I'm pretty sure the Syrians are thinking, "Yeah, I feel much better about getting mowed down by my own country's army, now that I know Asma was just talking tongue-in-cheek when she was beating her chest and badmouthing my city."

Samian, I hope so, I heard Katty Kay, last week, on Morning Joe, saying she went to school with Asma, and was appalled that Asma would knowingly be involved in what is happening there. It was right after the emails started coming out, and it appears that she did/does know.

Oh, you're the "dictator"? Works for me, here's some war crimes charges for you too. "Hang" around it's going to get interesting.

Hopefully, she and her husband will both be found hiding like cowards in a concrete culvert, too, and one day soon!

Hey, Sanka - get out and find yourself some real coffee - then wake up and smell it for once...

ah ha- Saudi's playing the Beard on the weapons dump - good work Leon!

I wonder how would we handle an armed insurrection on the northern plains by the Lakota.

@sanka44

Lets see 50,000 killed in Mexico and Obummer sits and shakes hands with Calderon. Syria kills 8000 and when did Hillary visit Assad?

Something fishy smelling?

Well since Mexico is an ally of the US, why wouldn't we sit down with their leader? Also, it's not the Mexican government that is killing the citizens as it is in Syria.

Also, the US government is working with Mexico to assist in curbing the cross-border violence.

But, ultimately the violence is a Mexican crime problem, not anything like a dictator slaughtering his people.

Max^ 108 What? Is this humor? Is it to be used as some analogy to the Syrian situation? Are you Sioux? Cake or death? The Syrians, amongst others, will receive little interference from the rest of the world becuse they are killing their own people. The rules state that a country's leader must kill his neighbor's people before the world becomes upset enough to intervene. To wit: Robert Mugabe, Bashar Assad, Pol Pot, Caucescau (I know that is mis-spelled), Stalin and others only killed their own citizens and the world watched, listened, and possibly said "Don't do that." Hitler, Hirohito, and bin Laden killed thir neighbor's citizens and the world took action. There ARE rules. Watch Eddie Izzard for a more complete listing.

Jamie, the point is - given similar situation, US soldiers would have also been sent to kill armed insurgents in their own country.

sounds like it's time to take out the dictatorship of Syria

Unless she were Hillary Clinton.

And by Liberalizing, she meant to actually start allowing people to hold elections, rather than their conservative view, which is to maintain the hereditary dictatorship. Demonizing a word without understanding it's meaning, or even it's context is the trademark of America's Conservatives.

Many are bothered about Syria. Why are not they bothered about Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, UAE and other Sunni oil rich nations, which are worse than Syria?

Scott M-536256

Well since Mexico is an ally of the US, why wouldn't we sit down with their leader? Also, it's not the Mexican government that is killing the citizens as it is in Syria.

Also, the US government is working with Mexico to assist in curbing the cross-border violence.

But, ultimately the violence is a Mexican crime problem, not anything like a dictator slaughtering his people.

Actually, it's OUR government's policies that are killing the citizens in Mexico, by continuing to push our failed drug wars on Mexico. So, America's leaders are, in fact the dictators slaughtering people, as they do overseas as well.

Just what we need a bunch of drugged up loonies running the government. Ever work with someone who was a closet pothead? Take a close look at the guy or gal who can't keep their traps shut for longer than 5 minutes, who have ballooned egos and judgments so clouded that words that come from their lips sound like la la land on steroids.

The Mexican drug cartel plays to an American druggie community. Drugs are wrong. We don't allow our children to be drugged up, do we? So how about the aholes proposing an open and free drug market in this country grow up and handle their daily life battles like most people have always done and stop relying on drugs to help them "get through their day".

Everyone knows that America is the druggiest country in the world. How did it get that way? The "other" rampant drug addiction "moolah".

As for Mrs. Assad and her claims of dictatorship, the rule of the land doesn't begin between any woman's legs. If she thinks that, she'd best think again.

Men rule the world, and women rule the men. Nothing new here.

Hello folks, when will we discard our Imperialistic mindset? This is just more war mongering and demonizing as the U.S. is trying to drum up more support for another war. We’ve caused enough trouble around the world. If you can't see that we are the instigators in most of the world's wars and displacement of millions of people who are fleeing our aggression, than you are in denial and are not paying attention. If you don’t think we have been in Syria covertly arming the rebels you are in denial and forgetting about Libya. We need to stay out of other country’s civil disputes. I hope we aren’t going to go against the United Nations vote earlier this year and unilaterally go into Syria under the pretext that we need to stop the violence like we did in Libya. General Wesley Clark has stated that a Syria invasion has been pre-planned for quite awhile.

General Wesley Clark: "America will take out 7 countries in 5 years"

According to Former NATO supreme allied commander, former presidential candidate and 4 star US General Wesley Clark that they had received a memo that America is going to take out 7 countries in the Middle East starting with Iraq, Libya, Syria Lebanon Sudan, Somalia, and finally Iran. It is amazing how these things that were planned years ago are being achieved in front of our eyes.

Why is it other countries feel like they have to defend their territory? Could it be that they know we have no problem invading their sovereignty just as we have done to countless other countries. Since World War II, 90% of the casualties of war are unarmed civilians. 1/3 of them children. Our victims have done nothing to us. From Palestine to Afghanistan to Iraq to Somalia to wherever our next target may be, their murders are not collateral damage, they are the nature of modern warfare. They don't hate us because of our freedoms. They hate us because every day we are funding and committing crimes against humanity. The so-called "war on terror" is a cover for our military aggression to gain control of the resources of western Asia.

This is sending the poor of this country to kill the poor of those Muslim countries. This is trading blood for oil. This is genocide, and to most of the world, we are the terrorists. In these times, remaining silent on our responsibility to the world and its future is criminal. And in light of our complicity in the supreme crimes against humanity in Iraq and Afghanistan, and ongoing violations of the U.N. Charter in International Law, how dare any American criticize the actions of legitimate resistance to illegal occupation.

We are going into Syria for a couple of reasons (yes we are in Syria with our Drones at a minimum), one, we are trying to dislodge Russia from there because they have a foothold in the Middle East via two military bases in Latakia and Tartus in Syria. Two, Syria is a strong ally of Iran. If we invade Syria we take out a strong ally and maybe incite Iran to assist giving the U.S. the reason they are looking for to attack Iran. The ultimate goal is to surround, weaken and to invade Iran. The petro dollar is at stake as other countries are switching to other forms of currency in buying Iran’s oil.

Since the Russian war in 1828, Iran has never attacked another country. We on the other hand have attacked to name a few:
Libya, Iran, Nicaragua, Haiti, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Angola, Mozambique, Honduras, Chile, Congo, Yugoslavia, Afghanistan, Iraq, Lebanon, Somalia, Angola, Columbia, Peru, Panama, Yemen, Pakistan, Grenada, Mexico, etc..

Wake up people we are being herded down the Military Industrial Complex gauntlet again to another false war to enrich the greedy Corporations and distract the American people. Did we not learn anything from the Iraq war where we have killed well over 1 million Iraqi people, lost thousands of American lives and God knows how many hundreds of billions of dollars?

Who do you support, humanity or the greedy elite?

Many of our soldiers don't fight for America, they fight for their lives and their buddies beside them, because we put them in a war zone. They're not defending our freedoms, they're laying the foundation for permanent military bases to defend the freedoms of Exxon Mobil and British Petroleum.

Face it we're Imperialists pure and simple. The elite look down on all of us as expendable chattel.

"Military men are dumb, stupid animals to be used as pawns for foreign policy" Henry Kissinger

I’m not asking you to hate war, but to love peace? War, what is it good for, absolutely nothing!

I struggle to believe our American Govt wouldnt do EXACTLY the same thing if a group of americans, armed themselves and attempted to overthrow our leader.

You dont have to be a dictatorship to fire on your own citizens.

Raise your hand if you'd object to our American Govt and Military firing on muslim americans who tried to overthrow our democratic govt in an attempt to instate sharia law.

thats just one example...but honestly, who here wouldnt fight with our govt is a bunch of White Power crazies tried to overthrow our govt?

I know I would fight with our govt against white power nutso's or muslim extremists...

the reality is that it's real easy to pretend like WE wouldnt do the same thing.

but our short history proves, we do exactly that...

Civil War ring a bell?

A false analogy. The rebellion in Syria started precisely because the Syrian military relentlessly fired upon peaceful protests. As has been thoroughly demonstrated here recently during the Tea Party and Occupy protests, Americans can protest against their government without being killed by soldiers. So, no, our government would NOT do the same thing.

If someone simply took up arms and decided that they wanted to crush the government, or states tried to suddenly secede, sure, there's call for taking up arms, but as far as Syria goes there's no comparison.

Trustverify, good morning to you. It's always somehow refreshing to hear your dystopian nonsense, like how a prosecutor might feel satisfied that there will always be crime for him to fight. I look forward to many more of your senseless lectures.

Man, I've been waiting for THAT!

Assad or his wife - the result is the same.

@Prohibition doesn't work

Actually, it's OUR government's policies that are killing the citizens in Mexico, by continuing to push our failed drug wars on Mexico. So, America's leaders are, in fact the dictators slaughtering people, as they do overseas as well.

That's nothing but politial hyperbole.

While we certainly have skin in the game, the lawlessness of certain areas in Mexico and the unwillingness and inability of the Mexican government to handle the rampant crime (drugs and homicide) are much more to blame.

Shows how easy it is for narcissists that run these countries to just sit back and know people are dying and not care. What is wrong with people? I don't get it.

Or Mrs. Mussolini. Mrs. Ceausescu by the way, just before she was shot, screamed at her executioners, "How can you shoot me? I'm your MOTHER you fuc**ng bast**ds!!!

sanka44 - not referrring to President Obama by his correct name is akin to putting on a big red clown nose and Donkey ears. I hope that's the effect you were trying for because it's what you achieve. Or, you could elevate the level of your post by calling the President something reallly clever like "poopey butt"

Thank you, Purnell. I always wonder how presumed adults fail to realize that calling people silly names does nothing more than reveal the fact that they are extremely childish.

Since there are always so many posts on Newsvine, I use it as a flag. As soon as I see a post indicating the writer is going-on-6, I hit the Ignore filter. I don't want to waste my time reading a child's viewpoint.

patter123 you make me laugh "WHY SO SERIOUS?" see what i dislike is when people like you criticize others on here for something completely irrelavent to the true nature of the post. take your old republican self somewhere else.

Conservatizing this country gave us a massive mess of a recession. Conservatizing this country brought up the scumbos who are now running for the presidency. Conservatizing gave us a needless war in Iraq. Conservatizing broke all rules of personal privacy with datamining, sending banking information to foreign countries to be processed by foreigners for cheapo salaries.

Conservatizing brought us a swaggering puppet for 8 years. Anyone else going on a "conservatizing" diet? Conservatize this country right into the ground. Happens every time any conservatizer is allowed to think he has become the 1% elitist party.

One can imagine "mission accomplished" when required!

Mission accomplished was completed by withdrawing under the cover of huge forces in Iraq and now it will match Saigon in Afghanistan.

Interfering much in Syria or Iran will end up like Iraq or Vietnam!

One can't be world policeman in too many places!

As I recall, in Libya, President Obama offered no ground troops. He rightfully allowed the UN and other foreign countries with more of a Libyan investment to handle the matter. Just like Iraq, we had no business being in Saigon. The entire purpose of the Viet Nam war was the same as the purpose of Iraq....US military contractors needing more profit. Everyone who lived through that Viet Nam mess knew that. It's why the draft for the military was abolished. Why should American sons and daughters become the pawns of profit driven military industrialist and be killed or maimed just to make military manufacturers rich?

"WHY SO SERIOUS?"

Brandon, darling, precious child... people are being slaughtered. It is appropriate for adults to take it seriously.

You'll understand when you grow up.

"It's why the draft for the military was abolished. Why should American sons and daughters become the pawns of profit driven military industrialist and be killed or maimed just to make military manufacturers rich?"

I see that as our main problem.Its too easy for Americans to just allow the government to get into war after war.With a bought military force,people don't have the connection to the troops welfare that we did when it was everyone's sons that were called up to fight.

Dan, while I agree with you, I don't think the YELLOW ELEPHANTS will. They still want to bomb Iran.

SallyAnn-4595694 Who bombed the World Trade Center? Why can't the U.S. identify half the dead?

I think the idea that when the US in even remotely involved we take all the heat. We either do too much, or too little, but no matter what you are right in that all the haters come together to hate the US big.

Sanka's been reading the conspiracy blogs again, and missed the full list of dead that's been published. Oh well.

As for the Arab Spring, don't dismiss it so quickly. Wait and watch. If they fall back into dictatorship, then so be it, but if they really begin to have free and open elections, even if they elect their conservatives from time to time, perhaps the liberals will eventually win an election or two, and perhaps, just maybe, things will get better.

If you think for a minute that America would be better off with a strong popular conservative leader who was President for 30 or 40 years, and that having his son groomed for leadership without an election, I will stand against you. I am not sure how you could imagine anyone would want that.

Ultimately, 2,752 death certificates were filed relating to the 9/11 attacks,as of February 2005. Of these, 1,588 (58%) were forensically identified from recovered physical remains.The Associated Press reported that the medical examiner's office possesses "about 10,000 unidentified bone and tissue fragments that cannot be matched to the list of the dead." Bone fragments were still being found in 2006 as workers prepared the damaged Deutsche Bank Building for demolition.

Sanka, when all that's left of a person is a small charred fragment maybe that is why so many haven't been identified. For some of the unidentified there was simply so little left of them as to make it impossible. For some of the dead nothing was found. Now exactly what does 911 have to do with Syria? BTW when you get 20 over collapsed comments in two days it's time to STFU.

Christians were already being targeted in Egypt before the Arab spring. Although I'm under no illusion that Christians are completely safe in Egypt, I'm hopeful that a long history of Coptic and Muslim co-existence in that country aids in continued and future religous tolerance in Egypt, which usually means Muslims tolerating Christians. I know it's tenuous but more than one Egyptian I've spoken with, and that would be Muslim and Copt, identifies themself as just an Egyptian, first and foremost. They hold forefingers from each hand together as a symbol of unity. Of course, there's hardheads, but I honestly believe there is hope that religous strife will not overcome Egypt.

It sounds like she is not only willing but also eager to accept the charges all on her own.

War criminals list should start from most corrupt, feudal, bigoted and despotic Sunni Saudi, Kuwaiti, UAE and other ME rulers!

What the @#%$#! are you talking about?

Isn't that what a dictatorship is all about? 1% getting it all from the other 99%? Syria has more than one lesson for Americans to learn. Hand over your government to too few and you get a regime not unlike the Assad regime in Syria.

We have our own little regime building up right now. And those who lust after it most are the ones who are hoping to rise to the top first like creme de la creme. That's what the 8 Bush years were all about...helping 1% become the first American regime. All it takes is a CEO for president and his henchmen board of directors. Nothing came as close to an American regime as the Bush Administration.

It was a Republican game of "Now you see it. Now you don't." Of course, they don't want any reminders of what they tried to pull off. If there is anything less today's neoconservative Republicans want least, it's more power to the voters. Take a look at which states are attempting voter suppression by passing laws they know would put the elderly and the poor at risk of losing their voting rights. These are the same states profitting the most from our federal tax dollars.

The day life in America becomes a Gladiator arena with all of the hoochie coochie royalty sitting on their thrones watching the rest of us being lion food, is the day you'll all wake up and realize why neocons are fighting like hell to usurp the power of the people. What they want is autonomous power.

Seems to me that the solution to that is to weaken the government so that even if Republicans take charge, they can only wreak limited damage and exercise very little control (approaching the issue from your point of view, of course).

It's that whole "limited government" thing. The Republicans pay it lip service, but both parties expand power as much as they can and seize it for themselves (yes, the Democrats too). Take back your rights and slay the leviathan.

ewenet:

Cany you even define "neoconservative" beyond "a Republican whom I don't like"?

There are never any promises. America's first real President stepped down after two terms, even though he could have ruled for the rest of his life. Rissia's first President just got elected to a third term, with no signs he'll ever go. America's freedom fighters handed the government over to the people and created an open democracy. Iran's freedom fighters tossed out a monarch, and put in place a theocracy that now rules with an iron fist. You just really do not know. America has been very lucky so far not to fall into theocratic or dictatorial rule.

One of American President that history now considered one of the best, sent soldiers to kill his country's citizens and burn their towns to the ground. I wonder what President Lincoln would look like in the modern day news cycle?

Richard Walking...Lincoln is also responsible for the nations first railroads. I think there was more to Lincoln than having to avert southern states from leaving the union. And let's not pretend the red states at that time didn't start the mess by refusing to end slavery. They considered slavery a matter of states rights. Funny how these Bible Thumper states go all moral on other issue but slavery? Well, after all, to them, it's "states' rights". Not to mention tons of free labor that made Big Daddy and Big Momma richer than God.

President Lincoln sent troops to kill rebels who were violating the moral right to freedom. Anyone who does less deserves to die. Those rebels down south knew that keeping slaves was wrong. They just didn't consider anyone with different color skin worthy of the term "human". So the rich plantation owners had to call upon poor white farm bois to do their dirty work and go out and fight for all the free slave labor.

Lincoln is and always will be a thorn in most rebels sides. Yet, that traitor, Jefferson Davis, who tried to split the United States into his own personal Confederacy, is still treated as an icon of honor. Shows how misguided their sense of "honor" really is.

To ewent,

You have a lot of that post wrong.First,while Lincoln pushed railroads in the West.There were many railroads throughout the North and the South before he became President.Second,that while the underlying primary cause for the distrust among the states was slavery.It wasn't the reason for the war itself.The states rights issue was far more responsible than slavery.The Southern States had a whole set of issues that brought on Secession. Taxes and tariffs on trade,that penalized the South and benefited the North,were an important issue.The right of the States, for state law over federal law,another prime issue.Then when South Carolina left the Union ,and the Federal Government threatened force to not let them leave.That convinced the other Southern States,that this Union, voluntarily joined,was now considered a forced Union,and they joined South Carolina in leaving.It wasn't until 1863 that Lincoln freed the slaves and that was only in the slave states that had seceded.The slaves in the other slave states were only freed later. That was a different time then,people's ideas were not the same on race,and what was considered right or wrong in society, as today.We make a mistake to put our morals and mindsets back into other times.The war that resulted cost in total around a million lives and destroyed so much of the South that in some cases it wasn't until the 1960's that the taxable property reached the level of 1860. Personally I think Lincoln was one of the greatest American Presidents.And the Union was right to have been saved.Though at such a terrible price. Several other countries,Britain and France,tried to mediate.But the Federal Government refused their offer and basically told them to butt out. If it had been today,Richard Walking,is right. Lincoln would have been accused of war crimes,and the press would be full of calls for intervention to aid civilians.

Thank you, Uncle Bob 512.

In my post, I was not attempting to put down President Lincoln. But only to make a comparison about the attitudes in two similar situations. And to counter the following type of statement:

Lincoln is also responsible for the nations first railroads...

It should be noted that one of the worlds most hated world leaders in the last 2000 years, Adolf Hitler, is credited at helping with one of the worlds most iconic vehicles popular around the world even today...and one that now has an associated with flowers...the Volkswagen Bug. Hitler used one of the first generations of the bug as a propaganda too in his own country telling his citizens that he could make it so they all could own that vehicle. At the time, that was a huge thing that gave him the almost idolic popularity. It was his version of "Change" statement. But making the Bug popular does not change the fact that he did some very nasty things while in office.

What gets me about the actions in Syria as the media statements like "And it looks like these protests may leader to a civil war" or "it could lead to a civil war". As soon as the Syria rebels started picking up AK-47 and firing on people, it is not longer a situation of "this could lead". It is a situation of THIS IS a civil war.

No, they're just vapid, like those of Nancy Reagan, Laura Bush, and Calista Blingrich...

Dudogger, it's obvious that your in love with Obama, but please be a little objective and keep your vile comments about the previous first ladies to yourself. Your probably one who would go nuts if anyone said anything negative about our current first lady, right!

dudogger can have his opinion. If you dont like it, stick it.

NJ John...Well at least she isn't a phony like Laura Adora or Nancy Reagan. These are the kinds of women who go after a man in positions of power and no other reason. Laura Adora and Nancy Reagan both pulled all the puppet strings for their men.

Nancy Reagan dressed to the nines in her Balenciagas and spending $210,000 for White House dinnerware with her husband's emblem on them while other Americans were suffering through the second term Reagan Recession. Laura Adora had the good grace to at least make it appear she followed in her puppet's footsteps.

Ewent&Roya...your kidding right? You critize Laura Bush, have you looked at the 'cost' our current first lady has racked up! Trips to Spain, ect costing 1000's of dollars, and let's not forget her memorable comment about how she was never 'proud' of her country...Oh wait, that's until her husband was elected President. And yes Royal, I'm entitled to my opinion, so where do you get the idea that LB is a phony? Sounds like your talking about Michelle. By the way, your right, I'm entitled to my opinion so you go 'stick it'!!

I am not that famlar with the whole Mexico matter -- but I do not see it as being the same thing. The "first lady" of Syria here reminds me of many "first ladies" in countries with "dictatorships" -- The peole and their problems are jst a "bother" to their happy, carefree- way of life -- enjoying power and wealth.

Hopefully this situations can resolved with less blood-slide in the very near future -- but I doubt it will be. On another matter-- the USA has seen again and again over the last 50 yearts that there is less and less positive returns from getting involved in the internal problems of other countires -- especially when they have cultures we do not really understand -- nor are we invited by their people to help. The USA does not need another war right now. Why not just finish what we have started already and then bring our troops home. ASAP?

Painful Truth...I was thinking the same thing. Evita Peron? These kinds of women are like leeches. They attach themselves to any man who has the potential for keeping her in wealth. Her self-esteem never matters. Only the buttering of her palms with as much moolah as she can get her hands on.

Believe it... there are MANY women that are NARCISSISTS. It isn't just men.

Don't cry for me, Syria ... though the truth is I'm REAL IMPORTANT!

LOL!

Have a good one, the tip jar is on the end of the bar!

:)

She is a brit.