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hedgehog

(36,286 posts)
Mon Apr 22, 2013, 12:28 PM Apr 2013

Syria: not our war

I am angry about the seeming assumptions among some Syrians that the US needs to step in and resolve their civil war. As near as I can tell, this is one case where our hands are clean; that the Assad regime was held up by the Soviets and then the Russians.

So - point 1: we didn't cause it.

As near as I can tell, there are numerous factions fighting Assad and possibly each other. Some of those factions follow an ideology that is counter to most American ideals: freedom of religion, women's rights, freedom of speech, etc.

So - point 2 - who are we supposed to support, and how do we keep weapons out of the hands of potential future enemies?

The Syrian civil war is causing terrible human suffering. But for real human carnage, look at the war in Congo:

"Congo has become a never-ending nightmare, one of the bloodiest conflicts since World War II, with more than five million dead. It seems incomprehensible that the biggest country in sub-Saharan Africa and on paper one of the richest, teeming with copper, diamonds and gold, vast farmlands of spectacular fertility and enough hydropower to light up the continent, is now one of the poorest, most hopeless nations on earth. Unfortunately, there are no promising solutions within grasp, or even within sight. "

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/16/sunday-review/congos-never-ending-war.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

I suspect that many American, European and Asian corporations are doing just fine, thank-you, taking minerals out of Congo, so there is little pressure to stop the war.

http://www.raisehopeforcongo.org/content/initiatives/conflict-minerals

So - point 3 - if the trip point for sending in American troops and/or arms is the level of suffering, why aren't we in Congo?

Media people find it much, much easier to cover the war in Syria than in Congo. But that's not a reason to commit America to another war.


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geek tragedy

(68,868 posts)
1. I can't fault Syrians for being desperate to see an end to both the civil war and the tyranny, to th
Mon Apr 22, 2013, 12:32 PM
Apr 2013

point where they'd demand the rest of the world intervene.

It's the Neo-Cons in the US that we should really focus our energies on.

hedgehog

(36,286 posts)
4. That's a good point - are we seeing requests from Syrians and not Congolese because
Mon Apr 22, 2013, 12:35 PM
Apr 2013

certain elements in the US want to get into that war?

jakeXT

(10,575 posts)
2. A stable Syria could build a pipeline a failed state probably not
Mon Apr 22, 2013, 12:34 PM
Apr 2013

Official: Iran-Iraq-Syria Gas Pipeline Project Finalized
TEHRAN (FNA)- Implementation of the Friendship Gas Pipeline project which is due to take Iran's rich gas reserves to Iraq and Syria was agreed by the Iraqi government, an Iraqi cabinet statement announced.

A Tuesday Iraqi cabinet statement said that Iraq's Minister for Petroleum Abdel Kareem Luaibi had been authorized to sign the "framework of the agreement" on setting up the strategic pipeline that would also prepare the ground for exporting Iranian gas to Europe through Syria in the future.
http://english.farsnews.com/newstext.php?nn=9107146286

hedgehog

(36,286 posts)
5. Good catch! In other words, corporations need an end to the war in Syria, but are doing just fine
Mon Apr 22, 2013, 12:36 PM
Apr 2013

despite (or because of?) the war in Congo.

 

L0oniX

(31,493 posts)
3. Been sayin... Stay out of it! There is no good side to this. There is however an interest conserning
Mon Apr 22, 2013, 12:34 PM
Apr 2013

well ...you know who.

leveymg

(36,418 posts)
6. One of your premises is off: we don't have clean hands, and did help to start the civil war.
Mon Apr 22, 2013, 12:51 PM
Apr 2013

You're probably unaware that the Sunni uprising in Syria occurred almost simultaneously with the revolt in Libya. Both were ignited by calls for "days of rage" issued by western-supported and directed exile groups in Paris, London and in the U.S. These exiles continued to mobilize opposition through propaganda campaigns and incitement from Sunni clerics supported by Saudi Arabia and the Gulf states.

This did not happen without the knowledge and support of western and regional governments and intelligence services.

 

Comrade Grumpy

(13,184 posts)
7. Somebody miscalculated. They thought Assad was Gaddafi and Syria was Libya.
Mon Apr 22, 2013, 01:08 PM
Apr 2013

It was gonna be a cakewalk to glorious revolutionary victory.

Somebody miscalculated, and now, two years later, there are 70,000 + dead and Syria is a stalemated ruin.

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