Usa Have Fired Missiles At Syria

[trt]

Bluddy hell, that was quick.

[NoMercy]

It's also a question of humanity, Mikey.

Assad is evil. Evil should preside over a nation armed with weapons of mass destruction and a considerable history of deploying such weapons, without consequence.

[NoMercy]

*should never*

[naomi24]

No one condones the use of chemical weapons, but if Assad loses this war, what do you think the outcome will be?

[murraymints]

for the people of Syria..things can only get better...

[Garaman]

Morally right, but that doesn’t mean it was the right course of action. We will find out soon enough though.

[naomi24]

Are you sure about that?

[naomi24]

Sorry, that^ was to Murraymints.

[jim360]

Have you given a thought to what the *other* alternatives might be, though? Or just the ones that allow you to watch from a distance and say "yes, something can be worse than repeated chemical attacks, barrel bombs, and a six-year-long Civil War with hundreds of thousands dead and many millions made homeless". Those last of whom, not incidentally, being the same refugees that Trump made a point of trying to turn away from the US indefinitely.

I'm not sure I support the way Trump's handled this, though. Unilateral action anyway won't achieve much. It's also not been even a week since he and his administration were banging on about how they were going to stay out of Syria as Assad was a helpful tool to fight against ISIS, and in general Trump was talking about America being "no longer the world's policemen". Undoing that policy in such a short space of time looks bad and is bad.

[mikey4444]

NoMercy....Assad has always been evil, as his father was before him. If the free world had acted a few years ago, like they did last night, we would be a lot further down the road. Obama should have acted, but unaccountably failed to do so.

[naomi24]

Jim, //Have you given a thought to what the *other* alternatives might be, though?//

Yes, Jim, I have. Have you?

[murraymints]

"the only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing " Edmund Burke

[NoMercy]

I just saw a Syrian woman on TV who more or less said it's about time!

[jim360]

Yes Naomi, I have.

[Khandro]

mikey //
Khandro appears to disbelieve that Assad used chemical weapons, despite the overwhelming evidence that he has done so in the past.//

I have never said he did not in the past pre 2013, when he surrendered them for destruction, to which you will now say, as it does those it suits, he retained some.

Also // Sarin gas and other nerve agents can't be made in a rebel basement....they are highly sophisticated and extremely dangerous chemical compounds. //

Do you have a degree in chemistry? Many of those trying to remove him do - and the laboratory facilities.

[ToraToraTora]

I'll get the lefties in a lather but I think it's correct. Frankly I would have targeted assad personally and leveled his palaces. All they did here was send multi million dollar missiles to destroy a few nissun huts.

[ToraToraTora]

for I'll read It'll!

[Sqad]

Jim..

" Undoing that policy in such a short space of time looks bad and is bad"
Your point is well taken, although, "should policies be st in stone?" I don't think so....that was then, this is now.
You can play the U-turn whichever way you want and Politicians do, but in this case, I think that the right decision has been made.

[TWR]

Trump 100% right, Assad Evil.

[ichkeria]

There is no serious doubt, first of all, that Assad used this weapon. Then the question is: given that, was President Trump correct to respond in this way?
I believe that he was. Naturally there are risks, but if lessons have been learned from past responses then those risks are a lot less than the alternative, which will involve more embittered moderate rebels and civilians radicalising or joining more sinister forces. This was the consequence of previous inaction, although it was always difficult as previously the outside world had tried to go through the 'proper channels' and always been stymied either by Russian and Chinese vetoes and the more opposition of parliament/congress or whatever.
It's tempting to agree with Tora that we should just take Assad out (not sure that would be so easy) but that DOES constitute a serious risk of leaving a power vacuum and we all know where that could lead. Apparently the idea here is to 'send a message' and not unilaterally to escalate the response. On other words: 'this is what will happen if you do this again'
Ultimately tho there is no military solution as I have always said: only a political one. That still looks a long way off

[Peter Pedant]

do you have a degree in chemistry
it can be made in basements....

here is wiki on Sarin
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarin

and the Japanese group Aum shirikyo who released it on the Japanese underground.... erm do seem to have made their own.
( and VX )