• This is a political forum that is non-biased/non-partisan and treats every person's position on topics equally. This debate forum is not aligned to any political party. In today's politics, many ideas are split between and even within all the political parties. Often we find ourselves agreeing on one platform but some topics break our mold. We are here to discuss them in a civil political debate. If this is your first visit to our political forums, be sure to check out the RULES. Registering for debate politics is necessary before posting. Register today to participate - it's free!

Poison gas missile strike in Syria

Disputatious71 said:
1) Get an accurate account of what the Syrian chemical & biological weapons stockpiles are, what has been used, the locations of where they are being stored.
2) Organize an assault force capable of attacking and securing all remaining chemical & biological weapons stockpiles.
3) Withdraw said assault force with all chemical & biological weapons stockpiles able to be retrieved.
4) Let the rebels and regime fight it out until one side or the other surrenders.
5) No nation building, no compensation for collateral damage and no "we are sorry" $$.
Click to expand...

I think it would be darn near impossible to get all of them accounted for. Especially in the middle of a war. We couldn't even account for Saddam's and everybody knew he had the capability of chemical weapons (he'd used them in the past after all).

Can you come up with something doable?
 
polgara said:
Very interesting article yesterday on Yahoo...:Obama Administration Caves to Putin on Missile Shield for Europe

Looks like Hagel is already being tested.... :thumbdown:
Click to expand...

Is this an additional caving on the missile defense shield, over an above his caving in his first term?
 
rocket88 said:
I think it would be darn near impossible to get all of them accounted for. Especially in the middle of a war. We couldn't even account for Saddam's and everybody knew he had the capability of chemical weapons (he'd used them in the past after all).

Can you come up with something doable?
Click to expand...

Don't be surprised if much of Syria's stockpile of chemical and biological weapons found their way into Syria from Saddam's Iraq prior to the lead up to the second US invasion of Iraq. Weapons of all sorts are at this moment flooding into Syria from/through Iraq.
 
Chemical weapons expert and chief operating officer of SecureBio, Hamish de Bretton-Gordon, told CBSNews.com that based on video he had seen of victims in Aleppo hospitals, the symptoms were "not really those that are identified with nerve agents or mustard gas, which are the ones most likely to be used" inside Syria.

Bretton-Gordon noted that none of the people in the hospitals treating the attack victims were wearing protective clothing. If a chemical agent had been dispersed, he said, anybody coming into contact with the victims would also be affected; "doctors treating them would be overcome."

As for the reports of a chlorine smell near the scene of the attack, Bretton-Gordon said conventional high explosives can also produce an odor which might be mistaken for chlorine, and that actual weapons using the common household chemical haven't been used since World War I. He noted that mustard gas -- which Syria is known to have stockpiled -- can produce a chlorine-like odor, but there was no indication from the images he had seen that the devastating chemical agent had been used in Aleppo on Tuesday.
Click to expand...

Syria rebels, regime blame each other for first alleged chemical weapons attack - CBS News
 
CanadaJohn said:
Don't be surprised if much of Syria's stockpile of chemical and biological weapons found their way into Syria from Saddam's Iraq prior to the lead up to the second US invasion of Iraq. Weapons of all sorts are at this moment flooding into Syria from/through Iraq.
Click to expand...

So we should engage on another 10 year nation building? You're not going to get away without that part unless you're willing to cede power to terrorists. That's what happened to Afghanistan in the first place.

I'm not saying that Syria didn't get weapons from Iraq, but another big invasion and nation building....that shouldn't sound very good no matter which side of the aisle.
 
rocket88 said:
So we should engage on another 10 year nation building? You're not going to get away without that part unless you're willing to cede power to terrorists. That's what happened to Afghanistan in the first place.

I'm not saying that Syria didn't get weapons from Iraq, but another big invasion and nation building....that shouldn't sound very good no matter which side of the aisle.
Click to expand...

No, you read me wrong - I'm not suggesting that at all - I'm simply stating that those who claimed the Iraq invasion was a fraud perpetrated on the American people and that Saddam didn't have chemical or biological weapons of mass destruction may find that much of Saddam's arsenal ended up in Syria prior to the invasion.
 
CanadaJohn said:
Is this an additional caving on the missile defense shield, over an above his caving in his first term?
Click to expand...

The article goes on to state that BHO is "hopeful" that this will encourage Russia to downsize their nuclear arsenal. Riiight! Russia can always be counted on to do what they claim...

The article also references BHO's statement...which was made when he didn't realize it was live...that he would have more freedom to act on things during his second term...So here we go, boys and girls...apparently more surprises on tap... :thumbdown:
 
rocket88 said:
So we should engage on another 10 year nation building? You're not going to get away without that part unless you're willing to cede power to terrorists. That's what happened to Afghanistan in the first place.

I'm not saying that Syria didn't get weapons from Iraq, but another big invasion and nation building....that shouldn't sound very good no matter which side of the aisle.
Click to expand...

We could just do Iran. That would take care of Syria, Lebanon and Gaza as well, not to mention African terrorism.
 
CanadaJohn said:
No, you read me wrong - I'm not suggesting that at all - I'm simply stating that those who claimed the Iraq invasion was a fraud perpetrated on the American people and that Saddam didn't have chemical or biological weapons of mass destruction may find that much of Saddam's arsenal ended up in Syria prior to the invasion.
Click to expand...

It's very possible. Hard to prove, but possible. Not sure what to with that information 10 years down the road, though.
 
ecofarm said:
We could just do Iran. That would take care of Syria, Lebanon and Gaza as well, not to mention African terrorism.
Click to expand...


Compared to Iran, Iraq was a walk in the park.
 
rocket88 said:
It's very possible. Hard to prove, but possible. Not sure what to with that information 10 years down the road, though.
Click to expand...

If and when Assad falls and someone new takes over, if it is a regime friendly towards the US, it will be relatively easy to secure and examine Syria's chemical and biological weapons and the source of those weapons will be easily discovered as well - if they are Saddam's, it will be revealed. It was in Syria's interests not to let the source be known.
 
rocket88 said:
I think it would be darn near impossible to get all of them accounted for. Especially in the middle of a war. We couldn't even account for Saddam's and everybody knew he had the capability of chemical weapons (he'd used them in the past after all).

Can you come up with something doable?
Click to expand...
How about taking a stab at more than criticism ...
 
CanadaJohn said:
If and when Assad falls and someone new takes over, if it is a regime friendly towards the US, it will be relatively easy to secure and examine Syria's chemical and biological weapons and the source of those weapons will be easily discovered as well - if they are Saddam's, it will be revealed. It was in Syria's interests not to let the source be known.
Click to expand...


That's possible when it's all over. But it ain't over yet.
 
TheNextEra said:
So for those that are criticizing Obama, what would you like him to do about this?
Click to expand...
In response to the use of chemical weapons he should bring all overseas troops home. :D Ya.. That's it. Pretend to be a coward. Eat the sin. Bring our troops home and get impeached by the war machine. DO EET OBAMA!! BE A MANG!
 
rocket88 said:
Compared to Iran, Iraq was a walk in the park.
Click to expand...

Perhaps so - it could also be possible, militarily, that Iran is a paper tiger just as Saddam's Iraq was - the war part was a walk in the park, the peace is what the US bungled - and the people of Iran are much more advanced and civilized than many in Iraq so it might actually end up being easier.
 
I think the United Nations will force the matter, they will ask us to lead a colalition into Syria.

Lets just hope this story is just a rumor.
 
Disputatious71 said:
How about taking a stab at more than criticism ...
Click to expand...

I'm just saying that I don't think that in the middle of a civil war, we'd be able to step in with inspectors and figure all that out. It's likely that both sides have some kind of chemical weapons here - we know that Assad probably did, and it's likely that the rebels pilfered some of that stock.

Assuming that it's not possible in the middle of a civil war, what should Obama do?
 
If this is the opening salvo of Syria using WMD I honestly have no idea what we should do. When obama stated it would be his red line I assume he sat down with advisor's and formulated a plan of action if and when that line was crossed. I hope he didn't just toss the red line statement out with no plan to back it up, I hope.
 
rocket88 said:
I'm just saying that I don't think that in the middle of a civil war, we'd be able to step in with inspectors and figure all that out. It's likely that both sides have some kind of chemical weapons here - we know that Assad probably did, and it's likely that the rebels pilfered some of that stock.

Assuming that it's not possible in the middle of a civil war, what should Obama do?
Click to expand...
Do you believe that due to the "civil war" their is no one left alive in Syria that could provide reasonable estimates of the size and location of the original stockpiles before the fighting began and is this the basis of your opinion my proposal was not "doable" ??
 
upsideguy said:
...and what would you propose?
Click to expand...

Doing absolutely nothing. We can join with other nations in condeming the actions of any nation's gov't, by blowing hot air at the UN. The US is not, and should not be, the world's policeman. When the UN starts paying us then, and only then, maybe, we can consider making it our business to "discipline" the gov'ts of other nations for actions taken entirely within their borders. There are plenty of other nations, in that region, that have a far greater stake in what happens within the borders of Syria.
 
rocket88 said:
Compared to Iran, Iraq was a walk in the park.
Click to expand...

False.

The major problem with Iraq was the rebuilding process. The US kicked Baath to the curb and found no other social capital available, Saddam had killed everything that could think and was not his yes-man. The situation in Iran is different. There, a vibrant opposition exists not only in genocided enclaves but among professors, students and businessmen. There exists social infrastructure such as school, highways and such. Saddam had left almost nothing behind. Additionally, we have the experience of Iraq and are painfully aware of the mistakes we made. After all, Iraq was the first real attempt at dragging a nation out of the dark ages and into rapid development since Japan.

Given that our greatest difficulties were in the transition and rebuilding phase of the grand operation, and the conditions present in Iran, it's clear that getting Iran on its feet and developing would be much easier than was the case of Iraq.
 
rocket88 said:
I'm just saying that I don't think that in the middle of a civil war, we'd be able to step in with inspectors and figure all that out. It's likely that both sides have some kind of chemical weapons here - we know that Assad probably did, and it's likely that the rebels pilfered some of that stock.

Assuming that it's not possible in the middle of a civil war, what should Obama do?
Click to expand...

What makes you think rebels have WMD? seems obvious to me that Syria did this until there is some intelligence that the rebels who are now largely Alquiada have gotten their hands on chemical weapons. God help us if that's true.
 
CanadaJohn said:
If and when Assad falls and someone new takes over, if it is a regime friendly towards the US, it will be relatively easy to secure and examine Syria's chemical and biological weapons and the source of those weapons will be easily discovered as well - if they are Saddam's, it will be revealed. It was in Syria's interests not to let the source be known.
Click to expand...

Many people questioned at the time why Saddam was given months to act on whatever he wanted to accomplish prior to our invading Iraq. Doesn't make sense to give your target months of advance warning... :( Makes me wonder if he didn't meet his maker laughing at the world's stupidity ... :shrug:
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom