Octopus Overlords

Rip wrote:

President Barack Obama warned Russia on Friday against doubling down on sending support for Syrian President Bashar Assad, casting recent buildup of Russian military equipment and personnel in Syria in an effort to help prop up the embattled leader.

"The strategy they're pursuing right now of doubling down on Assad is a mistake," Obama said during a town hall with U.S. military personnel.

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2015/09 ... tcmp=hpbt1

Poor Putin must be literally quaking in his boots.



No one takes Obama's warnings seriously. At this point everyone already knows it is just rhetoric with no teeth.

Biyobi wrote:

Rip wrote:

President Barack Obama warned Russia on Friday against doubling down on sending support for Syrian President Bashar Assad, casting recent buildup of Russian military equipment and personnel in Syria in an effort to help prop up the embattled leader.

"The strategy they're pursuing right now of doubling down on Assad is a mistake," Obama said during a town hall with U.S. military personnel.

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2015/09 ... tcmp=hpbt1

Poor Putin must be literally quaking in his boots.



No one takes Obama's warnings seriously. At this point everyone already knows it is just rhetoric with no teeth.

Think strategically instead of petulantly. At this point, Obama knows if he says "stop it" that Putin is sure as hell going to give him the finger and do it anyway. Putin will never allow himself the public shame of doing what the Americans demand he do. We don't want to go in with boots on the ground, but something really needs to be done about ISIS. Why not let them swing at each other for a while?

With the sanctions due to the Crimea and oil prices so low, Russia's economy is in a lot of pain and the expense of sending/maintaining this support to Assad will weigh heavily on them. Assad gears up and more ISIS troops start pumping in because they can't be seen to lose a country that's part of their name. Three groups we really don't want to go to war with are doing us the favor of grinding each other down while we denounce everybody, take in some refugees, and look like a good guy.

What would you change in this equation to make it better for the US?

Alefroth wrote:

Drazzil wrote:And yet a lot of the people of the middle east are too cowardly or complicit to say or do anything against ISIS.

What would you do in their situation?

Drazzil wrote:

Alefroth wrote:

Drazzil wrote:And yet a lot of the people of the middle east are too cowardly or complicit to say or do anything against ISIS.

What would you do in their situation?

Well gee, if a whole convoy of ak wielding Islam enthusiasts rolled into my neighborhood I would like to think I would try and kill them any way I could, if at least to avoid the wrath of all the people trying to kill them myself. Or barring that then a phone call to the people trying to kill them would be nice, maybe a little "Hey this convoy of guys just rolled into town and are trying to impose sharia law... Mind coming to kill them for us?" But instead of that they waive the white flag, roll out the red carpet and or run, and where ever they go, trouble follows.

Drazzil wrote:Stop taking in Syrian refugees.

Some 450,000 refugees have arrived in Germany this year, and the pace picked up in the past week. The country is expecting at least 800,000 this year — the most in Europe

Drazzil wrote:
Well gee, if a whole convoy of ak wielding Islam enthusiasts rolled into my neighborhood I would like to think I would try and kill them any way I could

hepcat wrote:

Drazzil wrote:
Well gee, if a whole convoy of ak wielding Islam enthusiasts rolled into my neighborhood I would like to think I would try and kill them any way I could

You've seen way too many Hollywood action films and have subsequently convinced yourself you're Chuck Norris. The reality is that you'd shit yourself and beg for mercy within 10 minutes of their arrival. Of that, I'm absolutely sure.

Unagi wrote:

Drazzil wrote:Stop taking in Syrian refugees.

What, like the joke of ~1,500 we have taken in so far? Or the proposal to try and allow for more like maybe ~10,000 in the next year?

Or are you just feeling like we should turn our back on these people entirely? let others take them in? what is it?

putting that in context:

Some 450,000 refugees have arrived in Germany this year, and the pace picked up in the past week. The country is expecting at least 800,000 this year — the most in Europe

Drazzil, for a fella that will likely bank on the generosity and kindness of others in life (like most of us), you should be ashamed of your attitude.

Drazzil wrote:

hepcat wrote:

Drazzil wrote:
Well gee, if a whole convoy of ak wielding Islam enthusiasts rolled into my neighborhood I would like to think I would try and kill them any way I could

You've seen way too many Hollywood action films and have subsequently convinced yourself you're Chuck Norris. The reality is that you'd shit yourself and beg for mercy within 10 minutes of their arrival. Of that, I'm absolutely sure.

Killing them any way you can doesn't mean "going at them like Chuck Norris" It means talking whatever actions you can towards the end of killing them any way you can. But, yes. given the choice between going "all Chuck Norris" on a large group of jihadists" or "shitting myself and begging for mercy" I would prolly go with option 2, but so would you Hepcat.

Drazzil wrote: Well gee, if a whole convoy of ak wielding Islam enthusiasts rolled into my neighborhood I would like to think I would try and kill them any way I could, if at least to avoid the wrath of all the people trying to kill them myself. Or barring that then a phone call to the people trying to kill them would be nice, maybe a little "Hey this convoy of guys just rolled into town and are trying to impose sharia law... Mind coming to kill them for us?" But instead of that they waive the white flag, roll out the red carpet and or run, and where ever they go, trouble follows.

hepcat wrote:

Drazzil wrote:

hepcat wrote:

Drazzil wrote:
Well gee, if a whole convoy of ak wielding Islam enthusiasts rolled into my neighborhood I would like to think I would try and kill them any way I could

You've seen way too many Hollywood action films and have subsequently convinced yourself you're Chuck Norris. The reality is that you'd shit yourself and beg for mercy within 10 minutes of their arrival. Of that, I'm absolutely sure.

Killing them any way you can doesn't mean "going at them like Chuck Norris" It means talking whatever actions you can towards the end of killing them any way you can. But, yes. given the choice between going "all Chuck Norris" on a large group of jihadists" or "shitting myself and begging for mercy" I would prolly go with option 2, but so would you Hepcat.

Yup, I thought it was implied that that would be the case.

And no, you most likely wouldn't go all Wolverines on them. As I said, the reality of such a situation is far from the heroic one depicted on the big screen. A rare few will fight. But unlike you, I don't condemn those who fear for their lives of their families and loved ones (and themselves) in a war zone. To do so is hypocritical and...to be blunt...a real dick move.

LawBeefaroni wrote:

Drazzil wrote: Well gee, if a whole convoy of ak wielding Islam enthusiasts rolled into my neighborhood I would like to think I would try and kill them any way I could, if at least to avoid the wrath of all the people trying to kill them myself. Or barring that then a phone call to the people trying to kill them would be nice, maybe a little "Hey this convoy of guys just rolled into town and are trying to impose sharia law... Mind coming to kill them for us?" But instead of that they waive the white flag, roll out the red carpet and or run, and where ever they go, trouble follows.

You can't kill them all and you can't call for help (no one will come help you). So your only choices are to resist and surely die, submit and maybe live, or run and maybe live. From a risk-reward standpoint most people will take door #3 for themselves and their family.


We in the rest of the world can turn this into an opportunity gained or an opportunity lost. And I'm not talking all peace and love and holding hands. I'm talking about a major hearts and minds propaganda win. And who knows, maybe create a free Syrian army in exile indoctrinated in Western culture.

Drazzil wrote: Wasn't the Boston Marathon massacre a refugee? What about that dude who attacked the naval base? Refugee right? Charlie Hedbo, some of those guys were refugees, I am not sure that the world is equipped to take all these refugees in. And refugees don't have the best track record right now.

hepcat wrote:I'm not sure the world is equipped to handle Ohio.

GreenGoo wrote:The difference between Rip and Drazzil is that Rip knows he's trolling, while Drazzil seems to believe the nonsense he writes down. I can't believe you guys even bothered to address the "here's a couple of immigrants who did bad things, so...Q.E.D."

Carpet_pissr wrote:[Like someone putting a big slab of chocolate ice cream cake on a plate with a string tied to it.

LordMortis wrote: What kind of frosting? If it's creamy frosting, I'll pass, but if it's that solid chocolate frosting that's almost like cutting into a sort of thin chocolate candy bar then I'm in. I can just use the string to floss with, right?

LordMortis wrote:

Carpet_pissr wrote:[Like someone putting a big slab of chocolate ice cream cake on a plate with a string tied to it.

What kind of frosting? If it's creamy frosting, I'll pass, but if it's that solid chocolate frosting that's almost like cutting into a sort of thin chocolate candy bar then I'm in. I can just use the string to floss with, right?

LawBeefaroni wrote:Stop spamming irrelevant Hillary shit in every single thread. It's getting old.

LawBeefaroni wrote:Stop spamming irrelevant Hillary shit in every single thread. It's getting old.

LawBeefaroni wrote:Stop spamming irrelevant Hillary shit in every single thread. It's getting old.

Carpet_pissr wrote:

LordMortis wrote:

Carpet_pissr wrote:

In! I don't know what kind of cake that is but I think it's the exact one I've been waiting for.

...

I don't know if I've ever had cream cheese based frosting. I'm intrigued.

LawBeefaroni wrote:Stop spamming irrelevant Hillary shit in every single thread. It's getting old.

Rip wrote:

LawBeefaroni wrote:Stop spamming irrelevant Hillary shit in every single thread. It's getting old.

It isn't irrelevant. I didn't turn the discussion to traps and cake.

There has been no official response from the Islamic State group (IS) to US claims that it has used chemical weapons in Syria and Iraq. However, there have been signs that IS and its supporters would not shy away from their use. A month ago, online supporters of the group boasted of an attack against Kurdish forces near the Tigris river in northern Iraq, saying they had used an unspecified chemical weapon. They said 40 mortar rounds had been used to deliver the weapons targeting Kurdish Peshmerga fighters in the village of Tall Rim on 11 August. The next day, IS officially acknowledged firing mortars in the area and published photographs showing the rounds being fired, apparently illustrating the same attack, but it did not mention chemical weapons.

A young Jewish American man has been charged with pretending to be an Australian-based Islamic State jihadist after a FBI joint investigation with the Australian Federal Police based on information provided by Fairfax Media.

Joshua Ryne Goldberg, a 20-year old living at his parents' house in US state of Florida, is accused of posing online as "Australi Witness," an IS supporter who publicly called for a series of attacks against individuals and events in western countries.

In recent days Australi Witness has claimed online that he is working with other jihadists to plan attacks in Australia and the United States. He distributed pictures of a bomb that he was working on with "2 lbs of explosives inside".

...
Australi Witness's online actions might have had fatal real-world consequences in May.

In the leadup to an exhibition in Garland, Texas, at which pictures of the Prophet Mohammed were to be displayed, "Australi Witness" tweeted the event's address and reposted a tweet urging people to go there with "weapons, bombs or with knifes".

Two Muslim men attempted an attack at the exhibition, and were killed by police. Australi Witness then praised them online as martyrs.

...

He allegedly instructed someone how to fill the bomb with nails, metal and other items dipped in rat poison.

Police base the charge on his communication of five web links to sites that provided instructions that could be used to make explosives as part of a plot to explode a bomb on September 13 at a memorial ceremony in Kansas City, commemorating the 9/11 the terrorist attacks.

The affidavit, released by Special agent William Berry of US Customs and Border Protection, says that Goldberg had initially denied to officers that he had any involvement with distributing information on how to make a bomb, but then later admitted it.

"Goldberg further admitted that he believed the information would create a genuine bomb," Agent Berry alleged.

However, Goldberg also claimed that he meant for the person he was communicating with to either kill himself creating the bomb or, that Goldberg intended to warn police in time so that he would receive "credit for stopping the attack".