My position is very simple - the use of chemical weapons is an assault on all humanity and must be punished. If the rest of the world is spineless and/or powerless to act, then the US must act. I don't care which side benefits which way. The perpetrator of the chemical weapon attack must be punished. If that punishment is taking away the weapons, then so be it.

My position is very simple - the use of chemical weapons is an assault on all humanity and must be punished. If the rest of the world is spineless and/or powerless to act, then the US must act. I don't care which side benefits which way. The perpetrator of the chemical weapon attack must be punished. If that punishment is taking away the weapons, then so be it.

 

I agree w/ the caveat that we are already fighting a 2 front war that is draining our economy. We've kept our hands in our pockets over Rwanda and the Republic of Congo, so we have that precedent. It is time for the US to observe, not dictate.

My position is very simple - the use of chemical weapons is an assault on all humanity and must be punished. If the rest of the world is spineless and/or powerless to act, then the US must act. I don't care which side benefits which way. The perpetrator of the chemical weapon attack must be punished. If that punishment is taking away the weapons, then so be it.

 

Even AP says that the case has not been made as to the actual perpetrators of the most recent attack.

 

News from The Associated Press

 

"OBAMA: "We know the Assad regime was responsible. ... The facts cannot be denied."

 

THE FACTS: The Obama administration has not laid out proof Assad was behind the attack."

 

 

Assad had everything to lose and nothing to gain by authorizing such a horrific attack. The 'rebels' are on the run. It was predictable ahead of time that such an attack would do what has happened - bring in external help to the 'rebels'. An blatant WMD attack against civilians defies by the in-place regime defies most logic.

 

The US took no specific action against Iraq when it used chemical weapons. And they used them against their own people and against Iran during their 8-year war. So we have not created nor enforced this red-line that was exposed in past similar events - regardless who really launched the attack. Now if we do not like the role of the 'worlds policeman' when countries attack each other we certainly should give pause to events that are contained within a countries own borders.

 

If we are looking at horrific violations of international law scrutiny should be applied to the 'rebels' as much as the current regime. There are well verified instances of execution via horrific methods such as beheadings of Syrian regular army soldiers. This is a clearly violation of international law on treatment of prisoners of war. Are we to pick and choose what violations of international norms are punished and which are not?

 

It is clear that Christians are suffering under the rebel controlled areas. There are also stories of other atrocities by the rebels - summary executions, beheadings of civilians pulled from a bus, the forced conversion of Christians (above), the execution of Christian priests, etc. The Glen Beck video clearly shows an example of international law and norms violation in a horrific manner.

 

The Turkey PM wants Assad gone. He has for some time. He has Obama's ear. See this CNN article from May below:

 

Obama, Turkish prime minister discuss civil war in Syria - CNN.com

 

"President Barack Obama and Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, meeting in Washington, discussed how to strengthen the Syrian opposition,..."

 

"We're going to keep increasing the pressure on the Assad regime, and working with the Syrian opposition," Obama said. "The prime minister has been on the forefront of the international effort to push for a transition to a democratic Syria without Bashar Assad. And Turkey is going to play an important role as we bring representatives of the regime and opposition together in the coming weeks."

 

[so does the above statement from Obama indicate in no uncertain terms that the US is already directly aiding the 'rebels'?]

 

"Obama said that solid evidence of chemical weaponry would constitute a red line in the conflict and produce major consequences.

 

"I've said in the past, we have seen evidence of the use of chemical weapons inside of Syria. It is important for us to make sure that we're able to get more specific information about what exactly is happening there," he said."

 

[Clearly the use of chemical weapons was set up to be a trigger event to increase support for opposition to Assad. Which such a specific threat why would Assad use chemical weapons?]

 

 

__________

 

Does the Turkey PM want to just have the conflict end or does he want Assad just completely gone?

 

From Reuters:

 

Turkish PM says Syria intervention should aim to end Assad rule | Reuters

 

"(Reuters) - Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan said on Friday that any international military intervention against Syria should be aimed at bringing an end to the rule of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

 

 

The comments from Erdogan, long one of Assad's fiercest critics, came as U.S. President Barack Obama said he was considering a narrow, limited U.S. response to last week's chemical weapons attack in Syria.

 

 

"It can't be a 24 hours hit-and-run," Erdogan told reporters at a reception in the presidential palace in the capital Ankara. "What matters is stopping the bloodshed in Syria and weakening the regime to the point where it gives up.""

 

What did John Kerry say - "unbelievably small" attack.

 

"...what we are talking about doing; an unbelievably small, limited kind of effort."

 

Kerry and the Turkey PM are not at all on the same page.

 

 

 

Maybe all Presidents need an external bad guy. Bush had Hussein, Obama has Assad (and Gaddafi and Mubarak).

I agree w/ the caveat that we are already fighting a 2 front war that is draining our economy. We've kept our hands in our pockets over Rwanda and the Republic of Congo, so we have that precedent. It is time for the US to observe, not dictate.

 

I am not sure what we are doing in Africa but a local guard unit was there for a year. 119 degrees with almost 100% humidity was the normal day there it seems in talking with someone who was deployed.

A little lighter take on Syria - from Leno.

 

Monologue, Part 1 | Video | The Tonight Show | NBC

Saw about a dozen protesters with signs today. They were in Florence on HWY 18 on the bridge over I75.

Signs indicated they were not happy with Obama's position on Syria.