And that is a very relevant point. Another 5 to 10 years could see their interest drop. You can sell arms from a distance but need to be onsite for oil and gas.
You do realise referencing a Qatari funded news organisation on this matter is ridiclous?
9 civilian lives lost in that airstrikeâŚwith no proofâŚ2003 WMD ring a bell?
Human life isnt valued equally.
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You do realise you posting on this thread is âridiclousâ?
Do you think that the air strike was justified by the US?
Hilarious seeing both Trump supporters and right-wing Dems claiming this wasnât an act of war.
If a foreign state launched a missile strike on a US airbase I am quite certain âact of warâ would be deemed an appropriate characterisation.
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Youâre v rarely wrong mateâŚand youâre spot on here.
It was an unsanctioned act of war on a soverign state without any proof.
Thats a very dangerous road to go down for the USâŚgiven Assads alliesâŚand their strategic reason for being thereâŚthis is serious stuff.
Who supplied the chemicals, they were supposed to be gone. The west and the Russians have alot to answer for
Was one theory not put forward that Assadâs lads happened to bomb the shit out of a store of these chemical weapons. Would Putin not have a tight leash on everything Assad is getting up to. What would he have to gain from letting Assad go ahead and use nerve gas. Are the rebels not known to have used civilians as human shields in Aleppo. Is it plausible they staged this so that the good ol USA would come in and get involved in the fight against Assad. A fight they are losing badly. Iâm no conspiracy nut but i dont think this is as clear cut as people think.
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Russia is beside and was part of there and have a âclaimâ to it. Whatâs the yanks excuse? 1000s of miles away ? Overthrowing a democratically elected (their ideologyâ) with puppets
. How does it make perfect logical sense for Assad to go ahead and use chemical weapons to kill a relatively small number of people and bring all this heat down upon himself when the yanks policy was shifting away from overthrowing him to focussing on ISIS!
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Iâm not saying there are no other explanations, but the evidence points to Assad and is also the most parsimonious explanation.
- He has done it before and might have felt he could get away with it again, given Russia and China both support him and opposed UN sanctions, and the US stating they werenât planning to get involved in his overthrow.
- Eye witness reports stating that small impacts were heard (backed up by photographic evidence of small craters), no explosions and no buildings were hit that night. That is consistent with the type of munition used to deliver chemical agents.
- Sarin is difficult to make and store (it breaks down when exposed to oxygen, so has a short shelf life). Even if the rebels had a store of sarin, blowing up a building is unlikely to disperse it effectively, say compared to a munition that is designed to disperse it.
- The evidence US intelligence has supports Assad doing it. The US had no incentive to doctor or exaggerate evidence, compared to WWM in Iraq for instance where they wanted to go in.
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Assad is surely not that stupid to give them an excuse on a plate to go after him. Like what has he got to gain from doing it. Appears to be winning, has his enemy on the back foot and as Sidney pointed out a few posts the US no longer saw him being overthrown as a priority. Thatâs all changed now. All for the sake of gassing 70 odd people. Shur he could easily have taken that many out with a regular bomb and no one would have batted an eyelid!
Chemical warfare has a serious psychological effect, say if your goal is to get a population to clear off from an area you want to control. Although he has been making gains, there are accounts that his military are exhausted and he might be looking for a quick victory.
It doesnt add up palâŚgiven the reaction that such an action would incur.
Assad isnt that wreckless.
An expert in cookery and chemical warfare. An unusual mix.
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But if that was his thinking all its done is achieve the opposite. Is he that foolish! Do you think he did it with or without the Russians and Iranians knowlege?
He has a science degree
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Wreckless isnât a word, why do (mostly) Limerick people insist on using it? Think about the stupidity of accusing someone of wreckless driving.
It does add up, there was no expectation of a reaction until Trump launched Tomahawk missiles last night.