Syrian Civil War Developments

[snapper]

I simply do not think it entirely outrageous to require our Governments which have signed up to these treaties to go after other Governments that have signed up to the same treaties but then broken them. How else is law to be upheld? If you want a world where nothing is enforced what is the point of international agreements? It becomes dog eat dog and far more lives will be lost in that. Nikki Haley was certainly talking tough at the UNSC earlier which is I suppose all she can do.

[Officer of Engineers]

I simply do not think it entirely outrageous to require our Governments which have signed up to these treaties to go after other Governments that have signed up to the same treaties but then broken them. How else is law to be upheld? If you want a world where nothing is enforced what is the point of international agreements? It becomes dog eat dog and far more lives will be lost in that. Nikki Haley was certainly talking tough at the UNSC earlier which is I suppose all she can do.

It is certainly outrageous for you to require our Governments to do the work that your Government is unwilling to do herself.

It is also outrageous that you insult Trump at every turn and then demand that he uphold your sense of justice that you're not willing to do anything about.

The CWC obligates no one to enforce it.

[Ironduke]

I simply do not think it entirely outrageous to require our Governments which have signed up to these treaties to go after other Governments that have signed up to the same treaties but then broken them. How else is law to be upheld? If you want a world where nothing is enforced what is the point of international agreements? It becomes dog eat dog and far more lives will be lost in that. Nikki Haley was certainly talking tough at the UNSC earlier which is I suppose all she can do.

Sometimes it's like this:

http://www.worldaffairsboard.com/sho...=1#post1038928

[snapper]

It is certainly outrageous for you to require our Governments to do the work that your Government is unwilling to do herself.

It is also outrageous that you insult Trump at every turn and then demand that he uphold your sense of justice that you're not willing to do anything about.

The CWC obligates no one to enforce it.

My country has killed more Muscovites than all you lot together ever did. I regret their deaths and ours but until you stop these goons they will not stop breaking the treaties and that in the end costs more lives than acting at the start. France could have stopped the Rhineland in 1936 - that in a way was when WW2 started. Not acting emboldens these dictators and makes the greater conflagration more likely.

[Officer of Engineers]

My country has killed more Muscovites than all you lot together ever did.

Your entire history couldn't come close to the two WW Germanys, Napoleonic France and your current conflict is a picnic compared to the Crimean War and WWI Siberian Intervention.

But what has any of this got to do with Syria?

I regret their deaths and ours but until you stop these goons they will not stop breaking the treaties and that in the end costs more lives than acting at the start.

So what? Why don't you demand the Ukrainian military go after Assad?

France could have stopped the Rhineland in 1936 - that in a way was when WW2 started. Not acting emboldens these dictators and makes the greater conflagration more likely.

What? So you wanted France to stop Germans from wanting to protect their homes. Isn't that was you're doing with DNR and LNR?

Your double standards is staggerring.

[Ironduke]

More here: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-43694588

Syria conflict: Israel blamed for attack on airfield

The Syrian government and its ally Russia have blamed Israel for a deadly attack on a Syrian military airport.

Monday's attack hit the Tiyas airbase, known as T4, near the city of Homs. Observers say 14 people were killed.

Israel, which has previously hit Syrian targets, has not commented. Syria initially blamed the US for the strike.

The incident comes amid international alarm over an alleged chemical attack on a Syrian rebel-held town. The US and France had threatened to respond.

US President Donald Trump said there would be a "big price to pay" for the alleged chemical attack in Douma, in the Eastern Ghouta region, near the capital Damascus. He branded Syria's President Bashar al-Assad an "animal".

[MIKEMUN]

The rhetoric is becoming fierce.

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/p...iends-with-you

[GVChamp]

I simply do not think it entirely outrageous to require our Governments which have signed up to these treaties to go after other Governments that have signed up to the same treaties but then broken them. How else is law to be upheld? If you want a world where nothing is enforced what is the point of international agreements? It becomes dog eat dog and far more lives will be lost in that. Nikki Haley was certainly talking tough at the UNSC earlier which is I suppose all she can do.

Go after them in what manner, though? There's a scale of escalation. It's not like there'll be no response, it'll just be a limited response. And the US response is going to be more biting than, say, the French response. But we definitely cannot remove Assad because we just don't care enough.

[YoungIndia]

" But we definitely cannot remove Assad because we just don't care enough."

Whom are you going to remove Assad with? with the kurds?

There is no viable sunni option for the west.

[astralis]

prior to Putin's wholescale involvement, removing Assad wouldn't have been difficult.

but doing so back then would probably have led to even greater ISIS gains.

now that Putin is involved and ISIS is mostly dead, no one cares enough to remove Assad. as far as the US is concerned, if Putin wants to waste money and lives there-- well, let him.

from a strictly Ukrainian POV, every dollar Putin spends there and every merc that Putin sends over there is one less that Kiev will need to deal with.

[SteveDaPirate]

Nobody is going to remove Assad because nobody wants to be stuck with the responsibility for rebuilding and rehabilitating Syria. The second a missile hits Assad's palace, whoever fired it is going to be presumed responsible for putting the country back together.

The US already has two nation building projects underway in the region with the possibility of a third if North Korea kicks off, so I don't forsee any American appetite for it.

Who else could even afford that kind of committment?

China and Japan don't have any interest in Syria. Germany is busy with the EU project.

[YoungIndia]

prior to Putin's wholescale involvement, removing Assad wouldn't have been difficult.

.

Even superpower needs ground realities and strong local allies.Right from Vietnam, the locals are crucial.


The sunni rebel forces may have defeated him.but US options were gone long ago.

Whatever forces the CIA labelled FSA were given support and they all splintered or went into oblivion becoming an arms/personnel source for alnusra or ISIS.

Removing Assad also means leaving alawites at the mercy of sunni rebels and it would not be pretty at all if the vengeful rebels go across alawite villages.

The ground realities does not favor US intervention except in the west where you made use of the kurds and a minority of rebels groups backed by CIA

Many local sunnis were more impressed by Alnusra and ISIS as fighters.

US has not shown an ability to come with a powerful non kuridish sunni option in Syria.

Short of using US firepower at full throttle, you have no ally that can take the whole country


But the vacuum left by ISIS can be an interesting time. who takes over?

In Iraq, there is a shia majority administration but vacuum for sunnis were taken over by ISIS in the north. It is yet to be addressed,

[Officer of Engineers]

Assad maybe guilty of war crimes but he is the only one we know who doesn't want to plant bombs in our streets. He stays.

[YoungIndia]

why removal of Assad is Unlikely.

1. HTS and ISIS are deadly threats to security and not an affordable option for US and allies. Assad deliberately released radicals at the start of the war and had succeeded
in creating "us vs terrorists" option.

2.Power Vacuum- Its not about replacing Gaddaffi or Saddam. But also give a voice to their supporters who are still around 20-30% of a country.
ISIS had taken advantage of this situation to get many sunni recruits.

Replacing assad will mean who will protect alawites from highly vengeful sunni rebels baying for blood and also who will be their voice.

3. no viable rebel option among sunnis for the west as the more radical groups have taken initiative and control.

Looks like a partition between govt and the kurd dominated SDF at this point.Turks to contain kurds in parts of the north for their own security. HTS yet to be destroyed in Idlib.

Russia will be happy with its base and a partition.

[GVChamp]

The US model (possibly naive) was to have Assad admit defeat and go home and have everyone come together to form a transitional government, before moving onto whatever representative government comes next. the US would be providing security assistance and the international community would provide aid, while the US would reserve the right to bomb the hell out of whatever ISIS camp it sees.

We aren't going to remove him ourselves because we don't want to directly own the aftermath and we don't want to just give the Sunnis enough weapons to cake-walk Assad because there are a bunch of freakin' crazy Sunnis. Russia has a much simpler game and is a lot more willing to commit direct resources, so they are going to control the flow.