Posted: Fri Apr 23, 2021 9:36 am
At this point I'd just settle for not having a genocide whenever the Turks get around to pulling out of Idlib.
Because sometimes even national leaders just want to hang out
https://forum.nationstates.net/
Hakinda Herseyi Duymak istiyorum wrote:What do you think about the Syrian Democratic People's Party ? If there was a party that defended the rights of Baathist social-liberal minorities and supported social democracy and perlementerism against the Assad administration, what would its counterpart in Syria be ?
Theriok wrote:Obama should have been much aggressive against Assad. The only solace we can take now is that Assad will be more careful before gunning people down so as to avoid a repeat of this disaster.
Major-Tom wrote:Theriok wrote:Obama should have been much aggressive against Assad. The only solace we can take now is that Assad will be more careful before gunning people down so as to avoid a repeat of this disaster.
Assad is a colossal prick, but Obama's hands were effectively tied. If he had been more aggressive against Assad (and he already took a hawkish stance), he ran the triple risk of both pissing off Russia to the point of no-return, sinking the Iran deal, and allowing a power vacuum to further cement itself, potentially allowing for radical Islamist groups to find a way to power in Syria.
As much as Obama's foreign policy deserves critiques, he did quite alright in Syria.
Theriok wrote:Major-Tom wrote:
Assad is a colossal prick, but Obama's hands were effectively tied. If he had been more aggressive against Assad (and he already took a hawkish stance), he ran the triple risk of both pissing off Russia to the point of no-return, sinking the Iran deal, and allowing a power vacuum to further cement itself, potentially allowing for radical Islamist groups to find a way to power in Syria.
As much as Obama's foreign policy deserves critiques, he did quite alright in Syria.
What would Russia's "point of no return" been for Syria? An invasion of Western Europe? Putin cares about Syria, sure, but not enough to start a thermonuclear war over it.
The Iran deal is fairer criticism, but as we saw: A) that sank, admittedly though due an unforeseeable candidate; and B) I don't think Iran would have backed out over Syria. The country is desperate for the deal, and desperate for anything to avoid worldwide sanction.
The power vacuum would have been minimized the earlier Obama would have acted. As the war progressed, and the rebels desperately turned to jihadist elements, it became more likely.
Syria was Obama's biggest weak point - his "red line," alone, was a terrible embarrassment even by his own admission.
Theriok wrote:Major-Tom wrote:
Assad is a colossal prick, but Obama's hands were effectively tied. If he had been more aggressive against Assad (and he already took a hawkish stance), he ran the triple risk of both pissing off Russia to the point of no-return, sinking the Iran deal, and allowing a power vacuum to further cement itself, potentially allowing for radical Islamist groups to find a way to power in Syria.
As much as Obama's foreign policy deserves critiques, he did quite alright in Syria.
What would Russia's "point of no return" been for Syria? An invasion of Western Europe? Putin cares about Syria, sure, but not enough to start a thermonuclear war over it.
The Iran deal is fairer criticism, but as we saw: A) that sank, admittedly though due an unforeseeable candidate; and B) I don't think Iran would have backed out over Syria. The country is desperate for the deal, and desperate for anything to avoid worldwide sanction.
The power vacuum would have been minimized the earlier Obama would have acted. As the war progressed, and the rebels desperately turned to jihadist elements, it became more likely.
Syria was Obama's biggest weak point - his "red line," alone, was a terrible embarrassment even by his own admission.
Senkaku wrote:At this point I'd just settle for not having a genocide whenever the Turks get around to pulling out of Idlib.
Major-Tom wrote:
Russia invaded Ukraine and Georgia, the West condemned 'em, but never forcefully put a stop to it. And how could they, what are they going to do, start a war (like you said)? No, of course not. Putin would not have invaded Europe, but had Assad gone down thanks to aggressive US intervention, I could just as easily see Russia trying to "pick up the pieces" in Syria and establishing a presence. Not an occupation, but a hail-mary pass to re-prop up the some continuation of an Assad-like regime, so to speak. Syria was and is a major strategic country for Russia, and that should not be underestimated.
Major-Tom wrote:As for Iran, Iran had continually made threats and demands over the Iran deal before Trump was ushered in. It is not crazy to suggest that they would've amplified this had the US been more aggressive.
Major-Tom wrote:We can say what we want about a power vaccum, but we acted early in Libya, very early and preemptively, but still ended up leaving Libya with an "unforseen" power vaccum. The Jihadists around at the time in Libya that managed to make some serious inroads were puny in contrast to the numbers and organizational prowess of groups within Syria.
I don't know, to me, it seemed like Obama had a slew of bad options, and his cautious approach was the least-worst of all of them.
Theriok wrote:All we did in Libya was bomb some convoys. We did nothing whatsoever to establish a legitimate government in the aftermath.
Theriok wrote:Obama should have been much aggressive against Assad. The only solace we can take now is that Assad will be more careful before gunning people down so as to avoid a repeat of this disaster.
Theriok wrote:Obama should have been much aggressive against Assad. The only solace we can take now is that Assad will be more careful before gunning people down so as to avoid a repeat of this disaster.
Perikuresu wrote:Wonder how Assad will deal with Rojava once he "wins" the election
Theriok wrote:The Iran deal is fairer criticism, but as we saw: A) that sank, admittedly though due an unforeseeable candidate; and B) I don't think Iran would have backed out over Syria. The country is desperate for the deal, and desperate for anything to avoid worldwide sanction.
Perikuresu wrote:Wonder how Assad will deal with Rojava once he "wins" the election