On syria, notice a pattern?

[DonCoquixote]

Hussein, Assad and Gadaffi may be/have been scum, but what do these three have in common?

(pause)

All three were secular states, ones Al-Q HATED!

Now, we get to go and wipe out another secular state, much to the joy of al-Q so that they can take over, again!

[Agnosticsherbet]

1. The Al Qaeda boogieman was overplayed by Bush and Cheney....

So why are we resurrecting that old meme here? That has been the excuse made by Assad and this Alawites.

[mick063]

2. Planting crops and sowing seeds

The demand for missile equipped drones has a bright future.

[Lint Head]

3. Exactly!

Maybe the oil companies have a better track record dealing with religious fanatics. Say Saudi Arabia?
Whose primary source of law is the Islamic Sharia derived from the teachings of the Qu'ran and the Sunnah (the traditions of the Prophet). Sharia is not codified and there is no system of judicial precedent. Saudi judges tend to follow the principles of the Hanbali school of jurisprudence (or fiqh) found in pre-modern texts and noted for its literalist interpretation of the Qu'ran and hadith. Nevertheless, because the judge is empowered to disregard previous judgments (either his own or of other judges) and will apply his personal interpretation of Sharia to any particular case, divergent judgements arise even in apparently identical cases.

By the way the Sharia law thingy coming here is B.S. But the above, per wiki, is how they rule and there economy is 95% oil production.

[NightWatcher]

4. All 3 are/were hated by the Saudis...

Funny how things work sometimes, huh?

[DonCoquixote]

5. yeah

the same guys who sent 15 out of 19 hijackers.

[NightWatcher]

8. Stop making sense

[Spitfire of ATJ]

16. All thre are RIVALS to the Saudis. Slight difference in the seating charts at OPEC meetings.

[bunnies]

6. Are you saying Obama is in bed with Al-Qaeda?

Just asking.

[DonCoquixote]

7. no

just that he is stupid enough to fall right into their trap. The minute we "win" Syria, we will see women beaten,killed, and wearing Burqahs, just like everywhere else we reform.

[dionysus]

10. yes, clearly he is of inferior intellect.

[n2doc]

11. Because Afghanistan, Iraq, Egypt and Libya have turned out oh so well under his watch

Best and Brightest. Where have I heard that before?

[Spitfire of ATJ]

17. I think of Egypt as a work in progress....

It'll get there. The young people are going to win eventually.

[Scootaloo]

12. Not at all

Early in his administration, it sure as hell looked like we were finally going to have a president who can tell his ass from his elbows with regards to the Middle East. Remember this?

Now, I don't know what happened. Maybe the Republican harping about the "Apology Tour" got to him. Maybe he got some bad advice from Sec. Clinton. Maybe he's possessed by the angry ghost of Andrew Jackson, I don't fucking know. But the truth is, he went from being the president who could have dragged our chestnuts out of the fire, and is now just another guy in the oval office enacting the same damn dumb Middle east policy we've had for over sixty goddamned years.

[Amonester]

13. Because that's what the Empire wants (same GDME policy).

And every POTUS will (have to) do the Empire's desires.

Otherwise, he/she will not be POTUS for very long.

Have u got it yet?

[Scootaloo]

14. Oh, i'm very aware; been explaining it to people for quite a while, in fact

[Amonester]

15. Yes. And my HUGIY stance was not directed at you, personally.

And President Obama has repeatedly stated in the past that he wants to remain a good Father for his daughters for a long time after his term(s).

I don't know who the critics think he's dealing with there, pre-school children?

[Harmony Blue]

9. Yeah the Saudis are playing both sides of the fence

as AQ despises the royal Saudis but they are using AQ and loosely affiliated groups to dispose of non royalty authoritarians in the region. They are trying to re-shape the geo-political climate of the region in their own image.

[totodeinhere]

18. They are saying that regime change is not on their agenda.

They just want to punish Assad. But that having been said, I oppose military action.

[JayhawkSD]

19. That's what they said about Libya, too

At least initially. After the bombs were flying it changed to "we will not stop until Ghadaffi is gone," otherwise known as "regime change."

[AverageJoe90]

20. The truth is, AQ didn't so much *hate* these guys.....as they were inconvenient.

This is especially true for Al-Assad and Gadaffi: had they acted just a little differently, perhaps they and the AQ could have been cordial, or even *allies* perhaps(mainly after the Cold War, but maybe a little earlier, perhaps during the Gorby era); both of these guys had a hardcore dislike for Israel and the U.S., and it wouldn't have taken much to convince these two to reject the socialistic rhetoric they once used, particularly if they could be convinced that Marxism was a "Jewish conspiracy", or something like that......just a thought, really.