Posted on 02/14/2018 10:43:50 AM PST by firebrand
It was inevitable. Russian mercenaries attacked a forward base in Syria where they knew American advisors were stationed. It was a test. And our military passed.
Lets hope the administration passes, too.
The most important thing about this attack on our troops is that it couldnt have happened without Vladimir Putins personal approval. Nye vozmozhno.
The core of the attacking force came from the Wagner Group, Russias version of the American thugs who worked for the company formerly known as Blackwater. But while the media refers to the Russians as mercenaries, the Wagner Group functions as an auxiliary of the Russian military it previously gave command performances in Crimea and eastern Ukraine. It exists to give Moscow (barely) plausible deniability.
(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...
“They have even worked with parts of ISIS in cases”
All sides have worked with ISIS in Syria, to include the United States.
And yes, the only difference between Obama’s and Trump’s policy there is the fact we made significant gains against the Caliphate.
But we are still in bed with corrupt, murderous jihadis.
And for no good reason, at least not one that could wildly be construed as a national interest.
The ONLY interest the US has in Syria is stability. And that is best achieved by supporting Assad in his effort to gain control over the entire country.
I see the sarc tag but I still don’t quite understand your comment.
Thanks firebrand.
God can use evil intentions for good ends even Putin’s temporary power plays. But don’t go on making Putin to be some hero of the faith. It’s an insult to the faith. That’s what us anti-Putin Freepers (who love Russia by the way) are responding to.
It wasn't anything we did. By it's own nature ISIS would expand until it reached a tipping point, and then contract rapidly. It would have done the same thing if we did nothing.
NO! Actually, the instability has been in our interest. We "owned" a lot of the problems in the Middle East because of our past actions. The problem of Syria enabled us to get it of our hands, and it sucked all the energy out of the rest of the Middle East. It's a tragedy for the people there, but it's out chance to divest ourselves.
The U.S. has no interest in removing or supporting Assad. Our interest is in letting it now be our problem.
Why you think being Iran's tool and protecting their asset, and indirectly attacking Israel makes no sense to me.
By either supporting or opposing Assad, we are just making it worse for ourselves.
And what now that he refuses to get out, and he fires missiles at camels?
Terry Mross’ “Putin vs. Obama” paradigm exemplifies the classic fallacy which gets many a person into trouble. Which is that:
“The enemy of my enemy is my friend.”
And you know what: people on this board need to be called out for taking this shameless path down to its logical conclusion, which is: they think they’re merely opposing Bush/Obama/Neocons, but in actuality, they’ve outright started to hate America and reject the American experiment altogether.
Just because Obama/Bush/Merkel messed things up, doesn’t justify outright rejection of America and dumping Western Civilization along with it.
Worse: it doesn’t justify praising the likes of Vladimir Putin, a man who still beats the heart of a Bolshevik and homo soviectus. Whose primary goal in life is to avenge the fall of the Soviet Union and restore the Russian Empire as much as is physically possible.
And I assure you:
Beating ISIS doesn’t keep him up at night.
Beating America does.
And sadly this is something many of his countrymen, even the kindest and friendliest among them, can empathize with.
There are many reasons for this, and you don’t even need to live in Russia to figure it out. Lots of worthy literature and sociological analysis of the Post-Soviet space to explain these sentiments and the power they retain.
His society is in spiraling decline and faces several mounting problems that far outweigh what we’re dealing with in the West. His ventures into Syria and Crimea and other foreign adventures were distractions designed to appease a growingly disenchanted and antsy public.
And unlike here and in Europe, Russia has no hope for free elections in the foreseeable future to change course! There are no checks and balances in Russia, there is no federalism in the Russian “Federation.”
For example: It’s Russia, not Germany, that has more of a Muslim overpopulation problem. And yet Freepers (who have never been to Russia) tout the exact opposite to be true.
The ONLY reason why liberals and hostile Islamic extremists were able to infiltrate the West was because people lost the will to love and cherish their civilization, their faith, and their contributions to history.
There is NOTHING laudable about betraying your country and your civilization just because you were unhappy with its current leader.
Shame.
Shopping at Wal-Mart is far more treasonous to America than forgetting to hate the Russians.
I’ve never been to Walmart, only Target.
And I don’t understand what you’re saying. If you truly love Russia and Russians and Russian culture as I do, you would not support Vladimir Putin.
I don’t. Putin is irrelevant to me. I don’t consider him important.
The fact that THE ACTUAL, PROFESSED, OPENLY COMMUNIST CHINESE are not treated with any suspicion at all, is a far more troublesome issue.
I’m not sure I understand what you said.
Would you take another run at it?
The Chinese are a threat but they “fight” a different way — as you can see: they aren’t going the lengths Russia has in terms of outright military confrontation because they have more to lose economically.
Russia hasn’t made the same economic gains, and therefore has less to lose. Hence the geopolitical gambles they make on this scale and this level of recklessness.
Well, you're at odds with all the Russians you claim to love. He has the support of ~80% of them according to our pollsters.
He does however have his share of occupy wall streeters, blacklife matters and crazy feminists marchers. And a Russian version of the Democrat Party.
Putin had nothing to do with the defeat of ISIS. It was hardwired into what ISIS was.
Russia didn't help Christians either.
Peterson is an ignorant, libelous, choke-worthy POS.
And it was Russia that help North Korea get where it is militarily, not China.
I was simply pointing out that people hated Obama so much they would accept Putin.
Well if you want to take it back even further. It was Soviet Russia that created North Korea and installed Kim Il Sung.
Prior to that it was a haven for American missionaries who referred to Pyongyang as “The Jerusalem of the East.”
:(
That’s a problem that he will hopefully solve for the benefit of the USA and our true allies. The Tillerson party with all the rich Sunnis should prove interesting on that and other fronts.
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