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ChaosSamusX posted:Oh, and as a Canadian, I would like to clarify that any Canadian contributions to a NFZ would be: I thought Canada had a wing of "gently used" F-16s from the 80s?
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Mar 15, 2011 18:58
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HeroOfTheRevolution posted:Are you kidding me? He gets to play the great Russian patriot in front of his own people while his lapdog quietly acquiesces to world opinion. It's a win-win situation for him. It also lets them pretend that Medvedev isn't completely under Putin's control. You'd think that Russia would be fine with the NFZ keeping the fighting going, which keeps the price of oil high.
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Mar 22, 2011 16:48
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Xandu posted:UAE backed out of the NFZ because they weren't happy with US/Europe's statements on Bahrain. Speaking of shooting civilians...
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Mar 22, 2011 21:06
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Jamsque posted:If by 'Palestinian uprising' you mean 'Israeli invasion of Gaza' then I think you are dead right. More like money being sent to Hamas from Saudi Arabia and Bahrain to distract people from their own brutality.
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Mar 23, 2011 15:32
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Young Freud posted:It would be like the partitioning of Korea, except that South Korea modernizes more rapidly while North Korea does not get forty-some-odd years of Sino-Soviet largesse helping them prop up their Kim regime and build up their military. I could see the Chinese relying on Qaddafi's desperation (like NK) and propping him up in exchange for cheap oil and a foothold on the Mediterranean.
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Apr 4, 2011 15:44
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Before you all freak out about us abandoning the rebels or getting dragged into another quagmire, remember that it's been less than 2 months since the rebellion started in the first place. Like Obama said in his speech, it took over a year for any NATO action in Bosnia, maybe it's just going to take a while for the Depts of State and Defense to sort everything out.
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Apr 7, 2011 21:27
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The reference to "dirt barriers" sounds promising, but are there any other reports of the rebels starting to dig trenches, etc. to protect their lines?
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Apr 19, 2011 16:03
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Tovarisch Rafa posted:That is the reason why NATO is attempting to encircle Russia with friendly nations, quote:I am loving calling it now, two weeks after the rebels win, NATO is going to break ground an a massive air force base in Libya. Why, when they already have a base right there?
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Apr 22, 2011 01:28
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Tovarisch Rafa posted:I meant the real UNSC not those positions they give to countries to make them feel important. You mean the one that includes China and Russia but only 3 of the 28 members of NATO? Or is there some other real UN Security Council where Canada, Slovenia and Luxembourg get together and scheme to screw Russia out of its precious Beet and Rye Bread stockpiles?
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Apr 22, 2011 06:14
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Ghetto Prince posted:They're threatening them with tribesmen now? The rebels in Mistrata just broke the libyan army , how the gently caress will a couple hundred tribesmen do anything? Even if they could be convinced, paid off or intimidated into getting themselves killed, there is literally nothing they could do. It definitely sounds like propaganda, then when civilians start getting killed again, CQ will just say "It's not us, it's the tribesmen!"
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Apr 23, 2011 18:22
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I wonder how many of the Syrian protesters are veterans of the wars in Lebanon in the 80s? Does that experience mean that the Syrian Army's better at urban warfare than the Libyans? Where does Hizballah stand in all of this? Sorry for all the questions, I hope the Syrians in Deraa can fight back the same was as Benghazi did, but there are so many differences between the 2 countries.
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Apr 26, 2011 17:36
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Ham posted:AMAZING news, kudos to the military council in Egypt, the interim government. In 2 months they managed to do what Mubarak couldn't in decades. I don't think Mubarak had any interest in actually solving the Palestine issue - it kept Egyptians focused on Israeli crimes, not his own.
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Apr 27, 2011 19:39
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Unknowing posted:Oh yes, we can certainly rely on those US/EU/Arab League associated journalists to get to the bottom of this. So the straight-shooters are the Chinese and Iranians?
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May 2, 2011 19:10
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automatic posted:Ok so we let them starve to death and run out of ammo? It's a lot easier to hit a low-flying cargo plane that's slowed down to landing speed than to hit an attack jet cruising overhead. It's probably a lot cheaper and easier to clear out the port again. Besides, one ship can carry so much more stuff than a plane, at a much lower cost. That's why almost all the food and supplies we export in general are transported by ship, not plane.
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May 3, 2011 16:25
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AreWeDrunkYet posted:The NATO action in Libya is supportable on humanitarian grounds and the rebels seem to be genuinely democratic for the time being. And of course the Taliban shouldn't get military or financial support - it's just that Karzai and the current Afghan government is not worthy of Western support either. Do you realize that it's not a requirement for NATO to meddle in other countries' political processes? Both of these statements are true, but they don't really have anything to do with each other. That's like saying the US should end Medicare because the drug war has wrongfully convicted thousands of people.
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May 10, 2011 16:40
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Ghetto Prince posted:I wonder what the hell is happening in Brega. According to this video, the rebels say they can't advance because NATO will bomb their vehicles if they attack a city, just like with Qaddafi's troops. http://youtu.be/NCQPlx7s-CA (at 1:30) The X-man cometh fucked around with this message at 22:24 on May 10, 2011 |
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May 10, 2011 22:22
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al jazeera posted:A security services building and the headquarters of Libya's anti-corruption agency in Tripoli have been set ablaze after being hit by apparent NATO air strikes. Really? Libya has an anti-corruption agency? Was it supposed to ensure that all corruption was controlled by Gaddafi?
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May 17, 2011 14:37
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Nenonen posted:Sounds doubtful. Why Poland? It is EU, why would they take the chance of possibly being arrested there? Even if they weren't held responsible for anything their belongings would likely be checked for suitcases filled with money etc. And Poland's foreign minister was just in Benghazi meeting with the TNC on behalf of the EU. The only thing I can think of is that he was brokering a peace deal, and the wife and daughter were somehow involved?
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May 19, 2011 00:37
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Lascivious Sloth posted:Great article, I can completely get behind what he's saying. It shows how ideologically hypocritical Al-Qaeda is in essence. I agree with his comments on how things play out will help shape Jihadism in the future, but I think we're past the point of losing western interest or it becoming a civil war. NATO has really stepped up in the past 2 weeks, and more time only equals less resistance from Govt forces and more training for the rebels when the rebels are allowed to attack. It really shows how important it is for the West to stop supporting unpopular tyrants like Mubarak, the al-Sauds and the al-Khalifas of Bahrain, because it's easy to demonize tyrants, but not ordinary people fighting for their homes like the Libyan rebels. Gaddafi's also pretty westernized, that might have helped. I wonder what those jihadis think about the Bahraini crackdown. I assume the jihadis are Sunni, as well.
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May 19, 2011 05:31
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Mr. Sunshine posted:E: If you think that somehow the protests in Spain are related to the Arab Spring you might as well go all out and claim that the entire Arab Spring started with the riots in Athens. According to Tom Friedman, it was caused by Barack Obama, Google Earth and the Beijing Olymics and no joke, what a great place Israel is. And this version can't even get that ridiculous. eSports Chaebol posted:Being at least provisionally wary of Western influence is far from the least accurate starting point for assumptions Based on your username and avatar, does that mean you think North Korea's on the right track, and the South Korean government needs to be overthrown for its close ties to the US? The X-man cometh fucked around with this message at 19:18 on May 19, 2011 |
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May 19, 2011 19:15
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eSports Chaebol posted:No. Based on your post, do you oppose the South Korean government because it has abandoned the dictatorial ways of Syngman Rhee? I'm sure you don't. What's the point of these silly insinuations? Then why is it imperialistic for the US military to support the rebels in Libya but not when they're defending South Korea? I support both missions, but you seem to have a double standard there.
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May 19, 2011 19:29
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ChaosSamusX posted:Man, the Libyan rebels are starting to act humane in a way that makes the western world look bad. Like, they aren't acting decent just because the focus is on them and the cameras are rolling; they're just acting decent because they know it's the right thing to do. And it's going to be a real pain in the rear end for the US to try and prop up a new Saleh/Mubarak/Ben Ali using the old "he's our only hope for stability" line.
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May 25, 2011 22:05
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Xandu posted:Stuff about Al-Jazeera's criticism of Syria It didn't help that the Syrians arrested an Al-Jazeera reporter and refused to acknowledge anything about it until the Iranian government stepped in. http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2011/05/201151853243951659.html http://english.aljazeera.net/indepth/opinion/2011/05/2011518184325620380.html
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May 27, 2011 20:50
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Zedsdeadbaby posted:It matters a hell of a lot to us Europeans because we've been bitching about the ridiculous numbers of immigrants for a while. The last thing we need are a bunch of frightened African-Arabs fleeing across the Mediterranean sea away from all the troubles amidst this 'Arab Spring'. Wouldn't helping make conditions better in the arab world help keep people from feeling that they have to flee to Europe to have any chance at a good life?
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Jun 1, 2011 15:37
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Sneakums posted:Israeli troops just fired on peaceful protesters at the Golan border. (Al-Jazeera Channel) Unfortunately, the only source for that news seems to be Syrian State TV, which is trying anything to distract from the massacres in Syria. Though if they were blowing this up for distraction purposes, 11 is a pretty low number
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Jun 5, 2011 17:27
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Now that Turkey and Erdogan seem to have gotten fed up with Assad's bullshit, does that give any potential rebellion in Syria a boost? I'd imagine that if an actual rebellion with defined liberated zones appears (like Benghazi in Libya), NATO or a similar group could step in to protect it.
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Jun 10, 2011 20:03
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Vincent Van Goatse posted:Seriously, do you have any idea what you're talking about at all? Or are you just trying to make an ignorant quip about the Big Bad Western World? If you'd actually read this thread you would've seen a perfectly reasonable explanation for that term being used. It's like the internet's full of idiot conspiracy theorists. "No, really, the governments of the U.S., U.K., France, Norway and Qatar have decided that the best way to bend the world to their will is by bombing an army that's raping and torturing its own people" Also, the NATO jets' contrails are full of mind control drugs and the Syrian protestors are really Chinese spies.
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Jun 20, 2011 22:52
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It's going to be impossible to intervene in Syria until the opposition establishes an area clearly free of control by Assad, like Eastern Libya did before NATO got involved.
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Jun 23, 2011 00:03
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Killer robot posted:That's really the lingering problem of this. Since WWII I understand the average civil war has lasted about four years, while as long as the Arab Spring has been going a common sentiment of internet commenters has seemingly been "well after I read news about Tunisia/Egypt/Syria/Libya/wherever I went to bed, had lunch with some friends, AND marathoned S3 of The Wire, and there still isn't a new government in place? This is a hopless stalemate that will never end!" While it's certainly reasonable to expect foreign air power to shorten the war in Libya, it only goes so far, especially given that when that intervention started things were looking like it was going to be a rout of helpless underequipped rebel forces. Turning that around takes time, and just since we live in a day when news comes out instantly by Twitter doesn't mean everything will happen fast. I think the thing they're comparing it to is the US (and friends!) invasion of Iraq, where it took 3 weeks or less. Of course, that was the most powerful military in the history of the world going into an isolated country after 6 months of time to plan.
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Jun 26, 2011 03:14
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Scaramouche posted:So ... you can't believe anything from anyone and can't defend any position whatsoever? There's always Russia Today! http://www.slate.com/id/2297783/
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Jun 28, 2011 05:57
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Does anyone have any idea why the Syrians haven't been able to begin an insurgency in the same way the Libyans were able to? I recognize that very few people are willing to be suicide bombers to allow access to an army base, but there are the same reports of soldiers defecting and refusing to carry out massacres, but the populace hasn't been able to establish a safe zone like Benghazi. Anything outside powers like Turkey could do to help kickstart something like that? Not that I'm in favor of a civil war, but it's bettter than indiscriminate killing country-wide.
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Jun 28, 2011 16:40
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suboptimal posted:Where did the MB announce they'd be running a presidential candidate? Al Masry al Youm doesn't have anything on that, and last time I checked, Freedom & Justice wasn't running a candidate for the presidency. I wasn't surprised when they announced they'd be aligning with al-Wafad, but I didn't think they'd be running a candidate so soon. I think the reference was to the Freedom and Justice Party, which has Muslim Brotherhood members. There's a link to Al Masry al Youm here, but they won't include the Brotherhood quote:Asked if the Freedom and Justice Party’s candidate could be affiliated with the Brotherhood, Erian said “I don’t think so.”
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Jul 24, 2011 17:01
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Jut posted:You've even said you're trying to not mention I/P in this movement, so from my chair it does seem very much to be a "me me me" protest. That's ridiculous - all of the protests have been about the country involved. You didn't see anything in Egypt and Syria about Palestine, and they border occupied territories as well. Changing the current system of government in Israel can help I/P relations, but like Kane said, I/P's being used by Likud to divide the protesters. For a lot of Egyptians, using Islam as a basis for governance is incredibly important, but that wasn't necessary to make life a whole lot better in Egypt.
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Aug 8, 2011 14:10
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Darth123123 posted:OK, so its like we are 5 o'clock charlie for them at Waddan right? I mean EVERY day there are strikes. I know its a ammo dump but 41 strikes is a poo poo ton, and a strike may entail multiple launches of weapons right? Any G2 on why they are hitting that so many times (seemingly ineffectually)? Maybe they use it as practice, to true up their sights before they hit something else. Or they're using it to train new pilots. Maybe the French and English have a contest going on. Who knows?
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Aug 11, 2011 20:05
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Xandu posted:Well this just seems a little absurd. Are there any other countries that hold elections in 3 rounds spread months apart like that? India has some kind of crazy system like that where a single vote is held over a week. Do the stages refer to primaries? If so, then the US has an insane 2-round election that spreads across 11 months.
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Sep 21, 2011 06:16
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Jut, I don't get what you want us to think. Is it the fact that some of the people who sign up for military/revolutionary duty do bad things? You don't need to look to Libya for that, you can just look at Afghanistan, or drunk soldiers in Okinawa. Do you really think any of us are rooting for the massacre of civilians? Though I don't know why NATO's bombing Bani Walid and Sirte since it doesn't seem to be preventing civilian death.
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Sep 25, 2011 03:58
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A more apt comparison to the US is the fact that from 1774-1783 we had an unelected group called Congress that issued basic rulings while a bunch of loosely-related militia groups fought the British in different areas, and then expected their regions to be able to act independently and almost went to war with each other (Pennsylvania and Connecticut over Ohio). It took 15 years to get to the Constitution. Now we want the NTC to do it in 9 months.
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Oct 1, 2011 18:25
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LYE-OONS posted:They are helping expedite a war which in turn means that these things will not continue to happen. Unless, of course, you would prefer fixed that for you.
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Oct 3, 2011 00:49
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And now Assad's pissed off the Kurds as well - Syrian Kurdish anger smolders after activist death
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Oct 15, 2011 21:13
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ThePutty posted:That's depressing, honestly. Russia would rather let thousands die than give up a naval base. Dumb thinking on both Russia and the US' part - if their friendly regime falls (more likely in Syria), the chances of the new government allowing the base to stay are close to zero now. But if the base had supported the revolution, they'd become the "oldest, strongest, friend" of the new regime.
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Oct 17, 2011 00:25
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