OK.
On Saturday, the international aid group Doctors without Borders said more than 3,000 people were hospitalized in Syria Wednesday with what it called “neuro-toxic” symptoms. About 355 of them died. Now both sides in the conflict are accusing each other of using chemical weapons to wage war.
Well aware of the power of video in the conflict, Syrian state TV broadcasted images Saturday of what the government claimed are chemical agents — discovered by their soldiers in tunnels used by rebel forces in Damascus.
Now what?
Moe Lane
PS: If we believe the rebels and intervene then it turns into boots on the ground within six months. We tried just airstrikes in Libya; gee, that worked out well, didn’t it?
PPS: If we believe the government and do not intervene then we have broadcast to the entire region that it’s open season on reform movements.
PPPS: If we wash our hands of the entire thing then get used to seeing scenes of gas attacks on your monitor screens; pretty soon they’ll be occurring on the average of once a week or so. All over the planet.
PPPPS: I had a better suggestion (“Have Barack Obama live up to George Bush’s natsec standards.”). That didn’t happen, and I don’t have a great Plan B. I was lucky to have a great Plan A.
Obama, ordering troops into Syria?
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Moe, I think you just bent my brain… not to mention giving Rand Paul’s chances a nice boost.
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Mew
When you don’t know what’s going on stay the hell away. If we have to, we make an example of the next idiot.
Now what?
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Now we sit back and watch Mr Peace Prize do his thing.
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Somewhere, maybe a couple hours ago, Mitt Romney is thanking his lucky stars he wasn’t elected. This “damn if you do, damn if you don’t” kind of thing, is something one tries to avoid at all costs.
I need to get into shape then. How long is it until Rangel gets his wish and we re-implement the draft.
IIRC, the SSS already has an implementation. It is ‘just’ a matter of turning things on, and getting things moving.
No, no, no. You are mistaken. All that is legitimate medical treatment.
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Obama only promised to do something about chemical weapons. This is purely a healthcare matter.
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I can’t see why anyone who buys ‘harmless panacea’ enough to grant any credit to the zwilniks has any grounds to object.
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More seriously, this has been some time coming. This might have been avoidable if the public had disregarded the pacifists more, and maybe tolerated a freer hand with reprisals. Some of the pacifists might’ve been happier with the long term results of that.
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One option might be to pretend that we think DwB is faking stuff, and classify them as a terrorist organization or something. Maybe drone strike some reporters. I can’t see that going better than any of the actual Obama administration foreign policies.
Israel learned this lesson in Lebanon: you cannot expect good results when you send troops bounded by Rules of Engagement against those who accept no rules or limitations on violence. If we go in, it must be fast, targeted strikes backed by massive firepower and followed by a quick extraction. Repeat as necessary.
Do you see Mr. Peace Prize being allowed to do this by Jarrett?
Under our official policy, weapons of mass destruction are equal. A chemical or biological attack is no different than a nuke.
My solution is to bathe Damascus in nuclear fire. Lay down one heck of a marker, tear the heart out of the regime, and salt the earth for the rebels. All with minimal involvement, and staying true to Clausewitz.
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Even better, there’s plausible deniability. Especially if we loudly make accusations against Russia (and the competence of the Syrians who were transporting the supposedly illicitly-smuggled weapon) in the immediate aftermath.
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And quite bluntly, the American people are sick to death of muslim fanatics. We’re a bit too polite to go dancing in the streets should something horrible happen to a muslim country, but a large percentage of the population would be smiling almost uncontrollably.
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Of course, visualizing Obama pulling off the stunt is about as believable as the lovechild of Carter and McGovern becoming the USMC Commandant.
…It is American policy to respond to NBC attacks against us with a nuke, because we don’t have bio or chemweapons and we don’t want to have them, either. At any rate, I do not know where you got the idea that I appreciate people using this site to advocate us preemptively using nuclear weapons on a civilian target. I do not. This is the only warning on this issue that I will ever give.
Moe Lane