[Keith_McClary]

Video shows Hezbollah Brigades convoy transporting American M1 tank

[americandream]

gypsy - One man's atrocity is another man's "unfortunate" collateral damage. That's how it's always been rationalized by all the players. The critical component is whether you care very much about folks being hurt. It's like the story of a young 3 stripper who long ago refused to call arty in on a vill where there "might be" some enemy forces. Fortunately he got a pass with a less than honorable discharge instead of a general court marshal and time in the brig. I heard that he had hung that discharge letter on his wall with pride for many years afterwards. He eventually took it down because almost no one really gave a sh*t one way or the other.

Unfortunately we don't have as many such fools in the game today. LOL.

There are no rights or wrongs in this game, only whether we, as a species make it intact in crossing the road. Mankind has embarked on the road to full reason. The quicker we get there, the better. The Islamists and all religions are a ball and chain and the West and all other geo political interests are better advised to jettison them completely. If we are going to squabble over resources, at least do it in more advantageous (for our general development) company.

[Keith_McClary]

Exclusive: Obama Cuts Off Syrian Rebels’ Cash
Even the favored secular militias groomed to fight ISIS have seen their funding cut in half.

GAZIANTEP, Turkey — In the past several months, many of the Syrian rebel groups previously favored by the CIA have had their money and supplies cut off or substantially reduced, even as President Obama touted the strategic importance of American support for the rebels in his State of the Union address.

The once-favored fighters are operating under a pall of confusion. In some cases, they were not even informed that money would stop flowing. In others, aid was reduced due to poor battlefield performance, compounding already miserable morale on the ground.

From afar, the U.S.-approved and partially American-armed Syrian “opposition” seems to be a single large, if rather amorphous, organization. But in fact it’s a collection of “brigades” of varying sizes and potentially shifting loyalties that have grown up around local leaders, or, if you will, local warlords. And while Washington talks about the Syrian “opposition” in general terms, the critical question for the fighters in the field and those supporting them is, “opposition to whom?” To Syrian President Assad? To the so-called Islamic State, widely known as ISIS or ISIL? To the al Qaeda affiliate Jabhat al Nusra?

That lack of clarity is crippling the whole effort, not least because of profound suspicions among rebel groups that Washington is ready to cut some sort of deal with Assad in the short or medium term if, indeed, it has not done so already. For Washington, the concern is that the forces it supports are ineffectual, or corrupt, or will defect to ISIS or Nusra—or all of the above.
...

[Sixstrings]

Video shows Hezbollah Brigades convoy transporting American M1 tank

...

Exclusive: Obama Cuts Off Syrian Rebels’ Cash
Even the favored secular militias groomed to fight ISIS have seen their funding cut in half.

Jesus H. Christ, O is going to make such a mess. American tanks given to Hezbollah?! What?!

Why is this Obama administration going along with Putin in the middle east -- why are they turning on our old allied governments; Saudi Arabia, ISRAEL, in favor of Iran?! And Russian interests?

He's really gonna screw things up bad. He never even got any concessions from Russia for this, I honestly don't understand this.

I'm 100% for a war on ISIS -- but I do not understand American tanks given to Hezbollah, if that's really true, I do not understand this alliance with Iran. In other words, we shouldn't be outsourcing one enemy to another enemy, wtf.

[Sixstrings]

And now the hostage crisis is getting worse.

Japan, and Jordan negotiating about releases hostages. Apparently O admin not taking a hard line about that.

[Theedrich]

A few facts: most ThirdWorld countries — Syria included — are run by cruel dictators because they are too fractious for any other type of government, and certainly not for an American-type democracy. As for Syria itself, the current war there was started by a U.S.-ignited “false-flag” insurrection of “popular” protesters. And re: the 200,000 dead, need one recall that when America was faced with disintegration in the Civil War of 1861-65, Bible-reading President Lincoln was responsible for between 600,000 and 700,000 American deaths? But of course, since the popular memory extends back only as far as the last season’s entertainment cycle, that little episode is of no concern.

[americandream]

A few facts: most ThirdWorld countries — Syria included — are run by cruel dictators because they are too fractious for any other type of government, and certainly not for an American-type democracy. As for Syria itself, the current war there was started by a U.S.-ignited “false-flag” insurrection of “popular” protesters. And re: the 200,000 dead, need one recall that when America was faced with disintegration in the Civil War of 1861-65, Bible-reading President Lincoln was responsible for between 600,000 and 700,000 American deaths? But of course, since the popular memory extends back only as far as the last season’s entertainment cycle, that little episode is of no concern.

Would I be wrong in assuming that you are a social conservative?

[ennui2]

The Syrian uprising was home-grown. Any intimation of "false-flags" is just tinfoil. The US didn't really know what to do about Syria because there really are no clearly defined good guys and bad guys. Either way you're going to run into problems. Even in Egypt there are plenty of radicals in the arab-spring contingent, and yet the previous regime, which on the surface was sympathetic to US interests, was corrupt and unpopular.

Focusing on the US is unfair because there's really nothing the US can do to fix these problems. The entire middle-east needs to go through a painful transition from dictatorships to some new steady-state, whether it's a theocracy or a democracy or whatever. In the meantime, if they feel the only way to settle things is with guns and bombs rather than negotiations and elections, the bloodletting will continue.

[Withnail]

In the meantime, if they feel the only way to settle things is with guns and bombs rather than negotiations and elections, the bloodletting will continue.

Whose guns and bombs have been most heavily used in the Middle East in the past 3 decades?