The World is on the brink!

[Calliope]

I'm glad they were idiots during the second world war. You'll be lucky if, in your life time, you will not need them to be idiots again in the same way.

Nit picking again.They didn't do it for us mate. It was Pearl Harbour that forced them to get involved and we were just lucky that they did. So it was self interest for them and luck for us. Who in the Middle East is is threatening American Borders? And who will get lucky if they attack Syria? Us again?

 

[MrBurns]

Syria have agreed to surrender all chemical weapons, I hope the US back off, Obama has little support for a strike.

I just don't want another war.......I'm sick of it, if there is another solution go for it.

 

[bellenuit]

Syria have agreed to surrender all chemical weapons, I hope the US back off, Obama has little support for a strike.

I agree. This is an opportunity that should not be discarded.

I heard Obama on the radio this morning. This is how I remember what was said.

Obama: We have overwhelming proof that chemical weapons were used.
Reporter: Used by the Assad regime?
Obama: Used full stop.

That answer doesn't sound convincing to me that it was Assad's side that used them.

 

[MrBurns]

I agree. This is an opportunity that should not be discarded.

I heard Obama on the radio this morning. This is how I remember what was said.

Obama: We have overwhelming proof that chemical weapons were used.
Reporter: Used by the Assad regime?
Obama: Used full stop.

That answer doesn't sound convincing to me that it was Assad's side that used them.

It probably was Assad but if there's anyway of preventing it happening again besides starting another war they should at least try it.
If Assad is willing to hand over all chemical weapons that's an admission of defeat and that should do for now.

 

[CanOz]

This is getting interesting, Russia could come out smelling like a rose if they can broker a deal here, that will piss off the Obama administration. Is see the Rebloodlicans are backing down now saying Obama didn't handle it properly and he should withdraw the request from Congress.

Every time Kerry opens his pie hole i trust him less and less.

 

[Julia]

Every time Kerry opens his pie hole i trust him less and less.

+1. Even in the face of Russia's suggestion he was trying to suggest they didn't really mean it, that it was just a throw-away comment. He and Obama seem intent on rushing to bombing which hardly seems an answer and is almost certain to spark wider conflict. It's so like a re-run of the Iraq con.

 

[CanOz]

+1. Even in the face of Russia's suggestion he was trying to suggest they didn't really mean it, that it was just a throw-away comment. He and Obama seem intent on rushing to bombing which hardly seems an answer and is almost certain to spark wider conflict. It's so like a re-run of the Iraq con.

Absolutely Julia, i can't believe their PR people can't pick up on that...They're so dismissive of any contrary opinions.

Its really annoying that world leaders behave this way...not surprising but just annoying...disturbing actually.

They may have forgotten history but the masses haven't...

 

[chiff]

I heard this morning that the last president of the US not to invade or attack another country was Eisenhower.

 

[satanoperca]

Hi,

Change your view of the situation.

USA : men in suits sitting behind closed doors, we really need a fight somewhere in the world, we just need to have a somewhat valid reason.

Syria situation fires up VIA some nasty chemical weapons

USA : finally a situation that allows us to get into a fight, load the guns and get ready.

The real question is :-
Why would America desire a military strike on Syria? What have they to gain? Ultimately it is financial driven as they don't have the finances to look after the massive underclass that exists

We need to ask ourselves this, as they are hardly a country that is prospering right now.

PS I don't have the answers.

 

[moXJO]

Hi,

Change your view of the situation.

USA : men in suits sitting behind closed doors, we really need a fight somewhere in the world, we just need to have a somewhat valid reason.

Syria situation fires up VIA some nasty chemical weapons

USA : finally a situation that allows us to get into a fight, load the guns and get ready.

The real question is :-
Why would America desire a military strike on Syria? What have they to gain? Ultimately it is financial driven as they don't have the finances to look after the massive underclass that exists

We need to ask ourselves this, as they are hardly a country that is prospering right now.

PS I don't have the answers.

US at the moment has its dirty little fingers in everything. The fact they target Australians in their data mining exercise should put them at arms length when it comes to trust. Id be following blackwaters little holy crusade through the middle east and asking questions

 

[Sdajii]

Nit picking again.They didn't do it for us mate. It was Pearl Harbour that forced them to get involved and we were just lucky that they did. So it was self interest for them and luck for us. Who in the Middle East is is threatening American Borders? And who will get lucky if they attack Syria? Us again?

It's hardly a trivial issue. As I said, I'm not sure what the USA's motives are in this case or who used the chemical weapons or if chemical weapons were used, but, we are lucky that there is someone there to step in if someone does the wrong thing. It may not have been you or your family, and it may not be you or your family next, but don't you think the concept of someone stepping in when someone does the wrong thing is nice? What you're saying about no one in Syria attacking the USA in this case is a bit like saying that since some guy in Sydney murdered his wife the police shouldn't bother investigating because the woman wasn't in the police force and the man had no interest in taking action against the police, and since you are not a target you don't care if they leave him alone.

We don't step in when someone does the wrong thing because we are directly threatened by that incident, we do so because it keeps everyone safer. If chemical weapons are used with no response, others will do the same. If there is a murder and no one bothers to do anything, there will be more murders. If any crime goes without response, that crime will become more common. It's nice to live in a relatively safe world. I think as Australians we often take that for granted and just assume that peace is a guarantee even if we stop working to maintain it. That simply isn't the case. We're just so fortunate that the maintenance of peace has been so effective that some of us seem to think that system is unnecessary. I assure it, it is as necessary now as it has ever been.

 

[chiff]

Did we step in when the US used chemical weapons in Fallujah or when the Israelis used white phosphorus in Gaza.
Of course not!It did not suit our politics.If you control the media, one can by propaganda-emphasis and repetition- sway the way that most people think.Goebells got this down to an art form.
This time it is not working.
Look up which countries will not get rid of their chemical weapons.

 

[MrBurns]

Did we step in when the US used chemical weapons in Fallujah or when the Israelis used white phosphorus in Gaza.
Of course not!It did not suit our politics.If you control the media, one can by propaganda-emphasis and repetition- sway the way that most people think.Goebells got this down to an art form.
This time it is not working.
Look up which countries will not get rid of their chemical weapons.

I don't think Obama will do this, people don't want any more war unless absolutely necessary and this is not a popular cause if Syria gives up his weapons.

 

[chiff]

I hope you are right Mr Burns.

 

[Calliope]

As I said, I'm not sure what the USA's motives are in this case or who used the chemical weapons or and since you are not a target you don't care if they leave him alone.

We don't step in when someone does the wrong thing because we are directly threatened by that incident, we do so because it keeps everyone safer. If chemical weapons are used with no response, others will do the same. If there is a murder and no one bothers to do anything, there will be more murders. If any crime goes without response, that crime will become more common.

I can see what you are on about Sdajii, but America can't punish all the villains. The drug trade across the Mexican Border is a bigger threat to American society than Assad's chemicals ever were. This is also a form of chemical warfare. By your reasoning, I guess Obama should do a bit of selective bombing in Mexico, Columbia and Cuba to scare the baddies.

Anyway you know as well as I do, that this idiotic Syrian adventure is not going to happen. The American public are opposed to butting into another foreign debacle, when Obama can't get out of Afghanistan quickly enough... and leave the Taliban back in control... business as usual.

 

[moXJO]

Probably won't get much airtime and as he admits no where near solid proof, but the amount of propaganda the press is pushing for war I'm glad some doubt is out there.

Domenico Quirico, an Italian journalist, and Pierre Piccinin, a Belgian teacher, disclosed a grim account of their captivity in Syria as well as potentially new information about the chemical weapon attacks, upon their return to Rome Sunday.



As a seasoned war correspondent, Quirico traveled to Syria by means of Lebanon on April 6 to cover the revolution. Three days later, Quirico and Piccinin were kidnapped as they traveled to the Syrian city of Homs together.

Held hostage for six months, Quirico and Piccinin claim to have overheard their captors through closed doors, discussing the chemical weapon attacks near Damascus. Piccinin reports that the rebels said that Assad was not responsible for the attacks.

"It wasn't the government of Bashar al-Assad that used sarin gas or any other gas in Ghouta," Piccinin revealed on Belgian RTL radio.

"We are sure about this because we overheard a conversation between rebels. It pains me to say it because I've been a fierce supporter of the Free Syrian Army in its rightful fight for democracy since 2012," Piccinin said.

But Quirico said the information cannot be officially verified and thus can only be regarded as conjecture.

Quirico told La Stampa, the Italian newspaper for which he reports, "We heard some people we didn't know talking through a half-closed door. It's impossible to know whether what was said was based on real fact or just hearsay."

http://www.usnews.com/news/newsgram/articles/2013/09/10/freed-hostages-reveal-information-on-chemical-attacks-in-syria

Bit more from the same hostage

"Our captors were from a group that professed itself to be Islamist but that in reality is made up of mixed-up young men who have joined the revolution because the revolution now belongs to these groups that are midway between banditry and fanaticism," he said.

"They follow whoever promises them a future, gives them weapons, gives them money to buy cell phones, computers, clothes."

Such groups, he said, were trusted by the West but were in truth profiting from the revolution to "take over territory, hold the population to ransom, kidnap people and fill their pockets".
"Even children and old people tried to hurt us. Maybe I am putting this in overly ethical terms but in Syria I really found a country of evil," he said.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-24039309

Funnily enough the BBC doesn't mention the chemical weapons.

“During our kidnapping, we were kept completely in the dark about what was going on in Syria, including the gas attacks in Damascus”, Quirico said. “But one day, we heard a Skype conversation in English between three people whose names I do not know. We heard the conversation from the room in which we were being held captive, through a half-closed door. One of them had previously presented himself to us as a general of the Syrian Liberation Army. The other two we had never seen and knew nothing about”.

“During the Skype conversation, they said that the gas attack on the two neighbourhoods in Damascus had been carried out by rebels as a provocation, to push the West towards a military intervention. They also said they believed the death toll had been exaggerated,” Quirico said in his statement.

“I don’t know if any of this is true and I cannot say for sure that it is true because I have no means of confirming the truth of what was said. I don’t know how reliable this information is and cannot confirm the identity of these people. I am in no position to say for sure whether this conversation is based on real fact or just hearsay and I don’t usually call conversations I have heard through a door, true,” Quirico said.

http://www.lastampa.it/2013/09/09/esteri/quirico-it-is-madness-to-say-i-knew-it-wasnt-assad-who-used-gas-FjJDJ8oeEI19AZbyKIVBHJ/pagina.html

Little bit more detail on the event.

 

[MrBurns]

Probably won't get much airtime and as he admits no where near solid proof, but the amount of propaganda the press is pushing for war I'm glad some doubt is out there.

.

There's no doubt he did it, who else would have done it ?

There will be no military retaliation if he gets rid of his chemical weapons.

 

[moXJO]

There's no doubt he did it, who else would have done it ?

There will be no military retaliation if he gets rid of his chemical weapons.

The rebels were getting hammered right before the attack. IMO its not clear cut if he did it or not.

Leaked Iranian letter warned US that Syrian rebels have chemical weapons
According to leaked diplomatic correspondence, Iran has been warning Washington since July 2012 that Sunni rebel fighters have acquired chemical weapons, and called on the US to send “an immediate and serious warning” to rebel groups not to use them.

http://news.yahoo.com/leaked-iranian-letter-warned-us-syrian-rebels-chemical-184400423.html



Hey all you lefties wanna stop a war, join the campaign

Human Shields-Campaign to protect Syria against a baseless war of aggression.
Many people around the world are asking themselves what they could do to stop the madness of a war of aggression against Syria.
I receive continuously emails with this question, too. Activists have now found an answer, namely to go to Syria as human shields and to stand there as potential targets of American bombs and missiles. Thus, they hope to prevent the attack.
The “Human Shield Movement” initially received the worldwide attention in 2003 when several hundred Western activists consisting of all ages, professions and nationalities went to Iraq in order to try to prevent the bombardment and the invasion by U.S. forces and to stand in their way.

http://www.syrianews.cc/prevent-war-human-shields-syria/

 

[CanOz]

The next thing we'll hear is that the bloody CIA helped the rebels, essentially al Qaeda, obtain the chemical weapons in order to make it look like Assad gassed his own people so the US would get involved with the full blessings of their people....

This Farking government is more crooked the any dictatorship in history...I wouldn't put anything past them anymore...

 

[Sean K]

I'm not sure how long this 'brink' will be but it's creeping up.

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/wo...and-2014-present/story-fni0xs61-1226793586357