Octopus Overlords

Daehawk wrote: ↑Sat Dec 22, 2018 7:23 pm We'll just have to go back to all these places once the enemy is back and entrenched. Our troops will die yet again over a job half finished.

Grifman wrote: ↑Sat Dec 22, 2018 6:02 pm

GreenGoo wrote: ↑Wed Dec 19, 2018 11:04 pm

Kraken wrote: ↑Wed Dec 19, 2018 10:24 pm As much as I loathe Trump and automatically assume that everything he does is wrong, I'm going to be contrarian here and say that I'm glad those troops are coming home.

The troops should never have been there in the first place. Obama was right to stay out of it as much as he did. He never should have changed his policy. It's beyond hilarious to hear Obama criticized for not sending troops into Syria soon enough while Drumpf is celebrated for bring them home too soon. Chances are high he's doing it at the behest of Putin, especially when he fails to include the people responsible for it in his decision, or even consult them.

Humanitarian aid was the right approach. America has got to get better at picking and choosing when to get involved. You guys were still reeling from the Afghanistan and Iraqi wars, not to mention buried in debt paying for it. Assad was a monster and doing monstrous things to his own people. America can't save the world from itself though, every time a country breaks into civil war. There's not even a good realpolitik reason for being there. But once your committed, you should follow through.

I too am glad your troops are coming home. Not because I'm critical of the decisions Obama and Drumpf have made, I'm glad because Americans don't have to die for no purpose. Even one American dying in Syria is too many.

Americans were not involved in the Syrian civil war, they were there to destroy ISIS so that it is no longer a major threat. In this they have largely been successful - though there is still work to be done. Leaving ISIS with a major safe haven from which they could plan and launch terrorist attacks would have been a huge mistake. Remember we got here because ISIS took most of northern Iraq, including Mosul, one of the largest cities. That could not stand.

Obama was probably correct in staying out of the Syrian Civil War, but the campaign against ISIS was something entirely different and probably necessary.

Remus West wrote: ↑Fri Jan 11, 2019 1:00 pm Seriously, why do other people ally with us and will they ever again?

Israel carried out a series of airstrikes early Monday against Iranian targets in Syria, the Israeli military said, in response to an Iranian missile fired at the Golan Heights, capping off a volatile 24 hours between the two regional enemies with the possibility of more fighting ahead.

Syrians who remained loyal to President Bashar al-Assad throughout the past eight years of war are increasingly expressing discontent with his government as living standards in the country continue to deteriorate even as the conflict winds down.
...
But for the first time, those living in the pro-government areas that were spared the worst of the violence are experiencing some of the harshest deprivations, including in the capital, Damascus.

Residents there say life has become more difficult in recent months than at any point in the past eight years, bringing a realization that there will be no swift recovery from the immense damage inflicted by the war on Syria’s economy, social fabric and standing in the international community.
...
The conquest of the Eastern Ghouta suburb last year ended the rocket fire, but it has not brought the respite residents were hoping for, said a Damascus-based writer, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he fears for his safety. “This is the worst we have ever known,” he said. “People can barely survive, and the percentage of poor is increasing all the time.”
...
Acute shortages of fuel, cooking gas and electricity have left citizens shivering in darkness through an unusually cold winter. The Syrian currency, which had plunged and then stabilized after the war broke out, is sliding again, sending prices soaring.

Many thousands of men who fought on the front lines for years are returning home without hope of finding jobs. The wartime economy has fueled corruption on an unprecedented scale, compounding the daily challenge of lining up for long hours to secure basic necessities with the indignity of having to pay multiple bribes to layers of officialdom, according to Damascus residents.

Widespread expectations, encouraged by the government — that wealthy Arab investors would flock back to Damascus, Chinese funding for reconstruction projects would flow and U.S. sanctions would be relaxed — have been disappointed and don’t seem likely to be fulfilled anytime soon.

The cafes and bars of Damascus are packed at night, creating the impression of a city on the path to recovery. But the revelers represent a tiny elite that has profited from the war, and their conspicuous consumption only fuels the resentment of the vast majority of people for whom life is a daily struggle to survive, the residents say.

At least 33 Turkish soldiers have been killed in an air strike by Syrian "regime forces" in north-western Syria, a senior Turkish official has said.

More were hurt in Idlib province, said Rahmi Dogan, the governor of Turkey's Hatay province. Other reports put the death toll higher.

Turkey is now retaliating against Syrian troops government targets.

Syrian forces supported by Russia are trying to retake Idlib from rebels who are backed by Turkish soldiers.

Syria is back in the influential Arab League, more than a decade after being thrown out for its brutal repression of pro-democracy protests, which led to the ongoing civil war.

The move is further evidence of a thaw in relations between Damascus and other Arab governments.

Syria's readmittance comes ahead of a summit in Saudi Arabia later this month that President Bashar al-Assad may now attend.

The US and UK have criticised the move.

The US has conducted "precision" air strikes in Syria on facilities used by the Iranian revolutionary guard, the Pentagon has said.

Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin said the strikes were in response to "continued attacks" on US bases in Iraq and Syria by Iran-backed fighters.

At least eight pro-Iran fighters were killed, a UK-based war monitor said.

It is the third time since 26 October that the US has carried out such air strikes.

U.S. forces came under attack three times on Sunday evening, including near the Al Omar Oil field and at a U.S. base at al-Shaddadi, the official told Reuters.

Multiple drones were fired at U.S. forces at the Rumalyn Landing Zone on Monday morning, the official said. One drone was shot down but another damaged four tents, the official added.
...
The U.S. blames the attacks on groups backed by Iran - an assertion dismissed by Tehran which says the groups are acting on their own accord.

The United States has 900 troops in Syria and 2,500 more in neighbouring Iraq, whom it says are on a mission to advise and assist local forces trying to prevent a resurgence of Islamic State, which in 2014 seized large swathes of both countries but was later pushed back.