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Russia has been behaving as, if not an enemy, an actor whose interests align with our enemies (see: their partnership with Iran, their support of Assad, and the
by the_watcher 10y ago
Russia has been behaving as, if not an enemy, an actor whose interests align with our enemies (see: their partnership with Iran, their support of Assad, and their annexation of Crimea).
And while it's ironic to watch the media that could not have been more supportive of Wikileaks when the reveals focused on Bush-era scandals (at least some of which deserved the attention as abuses) now discovering that Assange is as self-interested as they come now that his dumps concern Clinton, who they're clearly much more supportive of than Trump (justifiably), but he's been known to despise Hillary for a long time now, and the recent dumps have been far less carefully redacted this time around. Wikileaks should be a whistleblowing service. Unfortunately, Assange won't let it be that simple.
- drakonandor 10y agoWhen did Assad become our enemy?
- M_Grey 10y agoWhen he started chlorine and barrel bombing civilians?
- throwanem 10y agoOur civilians? Perhaps this sounds harsh, but consider the possibility that US intervention in conflicts among and within other sovereign nations may do more harm than good. "Team America: World Police" is a fun movie. It may not be the best of foreign policy goals.
- the_watcher 10y agoWas the parent edited? I don't see the word "our" in it. Just civilians.
- M_Grey 10y agoMy post is unedited.
- pdx 10y ago> When he started chlorine and barrel bombing civilians? I would suggest to you that the world is more complicated than the soundbites vomited to you by the as of lately, largely discredited media and Obama administration. The accusations against Assad change as necessary. It used to be Sarin, until that was disproved, for example. Bottom line, they just really want Syria to be destroyed like Iraq and Libya were, and will make up accusations as necessary. Did he drop some barrel bombs (home made bombs)? Probably. Did some of them hit civilians? Probably. The US has killed it's share of civilians also, hasn't it? You don't know anything, but you want a nuclear war with Russia. Seems appropriate. https://off-guardian.org/2016/07/25/assad-the-tyrant/ https://off-guardian.org/2016/07/25/assad-the-tyrant/
- the_watcher 10y agoWait, are you actually defending Assad? EDIT: just want clarify that I don't necessarily disagree that Iraq and Libya were disasters, and that the Syrian situation seems to have devolved into a no good options situation, but that in no way excuses Assad's human rights violations.
- pdx 10y agoAm I defending he used Sarin? Hell yes. That's already disproved. Am I defending he may have killed civilians while bombing rebels? Well, not defending, but putting in perspective, since we kill civilians almost daily. Am I saying that you have been lied to by an administration that destroyed Libya and wants nothing more than to do the same to Syria? Yes, I am.
- the_watcher 10y agoKilled civilians as collateral damage, while tragic, and something that we should work to reduce and minimize, is in no way equivalent to targeting civilians. Following your logic, manslaughter should not be a distinct crime from murder.
- pdx 10y ago
- snackematician 10y agoKilling civilians has absolutely nothing to do with whether a country is an enemy or ally of the USA. Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and Israel are recent counterexamples to your theory.
- dragonwriter 10y agoThe Syrian regime has, in a sense, been recognized by the US as not only a national enemy but as among the common enemies of humanity generally since it's formal designation as a state sponsor of terrorism in 1979.
- pdx 10y agoSorry, but anybody who support Hezbollah is given the moniker "State sponser of terrorism". Iran and Syria support Hezbollah because they are unhappy with Israels expansion. Lots of people are unhappy with Israels expansion. How many UN resolutions have condemned Israel for it's actions? You count them. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_the_UN_resolutions_concerning_Israel_and_Palestine https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_the_UN_resolutions_con... We are Israels big buddy, so we give scary names to the countries that support Hezbollah. But at the same time, we support rebel groups all over the world. Hell, we're supporting rebel groups in Syria right now. We also supported them in Libya. Don't let the fact that Syria is on a list because of our unhealthy relationship with Israel, make you forget that we belong on that same list ourselves.
- the_watcher 10y agoThere are 3 countries on the US list of state sponsors of terrorism. It's not an overly inclusive list.
- the_watcher 10y agoSeriously? Syria is currently one of three countries on the United States list of state sponsors of terrorism.[1] You can quibble with the list, but short of an explicit declaration of war, there's no better (although not necessarily exhaustive) source for a list of current enemies of the US [1]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/State_Sponsors_of_Terrorism#Syria https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/State_Sponsors_of_Terrorism#Sy...
- imron 10y agoAssange's apparent dislike of Hillary has been exaggerated way out of proportion. From Assange himself just over a week ago: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x6mARUrPtXk&feature=youtu.be&t=5019 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x6mARUrPtXk&feature=youtu.be... "There’s been a lot of misquoting of me and WikiLeaks publications. In this particular case, the misquoting has to do with that we intend, or I intend, to harm Hillary Clinton or that I don’t like Hillary Clinton. All those are false. They come about as a result it seems of this campaign and those who are trying to personalize our publications."
- the_watcher 10y agoA quote from one week ago that was very obviously self-serving doesn't negate his history.