Syria

Dev,

As the board's authority on such matters, would you be good enough to advise us on the following :

1. Both the US and Russia are actively involved in Syria. Russia is involved at the request of its ally the syrian government. The US is involved for example by supplying resources and arms to syrian rebels, by training syrian rebels, and by arranging political opposition to president assad. Russia is there because it is a long term ally of Syria who has asked for its assistance. Why is America there ? And on what basis is Russia the imperial adventurist, rather than the US ?

2. The US and Saudi have stated that Assad can not remain president in Syria. What business is it of theirs ?

3. The US asserts that the reason for its involvement in Syria is that it is opposed to human rights abuses by president assad. And yet, the US's main ally in the region (aside from israel), is Saudi Arabia. Not only do they work together in their battle against Assad, but Saudi is the US's main trading partner in the region. Saudi buys billions of dollars of arms from the US annually, and did the biggest arms deal in human history with US the year before the war in syria broke out. And yet, not only are there far far less freedoms in Saudi than there ever were in Syria, but Saudi has the worst human rights record of any country on the planet, having a criminal justice system akin to that of ISIS, punishment by amputation for theft, and death by stoning for adultery. Why the double standards by the US ?

4. The day after UN chemical weapons inspectors arrived in damascus in 2013, there was a chemical weapons attack in damascus. The US stated that the attack was undertaken by the government, but has never produced a shred of evidence to this effect. When a UN spokesperson gave an unscheduled press conference and said that the UN's evidence was that chemical attacks were being carried out by the rebels, and there was no evidence of chemical attacks by the government, it was quickly brushed under the carpet. Why would the Syrian government carry out a chemical weapons attack the day after inspectors arrived in the city, and whyhas the US never produced evidence that it did, when it claimed it had such evidence ?

5. After the 2013 chemical incident, the US and UN and others declared Assad a war criminal. Why has the US President not been declared a war criminal after the recent bombing by IS forces of a hospital in afghanistan in which patients burned to death in their beds ?

6. After the first Iraq war, the UN imposed sanctions on iraq, that are accepted to have caused the death of 500,000 children in iraq. The sanctions served no benefit. When the US secretary of state was asked at the time whether she thought half a million child deaths were "worth it", she said (of the US and the UN), "we think they are worth it". Do you think this is an action of the good guys ?

7. The US's main ally in the region in the 70s was the Shah of Iran. The Shah ran a secular state in which the population was largely free to do as it wanted so long as it did not get involved in politics. Severe punishment awaited those who got involved in actions which could lead to a coup against the government. In many ways then, the Shah was very similar to President Assad of Syria. Yet the US supported the Shah to the hilt, and opposes Assad to the same degree. Why do you think this is ?

 

I never claimed to be an authority, I'm simply telling you that in my opinion Putin is a dangerous liar, RT is full of propaganda and Russia are currently engaged in brinkmanship of a sort not seen since the Cold War.

 

Cameron is a dangerous liar, BBC/SKY are full of propaganda and the West are currently engaged in brinkmanship of a sort not seen since the Cold War

 

Examples of which you will no doubt be able to provide?

 

Did you know that it was called the cold war because nobody in Russia owned heaters or had central heating?

 

Youve not given the issues any thought then ?

It's just a gut instinct type thing for you on who comes across as the nicer man out of Obama and Putin ?

Do you pick your horses for the grand national, based on which rider's got the prettiest shirt, by any chance ?

 

I do

 

You've obviously given the matter a great deal of thought... after listening to no one but Russia and it's propaganda apparatus

 

All artists take their inspiration from what came before. All writers nick their stories from other sources.

"Steal everything" - Pablo Picasso.

American popular culture dominated the last 100 years. You don't have to like it, but you have to be incredibly ignorant to deny it's impact.

 

But there's nothing original in Jazz, or the Blues, or Rock and Roll?

 

No, i mainly watch bbc and occasionally sky news. If you think about it whilst watching though, you realise what a complete pile of **** it is, and ask quesrions such as hose which ive posed above.

The reality is that the US is pushing the boundaries of its influence to maximise its political and financial dominance.

The war in syria is about natural resources, protection of the dollar, and saudi and the us's personal opposition to iran.

The US has made saudi its number one ally because it sells oil in us dollars only. The US has provided defence protection in the middle east for decades to oil fields in countries who have agreee to sell oil only in US dollars. This is what keeps the dollar's value afloat.

Iran and Syria have dared not to agree to sell oil in US dollars only.

Furthermore, Assad refused to allow Saudi to build a pipeline through Syria which would enable Saudi to act as a competitor to Russia as an energy supplier in European markets.

Saudi has also been in a power struggle with Syria's ally Iran for decades, as has the US since the overthrow of the Shah, and Iran's decision to deprivatise its oil industry.

This is what drives allegiances in the middle east, and this is what thexwar in Syria is about.

All of the above is fact, and your lack of understanding and knowledge of it, does not mean it isn't the reality. Even if you do think Putin looks a bit shifty.

 

Apparently Fats Domino was just copying some African tribal stuff. And Jerry Lee Lewis nicked his entire act from a pub pianist in Finsbury Park.

 

I've not seen Dev given such a tanking since BH ragdolled him all over the shop in January 2012.

I can actually see Robspur chasing the baldy prick right off the board!!

What would Mitch say if he saw this?

 

In summary "it's everyone's fault but Russia's". Assad is not a tyrant or a war criminal, merely standing up to the West. He's misunderstood so he is.

Is that about it?

 

Anyway, what are we wasting our time talking about Syria for when Russia has already killed off most of IS.

Nothing to see here, IS are done, kaput, ended. Well done Russia

 

I missed that part where he said that,could you quote it...or are you going to extremes again because you can't debate his point?

 

Quite frankly, when the post Dev was trashing claimed that everything in it was "fact" I think he was probably right to react in the way he did. It's a great mechanism - just say "fact" without prviding any evidence

 

Oooooooh this is getting tasty, Dev is on the ropes with his gum shield out