BHO is that you? As a direct beneficiary of student loans you should be pissed off that you had to trade indentured servitude for a decent job. It was not long ago that a minimum wage job could pay for college for about two weeks worth of work per semester. Oh and the student loan program that BHO privatized costs you six percent when banksters currently pay ~1%. 5% spread is pretty damned nice for them. ACA how do you even know how it is going to work , oh yeah I remember trust the govt. No thanks, I still have hemmorhoids from the last time I tried that. Your Faith in your messianic savior borders idolatry. On top of all that the bi-racial person representing himself as a black man is an affront to black people. No matter how many times it is said unless Jim Crow laws have been reinstated BHO is not black. With your statement about how much this government has done for the average american belies our major difference. I want the govt. to just leave me alone and stick to what the constitution says is there job and stop the marxist progression towards fascism that the right wants, and the communism/socialism of the left. FTR my post did not specifically refer to the racially confused kenyamerican socialist. Rather to our entire government for enriching themselves and their cronies on the backs of the american people. I am certainly no fan of the rich, but just where did BHO get these monies he sent to these average american families, if it was not his then how in the hell does he get the credit for that? They took, and are taking money from my grandchildren to give to non-producers and to wage war so that the military industrial complex can reap record profits. Gee thanks!!
Got it. You don't want to live in a society. You live in some rural homestead. I live in a city. I have to share my block with 250 other citizens. We have to share our resources like space. We don't have a well so we rely on city water. We can't fit 250 cars on my block, so we some rely on public transportation to be able to move around. It can get kind of crowded so we need cops to keep things safe. There's nowhere to hunt so we rely on others to ship food into our grocery stores. Most families have 2 parents working just to be able to afford to live here so we need public schools, kindergartens, day cares to help take care of kids. This "communal" life might seem stupid to you, but this is the reality of today's America. Our populations have skyrocketed. It's logistically impossible for all of us to live to your "rugged individual" standards. The reason we pay our taxes in cities is so we can fund public employees that keep our society organized and functional. We prefer this than living in some 3rd world shanty town where there's no taxes and no public services.
http://www.cnn.com/2012/12/27/world/meast/syria-civil-war/index.html?hpt=hp_t3 Another rat deserts the sinking ship... http://www.cnn.com/2012/12/26/world/meast/syria-civil-war/index.html
I haven't watched the video, the description is bad enough: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/wor...syria-blamed-assad-fighters-article-1.1231495
Too little, too late? http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/06/assad-speech-syria-peace-plan_n_2419764.html?ncid=webmail1 "Turkey's Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said Assad's speech was filled with "empty promises" and repetitive pledges of reform by a president appeared out of touch with reality of the Syrian people. "It seems (Assad) has shut himself in his room, and for months has read intelligence reports that are presented to him by those trying to win his favor." No one is going to listen to Assad. If he unilaterally resign, his successor can recall the army, then call for negotiations with the opposition. Other than that, the war continues.
Both sides claim victories: http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2013/01/2013111102729824698.html http://www.ctvnews.ca/world/syrian-troops-capture-majority-of-key-damascus-suburb-official-1.1111364 as the body count grows: http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Late...ighlights-discrepancies-in-casualty-reporting
Not sure why the West is so butthurt about Putin financing the rebels in Ukraine and everyone has turned a blind eye to Qatar/Saudis financing these sociopathic extremists. For as big of a piece of shit that Assad was, it was a massive mistake to ever think that there was any kind of a reasonable alternative. It is extremely foolish to bet on any kind of a "moderate" opposition. These "moderate" Free Syrian Army were never strong enough to win ... Truth is that Assad already had too many of the moderates on his side since he represented a more secular power structure. Assad also had to broker deals with other ethnic groups since his Alawites alone weren't enough to hold power on their own. The West bet wrongly in this civil war and now this cancer of the Islamic State is filling the power vacuum. The correct course of action from the start would have been to broker a deal with Assad from the beginning. The West should have assisted Assad is destroying the extremists early on and in exchange maybe Assad could have been coerced into reaching out to Sunnis a little more. It wasn't that long ago that Syria was considered a country that had a chance to be on a positive path. Somewhere along the way Syria's progress stopped. Part of it is definitely Assad's obsession with keeping power. He was never going to move towards democracy. But a big part of it was the West shunning them as part of an "axis of evil". In reality though they were never any more evil than a lot of the other ME partners the West does approve of. For example look at the current Egypt government who kills and jails political opponents and nobody in the West seems to worry about it too much. Anyways my point is that Assad was always the lesser of two evils as far as the options available. I'm not theologian but I fear these Sunni extremists more than I fear Shiites. Maybe it's because Shiites are an overall regional minority. Maybe they're less thirsty for blood because they see less of a future in which that would do them any good. Even once they gained power in Iraq I thought their actions were relatively restrained compared to the Iraqi Sunni groups who were massacring Shiites by the thousands. Not saying there wasn't any retaliation, but I don't think it was nearly as out of control on the Shiite side as it could have been. Anyways as a strategy from the Western POV I view Shiites as a more stable partner for stability in the ME. Backing the Shiite axis of Iran-Assad-Hezbollah would go a long way in keeping a certain balance in the Middle East. I think if Shiites are under perpetual threat of ethnic cleansing without that axis of political power that they have now.
You're probably correct on this. Now what? You're probably wrong on this. Assad is not going to change his stripes.
Syria civil war is a lose lose. Funny how one year ago this summer everybody was clamoring to arm the Syrian rebels they are freedom fighters blah blah blah john McCain goes to Syria talks to the FSA and blasts Obama for inaction. Assad is depicted like the next Hitler everybody is asking for air strikes Syrian casualties are in the news everyday.... Then fast forward a few months and people realize the rebels are bloodthirsty Wahhabi Extremists who behead people, whip people for watching the WC and who get excommunicated from Al queda because even they say there too crazy. Like I said prior to the invasion of Iraq I rather have a secular tinpot dictator in the ME any day over the Taliban 2.0 as long as were not involve the better.
Now it's time for the Muslim world ... in particular the Sunni Arab world to draw a line in the sand ... They've had their fun the last few years playing geopolitical games against Iran, but this has gone too far. They helped create the monster and now they have to take responsibility otherwise this fanatical cancer will eventually reach even into Saudi Arabia, Qatar and beyond. If IS becomes isolated politically and financially in the end there are enough locals in Iraq, Syria and Lebanon to defeat them. It's happened before. The Sunni tribes in Iraq have turned on these fanatics before during the latter years of the US occupation and FSA has fought them in Syria. In the end it's very few regular people that actually enjoy living under that kind of extreme Sharia law ... I mean they're punishing people for smoking cigarettes, watching football and using hair gel which are like the 3 most popular things for a typical Arab male ...
We were saying this shit 3 years ago, that the Syrian "uprising" was nothing more than an attempt by Wahhabi to disintegrate the Syrian state. But everyone ignored it because it was seen as Western interest to dislodge Syria from its strategic alliance with Iran, and everyone kept crying crocodile tears that Assad is genocidal maniac. Frankly Iran is more influential in Syria today, than it has even been in recent history, including before "uprising" began. Its one of those ironies. The Ayatollahs of Iran staunchly backing a secular strongman (a "kafir" by their own standards, mind you), and on the other side West backing the type of Islamic extremist Wahhabis that did 9/11. lol
Genocidal? Do you deny that he's a h9micidal maniac? Problem is, that it seems almost everyone in the ME turns into homicidal maniacs.
Couldn't agree more ... If I had to be stranded on an island with only one regional cuisine for the rest of my life I would go with Syria/Lebanon/Turkey ... Hell I could probably sustain myself for the rest of my life with 6-7 items ... slow cooked or roasted eggplant, mujaddara (or any of the variety of lentil/bean stews), hommus, flat bread, feta, labneh, baklava, olive oil, honey, wine and lots of fruits and veggies ...
http://nypost.com/2014/08/17/islamic-state-beheads-hundreds-of-members-of-syrian-tribe/ "The head of the al-Sheitaat tribe ... called ... for other tribes to join them in the fight against the militants. ... “We appeal to the other tribes to stand by us because it will be their turn next … If (Islamic State) are done with us the other tribes will be targeted after al-Sheitaat. They are the next target”
Have yall seen the video that IS has released? Next question, have yall seen the guys just get casually executed by IS firing squads? And a follow up question to that, one that as a Texan I have a tough time understanding, why do these grown men surrender in such large numbers to a group like IS? Why would you surrender to an enemy that is planning on killing you either way??? I mean as us Texans/Americans go, it is not unlike the famous stand at the battle of the Alamo in San Antonio where rag tag men go out fighting when surrounded by a much more superior attacking force. The outcome of such was precious time was bought and as well a high price was paid by Santa Anna's well trained and well financed units. Over there with IS, you are better giving a good account of yourself and dying with guns blazing over letting them bind your hands behind your back and shot you execution style, appearing to enjoy their task.
I refuse to give those morons any hits on youtube ... I rate them about 15 notches below bed bugs ... I pray every night that the good people of the Middle East can band together and eradicate these parasites as soon as possible with no mercy and no regret. I'm usually very critical of Western military interventions but I'm 100% behind any military actions taken by US, UK, France, Russia, Iran, Peshmerga or anyone else that's willing to fight them.
Those who finance these sick bigots (who are killing & displacing innocent people in the name of Allah), should be facing serious consequences. And it's high time to take action against European jihadists joining IS, isn't it? Why are they i.e. allowed to return to their countries? We don't want islamic extremists living here ... so please let them enjoy their beloved caliphate in Syria/Iraq before they get eliminated by the Peshmerga fighters. ;-)) So you try to sell us that the whole Assad (who turned into a reckless dictator during the last couples of years) opposition consists/consisted of ISIS fanatics? The problem is that these IS zealots managed to take control of the current situation in Syria & Iraq. The question is, who finances them. If it really turns out to be the Saudis & Qatar, they should be facing serious consequences (but well, we know about the ambivalent relationship of the US with them due to the oil dependence) ... since there's a difference between supporting moderate Sunni opposition and fanatic jihadists.