Posted on 09/23/2014 8:40:23 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
“For the sake of the Syrian people, the time has come for President Assad to step aside,” Barack Obama said in a written statement in August, 2011. The statement came following reports that indicated Syria’s Bashar al-Assad was involved in a bloody crackdown on protesters who rose up amid the Arab Spring revolutions.
Two years later, Obama was marshalling support for air strikes against forces loyal to Assad. Though the administration had ruled out “regime change” through military force, toppling Assad was the goal nevertheless. The United States was responding to the clear evidence that Damascus had used chemical weapons on civilian and rebel military targets alike repeatedly and even after the President of the United States had warned of dire consequences for doing so. Assad had to go.
But Obama did not act, and Syria’s dictator remained in place. Estimates suggest that over 200,000 have died in fighting in Syria, with millions of civilians displaced. Within a year of Obama’s 2013 address to the nation regarding the threat to global stability in Syria, Islamist militias had proliferated across Syria and Iraq. Today, these terrorist groups present a clear threat to the security of the United States.
On Monday night, American forces began strikes on Islamic State and Khorasan targets in Syria. When the United States and a variety of Arab nations acted against these terror groups, they did so with Assad’s consent.
Washington is understandably concerned about creating the impression that they are acting in Syria with Assad’s blessing.
US Official: We warned #Syria gov. not to engage US aircraft/did not request #Assad permission/did not coordinate our actions or give notice
— Joyce Karam (@Joyce_Karam) September 23, 2014
(Excerpt) Read more at hotair.com ...
The State Department insisted that there were no military-to-military contacts between Syria and the U.S., and Assad’s forces were given no indication of the planned timing of last night’s airstrikes. But even Assad’s tacit acceptance of U.S. and Arab military action against targets inside his country necessarily represents some level of coordination.
Yay . . . Assad “cooperated” with us so we should trust Iran. Love the logic.
Around 50 dead from the strikes. Including some grannies and children. How many IS members in Syria again?
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/world/2014-09/23/c_133666049.htm
Moreover, the ministry stated that U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry told his Syrian counterpart Walid al-Moallem about the strikes via Iraq’s Foreign Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari, just hours ahead of the launch of the strikes.
Obama is helping Assad defeat one of his enemies, which only makes Assad stronger.
If the objective is to remove the ISIS as a functioning guerrilla army, then an alliance with Syria would make perfect sense. Might even keep trying to make peace with the Iranian Islamic Republic. But for sure, engage the Kurdish Peshmerga, give them weapons in full measure, and tell them they can keep all the territory they capture.
Kurdistan is the best buffer state to set up among all those Sunni Islamic jihadists, and even the Shi’ite Islamic jihadists would end up respecting them.
And how much did it cost to get 50 people of dubious threat?
Millions?
70.4 Million............
I wouldn’t be surprised if he also had ISIS’s co-operation as well.
You know, bomb this empty building to make it look like you are doing something.
If he didn’t look for attacks on America within 2 months.
The United States was responding to the clear evidence ...
Uh no, actually it wasn’t at all clear.
And lookee lookee, IS/ISIL/ISIS used chlorine against some 300-400 Iraqi soldiers just a few days ago.
About the only thing that IS clear is that there were chemical weapons in the area...and the “CLEAR” evidence is they came from Iraq. W deserves an apology....
"Evidence" being use of a helicopter, piloted by persons of unknown origin, but presumed to be Syrian army personnel"
Obama is helping Assad defeat one of his enemies, which only makes Assad stronger.
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So? Assad is no threat to the USA and is certainly better than ISIS.
Assad is next with the help of Iran.
Assad! The same Syrian leader ZERO and the Democrats wanted to attack last year for chemical attacks on his people, which was actually those moderate rebels aka Muslim Brotherhood, who most joined ISIS/ISIL.
Those same moderate rebels who have an agreement with ISIS now, and the idiots in Congress have once again agreed to arm at our expense. ARM with our weapons, intelligence, and war capabilities.
IF THAT IS NOT GIVING AID AND COMFORT TO THE ENEMY I DON’T KNOW WHAT IS.....I AM BEGINNING TO BELIEVE THIS ADMINISTRATION IS INTENTIONALLY DOING SOMETHING THAT IS HIDDEN FROM THE GENERAL PUBLIC, AND WE WILL REGRET ALL OF THE DEMOCRATIC CONGRESSIONAL DECISIONS WHERE ISIS/ISIL AND SYRIA ARE CONCERNED......
Australia has a better handle on the intelligence than we do, and it has to do with our open borders and giving aid in form of welfare to illegals.....we will have deep regrets for funding our own demise.
The enemy of my enemy is my friend. We had to cozy up to Stalin in WW II to beat Hitler. Assad is really the lesser of two evils in this case—he didn’t kill Christians.
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