US/Syria/Russia truth

[Preacher]

Something like that yes.

 

[SavannahMann]

The truth isn’t quite that simple, and it isn’t quite what is said. To really understand Syria, you have to look at it in Context, of time, and space, and place.

Our intervention in Syria was never about Syria. We didn’t care who was in charge in Syria, because nobody could ever think that a bunch of Jihadists, even “moderate jihadists” could ever become friendly to America. So that as an explanation behind our activities is laughable. Even the argument that we were doing it to placate our allies the Saudi’s is insane. We could have wished them luck, and the exact same thing happened without our activity or involvement. So why were we involved from the get go? Why were we the driving force behind the effort to Topple Assad? Not for Saudi, and not for Israel, and not because we wanted a friendly regime in charge. None of that makes any sense.

Russia has one Naval base in the entire Mediterranean Sea. Just one. It is located in Syria. Russian naval facility in Tartus - Wikipedia

When you look at a map, it looks like no big deal. The Russians have naval bases in the Black Sea, and that is a short jaunt to the Med, so what is the big deal? The deal is that Turkey is theoretically a NATO ally, and doesn’t exactly prohibit Russian Naval vessels from transiting the straights, but doesn’t really allow it either. Imagine a situation where we would pass our naval vessels through China to get to an ocean, we would avoid it at all costs, and the Russians do too. The Med fleet vessels are all attached to the Northern Fleet. They literally sail all the way around Europe to get to the Mediterranean Sea. They arrive much as our own vessels would, low on fuel, and low on food. They need a base to support them.

At the time the insanity of the Syrian intervention got started, the world was still in an economic downturn. Russia was hurting for hard cash, and there were whispers that they were going to give up the base in Syria as too expensive. They were really only supporting a couple Destroyers, but it was a thorn in our side. A prick that annoyed us, and we had to dedicate assets to keeping an eye on the Russians there.

We had no influence with Syria, so we decided that a regime change would serve us well. The Terrorists we were supporting would certainly hate the Russians that had supported Assad for generations. So if they won, it would be uncertain, but highly probable that the Russians would be driven from Syria, and thus from the Med, with the loss of Assad.

We had won in Libya cheaply, just a few illegal weapons in violation of International Sanctions. We could do it again right? No problem. The Russians were broke, and could not afford to support Assad. They had barely managed a victory in Georgia. This would be a breeze. No risk, no danger, and the annoyance of non NATO or allied warships in the Med would be history. Hillary Clinton State Department approved U.S. weapons shipment to Libya despite ban

The problem came when Russia realized that the base they were considering closing anyway, was about to be taken away. Pride entered into the calculation, as well as the obvious efforts of the American and Saudi’s. Too many people involved to keep it a secret, and the KGB was always good at gathering intelligence, and the SVR is not bad either.

So we find ourselves in a quandary. The mere shipment of weapons isn’t working. We need to get more involved directly. The Russians rushed troops, supplies, weapons, and intelligence to the area. A fleet sailed to support the Syrians, and the stakes went up. Unlike Afghanistan the Government was really behind the Russians.

Smart money here would have folded, and walked away from the table. It now being obvious we were not going to win this one. Not cheaply, and probably not at all. But being arrogant, we doubled down. Syria had never signed the prohibition against Chemical Weapons agreement. They never agreed to it. But we used that violation as if it was cause for war. It would be like someone declaring war on us because we violated the ban on Landmines, despite the fact we never signed it. Talk about bully politics, we really went out of our way to do it.

We assumed the Russians were crap, and their technology and support was crap. We had stealth Porta Johns after all. Portable crappers that are undetectable to any radar systems anywhere. But we forgot that the Russians were the ones who smashed Hitler’s army by using solid, if somewhat basic technology. The AK is an excellent example to the Russian approach. A solid, reliable, cheap, and simple rifle. One that has remained in service for a long time because it is just really good. It isn’t as refined or as precise as an AR. It isn’t the end all be all of technological advancement. It just works, reliably, and simply. Russian tech seems to follow that principle, we design things to be precise, a scalpel to make a precise cut. The Russians prefer the blunt force approach. So they lost in Afghanistan, so did the British, the Persians, and for that fact, so have we, as evidenced by the resurgence of the Taliban and ISIS in Afghanistan of late.

So now we are in a conundrum. We don’t want to admit defeat in Syria, so we switched from fighting Assad, to fighting ISIS, as if we never went there to kick Assad out. Oh we still fight him, but we pretend that our primary mission is to get the Terrorists we armed in the first place. Ten seconds after it started, I told the wife the smart move was to pull our troops out, and give our files with everything in them on anyone and everyone in Syria, to the Russians, and wish them well. If we manage to win in Syria, we start World War III. If we lose, we could end up in World War III anyway.

Because the Russians can’t afford to lose. Imagine how we would react if someone threatened our base in Guantanamo. We would send in everything we had to keep it, and that is a base just 90 miles from our own nation where we have plenty of other bases that are just as good, if not better.

Want to know why we are on the outs with Russia, we’ve been fucking with them for decades. We fucked with their elections, we fucked with their base in the Med, and we fucked with them at every chance we got. While belittling their technology, we hitch rides to the International Space Station aboard their rockets that actually, you know, to be technical about it, work. NASA promises that next year we’ll have a crew to orbit option again. You know, like we did before.

The why we are in Syria, is we thought we were clever. It’s one of the big reasons I voted against Hillary. She was always so clever, but always just an inch short of clever enough to pull it off. I agreed during the election that Trump could well bumble his way into a war, and I said that we would probably end up in that war anyway as Hillary tried to be clever.

 

[Desperado]

Why do we care? Syria is of no importance to the United States

 

[BluesLegend]

Why do we care? Syria is of no importance to the United States

Obama drew a red line, told Syria not to cross it.

 

[Desperado]

Why do we care? Syria is of no importance to the United States

Obama drew a red line, told Syria not to cross it.

So What? Obama is long gone,
Who cares what happens in Syria? Makes no difference in the life of a US citizen.

 

[BluesLegend]

Why do we care? Syria is of no importance to the United States

Obama drew a red line, told Syria not to cross it.

So What? Obama is long gone,
Who cares what happens in Syria? Makes no difference in the life of a US citizen.

I know, I was just mocking Obama.

 

[Desperado]

Why do we care? Syria is of no importance to the United States

Obama drew a red line, told Syria not to cross it.

So What? Obama is long gone,
Who cares what happens in Syria? Makes no difference in the life of a US citizen.

I know, I was just mocking Obama.

Sorry I need a second cup of coffee