Correct, but they aren’t really the ones doing the shooting.
and? the rebels who are aren’t all islamists. the FSA is mostly made up of secularists, and some more conservative elements who are not outright Islamists.
also, now that the fighting is dying down, the original protestors are reasserting control:
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I believe that Russia is far more worried about Islamism spreading to its bordering *stans than what happens in Syria. Putin has said this on more than one occasion. From a Russian perspective, the US doesn’t care at all if Saudi or Turkish resources go to encouraging dissent in the *stans - the US would be delighted, for instance, if Russia had to close the spaceport in Kazakhstan.
Iran is needed as a counterbalance to the countries that receive US support; supporting Assad is a gesture of good faith to Iran while also discouraging the Sunnis.
A more extreme view than some of the assessments that have come out of the State Department, for a start.
eh, no they wouldn’t. for what should be one pretty obvious reason.
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Remind me what percentage of the budget is NASA again, and how many people want the US government to give more money to developing commercial spaceflight?
at some theoretical point in the future when the US have some way of getting astronauts to the ISS and back, then maybe then your theory might carry some weight (though I’d like to see some actual evidence for it myself), that time is not now though.
it’s probably also worth noting that space/science is one thing the US and Russia tend to get along well on these days as well, and really not likely to be a bone of contention at any point in the foreseeable future.
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Not in the slightest, not even sure I see a difference between a threat and a warning?
I’m watching the world’s leaders speak with multiple intentions, posturing with their toys and veiled warnings. I’m not sure what reason you would have to deny this?
Most people feel the need to pick sides in things when it’s entirely possible to realise both sides are being assholes. I think it’s a pretty basic human failing, not picking on @kupfernigk here.
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Except those “moderate dictators” are never as stable as democratic nations would hope they would be. All dictatorships sow the seeds of their own demise. Dictatorship thrives on outside conflict and starts to wither when people are peaceful enough to contemplate options other than “dear leader”.
Is Assad that much better than ISIS? arguably, not really. Both are murderous regimes making life miserable for those under their thumb. The only difference is Assad carried the pretense of being willing to deal with other nations like a reasonable nation state. But his neighbors certainly find him just as much of a threat as anyone else who can take power there.
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See also the China/US argument regarding “data collection” in the Exclusive Economic Zone. To steal @vonbobo’s phrase, both sides are posturing with their toys and veiled threats with little real communication actually occurring.
Oh I never thought of them as moderate as much as willing to have their own kingdom and play reasonably nice with the neighbors and the rest of the world… not the greatest situation but just removing it and thinking all will be peace and democracy is not realistic thinking.
The devil we know and can deal with kind of thing.
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But even the idea of a stable dictatorship is really wishful thinking. Ones which have their own kingdom and play reasonably nice with their neighbors are the ones most likely to collapse fast. Without outside conflict to rile people up on a regular basis, people start looking inward. They start getting antsy with the lack of liberties or notice ethnic/religious/racial preferences of the regime more closely. The Shah of Iran,
Iran is a good example of this. Its youth are largely fed up with the Islamicist regime they were born into. So the government there starts crap up elsewhere. It is all done to create 2 situations:
- A foreign conflict for angry people to get themselves killed over, rather than plot revolutions
- Create a besieged mentality so it is far easier to marginalize and justify repression as “defense of the nation from its foreign enemies”.
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I think that statement is grandstanding.
Threat: “If you don’t get off my lawn I will shoot you”.
Warning: “I advise you to get off that lawn because if you don’t my crazy neighbour will shoot you.”
Whether it is a threat or a warning depends on the source of the danger.
As I think I’ve been trying to strike a balance here - I am pointing out that there are several ways of looking at what is happening in Iraq and Syria - I slightly resent that sideswipe. This started because of a very one sided post by @vonbobo. I suggested it is far more complicated than that. I have no brief for the Russian government, but when it comes to rattling sabres the US government has an equally dishonourable history. The Russians sit down with dictators and near-dictators; so does the US. Let him who is without sin among you etc.
The only people in this whole mess that I support are the Kurds. They have their own internal conflicts but if any group of people deserve a State they do. They’ve shown an ability to understand democracy that is, in the ME, only to be found elsewhere in Israel. Currently the Russians seem to have done more to support the Kurds than the US which doesn’t want to upset Turkey, but that’s about all I can see in their favour.
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I’m completely guilty of starting it, but your assumption and ensuing argument that I am blinded by fox news and pro 'Merica is far from reality.
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Currently the Russians seem to have done more to support the Kurds than the US which doesn’t want to upset Turkey, but that’s about all I can see in their favour.
The US has provided significant air support for Kurdish forces in Iraq (as well as arms, training and other support), to say the Russians have done more for the Kurds is laughable.
The situation in Syria is more complicated, with the Kurds in conflict with Turkmen rebels (supported by Turkey), as well as the Islamists and government forces. And you now also have the more radical Kurds growing in prominence and being responsible for some pretty pretty horrific terrorist attacks in Turkey.
Conflict tends to escalate and good men are turned to evil by what they experience in conflict. I’m not arguing with that.
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But then how would we send astronauts to the ISS?
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