Stive Pesley Posted September 7, 2016 Share Posted September 7, 2016 What a mess this situation in Syria is http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-37291182 The democratically elected Assad led government is using chemical weapons against the rebels (contrary to UN law). The Rebels are being backed/funded by the US/UK and it's hard to argue that they are any different to other rebel organisations that we brand "terrorists". They are deploying the same tactics with the same ends (murdering those who they disagree with) We are part of a group called "Friends of Syria" - countries who back the rebels and want Assad out of power Boris Johnson is hosting the Syrian rebel leaders in London this week. So essentially (much like when we were arming the Taliban to fight Russia in Afghanistan in the 80s) it's OK to be a friend of terrorists if their aims meet your aims. Sad state of affairs Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Highgate Posted September 7, 2016 Share Posted September 7, 2016 Any idea on how to fix it? Is it even possible? Are countries even trying to help or just looking after their own interests? I just feel sorry for people caught in the middle of it.....no wonder they are trying to migrate to Europe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eddie Posted September 7, 2016 Share Posted September 7, 2016 1 hour ago, Highgate said: Any idea on how to fix it? Is it even possible? Are countries even trying to help or just looking after their own interests? I just feel sorry for people caught in the middle of it.....no wonder they are trying to migrate to Europe. Simple answer - stop fighting proxy wars and stop selling weapons to both sides of a conflict. In fact, stop selling weapons full stop. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Highgate Posted September 7, 2016 Share Posted September 7, 2016 19 minutes ago, eddie said: Simple answer - stop fighting proxy wars and stop selling weapons to both sides of a conflict. In fact, stop selling weapons full stop. I agree with that as a policy but would that prevent people in Syria from wanting to kill one another? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eddie Posted September 7, 2016 Share Posted September 7, 2016 16 minutes ago, Highgate said: I agree with that as a policy but would that prevent people in Syria from wanting to kill one another? Perhaps one day we will learn - but our race memory at the moment is painfully short. As Einstein said, "I know not what World War III will be fought with, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stive Pesley Posted September 8, 2016 Author Share Posted September 8, 2016 16 hours ago, Highgate said: Any idea on how to fix it? Is it even possible? Are countries even trying to help or just looking after their own interests? I just feel sorry for people caught in the middle of it.....no wonder they are trying to migrate to Europe. It's even more of a mess when you read quotes from commentators close to the conflict that state a large proportion of the Syrian rebels are actually affiliated with ISIS! So three factions all perpetrating terror in the area with overlapping aims and allegiances. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jono Posted September 8, 2016 Share Posted September 8, 2016 No doubt that numerous nations are pulling strings for their various agendas, but why do we never hear of Arab peacemakers, compromise brokers .. It isn't always the western world, most of which would be quite happy buying their oil at a reasonable price and selling them iPhones Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mafiabob Posted September 8, 2016 Share Posted September 8, 2016 1 hour ago, jono said: No doubt that numerous nations are pulling strings for their various agendas, but why do we never hear of Arab peacemakers, compromise brokers .. It isn't always the western world, most of which would be quite happy buying their oil at a reasonable price and selling them iPhones I see Palestine and Israel are talking again. Most of worlds problems comes from that. Naive way of thinking from me..... If it ever happened there was peace there then they'll be a knock on effect Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jono Posted September 8, 2016 Share Posted September 8, 2016 Yes Bob a lot stems from that and it genuinely is such a tragedy. i feel sorry for the Kurds .. I mean Turkey doesn't like them, Assad doesn't like them, ISIL don't like them, Sadam gassed them. Middle East politics are so murky with tribal differences, oil, religion, Opium, corruption ... As a region it has the full package of volatile issues. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
loweman2 Posted September 8, 2016 Share Posted September 8, 2016 I saw a report yesterday where the rebels had been bombed to hell by assad and they were running, it panned out to a young kid of about 10 years old who was literally running for his life clutching to his chest his one most loved possession...... a football, he had obviously run back for it and grabbed it, what chance he children got in all of these forsaken holes around the world when adults behave in the way the do !! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rev Posted September 8, 2016 Share Posted September 8, 2016 It's not all bad news, according to the i newspaper this week, skilled forgers are making a mint selling 'antiquities' to foreign buyers, and over 100 new bars have opened up in Damascus in the past year. It's been so bad for so long, I guess people eventually become normalised to the war, and make the best of it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Highgate Posted September 8, 2016 Share Posted September 8, 2016 11 hours ago, StivePesley said: It's even more of a mess when you read quotes from commentators close to the conflict that state a large proportion of the Syrian rebels are actually affiliated with ISIS! So three factions all perpetrating terror in the area with overlapping aims and allegiances. And complicating matters even further are the Turks who fear any moves towards Kurdish statehood more than they fear ISIS violence. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Van der MoodHoover Posted September 8, 2016 Share Posted September 8, 2016 Sykes-picot has been a major contributory factor to the current mess. Arbitrary boundaries defining a notion of statehood on a region with no history of such a notion, the population largely being organised on ethnic, religious and tribal lines. With the occasional empire thrown in. Whether it is possible to admit terrible mistakes and literally redraw some maps I don't know but it's almost the only way I can think to progress. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Highgate Posted September 8, 2016 Share Posted September 8, 2016 4 minutes ago, HantsRam said: Sykes-picot has been a major contributory factor to the current mess. Arbitrary boundaries defining a notion of statehood on a region with no history of such a notion, the population largely being organised on ethnic, religious and tribal lines. With the occasional empire thrown in. Whether it is possible to admit terrible mistakes and literally redraw some maps I don't know but it's almost the only way I can think to progress. Sykes and Picot and the governments they worked for certainly weren't motivated by the interests of the people that lived in the Middle East, but given that you had a collapsing Ottoman Empire it's difficult to see what borders could have resulted in a lasting peace. Empires don't tend to fragment peacefully. But then Sykes-Picot was only the beginning of the meddling. What happened in Iraq, during the 20s for example, was deplorable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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