Was Putin Right About Syria?

What a difference a year makes. Around this time last year, the West was gearing up for military action against the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, who was accused of carrying out chemical weapons attacks on his own people. That intervention never came to pass, not least because domestic public opinion in countries such as Britain and the United States was opposed to further entanglements in the Middle East.

Now, the U.S. is contemplating extending airstrikes on Islamic State militants operating in Iraq in Syria — fighters belonging to a terrorist organization that is leading the war against Assad. The Islamic State's territorial gains in Iraq and continued repression and slaughter of religious minorities there and in Syria have rightly triggered global condemnation. "I am no apologist for the Assad regime," Ryan Crocker, a former U.S. ambassador to Syria, told NPR. "But in terms of our security, [the Islamic State] is by far the greatest threat."

The irony of the moment is tragic. But to some, it doesn't come as much of a surprise. Many cautioned against the earlier insistence of the Obama administration (as well as other governments) that Assad must go, fearing what would take hold in the vacuum.

One of those critics happened to be Russian President Vladimir Putin, who warned against U.S. intervention in Syria in a New York Times op-ed last September. He wrote:

A strike would increase violence and unleash a new wave of terrorism. It could undermine multilateral efforts to resolve the Iranian nuclear problem and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and further destabilize the Middle East and North Africa. It could throw the entire system of international law and order out of balance.

Back in 1982, Assad's father put down an uprising by the Muslim Brotherhood in Hama. Nobody cared then.
We shouldn't now. Nothing has ever been gained by assisting groups or nations in the Muslim world. Whether its been Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Kosovo, or any other region, we've only received duplicity, embargoes, and terror in return.

Your are 100% correct.

My husband and I were living in Saudi Arabia back then, working for the Arabian American Oil Company (ARAMCO), now Saudi ARAMCO, and we heard and saw all about it.

The odd thing is that it didn't stop "business as usual" over there. The Syrians, Saudis and all CONTINUED business with Israel.

I was in the commissary (IN the Kingdom) buying stuff when I saw a carton of goods with the UNMISTAKABLE Star of David on it. I asked the young Pakistani unpacking it about it and he had NO clue. He didn't even know what country had that UNMISTAKABLE Star of David as there was no "ISRAEL" name on the carton.

I asked my boss (old Saudi guy) about it and he said that Saudi Arabia and Israel had traded for years.
All of the pretty bouquet-style flowers HAD come from Lebanon (Lubnan, as they say and spell it) but since their civil wars there were no flowers coming in.
So Israel stepped into the vacuum.
For all the conflicts over there business links and commerce always existed between Jews and Muslims. Wars, political strife and conflicts were TOO COMMON to disrupt the flow of daily commercial and civil life...on so many levels.

Hafiz Assad was a brutal despot and murderer. His son is the same. The fruit doesn't fall far from its tree.

Some things never change. The Arabs over there have ALWAYS been fighting each other (tribal wars) over land, water and power.

The Israelis have joined the ranks for many moons now only THEY have 50% of the U.S.A. foreign budget, all the jets, rockets and bombs in the world that they need to stay safe. However, they need the manpower of the "locals" to do the work that THEY don't want to do--farming, washing dishes, cleaning toilets...etc.
There simply AREN'T enough Jewish Israelis to do all the work over there.
Our guide for our last visit over there (2011 Steve Ray "Footsteps of God" tour) was a big, fat, Palestinian Roman Catholic, with a very large, extended family. Nice guy.
Go figure.

Jimmy Carter gave Iran away. Bush started the mess in Iraq, but 0bama really messed it up. Too many believe Islam is a religion. It is a political system masquerading as a religion. Islam is evil. It needs to be eradicated. Islam cannot exist with civilization.

Islam is a bunch of ideas. Ideas can't be eradicated. Only the people who live by those ideas can be eradicated. I know you aren't promoting killing all 1.6 billion Muslims on the planet. You'd have to kill your own fellow Americans, even those who are NOT "Black Muslims." Are you ready to do that? I doubt it. You aren't a murderer or an advocate for murder.

MOST Muslims are NOT Arabs or middle easterners. Google it and see for yourself. You'd have to "eradicate" Indonesia, for one. They have hundreds of MILLIONS of Muslims.
From Google:
Country: Indonesia
Population: 206,611,600
Percentage of Muslims: 95%
Number of Muslims: 196,281,020 MILLION Muslims

======================================

What is needed? Missionaries to those countries to spread the Word...and NOT by the SWORD.

The WORD is spread by example. That is how Jesus did it.
There are 3.3. billion Christians in the world so His Way must have worked.

God bless you and yours on this, the Lord's day.

Saudi Arabia and the U.S.A. "awl bidmess" have been business partners since the 1920's. It's worked because both sides have proven their trust for each other.

We NEED Saudi petroleum and natural gas.
You see, the plan is to USE UP everyone ELSE'S petroleum and natural gas resources FIRST, then, and only then will we use up ours.

BTW, the Saudis have another 200 years of petroleum/natural gas reserves. THAT is why we stay friends with them.

*There has been a U.S. Air Force base in/near (Who knows, it's top secret.) the Kingdom for at LEAST 50 years to protect that precious "black gold" for the Saudis.

*The Saudi government (That would be the King.) has had a standard contract with Rae Dik Dae Lim, Korean, for their "workers" who DO work the wells, but are ALSO South Korean Army Regulars.
They CAN do both and are READY to do so.

I guess that's why there are 28 pages of the 9/11 report redacted that strongly support and suggest complicity by Saudi officials in the terror attacks on America in 2001.

Does it also mention the fact that Osama bin Laden was kicked out of his own country (Saudi Arabia) on penalty of his beheading?
He took his money to other countries he could buy off and from THERE angry young Saudi men did their heinous deeds.

bin Laden could never go back home and his family was forever shamed by his behavior.

Personally I don't think that we peons (me) are ever going to know ALL the truth about what went on there. Maybe YOU have an "in" with those who know, but I don't. I can't remember when ANY government was forthcoming with ALL the information THEY had. That's NOT what governments do.

Also why would the Saudis want to kill off their BEST customers? They have been "awl bidness" partners with U.S. oil companies and Shell (Dutch) since the 1920's. The 100th anniversary is coming up in the not-too-distant future.

It was NEVER a U.S. government concern. It was always private industry...though the U.S. oil companies DO get some tax benefits from the U.S.A. as the "awl bidness" is dirty, dangerous and unpredictable.

I, myself, was in the Kingdom when we (I was playing bridge.) heard a HUGE explosion of one of the plants up the coast. It was an LNG (liquified natural gas) plant that exploded.
Explosions are NOT uncommon in that business. Dirty, dangerous and unpredictable. Companies HAVE paid tons of money drilling and have hit an EMPTY well. They had to EAT the costs.

bin Laden could never go back home and his family was forever shamed by his behavior.

Nevertheless, officials within the Saudi government provided financial support for some of the 9/11 hijackers.

Also why would the Saudis want to kill off their BEST customers?

It was NEVER a U.S. government concern. It was always private industry...though the U.S. oil companies

Perhaps you recall the 1973 OPEC embargo due to the US support of Israel in the 1973 Yom Kippur War. There was also the matter of the 1990-91 Gulf War. Perhaps because their leaders are Wahhabists.

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