[SolarCross]

Any leader who thinks he's worth a civil war must suffer from extreme hubris.

Anyone who is a leader of Assad's stature certainly must have "hubris" or self confidence to operate as leader at all. If he and his people (that's Alawites not Syrians) aren't worth a civil war in their own eyes then in such a rough neighbourhood as the MENA they would have died out centuries ago with their heads on pikes for the crows to feast on. What kind of person doesn't think their life worth fighting for? Some kind of self-hating morbidly morose person?

[Bulaba Khan Jones]

Stupid strawmen.

Agreed, and yet we see #1-3 repeated in arguments, continuously, in this thread and in other threads.

[Atlantis]

Assad leads the Alawite minority who maintain their hegemony (and security) over other (hostile) ethnicities mostly through terror even in peace time.

The conflagration of the Assad regime and the Alawites is both simplistic and false. The secular Assad regime provided the best protection for the Alawites and other minorities. That's why some supported his regime, others opposed the regime's terror. Before the civil war, they all lived together and many of the Syrian refugees coming to Europe are well-education middle class families who did well under Assad. To suggest that ethnic cleansing is systematic under Assad is perfectly absurd. Assad took in millions of Sunni Muslims when the Yanks started to destabilize the ME.

[skinster]

Agreed, and yet we see #1-3 repeated in arguments, continuously, in this thread and in other threads.

It's starting to get really boring.

[Bulaba Khan Jones]

No, Skinster, you should listen to me because I'm a supporter of [American/European] imperialism and thus I'm not ignorant or naive about these things: these wars happen because bad men do the bad things and we defend freedom against the bad men. Assad is a bad man. Assad is crazy because I think so! Even if things don't add up, I think Assad is a bad man and he's crazy so let's support more war and national destruction again after it brought so much security and non-misery to MENA all the other times!

- The intellectual content of every post by EU/NATO stooges.

[Rich]

Hafez / Bashar Assad are / were good men in extremely difficult circumstances trying to do the best for their people: the Alawites, Christians and Atheists. They were born through no fault of their own in to a community surrounded by Muslim terrorists and Muslim latent terrorists. They do not provide a good model for our government. Dictatorships are almost inevitably far more corrupt and inefficient than democracies. They do however provide a warning to stop the exponential increase of the Muslim population with in our own countries.

In order to survive the Assads have had to pander to Muslim bigotry, hence their demonisation of Israel. Its not clear whether they really believe their nonsense about evil Israel vs innocent Sunni Muslim Palestinians. They have also had to look to the lesser evil of Twelver (Shia) Islam to defend them against the greater evil of Sunni Muslims.

Hafez Assad stood shoulder to shoulder with George H Bush in desert storm, so the Assad regime couldn't give a hoot about Arab "Sovereignty". The only people who consistently opposed western intervention were Osama Bin Laden and ISIS, all other Muslims are hypocrites who will happily accept western help when it suits them but whine about Imperialism when it doesn't.

[Suntzu]

To believe Assad used gas one has to believe he is retarded. I don't think he is retarded. There are better, less inflammatory methods of killing civilians.

[skinster]

Hafez / Bashar Assad are / were good men in extremely difficult circumstances trying to do the best for their people: the Alawites, Christians and Atheists. They were born through no fault of their own in to a community surrounded by Muslim terrorists and Muslim latent terrorists. They do not provide a good model for our government. Dictatorships are almost inevitably far more corrupt and inefficient than democracies. They do however provide a warning to stop the exponential increase of the Muslim population with in our own countries.

In order to survive the Assads have had to pander to Muslim bigotry, hence their demonisation of Israel. Its not clear whether they really believe their nonsense about evil Israel vs innocent Sunni Muslim Palestinians. They have also had to look to the lesser evil of Twelver (Shia) Islam to defend them against the greater evil of Sunni Muslims.
.

This post forgets that Syria is rightfully angry at Israel since Israel ethnically cleansed close to 100K people and remains occupying the south of Syria, for the last 4 decades.

Your obsession with sects is boring as fuck but to claim this is an Alawite vs Sunni thing displays an ignorance of really basic things like Assad's wife being a Sunni, the majority of Syrian soldiers being the same and erm how like Assad has been promoting Syria's secular nature since like forever and particularly throughout the war where he has opposed the sectarian nature of his enemies.

I do wonder where you get your information from. I mean, it's not even like dumb MSM propaganda on the country, it's as though you're making complete shit up. Can you provide at least one link with these type of posts where you make big claims...ever?

[Rich]

@skinster Before I can respond to these specifics I feel its vital to establish whether there has been a civil war in Syria or whether there has been a war between the Assad regime and an invading army?

[skinster]

Either respond to my post or not. You already know what I think about the fake civil war so why are you asking me to be specific about it?

[Oxymandias]

@Rich

Stop going off topic. You obviously know that there is a civil war going on in Syria unless you're implying that Syria was never Islamic or Arab in which case I'll stop taking you seriously and consider your entire political existence to be a joke. I find it hilarious that you think that just because Assad is an Alawite it means that he defends them despite the fact that a majority of his own population is Sunni Arab and his entire military is Sunni Arab.

There's a difference between your wet dreams and reality Rich, and you need to learn that.

[Rich]

@Rich

Stop going off topic. You obviously know that there is a civil war going on in Syria unless you're implying that Syria was never Islamic or Arab in which case I'll stop taking you seriously and consider your entire political existence to be a joke.

I was arguing that it is a civil war. It is @skinster who was arguing it isn't. So are you saying that @skinster entire political existence is a joke?

Edit sorry, @skinster made the argument in another thread on Syria.

[skinster]

Now you're ignoring that me and Oxymandias asked you to prove Assad is anti-sunnis and you're back to talking shit. You're not being clever by ignoring this, everyone can read and pick up on your bullshit.

Provide evidence proving your claim that Assad hates sunnis, in the form of a link, instead of your usual posts of you talking shit. I'd thank you in advance, but I expect what is to be expected from you.

[Bulaba Khan Jones]

Rich is simply demonstrating he understands humor by sarcastically writing a post that embodies #1 and #3 on the "I hate Assad" list of the main tropes found in posts written by people opposing Assad: "Assad is a big mean person to Sunnis and is so mean to Sunnis!" Rich doesn't need evidence, @skinster, because he believes Assad is a big mean guy to Sunnis, which therefore proves Assad is a big mean guy to Sunnis.

Unfortunately, Rich isn't being sarcastic.

[Rich]

Provide evidence proving your claim that Assad hates sunnis,

What claim that Assad hates Sunnis? Perhaps you could try actually reading my posts. Both Cuckservatives and Lefties have created their own fantasy worlds.

Lefties: Syria was a lovely, prosperous harmonious society till some evil western / Zionist manipulators spoilt it.

Cuckservatives: Syria could be a lovely prosperous harmonious society if it wasn't for the Assads and a few evil henchmen.

[SolarCross]

I want to know why a narrative can't exist in which Assad is a good guy heroically holding back the hordes of evil Islamists AND a user of chemical weapons?

To all those who blame the US for the Syrian uprising, do you also blame the US for the rest of the Arab spring such as in Tunisia and Egypt?

I think since the Mujahdeen succeeded in driving out the Soviets from Afghanistan that the CIA has in some people's minds an almost transcendent power to alter the global political landscape at will just by handing out a few second-hand M16s to the odd faction which had some common foe. Consequently to those who superstitiously ascribe god-like powers to the CIA everything that happens no matter what becomes a "just as planned" narrative with the CIA as the puppet masters.

[Rich]

Yes Afghanistan another example of lefties and Cuckservatives having their own pathetic little fantasy worlds.

Lefties: Afghanistan would have been a Communist paradise if it hadn't been for the intervention of evil western "imperialists"
Cuckervatives: We defeated the Soviets in Afghanistan.

The ISI and their Gulf backers were quite capable of providing the military and financial backing of the Mujahadine. Communist China provided Pakistan with the necessary Super power backing. Afghanisation was a totally viable strategy for the Soviets as Vietnamisation was successfully and brilliantly implemented by Richard Nixon. Najibullah's regime fell, like South Vietnam because of lack of will at home.

Its funny but the wonderful Communists spent more time fighting and butchering each other than they ever did fighting the "evil western imperialists". As the Muslims have spent far, far more time fighting and butchering each other than fighting the supposedly "evil Zionists".

[Godstud]

@skinster some of us "lefties" were quite realistic about it, saying that Assad's regime, while not perfect, was going to be as good as it gets in that part of the world, given the situation.

Just saying...

[Rich]

The question that then arises is why this brutal and corrupt dictatorship is "as good as it gets in that part of the world, given the situation"?

Is it a racial problem? No absoloutly not. The great success of Israel's Arab Christian citizens puts paid to that nonsense. Leftie Liberal Jared Diamond has very cogently argued the reasons for the backwardness of sub Saharan Africa, pre Columbian America and the new Guinee highlands, but there are no excuses for Middle Eastern and Coastal North African backwardness. These places were on the cutting edge of civilisation before the Muslim Imperialist terrorist parasites invaded. These places had ideal access to the technological, social, scientific and cultural developments of Europe, India and China.

No the backwardness of the region is entirely the fault of Islam. Muslims have no one to blame but themselves. Fundamentally, European colonisation and the formation and survival of Israel is the result not the cause of Muslim backwardness

[skinster]

What claim that Assad hates Sunnis? Perhaps you could try actually reading my posts.

They have also had to look to the lesser evil of Twelver (Shia) Islam to defend them against the greater evil of Sunni Muslims.

Tens of thousands of Sunni Muslims have been casualties fighting Assad.

One of these quotes is from this thread and the other is from the other thread on Syria.

Stop posting utter nonsense and then pretending you didn't make the claim, everyone here can read and despite you being called out for the dumb shite repeatedly on this board, you continue, like a fucking lunatic.