Everyone has solutions, especially armchair quarterbacks - lets hear yours

[Coyote]

At the moment, I can think of multiple emerging serious world events that Trump is going to have to deal with. Everyone is happy to criticize Trump and Obama for acting or not acting. But that ignores the reality - in which simple solutions are not going to solve complex problems.

Two leading contenders for the Big World Problem of the year are: Syria and NK.

Let's look at Syria:
Syria is into it's 6th year of Civil War. Now, to put this in perspective - civil wars are the worst wars, long, bloody, destructive. The Congo has been in and out of a civil war that has been deemed the bloodiest conflict ever since about 1960. No one has been able to "solve it" nor is it much in the news despite the incredible brutality and the use of child soldiers. If the Congo can't be solved...how are we going to "fix" Syria?

Modern Syria is a product of artificial borders from the division of the Ottoman Empire by the national powers of the time. It' forced together different and opposing ethnic, tribal and religious groups under a strong man regime. The regime itself was of a minority population, and kept divisions alive in order to maintain power. You have other minorities allied with the regime because the regime protected them in exchange for loyalty. An then you have others who have long been discrimminated against or even outright attacked by the regime. The entire mess is held together by a ruthless dictator. That's the readers digest version.

Part 2 - popular uprising. Short version: Assad brutally attacked peaceful demonstrators demanding political change. That was the shot that started the spiral downward. Assad's brutality against his own people became more and more apparent as the conflict grew. ISIS found a foothold in the people that had previously suffered under Assad's rule. Fast forward to now: Syria is split into regime controlled territory, "rebel" controlled territory (and "rebel" means diverse groups with differing agendas and loyalties) and ISIS controlled territory.

Part 3 - lets make it even more complicated! We have Outside Interests. Russia has involved itself - and is propping up Assad. Russia has it's own interests and agenda not the least of which is to be a world leader in the global arena. Add to that, Iran - another wanna-be world player, or at least a major regional power. Finally - we have Turkey, who's borders with Syria and problems with the Kurds create yet another agenda in the conflict.

Part 4 - all seem to be supporting different factions in the conflict turning Syria into what I think is a proxy war for outside powers.

All right folks, let's hear from you: What should the US do?


I'll outline NK later.

 

[imawhosure]

At the moment, I can think of multiple emerging serious world events that Trump is going to have to deal with. Everyone is happy to criticize Trump and Obama for acting or not acting. But that ignores the reality - in which simple solutions are not going to solve complex problems.

Two leading contenders for the Big World Problem of the year are: Syria and NK.

Let's look at Syria:
Syria is into it's 6th year of Civil War. Now, to put this in perspective - civil wars are the worst wars, long, bloody, destructive. The Congo has been in and out of a civil war that has been deemed the bloodiest conflict ever since about 1960. No one has been able to "solve it" nor is it much in the news despite the incredible brutality and the use of child soldiers. If the Congo can't be solved...how are we going to "fix" Syria?

Modern Syria is a product of artificial borders from the division of the Ottoman Empire by the national powers of the time. It' forced together different and opposing ethnic, tribal and religious groups under a strong man regime. The regime itself was of a minority population, and kept divisions alive in order to maintain power. You have other minorities allied with the regime because the regime protected them in exchange for loyalty. An then you have others who have long been discrimminated against or even outright attacked by the regime. The entire mess is held together by a ruthless dictator. That's the readers digest version.

Part 2 - popular uprising. Short version: Assad brutally attacked peaceful demonstrators demanding political change. That was the shot that started the spiral downward. Assad's brutality against his own people became more and more apparent as the conflict grew. ISIS found a foothold in the people that had previously suffered under Assad's rule. Fast forward to now: Syria is split into regime controlled territory, "rebel" controlled territory (and "rebel" means diverse groups with differing agendas and loyalties) and ISIS controlled territory.

Part 3 - lets make it even more complicated! We have Outside Interests. Russia has involved itself - and is propping up Assad. Russia has it's own interests and agenda not the least of which is to be a world leader in the global arena. Add to that, Iran - another wanna-be world player, or at least a major regional power. Finally - we have Turkey, who's borders with Syria and problems with the Kurds create yet another agenda in the conflict.

Part 4 - all seem to be supporting different factions in the conflict turning Syria into what I think is a proxy war for outside powers.

All right folks, let's hear from you: What should the US do?


I'll outline NK later.

Now this is a good thread! I look forward to reading what people say. The one question you didn't ask is--------->if nothing works, what should we do; especially with the NK!

 

[Coyote]

At the moment, I can think of multiple emerging serious world events that Trump is going to have to deal with. Everyone is happy to criticize Trump and Obama for acting or not acting. But that ignores the reality - in which simple solutions are not going to solve complex problems.

Two leading contenders for the Big World Problem of the year are: Syria and NK.

Let's look at Syria:
Syria is into it's 6th year of Civil War. Now, to put this in perspective - civil wars are the worst wars, long, bloody, destructive. The Congo has been in and out of a civil war that has been deemed the bloodiest conflict ever since about 1960. No one has been able to "solve it" nor is it much in the news despite the incredible brutality and the use of child soldiers. If the Congo can't be solved...how are we going to "fix" Syria?

Modern Syria is a product of artificial borders from the division of the Ottoman Empire by the national powers of the time. It' forced together different and opposing ethnic, tribal and religious groups under a strong man regime. The regime itself was of a minority population, and kept divisions alive in order to maintain power. You have other minorities allied with the regime because the regime protected them in exchange for loyalty. An then you have others who have long been discrimminated against or even outright attacked by the regime. The entire mess is held together by a ruthless dictator. That's the readers digest version.

Part 2 - popular uprising. Short version: Assad brutally attacked peaceful demonstrators demanding political change. That was the shot that started the spiral downward. Assad's brutality against his own people became more and more apparent as the conflict grew. ISIS found a foothold in the people that had previously suffered under Assad's rule. Fast forward to now: Syria is split into regime controlled territory, "rebel" controlled territory (and "rebel" means diverse groups with differing agendas and loyalties) and ISIS controlled territory.

Part 3 - lets make it even more complicated! We have Outside Interests. Russia has involved itself - and is propping up Assad. Russia has it's own interests and agenda not the least of which is to be a world leader in the global arena. Add to that, Iran - another wanna-be world player, or at least a major regional power. Finally - we have Turkey, who's borders with Syria and problems with the Kurds create yet another agenda in the conflict.

Part 4 - all seem to be supporting different factions in the conflict turning Syria into what I think is a proxy war for outside powers.

All right folks, let's hear from you: What should the US do?


I'll outline NK later.

Now this is a good thread! I look forward to reading what people say. The one question you didn't ask is--------->if nothing works, what should we do; especially with the NK!

I have to run in a short bit but I was going to outline the situation with NK as well, and will add that to it - it's also complex, no one has ignored it but - like Syria, like the Iran nuclear issue - it's another problem with no easy answer and more likely no GOOD answer, just the best of bad ones. I'm hoping to see real discussion - something beyond - "nuke them".

 

[TheOldSchool]

Regarding North Korea, I would like an in depth explanation about why Kim Jong Il was never assassinated, and why Kim Jong Un has yet to be assassinated.

 

[westwall]

At the moment, I can think of multiple emerging serious world events that Trump is going to have to deal with. Everyone is happy to criticize Trump and Obama for acting or not acting. But that ignores the reality - in which simple solutions are not going to solve complex problems.

Two leading contenders for the Big World Problem of the year are: Syria and NK.

Let's look at Syria:
Syria is into it's 6th year of Civil War. Now, to put this in perspective - civil wars are the worst wars, long, bloody, destructive. The Congo has been in and out of a civil war that has been deemed the bloodiest conflict ever since about 1960. No one has been able to "solve it" nor is it much in the news despite the incredible brutality and the use of child soldiers. If the Congo can't be solved...how are we going to "fix" Syria?

Modern Syria is a product of artificial borders from the division of the Ottoman Empire by the national powers of the time. It' forced together different and opposing ethnic, tribal and religious groups under a strong man regime. The regime itself was of a minority population, and kept divisions alive in order to maintain power. You have other minorities allied with the regime because the regime protected them in exchange for loyalty. An then you have others who have long been discrimminated against or even outright attacked by the regime. The entire mess is held together by a ruthless dictator. That's the readers digest version.

Part 2 - popular uprising. Short version: Assad brutally attacked peaceful demonstrators demanding political change. That was the shot that started the spiral downward. Assad's brutality against his own people became more and more apparent as the conflict grew. ISIS found a foothold in the people that had previously suffered under Assad's rule. Fast forward to now: Syria is split into regime controlled territory, "rebel" controlled territory (and "rebel" means diverse groups with differing agendas and loyalties) and ISIS controlled territory.

Part 3 - lets make it even more complicated! We have Outside Interests. Russia has involved itself - and is propping up Assad. Russia has it's own interests and agenda not the least of which is to be a world leader in the global arena. Add to that, Iran - another wanna-be world player, or at least a major regional power. Finally - we have Turkey, who's borders with Syria and problems with the Kurds create yet another agenda in the conflict.

Part 4 - all seem to be supporting different factions in the conflict turning Syria into what I think is a proxy war for outside powers.

All right folks, let's hear from you: What should the US do?


I'll outline NK later.

Syria is a gift that is going to keep on giving. The over riding problem is the fact that the British drew imaginary lines on maps and ignored the reality of who lived within those lines. IMO the only way you can ever really change things will be to go through and systematically redraw the national boundaries so that Sunni's live with Sunni's, and are governed by them, and Shia live with Shia, the Kurds too need to have their own homeland, but that requires carving off sections of three other countries. It is a massive problem, but ultimately I think it is the only way to make things more peaceful.

 

[tycho1572]

What should the US do?
As a taxpayer who has seen the problems we're facing, I'm going to continue supporting Trump.

The guy is obviously much smarter and stronger than that worthless POS we just had.

 

[SassyIrishLass]

At the moment, I can think of multiple emerging serious world events that Trump is going to have to deal with. Everyone is happy to criticize Trump and Obama for acting or not acting. But that ignores the reality - in which simple solutions are not going to solve complex problems.

Two leading contenders for the Big World Problem of the year are: Syria and NK.

Let's look at Syria:
Syria is into it's 6th year of Civil War. Now, to put this in perspective - civil wars are the worst wars, long, bloody, destructive. The Congo has been in and out of a civil war that has been deemed the bloodiest conflict ever since about 1960. No one has been able to "solve it" nor is it much in the news despite the incredible brutality and the use of child soldiers. If the Congo can't be solved...how are we going to "fix" Syria?

Modern Syria is a product of artificial borders from the division of the Ottoman Empire by the national powers of the time. It' forced together different and opposing ethnic, tribal and religious groups under a strong man regime. The regime itself was of a minority population, and kept divisions alive in order to maintain power. You have other minorities allied with the regime because the regime protected them in exchange for loyalty. An then you have others who have long been discrimminated against or even outright attacked by the regime. The entire mess is held together by a ruthless dictator. That's the readers digest version.

Part 2 - popular uprising. Short version: Assad brutally attacked peaceful demonstrators demanding political change. That was the shot that started the spiral downward. Assad's brutality against his own people became more and more apparent as the conflict grew. ISIS found a foothold in the people that had previously suffered under Assad's rule. Fast forward to now: Syria is split into regime controlled territory, "rebel" controlled territory (and "rebel" means diverse groups with differing agendas and loyalties) and ISIS controlled territory.

Part 3 - lets make it even more complicated! We have Outside Interests. Russia has involved itself - and is propping up Assad. Russia has it's own interests and agenda not the least of which is to be a world leader in the global arena. Add to that, Iran - another wanna-be world player, or at least a major regional power. Finally - we have Turkey, who's borders with Syria and problems with the Kurds create yet another agenda in the conflict.

Part 4 - all seem to be supporting different factions in the conflict turning Syria into what I think is a proxy war for outside powers.

All right folks, let's hear from you: What should the US do?


I'll outline NK later.

Syria is a gift that is going to keep on giving. The over riding problem is the fact that the British drew imaginary lines on maps and ignored the reality of who lived within those lines. IMO the only way you can ever really change things will be to go through and systematically redraw the national boundaries so that Sunni's live with Sunni's, and are governed by them, and Shia live with Shia, the Kurds too need to have their own homeland, but that requires carving off sections of three other countries. It is a massive problem, but ultimately I think it is the only way to make things more peaceful.

You could divide it but they still wouldn't get along

 

[velvtacheeze]

At the moment, I can think of multiple emerging serious world events that Trump is going to have to deal with. Everyone is happy to criticize Trump and Obama for acting or not acting. But that ignores the reality - in which simple solutions are not going to solve complex problems.

Two leading contenders for the Big World Problem of the year are: Syria and NK.

Let's look at Syria:
Syria is into it's 6th year of Civil War. Now, to put this in perspective - civil wars are the worst wars, long, bloody, destructive. The Congo has been in and out of a civil war that has been deemed the bloodiest conflict ever since about 1960. No one has been able to "solve it" nor is it much in the news despite the incredible brutality and the use of child soldiers. If the Congo can't be solved...how are we going to "fix" Syria?

Modern Syria is a product of artificial borders from the division of the Ottoman Empire by the national powers of the time. It' forced together different and opposing ethnic, tribal and religious groups under a strong man regime. The regime itself was of a minority population, and kept divisions alive in order to maintain power. You have other minorities allied with the regime because the regime protected them in exchange for loyalty. An then you have others who have long been discrimminated against or even outright attacked by the regime. The entire mess is held together by a ruthless dictator. That's the readers digest version.

Part 2 - popular uprising. Short version: Assad brutally attacked peaceful demonstrators demanding political change. That was the shot that started the spiral downward. Assad's brutality against his own people became more and more apparent as the conflict grew. ISIS found a foothold in the people that had previously suffered under Assad's rule. Fast forward to now: Syria is split into regime controlled territory, "rebel" controlled territory (and "rebel" means diverse groups with differing agendas and loyalties) and ISIS controlled territory.

Part 3 - lets make it even more complicated! We have Outside Interests. Russia has involved itself - and is propping up Assad. Russia has it's own interests and agenda not the least of which is to be a world leader in the global arena. Add to that, Iran - another wanna-be world player, or at least a major regional power. Finally - we have Turkey, who's borders with Syria and problems with the Kurds create yet another agenda in the conflict.

Part 4 - all seem to be supporting different factions in the conflict turning Syria into what I think is a proxy war for outside powers.

All right folks, let's hear from you: What should the US do?


I'll outline NK later.

Take our troops out of the ME. It's not hard. Yes, it will be a mess. Yes, Iran will bully their neighbors. But it's not our responsibility to police that part of the world.

Trump promised to get the US out of these entanglements, and he's doing the exact opposite.

The Wall paid for by Mexico is a fence paid for by US taxpayers. Business are not afraid anymore to move jobs to Mexico. Obamacare is still the law. And now we're involved more deeply in a civil war. Gas prices are up, job creation is down.

So far I grade the Trump Presidency a total failure.

 

[toomuchtime_]

At the moment, I can think of multiple emerging serious world events that Trump is going to have to deal with. Everyone is happy to criticize Trump and Obama for acting or not acting. But that ignores the reality - in which simple solutions are not going to solve complex problems.

Two leading contenders for the Big World Problem of the year are: Syria and NK.

Let's look at Syria:
Syria is into it's 6th year of Civil War. Now, to put this in perspective - civil wars are the worst wars, long, bloody, destructive. The Congo has been in and out of a civil war that has been deemed the bloodiest conflict ever since about 1960. No one has been able to "solve it" nor is it much in the news despite the incredible brutality and the use of child soldiers. If the Congo can't be solved...how are we going to "fix" Syria?

Modern Syria is a product of artificial borders from the division of the Ottoman Empire by the national powers of the time. It' forced together different and opposing ethnic, tribal and religious groups under a strong man regime. The regime itself was of a minority population, and kept divisions alive in order to maintain power. You have other minorities allied with the regime because the regime protected them in exchange for loyalty. An then you have others who have long been discrimminated against or even outright attacked by the regime. The entire mess is held together by a ruthless dictator. That's the readers digest version.

Part 2 - popular uprising. Short version: Assad brutally attacked peaceful demonstrators demanding political change. That was the shot that started the spiral downward. Assad's brutality against his own people became more and more apparent as the conflict grew. ISIS found a foothold in the people that had previously suffered under Assad's rule. Fast forward to now: Syria is split into regime controlled territory, "rebel" controlled territory (and "rebel" means diverse groups with differing agendas and loyalties) and ISIS controlled territory.

Part 3 - lets make it even more complicated! We have Outside Interests. Russia has involved itself - and is propping up Assad. Russia has it's own interests and agenda not the least of which is to be a world leader in the global arena. Add to that, Iran - another wanna-be world player, or at least a major regional power. Finally - we have Turkey, who's borders with Syria and problems with the Kurds create yet another agenda in the conflict.

Part 4 - all seem to be supporting different factions in the conflict turning Syria into what I think is a proxy war for outside powers.

All right folks, let's hear from you: What should the US do?


I'll outline NK later.

1. It is no longer a civil war. It began as a civil war but even then it was Alawites in control being opposed by the Sunni Syrians. Assad quickly called in Hezbollah and Iran, which made it more clearly part of the regional sectarian conflict between Sunni and Shia.

Along with Iran, Shia militias from Iraq and as far away as Afghanistan began showing up in Syria to fight for the Alawite government, and in response, Saudis and other Sunni majority nations began sending money and weapons to the Sunni rebels. It was no longer a civil war between aggrieved Syrians and an oppressive government but just a theater in the sectarian war between Shia and Sunni.

Assad was still losing the war, so he called in Russia and Russia's heavey bombing of Sunni areas turned the tide of the war in favor of the Assad government, if at any point Russia were to stop bombing the Sunni, the Assad government would quickly fall despite all the help from Iran and other Shia.

According to a report from the Syrian Network for Human Rights last month, 207,000 civilians have been killed so far and 94% of these deaths are the result of bombing by Assad and Russia.

http://sn4hr.org/wp-content/pdf/eng...of_the_Syrian_alliance_Iranian_Russian_en.pdf

The only way this horror can stop is if the Russians can be persuaded to stop bombing. While this will still leave a mess to clean up in Syria, the major cause of death and homeless refugees will have ended, and this would be a great start toward helping the Syrians to reclaim their country and to organize an inclusive government.

 

[Tehon]

At the moment, I can think of multiple emerging serious world events that Trump is going to have to deal with. Everyone is happy to criticize Trump and Obama for acting or not acting. But that ignores the reality - in which simple solutions are not going to solve complex problems.

Two leading contenders for the Big World Problem of the year are: Syria and NK.

Let's look at Syria:
Syria is into it's 6th year of Civil War. Now, to put this in perspective - civil wars are the worst wars, long, bloody, destructive. The Congo has been in and out of a civil war that has been deemed the bloodiest conflict ever since about 1960. No one has been able to "solve it" nor is it much in the news despite the incredible brutality and the use of child soldiers. If the Congo can't be solved...how are we going to "fix" Syria?

Modern Syria is a product of artificial borders from the division of the Ottoman Empire by the national powers of the time. It' forced together different and opposing ethnic, tribal and religious groups under a strong man regime. The regime itself was of a minority population, and kept divisions alive in order to maintain power. You have other minorities allied with the regime because the regime protected them in exchange for loyalty. An then you have others who have long been discrimminated against or even outright attacked by the regime. The entire mess is held together by a ruthless dictator. That's the readers digest version.

Part 2 - popular uprising. Short version: Assad brutally attacked peaceful demonstrators demanding political change. That was the shot that started the spiral downward. Assad's brutality against his own people became more and more apparent as the conflict grew. ISIS found a foothold in the people that had previously suffered under Assad's rule. Fast forward to now: Syria is split into regime controlled territory, "rebel" controlled territory (and "rebel" means diverse groups with differing agendas and loyalties) and ISIS controlled territory.

Part 3 - lets make it even more complicated! We have Outside Interests. Russia has involved itself - and is propping up Assad. Russia has it's own interests and agenda not the least of which is to be a world leader in the global arena. Add to that, Iran - another wanna-be world player, or at least a major regional power. Finally - we have Turkey, who's borders with Syria and problems with the Kurds create yet another agenda in the conflict.

Part 4 - all seem to be supporting different factions in the conflict turning Syria into what I think is a proxy war for outside powers.

All right folks, let's hear from you: What should the US do?


I'll outline NK later.

Syria is a gift that is going to keep on giving. The over riding problem is the fact that the British drew imaginary lines on maps and ignored the reality of who lived within those lines. IMO the only way you can ever really change things will be to go through and systematically redraw the national boundaries so that Sunni's live with Sunni's, and are governed by them, and Shia live with Shia, the Kurds too need to have their own homeland, but that requires carving off sections of three other countries. It is a massive problem, but ultimately I think it is the only way to make things more peaceful.

There it is. That is predominantly what this is all about. Destabilize and balkanize for a more secure Israel and Saudi Arabia.

 

[velvtacheeze]

At the moment, I can think of multiple emerging serious world events that Trump is going to have to deal with. Everyone is happy to criticize Trump and Obama for acting or not acting. But that ignores the reality - in which simple solutions are not going to solve complex problems.

Two leading contenders for the Big World Problem of the year are: Syria and NK.

Let's look at Syria:
Syria is into it's 6th year of Civil War. Now, to put this in perspective - civil wars are the worst wars, long, bloody, destructive. The Congo has been in and out of a civil war that has been deemed the bloodiest conflict ever since about 1960. No one has been able to "solve it" nor is it much in the news despite the incredible brutality and the use of child soldiers. If the Congo can't be solved...how are we going to "fix" Syria?

Modern Syria is a product of artificial borders from the division of the Ottoman Empire by the national powers of the time. It' forced together different and opposing ethnic, tribal and religious groups under a strong man regime. The regime itself was of a minority population, and kept divisions alive in order to maintain power. You have other minorities allied with the regime because the regime protected them in exchange for loyalty. An then you have others who have long been discrimminated against or even outright attacked by the regime. The entire mess is held together by a ruthless dictator. That's the readers digest version.

Part 2 - popular uprising. Short version: Assad brutally attacked peaceful demonstrators demanding political change. That was the shot that started the spiral downward. Assad's brutality against his own people became more and more apparent as the conflict grew. ISIS found a foothold in the people that had previously suffered under Assad's rule. Fast forward to now: Syria is split into regime controlled territory, "rebel" controlled territory (and "rebel" means diverse groups with differing agendas and loyalties) and ISIS controlled territory.

Part 3 - lets make it even more complicated! We have Outside Interests. Russia has involved itself - and is propping up Assad. Russia has it's own interests and agenda not the least of which is to be a world leader in the global arena. Add to that, Iran - another wanna-be world player, or at least a major regional power. Finally - we have Turkey, who's borders with Syria and problems with the Kurds create yet another agenda in the conflict.

Part 4 - all seem to be supporting different factions in the conflict turning Syria into what I think is a proxy war for outside powers.

All right folks, let's hear from you: What should the US do?


I'll outline NK later.

1. It is no longer a civil war. It began as a civil war but even then it was Alawites in control being opposed by the Sunni Syrians. Assad quickly called in Hezbollah and Iran, which made it more clearly part of the regional sectarian conflict between Sunni and Shia.

Along with Iran, Shia militias from Iraq and as far away as Afghanistan began showing up in Syria to fight for the Alawite government, and in response, Saudis and other Sunni majority nations began sending money and weapons to the Sunni rebels. It was no longer a civil war between aggrieved Syrians and an oppressive government but just a theater in the sectarian war between Shia and Sunni.

Assad was still losing the war, so he called in Russia and Russia's heavey bombing of Sunni areas turned the tide of the war in favor of the Assad government, if at any point Russia were to stop bombing the Sunni, the Assad government would quickly fall despite all the help from Iran and other Shia.

According to a report from the Syrian Network for Human Rights last month, 207,000 civilians have been killed so far and 94% of these deaths are the result of bombing by Assad and Russia.

http://sn4hr.org/wp-content/pdf/eng...of_the_Syrian_alliance_Iranian_Russian_en.pdf

The only way this horror can stop is if the Russians can be persuaded to stop bombing. While this will still leave a mess to clean up in Syria, the major cause of death and homeless refugees will have ended, and this would be a great start toward helping the Syrians to reclaim their country and to organize an inclusive government.

They had an inclusive government under Assad. It was a dictatorship , yes, but that was necessary to keep militants in check. Sunnis will attempt genocide against all others if Assad is removed.

 

[imawhosure]

At the moment, I can think of multiple emerging serious world events that Trump is going to have to deal with. Everyone is happy to criticize Trump and Obama for acting or not acting. But that ignores the reality - in which simple solutions are not going to solve complex problems.

Two leading contenders for the Big World Problem of the year are: Syria and NK.

Let's look at Syria:
Syria is into it's 6th year of Civil War. Now, to put this in perspective - civil wars are the worst wars, long, bloody, destructive. The Congo has been in and out of a civil war that has been deemed the bloodiest conflict ever since about 1960. No one has been able to "solve it" nor is it much in the news despite the incredible brutality and the use of child soldiers. If the Congo can't be solved...how are we going to "fix" Syria?

Modern Syria is a product of artificial borders from the division of the Ottoman Empire by the national powers of the time. It' forced together different and opposing ethnic, tribal and religious groups under a strong man regime. The regime itself was of a minority population, and kept divisions alive in order to maintain power. You have other minorities allied with the regime because the regime protected them in exchange for loyalty. An then you have others who have long been discrimminated against or even outright attacked by the regime. The entire mess is held together by a ruthless dictator. That's the readers digest version.

Part 2 - popular uprising. Short version: Assad brutally attacked peaceful demonstrators demanding political change. That was the shot that started the spiral downward. Assad's brutality against his own people became more and more apparent as the conflict grew. ISIS found a foothold in the people that had previously suffered under Assad's rule. Fast forward to now: Syria is split into regime controlled territory, "rebel" controlled territory (and "rebel" means diverse groups with differing agendas and loyalties) and ISIS controlled territory.

Part 3 - lets make it even more complicated! We have Outside Interests. Russia has involved itself - and is propping up Assad. Russia has it's own interests and agenda not the least of which is to be a world leader in the global arena. Add to that, Iran - another wanna-be world player, or at least a major regional power. Finally - we have Turkey, who's borders with Syria and problems with the Kurds create yet another agenda in the conflict.

Part 4 - all seem to be supporting different factions in the conflict turning Syria into what I think is a proxy war for outside powers.

All right folks, let's hear from you: What should the US do?


I'll outline NK later.

I shall start........if it gets there before someone else posts.

1. The question Americans have to ask themselves about the world situation is----------> which nation state would fire a nuke off? If the Russian homeland was not under attack from another nuclear power, would they? Not likely. Putin is all about money, and nuclear weapons are bad for business.

2. The real threat to America from nuclear weapons comes from Iran, and the NK. Iran being religious radicals, and the NK being run by a nutbag, are the two countries we have to fear.

3. China is also not likely to shoot a nuke off, at us anyway. Where Americans lose their way is this------------> If I/we are both walking down the street, bend down and find 1000 dollars laying on the ground, pick it up and put it in our pocket, how long before it becomes mine/ours? That is the problem with the Chinese in a nutshell, along the same lines with Putin. They will not start a fight over something that is not theirs, but they will fight once they think it is. Every expansion they make that is not stopped, it enters their sphere, where it basically becomes theirs. Nobody can stop them unless we are involved, period.

Doubt me? Then why has China not taken Taiwan? Taiwan can't fight its way out of a wet paper bag, and yet, China leaves them alone, while always glancing there licking their chops.

In the last 10 years, how many nations has Russia, or China taken over while actually having to fight for them? And when I say fight, I mean FIGHT! No, they just enter the a hole we leave behind, that is what they do. So, if we stabilize places they want, they will leave them alone. It is to a high a price to pay. We don't want to poke the Russian or Chinese bear, and they don't want to poke us!

4. But what about Iran? Well, I can make a case for Obama screwed the pooch when the Iranians tried to overthrow their government, but that could have ended up like Libya too, so the case is not that strong.

Still, we are going to have to handle these two problems, and much faster than people think. Iran is funding the NK weapons projects, which means the whole deal with Iran is a sham. Like it or not, the NK and Iran have to be dealt with, and blaming anyone or everyone isn't going to change those facts. We can't roll back the hands of time, and all our politicians kicked those cans down the road to the end, and today..............real soon........it is this generations problem.

And so, more than likely, like it or not, Trump is going to be the one to have to deal with it. How much are we willing to pay/give the Chinese to fix it for us, where we can verify it conclusively, and if the price is to high, or there is no price they will accept, it will be war.

No American President from Obama, to Kennedy, to Clinton, to Trump, is going to allow the NK and thus Iran to have a nuclear device, AND the means to deliver it to America. They are NOT the Russians or the USSR, these two regimes are crazy! They know that if they do, war INSTANTLY comes to the United States at any time, with mass casualties. All of the Army, air force, Marines, and navy can NOT stop these people who openly say they want to kill us, from killing our civilians. One nuclear strike in any major city, would destroy America and her way of life for decades.

For myself, I choose the China solution with verification, but rest assured we will be blackmailed, and have to pay big thanks to our former politicians not having the political will to stop this before now. My 2nd choice is war with the NK, before they and Iran get the delivery system they desperately need.

I urge ALL Americans to remember this----------->as long as we have oceans, without a delivery system to drop bombs on us, our military can handle whatever comes. If it would be war, they would actually be fighting for US, and not some police action for someone else. Once a delivery system is in place for those 2 countries, we are at their mercy. Before we could reach their capitol, LA, San Fran, Seattle, and Las Vegas would be gone, and our President would have to decide if we wanted to retaliate with a nuclear strike of our own, killing millions in both countries.

And so, I suppose, the choice is up to America. We can hide for a while longer, but then even your 2nd amendment rights won't be able to help you, or get serious now, while the fight is still over there.

 

[toomuchtime_]

At the moment, I can think of multiple emerging serious world events that Trump is going to have to deal with. Everyone is happy to criticize Trump and Obama for acting or not acting. But that ignores the reality - in which simple solutions are not going to solve complex problems.

Two leading contenders for the Big World Problem of the year are: Syria and NK.

Let's look at Syria:
Syria is into it's 6th year of Civil War. Now, to put this in perspective - civil wars are the worst wars, long, bloody, destructive. The Congo has been in and out of a civil war that has been deemed the bloodiest conflict ever since about 1960. No one has been able to "solve it" nor is it much in the news despite the incredible brutality and the use of child soldiers. If the Congo can't be solved...how are we going to "fix" Syria?

Modern Syria is a product of artificial borders from the division of the Ottoman Empire by the national powers of the time. It' forced together different and opposing ethnic, tribal and religious groups under a strong man regime. The regime itself was of a minority population, and kept divisions alive in order to maintain power. You have other minorities allied with the regime because the regime protected them in exchange for loyalty. An then you have others who have long been discrimminated against or even outright attacked by the regime. The entire mess is held together by a ruthless dictator. That's the readers digest version.

Part 2 - popular uprising. Short version: Assad brutally attacked peaceful demonstrators demanding political change. That was the shot that started the spiral downward. Assad's brutality against his own people became more and more apparent as the conflict grew. ISIS found a foothold in the people that had previously suffered under Assad's rule. Fast forward to now: Syria is split into regime controlled territory, "rebel" controlled territory (and "rebel" means diverse groups with differing agendas and loyalties) and ISIS controlled territory.

Part 3 - lets make it even more complicated! We have Outside Interests. Russia has involved itself - and is propping up Assad. Russia has it's own interests and agenda not the least of which is to be a world leader in the global arena. Add to that, Iran - another wanna-be world player, or at least a major regional power. Finally - we have Turkey, who's borders with Syria and problems with the Kurds create yet another agenda in the conflict.

Part 4 - all seem to be supporting different factions in the conflict turning Syria into what I think is a proxy war for outside powers.

All right folks, let's hear from you: What should the US do?


I'll outline NK later.

1. It is no longer a civil war. It began as a civil war but even then it was Alawites in control being opposed by the Sunni Syrians. Assad quickly called in Hezbollah and Iran, which made it more clearly part of the regional sectarian conflict between Sunni and Shia.

Along with Iran, Shia militias from Iraq and as far away as Afghanistan began showing up in Syria to fight for the Alawite government, and in response, Saudis and other Sunni majority nations began sending money and weapons to the Sunni rebels. It was no longer a civil war between aggrieved Syrians and an oppressive government but just a theater in the sectarian war between Shia and Sunni.

Assad was still losing the war, so he called in Russia and Russia's heavey bombing of Sunni areas turned the tide of the war in favor of the Assad government, if at any point Russia were to stop bombing the Sunni, the Assad government would quickly fall despite all the help from Iran and other Shia.

According to a report from the Syrian Network for Human Rights last month, 207,000 civilians have been killed so far and 94% of these deaths are the result of bombing by Assad and Russia.

http://sn4hr.org/wp-content/pdf/eng...of_the_Syrian_alliance_Iranian_Russian_en.pdf

The only way this horror can stop is if the Russians can be persuaded to stop bombing. While this will still leave a mess to clean up in Syria, the major cause of death and homeless refugees will have ended, and this would be a great start toward helping the Syrians to reclaim their country and to organize an inclusive government.

They had an inclusive government under Assad. It was a dictatorship , yes, but that was necessary to keep militants in check. Sunnis will attempt genocide against all others if Assad is removed.

The Assad government was not inclusive. It included a few Sunni and I believe even a Christian, but all of its support came from the Alawite communities and all of the massacred perpetrated by Bashar Assad and his father, Hafez Assad, were against Sunni Syrians. When the Sunni had been in charge they exhibited the same savagery toward the Alawites.

A government is not inclusive unless there is genuine power sharing among the major factions, in this case, Alawites and Sunni, and the only way for power sharing to be sustainable is to have a democratic government, so if there is to be lasting peace, a democratic government has to be the long term goal, but before we get to that, the slaughter has to stop and that can only happen if the Russians stop bombing.

 

[Anathema]

My solution?....

Recall all US Military and Diplomatic personnel overseas. Close all foreign military bases and Diplomatic posts.

End all foreign aid and trade agreements.

Close all US International Borders.

End all trade, travel and communications into and out of the USA. Last outgoing message from US Government... "Any attempt to interact with us will be met with nuclear retaliation. Funk Off."

 

[Tehon]

My solution is for all nations not invited by the government of Syria to get the hell out of Syria immediately. And kindly stop funding your mercenary army. Thank you.

 

[westwall]

At the moment, I can think of multiple emerging serious world events that Trump is going to have to deal with. Everyone is happy to criticize Trump and Obama for acting or not acting. But that ignores the reality - in which simple solutions are not going to solve complex problems.

Two leading contenders for the Big World Problem of the year are: Syria and NK.

Let's look at Syria:
Syria is into it's 6th year of Civil War. Now, to put this in perspective - civil wars are the worst wars, long, bloody, destructive. The Congo has been in and out of a civil war that has been deemed the bloodiest conflict ever since about 1960. No one has been able to "solve it" nor is it much in the news despite the incredible brutality and the use of child soldiers. If the Congo can't be solved...how are we going to "fix" Syria?

Modern Syria is a product of artificial borders from the division of the Ottoman Empire by the national powers of the time. It' forced together different and opposing ethnic, tribal and religious groups under a strong man regime. The regime itself was of a minority population, and kept divisions alive in order to maintain power. You have other minorities allied with the regime because the regime protected them in exchange for loyalty. An then you have others who have long been discrimminated against or even outright attacked by the regime. The entire mess is held together by a ruthless dictator. That's the readers digest version.

Part 2 - popular uprising. Short version: Assad brutally attacked peaceful demonstrators demanding political change. That was the shot that started the spiral downward. Assad's brutality against his own people became more and more apparent as the conflict grew. ISIS found a foothold in the people that had previously suffered under Assad's rule. Fast forward to now: Syria is split into regime controlled territory, "rebel" controlled territory (and "rebel" means diverse groups with differing agendas and loyalties) and ISIS controlled territory.

Part 3 - lets make it even more complicated! We have Outside Interests. Russia has involved itself - and is propping up Assad. Russia has it's own interests and agenda not the least of which is to be a world leader in the global arena. Add to that, Iran - another wanna-be world player, or at least a major regional power. Finally - we have Turkey, who's borders with Syria and problems with the Kurds create yet another agenda in the conflict.

Part 4 - all seem to be supporting different factions in the conflict turning Syria into what I think is a proxy war for outside powers.

All right folks, let's hear from you: What should the US do?


I'll outline NK later.

Syria is a gift that is going to keep on giving. The over riding problem is the fact that the British drew imaginary lines on maps and ignored the reality of who lived within those lines. IMO the only way you can ever really change things will be to go through and systematically redraw the national boundaries so that Sunni's live with Sunni's, and are governed by them, and Shia live with Shia, the Kurds too need to have their own homeland, but that requires carving off sections of three other countries. It is a massive problem, but ultimately I think it is the only way to make things more peaceful.

There it is. That is predominantly what this is all about. Destabilize and balkanize for a more secure Israel and Saudi Arabia.

It's already unstable. The question is how do you stabilize the region. Redrawing boundaries is the only way I know of.

 

[task0778]

This is largely the latest chapter in an on-going war between Shia and Sunni muslims, and there's no way I want us to get sucked into that. Seems to me a total waste of time, blood, and money to get involved, except that we have a refugee problem here and in Europe that needs to be addressed. So - IMHO we need to send a sharp and clear message to Assad, Putin, and the Iranian gov't that it's long since past time to put an end to that war. And this is how I think it needs to go, again IMHO:

1. Tell Russia to get the fuck out. If they don't we put economic sanctions that cost them, increasing over time and I'm talking weeks not months or years. They ain't fighting Isis and everyone knows it. Any airfield from which Russian warplanes are being used to bomb the Syrian civilian population will be destroyed, and I don't care if it's inside Russian territory or anywhere else. They can keep their base in Syria but they can no longer use military force in Syria.
2. Tell Iran to get the fuck out. If they don't the Obama nuke deal gets scrapped and we bomb the hell out of their military bases. Doesn't look to me like economic sanctions mean a tinker's damn to them, so go after their military facilities and bases, and if they want a war we'll give 'em one.
3. Destroy Isis with a coalition of forces that goes in, kicks ass and goes home. US forces would stay no longer than 6 months, whether it's over or not.
4. After step 1, step 2, and step 3, tell Assad to step down or get killed. Simple as that, and if he no longer has the military backing of the Russians and the Iranians my guess is he leaves.
5. Setup a UN peacekeeping force inside Syria until elections are held and the country at least begins to stabilize. Tell the UN if they don't sign up for it the US will pull out of the UN and kick their asses out of NYC. We'll see how loud money talks, and we can setup our own humanitarian programs with the money that was going to tthe UN, which is likely to be better spent.

 

[Anathema]

It's already unstable. The question is how do you stabilize the region. Redrawing boundaries is the only way I know of.

Very simple.... remove all borders. A joint US/Russian nuclear attack turns the entire Middle East into a glass carpet. Then declare it a No Man's Land.

 

[westwall]

It's already unstable. The question is how do you stabilize the region. Redrawing boundaries is the only way I know of.

Very simple.... remove all borders. A joint US/Russian nuclear attack turns the entire Middle East into a glass carpet. Then declare it a No Man's Land.

Written like a true sociopathic imbecile. That the best you can come up with or are you simply too stupid to think about anything other than mass murder?

 

[Anathema]

Written like a true sociopathic imbecile. That the best you can come up with or are you simply too stupid to think about anything other than mass murder?

I grew up with two younger brothers. My parents had a simple way of dealing with arguments over "shared" items or over ownership of items.....

If we couldn't work it out quickly and efficiently between ourselves.... the item got DESTROYED, while we watched.