trump doing in the polls now?
Not so sure. Everybody knows he's Putin's puppet. And it's Putin who's taken most of the flying **** over this. Assad? Nobody's really surprised, are they....
Putin's been slagged off by a bunch of people that already hate him. He's not going to get criticised in Russia by anyone significant, because he runs the media and kills dissenters. He has nothing to be scared of from the international press or community. They won't touch him. They'll try to work this in some way so that the current sanctions against Russia get lifted. A bit more grandstanding and posturing, then a compromise that may or may not see Assad sacrificed. War is averted, Trump's a diplomat and the west is now friends with Putin. I'll be shocked. Shocked, I tell you.
I still think Putin has been made to look even worse for his continued support of Syria despite a chemical attack on innocent civilians, including women and children. As I say, I got the distinct impression he wasn't best pleased with what Assad has done.
