Expanding the empire one middle eastern country at a time.

Quote :

"US warns Syria that 'our patience is running out' UPDATE 09.12.2005, 02:48 PM (Updates with quotes, detail) WASHINGTON (AFX) - The US ambassador to Iraq, Zalmay Khalilzad, fired a strong warning to Syria on Monday, as Washington accused the Damascus government of giving help to radical groups in Iraq. 'Our patience is running out with Syria,' Khalilzad told a press conference. When asked how the US could respond, he said 'all options are on the table', including military. 'I would not like to elaborate more, they should understand what I mean,' he added. The US believes that Iraqi Sunnis are refusing to agree a proposed constitution because of threats from Sunni extremists who have infiltrated Iraq from Syria, where they have training camps, Khalilzad said. 'Syria has to decide what price it's willing to pay in making Iraq success difficult. And time is running out for Damascus to decide on this issue,' the ambassador warned. 'It simply must close the training camps,' he said. 'It should not allow youngsters misguided by Al-Qaeda, from Saudi Arabia, from Yemen, from North Africa, to fly into Damascus international airport.' 'It shouldn't be that hard, if you see young men between the ages of 18 and 28, who are coming without a return ticket, landing in Damascus airport to control that.' The former US ambassador to Kabul also warned that Iraq could become worse that Afghanistan under the Islamic fundamentalist Taliban if extremists like Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, Al-Qaeda's frontman in Iraq, were to prevail. 'If people like Zarqawi were to dominate Iraq, it will make Afghanistan under the Taliban look like a picnic, given the resources of Iraq, the location of Iraq,' Khalilzad said. Khalilzad said he had accompanied Iraqi President Jalal Talabani to Washington. Talabani will meet President George W. Bush on Tuesday before heading to New York for a summit of world leaders at the United Nations. Khalilzad, who is the former US ambassador to Afghanistan, compared the war on terrorism to the Cold War and World War II. 'As during the Soviet era, Soviet communism was the defining of our time, now it's terrorism and extremism that's the defining challenge of our time,' he said. "

http://www.forbes.com/finance/feeds/afx/2005/09/12/afx2219227.html

Quote :

"U.S. Envoy: Syria a Terrorist Hub for Iraq By ANNE GEARAN AP Diplomatic Writer WASHINGTON The Bush administration's top diplomat in Iraq said Syria has become a hub for terrorists who want to stop democratic progress in Iraq and that U.S. "patience is running out," but he refused to specify what consequences Damascus might face."

http://www.theledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050912/API/509120776

9/12/2005 4:11:55 PM

Syria needs to get it more than Iraq did, but it would be much harder, methinks. I long for a world where we could just look at Israel and say, "Kill!" and they'd take care of it. Actually, I guess I long for a world where Syria isn't run by a bunch of psychopathic anti-Semitic anti-Americans who love terrorism, but I'm the kind of guy who compromises my dreams.

9/12/2005 4:14:18 PM

MAKE YOUR TIME.

9/12/2005 4:15:41 PM

I look for a world where we don't need oil from the Middle East and we can tell them all to go fuck themselves. Let China have to be concerned about it.

[Edited on September 12, 2005 at 4:20 PM. Reason : ,]

9/12/2005 4:20:33 PM

DEAR GOD THERE'S SOMETHING I HAVE IN COMMON WITH PRYDERI

9/12/2005 4:22:57 PM

^he's got a point

9/12/2005 4:23:12 PM

No, dude, I'm totally with you. Other people's misery is so not fun, and we should totally never have to pay attention to it. Out of sight, out of mind, right?

9/12/2005 4:26:34 PM

Obviously you dont see the gravity of these situations in the middle east. These radical islamic extremists make me SICK.

9/12/2005 4:28:33 PM

THE BIG GIRL!

9/12/2005 4:38:27 PM

If we don't have to worry about the oil, there is no gravity in the Middle East.

9/12/2005 7:45:10 PM

Quote :

"I long for a world where we could just look at Israel and say, "Kill!" and they'd take care of it."

And you're the one who claims to care about other people's misery?

I think an Israeli invasion of Syria would increase the level of misery in that region.

9/12/2005 8:10:52 PM

Quote :

"DEAR GOD THERE'S SOMETHING I HAVE IN COMMON WITH PRYDERI"

Its surprisingly easy to agree with him when drops his overzealous partisan douchery.

9/12/2005 10:26:11 PM

Quote :

"I look for a world where we don't need oil from the Middle East and we can tell them all to go fuck themselves. Let China have to be concerned about it."

And yeah, it's either Iran or Syria. We won't do Saudi Arabia or Pakistan until we have everyone else in the region under our thumb.

Syria just recently has been in the news 'cause of that Al Afar (or whatever the name was) town where the insurgents we went after were staying. Then there were the two nearby bridges (well, 60 miles away) that we bombed because we said that insurgents were coming into Iraq (from syria) across those bridges.

I want to see us put on a cool show in the UN about how Syria has not controlled the flow of troops. You know, I want live satellite footage, spy shots, shots of the syrian military cooperating with them or something. That would be the shit, and I wonder if any of it would be true or not... But hey, then I'll know that we're invading Syria by that point.

9/12/2005 10:53:27 PM

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2005/11/08/MNGGAFKH4R1.DTL

Quote :

"U.S. severs most contacts with Syria, officials say Washington debate reported over idea of 'regime change' Farah Stockman, Thanassis Cambanis, Boston Globe Tuesday, November 8, 2005 Washington -- The United States has cut off nearly all contact with the Syrian government as the Bush administration steps up a campaign to weaken and isolate President Bashar Assad's government, according to U.S. and Syrian officials. The United States has halted high-level diplomatic meetings, limited military coordination on Syria's border with Iraq and ended dialogue with Syria's Finance Ministry on amending its banking laws to block terrorist financing. In recent months, as distrust between the two countries widened, the United States also declined a proposal from Syria to revive intelligence cooperation with Syria, according to Syria's ambassador to the United States, Imad Moustapha, and a U.S. official. The new era of hostility flows from U.S. frustration at what it considers Syria's failure to effectively control its border with Iraq and continued support for radical Palestinian groups that threaten the chances of peace in Israel. The U.S.-Syrian confrontation has sharpened just as Syria is also facing pressure from many Arab and European governments -- as well as the United States -- over Syria's suspected role in the assassination of the former prime minister of Lebanon, Rafik Hariri. On Monday, the United Nations asked to interview six top Syrian officials regarding the assassination, including Assad's brother-in-law, said a Foreign Ministry official who requested anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to journalists. Some U.S. officials say privately that there is now an active debate about whether "regime change" should be a U.S. goal. Publicly, administration officials say that they want to see a change in behavior. "

"Regime change"? Here we go again.

Oh, you you got to love it how the U.S. Government condemns Syria for "not controlling" its border when our own government does practically nothing as 3 MILLION PLUS immigrants cross our border illegally each year. On top of that, the U.S. government claims that this is the best they can do in regards to illegal immigration crossing the southern border (which is a flat out lie).


[Edited on November 8, 2005 at 1:53 PM. Reason : 2]

11/8/2005 1:52:03 PM

Quote :

"Its surprisingly easy to agree with him when drops his overzealous partisan douchery."

So when I criticize republicans and the Bush administration for a stupid energy policy, I'm an overzealous, partisan douche?

11/8/2005 2:40:44 PM

As a republican and a voter of George W, I can honestly say we're not invading anyone. We're too strapped. The Navy and Air Force could handle it but there's no way that the Marines and Army could invade another country. Not going to happen.

^ and yes.

[Edited on November 8, 2005 at 2:47 PM. Reason : .]

11/8/2005 2:46:12 PM

Perhaps this is how Bush is planning to spend that political capital he earned from that 3% mandate he received last November...

11/8/2005 3:25:12 PM

Quote :

"Oh, you you got to love it how the U.S. Government condemns Syria for "not controlling" its border when our own government does practically nothing as 3 MILLION PLUS immigrants cross our border illegally each year. On top of that, the U.S. government claims that this is the best they can do in regards to illegal immigration crossing the southern border (which is a flat out lie)."

except that an illegal mexican is a great american, whereas they're tired of foreign fighters pouring into iraq across the syrian border.

[Edited on November 8, 2005 at 3:32 PM. Reason : but no. no way in hell we're gonna invade syria.]

11/8/2005 3:30:09 PM

We're not going to invade Syria, so calm yourself down. In order to invade Syria, we need Congress to cough up money like it did before Iraq. With Iraq the way it is right now and the revolt of his own party, there is no way on God's green earth that even Congressional Republicans are going to pass this. Besides, even if Bush could somehow magically come up with the money, he doesn't have the forces to pull it off. Is he going to move a division out of Iraq and then have that entire country implode when they march off? Bush may not be the sharpest tool in the shed, but even he's not insane enough to do something like that. He is more likely to become the king of a Buddhist, tree-hugging, lesbian hippie commune out by Smith College in rural Massachusetts than invade Syria.

Besides, with the government moving to scale back forces in Iraq, it would be counterintuitive to bring them back to the United States instead of leaving them in Iraq.

MAYBE they'll drop a few bombs on Syria and fight a few skirmishes along the border, but they're not going to invade.

11/8/2005 5:37:44 PM

It's not a question or possibility.

US forces simply can't invade Syria without getting more men in uniform.

Sure, we could bomb them back to the stone age but we just don't have enough personel to occupy two nations.

11/8/2005 5:53:32 PM

The Syrian problem cannot be fixed with occupation.

Bombing back to the stone age, however, would work wonders.

11/8/2005 6:07:24 PM

wouldn't that be an improvement?

11/8/2005 6:16:32 PM

We're not going to invade shit for awhile. No $ or troops to pull it off unless there is an actual, honest to go attack on the US by Syria. Then it's draft-time.

Having said that, I'd love have America tell the Middle East to eat a dick. We've been sitting around with our thumbs up our ass for 30 years instead of doing a Manhattan-style project investigating nuclear, solar, wind, etc. That's fucking shameful.

11/8/2005 7:40:10 PM

I dunno. This might be a good way to help his sagging poll numbers with an old fashioned "rally 'round the flag" effect.

[/sarcasm]

[Edited on November 8, 2005 at 8:02 PM. Reason : on the use of...biatch]

11/8/2005 7:54:17 PM

No way. There are way too many folks that are seeing local kids getting sent over for multiple tours and older Guardsmen being sent for a year at a time. Reality is setting in, and the natives are getting restless to get the fuck out of there.

11/8/2005 7:57:15 PM

^^no way, no how. not a chance in hell.

11/8/2005 7:59:37 PM

Reality should have been considered in the first place.

11/8/2005 8:02:32 PM

^ Alright, no draft. I'm sticking with the reality of the situation starting to hit some of the fencesitters.

Case in point (n=1). I've got about 6 acquaintances and friends from high school and beyond over there now. My folks (both Bush voters, begrudgeingly) know most of these guys. They send care packages and whatnot on a regular basis. (http://www.treatsfortroops.com/) One guy gets shot but should be OK.

Flash forward to about 3 months ago. My 1st cousin gets called up and got over there last week. Now it's really personal for them. My mom's worried to death about said cousin. Now they're off the fence about the war and talking to their buddies about it. Most of the buddies (all retirees) are tired of it as well.

Ancedotal, but I doubt they're the only ones in this situation.

11/8/2005 8:20:30 PM