Lewdog
Gold Member
Russia's interest in Syria is keeping its bases on the Mediterranean and so far the only way it can do that is to support Assad, but this conflict is expensive for the suffering Russian economy and Russia is starting to take casualties, so if Russia had a chance to secure its interests with paying so much in blood and treasure, it is reasonable to think it would take it, but Obama has offered nothing but political slogans calculated to play well in the US but without relevance to ending the conflict in Syria.No, I think Assad should go, but the only way to accomplish this is to reach an agreement with Russia in which the US would support Russia keeping its bases after Assad is gone in exchange for Russia dropping its support for him and working with the US to stabilize Syria.Not at all. After the duplicity of the Clinton administration in breaking Bush41's promise to Gorbachev not to allow any former Soviet satellites states join NATO, an organization created specifically to fight Russia, Russia has good reason to be wary of any western inroads near its border, just as the US would be wary of any Russia inroads on its borders. The only way to end the fighting in Syria and eastern Europe is for the US and Russia to reach agreements to respect each other's legitimate security interests, something no administration since Bush41 has been willing to do.Except the Ukraine.
So you're saying we should let a man that uses chemical weapons in his own people stay in power just to appease Russia? And why should the newly sovereign former satellite countries of the USSR NOT be allowed to join NATO? They are sovereign it should be their decision.
These states would not have been liberated without Bush41's promise to Gorbachev that they wouldn't be allowed to join NATO, so that is the first reason they shouldn't have been allowed to join. Second, few NATO nations would vote to go to war with Russia over a conflict with one of these states. The most important reason is, however, that this duplicitous act by the Clinton administration began the deterioration of relations between the US and Russia in the post USSR era and the US' continuing refusal to acknowledge Russia's legitimate security concerns over this issue is the reason for the fighting in eastern Europe today.
The question is, should the US continue Obama's failed policy of making confrontational gestures toward Russia that have no effect on Russian policy, as you seem to advocate, or agree to negotiations with Russia in which the US will acknowledge Russia's legitimate security concerns about US and western European presence in its border states in return for a change in Russian policy?
Look, you are only look at this from one side, the Russian side, which I think is a bit odd. How is it the right of the United States to negotiate a deal about the ability for a sovereign nation to make it's own decisions? I'm still trying to comprehend how you can even come up with that.
Russia has steadfastly fought against forcing Assad to leave. At one point they said that it would be possible, but only after the country was made stable and then fair elections were done where Assad could still run for President. Well, when do you foresee Syria being stable in the near future when Russia is attacking not only ISIS by the Syrian rebels?
Lastly, Russia made threats against Norway recently with nuclear war over the fact they allowed 330 U.S. Marines to come there and train. Do you think you are dealing with a rational nation when they do something like that?
Russia has every reason to distrust the US and especially the Obama administration and that means they have to wonder why Obama sent Marines to train in Norway. The same conditions could have been found in Alaska so why Norway? Was this intended as a provocation or was it just another example of Obama cluelessness?
People cross train military ALL the time in other countries. Threatening Norway over nuclear war over 330 Marines? That's a fucking joke. We aren't talking about a missile defense system or a nuclear missile silo.
Russia hasn't spent as much money in Syria as you think. Did you know that most of the bombs they have been dropping are the cheap old dummy bombs? That's why they have done so much civilian casualties.