Posted on 12/04/2016 12:30:35 AM PST by TigerLikesRooster
Congress authorizes Trump to arm Syrian rebels with anti-aircraft missiles
The House voted for the first time today to explicitly authorize the incoming Donald Trump administration to arm vetted Syrian rebels with anti-aircraft missiles.
Summary Today, the House passed a defense bill that conditionally allows the provision of MANPADs to anti-Syrian regime forces.
Author Julian Pecquet Posted December 2, 2016
While the language in the annual defense bill also creates restrictions on the provision of the controversial weapons, it represents a win for Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman John McCain, R-Ariz., a fervent advocate of helping the rebels resist President Bashar al-Assad and his Russian and Iranian allies. The Senate is expected to pass the bill next week.
Until now, the transfer of man-portable air-defense systems, or MANPADs, had been implicitly authorized in the absence of an outright ban. Critics, however, view the new provision as tantamount to a policy recommendation for the president-elect.
"I'm more afraid of Congress on this issue than I am of Trump,” said Robert Naiman, the policy director at Just Foreign Policy, a liberal advocacy group that lobbied for a ban. “I think Congress is trying to tie Trump's hands against making a realistic deal with Russia to end the Syrian civil war. And they are trying to pressure him in the direction of not doing that," he told Al-Monitor.
/snip
Mattis is well known in military and foreign policy circles for his aggressive determination to take on America’s foes, notably Iran, including in Syria and Iraq. Testifying before the Senate Armed Services Committee as far back as January 2015, however, he opined that the time for supporting moderate rebel fighters against Assad's forces had "passed."
(Excerpt) Read more at al-monitor.com ...
“But he’s a Vet and former POW so I wish him the best.”
So there were good Service members then, and there were people in the Army/Navy/etc who should not have been. Who should have been exempted from the draft/Lottery for reasons of unsuitability.
McCain for one, Kerry for one, there were many in that simply were not suited for the Military.
But we were having a hard time filling the ranks with warm, living, bodies, so we did not get as particular as now.
So we got morale duds like “Songbird” McCain and (gosh! Who let this guy in) Kerry.
There was even a program of McNamara’s called Project 100,000 which was a DoD program to let in unqualified people to see how they would do. And there were some other policies that let in the otherwise unqualified.
So?
So just because someone is a Vet of the Vietnam War, doesn’t mean they deserve respect.
Not like Persian Gulf War vets...who are.
What never ceases to amaze me, is how many idiots are in the House/Senate/White House/Courts.
One would think there would be a system of disqualifying the insane, corrupt and idiots.
I think we should keep Bashar al-Assad in power until ISIS is totally destroyed.
What gives you the idea that we have the right to keep Assad in or remove Assad from power? He was elected by the Syrian people in the last free election Syria had before this war was inflicted on them by outside forces.
A country that openly engages in a military campaign to topple the government of another sovereign nation has nothing to complain about when the World Trade Center collapses in a cloud of dust.
And the tic tac toe playing isolationists will have nothing to complain about when the adults send them back to the kiddie table.
Setting those manpad chickens loose will really hurt when (and they will) they come home to roost.
Uh — whut?
I don’t think Trump wants to give ISIS MANPAD’s.
I’m a Veteran...and I think mclame is a disgrace. The senile old coot should be institutionalized. He’s played his Vet card too often.
He’ll be in control and weak. The syrian refugees won’t come back and Iran won’t be there for him once the Iran deal is gone
So much propaganda and false information has been force fed to congress its a wonder they can keep up with daylight savings time.
If I remember correctly, didn’t Israel do something a few years ago when it looked like Assad might be getting some nuclear capability, possibly shipped in from Korea?
What many people do not know or fail to realize is that the “Arab Spring” in Syria was heavily influenced by the fact that Syria had experience severe drought for a number of years. People were driven into the cities in desperation but did not get any help from Assad, nor did he ask for outside help dealing with the crisis. When the spark of the Arab Spring landed in his tinder dry country, the conflagration exploded, and we finally began to get serious about intervening when he had already killed well over 100,000 of his desperate citizens. Critics are so ready to blame specific people, that they often fail to look at or even know about major underlying conditions. I follow the news fairly well, and only became aware of this drought situation about 2 years ago.
http://mashable.com/2016/03/02/syria-drought-900-years-civil-war/#DGQ24Vnppiqf
The tree ring data going back to 1100 seems very valid, whether or not one agrees there is such a thing as “man made” climate change.
So “”Tater the Newbie” who has been on FR since on the start of this recently concluded election, have you figured out how many angels fit on the head of a pin yet?
You’ve been posting here for a little over a year and in almost every one of your post s you play concern troll or you act as the “devil’s advocate” for the left. Therefor your opinion means bupkis to me. Go back to DU you lefty mole.
More of the same from the establishment corrupt.
Distribute arms to all points. Even if we don’t know who in hell hands they end up in. There are profits to be made! While were at it, lets send in some more arms into the black hole of Mexico.
Profits regardless of consequences.
The guy that told me to go masturbate now wants ME to go back to DU? Seriously dude, I think you would be more comfortable there. This is a conservative, family oriented web site where filthy talk like that is not appreciated. And if you had actually read what I posted over the last year you would see that I come from a traditional philosophy that was best put forth by our Founding Fathers. My core political philosophy was expressed by them in the second paragraph of the Declaration of Independence. I work from there outward using facts, reason and logic. All of which seem to be lacking in your posts. Is that why you resort so easily to filth and ad hominem attacks?
blah blah blah wahabi yada yada yada
Outside of obvious internal forces, exactly who is it that is threatening the existence of the United States of America?
Don’t give anybody any money......and Israel will be forced to go to war and solve all that mideast shiite.....and they’d finish it in 48 hours.
Please enlighten me on how advocating taking the war against islamofascists is abuse to you personally?
If you think believe that is abuse on this forum then you are delusional or you are trying to impose a form of PC on this forum with you misuse of the report abuse feature.
I think that Obama and Hillary's policy to destabilizethe Middle East has been disaster. With their little “Arab Spring” experiment the Obama administration has sided with the islamofascists who attacked our country on 911 and is guilty of treason. I did not want Momar Qaddafi to be taken down, I did not want to put the Muslim Brotherhood put in power in Egypt el-Sisi took it back, I did not want to Syria to be to plunged into civil war and I would be happy as a clam with Assad ruling the koranimals there with an iron fist until the end of time. I want ISIS dead, gone, and forgotten.
Please feel free to report this as abuse too.
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