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Is Russia an ally in the battles in Syria?

legalimmigrant said:
And that makes Assad an enemy of the U.S.?

If so, why didn't the U.S. declare war on Syria?
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It did indeed; however we didn't declare war because we were already tied down with two major conflicts and nobody wanted to expand the war.

Sorta like how we never actually declared war on Francoist Spain despite the aid they gave Hitler.
 
Tigerace117 said:
It did indeed; however we didn't declare war because we were already tied down with two major conflicts and nobody wanted to expand the war.
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If you were not tied down in two major conflicts, the U.S. should declare a war on Syria because Assad didn't stop some from going to Iraq to fight?

Is this how the dots connect?
 
legalimmigrant said:
If you were not tied down in two major conflicts, the U.S. should declare a war on Syria because Assad didn't stop some from going to Iraq to fight?

Is this how the dots connect?
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Not entirely sure what your asking. If we hadn't been in Iraq there wouldn't have been a war for Assad to aid the opposition.

But we were and he did. The thing is, Assad was careful enough not to overtly support AQ. This was all under the table.
 
Dittohead not! said:
Or the next one, whoever he/she may turn out to be.
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The bigger question is why so many current Western leaders are girly men?

To the point where Hillary - as much as I detest her - seems to have a bigger pair than her ex-boss.
 
legalimmigrant said:
The bigger question is why so many current Western leaders are girly men?

To the point where Hillary - as much as I detest her - seems to have a bigger pair than her ex-boss.
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LOL. That was Arnie's assessment of the California legislature. Remember that? I think it came from one of his movies.
 
Tigerace117 said:
Which is why they let AQ train in the country and have supported Hezbollah, right?
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Syria never let AQ train in the country. The Eastern region of Syria and Iraq were literally the wild wild west, Central Syria power never went that far east.. So much so US could never stop it on the Iraq side either.. So let's understand that. Syrian/Iraq border area was very open despite US watching over it very closely for years and even the US "missed" ISIS. Though I think US with Turkey wanted to US ISIS to go after Assad. Basically turning a blind eye. So how about you answer for that?

The world is NOT black and white despite how many times we Americans try to say it is. Hezbollah has a political wing and is actually recognized by EU and UK as a political party. EU and UK be default support them as all money is fungible. Just as the US didn't go after Irish-American groups going back to 1920 who raised money for Sinn Fein (Provisional IRA) and turned a blind eye to rampant amounts of ammo and weapons being shipped from the US to Ireland. Weapons like Tommy Gun (which Michael Collins' IRA bought from Colt directly), Armalite's AR-15 (our M16), AR-18 and the big boys that found their way to Ireland in the late 1980s and 1990s.. the Barret M82 and M90.

So it's perspective.


Tigerace117 said:
The Alawites were only ever in power in Syria because the French, as was the usual European colonial practice, took the ethnic group which had been beaten down by the other ethnic groups and made them France's local top dogs. The Alawites have never looked back.
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Wrong. Alawites were never given power and was sold out by the French in 1937 and later again when it gave land to Turkey (now Hatay Province). Alawites asked to stay part of France and was denied. It was a good 18 years post French rule that the Assad's took over (via the Ba'ath Party).
 
austrianecon said:
Syria never let AQ train in the country. The Eastern region of Syria and Iraq were literally the wild wild west, Central Syria power never went that far east.. So much so US could never stop it on the Iraq side either.. So let's understand that. Syrian/Iraq border area was very open despite US watching over it very closely for years and even the US "missed" ISIS. Though I think US with Turkey wanted to US ISIS to go after Assad. Basically turning a blind eye. So how about you answer for that?

The world is NOT black and white despite how many times we Americans try to say it is. Hezbollah has a political wing and is actually recognized by EU and UK as a political party. EU and UK be default support them as all money is fungible. Just as the US didn't go after Irish-American groups going back to 1920 who raised money for Sinn Fein (Provisional IRA) and turned a blind eye to rampant amounts of ammo and weapons being shipped from the US to Ireland. Weapons like Tommy Gun (which Michael Collins' IRA bought from Colt directly), Armalite's AR-15 (our M16), AR-18 and the big boys that found their way to Ireland in the late 1980s and 1990s.. the Barret M82 and M90.

So it's perspective.




Wrong. Alawites were never given power and was sold out by the French in 1937 and later again when it gave land to Turkey (now Hatay Province). Alawites asked to stay part of France and was denied. It was a good 18 years post French rule that t
he Assad's took over (via the Ba'ath Party).
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ISIS didn't even exist until more recently. They've grown out of Al Qaeda in Iraq, taking over large portions of that group's base.
Your argument is that the Syrian government is so incompetent it can't even control its own lands?

Alawites were given power by the French--it's the only reason they ever managed to seize it, considering how much of a minority they are.

Was the US government sending US Army officers and FBI agents to train the IRA? And allowing the IRA to openly train on US soil, Because that would be the only way Syrian aid for Hezbollah could be comparible. The Ba'ath Party was an Arab revolutionary socialist development hardly unique to Syria.
 
Tigerace117 said:
ISIS didn't even exist until more recently. They've grown out of Al Qaeda in Iraq, taking over large portions of that group's base.
Your argument is that the Syrian government is so incompetent it can't even control its own lands?
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LOL, ISIS existed since 2007 when it split from AQI. ISI (Islamic State of Iraq) was active and fighting US troops. Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi ran ISI in 2010. It's only when they went to fight in Syria did they take the name ISIS.

Yes and No. Eastern Syria is rural and very hard to control that large of a border (it's not very hard to travel in the area like US/Mexico or US/Canada border and not get caught). Rather what I am saying is even the US had a VERY hard time controlling that border during the Iraq War as well despite our tech. So a country like Syria which is 3rd world in our view.. it's very easy to see how the border area is hard to protect.

Your issue is you assume Government has absolute control, it doesn't and never will as Pot growers still grow pot in the US.

Tigerace117 said:
Alawites were given power by the French--it's the only reason they ever managed to seize it, considering how much of a minority they are.
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No, they were not. It wasn't until 1966 that plans were set for Hafez al-Assad to take over.. and that didn't happen for another 4 years.

Tigerace117 said:
Was the US government sending US Army officers and FBI agents to train the IRA? And allowing the IRA to openly train on US soil, Because that would be the only way Syrian aid for Hezbollah could be comparible. The Ba'ath Party was an Arab revolutionary socialist development hardly unique to Syria.
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No, it's not. In the early years of the IRA, Americans trained the IRA (think Easter Rising), hell first PM of Ireland was an American. But the US turned a blind eye to ex-military training the IRA and turned a blind eye to funding and aid to groups.

The Ba'ath Party split between Syria and Iraq. It's why the Ba'ath party in Syria is mostly Shia and the one in Iraq was Sunni.

Educate yourself.
 
austrianecon said:
LOL, ISIS existed since 2007 when it split from AQI. ISI (Islamic State of Iraq) was active and fighting US troops. Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi ran ISI in 2010. It's only when they went to fight in Syria did they take the name ISIS.

Yes and No. Eastern Syria is rural and very hard to control that large of a border (it's not very hard to travel in the area like US/Mexico or US/Canada border and not get caught). Rather what I am saying is even the US had a VERY hard time controlling that border during the Iraq War as well despite our tech. So a country like Syria which is 3rd world in our view.. it's very easy to see how the border area is hard to protect.

Your issue is you assume Government has absolute control, it doesn't and never will as Pot growers still grow pot in the US.



No, they were not. It wasn't until 1966 that plans were set for Hafez al-Assad to take over.. and that didn't happen for another 4 years.



No, it's not. In the early years of the IRA, Americans trained the IRA (think Easter Rising), hell first PM of Ireland was an American. But the US turned a blind eye to ex-military training the IRA and turned a blind eye to funding and aid to groups.

The Ba'ath Party split between Syria and Iraq. It's why the Ba'ath party in Syria is mostly Shia and the one in Iraq was Sunni.

Educate yourself.
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The Assad's may not have taken over; but the Alawites were still in charge. And no **** the Ba'ath party split. They were arguing over which faction would take the lead in uniting the Arab world, the Syrians offered sanctuary to this Iraqi dude who the Iraqi regime wanted dead, and it all esclalated from there. The Syrians are perfectly positioned to control Iraq's water supply due to their geography.

When pot growers start cutting people's heads off, steal chemical weapons from the government and carve out their own state, it'll be a valid comparison. Until then....

Syria is a dictatorship. Their whole shtick is total control of the population. They knew full well what AQ was doing and they let them do it.

Cathal Brugha was an America? News to me.

Your probably thinking of Éamon de Valera. Easy mistake to make, seeing as Brugha was only running the show for a couple months, but it still means your statement was incorrect.

The question was whether US troops or FBI agents trained the IRA. People who are actively associated with the US government.

I don't know what it's so important to you that a regime which has spent the last couple years butchering its own civillians en masse is considered so kind of "good guy". The world isn't black and white, but Assad's actions have done more then then pretty much anyone else to create this quagmire.
 
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