Outside Intervention in Syria

Originally posted by sonhouse
So they are way upset over the gas attacks which killed all those people so their response is to go in and kill more people?

Of course. What's the natural response to a murderer who can't be captured? Shoot him.

Originally posted by AThousandYoung
Of course. What's the natural response to a murderer who can't be captured? Shoot him.

Somehow I get the feeling more innocents will die than the murderers who perpetrated the gas attacks.

Originally posted by sonhouse
Somehow I get the feeling more innocents will die than the murderers who perpetrated the gas attacks.

Unlikely. Explosives are far more controllable than gas. Tomohawks aren't going to end up killing the wrong target if the wind changes direction.

The post that was quoted here has been removed

Agent Orange, while it may have had horrific effects on people, was not a chemical weapon. It's designed to kill the trees so that people can't hide under them.

This does not excuse the use of it in Vietnam but it's not analogous to firing artillery shells full of Sarin gas with the intent of depopulating the target area.

Originally posted by AThousandYoung
How much is appropriate? By who?

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/08/24/us-syria-crisis-hagel-idUSBRE97N01A20130824

(Reuters) - U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel strongly suggested on Friday the United States was positioning naval forces and assets in anticipation of any decision by President Barack Obama to order military action on Syria after apparent chemical weapons use.

I question the fundamental assumption of this thread. In today's world, there is no "outside." What is happening in Syria threatens the world. The only thing we lack is an effective international force. The EU was formed in part to end the cycle of war upon war in Europe. I know the usual people will squawk, but the solution is for the world to be able to say, "We won't care who started it, finish it peaceably or we will finish it the other way." The day will come, probably after much pain.

Originally posted by JS357
I question the fundamental assumption of this thread. In today's world, there is no "outside." What is happening in Syria threatens the world. The only thing we lack is an effective international force. The EU was formed in part to end the cycle of war upon war in Europe. I know the usual people will squawk, but the solution is for the world to be able to say, ...[text shortened]... eaceably or we will finish it the other way." The day will come, probably after much pain.

The United States of America is outside of Syria.

Originally posted by JS357
I question the fundamental assumption of this thread. In today's world, there is no "outside." What is happening in Syria threatens the world. The only thing we lack is an effective international force. The EU was formed in part to end the cycle of war upon war in Europe. I know the usual people will squawk, but the solution is for the world to be able to say, ...[text shortened]... eaceably or we will finish it the other way." The day will come, probably after much pain.

Um. Squawk.

The post that was quoted here has been removed

Please someone tell me what if any is the difference between being killed by high explosive percussion, bullet wound, or poison gas?

The post that was quoted here has been removed

Governments will always minimize as much as they can the costs of war, especially after the war is history.

Originally posted by normbenign
Please someone tell me what if any is the difference between being killed by high explosive percussion, bullet wound, or poison gas?

The poison gas is easy to hit the wrong target with and it's easy for soldiers to protect against it. It's not a very effective weapon, but it has a natural tendency to kill civilians in a particularly horrific manner.

Originally posted by AThousandYoung
The United States of America is outside of Syria.

There is no outside any more.

Squawk, sleepyguy if you want. We are all in this.

Nationalism doesn't work.

Originally posted by AThousandYoung
Both Assad and AQ are providing excellent martyrs for the rebel cause. That picture of the beautiful Catholic girl lying dead with the cross stuck in her mouth...

... is a screen shot from a 2005 movie, Inner Depravity.

Originally posted by Bosse de Nage
... is a screen shot from a 2005 movie, Inner Depravity.

It's by Remy Couture: http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2012/12/23/remy-couture_n_2355922.html