I dunno, I thought he's dressed more like a mortician measuring Assad up for a casket.....,

"And Bashar, is that the suit you want to be viewed in?"

Looks more like 1 white & 1 black sock; maybe an arificial limb sock, or to depict the Iranian outlook on the world, black and white but no shades of gray. LOL

Al718,

"Must be the new revolutionary islamic trend, or a sign that sanctions are finally biting."

More like the new revolutionary sycophant trend. He's just another one of Assad's paid ass-kissers telling Assad what he wants to hear. Tyrants are always surrounded by brown-nosers and ass-kissers.

Funny, David Letterman wears light socks with all of his suits also.

<< Isaiah 17 >>

King James Version

1The burden of Damascus. Behold, Damascus is taken away from being a city, and it shall be a ruinous heap.

2The cities of Aroer are forsaken: they shall be for flocks, which shall lie down, and none shall make them afraid.

Hummmmmmmmmmmm .. The rats are leaving the "Sinking Ship!" ...

We still need to keep out of this power game in Syria. Assad is bad and so is the other, al-qaeda backed, side. Let them dissolve themselves.

As estimated 18,000 people have been killed in the Syrian conflict

Isn't this the holy month of Ramadan the most sacred month of the Islamic calendar ?

The Bible prophecies that Damascus will be judged and utterly destroyed in the last days. Isaiah 17: 1-3 and Jeremiah 49 23-27

Syria is imploding. Assad is slaughtering its own people, and steadily losing control of the country. The latest reports are that more than 20k Syrians have been murdered. Top Syrian officials are defecting. Iran is sending forces to fight on behalf of the Assad regime against the rebels and Putin is sending naval warships and Russian marines to Syria as a show of support for Assad.

But the rebels are no friends of freedom. Should they topple the Assad regime and seize control, we could see a repeat of the Egyptian revolution last year where Radical Islamic jihadists end up gaining control of the country.

now what was that off mic comment to Putin that Barry made????

ASSad ain't leaving soon, he's going to hang on as long as he can because he knows the alternative, exile, trial for war crimes to his people,....firing squad...If the U.S. government can just keep us out of it....

FedupwithFed,

"The Bible prophecies that Damascus will be judged and utterly destroyed in the last days. Isaiah 17: 1-3 and Jeremiah 49 23-27"

The Bible also says this:

"In that day there will come to be a highway out of Egypt to Assyria, and Assyria will actually come into Egypt, and Egypt into Assyria; and they will certainly render service, Egypt with Assyria. In that day Israel will come to be the third with Egypt and with Assyria, namely a blessing in the midst of the earth because Jehovah of armies will have blessed it saying: Blessed be my people Egypt, and the work of my hands, Assyria, and my inheritance Israel". (Isaiah 19:23-25).

The Syrians consider themselves the descendants of the ancient Assyrians. So just substitute Syria for Assyria in those passages. What do you make of that? Do you see any of that happening? I think the Bible was a pretty good guide to the Middle East as it was about 3 or 4 thousand years ago, but I'm not so sure it is a good guide to the Middle East now.

Assad reminds me of "Beaker" from the Muppets :)

welll james4:18 says ...its time for a new book to follow

i just dont understand why they want to continuously live like that....and i mean the rebels, well really all of the peoples....why do they want to see people get murdered all day every day....i cannot understand this at all

james418,

"welll james4:18 says ...its time for a new book to follow"

That's clever since there is no 18th. verse in chapter 4 of James. It only goes up to verse 17. But if the book of James did say that, it would have been correct: the "new book" that followed James is called the Quran.

branxoz, So you think that those bibical passages apply to now and not one of the other hundreds of times that the area we now call Syria has been torn by war. Like say WWI, the Crusades, or the Franco Syrian War.

Syria is next. This is going on in Egypt and Obama and Hilary are shaking hand with the Muslim Brotherhood.

Waving national flags, and with martial music blaring out, demonstrators castigate the Brotherhood and praise the army, which for all its wealth and privilege still enjoys wide support among Egyptians. Thousands of demonstrators attend nightly, including well-dressed families and many who thronged Tahrir Square last year during the revolution.

"We hate the Muslim Brotherhood, they are liars and hypocrites, and they don't know anything about democracy," said Abdul Salem, 50, a lawyer, on Friday evening. Another demonstrator, Noura Mohammed, wearing a traditional black head-dress, said: "Morsi is too extremist for Egyptians. We support the army – they are faithful to the people. We are behind our army."

Opponents of the Brotherhood fear that it will use its networks of grassroots supporters to try to change Egyptian culture, slowly reshaping society in its own image.

Already gangs of devout young men in villages and slums have taken on a more active self-appointed role in policing their communities.

Customers at shops selling alcohol are being abused, and in one horrifying case last week a man bled to death after he was stabbed in the groin as he promenaded with his fiancée. His attackers, self-appointed religious police, were arrested; they were not Muslim Brothers, but extremists who seem to have taken heart from Morsi's success in the polls.

"Before Morsi was elected we were used to sexual harassment, but now we get a lot of verbal harassment if we go outside without a headscarf," said Theresa Samir, 24. "There is real fear among some unveiled women, I even know a few who hardly leave their homes."

I am sitting here, listening to Mozart and reading the Pontificating of such GARBAGE like the wail of Valkyries descending on Damascus. The knowledge of kings is scattered in the dust of the Middle East from many uprisings and the Milleniums of persecution. No amount of Political Dexterity will relieve this area of War. Betrayal, and Killing which was highlighted in the Coliseum in Rome as Sunday Matinee.

How can there be Peace when every combatant believes "Their God" said this land belonged to them?

@Mickey, Are you saying the old testament is no longer relevant? The key to following what the bible says about the middle east is "Jerusalem". Mentioned in both the old and new testaments and in other Historical documentation or physical evidence.

...-6448092,

"Are you saying the old testament is no longer relevant?"

I am not saying the Old Testament is completely irrelevant. There are many passages of unsurpassed beauty and wisdom in it, especially in the Psalms and the writings of the prophets. What I am saying is that the interpretation of Bible "prophecy" is a fool's game, a game that people have played since the beginning of Christianity and still continue to play today. It is foolish to think that the prophets of the Bible were talking about events that are taking place in our own time. Every sect has its own interpretation of what those "prophecies" mean, and usually what they are really doing is reading their own political ideologies or preconceived ideas into the texts of the Bible.

Need to have your meds checked. Dr. Oz. has an appointment open for you this afternoon

That is just crazy. You are comparing the President of the U.S. to dictators such as Assad? You are what is wrong with this country and what is tearing it apart.

you must have missed the 8 years of faxu wars on terror, color coded scare tactics, waterboarding, free viagra for angry old white guys, tax cuts during time of two wars, the lies that got us into iraq, the trillions in deficit spending, mission accomplished....those darn fascists anyway

And the mission would be... what? To make the United States more paranoid and a generally less comfortable place to live?

BINGO! SF

perpetuate fear in the masses

rake in the money.

An old recipe

what!

The Muslim world appears to be on the verge of a new creation. A eight sided war.

Probably because the stakes and issues at hand are more important than where you stick the "Al Qaeda" brand name. I know that some people are so scared of that name that all someone needs to do is mention it to have them quivering under their bed demanding missile strikes, but luckily not ALL of our country's leaders are so weak and ill-informed.

But enough about you, let's talk about those so-called business interests and leaders being "illegally removed". What's your source, econ dude? And whose laws are being violated here?

we're not at "war" are we? we're just using this to justify spending more of your tax dollars with lockheed, boeing, etc... as far as legality, I'm going to assume you're not up-to-date on international treaties and the rules of international engagement.

Have you spoken to anyone in Syria? do you know what's actually going on there? or does all of your information come from US mainstream media? Why do we want to remove Assad?

Did you know there was an assassination attempt on Hillary Clinton in Israel last month? Why did we overthrow Gadaffi in Lybia? Did we ever find WMDs in Iraq? What exactly is it that we want to stop Iran from doing? How many central banks are there on the planet? which countries don't have them?

Look at the big picture now.

I'm probably not as up-to-date on international treaties as you are. I tend to get all hung up on that "Geneva Convention" thing about human rights and so forth. But since you're clearly more informed, explain to me who passed a treaty that an abused populace cannot replace their leadership by force when it is out of other options (besides suffering, I guess). Then you can explain how "we" overthrew Gadaffi in Libya as opposed to the massive rebel movement that has set up a shaky, but perfectly legitimate new government in its place. You could argue that it would have been impossible without NATO support, but that doesn't make it "our" revolution. We didn't sacrifice our family members and soldiers (although we did spill some fuel and bombs there, oh well), and we didn't vote in the new government, so I don't understand our ownership of their victory and revolution.

You'll have to keep in mind that I'm sadly "blinded" by my reliance on international media, since I do not have any embattled Syrians handy to tell me exactly what's going on there. I assume you do? It's the only explanation I can think of for your certainty that the media is simply lying to us. I'll happily admit that the media is manipulative and biased sometimes, but in the absence of opposing evidence I don't really have a reason to doubt them.

Most of your questions have nothing to do with Syria, so I'll ignore them, if you don't mind. I like to keep debates fairly focused. You may be a big-picture guy (being an economist), but by the same token, you can't lose sight of the small picture, either. If you have people who are having their laws made by a dictator refusing to allow them basic political rights and locking up their neighbors, while in neighboring countries people are rising up and demanding change, those influences are quite likely going to drive a populace to demand the same. You look for some greater power controlling these people (AKA your "business interests") because it probably hasn't even occurred to you that these people can think, stand, and resist all on their own. But they can. It's happened before, it's happening now, and it will keep happening until dictatorship is stamped out all across the globe (and probably it will keep happening even after that).

Wow SF I see how a warmonger thinks. You think it's ok to invade and overthrow a gov't because you don't like their treatment of THEIR people? Why haven't we invaded China, Saudia Arabia or Russia? Those countries have tons of human rights issues. Must be nice to pick winners and losers. What will you say when the UN decides they don't like our gov't and decide it's time for a change? Better yet how about your local gov't comes over to your house because they don't approve of the way you live your life. They will come in, throw you out, destroy your home rebuild it and give it to the next person they think deserves it. You better think long and hard before you cast judgement on others. Just because you don't agree with their choices does not give you the right to decide their fate.

"You think it's ok to invade and overthrow a gov't because you don't like their treatment of THEIR people?"

It depends. It depends on a lot of things, not least of which the people's opinion of their government. You see, despite your clever use of capital letters, a nation's people do not belong to their government. The government belongs to the people it manages. It can only survive by the funding and willing submission of the populace to it. So when that populace stops submitting to it, it's worth looking at whether the government should be changed.

There is no black or white, here. We saw what happened when we tried to change a nation's government that wasn't ready for it, in Iraq, and we're seeing it again in Afghanistan. It didn't work. In Libya it did. You need to look to the endgame, to the people whose lives are most affected, and see how best to move with them rather than just imposing a different set of rules that they still want to fight against.

"What will you say when the UN decides they don't like our gov't and decide it's time for a change?"

Well, obviously, that will depend on what they don't like about it and what they want to install instead. Only ignorant nationalists who are convinced their country can do no wrong oppose all foreign meddling on principle.

"Better yet how about your local gov't comes over to your house because they don't approve of the way you live your life. They will come in, throw you out, destroy your home rebuild it and give it to the next person they think deserves it."

That's called tyranny, and if I had no legal recourse I just might try to start up a revolution movement against the government. Of course, it would be hard to do that with just me a few other dispossessed stragglers, so I'd probably ask for help from a sympathetic international community for justice against this obvious abuse.

You know, just like the Syrians are doing. Did you seriously see no irony in that question?

"Just because you don't agree with their choices does not give you the right to decide their fate."

Yeah, see... that ship already sailed. The government does exactly that all the time. That is literally its job, to guide our choices toward what it (and, in theory, a majority of society) has decided is best. And if you step too far out of line it WILL cast judgement on you and take your property or even your life. Sorry to break it to you.

compartmentalizing forces you to think on their terms. You absolutely MUST consider the big picture in order to have a sense of what's happening at the small, local level... I'm glad you brought up the Arab Spring. How did that get started again? who were the driving groups behind it? Was there foreign money coming in? Again, why did we go after Gadaffi? Did it have anything to do with a gold pan-african currency? did they have a central bank? Did Iraq have a central bank before we went in? how about afghanistan? Did you know that bankster-owned companies abruptly terminated their leases at the WTC on September 2nd 2001?

You don't understand how the world works and that's why you have the views you do. I encourage you to actually research who runs the planet, how they control it and what role different governments, armies, corporations and banks play in the game.

Once you understand reality we can discuss things, but you're seemingly unaware of what actually drives policy so I don't see much point in discussing anything with you... http://i1.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/original/000/297/483/8af.jpg

The Arab Spring (as far as I'm aware, in my little cubicle digesting and analyzing facts as they're presented to me) started when a vendor who had his stall removed by authorities lit himself on fire to protest against the political oppression in his state. This led to wider protests and demands for political participation, and to the quick downfall of the Tunisian regime. It then sparked protests in Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Libya, and Syria. In Egypt, the army decided not to defend the regime, and it collapsed; today they're roughing out a democracy, though they're certainly having a hard time of it. Libya's regime cracked down hard, as did Syria's. They both rebelled. Saudi Arabia cracked down on the protesters though not as hard, while promising some reform (I don't know if they followed through on that, though I doubt it), and the protests withered.

We went after Gadaffi because the political winds were perfectly turned to allow for military intervention. Libya was perfectly suited to an air campaign. The Arab League favored intervention. The rebels were calling for a no-fly zone. The UN miraculously managed to pass a security council resolution to establish the no-fly zone, and NATO was ready to oblige. And the rebels were already setting up a secondary government to replace the first and keep the country stable after its fall. And righting for freedom against a tyrant also happens to fit the "heroic narrative" of our own country's establishment. I do not believe our president would have intervened if even one of those factors were not in play.

Beyond that, I'm not quite sure how to answer your questions. Judging by your word choice, it seems to me that you're trying to guide me toward a certain conclusion, but I'm not seeing it. You do, however state a belief that there are actually people who "run the planet". In absence of an actual statement of your point, I'm definitely getting a "conspiracy theorist" vibe from you.

Alas, you've declared that you won't communicate further, evidently because I don't share your prejudice as to how the world works and you don't see any value in discussing things with anybody who hasn't already decided you're right. Unfortunate, but it seems likely I've been spared a rant about the shadowy puppetmaster that control the world and a rant about what REALLY happened on 9/11, so I don't think I'll lose any sleep over it.

that's too bad.

I hope you'll eventually take the time to learn about things. I know it's difficult to accept that you've been lied to your whole life and even more difficult to accept that you allowed yourself to be manipulated, but eventually you'll arrive at that conclusion... Hopefully you'll view it as an opportunity for growth when the time arrives. A good place to start is a history of central banking. I encourage you to do your own research and vet the talking points you've spouted above. Find a media-source that isn't owned by a big corporation (preferably one from outside the US) and see if you can find congruent information to reinforce your views.

I wish you luck. I hope your awakening goes more smoothly than mine did.

http://bugthumper.blogspot.com/2009/08/saturday-morning-awesome-sheep.html

A E oh enlightened one, the Curiosity Rover just found a media source, not controlled by them, you know who's, who have infiltrated your big brain. Oh wait, they just found out, they are controlled by Martians . OK, off to the next planet

showing off that superior education, eh, TPack? Good job. I feel humbled.

No problem!! Apprecate the opportunity Enjoy Ramadan!!

I at least admire you superior congnizance and diction. Most conspiracy theorists come right out and reveal they're lunatics. You've got this whole "mysterious eloquence" to you that really had me going for a few posts. You know that people will ignore you if you reveal the "truth" that you've convinced yourself of, so you just hint at it to keep people interested enough to ask more. Either that, or you're convinced that government thugs will hunt you down and execute you for having discovered the truth and then being so foolish as to have posted it on a second-rate Internet comment board.

Either way, well done!

S F, Oh why Thank You, oh wait your talking about the superior educated one( A E) for those keeping score. I liked the Sept. 2nd. lease lapse. Hey, he could have used Sept. 10th

SF, TPack, It's only over the past 6 months that I started becoming aware of things. The first step was when I went to interview someone at Kansas City's Occupy Camp which was outside the Federal Reserve Bank branch in KC. The police escorted people off the property and mentioned that it was "PRIVATE" property. When questioned by one of the protesters who pointed at the word "FEDERAL" on the building the officer suggested we look it up. It turns out the Federal Reserve is a privately owned institution... this was a game-changer for me and led me to do a lot of research. I'm not saying I've figured everything out, but I'd wager that I'm more aware of the networks and connections at play in our global game than most Americans. 2 years ago I would have told you the news from CNN & MSNBC was as close to the truth as we could get and I'd point to FOX as the only example of propaganda... today i see that both sides push the news that needs to get to "their audience" to illicit the intended response.

I won't try to force my views on you... I just encourage you to seek out the truth. You're not going to find it on this or any other MSM site.

So... you had an epiphany based on a point of very common knowledge? You seriously didn't know that the Federal Reserve was a private organization? Or why?

I didn't want to bring this up, but you've brought the point home now: just where did you get your economics degree?

no, it was a blatant lie to gauge how receptive you are to new information...

obviously it didn't work as anticipated... additionally, I'm not an economist.... It's the internet, scro. are you really an accountant? ... on purpose?

So you know that independent foreign trillionaires control the monopoly money in this nation yet you still believe in our government? fascinating...

According with lates reports, thousand of Al-qaeda members are helping the rebels in Syria, and the Secretary of State Hillary Clinton , want to start negotiations with the rebels about Democracy. This whole thing smels like Egypt where the Muslim Brotherhood is in the Government and Obama is having conversation with terrorist in the White House. Who is next , Al-qaeda ?. This is the Muslim agenda of this administration, attack Christians at home and welcome terrorist to the White House.

We are not supporting Al Qaeda in Syria. They merely gravitate toward every power vacuum anywhere in any Muslim country. They fight Shia in one country and fight for Shia in another. They make war on Iran and the US at the same time. The need another host country like Afghanistan. They will do anything they can to seize one. They tried Yemen and so far struck out now it's Syria's turn.

Devil, Al Qaeda is funded by the CIA... they fight for/against whoever they're told to in order to help the global .0001% produce higher profits and gain further control... here's a fun question: who owns the Syrian central bank?

Why can't these dictators see when they become dead men walking and get out of dodge without all the killing?

There are a lot of good reasons not to want American troops in Syria, and that's not one of them. Possibly (possible, but very unlikely) sort-of vindicating Bush's invasion of Iraq is meaningless at this point.

7.62x39mm

I'll bet you still think Obama was not born in America. Go ahead, beat the WMD drums again. Fools are made not born.

It's Bush that needs a crutch. He is the most despised president of the modern era.

The forged birth certificate obama presented doesn't do anything except raise doubts about his legal status. obama's lawyer Hill even admitted in court that the certificate was a forgery....so yes I do indeed have my doubts. As far as the WMDs, there were reports of convoys going from Irac to Syria, and it's possible that those convoys contained what couldn't be found in Irac.

Really? You still believe that? I believe there is something illegal about Romney's tax returns.

Can you prove what obama's lawyer stated in the obama/N.J. court hearing isn't true?.

can you prove it is????

Being I wasn't in the courtroom I have to point you to the court transcripts that can be found on the internet. Now can you prove the transcripts aren't true?.

Ah, yes. Of course. It's the OBAMA campaign. Forget about the people dying, the torture, the conflicts of families torn apart and neighbors killing each other and the future of an entire nation. Let's discuss how it affects Bush's legacy and proximately affects Obama's popularity! That's what REALLY matters, right?

It is sad that every international move or non-move is viewed through the eyes of the Dem vs Repub death battle. One would hope by now we have learned the proper approach to Middle Eastern civil wars, but the implied politics always get in the way. If they want democracy, let them do it themselves.

Well, it's not just that politics get in the way; Middle East geopolitics are genuinely sensitive and complicated problems, usually with no solutions that are satisfactory to everybody involved. And I know that there are people whose entire jobs involve looking at serious things like this and then deciding how it would impact the president's re-election campaign. But that's literally their job.

For actual normal people, it's revolting to think that some of us give more thought to how the deaths of thousands and the future of a revolution might affect our presidential campaign than we do about the actual outcome of the revolution itself. We're watching an event that will probably be drawn up in history books as the turning point in a nation's modern evolution. Which particular politician will utterly fail to fix our nation's problems is totally insignificant in comparison.

For someone who claims that the conflict cannot be over-simplified, you're very keen to over-simplify it.

To say that "both sides absolutely detest us" is to assume that you can easily determine the foreign policy understanding and sentiment of an entire population and their priorities, and assumes that these sentiments cannot be changed (by say, helping them in their hour of need). People are very quick to compare it to the Afghani resistance against the Soviets, ignoring the fact that the situations aren't anything alike (except for, you know, us giving weapons to Muslims). Not to mention that a country shouldn't have to love the United States to warrant support from the kind of atrocious tyranny Assad is inflicting upon his populace. Similarly, to declare that we have "no business there in any form" not only denies any of your concerns about Syria's chemical/biological weapons, but basically makes all form of assistance and intervention off-limits, which would ensure that we remain isolated from whatever regime emerges from the chaos and that it has no reason to respect us as an international player. No superpower can survive in an international community with that sort of attitude. You should heed your own advice, and strive not to simplify the situation.

Olivia: Russia has enormous oil reserves and production. Lukoil gas stations are in the NYC Metropolitan area. They are Russian owned gas stations selling Russian oil refined into gasoline. Why do they need Iranian oil?

Secondly: Obama told some TV interviewer during his 2008 campaign that he would always come down on the side with the Muslims. What did/does that mean? I think it means he has serious sympathies for them. Probably the Sunni version as you state above.

That's all I have to say about your post above!

Libya. Their recent election was surprisingly successful, the country is far more stable than during the revolution, and I haven't seen any indication of rampant anti-American sentiment (they're currently courting foreign investment to get their economy on track).

I'm sympathetic to the idea of caution, but doing nothing carries its own risks, and in this case I believe they outweigh the risks of trying to earnestly help these people. If they don't "greet us as liberators", well, whatever. If they elect an Islamist government, it doesn't matter to me. That can't be an argument for inaction against tyranny. As for the pluses, a more stable world always benefits the United States. More trade, more finance, more diplomacy, for infrastructure spending and investment, and less emnity between states means greater security too.

Of course, there's no guarantee that Syria will be like that with American intervention. But I sure have a hard time imagining it will come about any faster or easier without us.

u sure u do not do more than work in a photography studio?

It is sad that our President is now getting us into another WAR more dead service men and women to help a bunch of thugs take over their Goverment. If it was in the USA and a bunch of thugs was fighting to throw out the President and Congress what would our leaders say, they would call it what it would be a bunch of outlaws trying to get their hands on all that power, shame shame Mr. President.

Under what context?

You can't just throw out "what if American's rebelled" as if a revolution is just a matter of people against the government fighting people supporting the government until one side crumbles. Why are people rebelling? What is the government's response? Is there popular support? Are there peaceful means of expressing that support?

Come one, use some critical thinking, here.

Americans ARE rebelling. We've had large-scale protests since September 17th 2011. Thousands have been assaulted by police. People have been beaten, shot, tased, gassed, sprayed and more.... are you just oblivious? you live in SF, did you not see what happened in Oakland at "the battle of Oakland" on January 17th? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=46UeXGhvaTI

That's not a revolution, and that's not what laboror spoke of. Localized riots that are suppressed by local police forces (rather than deploying the military) are completely different from how things are being handled in Syria. But if you insist on using that as an example, fine.

Please note the lack of artillery, gunships, tanks, and death tolls breaching 4 digits. In addition, democratic institutions remain intact, so that people can change the government if they feel it is necessary when the next election rolls around. Whether or not it was a "fair" response to the issue is a matter for people closer to source of the violence to discuss, but I consider it deep into the gray area for how much force it is appropriate for a state to use in order to keep order. In this context, I absolutely would not support armed rebellion against the United States, and I would scoff at anyone who did.

My point was that rebellion isn't something you stand for or against on principle. It's just one of many types of conflicts with all sort of rationales and possible outcomes behind it, and they must be considered on their individual merits and alternatives.

the only reason it's handled by police is that we have a MILITARIZED police force... what about the police violence in Anaheim in response to a protest against Police Brutality?

How about the FBI-coordinated crackdown on 17 occupy-camps at the exact same time in the middle of the night? I'm sure you'll recall the article where Jean Quan blew the secret on that one...

In reality, this is the kind of response that is taking place in these other nations. The artificially-inflated body counts come from the media, not from the streets. Gadaffi killed a total of 110 people, but we were led to belief it was thousands... The Syrians I know (and I know quite a few) tell me that the violence against civilians is coming from NATO and "Free Syrian Army" troops, not from the "Assad Regime"... You should follow some on Twitter and see what's actually happening in real time. It's a very different story from what you're reading here.

No, that's okay. You go ahead and keep to your tiny window that shines through the massive, comprehensive web of lies that keeps people like me pacified. I'll just stay here in the Matrix, thanks. You go ahead and fight your robots, Neo.

lulz. That's a conditioned response... I understand. good luck.

I'm glad we have your racism and ignorance of Islamic culture to balance out all the childishness and retardation around here. Gotta keep things classy, after all.

That's a good point, actually. I'd always supposed it was just because all his friends are in as deep as he is. They assume their fate is tied to Assad, and that his fall will be their fall. It's probably the same attitude that keeps the Allawites and Christians on his side even at this point, too.

Hello ... 'king of'

I dont' hate anybody, but I do hate what this dictator does. I've been looking for a safe haven for this dictator; one where he certainly can be 'king of his domain'. Here's the perfect trip for him ... and family can join too:



A trailer park on another planet ...

the "misses" can stay here..................:)

I'd hit it. Oh num,num,num

There is NO US Media they are all foriegn owned. there are only 7-8 News Medias (Conglomerates) in the world and not one of them are in the US or US owned.

chic isn't he....................:)

agreed, someone needs to throw a bucket of water on hillary.....iimmm melting ....melllltttinngggg........:)

Well, apparently we ARE doing that (see our plans for a post-Assad Syria), though I question how much influence we're going to have in Syria when Assad is dead and the rebels got more help from Al Qaeda than us. I don't think they'll want for help in running their new country. The greater problem is how much of a country they're going to have left if this civil war drags on.

Al Qaeda IS us... The CIA created Al Qaeda (originally under muajhadin, supposedly to combat Russians in Afghanistan, but later in its present form) as a means of creating instability in the arab world and providing justification for US intervention. this isn't a conspiracy theory... the government admits this. The US intentionally created and encouraged the Jihadist mentality. Did you notice how Opium production was wiped out under the Taliban, but hit record levels once the US went into Afghanistan? again, look at the BIG picture, scro!

SF, I don't think the Rebels are interested in Al Qaeda. They haven't helped nothing that I can tell. They are doing what they have learned best to do. Show up late in the fight, let them know they are there for them. This is a pretty much the only thing that Al Qaeda is successful at doing. This point in time is one that seams to get them any success at wiggling in anywhere. If these are some of the 4 man cells that can appear from nowhere at any time, I wonder where in the world the other cells are still sleeping.

It's really hard to tell how deep their involvement runs, not least because of how easily people freak out at the very mention Al Qaeda involvement. I don't believe the rebels "stand with" Al Qaeda or any of that nonsense, but their involvement DOES matter, if for no other reason than their extraordinary brand recognition.

I'm not afraid of AQ getting weapons, either the chemical ones Syria manufactured or the ones we're (probably) not giving the rebels, but if they have influence in the revolution the popular perception may easily become that the rebels WERE terrorists and that we helped them overthrow Assad even though he was telling the truth all along (and was totally killing civilians and torturing his citizens the whole time too, but who cares about that, right?). It's similar to how some people denounce the Egyptian government as "jihadi", except that with AQ involved it's likely to be even LESS rational.