Frankie Boyle summed it up well for me. The British government will continue to care about the welfare of the Syrian people right until they turn up on a beach.
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14-04-2018 11:05 PM #211This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show QuoteThis quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show QuoteThis quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote
Syria gave the USSR and now Russia access to warm-water ports allowing them deploy in the Mediterranean and beyond. Russia also tends to demonstrate, to an extent, a commitment and loyalty to its partners that the US and UK probably don't. That's not a criticism or a compliment - US/UK foreign policy has been ruthlessly pragmatic for decades if not centuries. The Russians don't lack pragmatism but there is somewhat of a degree of loyalty in their psyche that perhaps informs their approach (I accept there's a generalisation there but I think it's rooted in truth).
And for better or worse, they chose to engage with Syria and that's their 'in' to the Middle East, which they undoubtedly feel they need as balance against US influence in Israel, Saudi and the Gulf states. There's another facet which has to be considered - rightly or wrongly, there is a narrative for a lot of Russians (which Putin undoubtedly knows to exploit) which is a fear of encirclement. The gradual drift of Eastern European nations into NATO, US military intervention in near Asia and its building relationships with former-USSR Central Asian states only feeds into that.
As for Iran, the prospect of the Syrian government falling and the country becoming another Sunni regime must be terrifying. I don't think enough credence is given to the sectarian differences that exist between the Sunni and Shia branches of Islam, but in Tehran the prospect of losing Syria would feel like an existential threat. Critically, maintaining an Iran-friendly Shia regime in Damascus gives Iran a geographical route to the Lebanese coast and provides a vital defensive balance, from their point of view, against Israel - the land corridor allows Iran to equip and resource Hezbollah and the Syrian militias far more easily and undoubtedly acts as a check and balance. Having said that I understand a recent Israeli air strike in Syria killed a number of Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps soldiers who were acting as 'advisors'.
I read (or maybe heard on the radio) an interesting analysis recently, which likened the situation to the febrile state Europe was in, just prior to the outbreak of the First World War. Extreme tensions between different groups (we've not even started on the US-backed Kurdish militias which are anathema to Turkey), acting as proxies for middling powers and superpowers in a very fluid and dynamic environment. There's a fire already and it could easily become a conflagration.There's only one thing better than a Hibs calendar and that's two Hibs calendars
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15-04-2018 12:46 AM #212
GIRLS DONT LIKE BOYS GIRLS LIKE SIMON MURRAY
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15-04-2018 06:13 AM #213This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote
Many countries now use Syria for their own agendas.In the last 7 years alone the following countries have bombed it: Syria has bombed itself (Assad regime) the United States, uK, France, Russia, Iran, Turkey, Israel, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Bahrain, and the UAE.
The only people who are hurt and disadvantaged by this are the civilians......we are not helping this country by further bombs...Assad is well on his way to winning their civil war...we are further smashing it. Since the failed CIA attempt to support the unseating of Assad, we in the west have had no strategy to intervene....these latest bombs are seen as heroic acts, when in fact they are just further bombing Syria with no impact on the humanitarian crisis..which should be our main focus.
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15-04-2018 06:36 AM #214
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15-04-2018 08:08 AM #215This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote
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15-04-2018 10:17 AM #216This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote
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15-04-2018 10:21 AM #217
I suppose we have to do whatever the yanks do, since they'll be our only friends after Brexit.
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15-04-2018 12:42 PM #218
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15-04-2018 03:53 PM #219This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote
Honestly wasn’t inventing “Fake News”.
J
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15-04-2018 03:54 PM #220This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote
Are there local elections in May or something?
J
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15-04-2018 05:05 PM #221
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Tory HQ must be lovin’ their work as they cunningly distract the seething populous from the horror of Brexit just in time for the local elections.
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15-04-2018 05:15 PM #222This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote
For some reason, this one warranted a cruise missile reaction.
I was just suggesting that it was convienient that there are local elections next month.
Being strong against tyrants polls well. Especially with total media backing.
J
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15-04-2018 05:43 PM #223This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote
https://www.theguardian.com/commenti...for-parliament
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15-04-2018 06:16 PM #224This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote
Yes there are a few lone dissenters, but the massive majority of the media was all out for this attack.
No?
J
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15-04-2018 07:07 PM #225This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote
I can’t be arsed checking the tabloids but presumably The Mirror and The Morning Star won’t be ‘all out’ but the rest may be.
It might be an overall majority but it’s hardly ‘total’ and it doesn’t seem like a ‘massive majority’.
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15-04-2018 07:10 PM #226This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote
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15-04-2018 07:21 PM #227This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote
If you feel that BBC and Sky News are breaking impartiality rules, you should complain to Ofcom. Do something about what you perceive as bias.
https://www.ofcom.org.uk/complain-to-ofcom
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15-04-2018 08:03 PM #229This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote
er yes...I've been active in this thread...
and on your second point - er no...I've got a life...and if you genuinely feel BBC and other media outlets are not controlled editorially ..may I suggest you extend your media sources...
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15-04-2018 08:58 PM #230
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Somebody is telling porkies...
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15-04-2018 09:26 PM #231This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote
I got burnt back in 2001 when we went to war in Iraq. I believed whole heartedly what I was told. As a 20 year old I was well up for it.
One of the most destabilising and terrible decisions of this century. You can’t blame me for a wee bit of scepticism?
Anyway, not sure where you are going with this one?
J
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16-04-2018 05:39 AM #232This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote
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16-04-2018 09:34 AM #233This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote
But you knew what I meant I’m sure.
Like I said, I/we have been mislead in the past. Scepticism and fact checking should be part of everyone’s thought process.
J
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16-04-2018 11:49 AM #234
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Have to say I found this thread more entertaining when we were being lectured about Satan-worshippers rather than defending the Tories and the BBC
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16-04-2018 12:05 PM #235
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16-04-2018 02:46 PM #236This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote
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16-04-2018 03:11 PM #237
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But if you are asking if i believe an open, transparent, democratic govt of a country with an activist press and a meaningful political opposition, over an authoritarian dictator who has grown up in, and recreated a system that exists on state lies and manipulation, has little meaningful free press, and who persecutes / assasinates journalists, dissidents and opposition parties, then it seems quite an easy question to answer, no?
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16-04-2018 03:52 PM #238This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote
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16-04-2018 04:02 PM #239
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16-04-2018 04:29 PM #240
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