The Middle Eastern question

[Ragnarök_62]

(01-27-2017, 05:48 PM)Warren Dew Wrote:

(12-31-2016, 05:22 PM)Ragnarök_62 Wrote:

(12-31-2016, 08:56 AM)David Horn Wrote:

(12-31-2016, 03:51 AM)Galen Wrote:

(12-30-2016, 05:53 PM)Mikebert Wrote: How so?  Aleppo wasn't ISIS held. So what exactly has Russia done to eradicate ISIS?

As I recall it was held by Al Nusra which split off from ISIS.  I doubt they were really much better than ISIS or that they had really separated from them.  What ever you might say about Assad he did protect many religious minorities such as Christians from the Muslim majority.  Until the war his body count was actually very low.

Its a bit like Saddam Hussein, bad as he was the alternative turned out to be worse.  This would seem to be the case with Assad.

So by your measure, Syria is no-win. What would you propose?  Other than the Kurds, we have no real friends in the area -- including the current regime in Turkey. 

Fish or cut bait?

Syria, like [Afghanistan,Iraq,Libya] are all no wins. I'm not sure what "fish or cut bait" means, but the fish pond where said fish reside are chock full of mercury which means we should just leave it be or suffer getting poisoned.

That would be cutting bait - cutting the fishing line and abandoning the bait and the fishing.

I can buy that. Cutting the fishing line = attempts to oust Assad, Bait = Assad , fishing = bombing the hell out of Syria. Mercury poisoning = blowback