• Donald Trump signifies he will end US support for Syrian rebels
    43 replies, posted
[quote]President-elect Donald Trump has reaffirmed his campaign trail position that assisting the Syrian government in fighting Isis should be the US’ main objective in Syria, despite appeals from rebels for continued help in their fight against President Bashar al-Assad. “I’ve had an opposite view of many people regarding Syria. My attitude was you’re fighting Syria, Syria is fighting Isis, and you have to get rid of Isis,” he said in a wide-ranging interview with the Wall Street Journal on Friday. Mr Trump has stated that while he “did not like [Mr Assad] at all”, shoring up his regime is the best way to stem the extremism that has flourished in the chaos of the civil war and threatens the US. He has also been emphatic about mending ties with Russia, Syria’s long-standing ally and military backer in the conflict. “Russia is now totally aligned with Syria, and now you have Iran, which is becoming powerful, because of us, is aligned with Syria… Now we’re backing rebels against Syria, and we have no idea who those people are,” he told the Journal, referring to the hardline Sunni Islamist elements present in rebel ranks. If the US attacks Mr Assad, “We end up fighting Russia,” he added. Mr Trump’s shock victory in the US election this week was welcomed by Moscow and Tehran, as well as Damascus, where aides to Mr Assad were cautiously optimistic in interviews on Thursday. The president is “ready” to cooperate with Mr Trump going forward, they said. To date the US has tacitly supported rebels in Syria both logistically and financially, along with Turkey and Gulf allies Saudi Arabia and Qatar. The long-standing US position has been that Mr Assad must be removed from power and democratic elections take place to end the complex and multisided conflict, now in its sixth year. Mr Assad's military strategy - including air strikes targeting civilian infrastructure, siege tactics and alleged use of chemical weapons - has been responsible for far more civilian deaths since 2011 than rebel groups or Isis militants, analysts and monitors say. Democrat nominee Hillary Clinton had proposed a no-fly-zone over Syria, a position rebels had been hopeful could stem the aerial attacks that have turned the tide of the war in Mr Assad’s favour since Russia began lending the Syrian government military support in September 2015. After Mr Trump’s victory this week, the main Syrian opposition group the Syrian National Coalition (SNC) reached out to his staff asking him to protect civilians. President Anas Al-Abdah said the SNC had sent Mr Trump its congratulations and was in touch about a “comprehensive new approach” to Syria. The US must “establish peace in our region and to find fair and swift solutions for the threat of terrorism... especially the state terrorism practiced by the Syrian regime against the Syrian people,” Riad Hijab, head of the opposition High Negotiations Committee, said in a statement on Wednesday. [/quote] [url]http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/us-president-elect-donald-trump-support-assad-putin-syria-remove-rebel-backing-a7413346.html[/url]
This is a good thing.
[quote]Mr Trump has stated that while he “did not like [Mr Assad] at all”, shoring up his regime is the best way to stem the extremism that has flourished in the chaos of the civil war and threatens the US. [/quote] Sadly, the best way to deal with this.
Off to a good start
Better the devil you know than the devil you don't.
im starting to feel trump may in fact make the world great again
About fucking time. Finally a politician who sees the Middle East for what it is. A fucking cesspool.
great but syria is still butchering their civilians and those rebels will just join other groups that are less west friendly.
[QUOTE=Sableye;51359751]great but syria is still butchering their civilians and those rebels will just join other groups that are less west friendly.[/QUOTE] Not our problem, honestly.
[QUOTE=NoobieWafer223;51359759]Not our problem, honestly.[/QUOTE] what the fuck can you really do the place is a mess
[QUOTE=Sableye;51359751]great but syria is still butchering their civilians and those rebels will just join other groups that are less west friendly.[/QUOTE] Yes but giving weapons to groups that might just turn into a less friendly group is also silly. The Mujahideen is a good example of this and so is the many groups that seem to pop-up and then merge or die in Syria.
I think we should support the Kurds instead of random rebel groups, they seem like the most reasonable party involved in this shitshow.
Sometimes it's best to make a tactical retreat to win in the end. Assad will eventually go down and it's not worth fighting against russia and others like this.
[QUOTE=IrishBandit;51359770]I think we should support the Kurds instead of random rebel groups, they seem like the most reasonable party involved in this shitshow.[/QUOTE] Unfortunately our [I]wonderful[/I] ally Turkey will never allow it
[QUOTE=Sableye;51359751]great but syria is still butchering their civilians and those rebels will just join other groups that are less west friendly.[/QUOTE] they already have, tbh. al-qaeda moved into the region back in 2013.
[QUOTE=Saturn V;51359740]im starting to feel trump may in fact make the world great again[/QUOTE] Trump will cure world hunger and solve cancer.
[QUOTE=Thlis;51359811]Trump will cure world hunger and solve cancer.[/QUOTE] He will build a wall around starvation and fire carcinogens
[QUOTE=Saturn V;51359761]what the fuck can you really do the place is a mess[/QUOTE] Jeb is a mess.
.01% improvement on my opinion of Trump. Let's see if he can make it to 100% by the end of his term.
Four more years. Four more years. *airhorn*
[QUOTE=CodeMonkey3;51360218]Four more years. Four more years. *airhorn*[/QUOTE] you didn't stop the trump now you won't stump the trump
Finally
Really torn on whether or not this is a good thing. On one hand, Assad is a brutal, massively oppressive dictator. On the other hand, we're taking a gamble on these rebels. They could restore Syria to a democracy, they could turn it into an extremist nation like ISIS or Al-Qaeda did with others. I think we should still support the rebels, but not by giving them money and weapons... That could end very poorly. Let's hope President Trump (gotta get used to saying that) will play things by ear and have a game plan for the region in case things get even worse.
Aren't the syrian rebels mostly ISIS? Why is the US giving them money?
[QUOTE=gastyne;51360369]Aren't the syrian rebels mostly ISIS? Why is the US giving them money?[/QUOTE] There are [I]a lot[/I] of (rebel) factions there. ISIS is one of them, but of course not one the US are supporting.
If trump actually turns out to be an undeniably decent president I will fart my soul
[QUOTE=EuSKalduna;51360416]If trump actually turns out to be an undeniably decent president I will fart my soul[/QUOTE] I smell a toxx
[QUOTE=LTJGPliskin;51360355]Really torn on whether or not this is a good thing. On one hand, Assad is a brutal, massively oppressive dictator. On the other hand, we're taking a gamble on these rebels. They could restore Syria to a democracy, they could turn it into an extremist nation like ISIS or Al-Qaeda did with others. I think we should still support the rebels, but not by giving them money and weapons... That could end very poorly. Let's hope President Trump (gotta get used to saying that) will play things by ear and have a game plan for the region in case things get even worse.[/QUOTE] There is no evidence that a rebel victory will result in a Syrian democracy, just and transparent. When the rebels win, they will turn on each other so the biggest faction can have ultimate control over the country, leaving just another dictatorship. The only way to insure a democratic Syria is long-term occupation of the entire country, which no one - NO ONE - in the US wants to happen. Therefore, with no side being the clear-cut "good guys" in this conflict, the best option for America is to not stick its dick into that meatgrinder. [editline]12th November 2016[/editline] [QUOTE=gastyne;51360369]Aren't the syrian rebels mostly ISIS? Why is the US giving them money?[/QUOTE] This is a grossly ignorant post :v:
[QUOTE=Emperor Scorpious II;51360423] This is a grossly ignorant post :v:[/QUOTE] Implying ISIS is any worse than any other Islamic extremists, aka most of the rebels.
[QUOTE=Emperor Scorpious II;51360190].01% improvement on my opinion of Trump. Let's see if he can make it to 100% by the end of his term.[/QUOTE] I feel like even 30% would be impressive enough
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