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[Official] Do you support military strikes against Syria?

Discussion in 'BBS Hangout: Debate & Discussion' started by KingCheetah, Aug 29, 2013.

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Do you support military strikes against Syria?

  1. Yes

    36 vote(s)
    17.7%
  2. No

    167 vote(s)
    82.3%
  1. SamFisher

    SamFisher Member

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    I ACCEPT MEANINGLESS INTERWEB BET, FORM OF PRUFE IS POLI GRAPH TEST

    I'm too old for this sh-t - you're a liar and we all know it.
     
  2. treeman

    treeman Member

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    So, do you accept the bet, then? I have already asked Clutch if I can send my creds to him, and am waiting on his response.

    Of course, I have no doubt that you will not honor your end of the bet, but whatever. It will feel good to expose you for the troll douche that you are. I mean, not that it will be a revelation to anyone, but... It still needs to be done.
     
  3. CometsWin

    CometsWin Breaker Breaker One Nine

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  4. Rocket River

    Rocket River Member

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    http://truth-out.org/news/item/18710-the-us-has-no-credibility-dealing-with-chemical-weapons


    hhhhmmmmm

    Rocket River
     
  5. bigtexxx

    bigtexxx Member

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    Putin is completely making Kerry and Obama look like fools.

    Kerry's off hand comment about returning the weapons has backfired on Obama's plans big time.

    US foreign policy has become a clown show under Obama
     
  6. treeman

    treeman Member

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    More good news for the administration:

    Opposition to Syrian Airstrikes Surges
    Obama Job Approval Slips into Negative Territory


    http://www.people-press.org/2013/09/09/opposition-to-syrian-airstrikes-surges/

    Over just the past week, the share of Americans who oppose U.S. airstrikes in Syria has surged 15 points, from 48% to 63%, as many who were undecided about the issue have turned against military action. By contrast, the share of Americans who support airstrikes remains virtually unchanged: Just 28% favor U.S. military airstrikes against Syria in response to reports that its government used chemical weapons.

    So much for convincing the American people of the wisdom of this adventure.
     
  7. rocketsjudoka

    rocketsjudoka Member

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    Actually Kerry's off hand comment has resulted in Russia and Syria putting forward a proposal on them. If anything it looks like Kerry has played Putin.
     
  8. solid

    solid Member

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    The invasion of Iraq was a disaster, but more so in retrospect. If it had been this buggled up front, it would have never have happened.
     
  9. B-Bob

    B-Bob "94-year-old self-described dreamer"
    Supporting Member

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    I would propose a courtroom confrontation with Clutch as the judge, SamFisher as Tom Cruise lawyer guy, and treeman as General Jessup. I guess Jessup needs representation, so I nominate Refman to play the Kevin Bacon part.

    Let's do this. It's the only way.
     
  10. treeman

    treeman Member

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    Hey man, why do I have to be the bad guy? :grin:

    I'm just waiting on a response from Clutch. Hope he is OK with doing it. I've got creds and pics ready to send.
     
  11. treeman

    treeman Member

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    Er, I don't think so. The Russian's proposal predates Kerry's stupid comments, I think.

    If this actually does happen the Putin will again have outfoxed Obama. Putin is no slouch, he knows how to pounce when he sees an opportunity. And the opportunity to make the US look like a unilateralist warmongering nation - under the stewardship of a man who swore his honor that he would to act in this way - is just too rich for the Russians to pass up.

    It's amatuer hour at the White House, and everybody knows it.
     
  12. treeman

    treeman Member

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    Yes, I suck at typing.
     
  13. Dubious

    Dubious Member

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    The point I was trying to show is that, the strike as outlined by Mr. Obama, is intended to be punitive without promoting regime change. It's not an invasion, it's not a war, it's punishment commensurate with the crime. It was outlined as a one time response, and you keep saying it is inevitable that it will expand into something much bigger. It very well could because you can't predict all the unintended consequences but those would not be the direct choice of the United States but responses to the subsequent actions of others.

    Standing strong against atrocities and crimes against humanity is the moral high ground. I don't know what avenue other than punitive military strikes would be available, but I would listen to alternatives.
     
    #333 Dubious, Sep 9, 2013
    Last edited: Sep 9, 2013
  14. justtxyank

    justtxyank Member

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    I shoot at you, you shoot back, we end up in a full fledged gun fight. That's not MY choice, that's your choice. You shouldn't have reacted to me shooting at you.
     
  15. treeman

    treeman Member

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    And again, exactly what target package will be appropriate? Give me a target list that will strike the right balance between the "punitive" and "limited". This needs to be answered before the first missile flies.

    I've asked this before and gotten no answer.

    Is your goal to remove his ability to deploy these weapons? If so then you need to take out his entire air force and his entire corps of artillery and rocket. That is not a job for a few Tomahawks, that is a job for the USAF and USN that would take weeks to months.

    Is your goal to seize the CBW? Then that will require boots on the ground - lots of them. The report on the RAND study I linked to earlier estimated up to 75k boots on the ground to accomplish that mission.

    I keep hearing "degrade". We're going to "degrade" his ability to use CW. But what does that mean? We hit one artillery unit as an example? Technically his capability has been degraded, but he is still fully capable of doing it again. And now he knows that you aren't willing to go the distance.

    So, tell me, what is the military objective here? I asked this earlier and got a vague one-liner for a response. It deserves a more detailed response, and more thought than goes into a one-liner.

    No, what I am saying is that one of 4 things is likely to happen.

    Most likely is that the strike is "unbelievably small" and one-and-done or whatever, and it will be of no consequence. It will be worse than a waste of time because it will show that we aren't willing to apply any real pressure, and it will tell Assad that there are no real repercussions to using CBW. This is the "just enough to not be mocked" option that we heard talk of last week.

    Second possible outcome is that the strike is "unbelievably small" and Assad thinks he can get away with it, so he does it again, and we end up hitting him again - and get dragged into an extended air campaign when we finally realize that we actually *do* have to make it really hurt, and we can't do that with just a few salvos of Tomahawks.

    Third possible outcome, and least likely, is that we get the perfect mix of targets and munitions, kill just the exact right amount of people so as to scare Assad but not degrade his forces to the extent that it tips the balance in the civil war. The odds of this occurring with only a one or two day strike focused around Tomahawks are so remote as to be almost laughable.

    The fourth possible outcome, and probably most likely, is that as we saw in many reports last week, the target list has been significantly expanded, and what is being sold as "unbelievably small" is actually rather significant. We have two carrier groups in the area with over a dozen Tomahawk-capable ships between them in addition to the well-publicized 5 ships, and there has been discussion about land-based air assets including US-based assets, which can only mean B2s and other bombers. That is what you want in place for an extended air campaign.

    If we go that route it is very difficult to envision us not doing enough damage to tip the scales in the rebels' favor. And if it looks like Assad is going to fall, what happens to those CBW in the area? Do they go to Hizbollah? Do the rebels capture them? Or do we send in the Marines - lots of them - to seize them ourselves? Are any of those options good outcomes?

    Please think long and hard about why the brass is so against this. They have gamed it all out in much more depth than the politicians have. They know the true risks, and they are not interested in making a token show that will expose us as weak on the world stage.
     
    1 person likes this.
  16. Major

    Major Member

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    :confused: Why would you expect an answer? Do you think a bunch of people on a basketball message board have a list of targets in Syria to attack? Do you think the Obama administration should tell Assad exactly what targets they will attack?

    You have made a bunch of assumptions about would and wouldn't be effective, and then act as though it's fact and expect everyone to justify things based on your version of reality. It's silly. And amusingly, you needed no such exit strategies or solutions-in-advance for every single possible outcome when advocating not just some missile strikes, but putting boots on the ground and fully invading and taking over another country.
     
  17. glynch

    glynch Member

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    It is good to see after falling for the Iraq War buildup treeman is starting to understand. l
     
  18. pippendagimp

    pippendagimp Member

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    i would assume they will principally target any cursory infrastructure and blocks allocated for the gas pipeline b/t syria-iwreck-iran
     
  19. glynch

    glynch Member

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    Actually the Iraq buildup was bungled pretty bad (actually at best a case was deliberately made falsely or with reckless disregard for the actual intelligence.) The evidence was known to to many to be shaky. More to the point even if Sadam had wmd and Assad gassed some folks what is the American interest to the point where we should have tens of thousands of our folks lives ended or condemned to permanent suffering, hundreds of thousands of Iraqis condemend to the same fate with the end result that virtually all folks in that part of the world hate us more than ever.
     
  20. NotInMyHouse

    NotInMyHouse Member

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    Nice call. :)
     

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