Editor's Note: Michael O’Hanlon was in Afghanistan earlier this month and is the author of the new ebook, The Wounded Giant: America’s Armed Forces in an Age of Austerity. You can read more from him on the Global Public Square.
By Michael O'Hanlon – Special to CNN
As the violence worsens in Syria, the United States and international community are in a dilemma. Even more serious than the recent veto by Russia and China of a U.N. Security Council resolution criticizing the regime of Bashar al-Assad, there are no great options for how to respond.
The various Syrian factions and populations are far too interspersed for a Libya-like operation to work. Al-Assad and his army are far too strong, still, for a simple and small peacekeeping mission to succeed. It would be opposed by the regime if it tried to enter the country. And if we invaded, the specter of an Iraq-style imbroglio would loom given Syria’s size and given the multitude of nefarious actors there.
That leaves three main types of possible military options. All are limited in scale and scope; therefore, all promise only mediocre results. I do not favor any just yet, and we should only consider them in the event of strong Arab League and NATO support and participation. But if the situation continues to worsen, we cannot look idly by, either.
1) A punitive naval or air operation to encourage a coup against al-Assad.
The idea here would be to hope that al-Assad’s cronies could be persuaded to depose him and then forge a power-sharing deal with the opposition as a precondition for ending sanctions and the associated punitive military campaign. The two most viable options would be a naval blockade to prevent Syria from exporting oil or importing a number of goods, and a limited air campaign to deprive the regime of assets that it values (like palaces).
2) A broader Balkans-like campaign.
Building on the above air war concept, and also on Fouad Ajami’s February 10 Wall Street Journal oped about the “Kosovo model” for Syria, air strikes could be broadened to include targeting the heavy Syrian army weapons being used to shell cities. This could be combined with the creation of a no-fly zone for Syrian military helicopters and other aircraft. In addition to this, we could arm the Syrian opposition, though this could be expected to increase rather than decrease violence in the short term relative to what is occurring today.
3) Creation of a safe zone for Syrian civilians, using airpower and some modest number of outside ground troops, perhaps in the north near Turkey.
This would be modeled on the protection we afforded Kurds in Iraq throughout the 1990s even with Saddam Hussein still in power. Alas, it would be harder in Syria. There is no natural geographic or demographic logic to any particular possible safe zone in Syria.
Populations are too interspersed, and the killing is happening largely in central cities where it would be impractical to create such zones in all likelihood. Creating it in the northeast would be more practical, but less helpful for the threatened populations of the country. This kind of mission would therefore have only a limited ability to protect innocents. But depending on how the situation unfolded, it could perhaps be combined with the above options to create the nucleus of a stronger resistance that could ultimately challenge al-Assad’s rule using the safe area as a staging base and sanctuary.
None of these ideas look decisive. All are risky. As such, they should only be considered if and when things get worse. But it may not be too early to raise the ideas in public - if for no other reason than to signal to the murderous Syrian regime that we do have options besides just hoping that al-Assad will fall of his own weight like a piece of rotten fruit. While I hope for the latter scenario, we are collectively far too sanguine about the likelihood that it will happen anytime soon on its own.
The views expressed in this article are solely those of Michael O'Hanlon.
© 2011 Cable News Network. Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
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As Tom Clancy likes to put it, "Paint him with a laser and let the cruise missiles finish the job."
Well, lookee-there; wonder who did that?
Well said Barry! Halliburton has construction crews ready to build Syria up again....and again....and
Maybe Haliburton and the rich GCC states should persuade Assad's cronies to get rid of him by offering a hugh bounty on Bashar and his brother Maher.
Indeed it's difficult for outsiders to figure out a stronghold for Syria's opposition. The approx. 20 million inhabitants with their ethnic, religious and political splits are interspersed in a country of 185.180 sq.km. Huge casualties will be inevitable, if external forces intervene, as they lack topographic knowledge of the country,Talks and negotiations instead of military means are the only way to resole the crisis, before it worsens.
Or as the enemy likes to say..."load the Carolla with C4 and wait for the Humvee to drive by....Boom goes the infidel...Allah be praised!" The gushing and fawning of a Baltimore insurance salesman turned military groupie that never served a day nothwithstanding, our imagined technical superiorirty is of little use in an insurgent war where religious nut jobs are willing to kill themselves and thier children to get a crack at you. Get real
Yeah, except it's never really that simple, is it? We weren't able to find either Saddam or Gadhafi like that.
How come no one talks about Russia and China's military option if America uses a limited military option. CNN loves to talk about Isreal's military option in Iran but never talks about any kind of response.
China and Russia wouldn't dare attack the West.
If they could, they would have.
It's Israel, not Isreal
What I love about America is that it always loves bringing down the dictator, as Americas birth was a direct a result of that exact situation. For all of those that are against a Libya style intervention in Syria just remember that it was the tyrant "Bashir al-Assad", the current anti-American dictator in Syria, who pumped huge numbers of arms and terrorists into Western Iraq from 2003-2011, which claimed the lives of, and injured, untold numbers of American troops. We (the US) should not allow pathetic regimes like that to slap us in the face without a response. Now is the time to get the al-Asad regime back for its crimes against the US and its crimes against its own people. Additionally, by doing so, we would be delivering a hard blow to the Ayatollahs, who are also a sworn enemy of the United States.
I was going to leave a comment, but you said it all right there. Even better comming from someone of Syrian descent.
"there are no great options for how to respond" -The ONE and ONLY "OPTION" required for intervention is not there. And that is OIL. No OIL no INTERVENTION. That's the US and its cronies POLICY in a nutshell. Now you UNDERSTAND?
You really are a moron....show me one shred of evidence we EVER went to war for oil...god you're DUMB....typical liberal jihadi sympathizer response. Educate yourself you dumb troll.
Дакле НАТО планира да изведе напад на Сирију без дозволе Савета Безбедности Уједињених Нација?
Као бомбардовање Србије?
Србија је била само преседан а ово већ постаје пракса!
Интересантно да Америма и НАТО-у не смета бомбардовање курдских цивила које годинама спроводи Турска.
Баш ме брига што ово што ја пишем нико неће знати да прочита.Ето постоји и овакво писмо.
The only option is to stay home. We can't afford military involvement, whether real or created by Burson Marsteller. We spent $600 BILLION dollars last year alone on the military, and we're cutting it down to $300 billion next year. The focus now is on military members and giving them benefits and healing them, not the benefits to the CEO of Halliburton and all the other war companies who profit handsomely from every conflict the US gets involved in! US Companies will not run this war. And US companies will not determine our involvement any more. Period.
We will be spending far more than $300 billion on defense next year.
Incorrect. We are planning to save $300 billion over the next 5 years. Hardly a cut. Really only covers forseen increases in costs. Doesn't actually cut any costs.
Tell that to the 80,000 plus troops that will be jobless within those five years. I love it when civilians and even retired vets talk as if they have a single CLUE what is going on in the military world RIGHT NOW. Pure ignorance.
Send in more mercernarys. That's a viable option. Put some large $$$ on that butcher's head
Vera,
Not everyone shares your convenient lie that all who refuse to stand by in this world while people are slaughtered by dictators, false prophets and deranged, self-centered criminals. I resent your careless lie, which does nothing to convince me its only purpose is to cover your own cowardice. It appears you value meaningless pleasures of life more than the lives of the oppressed. In my eyes, you are cut from the same cloth as the worst in the world. I have served multiple times in the defense of the victims of tyrants and I recognize each time the fanciful, ridiculous assertions of those who always attack the sacrifice of others as profit seeking in order to divert attention from their own moral deficiencies and addition to the conveniences of life. Shameful and detestable you are.
Stop venting your self-righteous sanctimonious hate talk, and detail how you'd achieve the removal of the Syrian President and his party without 100,000s of deaths, bankruptcy for the USA, and opening a political vacuum which the Islamists would fill. Until then keep your hate to yourself.
Nobody is coming to the rescue of our people in the United States of America who are protesting and being arrested in the streets.. why should we bother helping them and die for their freedoms?
No benefit for the American people....but American companies will probably do pretty well.
Being arrested and killing are way different...sorry but your arguement does not apply.
Does anyone realize that the police here in our own country abuse the civilian population in the same way as the Syrian military. The only difference is there are no motar strikes. We should focus on our own problems here first let them deal with their own problems.
You can arrest people without weapons but you have to kill people with weapons.Think before writing.Don't make people fool.
If all the Arab league nations decided to use military force and take away the sky from the Syrian government things would change. Move a Carrier into the PG and tell Iran you really don't want to pick a fight with us. The Iranian government is actively helping Syria's government...why they have Russian pipelines that are helping them have cash. All the bans will not work until someone takes the Iranian pipeline out. The Iranians don't want Syria to fall they then would be totally isolated. The fact that Syria's government is calling it's own people terrorist is a real joke....the only terrorist in this mess are Iranian and Syrian government thugs.
There are already two carriers task groups in the Persian Gulf. I'd imagine one in Mediterranean. They aren't afraid of us. They know that a war may physically destroy their country but a war with economically destroy the U.S. I just don't see why the U.S. cares. Syria is a sovereign country. Let them handle their own problems. They are insignificant to us and of no strategic value at the moment. They've never given a damn about the United States and still don't. CNN is defiantly running with this Syrian thing. Everyday there's some sad quote about children and babies dying and relentless shelling. Why do we only seem to care for these people when they're dying? Why do they only appear to care about us when they need are help from being murdered? Simple. We don't care about them and they don't care about us.
A war in the persian gulf would not economically destroy the US.....quite to the contrary.
Dhondi,
The reason is because there were economical (national) interest in regions like Iraq and Kuwait. It's called oil. And war for resource is okay (I won't endorse it though), given all diplomatic options fail. War for purely humanitarian purpose like helping Syrian civilians with their revolution is nothing but hypocritical. You can't ask our soldiers (brothers, cousins, mothers, fathers) to go and fight a war that gives no economical or security benefit to us and risk getting killed.
No war is good for any country financially. That is something economist call the Broken Window fallacy. Difference between the seen effects and the unseen effects of say a war. Link: http://bastiat.org/en/twisatwins.html.
With Iraq over and done with, and Afghanistan winding down, we have a lot of veterans that need to be absorbed back into the workforce... oh wait. We have no jobs. Need a new war to keep them busy; it's cheaper than having our veterans rebel here at home.
We ARE going into Iran.
Due to an act of Congress, a carrier group is required to be in the Persian Gulf region at all times. But you're right, they aren't afraid of us.
There's a special place in hell for Moron's like you..you can bet on that , what a myopic and uninformed comment, put your mind at ease empty head.....take a deep breath and think, just a suggestion, it will go a long way in making you seem less IGNORANT.!!!!!!.....MG
Kashmiri people are being massacred for the last 60 years by half a million Indian army. Why there is no international out cry to help them fight for their independence despite several UN resolution? People fighting for the independence of Kashmir are labled Terrorists by US just to please India so that more high tech jobs can be moved out of US and into India. When India calls its victims terrorists that is perfectly fine but Syria does not have the right to do so because US does not approve it. The fact is that those Al-Qada terrorists which America and NATO used in Libya to destroy Qaddafi and now being used in Syria, then will be used in Iran, then Pakistan, then Saudia Arabia, then China, then Russia, etc. etc. to keep the war profiteers happy until US and NATO go bankrupt some where in the middle of this so called "spring".
Probably for the same reason there was no intervention in Sudan or Rwanda in the 1990s...it's not in line with our interests. If interests converge, action occurs. If they don't, inaction occurs.
In any event.....let the Arabs deal with this. Not our problem.
Why interfere with the Syrian conflict only? What about the Yemeni uprising, the Sudanese nomadic conflict, and then there is the Mexican Drug war, not to mention Somali conflict and list goes on and on. It's time to stop being police of the world.
You got that right.
Yes, Brian, because obviously being arrested is equal to being bombed and shot.
Here is an idea. How about we stay the hell out of it and deal with our own problems.
There are no military options for Syria. Obama turned Libya and Egypt into Islamic extremist anti American countries and he has n guts to end the violence in Syria. I am not sure he should let Europe take the role of police man for a while or better yet the Middle east countries that are supposedly our Allies.
dmb fk
I would recommend a massive cruise missile strike to wipe out every single structure that houses any member of the Assad family. The message would be loud and clear.
Yeah it'd send the message loud and clear that the U.S. will kill anyone near any high level Syrian official. That the U.S. will bomb any country if it doesn't support it's government. Brilliant idea. As if we need anymore of the world thinking of us like that. The Syrians don't want our help. If they want freedom bad enough they would be fighting the government much more openly. They just want fighting to stop. Not foreign intervention. CNN just likes to run a story or two a day to tug on American's emotions and make it appear as if Syrians want the U.S. to military intervene in their country. NO ONE wants a foreign power to come and mop up the current government and go into occupation/peacekeeping mode. I think we have more than enough problems here at home to be discussing.
To H3LL will both sides. Deny the dictator a complete victory, deny the terrorist-supported rebels a victory, and drain Russia, China, and Iran of resources while they help their puppet in Damascus kill his own Muslim, anti-American people.
Power vacuum has started. Determine event horizon. For most, bollucks are off the table. Once on, they will stay until this thing is over. Sequence players.
Set up turkeys humanitarian route in paralell with formally asking the UN. If Turkey waits to begin humanitarian aid on UN acceptance it will destroy confidence.
Genocide is so nice, especialloy when the4 world stands by and let's the sob dget away wioth it. Its tinme the world grows up and simply gegts rid of garbage like assad. That would be a good message for the next sob .
Well, we should make Europe or the Arab league do that. I'm not against that and I think most Americans opposing our intervention don't opposes that idea. Just not us.
Obama has been perfect on his handling of the middle eastern countries so far, so his policy of let the Arab League handle this would seem smack on too.
The Arab League is toothless organization exactly as is NATO without US aid. No military intervention in Syria is possible without US military help at least logistical, reconnaissance etc.
Brian, If you haven't noticed, WE cant' afford to be the Worlds policeman anymore. We are BROKE! thanks to GWB and his party who thought that we could rule the world on a dollar ninety eight and a coupon!
I beg to differ. There is no sense in sending in humanitarian aid until the attacks with artillery, missiles and aircraft has stopped. The U.S. could provide invaluable intelligence and satelite imagery which could be used by NATO and the Arab Leaque to target these Heavy military weapons. U.S. Naval bombardment would fit nicely into this picture as well as demonstrate to Iran a taste of things to come. Once they are targeted the attacks should continue until the use of those weapons has ceased. We need not show that we are willing to mount an occupation, only that we are willing to ACT! Until Assad realizes that, it will simply be business as usual.
Just drop a bomb, we've got more than our share, one big one should do the job.
yeah, that'll work out real well......
This is like a true American.An American should be like you. You have really shown the face of TEXAS.Long live Mr Bush.
It seems many politicians in the USA are hawkish and want to be involved in anywhere in the world where they do not like. War will never solve the problem. Many examples since WW2 have proven it. The world may be more peaceful without USA going around stirring up disputes among countries and within other countries. US people should take back the power from those of small group of elites. The US democracy model is not really reflecting what US people want but only what a handful of politicians want. Is there a referendum like the Swiss to contain the wrong-doing of these politicians in the name of representing the people? Americans must wake up to think why should your sons have to die in a war that you never supported or not even knew because the CIA is going around the world to create these wars.
Surely the World would be more peaceful if US fully disengaged!
Let me tell you what is going on:
- the United States are the sole global strategic "stabilizer", Without active US involvement in Europe and Asia many wars would take place so far because the only thing deterring many "small Napoleons" is fear of US military power if they dared to attack US allies.
- don't you know what is Iran's goal in the Middle East? It wants to create "Shia Empire" vel "New Persian Empire" ranging from Iran to Lebanon across Iraq and Syria. That backed by Iranian nuclear weapon would make Iran dominant regional fundamentalist power. Will you really like such Middle East?
Thus the US should intervene in some way in Syria because this is pivotal country. Now Assad regime is crucial Iran's ally and very important geostrategic asset in ayatollahs master plan to reshaping Middle East. If Assad regime is overthrown, emerging "missing link" will derail Iranian regional strategy. Fortunately now Syrians have enough this brutal regime's 40 years long rule and in our common interest is to help them to get rid of Assad dynasty. Doing nothing now means helping Assad regime to survive and crush opposition with help of Iranian al-Quds Force and Hezbollah. Foreign intervention is now actually taking place in Syria but only on Assad's side. So stop spread those empty theories about "bad West intervening idly in just another Middle Eastern country".
I have to wonder why CNN is pushing for war. Whenever they want to change americans minds they pump alot of stories out there.
You also must wonder who will take over...it's not looking good any place in that region.
They do the same thing when they want a recession. They started running "are we headed for recession" stories in 2005. It worked. Waytago media!
And OWS movements in every city all over the world inspired by the arab spring.... When donations get low..they run tons of stories.
Does anyone really believe that there is a unbiased, benevolent media in this Country? This is exactly what was predicted by George Orwell. We the people are basically a bunch of sheep regardless of Party. We're all screwed except for the moneyed elite of the World who're now finalizing their control. 'Don't look here, yeah look over here.'
Send NavySeals , pick up Assad and bring him to International Court.
As you know, Russia has been delivering arms to Syria and their ships have been accompanied by Russian aircraft carriers. Further Syria contains the only port in the mid east where Russia has access. So what are you going to do with your military options? Take on Russia along with Syrai, Iran, Hamas and Hezbollah (and maybe Iraqi Shiites)?
Go for it Obama and start WWIII.
Its a strategic game, which Russia has raised as a red line. So its either the USA encourages dialog among the oppositions like Russia wants or it will be a full scale war. Read RT or any foreign newspaper. you will get the full story
What happens if a Russian or Chinese ship runs the naval blockade proposed by Mr. O'Hanlon?
What happens if Russian combat aircraft appear in Syria?
How is it any of our business how Syria conducts its internal affairs?
Then Russia will go bankrupt very quickly. Russia is only "paper tiger": loud in blabbing, empty in acting. They know very well any Cold War-like adventure with the West means quick fall of ruined Russia because Russia has no resources to wage it. That's why poor Russia did not send warships and fighters anywhere to challenge Western military actions since 20 years. Wake up – Brezhnev is long dead, Putin is only funny clown.
a lot of peaple are getting killed in syria by gangs .and not the government. my friend was killed, they can't even find his body,he was just sitting in his car waiting for his boss.and the gangs are not even syrian citizens.Al Assad for life
Absolutely no way Jose , this is an election year - fact !
On the road to Islam even the trees die.
military option is bad idea any way you took at it,leave Syrian alone.
Let it play out. Who cares if some po-dunk Third World Hole kills all its people?
I guess CNN would like me to be polite to Bashar ! that baby killer and his father before him. Let the Syrian people hang him. lets see what other dictators the russians are going to back after he is dead.
Agree with Ajami.
All our involvement in the middle east has to do with only one tiny nation Ishrahell,where do these Khazar pigs came from.
If they are indeed god,s people then I must wonder what do Satan,s people are like
The problem is Obama is weak. If Obama wasn't weak the russians would't have dared to veto the UNSC resolution and all these people would't have been killed. This country needs a real president, not someone who sends letters to Iran and let dictators kill women and children by the thousands.
That's right! Social activist from Chicago is not good President of the United States. He should better find job in Salvation Army since February 2013.
At least the Israelis aren't killing their own people. When they were involved in Lebanon in the 80's they protected civilians no matter who they were. the last murdere dictator standing but not for too long. wait untill the syrians get hold of him even after 20 years he will pay the price kaddafi style !!
I ask Assad to fight the terrorist by all means necessary. He must never ever let the West take over his country, like Libya. Iran, Russia and China should also help him clean the country of these foreign funded terrorists.
Bahrain deports two women activists back to US
People in Saudi Arabia’s Eastern Province have staged fresh anti-regime protest rallies to show their anger with the ruling Al Saud family.
People took to the streets in the cities of Qatif, Awamiyah and Safwa on Saturday, calling for an immediate regime change.
Saudi forces reportedly opened fire on peaceful demonstrators, who also condemned the monarchy’s deadly crackdown on peaceful protests.
The mass rallies came one day after a protester was killed and many more were injured as regime forces attacked a large crowd of protesters in the oil-rich Eastern Province.
According to human rights groups, the crackdown has claimed several lives since November.
Rights groups have slammed Riyadh for its persecution of protesters and called for an investigation into the killings.
US didn't say anything till now.
This is a civil war, why would anyone else get involved? The west cannot throw away lives and money interfering where we don't belong. The UN did what it could. Let Russia and China deal with them now.
History is repeating again: US made and support Al-qaeda against soviet union and it back fired in 911.
US is organising and supporting Wahabbis against Syrian government and it will back fire as soon as they take the power there. remember Wahabbis are more dangerous than Al-qaeda.
I LOVE option # 10, stay out and let them kill each other.
I have a better idea. Stop thinking in terms of military. Try something new for a change. WOW What a paradigm shift!
I say send NATO and dare the russians to intervene. Lavrov is trying to prove he is a man. Whoever supports babykillers is a coward.
We could destroy all their tanks,helicopters and airplanes–just paint the target and let a missile destroy it from 20,000 feet above either with a drone or an F-16 tomcat–The 7th fleet is in Bahrain.
Some people are just itching for another lesson in arrogance: Vietnam Part 2
Crush the traitors and collaborators, Assad. Crush them, or they'll get you!
Thia is no Vietnam. this is a serial mass murderer who needs to be put to sleep. Iran will be next after this coward bites the dust !!!
I wonder how many of you armchair Rambos volunteered to go fight over there.
Oh wait, I know. ZERO.
Chickenhawks, chickenhawks, and then some more chickenhawks!
I have news for you: it's not a video game.
Everybody is a tough guy on the internet.
You should oil that Trombone there Rusty. Weren't you the one squaking about Libya. Limited engagement would be
a welcomed and viable measure and alternative to a full scale invasion, so long as the Arabs are invloved. guess it wasn't one of your children that was killed. Kosovo worked before, and it'll work again.
Hope you get that trombone thing worked out.
In the end, we're all dead men. While we're here and have the might and will to see it through, we should peel Ass-ad like an onion, from outside in. Take down command and control during spring break with an assortment of cruise and Harm and finish up our stock pile of JDAM from our winter line. Then we can display our new spring line to Iran of our latest trendy hits.
You know this Assad that means kalb in arabic will be hiding in the sewage when push comes to shove. at least kaddafi stood his grounds. He will flee like a scared cat when they come knocking on his doors.
If there was a DRAFT by some miracle, I could count all the internet Rambos on my left foot and have toes left over.
Muslims killing Muslims. Funny how only the infidels seem to care.
Oh yeah !! Bashar is so brave that is why he hasn't fired one bullet in his SYRIAN GOLAN against Israel since 1967 yet he is using his rotten syrian tanks that have no replacement parts on innocent civilians. Where were his muscles and manlyhood when Israel attacked his future nuclear site to oblivion !! did we hear a boooo out of him. of course not!! he was busy planning to assassinate more people in Lebanon.
america cannot sit by and watch the rest of the world shoot each other full of holes and still call ourselves the free and the brave. the fact that we keep putting our foot in others business without getting ahead should scare any american down to their soul. we are also losing at home. our capitalist impulses are losing to the corporate fatcats who are more interested in profit than helping american aims. if we as americans cannot control corporate america we will have to curtail their activities at home somehow. as to the our affairs in the rest world we can no longer involve our selves in wars that we have to pay for and not receive some kind of recompensense. also the fact that all political borders are now pretty much established causes no expansion. the moment this happened economies the world over were limited to sceintific growth. expansionism can only happen now thru political mergers or violent war. although peaceable joining of political sheres would help the usa immeasurably. can we not ask some these countries that like american style of government and law to join us in our union? it would foster both economic and political growth. it would not be easy but americans are used to adversity and with new fellows in our ranks we would grow stronger for it.
A new war would only ruin the already weak american economy. There is a prophecy by Nostradamus starting WWIII in the Middle East, and guess what, in 2012. Any resemblance is not pure coincidence. There is no war by humanitarian reasons, only economic ones. Russia and China has a lot to loose with Syria's regimen toppled. They are not going down without fight and this could be really dangerous. Deja vu all over again, remember the Cuban Missil Crisis?.
The only sensible thing for us to do is, STAY THE HELL OUT OF SYRIA. It is very tiresome that some of you want us to again put our troops in another war that is none of our business. Unless you are willing to sign up yourselves or be willing for your own children to do this, you need to shut the hell up.
The arab league countries have the capabilities of handling this themselves. Let them sacrafice their own people for a change.
Yes.
you don't need a war to topple this mass murderer. All you have to do is bomb his airports and arm the opposition. I guarantee you he won't last 9 months. the Syrian opposition is relentless. All they need is weapons and money and they will finish him.
Just like we did in Lybia? Have you heard what is happening there?. Civil war, massacres of civilian people, children, women but "mission acomplished". We f.... Kaddaffi and for the rest, that is their problem. let's go party somewhere else.
I used to like the name Josh. I know most Libyans would agree that what they are having to deal with now pales in comparison to what was in place before. It will take a couple of years to get things worked out there, but they will work it out. I know this because i have friends there. Best go back to the drawing board and update your opinion and give the Libyan people a little credit.
Man, this guy's writing is almost as bad as Assad's governing. Come on CNN – it's not enough to just know what you are talking about, you have to use writers who know how to structure sentences too.
Be careful with the Naval option. Russia has just provided Syria with 72 very advanced supersonic anti-ship missiles that can be fired from the shore. That's enough to saturate the air defenses of a carrier battle group. Both the Russians and the Syrians must know this.
All his rotten russian weapons will not make a ding in any aircraft carrier that is if they can even hit target. This regime is already isolated. The worst isolation ever !! He will have no money left very soon and then you will see defections by the droves especially if the Saudi dollars start flowing. For $ 1000 each his high ranking people will leave in a heart beat. There may not even be any need for direct military engagement by NATO if Saudi Arabia starts sending millions. The achyllis tendon of this regime is his financial weakness and the poor conditions of the regular army. He is not Kaddafi sitting on billions in cash and buying foreign fighters.
Innocent people are dying. They may not be your family, your friends, your neighbors or even your countrymen, but innocent people are dying. I don't give a damn about money, or the national deficit when it comes to innocent loss of life. Something NEEDS to be done, and it needs to be done today.
You Poor People, is this how you get convinced to go in a war ?? in showing an Unknown DANY witnes that says even Israel is invited to conquer Syria to help the syrian people getting their Freedom !!!
i am really laughing deep here, better take care of your depts.
Greetings from Syria and by the way leave us alone we dont want your Iraqi Democracy in Syria .
Better an Iraqi democracy than a dictatorship run by a homicidal maniac.
Please for god sake, if you only know the middle east from American eyes (CNN, BBC, etc..) then you know nothing about it !
maybe you are right he is an unelected president but that doesnt make him bad, Syria was more safe to walk at night and to do what you want to do wether you are a woman or a man than your America !
Joe i love american people and i love america but i hate its Policy and by the way everybody admitted that the whole war against Iraq was a big FAIL ! so dont tell me Iraqi Democracy.
Naya, I am in the US and I am laughing at these duds: they will never understand people of the Middle-East. I think America is fast coming to a sober reality about its future role in that region. This is the end and Syria is the place!
Thank you god, lastly some one who knows something about the middle east (Adam),
what you said is exactly what i wanted to hear and Unfortunately this sober reality came a little bit late but later better than never
You want to continue to live under the rule of a mass murderer. he ruined Syria financially, him and his father before him. The syrian intelligence service invented torture methods even the KGB didn't think of. OH !! he is not so bad, he only killed tens of thousands of lebanese and assassinated hundreds and god only knows how many died in jails and under torture. You can live with him if you would like. The only news I have for you is he turned against 90 % of his people !!
Yes and Yes and Yes i want to continue living under his Rule !
You have no Ideas Rambo if you mean having plus money in our Budget as ruined financially then you are probably right !
and talking about torturing let us not open the Guantanamo torture prison discussion for your sake !
Latly see some neutral videos about Syria and you will see how many are against and how mony are with the Regime .
FYI according to Nick Robertson who everyone knows he is a neutral observer, read his assessment of Syria when he just left. 20 % according to Nick is Bashar's support. And that is probably optimistic. Keep your head in the sand. Wake up and see the writings on the wall: there is no more place for dictators in the middle east. wether you admit it or not you are supporting a mass murderer who never ever had the guts to fight Israel nor had the guts to have real reform in Syria. it is too late for him now !!!
I am not supporting him its just that i am against this Revolution !
you want Explanation: when all the arab league meets 7 times a month thinking of a way to Overthrow the regime, the same League that didnt meet even onth to discuss the crimes made by Israely in Gaza.
and many more !, by the way you are a hariri fan i can see and you are against huzballah but let me tell you if you hate huzballah then you hate lebanon because your militarry couldnt stand a day against israel in 2006 !
I am not particularly a Hariri supporter, however Hariri was one of very few peopl who had no blood on their hands. He at least did something to build not destroy. Hizbollah will be a huge liability for lebanon. His loyalty is to Iran. The so called"resistance arms" were quickly pointed at the lebanese when the government refused to have Hizbollah control the airport. We know that the aim of Hizbollah is a shia state in Lebanon. Once Assad falls the government should demand Hizbollah give up his weapons. Lebanon has no beef with Israel. It is the Syrian and Iranian regimes who want to fight a proxy war with Israel because they are too weak to confront Israel on their own.
This is just like discussing the wall ........
as you like go kick hizbollah out of lebanon and let the Hariri son rule it again and build your own democratic lebanon but stay away from syria and stop spreding some bulls**** only because you hate the regime !!
And the rest i will leave it to RUSTY TROMBONE , he knows what to answer
The United States needs to quit trying to save the world! We have major problems in this country that need to be addressed.
To Richard Valentine. Do you think if the situation was reversed, that the Arab countries would be lining up to help us? Me thinks not. We can't keep policing the world when many in our own country are suffering.
people are suffering in this country because of greed. Greed is everywhere, here and middle east and everywhere else. It is being human and protecting the weak what makes us different from everyone else. Look what happened to millions of jews when the world watched Hitler gas them to death. We should not and cannot watch human suffering at large scale. We can make it stop and we should at any cost!!!
then GO YOURSELF instead of moralizing on the internet and wishing for OTHER people to go.
You piece of hypocritical garbage.
I love the notions of military options posited by folks who don't have to fly the sortie or the search and rescue missions for the pilots.
Yougoslavia was subdued by Clinton with one airplane lost, pilot survived. Syria is not even close !!!
GO YOURSELF, internet Rambo!
I would love to see these internet Rambos DRAFTED and sent to Afghanistan.
That would SHUT THEM THE HELL UP once and for all.
I would be happy to go anytime to kick this murderer's you know what !! my pleasure, and it would be Kaddafi style by the way !!!!
Sure you would!
F**** loser!
On another note when the syrian people get him they should hang him in Beirut where he killed Hariri and others.
What's playing on TV tonight, Rambo II or III? Red Dawn maybe?
Time will tell. The last dictator standing but not for long !!!
My take on this is that if the arab league is so concerned about what is going on, they can send their own damn troops. Sick of the world turning to the US to solver their problems and then bawwing when they don't like how we solve said problem. This is in Turkey and Saudi Arabia's back yard. Let THEM deal with it. We sell them F15 and F16 jets and missiles and who knows what else, so let them put that to use. They can certainly afford it.
I would love to have Lavrov interview on CNN after the fall of the syrian regime and explain why his government keeps making stupid mistakes and support dead regimes and stand on the wrong side of history. But wait, may be by then he may not be in foreign affairs anymore !!
nothing will be done
The only good thing is that the syrian people wouldn't have any problems getting the noose around his long neck. Saddam was a little difficult with a short neck.
Hey Justice 007, without the help of this Criminal regime or what you ever call it, beirut's name could have been changed to TEL BEIRUT (an israely territory) after the war of 2006 !!
So be thankfull
All he did for Beirut is killing and more killing and assassinations. You know where Milocevic died. Lets just remember that. The syrian revolution will not stop untill he is gone for good. it is just a matter of time !!
..give it a rest you cowardly war-mongering piece of s***.
All Assad did was STEAL, MURDER and KIDNAP in Lebanon.. The Syrian regime is finished. its only a matter of time now.. next is HA. The prople of Syria and Lebanon deserve peace and prosperity, not this rubbish...
It can be done in CNN but the problem is sysria is Russia's close allies and PUTIN will be president soon.
So any miscalculation will be catastrophic. !! By the way this guy is stupid MORON.
You are right. The problem is the illiterates fall for propaganda which tells them that war is like a game on X-Box.
When it gets WORSE ??? How much worse does it have to get ??? Babies and woman dieing in their own homes ?
Dramatic propaganda further dramatized by resident internet chickenhawks.
The same thing happens in Chester PA every week.
Of course when a dictator is close to falling he is going to use anything he can like Kaddafi. Even after Kaddafi was gone the stupid syrian regime still broadcast in his support from inside Syria thru Al-Rai station. What do you expect from people like these !!!
Go Michael O'Hanlon you are the man tonight. You and Fouad Ajami are my heroes. God bless you and god bless America. Good night !! Lastly remember Whitney Houston beautiful voice forever!!
Good night to you too.
P.S F*** YOU.
Is this Rusty or his evil twin Crusty? I hope you and your conscience have a good sleep.
Oh, and by the way, you should have Autocorrect on your computer, you misspelled the word F***
How about NO option? The probelme with a US Military strike is that is is too good a publicity stunt to pass up. The US can take a lesson from the Isrealis, keep it quiet and there is plausible deniability. No politician is the US could keep their mouth shut for that to happen.
Freed, It's Israel, not Isreal
Option#1 Kill Assad By any Means available and then clean house ...... Charles Bowen Solomon Stone
Zakaria left out the military option of helping the Syrians kill the J'hadis.
None of it works because Russia is against it. Fullstop.
No one has been talking about this but Isreal may hold the key to a diplomatic solution. In 1967 they took the Golan Heights from Syria. The return of this territory in exchange for democratic reform and an end to Assad's rule should be an option and it maybe enough. Of course this requires Isreal to be on board.
Craig, it's Israel, not Isreal. And how come suddenly Israel has to pay the price for stopping the Syrian bloodshed. To the best of my recollection, Israel has nothing to do with what's happening now in Syria. It's a plain case of Arabs faction 1 hating Arabs faction 2. Nothing out of the usual. But hey, if we're at it already: Why not hand them Connecticut in exchange for democratic reform and an end to Assad's rule? That should be an option and it may be enough.
Sorry for the spelling mistake. I should clarify. Israel has nothing to do with what is happening in Syria. If the government of Israel wants too, AND ONLY IF THEY WANT TOO, they could offer the Golan Heights for democracy in Syria. After all a free and democratic Syria is one less gun pointed at Israel.
I have a better ideal....keep America out of it
If America bombs the Syrian weapons installations will it also bomb the Russian supply ships. And will it bomb the Russian factories that make them? Will it defend itself against the Russian military defending the supply ships?
America has never fought a direct war on Russia or China. It is not about to start one now. Not when it is on its knees.
Syria is only a stepping stone to the real prize: Iran and her subservience to U.S. national interest of securing oil supply transactions paid in U.S. dollars to perpetuate America's economic hegemony.
That's the only reason why I can think an Iranian war would be worth it. If it works, which it probably will work, but can the populace be manipulated again just like in Iraq? Hmm.... Probably.
Analysis of the syrian army air force and air defence threats in case of no-fly zone. Army Recognition online defence magazine.
Syria has one of the most sophisticated Soviet-designed air defence systems outside of the former Eastern Bloc countries. In August 2006, Russian sources confirmed that the first battery of Strelets SA-24 multiple launch units had been delivered to Syria, although the Russian Ministry of Defence subsequently denied the transaction, claiming the contract had not yet been signed.
Read more at this link http://www.armyrecognition.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=4944
Alain
Chief Editor
Army Recognition
In 1982 Israel wiped out the entire Syrian Airforce with out 1 loss.. dont worry the Assad regime doesnt know how to use this equipment...
The most important option was left out: Sending troops to wipe out the insurgents and help Assad restoring order.
Probably to stop this plans Russia and China should just PLACE NUKKLEAR WEAPONS there.
This will be fair.
Meanwile news not reported at USA are: Leader of Al-Quaeda, Al-Zavahiri, supported USA + NATO in their desire to start war with syria.
HOW NICE! Like at 1970-s with Bin Laden. Same issue. Tell me who is your friend.....
This is not America's war so why must we let Americans die for those bigots who called us infidels and in future may pose danger to us. Iran is our enemy and it isn't Syria so stop making mistakes like we did in Iraq. Khomeini kidnapped Americans for more than a year and called us the great Satan
Yeah, and what about the Russian naval base in Syria. Is NATO going to bomb the Russian naval base and kill Russian servicemen???
Who cares ! they don't belong there anyway.
People who suggest airstrikes on Iranian nuclear installations or on Syrian military targets need to have their heads examined for wanting to start World war 3. Russia has a military base in Syria and Russian scientists and technicians are working on Iranian nuclear facilities, so is NATO planning on killing a large number of Russian government staff and Russian military staff.
Russia also had a base in Serbia when the West attacked. The Russians will run like dogs. Anyway the best solution is to hit Assads military from the air. just like the dirty Assad used his airforce on Beirut in 1990. Times up Assad!!!
I agree with you, Russia opposes the chattering of words only! Russia cannot fight the U.S for one person named Bashar al-Assad!!
the arms the US supplied to Libya are now in the hands of the Taliban in Afghanistan, analysis,,, america is ignorant on foreign policy and will do more harm than good, but then again is that the objective, if that is the case the US will need a 40ft high concrete wall around the perimeter of there country
"there are no great options for how to respond" -The ONE and ONLY " GREAT OPTION" required for intervention is just not there. And that is OIL. No OIL no INTERVENTION. That's the US and its cronies POLICY in a nutshell. Now you UNDERSTAND?
Syria is backed by Iran, which wants to rule the whole region, including sunnies regimes. Iran detains the real key in this affair. If Assad wins, the mollahs in Tehran will have won the jackpot, they will run the straight of Hormuz and the oil fields, and Western countries will only have to cry after their big big failure. I remind you that iran is on the path of the military nuclear power. Then, oil is indirectly the purpose. It's the incredible moment and hope for Russia to come back with military power in a strategic area, with a very great danger for the interests of Europe and the United States. This could easily be the begining of a WW3. But we ought to know where are our strategic interests., and this is Oil for sure.
The comment on demography under option 3 may be incorrect. According to ethnologue's website, the varieties of Arabic spoken in Syria's south and east are the same as that spoken in Jordan and western Iraq. Throw in the Kurdish areas and you have possible safe zones refugees can retreat to–if they're under the rule of someone who doesn't want to kill them. The best candidates for that someone aren't members of NATO, though, but of the Arab League. Specifically Jordan and (if their leadership can be persuaded to lead) Iraq.
So you want others to do your dirty job? Why? Because there is no OIL there? Or has your THIRST for BLOOD been quenched by Iraq and Afghanistan?
Thank you Mr. O'Hanlon, I choose the second option provided that Saudi Arabia and the Gulf States financial assistance to us, because we'll save their brethren from extermination . I agree to the aerial bombardment only. I dont agree to send ground troops.
What they missed in this military options are guys US is about to support MILITARILY, under risk to cause WW3 and nukklear shut down:
===============================BBC NEWS============================================:
In a video message, Ayman al-Zawahiri said the Syrian rebels had the right to use whatever means they saw fit to get rid of a "cancerous regime".
Egyptian-born Zawahiri, 62, took over as head of al-Qaeda after the death of Osama Bin Laden in May 2011.
The Syrian government blamed al-Qaeda for two blasts in Damascus in December.
That double suicide bombing killed 44 people.
Zawahiri called on militants in Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey, to rise up and support what he called "their brothers in Syria".
There have already been reports of Islamic militants crossing into Syria from Iraq.
It is the clearest sign yet of involvement by al-Qaeda in the uprising in Syria, as it takes on increasingly an aspect of armed insurgency as well as popular protest, says the BBC's Jim Muir, in neighbouring Lebanon.
US officials are reported to believe the recent suicide car bombings in Damascus and Aleppo were the work of al-Qaeda.
With all my respect,
Enough of this no-sense excuse, al-Qaeda has no ground on the Syrian sole, the two blasts in Damascus in December were produced by a very cheap movie maker of Assad regime, the proof, the camera men of the national TV were ready before the blasts took place, just to put sights on the al-Qaeda. The rebels in Syrian are from all religions and ethnics, it s a popular revolution against tyranny and injustice
I think that The united States should use an intelligent attack on the children killer army equipement and infra-structure, The US has to do it to break the Iran dream of establishing the ayato-allah country from Iran to the south of Lebanon, and this iranian states will control the big part of petrol resources of the world (Iran, Iraq, Gulf States), so beside the humanitarian issue which is most according the all free country pricipes, it is a strategic issue.
To Usawaraddict
Enough of this no-sense excuse, al-Qaeda has no ground on the Syrian sole, the two blasts in Damascus in December were produced by a very cheap movie maker of Assad regime, the proof, the camera men of the national TV were ready before the blasts took place, just to put sights on the al-Qaeda. The rebels in Syrian are from all religions and ethnics, it s a popular revolution against tyranny and injustice.
Who's most frightened by Russia or the losses of service men in our armies ? I think that Russia is willing to regain it's lost territories, even with a war with NATO. Syria is one exemple, next step will be Iran and then in Europe with Baltic countries, Estonia, Lettonia, Lituania, members of Nato and EU . The main goal for Putin is to put West at odds, playing hard chess and hoping for our dismissing, as Ussr did during cold war. I served in a nuclear regiment in France, and I've been told by the officers that we can't win a war without losses. We have forgot it since the first gulf war.
the 3 options are FK BASHAR AL KALB IN SYRIA, FK IRAQI NORI AL HALAEKI, FK IRAN ALONG WITH HEZBOLLAH.
OR FK RUSSIA ECONOMICALLY AND CUT ECONOMIC RELATIONS WITH THEM, FK CHINA SAME WAY AS THOSE EVIL DONT LISTEN UNTIL WE HIT THEM IN THE POCKET BOOK, AND THIRD FUK IRAN AND START ATTACKING THOSE EVIL , SYRIA WILL CRUMBLE
Yes we should start fuking all of them, we need fresh blood otherwise we will die of hunger.I don't why Obama don't like fresh blood in breakfast.
–I have option 4: DO NOTHING. the billions we will spend trying to spare a people we obviously don't care about (or we would have done something by now...I mean its only been going on for about close to a year now) and re-invest in the Crumbling education system in the United States, or the aging infrastructure. Here's a thought, take that money and pay off some of our debt to china. Balance the check book a bit. Or maybe (and i know my republicans out here may cringe a bit when i say tihs) put that money into some kind of welfare for the homeless...give us tax rebates. Anything but another war that will just leave us even more unpopular and broke. The USA has its own problems. We can't run around fixing everything for everyone. Here's an Idea...how bout the Canadians step up and handle it...I mean they are as advanced as we are...let them have a go at it.
Oh yeah and your problems have crumbled Europe ! Wake up, we are in a globalised world, when you get a cough in USA we get the flu in Europe. Your option is no more available. Try another one
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عودة المجرم الارهابي المدعو ( ابو علي البصري ) المستشار الامني لنوري المالكي
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بعد هروبه بطائره خاصه وبدون تاشيره الى خارج العراق بعد افتضاح عملية هروب الارهابيين من تنظيم القاعده المرتبطه باستخبارات الحرس الثوري وعددهم ( 12 ) ارهابي معتقلين في سجون القصور الرئاسيه في البصره حيث اشرف على عملية هروبهم الى ايران باشر المجرم ابو علي البصري في مهامه كمستشار امني لنوري المالكي بعد عودته السريه مع تكليفه بمهام جديده هي الاشراف على الخلايا الخاصه لحزب الدعوه وهي مليشيات مسلحه مقرها الرئيسي في محافظة بابل والجدير بالذكر ان ابو علي البصري تم تعينه مديرا للامن والمعلومات في مكتب المالكي بناءا على توصيه من قاسم سليماني كون المذكور عمل في جهاز السافاك سابقا وعمل فتره طويله في جهاز استخبارات الحرس وبعد تعينه كلف حصرا بالاشراف على عمليات التعذيب للسجناء من اهالي نينوى وديالى وضباط الجيش العراقي السابق والبعثيين المعتقلين في السجون السريه التابعه للمالكي وكان هذا المجرم يمارس التعذيب بحق السجناء حتى الموت وترمى جثثهم خارج حدود مجافظة بغداد .
الخبر الثاني :
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المرافق الشخصي لابراهيم اشيقر الباكستاني وحقيبة ( Emergency bag )
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وردتنا معلومات من مصدر مقرب من مرافق ابراهيم اشيقر الملقب ( الجعفري ) مفادها ما يلي :
سئل المصدر مرافق " الجعفري" عن سر حمل هذه الحقيبه عند مرافقته للجعفري في كل تنقلاته اجابه بما يلي :
1- الحقيبه تحتوي على مبلغ قدره ( 200 ) الف دولار .
2- اقلام ذهب .
3- ساعات يدويه ثمينه .
4- مستمسكات شخصيه خاصه بالجعفري ( منها عدة جوازات سفر ) .
وتبين للمصدر من خلال الاستفسار من مرافق الجعفري ان حمل هذه الحقيبه تحسبا من وقوع امر طارئ وبدورنا نفسر هذا الامر الطاري ( تحسبا للشلعه السريعه )
هؤلاء هم قادة العراق " الجديد " الحراميه ولا نستغرب ما يفكرون به لانهم اشباه رجال جعل منهم المحتل " رجال" .
We have no choice;to fight a conventional war today or to fight a nuclear war tomorrow.
The West must strike before it's too late.
Yes westerns should strike immediately, we are hungry for fresh blood. If we will not get fresh blood on time we may die of hunger.
Hopefully this time the US will get it done right. They should build a strong cohesive syrian opposition before toppling the regime. it is a golden opportunity that won't come twice. Do not dismember the syrian army just improve their pay and get good people in high levels, smart people who would be the basis for a future democratic Syria and then tackle Iran who would be fatally isolated after the fall of the cowardly tyrant of Damascus.. That's what Obama should do. I bet Fouad Ajami would agree with this.
I think it is ungrateful to judge situation based on news reports.Gouvernment of US and the west.e. made military intervention in Kosovo and helped to criple and old civilisation and create ilegitimate state on its land.It will create a problem for some century,but if Kosovo stayed Serbian from year 1000a.d. to 2000,it will be again in 2700 etc.
Does ANYBODY here ask himself this question: if you shoot a police officer in US, or any european country,you can LEGITIMATELY get shot on the spot.
But if Syrian police shoots back,they are criminals,and thugs are "rebels" making "a revolution" so they should be imune..I am sorry,I disagree...
Two points about Syria and the Russian veto.
First, Assad is following the lesson that everyone says was learnt from the Arab spring events. That is that if one runs a dictatorship, you are more likely to lose power by easing up on the opposition than by squashing them. If you crush them, and ignore outside intervention, the unarmed populace cannot fight back. As soon as you give an inch, they will sense weakness and come back for more.
Secondly, with regard to the Russian veto. You said yourself just how dependent the Russian economy is on a high price of oil. Hence, it is in Russia's interest to maintain high tension and potential conflict in the Middle East. They do not want negotiations with Iran, nor peace with Syria or Israel. The uncertainty keeps the price of oil up and the Russian economy growing.
I think US must try and end this right of veto and so Russia and China will not be able to do veto. In this way world matters can be decided in a democratic way.The big democracies will have no problem in leaving this veto right, after all they love democracy and can even die for democracy.
The analyst failed to see one big problem – Syria has a land border with Israel meaning Syria can send ground troops into the Golan heights and forcibly drag Israel into the equation. How can the west ask Israel not to respond when Syrian troops are entering the Golan Heights?
Unlike Iraq, Libya, Afghanistan etc. NONE of these countries are on Israel's doorstep. The difference is that Syria has a border with Israel and furthermore, Syria has two proxies who also border with Israel – Hamas and Hezbollah, meaning that any military action by NATO will have to protect Israel as well which Turkey and Saudi Arabia may not accept.
When the USA attacked Iraq, Saddam Hussein fired scuds into Israel and NATO had to persuade Israel not to retaliate. This was possible because the civilian casualties caused by the scuds was minimal. However, Syria is close to Israel meaning it can fire a barrage of artillery on Israeli cities and it can also get Hamas and Hezbollah to fire missiles as well and the civilian casualties in Israel would simply be intolerable and Israel would have no choice due to public pressure but to attack Syria thus breaking up the NATO-Turkey-Arab League anti-Assad military coalition.
What forces are battling the Syrian regime? How could they maintain power in a post-Baath Party era, how could they maintain power against al-Qaeda, how could they maintain power against the Ayatollahs funding Hezbollah to cross over from Lebanon, this all seems like another quagmire Americans do not need. The Russians have tens of billions of dollars at stake in the al-Assad govt, many industrial jobs that service those contracts as well as a Mediterranean port. Let the Russians fight and die on their own behalf. Just help good Syrians to get out of that mess and relocate to the civilized world.
the syrian army, shabiha and intelligence have served the regime as thugs for decades. This is not new. What is new is that they are turning against their own people this time. The good thing is that defectors numbers are on the rise so the longer this continues the more soldiers will defect and the tighter the noose gets around Bashar's neck. Now the arab league has made a decision to publicly support the opposition with money and weapons the tides will turn soon in a matter of months the opposition will have the upper hand and more senior officers will be looking at 2 options either defect or face the Hague tribunal. You may not even need Obama' snail pace reaction.
Defections from the Syrian Army would be the only thing that makes a difference. Someone to be the game-changer. But would he consolidate power? Would he change anything about the way Syria does business with Russia or Iran? Most likely he'd be a more competent version of al-Assad, and the Baath Party would approve his new status the same way a meeting of important mob families can stop a turf war. The rackets will continue, but without so much internal fighting. It's bad for business.
The US should be helping Syria fight AlQaeda and other terrorist groups in the country.
The US should be bankrupting our enemies, starting with those that are the greatest threat, which right now is Iran.
The greatest threat to the US is Israel which can steamroll the US into another middle east war.
If you're merely another Jew-crazed mo fo I'd rather see you take swastika up the chute than hear your opinion.
Three men of my family in uniform, one of them on Normandy Beach, all of them treated at some time by Jew doctors. You're talking to the wrong guy. In my view Israel represents in their region what the UK represented in Europe during WW2, an outpost of sanity in a war that would be raging with or without them. There are terrorists beheading people from Africa to the Philippines, and these terrorists would like us all to believe their side of the story. They have none.
The real threat to US is sick US mentality and nothing else.
as long as you have a Shia president in this country Hussein Obama who claims to be christian and goes to "church" on sundays you can bet that the only country that would take on Iran is Israel. He should be impeached for writing letters to Iran. he is not doing what is in the best interest of the US. Congress should act and demand that Obama do something concrete about Iran. We've heard enough of "all options remain on the table" which means in his dictionary flurting with the Mullah's. So pathetic !!
i think Obama need a pure US adviser.I don't know who advises Obama. He should hire an adviser from Bush. American are hungry for some fresh blood.
I would not advise it, on one can set foot inside the country now, the Jihadists will turn their weapons on the occupiers just like Iraq. So the military option is off the table, which it was never going to be used.
al-Qaida has a supply of logistics, al-Qaida operatives can be placed among the FSA brigades to funnel money and weapons from the Arab world. As occurred during Iraq, part of the problem is the FSA does not have a established supply of logistics network no one knows who to send weapons and money to, the tribes from Iraq and al-Qaida already have that connection to arms and rich Arabs from the Gulf. It could take years to establish a logistics network, so it is logical that they will use an already established one.
See all they have is their belief in God, defending yourself against a butcher with only the words Allahu Akbar tends to radicalize people. Being abandon by the world leaves them only with their faith to survive. So they become radicalized, in such a situation Arab money from donors and al-Qaida baring gifts will gain local support on the ground. It is logical that if only people come to help you, people willing to die for Islam is the Mujahedin then it does gain al-Qaida support.
Assad released al-Qaida prisoners to turn against the west and why not put terrorist back on the streets to help justify it is al-Qaida. Unnamed officials blame al-Qaida for the car bombs with no evidence that helps give Assad cover to keep killing and Obama cover not to stop the killing. Al-Qaida are terrorists, Assad is a state sponsor of terrorism, so what is the difference.
What al-Qaida lacked was manpower, increased donations, and localized support on the Arab street. Syria gives them all three, more fighters, increased revenue and support among the Arab street. Is that enough for them to turn on Assad depending how it goes yes.
The rich Arabs in the gulf that fund al-Qaida and the Taliban want strict Wahhabism enforced not democracy.In the end the US will be giving intelligence to Assad because of al-Qaida involvement, but what cause the al-Qaida involvement inaction. WHAM is how you defeat terrorism and limit radical groups, al-Qaida was on it's death bed, but Syria will give it rebirth, how important will killing OBL be, history will be the judge. Instead of destroying it, the exact opposite will occur. It is all perceptions. The last 10 or so years may well prove to be a waste of time and al-Qaida could become stronger than before. A known unknown.
Assad wanted this to scare the west, so he was the lesser of two evils, the west can be easily manipulated, but it is a Genie and when you rub the bottle you do not know what will happen once it is out of the bottle.
#3 is absolutely necessary for humanitarian reason. It could be combined with #2 if majority of power players ever wants to free this people out of misery.
"I think US must try and end this right of veto and so Russia and China will not be able to do veto" - Very bad idea. If so how can the US use its 1001 vetoes in support of Israel. The CIA, Mossad and FBI will have you executed for suggesting such a terrible idea.
No matter which option to use. USA needs fresh blood in breakfast.I don't know why Obama don't like fresh blood in breakfast.He should take an adviser from Mr. Bush. Long live Mr Bush
Syrian activist in the video said "Help us, we need help from any one, including Israel ! " . Please President Obama help these innocent people from evil Syrian dictator. I agree to the aerial bombardment to destroy the weapons the dictator Bashar al-Assad to stop the massacres. But I refuse to send ground troops.
yes 3 items we called the evil iran, evil syrian thugs bashar, and evil hizboallah with iraqi shiia killers. get red of them
Thaier Souri
دمشق
لقد أثبتت روسيا أنها بلد محكوم بمجموعات مافيوية لا يعنيها من أمر البشر الا مقدار ما تجققه من مكاسب, و أثبتت أن لا منظومة أخلاقية تحكمها و ربما تحكم شعبها, و ربما كانت هذه خطوة أخرى حاسمة في انحسار الدور السوفييتي السابق الذي اضمحل الى حجم روسيا و لا ندري الى ماذا سيضمحل لاحقا, و كل ذلك بسبب غياب الركيزة الخلقية الداعمة للمواقف المعلنة أو الغير معلنة
73 MOURAD
ALGERIA
روسيا و الصين تشعران بتواطؤ اوروبي امريكي يهدد مصالحهما الاقتصادية
72 عفوا سوريا ومعذرة
الاردن
النظام السوري وما يرتكبه من مجازر بحق شرفاء سوريا الشام العظيم ما هو الا الفساد والبطش بعينه وما هو الا للحفاظ على مصالح فردية لفئة علوية طغت وتجبرت وتقمصت دور الممانعة والقومية العربية وهي تلك الفئةهي التخاذل والجبن متمثل على وجه الخصوص بشخص بشار الاسف وزبانيته. شلت يمينك يا من تطلق القذائف والقنابل على شعب حمص الاعزل ودرعا وريف دمشق ودير الزور فوالله رجالهم رجال ونساؤهم خير الحرائر . الله على ظالم جبان
71 الفجر
يا لها من مهزلة يا جماعة كل هذه الجرائم منذو ١١ شهرا انتهت بكلمة في الجمعية العامة بادانة .هدفهم جعل من سوريا صومالا اخر.على فكر هل اسرائيل ايضا نددت ام كانت مع...سعودية تصيغ القرارات ومصر توزعه وروسيا تعدل بالقرارات والمعارضة الخارجية مشغلون برئاسة المجلس الوطني والشعب يقتل على يد من لا احد يعرف
70 ليث
السويد
لافروف زود عميله بشار بالاسلحه وهو والصين يديرون عمليات قتل الشعب السوري وبشهود احد الضباظ المنشقين..روسيا اصبحت في الجانب المخزي من التاريخ ..ولافروف يتحجج يالقاعده وكانه القذافي ..لا ينقصه الا ان يصيح ..زنكه زنكه دار دار..بس يقوله بالروسي مافي مشكله المترجم موجود.
69 عربي حر
سوريه
اعرفوا يا عرب ويا مسلمين ان نظام السوري ونظام الحاكم في ايران وحزب الله واسرائيل هي جميعا اوجه لعمله واحده افهموووووووووووووووووو
68 سوري
syria
كم اكره اي انسان يقول سوريه الاسد يا اخي دوله كامله تربط بشسخص يوجد في سوريه امكانات رهيبه وسوريه لجميع الطوائف والاديان الذي يقول ذلك هو انسان لايعيش الا ياكل او امي حتى ولو كان متعلما
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