View Full Version : Russia, Iran, Syria Axis
Trapper John
02-06-2017, 16:51
So the neo-Fascists, MSM, and the talking heads are all in a tizzy over the POTUS posturing viz-a-viz Putin and Russia. Here's a thought:
Russia, Syria, Iran are the new axis of evil. Donald Trump is positioning to be a reasonable guy (good cop) with Vlad and hard liner with Iran. Why?
He knows that he needs to drive a wedge in the Iran/Russia relationship. Russia wants access to Iran's oil through Syria to Crimea. Iran wants to export more oil. Russia wants the leverage of the oil supply to distribute to Europe through the the Crimean choke point. Russia also needs the economic boost.
The POTUS wants a military strike option on Iran's oil production and nuclear facilities without fear of Russian retaliation. He needs to marginalize Russia in the ME.
Lots of moving parts, but the first order of business is to develop a normalized working relationship with Russia, i.e. limit Russia's options and satisfy their economic need while positioning the US to economically break them.
Not sure how this is going to play out, but looking at this through the lens of an SF mission to pacify a hostile area, the first thing I'm going to try to do is co-opt the village bully (Putin) to my side.
I sense a big picture strategy here and Donald Trump, like Reagan was, is the front man to a grander plan. In fact I see a lot of similarities to the way in which we effected the breakup of the Soviet Union under Reagan.
Thoughts??
Mustang Man
02-06-2017, 18:32
Great analysis, just geneuily curious but what makes Putin & Assad evil?
Russia is a rational actor that we treated like a whipped dog after the cold war ended. We put military bases on ground that used to be PART OF THEIR COUNTRY, gave NATO membership (an anti-Russian alliance) to countries that were also...Part of the USSR proper.... as well as former Warsaw Pact nations. All the while smiling and saying that we had no interest in hurting Russia.
You have to look at this from Russia's point of view. They have been invaded multiple times from every direction because they have no natural frontiers. It's all open ground in just about every direction. The mongols wiped them out from the east. Napoleon invaded from the west. Later, Hitler (a sworn ally) invaded and CRUSHED their country. Russia is so paranoid about their lack of defendability they conquered all of Siberia and Central Asia just to have control over their eastern frontiers. After WWII, they damn well made sure they had a buffer to the west as well in the form of the Warsaw Pact.
Now we have advanced NATO all the way to their doorstep by admitting the Baltic states, which were part of the USSR. We also may or may not have assisted a coup in Ukraine that ousted a pro-Russian government and installed an anti-Russian government. We put an airbase in Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan, also part of the old USSR. We put troops in Georgia, on their southern border. We put troops in Afghanistan, just south of the old USSR.
If you were Russia, how would you view this? Putin got edgy and started pushing back. Now we say that his aggressiveness has no basis and he is just a bully.... If the US had a civil war and we lost Alaska, Hawaii, Texas, California, Puerto Rico, and Florida because they became their own countries, then Russia put troops, airbases, missile defense, and nuclear capable bombers in those states, how would the US react? Especially if they said they were there to counter US aggression?
That's exactly what we've done. The US needs to look in the mirror now and again and splash cold water on our face. Just because we do something doesn't indicate it was smart, or right, because we're a big fluffy teddy bear that never has ill will towards anyone.
doctom54
02-07-2017, 00:11
Russia is a rational actor that we treated like a whipped dog after the cold war ended. We put military bases on ground that used to be PART OF THEIR COUNTRY, gave NATO membership (an anti-Russian alliance) to countries that were also...Part of the USSR proper.... as well as former Warsaw Pact nations. All the while smiling and saying that we had no interest in hurting Russia.
You have to look at this from Russia's point of view. They have been invaded multiple times from every direction because they have no natural frontiers. It's all open ground in just about every direction. The mongols wiped them out from the east. Napoleon invaded from the west. Later, Hitler (a sworn ally) invaded and CRUSHED their country. Russia is so paranoid about their lack of defendability they conquered all of Siberia and Central Asia just to have control over their eastern frontiers. After WWII, they damn well made sure they had a buffer to the west as well in the form of the Warsaw Pact.
Now we have advanced NATO all the way to their doorstep by admitting the Baltic states, which were part of the USSR. We also may or may not have assisted a coup in Ukraine that ousted a pro-Russian government and installed an anti-Russian government. We put an airbase in Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan, also part of the old USSR. We put troops in Georgia, on their southern border. We put troops in Afghanistan, just south of the old USSR.
If you were Russia, how would you view this? Putin got edgy and started pushing back. Now we say that his aggressiveness has no basis and he is just a bully.... If the US had a civil war and we lost Alaska, Hawaii, Texas, California, Puerto Rico, and Florida because they became their own countries, then Russia put troops, airbases, missile defense, and nuclear capable bombers in those states, how would the US react? Especially if they said they were there to counter US aggression?
That's exactly what we've done. The US needs to look in the mirror now and again and splash cold water on our face. Just because we do something doesn't indicate it was smart, or right, because we're a big fluffy teddy bear that never has ill will towards anyone.
Good synopsis for those that don't read history.
The USA has been blessed with large oceans on two sides and a great neighbor on one.
So the neo-Fascists, MSM, and the talking heads are all in a tizzy over the POTUS posturing viz-a-viz Putin and Russia. Here's a thought:
Russia, Syria, Iran are the new axis of evil. Donald Trump is positioning to be a reasonable guy (good cop) with Vlad and hard liner with Iran. Why?
He knows that he needs to drive a wedge in the Iran/Russia relationship. Russia wants access to Iran's oil through Syria to Crimea. Iran wants to export more oil. Russia wants the leverage of the oil supply to distribute to Europe through the the Crimean choke point. Russia also needs the economic boost.
The POTUS wants a military strike option on Iran's oil production and nuclear facilities without fear of Russian retaliation. He needs to marginalize Russia in the ME.
Lots of moving parts, but the first order of business is to develop a normalized working relationship with Russia, i.e. limit Russia's options and satisfy their economic need while positioning the US to economically break them.
Not sure how this is going to play out, but looking at this through the lens of an SF mission to pacify a hostile area, the first thing I'm going to try to do is co-opt the village bully (Putin) to my side.
I sense a big picture strategy here and Donald Trump, like Reagan was, is the front man to a grander plan. In fact I see a lot of similarities to the way in which we effected the breakup of the Soviet Union under Reagan.
Thoughts??
Is the strategy short term nice-nice with Putin in order to long-term starve him of influence/control over joint monopoly energy market dominance?
I always thought the least known victory in the Cold War(besides imploding the Warsaw Pact via non kinetic UW with Solidarity) was Reagan playing hardball on day 1 to stop recession hurt NATO from buying cheap energy from its main enemy the Soviet Union.
While the Cold War was decisively won, few realised Cold War Season 2 started immediately after, and despite Russia being horribly crippled and humbled for most of the last 25+ years, Russia did eventually gain huge ,arkwt share of the Western European energy market.
Which means massive amounts of hard cash and geopolitical influence that has only been temporarily held back by currently low energy prices.
I always thought the disaster that became of Libya(which seems "easy", relatively speaking, from a map reconnaissance standpoint to achieve elusive stability over a very well located, very high quality source of proximate energy) was a key strategic energy alternative to a Putin energy cartel attempt.
Russian games in Venezuela were surely about more than some much needed arms sales and also about building an alternative(under a Russian nuclear umbrella) to a US dominated global system.
Wouldn't Russian attempts to cozy up to Turkey also substantiate an attempt at a Russian energy cartel? This is despite the long history of Russian/Turkish antagonism and hatred.
But if Turkey is going full retard islamic(truly frightening indicator as the only successful, modern, non energy based Muslim economy with rising quality of life and standard of living....going non secular against progressive develop,net theory), the EU refuses Turkish entry, and US relations have been strained since 2003 and Erdogan going non secular...what options are there?
Is a Turkish/Russian nexus that hard to believe after Putin doing a deal with Kadyrov in Chechnya?
Russia's economy is a disaster and a one trick energy pony. Why not use the ashen remains of their crumbled Soviet Union empire to build an energy cartel to supplant OPEC.
But beyond Russia's failing economy, it's also suffering from failing demographics, ultimately under pressure from not only China(Siberia encroachment & resource exploitation), but also Islamic "terra forming" demographics.
In the micro sense(multi-year) I feel Russia needs a bit of a punch in the face....preferably in private...to disrupt their attempt at a competing system....that game needs to end.
In the macro sense(multi-decade) I feel Russia is a needed partner in the eternal war against a far bigger and more dangerous enemy in the form of the glacial slow "terraforming" of incongruent Islam.
Chess versus checkers indeed!
But if my analysis/argument has any validity, how do you discretely punch a chess player in the face, learn how to team up and play chess on the same side as the person you just punched in the face, then partner to destroy the main enemy.
Is that like Star Trek 3D chess?
Because I'm getting confused at the complexity of the micro opposition and macro alignment of interests.
I think some good whiskey might help me.
Russia is a rational actor that we treated like a whipped dog after the cold war ended. We put military bases on ground that used to be PART OF THEIR COUNTRY, gave NATO membership (an anti-Russian alliance) to countries that were also...Part of the USSR proper.... as well as former Warsaw Pact nations. All the while smiling and saying that we had no interest in hurting Russia.
You have to look at this from Russia's point of view. They have been invaded multiple times from every direction because they have no natural frontiers. It's all open ground in just about every direction. The mongols wiped them out from the east. Napoleon invaded from the west. Later, Hitler (a sworn ally) invaded and CRUSHED their country. Russia is so paranoid about their lack of defendability they conquered all of Siberia and Central Asia just to have control over their eastern frontiers. After WWII, they damn well made sure they had a buffer to the west as well in the form of the Warsaw Pact.
Now we have advanced NATO all the way to their doorstep by admitting the Baltic states, which were part of the USSR. We also may or may not have assisted a coup in Ukraine that ousted a pro-Russian government and installed an anti-Russian government. We put an airbase in Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan, also part of the old USSR. We put troops in Georgia, on their southern border. We put troops in Afghanistan, just south of the old USSR.
If you were Russia, how would you view this? Putin got edgy and started pushing back. Now we say that his aggressiveness has no basis and he is just a bully.... If the US had a civil war and we lost Alaska, Hawaii, Texas, California, Puerto Rico, and Florida because they became their own countries, then Russia put troops, airbases, missile defense, and nuclear capable bombers in those states, how would the US react? Especially if they said they were there to counter US aggression?
That's exactly what we've done. The US needs to look in the mirror now and again and splash cold water on our face. Just because we do something doesn't indicate it was smart, or right, because we're a big fluffy teddy bear that never has ill will towards anyone.
Great perspective. One interesting thing is to understand how maps shape our world view. Or, how our world view shapes the maps that we commonly use. The common map that we use in the US is the Mercator.. which puts us on one side of the map and Russia on the other. It also distorts as you go to the poles...so with Russia tends to look even bigger than it is. If we use a polar projection you get a true picture from the Russian point of view...and you can see how Russia would feel encircled by the US, NATO etc. just from a geographic perspective...even without history.
Trapper John
02-07-2017, 08:08
Great analysis, just geneuily curious but what makes Putin & Assad evil?
That question set my teeth on edge! Sounds like you're trolling. A modest proposal Mustang Man: Do your own research, draw conclusions from that, post your opinion one way or another and be prepared to defend it. Don't ever troll me or anyone else here ever again. Got it?
Try again. Oh, and read Scooter's, Flagg's, ABC 123's posts for a clue. ;)
Trapper John
02-07-2017, 08:19
Flagg: I think some good whiskey might help me.
Couldn't agree more with that! This is one very, very complex issue. I loved Scooter's comment. A very accurate assessment from Russia's point of view and critical to find a working solution.
I think this is the critical foreign policy issue of our time and key to the whole ME crisis. Should be an interesting discussion here.
A point of clarification: I do not see Russia as the real enemy, they're a potential asset. Iran's the target.
And let's not ignore Pakistan. They're a wild card and need to be kept on the sidelines.
Great analysis, just geneuily curious but what makes Putin & Assad evil?
I'll bite. Before I answer, I want to say something up front: I love my country. I have fought for it for almost 20 years and would do anything to defend it, physically or morally. Right or wrong, the United States is my country and I will unhesitatingly put its interests ahead of anyone and everyone else. Got it? Ok.
There is no such thing as right and wrong, good or evil, when it comes to international relations. Syria evil, America good? Let's put that in perspective.
The United States, after breaking away from Britain, took advantage of financial ruin in France and bought their entire North America holdings for pennies on the dollar. As we started advancing west, we made treaties with the native tribes there. When that was inconvenient, we sent the Army in and uprooted every single tribe. We sent them on a death march west, until they were out of our hair. We sent settlers to northern Mexico against their stern warning, then decided it was ours. After the settlers fought off the Mexicans, they joined the US proper. When Mexico had the audacity to protest this, we declared war on Mexico, invaded, conquered them, then took half of their country from them by force. It's ours now, thanks. We're currently mad that there are so many Mexicans in this part of the country.
We got distracted fighting among ourselves for a while, which we finally solved by waging unrestricted war against civilians in their part of our country in order to terrorize them until they quit. We then sent the Army west with the deliberate policy of exterminating the entire native population. We gave the surviving remnants the worst land we could find and told them to stay there. Occasionally they got uppity, and we sent in guys with guns to punish them for objecting. We decided that we liked that big chain of islands in the middle of the pacific (Hawaii), so we invaded and took for ourselves. The ruling queen could go piss off. Ours.
We ran out of new land to settle and got anxious, so we decided to manufacture a war with Spain. We easily beat them, and took all of their remaining overseas territories because we could. We put troops in the Philippines to claim it, and they decided they wanted their own country instead of being ruled by us. The nerve of those people... so we brutally crushed their revolt over a multi-year counterinsurgency and made sure they knew who was boss. We wanted to sell heroin to China to make money, but they didn't want us to do that exactly. So we did the only rational thing and invaded China. When the Boxers revolted against the white imperialists, we responded violently. A couple of guys got Medals of Honor, for saving the good white folk who had settled there against the irrationally hostile yellow man.
When the Russian revolution broke out, we invaded Russia to try to stop the Bolsheviks. Being America, we did it less than half ass and didn't accomplish anything, other than ensuring that the Russians would remember us with something less than fondness. A little bit later a bunch of countries in the Central America were unhappy that our fruit companies were trying to run the show down there, so they instituted a policy of deciding what companies could do what and how with their natural resources. Fuck that, right? So we sent in the Marines all over the place to put in new governments that would let us take their bananas at cut rates and sell them for profit.
We got sucked into World War 2, mostly because we decided we didn't like the Japanese (who were screwing with our economic interests) and started cutting off their fuel supply. They kind of needed gas, so they attacked us. When things got really tough during the war, we decided that firebombing dense population centers with no military value would be a great way to terrorize the enemy, so we did that. When it got even tougher, we nuked two cities with no military value just to terrorize the Japanese by slaughtering old men, women, and children by incinerating their whole city. Surrender or we keep doing it. Problem solved. Then we put our enemy’s leaders on trial for killing civilians and hung them.
We had an awesome opportunity at this point, seeing as the entire developed world was in ashes and we were left standing. We deliberately created a world designed specifically for our benefit. Our enemies? Yeah, we ensured they remained weak by writing their constitutions ourselves, and permanently stationed garrisons in their country. Great Britain, France, and Belgium were happy for our help during the war, so they won’t mind if we keep our troops in their countries, right? To help. The Russians were busy creating a defensive alliance so they wouldn’t get invaded AGAIN, so we decided to tell our friends they were joining OUR alliance, which would be under our command and not theirs. We made sure everyone adopted our economic system and free trade, so our still standing economy could sell them stuff. We kept our big navy and had international laws written that guaranteed freedom of the seas, which benefited us over all other nations. We put carrier battle groups and Marines in every quadrant of the world to ensure our stuff we were selling got to where it needed to go. This worked so well we paid off most of our 100% GDP debt in record time, then kept making us into the richest country on earth. We created international governing bodies (stationed in the US) which gave us and our docile allies a veto over anyone else’s military actions for any reason. We had international finance rules put in place that ensured the dollar became the world’s reserve currency. We built thousands of nuclear weapons so we could incinerate people’s cities if needed, then told everyone else that they couldn’t have any. We made this a non-negotiable world policy. Except for our allies. They could have some too, as long as they didn’t make too many and stayed in our military alliance we made them join.
When non-allies started making these nukes too, we said they were dangerous and started demonizing them. When those Russian guys kept trying to spread a different economic system that would benefit them, we invaded Vietnam and Korea to make sure they stayed open for us to sell them stuff. In Vietnam we regularly burned down villages and fired munitions off randomly because we didn’t really know where the enemy was. A lot of civilians got killed, but that’s ok. We started having the CIA overthrow democratically elected governments and installing ruthless dictators who liked us better, even if they did torture and kill their own people, just so the Russians wouldn’t get a leg up on us.
Continued.....
When Iraq threatened our oil supply, we sent troops in to annihilate their military and to take away their right to fly airplanes in their own country. We then deliberately fostered insurrection in their country for good measure. We decided to keep troops on their border in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, and these countries could just get used to it. When Christians and Muslims started fighting a civil war in the Balkans, we decided that we were bored and started bombing the Christians before invading uninvited to make it better. We then kidnapped the Christian leaders and put them in jail for terrorizing civilians to try to win a war. We also sent troops uninvited into Somalia to “help”. We told everyone they couldn’t have guns and shot anyone carrying one in the streets for any reason, period. When they got uppity and fought back we got mad and started kidnapping people and killed a couple thousand people. When we lost less than 2 dozen guys it was a tragedy, so we left.
When the people in Saudi Arabia got uppity we kept troops there and started asymmetric attacks against us (with one really big one), we went apeshit and started sending in commando teams all over the place to kill people we didn’t think liked us very much. We put flying robots over 8 different countries, without their permission, and started killing their citizens because they made us scared. Our leader and his advisors felt like they had left stuff undone, so we invaded Iraq on trumped up accusations that didn’t pass intellectual muster and overthrew their government. We had their leader executed for the crime of killing rebels in his own country. When the same people started fighting US, we flattened several cities, started a program of targeted assassinations and mass arrests. We tortured some of those prisoners because it was funny. When that got out, we started outsourcing our torture by having our intelligence agency kidnap people and send them to some of those friendly dictators who didn’t have a free press to tell on us.
When all of this was going on, the Libyan president got nervous and dismantled all of his chemical weapons and gave them to us. He then declared his eternal friendship with us. When his people started a revolt, we decided to be really funny and reward his conciliation by helping them kill him by sodomizing him with a kitchen knife. When those same people turned out to have scary religious beliefs, we sent in the robots and commandos to kill people at random. Sometimes we got some kids, but it was for a good cause. They got mad and killed some of our commandos and spies, because they’re just crazy. We still have robots killing them.
When there was a revolt in Syria, where the same scary religious guys wanted to overthrow the government, the government started fighting back by flattening cities, and using targeted assassinations, mass arrests, and torture. We said that no civilized country would do that and started giving the scary religious guys guns to kill this president too. Way better than kitchen knives. Even though no one was attacking us, we put troops in their country and started killing one group of religious guys while supporting another similar group, without having been invited. When the president of Syria actually did invite Russia to help, we said that this was outside of all international norms and they were destabilizing the region. We also said flattening cities, targeted assassinations, mass arrests, and torture were SO wrong, and made lots of speeches about it.
Don’t buy into our own propaganda. We are no better or worse than any other powerful country that has ever existed. No one is “good” or “evil”; we do things because it it’s a rough world out there and we look after our own interests, and do what’s best for the United States. That anyone believes we are somehow morally better, and we have a RIGHT to do all the stuff we do because we’re “the good guys” just shows you the effectiveness of our indoctrination as citizens. That’s ok. It’s way better to win than to lose. But if you want to know why a lot of countries despise the US government, re-read what I wrote and realize that, while a little flippant, it’s all true. We have no real moral high ground in international relations. We didn’t do any of what we’ve done because it was “the right thing to do”, we did it because we thought it benefited us. When other countries behave the same way we do in any capacity, we freak out. Just think about it critically with the blinders off, you might just see the world in a whole new way.
Trapper John
02-07-2017, 11:10
Entire Post
I guess you didn't get educated through Common Core then. :D
Great post!
But I still say radical Islamists are evil. :p
Old Dog New Trick
02-07-2017, 11:38
What Scooter said!
I'd add that don't take your eyes off the House of Saud and the current Dynasty of China.
The earth is the only unpaid, untaxed, producer of goods and materials where rich people in power control the power to rape and pillage with an enslaved workforce.
Everything human controlled is a distraction to gain and maintain that power.
I guess you didn't get educated through Common Core then.
I'm a product of the public education system.
I'm finishing my degree now because I've reached that level in the Army where the Officers have just as much experience as the NCOs, and no one really listens to us about things that matter. I plan to get out in a few years and possibly worm my way into somewhere in the government at a higher level so I can help have a say in our foreign defense policy. I'll never be able to do it in uniform, the caste system won't allow it.
Mustang Man
02-07-2017, 11:58
Didn't mean to come off as a troll Trapper John, apologies. I'm just a believer that Assad isn't much of a bad guy. I don't buy the stories of him internationally hunting down and killing own segments of his population. He is actually a pretty moderate secular leader who did his post doctoral education in the West. Putin defending a long standing ally doesn't seem evil to me.
The evil Assad narrative seems like the same narrative we were fed with Ghadafi. Yes I'm aware of the evils he has done. However, we brought him down due to him nationalizing his own oil and not aligning himself with the big world bank. Now we have to endure his migrants and "refugees."
Millions of refugees storming European borders have definitely come as a surprise to Western politicians. They would not have, if the West only listened to what Libya's leader Muammar Gaddafi said months before he was brutally executed.
https://sputniknews.com/world/201509171027135147-gaddafi-libya-refugees-exodus-arab-spring/
Putin and Assad are fighting the very evil radical Muslims we condemn here. The U.S. is supporting these very radicals, because our stake in this is the same as it was in Libya.
Like has been echoed in here already, good and bad is very blurry, and I love our country as well and will always uphold the oath I took.
What do evil dictators look like? What do they talk like? Just how wicked is an evil dictator’s wife ? Should she be toppled along with her husband? Who am I talking about? President Assad of Syria and his wife, Asmas Al Assad.
These are the same ones boy Rubio, McCain, Lyndsay Graham, Ryan, the Bush’s, Obama, Kerry and Hillary all want to topple down to bring peace to Syria. That is THE LIE they are and have been shouting. What they really want to do is take over Syria in order to hurry along their New World Order agenda. The media whores push the establishment narrative that president Assad of Syria is evil and a corrupt dictator. They fear that when you realize who these people really are, you will be sorry you ever believed any lies told about them, let alone what they have conspired to do against them and all the citizens of Syria.
assad-th
The real truth is – President Assad and his wife Asmas Al Assad, care about their people. Syria has been invaded with Islamic radicals that have terrorized their nation. We should be helping Assad, not the radical rebels who have infiltrated in the same manner the US manufactured ISIS has infiltrated throughout the entire region. President Assad is fighting terrorists.
Meanwhile before Obama’s push to topple Assad and take over Syria, the media wrote wonderful stories about President Assad and his wife Asmas. Vogue magazine issued a wonderful story calling Asmas the “Rose of The Desert”. After Obama’s regime targeted Syria, the media buried any good stories and began a cut throat propaganda campaign to match their new narrative of Assad as an evil dictator. (You know the drill). They have taken great lengths to rewrite wonderful stories where they once called Asmas Al Assad wonderful things and were amazed at the good will being done by Asmas to people of all faiths. Now they want you to believe that she was faking her lifetime of caring and sided with her so-called evil husband dictator.
The establishment media, in support of Obama’s regime have pushed a propaganda arsenal of civil war crisis and chaos, meanwhile they hired moderate Muslims, trained them and sent them in to fight a sovereign nation.
assad-sonalialeppo_590
It is a shame what is taking place there. And a bigger shame to know that Benghazi was a gun running operation to send guns to Syrian rebels also known as ISIS. It is an evil thing they have done and are doing. Hillary believes they need taken out yesterday. Hillary has shamed Congress for not allowing them to go in and bomb them where it hurts.
Does anyone recall when Rubio at a primary debate, stated- he only voted NOT to bomb Syria because Obama said he was just going to give them a “Pin Prick”? Rubio stood there so pompous and proudly said, “If you aren’t going to go to war and do the job then don’t go to war at all.”
It is out in the open (and has been for some time) how Obama, McCain, Kerry, Hillary et al were all blood thirsty and busy doing underhanded deals to recruit and train their so-called moderate Muslims to topple Syria the same as they did Libya.
assad-syria-children
The fact is, Assad is an elected President and Syria has been under an ongoing terrorist attack; sadly with U.S. support.
I say, Praise the Lord that evil men and women who have usurped our government did not get their way. If anything, we need to send troops to stand with Assad.
DO NOT BE DECEIVED BY THE PUPPET MEDIA AND THEIR LIES. THEY HAVE BEEN LYING ABOUT EVERYTHING!
assad-untitled
The media is full of ways to tear a person, an event, or a nation down in order to serve the purpose of the establishment in order to make the world operate and think the way they want them to. Many do this to keep their high paying jobs, and some are in agreement with the global elite concepts. We have all watched how the faux media does this. It is time for all to see what has and is really taking place. The truth is Syrians are greatful to Russia and its’ President Putin for helping to save their nation and support their President Assad! The Obama regime has committed an act of war and should be held accountable.
Please watch the videos below and click on the links to see who they really are.
https://www.google.com/amp/s/themarshallreport.wordpress.com/2016/09/24/president-assad-of-syria-is-not-an-evil-dictator-killing-his-people-the-establishment-has-lied/amp/?client=ms-android-hms-tmobile-us
Trapper John
02-07-2017, 12:03
Mustang Man - :lifter Now that's what I'm talking about. Thanks.
This thread's just getting better and better.
bblhead672
02-07-2017, 14:03
Don’t buy into our own propaganda. We are no better or worse than any other powerful country that has ever existed. No one is “good” or “evil”; we do things because it it’s a rough world out there and we look after our own interests, and do what’s best for the United States. That anyone believes we are somehow morally better, and we have a RIGHT to do all the stuff we do because we’re “the good guys” just shows you the effectiveness of our indoctrination as citizens. That’s ok. It’s way better to win than to lose. But if you want to know why a lot of countries despise the US government, re-read what I wrote and realize that, while a little flippant, it’s all true. We have no real moral high ground in international relations. We didn’t do any of what we’ve done because it was “the right thing to do”, we did it because we thought it benefited us. When other countries behave the same way we do in any capacity, we freak out. Just think about it critically with the blinders off, you might just see the world in a whole new way.
Scooter: A few years ago I would have strongly disagreed with your take on American history. My blinders came off (somewhat painfully) and I gained the insight to see that the picture is not always as you imagined it was painted.
Rhetoric is great coming from politicians who merely have to confuse the masses enough to get their votes. Not so great when the rhetoric is peeled back to reveal truth.
The last few years I get strange looks when I say I can't blame the Muslims for hating the "Great Satan" as our society tolerates, promotes and celebrates many things that their religion abhors. That acknowledgement though doesn't imply that the radical Islamists methods are in any way acceptable to me or to a (somewhat) civil and modern world.
Some days I feel our country would be a better place if we kept our noses out of other people's business.
Thanks for your insightful and though provoking post.
Old Dog New Trick
02-07-2017, 14:37
Next time you listen to the Marine Corps Hymn (and while at it, just the definition of "Hymn") and with a different set of lenses (less Rose colored) see an example of Scooter's take on US Military History, or more to the point US 'civilian' Foreign Policy going back hundreds of years to the same places that are evident in the news today.
It's a damn shame that all too often when the victors write history books they show themselves in a favorable light and a supporting bias. Even Hollywood is guilty of promoting that bias.
But, I too, am with my Brothers here that for all the horrible and disgraceful examples in our history the US can pride itself on doing things for the right reasons more often than not, even if the execution or purpose was flawed.
Scooter: A few years ago I would have strongly disagreed with your take on American history. My blinders came off (somewhat painfully) and I gained the insight to see that the picture is not always as you imagined it was painted.
Rhetoric is great coming from politicians who merely have to confuse the masses enough to get their votes. Not so great when the rhetoric is peeled back to reveal truth.
The last few years I get strange looks when I say I can't blame the Muslims for hating the "Great Satan" as our society tolerates, promotes and celebrates many things that their religion abhors. That acknowledgement though doesn't imply that the radical Islamists methods are in any way acceptable to me or to a (somewhat) civil and modern world.
Some days I feel our country would be a better place if we kept our noses out of other people's business.
Thanks for your insightful and though provoking post.
I am firmly of the belief that relations between countries are driven by self interest, and always have been. While I don't think our actions have been "good", I don't think they have been "evil" either. As for our foreign policy since the end of the Cold War, I don't think it has been "wrong". I just think it has been "dumb". We have done nothing to further our nation's core interests and have floundered around from one failed policy to the next without any real thought to what we were really doing, and why. I am not an isolationist, but I do question a large percent of our current military commitments and believe that many of them are not serving to make the US safer, prosperous, or more influential. Our efforts to spread market democracy in the Middle East have been catastrophically self defeating, and we should leave entirely. We are less safe, not more so. We do not need the oil at this point and can never kill an idea (fundamentalist Islam). We will never run out of people to hit with hellfires from drones. We have made the world more dangerous and ushered in endless human tragedy, with nothing to show for it other than multiplying enemies and a rash of failed states. Our policy needs a radical overhaul in many ways. The current approach is not working.
Next time you listen to the Marine Corps Hymn (and while at it, just the definition of "Hymn") and with a different set of lenses (less Rose colored) see an example of Scooter's take on US Military History, or more to the point US 'civilian' Foreign Policy going back hundreds of years to the same places that are evident in the news today.
It's a damn shame that all too often when the victors write history books they show themselves in a favorable light and a supporting bias. Even Hollywood is guilty of promoting that bias.
But, I too, am with my Brothers here that for all the horrible and disgraceful examples in our history the US can pride itself on doing things for the right reasons more often than not, even if the execution or purpose was flawed.
Hear, hear....
Well said, indeed!
Scooter, your observations come with maturity and experience.
Unfortunately, a commie college professor could take bits and pieces and spin a tale to less mature and less experienced minds - and denigrate our nation.
Context and perspective are needed to balance out the good with the bad. And, yes, we act in self interest...but not to the gluttonous state that those opposing our way of life might do - if given the same opportunity - think communism or sharia.
The United States (among countless good things) saved the world in WW2. We have not colonized nor in the recent conflicts stolen oil when we easily could have.
On the other hand - we gave the world ALGORE.
GratefulCitizen
02-07-2017, 15:38
The last few years I get strange looks when I say I can't blame the Muslims for hating the "Great Satan" as our society tolerates, promotes and celebrates many things that their religion abhors. That acknowledgement though doesn't imply that the radical Islamists methods are in any way acceptable to me or to a (somewhat) civil and modern world.
Correctly identifying the illness and correctly identifying the cure are not the same thing.
Decadence and licentiousness in the west are correctly identified as an illness.
Islam is not a cure.
miclo18d
02-07-2017, 16:28
Entire post...
Boy! Those were the good ol days, huh?
Boy! Those were the good ol days, huh?
They sure were!
Unfortunately, a commie college professor could take bits and pieces and spin a tale to less mature and less experienced minds - and denigrate our nation.
Well, for what its worth they already do.
The left sees America as a worse version of what I portrayed - a greedy, wolf of wall street country that commits crimes and genocide while oppressing minorities at home, all in the name of benefiting rich white men.
The right views America as the global Jesus Christ, nobly sacrificing ourselves to save all mankind when we had to opportunity to stay at home turning water into wine.
These views are both wrong, the answer is, like most things, somewhere in between. But don't kid yourself, when the chips are down, we will take self interest over altruism every time when there is something real on the line. I've seen it, on the ground, in person. In my opinion that is as it should be. I'm all for it. Just don't think that a lot of countries hate us "because of our freedom." That's really simplistic and is refusing to see the world as it is.
Likewise, saying Putin is a bully and a thug for protecting Russia's interests is equally dumb. We've been needlessly antagonizing them for years for no reason, and are now seeing the backlash. Obama tried to "reset" our relationship with Russia and he got cheered. Trump is trying the exact same thing, and being called a traitor (literally) by members of both parties. I think a lot of Trump's instincts are spot on, and I'm willing to give him the benefit of the doubt.
Scooter,
What we have been doing has clearly not worked well and your unique insight and on-the-ground experience should stand you in good stead to secure an opportunity to influence change via other methods and in other arenas.
I have little respect for many in higher education today - they have become a politically correct echo chamber and I sincerely wish those well who must now endure it.
Finally, Trump's instinct to communicate with Putin strikes me as much more beneficial than detrimental.
If Trump can survive the deadwood (from both parties) and much of the press - he has a real opportunity to influence real change with regard to not only the subject of this thread but also the future trajectory of this country for years to come.
These views are both wrong, the answer is, like most things, somewhere in between.
"We're not Superman, we're Clark Kent. Fortunately, everyone else is Jimmy Olsen." -- Ranger in documentary about Mogadishu BHD incident.
Pat
miclo18d
02-07-2017, 18:55
But don't kid yourself, when the chips are down, we will take self interest over altruism every time when there is something real on the line.
This^^^^^^^^^
It's human nature. Everyone thinks they can change it with God or with laws. But when it gets down to the bottom rung of Hell, everyone realizes that they are it for themselves and by themselves and they'll do anything to survive. Libs and the religious think they can change nature.
If evolution is the problem, then neither laws nor religion can be the solution. No law can get your dog to not kill that squirrel and God made the dog that way, so you can't tell the dog that killing the squirrel is a sin.
This^^^^^^^^^
It's human nature. Everyone thinks they can change it with God or with laws. But when it gets down to the bottom rung of Hell, everyone realizes that they are it for themselves and by themselves and they'll do anything to survive. Libs and the religious think they can change nature.
If evolution is the problem, then neither laws nor religion can be the solution. No law can get your dog to not kill that squirrel and God made the dog that way, so you can't tell the dog that killing the squirrel is a sin.
This isn't just an individual thing... every major city clearing operation in Iraq erred on the side of thorough urban renewal through firepower. When stomping a city in 2005 an armored unit had a house IED that had some sort of chemical weapon in it slime a squad. They shortly thereafter lost a couple of tanks from underside IEDs, same neighborhood. Everyone pulled back and proceeded to hammer that section of the city with MLRS, artillery, tank main guns, and air dropped ordinance. Did they target discriminate? Sure... they aimed for the buildings. There wasn't a lot of hand wringing over the possibility that the civilians hadn't evacuated fully. We got hit by a VBIED the same day, it was a fun place.
frostfire
02-07-2017, 22:25
Don’t buy into our own propaganda. We are no better or worse than any other powerful country that has ever existed. No one is “good” or “evil”; we do things because it it’s a rough world out there and we look after our own interests, and do what’s best for the United States.
Solid post, Sir. Makes it easy to do "business" without taking anything personal, for we would likely do similar (or worse) response in their shoes.
I believe interests do coincide, and there's that happy non-zero-sum medium where what's best for the US also benefits the world (or most of the world).
I must be a true believer in American exceptionalism then. The US of A is not a country or collection of people to me, but an idea. A powerful, yet fragile idea. This idea is very young compared to centuries of past dynasties, empire, kingdoms. Espousing that idea in some parts of the world today would get one killed or worse. I believe in it as it aligns with Judeo-Christian values. I would die for that belief.
....then again, dying for pushing LGBYTXZ agenda for the rest of the world is a concept hard to swallow, no pun intended :boohoo
https://www.wsj.com/articles/president-obama-praises-africa-in-kenya-summit-speech-1437820696
I believe interests do coincide, and there's that happy non-zero-sum medium where what's best for the US also benefits the world (or most of the world).
I must be a true believer in American exceptionalism then. The US of A is not a country or collection of people to me, but an idea. A powerful, yet fragile idea. This idea is very young compared to centuries of past dynasties, empire, kingdoms.
I believe in American Exceptionalism. Our nation is one of the only places where you aren't permanently defined by your parent's social status or where you were born. The son of an African immigrant can become the President of the United States. If you work hard and apply yourself, you can be anything you want. We have, mostly, adopted a system of universal rights that cannot be constrained by the government and view national power as a thing best spread out, in order to protect the people. We have a firmly entrenched view that people have the right to be left alone for the most part, although that is under pressure at the moment. The United States is the most welcoming, open, generally free nation on earth. We are a productive and industrious people that invented the machine gun, telephone, television, airplane, nuclear power, the internet, the smart phone, the automobile... the modern world was literally created and invented by our nation due to the freedom to own and profit from what you invent.
We also did all that other stuff I mentioned...
Of course, so did the French, British, Germans, Belgians, Spanish, Portuguese, Japanese, Chinese, Russians, Turks, Arabs, Persians, Greeks, Romans, Visigoths, Huns, Mongols.... I could go on. Every nation seeks to spread its culture and organizing system, whether by influence or by force. We can bring a lot of force to bear, so we've been pretty good at it. Japan isn't a market democracy by choice or because we convinced them it was in their best interest. They are a market democracy because we slaughtered all of their young men, crushed their will to resist, occupied their country, and re-wrote their constitution to make them one. The difference between us and the Russians is that while their system makes life hard on everyone, ours is pretty good for all the reasons I named above. A lot of the United State's net benefit to the world has been in doing that. We are similar to a violent sociopath that storms into a shopping mall, kills all the guards, kills anyone who resists, then gives everyone a million dollars. Its been pretty good for the survivors overall, just don't gloss over the first part when thinking about international dynamics in the world today.
miclo18d
02-08-2017, 06:40
This isn't just an individual thing... every major city clearing operation in Iraq erred on the side of thorough urban renewal through firepower. When stomping a city in 2005 an armored unit had a house IED that had some sort of chemical weapon in it slime a squad. They shortly thereafter lost a couple of tanks from underside IEDs, same neighborhood. Everyone pulled back and proceeded to hammer that section of the city with MLRS, artillery, tank main guns, and air dropped ordinance. Did they target discriminate? Sure... they aimed for the buildings. There wasn't a lot of hand wringing over the possibility that the civilians hadn't evacuated fully. We got hit by a VBIED the same day, it was a fun place.
Totally get it, but I think it starts in our human nature. Then we develop as a village. Those that don't comply with the group are put in stocks, exiled, or hung depending on the crime. Outside threats were dealt with militias and usually the threat was eleminated rather than repulsed. This grows to become a nation, an "empire", that also wants to survive at all costs. Whether the threat comes from abroad or inside. We do whatever it takes to survive at all levels.