Baby milk factories.

And babies. Lined up with their mothers to get milk.

'Tis truly another tragedy.

In on page 8.

I'm pretty sure Assad said he wouldn't stand for US involvement unless it was in support of his government and Israel is in favor if keeping him in power rather than rolling he dice for a new government that might get froggy with them again.  

It's a madhouse, a madhouse!

Can I pile in on this and ask why leaving Assad in power is not acceptable policy?  Let's bomb the shit out of ISIL/ISIS and let Assad cobble together something stable out of what remains.  When has Assad posed a threat to the US?

Could be some sort of backroom deal for Russia to keep Eastern Ukraine, and allowing them to keep their base in Syria under a new regime.

Wasn't Saddam supporting radical Islamists as well?

Now that is funny right there. I don't care who you are.

Assad and Saddam are Baathist, mass murders, who practiced ethnic cleansing.

 
 
 

Weren't we supporting radical Islamics in Syria like... Six months ago?

Didn't we fund and back radical Islamics in Afghanistan in the Cold War?

I'd say we are a fairly secular nation.

It's only bad when it's not us doing it, amirite?

Watch the video.

Kerry's plan is to arm and train the FSA to fight ISIS. He says they will be willing to fight ISIS and Assad at the same time.

Then he says the US will protect the FSA from the Assad regime.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/posttv/national/mccain-to-kerry-will-the-us-protect-syrian-opposition-from-assads-airstrikes/2014/09/17/43ec829a-3eb1-11e4-a430-b82a3e67b762_video.html

Claims of Assad using Chlorine attacks against the rebels will be the Administration's attempt to justify attacking Assad.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/sep/18/kerry-assad-has-broken-chemical-weapons-agreement/

This Administration has gone full retard. Supporting the Syrian "opposition" is going to give us another Libya.

Dana Rohrabacher is right... And Kerry, as usually, can't see the forest for the trees.

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2014/09/18/kerry_there_is_evidence_that_assad_has_played_footsie_with_isil.html

Not our buisness. We should not be doing that. It will bite us in the end. Its not going to be worth it.

Overthrowing Assad is an attempt by the US and Arab states (+Turkey) to undermine Iran's influence in the region. Without Assad and Syria, they think that Iran will lose their link to Hezbollah in Lebanon. They are wrong, and their plan is stupid.

Only we get to pick the good terrori..... I mean, freedom fighters.

It's also an attempt to reduce Russian access to the Med and reduce direct Russian influence in the Middle East.

Not that I'm against sticking it to those Russian bastards, but Assad is not our biggest problem, nor is getting rid of him the best way to weaken Russia.




What I'm not getting is... Why is Assad okay with this campaign? He has to know this could be a ruse... And it's likely giving us an intimate understanding of his defenses. He should be freaking out. Unless there is some sort of agreement in place... And that's where things get interesting... If there is, what else has been agreed on?

And now IDF just shot down a Syrian plane in Golan Heights.

Please tell me you're joking...


ETA: Nope, it's real... MiG-21. Patriot missile kill.

Damn thing was probably lost... Or doing an ELINT probe. How'd that work out for ya?

I'm guessing, before this even started, when Iran was asked by the O Admin to join the coalition, that it had some choice words and gave some stern warnings about going after Assad. They may have threatened to walk away from the Nuclear talks if the US launched attacks on Syrian regime targets.

Just a guess, but I wouldn't doubt it.

Oh shit! Off to google to see if this is legit.

Eta: Israel is claiming it is legit.

http://af.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idAFKCN0HI0FJ20140923

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-29321236

Several places are saying MiG-21, but no confirmation. Could just be a drone. The Syrians have been probing the Golan with drones for a while.

Don't worry, this can't possibly escalate any further, it's only been, what, 4 hours?

I'm going with lost.  I cannot believe anyone would be stupid enough to probe Israel NOW... then again, nothing in that part of the world should surprise me.

It does add another rather unstable element to an excessively volatile situation.

I'll just go with stupid for now.

 

I have a sinking feeling that this might lead to lone wolf attacks on our soil that let the .gov label people like you and I as terrorists.

/tinfoil

Syria does.

Also I guess this means Russia gets to start kicking the dog shit out of Ukraine now?

Because war makes people money at the expense of the soldiers and the taxpayers.

 

Some decent shit, too.

Syria Claims US Informed its UN Envoy in Advance of Airstrikes

CNSNews.com) – Syrian state media reported early Tuesday that the United States informed the regime’s ambassador to the United Nations of plans to launch attacks overnight against Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS/ISIL) targets in Syria.

“The United States informed Syria's permanent envoy to the U.N. before launching airstrikes against ISIS terrorist organization in Raqqa,” the official SANA news agency quoted the foreign ministry as saying, without elaboration.

There was no immediate further government reaction to the decision to carry out the airstrikes on its territory, but if confirmed the claim that the ambassador, Bashar Ja’afari, had advance knowledge suggests at least a tacit understanding between the Obama administration and a regime whose legitimacy it does not recognize.

“We are not going to telegraph our plans [to strike ISIS inside Syria] in advance,” State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf said last week.

Ja’afari took part in a U.N. Security Council meeting chaired by Secretary of State John Kerry on Friday. On Sunday, Kerry met one-on-one with his Iranian counterpart, Mohammad Javad Zarif, in New York. Iran is the Assad regime's closest ally.

Since President Obama 12 days ago announced his intention to widen the anti-ISIS campaign to include the group’s fighters in Syria, administration officials have stated repeatedly that the U.S. will not coordinate any action with the regime, while also warning Syria not to interfere, pointing out that its air defense and command-and-control facilities would be at risk if it did.

Damascus has insisted that the U.S. and other outside powers respect its sovereignty and not carry out attacks on its soil without its permission.

At the same time, however, military action against ISIS can only benefit the regime: ISIS is considered among the most effective of the myriad groups – ranging from Islamist extremists to secular nationalists – fighting to topple President Bashar Assad.

“The president has been clear and the secretary has been clear we are not coordinating with the Syrian regime and will not coordinate with the regime,” Harf told a State Department daily briefing last Tuesday.

“That means we will not hesitate to take action against ISIL in Syria as well as in Iraq. We are not going to telegraph our plans in advance, and again, as we said on numerous occasions, we won’t ask their permission.”

Obama first called for Assad to step down more than three years ago, in August 2011. Two years later, after more than 1,400 people were killed in a chemical weapons attack blamed on the regime, he threatened punitive airstrikes, but after failing to win congressional support backed away, in favor of an agreement to rid Syria of its declared chemical weapons stockpile.


http://cnsnews.com/news/article/patrick-goodenough/syria-claims-us-informed-its-un-envoy-advance-airstrikes-0

more at link

lol wat?


You mean not helping him the same way we didn't help the mujahideen get Stingers? That kind of not helping?

Absolutely. Shit I wouldn't want to ever fly against.

"Outdated maps......again"

It's often wrong in war...but they have ATG capability and in a non permissive environment, you wouldn't really want to send in 15s or 16s on an initial strike package. Makes sense during SEAD/initial strikes.

GOOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

They beheaded two Americans..........wipe them out.

They can also get the fuck out of dodge in a hurry when needed. Both hard to see and fast enough to sidestep threats.

Not striking in Syria would be akin to going after the Taliban but not striking in Pakistan. It would go from "likely degrading" to "hopelessly flawed".

ISIS really is our business..



 

BEIRUT (Reuters) - Tens of Islamic State fighters were killed or wounded in air strikes on the Syrian city of Raqqa and surrounding areas, a group that tracks the war said on Tuesday.
http://news.yahoo.com/air-strikes-syria-kill-wound-tens-islamic-state-052217144.html

ISIL captured some MiG-21s at Raqqa, didn't they?  I wonder if the Israelis just shot down the first one they got in the air.

Operated correctly, they'd be nearly impervious in that environment...the type of capability you'd want early on. Think F-117 in the first Gulf War.

Tens!!

...and some goats.

The Israeli Air Force has a story confirming the Mig shootdown over their airspace. It popped up on my facebook page with inks to major sources.

The question has to be why was the aircraft in Israeli airspace, and who was flying it ? Syrian or Russian?

If probing / intelligence, I can't see the Russians letting a Syrian fly that mission, but if lost that's different.

Why am I not surprised that the crowd is whipped into a frenzy when the President already announced he would strike ISIL in and out of Syria.

I for one don't believe politicians much until they do what they say they are going to do.

I mean look at the initial reason they gave for Benghazi for example.

It was a TOTAL fucking lie..........something politicians are EXPERT at.