Actually, DD, what Russia wants in the worst way is increased influence in the region (greatly diminished since the fall of the USSR) and, of vital importance to them, retaining the naval base at Tartus, Syria, their only base in the Mediterranean, and the only place for refueling their warships.
More or less... at least in the sense that they can both be a pain in the arse for their respective benefactors.
General update for a crisis that generally doesn't seem to get enough air time. Though this is typical of cases where the side the media supports is also engaging in terrorism and human rights abuses. Copied from here, sources at link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syria#The_uprising_and_the_Syrian_revolution_.282011.E2.80.932012.29
Turkey is conducting air raids inside Syria in response to Syrian attacks across the border. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-19822253
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>US defense official to @<a href="https://twitter.com/clawrencecnn">clawrencecnn</a> on <a href="https://twitter.com/search/%23Turkey">#Turkey</a> striking <a href="https://twitter.com/search/%23Syria">#Syria</a>: "nothing to suggest it’s going to become a broader conflict.”</p>— CNN Natl Security (@natlsecuritycnn) <a href="https://twitter.com/natlsecuritycnn/status/253584495167561728" data-datetime="2012-10-03T19:57:09+00:00">October 3, 2012</a></blockquote> <script src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
I don't think the West should support the rebels. The revolution in Syria will be hijacked by Islamists, just like in the other Arab countries. Perhaps the West should consider supporting Assad.
Your first point is correct, but you can't support Assad dude. Assad has been bombing hospitals and schools for months now. The guy doesn't give a crap and would use chemical weapons on his own people. I think the regional countries like Turkey have a better eye for what is going on.
Assad should in no way be supported. Even if the Islamists were to gain control (which I don't think they will), whatever they end up doing can be no worse than what Bashar and his father have already done to the Syrian people. On a related note, a few of my photos from Aleppo, Syria were recently picked up by the Washington Post.
FOr real, wtf is wrong with you AroundtheWorld, you have read too much propagand man. Lets not forget that in Syria under Assad your not allowed to protest and what really escalated all this is when he had his henchmen SHOOT and KILL innocent peaceful protesters and you want to support that man? What I find funny is when he recently called us on 'supporting terrorism'... How does he think America was found? This same exact way, revolting and the French did what we are doing to the Rebels. Also funny is comparing the Boston Massacre to Assad killing the protesters. There is actually alot of similarities.
lol. I haven't seen any pro Assad propaganda. I think he is completely right that this will be hijacked by Islamist and we should stay out. Look at Egypt, they fought Mubarak and then the Muslim Brotherhood took over. They had their revolution hijacked as well. We should not prop up Assad nor should we continue to arm the rebels. We have no business in this affair. Russia and China have strong interests in the country. They will have the greatest influence in the postwar rebuilding of Syria whether we like it or not.
Yes, look at Egypt. What they have now, has flaws with it, but it is still far and away superior to what they had under Mubarak. Luckily because they through him out, the Egyptians are still able to voice their protests and won't let a Mubarak dictatorship be replaced with another one. The Muslim Brotherhood were some of the ones fighting Mubarak, and their candidate won an election. Then when that candidate started grabbing too much power the Egyptians voiced their disapproval. That's a good thing. IT's only possible because the dictator was thrown out. The same thing should happen in Syrian and we should always be on the side that goes against the dictator.
Thats a little rosy of what the Egyptians have now. Since the revolution Morsy has at one point taken over and given himself complete control over all law making functions and only gave back when the military got involved. After the constitution was created there was decreed, there were mass protests and followed by casualties. "Only 17.1 million people out of nearly 52 million registered eligible voters in Egypt participated. Even though the Muslim Brotherhood and its political allies came out in full force to vote, the turnout for the referendum was actually low." "Demographically, only 10.9 million Egyptians voted yes to approve the new constitution. This is not even a quarter of the population in a country of nearly 82 million people. [2] This means that about 13.3% of the Egyptian population supported the new constitution." http://www.globalresearch.ca/statis...referendum-did-morsi-hijack-democracy/5320067 Not what I would call a success. Maybe it is better than Mubarak, but the Muslim brotherhood is just in it's infancy of ruling the country. It could get a lot worse and I personally find that more likely. If there is another election it will be interesting to see how that goes.
Alright, I was trying to provoke with the "perhaps we should support Assad" part - but really...do you think the Islamists are any better? Even now, there are already reports about cruelties committed from the midst of the rebels. The revolution has already been hijacked. I am by no means saying that I am an Assad fan, but if the choice is between one side that massacres its own people, but is no threat to the West and one side that also massacres its own people AND is a threat to the West...do you really think it makes sense to support the latter? Hey, we supported the Taliban against the Soviets, right? Was that a good idea, in hindsight?
I'm by no means saying that things are perfect in Egypt. They aren't. There is always a period of adjustment after a dictator is overthrown by the people. Sometimes it's very violent and brutal. But when Morsi tried his power grab the Egyptians themselves took to the streets to protest. That's progress and shows that they won't let someone else try and do the dictatorship thing like they had before. It isn't perfect there, but it is better than Mubarkek. Hopefully it will continue to improve.
