Sean Spicer, Omg.

[anneasquith]

Maybe some kind aber would post the latest news from the Trump's press officer, thanks.

[anneasquith]

Sean Spicer , once again demonstrating he is ill equipped for this Job as press secretary, he has become an object of fun a nd ridicule, time to go Sean.

[ichkeria]

What I am supporting is a political settlement - plainly Assad cannot ultimately continue being in charge in the long run - just because no one knows what that settlement will be does not invalidate that. The alternative is perpetual war.

[naomi24]

ichkeria, //What I am supporting is a political settlement //

I fear that is a pipe dream. Assad goes - Islamists are left - and they don't 'do' political settlements.

[jim360]

As someone who's given a lot of thought to it, presumably you have some ideas yourself?

If so, what are they?

I agree that any attempt to remove Assad in the manner that we applied in Iraq will just leave a power vacuum that you can be sure ISIS, or some equivalent, would be happy to fill. I don't agree that Assad is therefore worth tolerating as the "last bastion of defence" against ISIS, or some such. I don't know if it's possible to solve both problems at once, but I doubt it's *impossible*.

And anyway, Syria in the state it's in *now* has the same sort of power vacuum, really. Despite Russia's intervention and the West's passiveness, or perhaps because of them, Assad was able to hold on but barely to half the country, leaving ISIS free to grab the stuff he couldn't control.

I don't advocate just marching in with a single-minded aim to remove Assad. I don't think I have to write the plan for the aftermath myself, though. It's clear that he's attacking his own citizens in a manner that should be unconditionally unacceptable.

[naomi24]

Jim, //As someone who's given a lot of thought to it, presumably you have some ideas yourself? If so, what are they? //

I would have thought that was obvious. Don't remove Assad (she said awaiting screams of indignation). The fact is they're all rotten, which means the choice is between the devil and the deep blue sea, and therefore the only option, in my opinion, is the lesser of the two evils - and as unlikely as it may seem to some, that is Assad.

[ichkeria]

Not sure if you were addressing me or naomi there jim, but as I said before I don't profess to have a solution to this.
It strikes me, however, as bizarre, to think that some Assad is the man to "hold Syria together". Syria WAS held together for many years by Assad, and was tolerated for his repression, understandably, as was Gaddafi, Ben Ali in Tunisia etc. Syria was lauded as a stable oasis is a troubled region. But as soon as the people starting fretting over econoomic issues, emboldened no doubt by events in other parts of the repressive Arab world, he panicked, over-reacted, and showed that he had not the slightest idea how to unite his country.
He's killed countless thousands of civilians, driving countless others into the hands of jihadist rebels, seen his country break into pieces, and although he controls the main population areas at the moment, most of the territory of the country is outside his control. The only reason anyone at all is contemplating that he might continue in "power" is because he's always been propped up by the Kremlin, who stepped in when he was on the verge of defeat. Back then, he was prepared to negotiate as he was in a position of weakness. And the idea now must be to make him think again. Not "take him out" because his "tribe" if you like needs to be catered for and simply removing him would worsen the existing power vacuum.
But there are many "tribes" and it is grossly insulting to Syrians and simplistic to say it's simply "Assad or Islamists", "government versus terrorists" - that is the line spun by the regime. Understandably.

[naomi24]

ichkeria, //"Assad or Islamists", "government versus terrorists" - that is the line spun by the regime. Understandably. //

I don't think it is a line. I think that's precisely what it is.

[jim360]

What about the other thirty-odd factions involved in the Syrian Civil War?

[Khandro]

ichi ; //asking people to solve the Syrian crisis on answerbank. Patently unfair, and, indeed, a copout //
But it seems to be OK to demand his removal without having the slightest idea what should replace him.
Look at what happened by replacing the strong leaders in Iraq and Libya - chaos! If Assad goes Syria will become a Sunni Islamic state and you will see ethnic cleansing on a monumental scale.
Assad, Putin, the Ba'ath party, and the Alawites are the only hope to prevent Syria descending into catastrophe.

[naomi24]

Jim, which factions do you mean?

http://uk.businessinsider.com/who-is-involved-in-the-war-in-syria-2013-10?r=US&IR=T

[emmie]

i watched this on the news this morning, oh my word indeed, talk about being totally unprepared.

[jim360]

What's the point of posting an "oversimplification" (their word)?

But, at any rate, even that diagram should make it clear that lumping in the Free Syrian Army in the same class as ISIS is more than a little misleading. And yet, that is how you seem to see it.

[jim360]

I think it's safe to say that there is far too much going on in Syria for anyone to keep track of who's fighting whom. That's sort of my point, though. It seems staggering to claim that Assad is the lesser of two evils, not least because there are more than two "evils" to consider. Assad or ISIS? It's not that simple. And if you had really thought about it, you should know this.

[mikey4444]

Well said Jim !

[ichkeria]

"Syria descending into catastrophe. "

So what is it now khandro: semi-catastrophe, mini-catastrophe, micro-catastrophe, or what? (That was rhetorical by the way :-) )

[Khandro]

jim; //It seems staggering to claim that Assad is the lesser of two evils, not least because there are more than two "evils" to consider. Assad or ISIS? It's not that simple. And if you had really thought about it, you should know this. //

We have thought about it for years, studied it right back to ancient history and the damage caused by the meddling British and the French in the 20th century. I know a bit about it and my wife knows an awful lot more, we have a shelf full of books here.
Democracy is a non-starter, a strong secular leader is what is required in order to keep a lid on all the different factions, which is what they had, as did Iraq and Libya. The Muslim Syrian refugees are not fleeing Assad but other Muslims.

[mikey4444]

Khandro....."The Muslim Syrian refugees are not fleeing Assad but other Muslims."

I appreciate what you are saying but might not the huge swathes of refugees be fleeing Assad and his chemical weapons, as well as his barrel bombs....the ones he has dropped on Hospitals ?

[ladybirder]

Ich, Naomi, Khandro and Jim, thank you for such an interesting exchange of views. How good to see a decent debate here without the usual slanging match.

[youngmafbog]

Looks like the liberal elite, and those that want to be offended, are out in force over Sean Spicer. There were articles the other day on how Hitler didnt use Sarin and also Hitler didnt gas his own people by bombing. It boils down to if you look hard enough for something you will find it, and the MSM are searching deep on anything regarding The Donalds administration.

On the subject of Assad, I agree Mickey all this takes it away from addressing the issue of him. BUT, s pointed out above what/who can replace hm that will improve the situation. We dont want another Iraq/libia do we?

[mikey4444]

YMB..., I agree. Its going to take the Judgement of Solomon to sort this mess out.

But perhaps action should have been taken years ago, before ISIS was formed into what we see today. There was, and I hope still is, an Syrian Opposition, but when they asked for the Wests help, we ignored them, in favour of Assad the Butcher.

He is a product of our inaction as much as anything else.

Now I must go to work !