Theresa May Being Very Dangerous- War Is Looking Imminent

[gordiescotland1]

I'm sorry if this might sound uncaring Why on earth are Britain getting involved in a conflict thousands of miles away? So what if Assad uses chemical weapons, why do the UK have to get involved? It is going to put us at risk of terror attacks, and God forbid Nuclear War. It is not our problem? Germany, Spain, Portugal, Italy are not getting involved
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5605247/Theresa-convenes-war-cabinet-tomorrow.html

[Jackdaw33]

Quite. We should never have ousted Saddam. He posed no threat to us and maintained a stable régime.

[dannyk13]

Jack, he invaded Kuwait, a country we have ties with.

[Ken4155]

Wasn't he beaten back by Bush Snr, Danny? Then, only when little Bush wanted to emulate daddy Bush was Sadam ousted.

Innocents are being murdered by the Syrian regime but, surely, even so called smart bombs would kill even more innocents. I don't have the solution. Then again, i'm not paid to have the solution.

[ichkeria]

Like I say, there is no plan to remove Assad: that is what the rebels have been trying to do for 7 years. Initially we tried to rein in his early crimes against humanity, before all out civil war broke out, but were thwarted in that by Russia (and Chine) in the UNSC. Probably what we should have done, while we had more influence in the area, was make it plain to Russia that we had "no selfish or strategic interest" (to borrow a phrase) in Syria, or at least that we had no desire to break up Syria's alliance with Russia. That might have worked, it might not.
For a while we supported selected rebel groups, but with the rise of ISIS (aided and abetted by Assad ironically initially) a whole new front opened up. A key point was in 2013 when Obama and Cameron failed to act on the crossing of the "red line" in the use of chemical weapons. Russia stepped in as a bogus (as it turned out) intermediary, pretending to decommission all of his chemical weapons, and while we patted ourselves (and them) on the back, Assad stepped up his murder by more "conventional" means.
When Russia stepped into a military vacuum along with Iran, the course of the war changed. And the (welcome) defeat of ISIS has actually complicated the situation elsewhere further.
Getting rid of Assad now would not be very sensible, even if it were possible. I think the idea is to be seen to be taking a stand against his continued use of chemical weaponry, but I have no real idea how they intend to take deterrent action: plainly a lot more thought is going into it, this time, which is welcome.

[dannyk13]

Ken:-
//Operation GRANBY, commonly abbreviated Op GRANBY, was the code name given to the British military operations during the 1991 Gulf War. 53,462 members of the British Armed Forces were deployed during the conflict//

[Spicerack]

Different war, Danny.
Saddam was ousted because of his (nonexistent) WMDs.

[Spicerack]

There is proof that the US have wanted regime change in Syria since 2003. Nice spin, though, ichi.

[Ken4155]

Danny, Saddam invaded Kuwait in '91. In response, operation Desert Shield was launched but he was not ousted then. Once his beaten army had skulked back home, the Americans called a halt to the fighting.
Fast forward to 2003. Then, tiny Bush came along and got rid.

[ichkeria]

I am sure they have.
Who wouldn't want to get rid of a monstrous regime like the Alawite Assads?
However, Syria was always seen as a relatively stable nation state in an unstable area. Not quite Jordan but even so. The Syrians interceded vitally during the Lebanese hostage crisis, for example.

[dannyk13]

Ken are you denying that we had troops in Iraq in 1991?

[Spicerack]

A year ago everybody 'knew' that Assad used Sarin gas against rebels at Khan Sheikhoun.
Remember Trump launching Tomahawk missiles against an Assad airfield.
In February of this year, Gen.Mattis (US Defence Secretary) admitted they had no proof.
Go back to 2013 when Cameron wanted to bomb Assad out of existence for gassing his own people.
Here is the head of the UN investigation team into that incident.
https://youtu.be/VeznZrkwJf8

[ToraToraTora]

good to see kromo getting his rocks off using this as another anti British rant opportunity.

[Spicerack]

Listen Danny, you got something wrong. It's not a big deal, stop digging.

[Ken4155]

Danny, i never said we didn't have troops in Iraq in '91. Your answer to Jackdaw @ 13:38 seemed to infer that Hussain was ousted then. I disagreed.

[ichkeria]

They did have proof.
And the organisation that investigated it (the JIM) was subsequently refused a licence to renew its remit due to a UNSC veto (no prizes for guessing by who)
As for proof this time, well it depends what you mean by "proof": the confirmed existence of gas canisters dropped through roofs by planes - only one side has planes etc etc.
President Macron also claims to have "proof" (probably collateral SIGINT), but what is holding up anyone taking action now is not lack of "proof", despite what anyone says: that will just be an excuse.
The Russians have inciminated themseves by their response: their UN ambassador, at the UNSC, claimed:
(a) there had been no attack
(b) there had been an attack but it was carried out by the "other side"
(c) no one knew what had happened and there should be an inquiry

All in the same statement

So, what we do about it, if anything, is one argument, but I'll not have my intellgence insulted by Russia or her apologists telling us it didn't happen :-)

[-Talbot-]

All these middle eastern wars achieve is the spread of Islam.

Enough reason for some to keep fuelling the fire.

[ToraToraTora]

Ken: “Danny, Saddam invaded Kuwait in '91.
Err try 1990
In response, operation Desert Shield was launched but he was not ousted then.
Err try desert Storm
Once his beaten army had skulked back home, the Americans called a halt to the fighting.
Correct 1 out of 3
Fast forward to 2003. Then, tiny Bush came along and got rid.
Correct 2 out of 4, 50% = C-

[-Talbot-]

Why don't we be honest for a change and admit none of us have a fekin clue who are the good guys in Syria.

[dannyk13]

TTT, where did I say that Saddam invaded Kuwait in 1991?

[Ken4155]

TTT; Desert Shield 2 Aug '90 - 17 Jan '91, Desert Storm 17 Jan - 28 Feb '91. That's 3/4, 75%.Surely worth a B or a B+?