Trump Syria Bombing Megathread

[NOVA Green]

I support the President on this, which I actually can't believe I am posting on a public forum, for a President that I believe is in immediate need of impeachment for a wide variety of behaviors.

[NOVA Green]

Trump's speech that I am listening to as I post has to be one of the worst Presidential addresses to the Nation when it comes to authorization of military actions of any President in modern American Political History (1960+)....

I am deeply concerned and troubled about the influence of Bolton within the current administration and how Trump that ran as an "Anti-War Republican" and a revival of the Vulcans within this Administration.

Still, the reality is that the Syrian Regime with Russian approvals launched a massive chemical weapons attack against a Rebel stronghold in the Exurbs of Damascus, that causes a massive death of civilian non-combatants".

If the US is no longer willing to be the leader of the "Free World" on these issues, our key allies in the UK, France, and Israel, will act on their own....

[NOVA Green]

Let's just hope he isn't doing the alleged Bill Clinton's attempt to kill Bin Laden in '98 gig, where the info of the strikes was leaked to Pakistani Military Intelligence that allowed Bin Laden and his key dudes to leave the camp with four hours advance warning....

Key problem with hitting Syrian Military facilities is the heavy presence of Russian "Military Advisers" that are heavily Embedded with Syrian Regime military forces....

US Military strikes kill Russian Service members = NOT GOOD period end of sentence.

[NOVA Green]

Might I remind everyone on this forum that there is no evidence that Bashar al-Assad authorized the use of chemical weapons against his own people. Besides, what would he gain from that kind of action? I hope everyone who supports this senseless action is prepared to enlist in the Syrian war.

OK--- maybe it was the Russians that performed these War Crimes instead and the Assad Regime had no choice to approve/disapprove considering that they are essentially dependent upon the support of Russia, and to a lesser extent Iran and Lebanese Shiite militias?

Iran doesn't have military air power in Syria, so that leaves either Russia or the Assad Regime responsible for this action.

[NOVA Green]

Personally for almost 30 years now have been a big backer of the Kurdish National Liberation Movement and the creation of a Free Kurdish State as per the Treaty of Sevres agreement with the colonial powers shortly after WW I.

Unfortunately the US was much less than a "fair weather friend" when it came to the Kurds.... and just a few days ago when Trump announced his "withdrawal plan" from Syria, my first thought was what would that mean to the Democratic and Freedom Fighting forces considering not only the Assad Regime, but also Turkish, Saudi, and Iranian political involvement within the Syrian Civil War.

[NOVA Green]

So, to inject a musical interlude here is potentially a topical song from way back in the early Vietnam War era days, that might be especially relevant for those thinking we might be on the verge of WW III (As many of the posts on Atlas seem to have implied).

Barry McGuire: Eve of Destruction

Please purchase the song/album as I did many decades back:

The eastern world it is exploding
Violence flarin', bullets loadin'
You're old enough to kill but not for votin'
You don't believe in war but whats that gun you're totin'?
And even the Jordan River has bodies floatin'

But you tell me
Over and over and over again my friend
Ah, you don't believe
We're on the eve of destruction

Don't you understand what I'm tryin' to say
Can't you feel the fears I'm feelin' today?
If the button is pushed, there's no runnin' away
There'll be no one to save with the world in a grave
Take a look around you boy, it's bound to scare you boy

And you tell me
Over and over and over again my friend
Ah, you don't believe
We're on the eve of destruction

Yeah my blood's so mad feels like coagulating
I'm sitting here just contemplatin'
I can't twist the truth it knows no regulation
Handful of senators don't pass legislation
And marches alone can't bring integration
When human respect is disintegratin'
This whole crazy world is just too frustratin'

And you tell me
Over and over and over again my friend
Ah, you don't believe
We're on the eve of destruction

Think of all the hate there is in Red China
Then take a look around to Selma, Alabama
You may leave here for four days in space
But when you return it's the same old place
The pounding of the drums, the pride and disgrace
You can bury your dead but don't leave a trace
Hate your next door neighbor but don't forget to say grace

And tell me
Over and over and over and over again my friend
You don't believe
We're on the eve of destruction
Mmm, no, no, you don't believe
We're on the eve of destruction

Here is the YouTube link where the copywrite holder has officially approved this link....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o2HwvVL_PJw

In many ways I look at the late 2010s and see echos of the 1960s brewing deep in the veins.

I have protested and marched against every single War the US waged from the Central American Solidarity Movement days, the US military actions in the former Republic of Yugoslavia, Somalia, not to mention so many Wars in Iraq, and even against the initial assault against Afghanistan.

Def not a War Hawk, and certainly have absolutely 0% confidence in the Trump Administration when it comes to War/Peace issues.... Hell even though we knew the Bush Jr Admin was lying about WMDs in Iraq, we weren't worried about a potential World War scenario.

[NOVA Green]

So although I don't believe this was the major rational behind the US/UK/French Airstrikes on Syria, certainly I can understand why the timing and optics might not play well in the court of global public opinion...

It does remind me slightly of the early '80's when the Tory PM's poll numbers were slumping, and Thatcher started a war with Argentina....

The Exploited: Let's Start a War

Lets start a war said maggie one day
With the unemployed masses we'll just do away
They won't mind, like sheep they'll go
They won't suss us, they'll never know
Lets start a war said maggie one day
Lets start a war said maggie one day
Lets start a war said maggie one day
You fight for your country
You die for their gain
Death and destruction all around
Shops and houses are razed to the ground
Burnt out houses empty shells
Here on earth it's just a mortal hell
Lets start a war said maggie one day
Lets start a war said maggie one day
Lets start a war said maggie one day
You fight for your country
You die for their gain
How they died no one will ever know
They said they would save us as deterrents they would be used
Except they brought destruction to an earth grows no food
No we are gone forever no tombs can hold your names
Lets start a war said maggie one day
Lets start a war said maggie one day
Lets start a war said maggie one day
You fight for your country
You die for their gain

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PFzHwD9xiqM&t=104s

Trump's air strikes on Syria currently are essentially a pin prick when it comes to undermining the Baathist Syrian Regime and their Russian and Iranian clients....

Still, the timing of the strikes optically is not good at all, at a time where Trump is basically on self-defense mode when it comes to all types of criminal investigations from corruption and financial issues to potential collaboration with the Fascist Putin Russian regime.....

Don't think this will go down well in terms of improving Trump's FAV/UNFAV ratings, especially since many Americans will likely look at this as an attempted distraction as the long arms of the law start to get closer and closer to his inner circle.

[NOVA Green]

If the situation in Syria is bad enough that we need to drop bombs, then by definition it is bad enough that we should be accepting Syrian refugees. It is beyond disgraceful that we are not.

[NOVA Green]

F**k the 89 Senators who voted to increase the war machine by another $80 billion a year.

Pls post a list for "Name and Shame"....

In the words of Alice Di Micele (Folk Artist from Southern Oregon), we need to listen to "Dismantle" off her first album... Please purchase digitally, since I already bought her first few albums on Cassette Tapes decades back, but believe artists should get paid for their works, so when I link to YouTube post only songs/links for albums that I have already purchased.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alice_DiMicele

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ozSI1Vv27PY

"This is a Song to dismantle the War Machine"....

With you jfern on principle... lost a good friend in Iraq in '04 outside of Taji / Camp Cooke, and am extremely skeptical when it comes to Democratic and Republican Political leaders alike when it comes to issues such as War and Peace....

[NOVA Green]

"Mission Accomplished"... where have I heard that one before?

Anyways, still waiting for evidence that Assad attacked his own people...

It just doesn't make sense. Assad basically won the war months ago, so it makes no sense for him to chemically attack his own people knowing that it would bring Western intervention down on him.

Something doesn't add up here.

Assad has been consistantly using chemical weapons on a smaller scale for years. The reason he used them in Douma was because negotiations over evacuations broke down when Jaysh al-Islam apparently assassinated their own negotiator. And as one Syria analyst put it - Douma is a "meatgrinder" that neither Assad, Russia, Iran, or Hezbollah had any appetite to actually fight in. It was a choice between a weeks-long campaign to take the city risking thousands of troops, or trying to get Jaysh al-Islam back to the negotiating table with a chemical attack, risking an airstrike that he would have plenty of warning to limit the damage. When you consider that Jaysh al-Islam did indeed return to the negotiating table within hours of the chemical attack and evacuated the city by the end of the week, all in all, using chemical weapons was a massive strategic victory for Assad.

Wow Crumpets---- I've been wondering for a few weeks now why Syria/Russia  launched these chemical weapons attacks now at this current time, originally thinking they were testing Trump's "Withdrawal from Syria" plan, but your take on it actually makes tons more sense than any other explanation I had seen to date....