This thread was touching until people started acting like their ahole selves again.
You stay classy, PhotoRon.
Screw you.
I pointed out this wasn't a single person responsible situation.
_____________________________________________________________________
You pointed out your cold, callous, heartless disregard for human life.
No he didn't. He pointed out your error that no person did this. You read quite a bit into the statement that the boy drowned and was not murdered. Fact. There is nothing cold about it.
Also Breezy was wrong. They never filed for refugee status in Canada. They do have family here but the boy's father needed dental work. The family here could not afford it so they suggested going to Europe as a refugee as he would get free dental work. There was an incomplete refugee file for the boy's Uncle. They were fleeing but they were also trying to play the refugee system. His goal of free dental work cost him his family. Shame on the world? How about shame on the father and all the nuts causing the conflict.
Shame on Saudi and Kuwait for not accepting a single refugee or financial aid. Their belief is that in situations such as Syria, it is Allah's will that these people die. Their Muslim "Brothers" left to perish. Funny how it was different when Saddam was attacking them. They didn't see it as Allah's will then. And they sure loved the US saving their ass and altering Allah's will that time. Funny how that works.
The fact that the boy's Mother died is barely mentioned is sad. I guess even Western media believes that this Muslim woman doesn't deserve respect.
The image of that child is sad. But no worse than many African children killed daily in African countries with no oil. It has been going on for decades and the world has done nothing. But if a nut like Saddam threatens billionaires, we all jump to war. Again funny how that works.
Shame on the world? I don't think so. You can't move all of them to other countries and if you do then why not people from all sorts of countries suffering around the world? You can't fix their country as both sides are terrorists. And the war would kill even more children and that blood would be on our hands. Not to mention the loss of our troops, in what would be another failed attempt to "fix" the world.
It is all very sad and that poor boy is gone but you can hardly hold the world accountable.
_________________________________________________________________________
“He pointed out your error that no person did this”
I never said “that a person did this”
I clearly stated that this is a collective World failure.The human condition is all of our responsibility.
In your diatribe you make all kinds of excuses. No where do you explain the why or what to do about this horrible situation.
You are part of the problem that caused this atrocious condition.
I am part of the problem? That is absolutely comical. I imagine the fact that I have never been near Syria in my life has no bearing on my blame. I also did not make a single excuse so please enlighten me.
The boys father wanted dental work. No excuse.
No refugee claim made in Canada. No excuse.
Saudi, Kuwait and other Muslim nations do nothing. Again no excuse.
African children killed daily but sadly no cover on newspapers. Do you care about those kids too? No excuse.
Would really love to understand the logic that finds any excuse at all in my post. But then you also came to the conclusion that I am at fault so you are fairly warped. Of course you also wrote that Churches and charitable organizations are full of illegal aliens so clearly you just stopped taking your meds at some point or were dropped on your head as a child.
Shame on the world? I bet you have a homeless, starving person within a short drive, try starting there before attempting to fix the world.
You want to take the blame then feel free. But even you didn't cause this nor can you fix it.
You want solutions?
Stop trying to control every country on the planet. You wouldn't accept any nation telling you how to live so why think they should change for you. The USA would not exist without someone rising up against the ruling power. The people that built your nation would be considered terrorists today.
Stop backing terrorist nuts who later return to bite your asses and then you need to eliminate them.
Stop selling all these damn countries weapons.
Nuke the entire Middle East as you will eventually go there and kill them anyway.
Start by taking care of your neighbors and fix your own country.
This thread was touching until people started acting like their ahole selves again.
You stay classy, PhotoRon.
Screw you.
I pointed out this wasn't a single person responsible situation.
_____________________________________________________________________
You pointed out your cold, callous, heartless disregard for human life.
No he didn't. He pointed out your error that no person did this. You read quite a bit into the statement that the boy drowned and was not murdered. Fact. There is nothing cold about it.
Also Breezy was wrong. They never filed for refugee status in Canada. They do have family here but the boy's father needed dental work. The family here could not afford it so they suggested going to Europe as a refugee as he would get free dental work. There was an incomplete refugee file for the boy's Uncle. They were fleeing but they were also trying to play the refugee system. His goal of free dental work cost him his family. Shame on the world? How about shame on the father and all the nuts causing the conflict.
Shame on Saudi and Kuwait for not accepting a single refugee or financial aid. Their belief is that in situations such as Syria, it is Allah's will that these people die. Their Muslim "Brothers" left to perish. Funny how it was different when Saddam was attacking them. They didn't see it as Allah's will then. And they sure loved the US saving their ass and altering Allah's will that time. Funny how that works.
The fact that the boy's Mother died is barely mentioned is sad. I guess even Western media believes that this Muslim woman doesn't deserve respect.
The image of that child is sad. But no worse than many African children killed daily in African countries with no oil. It has been going on for decades and the world has done nothing. But if a nut like Saddam threatens billionaires, we all jump to war. Again funny how that works.
Shame on the world? I don't think so. You can't move all of them to other countries and if you do then why not people from all sorts of countries suffering around the world? You can't fix their country as both sides are terrorists. And the war would kill even more children and that blood would be on our hands. Not to mention the loss of our troops, in what would be another failed attempt to "fix" the world.
It is all very sad and that poor boy is gone but you can hardly hold the world accountable.
_________________________________________________________________________
“He pointed out your error that no person did this”
I never said “that a person did this”
I clearly stated that this is a collective World failure.The human condition is all of our responsibility.
In your diatribe you make all kinds of excuses. No where do you explain the why or what to do about this horrible situation.
You are part of the problem that caused this atrocious condition.
I am part of the problem? That is absolutely comical. I imagine the fact that I have never been near Syria in my life has no bearing on my blame. I also did not make a single excuse so please enlighten me.
The boys father wanted dental work. No excuse.
No refugee claim made in Canada. No excuse.
Saudi, Kuwait and other Muslim nations do nothing. Again no excuse.
African children killed daily but sadly no cover on newspapers. Do you care about those kids too? No excuse.
Would really love to understand the logic that finds any excuse at all in my post. But then you also came to the conclusion that I am at fault so you are fairly warped. Of course you also wrote that Churches and charitable organizations are full of illegal aliens so clearly you just stopped taking your meds at some point or were dropped on your head as a child.
Shame on the world? I bet you have a homeless, starving person within a short drive, try starting there before attempting to fix the world.
You want to take the blame then feel free. But even you didn't cause this nor can you fix it.
You want solutions?
Stop trying to control every country on the planet. You wouldn't accept any nation telling you how to live so why think they should change for you. The USA would not exist without someone rising up against the ruling power. The people that built your nation would be considered terrorists today.
Stop backing terrorist nuts who later return to bite your asses and then you need to eliminate them.
Stop selling all these damn countries weapons.
Nuke the entire Middle East as you will eventually go there and kill them anyway.
Start by taking care of your neighbors and fix your own country.
_____________________________________________________________________
"your own country"?
It is your country's economy that is circling the drain.
After WWII there were approx. 15 million war refugees in Europe. Within 10 years they had assimilated. What helped was the fact that the war was over.
Now the number of refugees flowing into Europe is a small fraction of that number but the cause of them having to flee is still happening and there is nothing on the horizon that suggest it will stop any time soon.
It would seem what the World needs now is leadership.
Anyone know where we can find leadership?
This thread was touching until people started acting like their ahole selves again.
You stay classy, PhotoRon.
Screw you.
I pointed out this wasn't a single person responsible situation.
_____________________________________________________________________
You pointed out your cold, callous, heartless disregard for human life.
No he didn't. He pointed out your error that no person did this. You read quite a bit into the statement that the boy drowned and was not murdered. Fact. There is nothing cold about it.
Also Breezy was wrong. They never filed for refugee status in Canada. They do have family here but the boy's father needed dental work. The family here could not afford it so they suggested going to Europe as a refugee as he would get free dental work. There was an incomplete refugee file for the boy's Uncle. They were fleeing but they were also trying to play the refugee system. His goal of free dental work cost him his family. Shame on the world? How about shame on the father and all the nuts causing the conflict.
Shame on Saudi and Kuwait for not accepting a single refugee or financial aid. Their belief is that in situations such as Syria, it is Allah's will that these people die. Their Muslim "Brothers" left to perish. Funny how it was different when Saddam was attacking them. They didn't see it as Allah's will then. And they sure loved the US saving their ass and altering Allah's will that time. Funny how that works.
The fact that the boy's Mother died is barely mentioned is sad. I guess even Western media believes that this Muslim woman doesn't deserve respect.
The image of that child is sad. But no worse than many African children killed daily in African countries with no oil. It has been going on for decades and the world has done nothing. But if a nut like Saddam threatens billionaires, we all jump to war. Again funny how that works.
Shame on the world? I don't think so. You can't move all of them to other countries and if you do then why not people from all sorts of countries suffering around the world? You can't fix their country as both sides are terrorists. And the war would kill even more children and that blood would be on our hands. Not to mention the loss of our troops, in what would be another failed attempt to "fix" the world.
It is all very sad and that poor boy is gone but you can hardly hold the world accountable.
_________________________________________________________________________
“He pointed out your error that no person did this”
I never said “that a person did this”
I clearly stated that this is a collective World failure.The human condition is all of our responsibility.
In your diatribe you make all kinds of excuses. No where do you explain the why or what to do about this horrible situation.
You are part of the problem that caused this atrocious condition.
I am part of the problem? That is absolutely comical. I imagine the fact that I have never been near Syria in my life has no bearing on my blame. I also did not make a single excuse so please enlighten me.
The boys father wanted dental work. No excuse.
No refugee claim made in Canada. No excuse.
Saudi, Kuwait and other Muslim nations do nothing. Again no excuse.
African children killed daily but sadly no cover on newspapers. Do you care about those kids too? No excuse.
Would really love to understand the logic that finds any excuse at all in my post. But then you also came to the conclusion that I am at fault so you are fairly warped. Of course you also wrote that Churches and charitable organizations are full of illegal aliens so clearly you just stopped taking your meds at some point or were dropped on your head as a child.
Shame on the world? I bet you have a homeless, starving person within a short drive, try starting there before attempting to fix the world.
You want to take the blame then feel free. But even you didn't cause this nor can you fix it.
You want solutions?
Stop trying to control every country on the planet. You wouldn't accept any nation telling you how to live so why think they should change for you. The USA would not exist without someone rising up against the ruling power. The people that built your nation would be considered terrorists today.
Stop backing terrorist nuts who later return to bite your asses and then you need to eliminate them.
Stop selling all these damn countries weapons.
Nuke the entire Middle East as you will eventually go there and kill them anyway.
Start by taking care of your neighbors and fix your own country.
_____________________________________________________________________
"your own country"?
It is your country's economy that is circling the drain.
And yours is doing just fine, as long as China pays your bills. You are funny without meaning to be.
I knew you would disregard all points made. Where are my excuses?
You try and come across as some humanitarian and disregard the homeless guy down the road. Again maybe you should focus on your own part of the globe and actually accomplish something. Or you can sit around and blame me. Knew you wouldn't explain that either.
This thread was touching until people started acting like their ahole selves again.
You stay classy, PhotoRon.
Screw you.
I pointed out this wasn't a single person responsible situation.
_____________________________________________________________________
You pointed out your cold, callous, heartless disregard for human life.
No he didn't. He pointed out your error that no person did this. You read quite a bit into the statement that the boy drowned and was not murdered. Fact. There is nothing cold about it.
Also Breezy was wrong. They never filed for refugee status in Canada. They do have family here but the boy's father needed dental work. The family here could not afford it so they suggested going to Europe as a refugee as he would get free dental work. There was an incomplete refugee file for the boy's Uncle. They were fleeing but they were also trying to play the refugee system. His goal of free dental work cost him his family. Shame on the world? How about shame on the father and all the nuts causing the conflict.
Shame on Saudi and Kuwait for not accepting a single refugee or financial aid. Their belief is that in situations such as Syria, it is Allah's will that these people die. Their Muslim "Brothers" left to perish. Funny how it was different when Saddam was attacking them. They didn't see it as Allah's will then. And they sure loved the US saving their ass and altering Allah's will that time. Funny how that works.
The fact that the boy's Mother died is barely mentioned is sad. I guess even Western media believes that this Muslim woman doesn't deserve respect.
The image of that child is sad. But no worse than many African children killed daily in African countries with no oil. It has been going on for decades and the world has done nothing. But if a nut like Saddam threatens billionaires, we all jump to war. Again funny how that works.
Shame on the world? I don't think so. You can't move all of them to other countries and if you do then why not people from all sorts of countries suffering around the world? You can't fix their country as both sides are terrorists. And the war would kill even more children and that blood would be on our hands. Not to mention the loss of our troops, in what would be another failed attempt to "fix" the world.
It is all very sad and that poor boy is gone but you can hardly hold the world accountable.
_________________________________________________________________________
“He pointed out your error that no person did this”
I never said “that a person did this”
I clearly stated that this is a collective World failure.The human condition is all of our responsibility.
In your diatribe you make all kinds of excuses. No where do you explain the why or what to do about this horrible situation.
You are part of the problem that caused this atrocious condition.
I am part of the problem? That is absolutely comical. I imagine the fact that I have never been near Syria in my life has no bearing on my blame. I also did not make a single excuse so please enlighten me.
The boys father wanted dental work. No excuse.
No refugee claim made in Canada. No excuse.
Saudi, Kuwait and other Muslim nations do nothing. Again no excuse.
African children killed daily but sadly no cover on newspapers. Do you care about those kids too? No excuse.
Would really love to understand the logic that finds any excuse at all in my post. But then you also came to the conclusion that I am at fault so you are fairly warped. Of course you also wrote that Churches and charitable organizations are full of illegal aliens so clearly you just stopped taking your meds at some point or were dropped on your head as a child.
Shame on the world? I bet you have a homeless, starving person within a short drive, try starting there before attempting to fix the world.
You want to take the blame then feel free. But even you didn't cause this nor can you fix it.
You want solutions?
Stop trying to control every country on the planet. You wouldn't accept any nation telling you how to live so why think they should change for you. The USA would not exist without someone rising up against the ruling power. The people that built your nation would be considered terrorists today.
Stop backing terrorist nuts who later return to bite your asses and then you need to eliminate them.
Stop selling all these damn countries weapons.
Nuke the entire Middle East as you will eventually go there and kill them anyway.
Start by taking care of your neighbors and fix your own country.
_____________________________________________________________________
"your own country"?
It is your country's economy that is circling the drain.
And yours is doing just fine, as long as China pays your bills. You are funny without meaning to be.
I knew you would disregard all points made. Where are my excuses?
You try and come across as some humanitarian and disregard the homeless guy down the road. Again maybe you should focus on your own part of the globe and actually accomplish something. Or you can sit around and blame me. Knew you wouldn't explain that either.
______________________________________________________________
Apparently you can't read.
I have blamed no one.
I said that the whole World is responsible for this tragedy.
You seem to have the same affliction as many around here. You only see the words you want to see.
You lack of compassion for the refugees is pathetic but typical of you type.
Actually you blamed me but I can understand you not remembering the stupidity that you write or trying to distance yourself from it. Sorry if I disappoint you by being able to read the words that you write whether or not they are what I want to see.
You insult people endlessly but never have any actual facts or points. Just more of the same US political crap.
Lack of compassion for the refugees? Exactly where did I write anything like that? You still have failed to point out a single excuse that I made nor shown how any of this could be my fault. The reason that you have not done that is because you can't.
The world is not to blame for situations beyond their control. The blame is on the radicals causing this and the countries supplying weapons to these nuts. Find a mirror assh*le.
[Edited on 9/7/2015 by CanadianMule]
Actually you blamed me but I can understand you not remembering the stupidity that you write or trying to distance yourself from it. Sorry if I disappoint you by being able to read the words that you write whether or not they are what I want to see.
You insult people endlessly but never have any actual facts or points. Just more of the same US political crap.
Lack of compassion for the refugees? Exactly where did I write anything like that? You still have failed to point out a single excuse that I made nor shown how any of this could be my fault. The reason that you have not done that is because you can't.
The world is not to blame for situations beyond their control. The blame is on the radicals causing this and the countries supplying weapons to these nuts. Find a mirror assh*le.
[Edited on 9/7/2015 by CanadianMule]
_________________________________________________________________________
I insult people?
When fired upon I return fire. If you can’t handle that son cry and run back home.
Political crap?
Others brought the political crap to this thread, not me.
No facts?
The fact that you are too lazy or too stupid to do research is your problem son.
Lack of compassion for the refugees?
You posted excuses and your other thread irrelevant crap. Poor taste and a lack of empathy.
The world is not to blame for situations beyond their control?
Stupidest line yet. Your poor understanding of reality and responsibility is common amongst the few.
BTW – The U.S. has already taken in 1,800 Syrian refugees. How many has Canada accepted?
What are you doing to help?
All you do here is insult and fight. And you are not intelligent enough to make me upset or run. You never have any actual content to your posts which is why you never win a single round against anyone here. But I don't think that reality will ever dawn on you.
Political crap is all you spew but again with no real content. Your facts are claiming that I am lazy and stupid. Wow that research must have kept to up all night. Again no substance from you at all. I do my research which is why I know the boy died because his Dad wanted new teeth and is to blame. Also that the family had no refugee claim with any country. Maybe you should attempt researching any topic before posting here but then again you think writing with no facts or substance somehow makes you intelligent. Once again, where are my excuses?
The world is to blame? And you think that is reality? Common amongst the few? You just stated that the world is to blame and now claim that I am one of the few. So which one is it moron? See why you should refrain from trying to show any level of intelligence. You can't make it through a sentence without showing your lack of intelligence or debating skills.
1800 for the whole USA? One church here is taking in 400. Again try researching anything. Canada is always a world leader in humanity issues and peace keeping. The fact that you don't know that shows that you really don't know much. Canada may be guilty of many things but compassion and human rights issues are not among them.
Myself I have made a donation to the cause, volunteer at a church which is sponsoring some refugees, am a Big Brother, volunteer with a Drug treatment center, work/volunteer with seniors and have two foster children. And you? Posted a picture and let the guy down the street starve. You must be proud.
Is Muleman the lovechild of Gina and Dean? Dina!
Canada, your rationality is laudable, but arguing with Muletroll is pointless. Even agreeing with him or trying to lighten the conversation with humor is useless! Your points are valid, and I am sure your opinion of the USA's behavior is representative of world opinion.
Dina's M.O. appears to be to be to pretend concern and compassion for persecuted people, to draw folks in and then start arguments. He doesn't care a d*mn about anyone or anything except spewing his ego and hostility. Sociopath.
He fakes empathy for Syria's troubles to start a pissing match over US foreign policy. Fakes support for blacks to take shots at liberals. And enjoys getting folks steamed up, and then tries to mindf*ck them. Very creepy.
Every word he pukes up is nothing but a way to try and dominate others. I have never once seen him compromise or admit that he is anything other than the last word and total authority.
Paranoid schizo troll.
Not smart enough to dominate a rock. Impossible to debate with a guy who never has any facts or logic involved. Also believes that the entire globe lives and dies by what the US thinks and that your policies/political leaders are the be all end all.
I have no problem with the people of the USA and never will. Some of the friendliest and kindest people that I have met and call friends. Some of your world wide policies - not so much and it has never mattered which party was ruling. But the people are amazing which is why it saddens me to see politics divide you guys. Didn't used to be that intense but CNN, FOX, MSNBC and others with their need to fill 24 hours of programming just sensationalize everything and suck some in. But you are the best neighbors in the world and I wouldn't want it any other way.
The US and Canada have always helped in aid situations and always will which is why I scoff at blame being directed at either country. I have a friend who works with disasters and spent months in Nepal since their earthquakes. Horrifying stories. He would be the first to tell you how awesome the US is in these situations and how your military gets the food, water, and supplies needed right away and bypasses all political bullshit in countries to ensure those supplies get where needed.
Blame the US people for all that Middle East crap? I don't think so.
Sorry to say but it is becoming painfully apparent that the vox populi in the USA has very little bearing on the military-industrial Hydra that is bent on bonding with China and turning the Earth into a deathstar. It hasn't been our country for quite some time.
The only difference between deano and muledouche is that muledouche hasn't posted any gay porn pics from his collection.
Yet.
Haha! Did Deano really do that? Good lord.
Gina isn't mean-spirited and doesn't attack people though, she just posts her stuff but isn't trying to bait people and start scraps. She's not a troll like those guys.
[Edited on 9/8/2015 by BrerRabbit]
Haha! Did Deano really do that? Good lord.
Gina isn't mean-spirited and doesn't attack people though, she just posts her stuff but isn't trying to bait people and start scraps. She's not a troll like those guys.
[Edited on 9/8/2015 by BrerRabbit]
One time he posted some bot that filled all the threads with endless pics of a vagina sculpture.
Gina's just a couple sammiches shy of a pic-a-nic.
just a couple sammiches shy of a pic-a-nic.
Aren't we all, though?
yes. 😛
With pressure from some Democrats, the Obama administration is now “weighing its options” to allow up to 65,000 middle-eastern Islamic refugees to enter the U.S.
Neither has said how they would pay for that massive immigration nor how they intend to store the people.
Obama already has an immigration problem in that his executive order on immigration has been stopped by two federal courts. His administration is also facing a court order to close his three detention centers by next month and free the thousands of illegal immigrants Obama is holding in deplorable conditions.
The overnight newsfeeds and information from Europe SA/SU/MN had two distinct but clear themes: The European countries are all fighting with each other on how to deal with the massive refugee problem and that Obama is the cause of this disaster.
While the European leaders are not themselves saying so, their press secretaries and communications staffs are making it known that Europe places blame on Obama.
They are clearly pointing out the when Obama failed in his responsibility to keep Iraq secure and cut and ran from IRAQ he allowed ISIS to burst onto the scene.
They point to Obama’s “red line” regarding the Syrian’s dictator’s use of chemical weapons on his people. When Assad continued to gas hundreds of thousands of people, Obama went weak again and did nothing.
Europe is still pissed at Obama for his so-called red line on Russian’s incursion into Ukraine which, yet again when crossed, Obama failed to act.
They note that Obama is doing the least he can do to stop ISIS and that ISIS is winning against the West and thus the weighty refugee crisis.
Not surprisingly the left-wing U.S. media is not reporting Europe’s attitude toward Obama.
Just watch Obama’s mouthpieces and political operatives in the next day or so manufacture rhetoric to blame all this on The GOP.
Source? 😛
could someone please put a penny on that needle?
Source? 😛
The the source is what that outhouse was used for, and it was printed on that toilet paper.
Source? 😛
_________________________________________________________________________
Still unable to do your own research?
The referenced Washington Post article:
September 8, 2015
The Washington Post has decided to run an article from editorial page editor Fred Hiatt pinning blame for the Syrian catastrophe on President Barack Obama.
Hiatt is far too mild, fails to acknowledge that conservatives have been warning about the fallout from Obama foreign policy for years, and does not come to grips with the media’s role in protecting Obama for so long. However, it is still remarkable to see the President taken so clearly to task by a member of his adoring media.
“This may be the most surprising of President Obama’s foreign-policy legacies: not just that he presided over a humanitarian and cultural disaster of epochal proportions, but that he soothed the American people into feeling no responsibility for the tragedy,” Hiatt begins.
Hiatt observes that despite rampant ISIS vandalism of historical sites, and one of the biggest refugee crises the world has ever seen, “the ‘Save Darfur’ signs have not given way to ‘Save Syria.'” This should not be a surprise. No one on the Left was going to launch a populist crusade to “raise awareness” about the plight of Syrians, Iraqis, Kurds, Assyrian Christians, and others victimized by what Obama dismissed as the “JV team” of terrorism. The media only assigns credibility—usually disproportionate credibility — to populist crusades originating on the Left.
With those points out of the way, the rest of Hiatt’s critique is devastating. He slams Obama for trying to sell indecision and inaction as “smart power”:
He has argued, at times, that there was nothing the United States could do, belittling the Syrian opposition as “former doctors, farmers, pharmacists and so forth.”
He has argued that we would only make things worse — “I am more mindful probably than most,” he told the New Republic in 2013, “of not only our incredible strengths and capabilities, but also our limitations.”
He has implied that because we can’t solve every problem, maybe we shouldn’t solve any. “How do I weigh tens of thousands who’ve been killed in Syria versus the tens of thousands who are currently being killed in the Congo?” he asked (though at the time thousands were not being killed in Congo).
Hiatt also calls President Obama out for his habit of taking little check-the-box actions to get the public off his back, when it became impossible to tout inaction as smart policy, intriguingly including the much-ballyhooed recent plans for a safe zone on the Turkish border as an example. He also mentions how the big Obama plans for a white-hat “moderate Syrian army” trained and equipped by the U.S. turned into fifty soldiers per year, without going into the ugly details of what al-Qaeda did to the first fifty guys the President sent into the meat grinder.
Hiatt also claims that “when Obama pulled all U.S. troops out of Iraq, critics worried there would be instability; none envisioned the emergence of a full-blown terrorist state.” That is not true. Republican critics were strident in warning that Obama’s talking-point-driven Iraqi pullout would lead to disaster. They did not see ISIS coming across the border in a handful of militarized pickup trucks and knocking over Mosul, but smarter men than President Obama—notably including his ultimate presidential rival in 2012, Mitt Romney — were yelling from the rooftops that Iraq was not ready to be trusted with its own security.
Romney said in October 2011:
President Obama’s astonishing failure to secure an orderly transition in Iraq has unnecessarily put at risk the victories that were won through the blood and sacrifice of thousands of American men and women. The unavoidable question is whether this decision is the result of a naked political calculation or simply sheer ineptitude in negotiations with the Iraqi government.
Most of the GOP presidential field followed suit, while Democrats mocked them for lacking faith in the towering genius of President Obama, and the media sided with the Democrats.
It is sheer historical revisionism to suggest that critics of Obama’s pullout were muttering vaguely about how it might be a tad premature. They explicitly warned of disaster, and they were right.
As for Syria, Hiatt notes that “critics” worried President Obama’s blustery threats to Bashar Assad “might prove empty.” (“Critics” in this sense means “everyone who knows anything at all about either Barack Obama or Bashar Assad.”)
Obama’s now-infamous comments about a chemical weapons red line were another example of the feckless “get off my back” approach Hiatt criticizes earlier in his piece. Obama never thought Assad would call his bluff and deploy WMD against his own people; he thought he was setting up an exceedingly unlikely precondition for action, to justify never taking action. He was pretending to be a tough-guy bully without any intention of lacing up his gloves and climbing into the ring. Assad, and his patrons in Russia and Iran, took Obama’s measure perfectly and used his empty threats as leverage to weaken American influence in the Middle East.
Hiatt then returns to all things nobody could have envisioned:
Not just the savagery of chemical weapons and ‘barrel bombs,’ but also the Islamic State’s recruitment of thousands of foreign fighters, its spread from Libya to Afghanistan, the danger to the U.S. homeland that has alarmed U.S. intelligence officials, the refugees destabilizing Europe.
It is notable that he studiously avoids mentioning Libya, a crucial piece of the migration puzzle, or the way President Obama played his cards during the “Arab Spring,” which the President completely and dangerously misinterpreted as a flowering of liberal democracy, rather than the replacement of icky semi-competent corrupt regimes with murderous Islamist fascists.
It’s a matter of established fact that the Turks — not the loveliest of regimes, to be sure, but a potent NATO ally — have been yelling about the dangers of the Syrian bloodbath and calling for the West to knock over Assad for years. This was, in part, because they had a close-up view of both the ISIS recruiting and outbound refugee problems. There have been huge Syrian refugee camps in Turkey for a long time. But taking Turkey’s advice would have involved President Obama going up against Iran, and the North Star of his foreign policy is his unshakable belief that Iran is the incipient regional hegemon the West can do business with, the only Muslim power with the capability and will to enforce order on the Middle East.
To be sure, there has never been much of an appetite in any quarter of either European or American politics for war in Syria, except for the interventionist wing of the Republican Party. Some who might have rallied around a serious plan to take decisive action against Assad, al-Qaeda, and ISIS were not prepared to sign up for the usual desultory cruise-missile strikes, followed by Obama collecting applause from the media for “doing something about weapons of mass destruction.”
The referenced Washington Post article:
September 8, 2015
The Washington Post has decided to run an article from editorial page editor Fred Hiatt pinning blame for the Syrian catastrophe on President Barack Obama.
Hiatt is far too mild, fails to acknowledge that conservatives have been warning about the fallout from Obama foreign policy for years, and does not come to grips with the media’s role in protecting Obama for so long. However, it is still remarkable to see the President taken so clearly to task by a member of his adoring media.
“This may be the most surprising of President Obama’s foreign-policy legacies: not just that he presided over a humanitarian and cultural disaster of epochal proportions, but that he soothed the American people into feeling no responsibility for the tragedy,” Hiatt begins.
Hiatt observes that despite rampant ISIS vandalism of historical sites, and one of the biggest refugee crises the world has ever seen, “the ‘Save Darfur’ signs have not given way to ‘Save Syria.'” This should not be a surprise. No one on the Left was going to launch a populist crusade to “raise awareness” about the plight of Syrians, Iraqis, Kurds, Assyrian Christians, and others victimized by what Obama dismissed as the “JV team” of terrorism. The media only assigns credibility—usually disproportionate credibility — to populist crusades originating on the Left.
With those points out of the way, the rest of Hiatt’s critique is devastating. He slams Obama for trying to sell indecision and inaction as “smart power”:
He has argued, at times, that there was nothing the United States could do, belittling the Syrian opposition as “former doctors, farmers, pharmacists and so forth.”
He has argued that we would only make things worse — “I am more mindful probably than most,” he told the New Republic in 2013, “of not only our incredible strengths and capabilities, but also our limitations.”
He has implied that because we can’t solve every problem, maybe we shouldn’t solve any. “How do I weigh tens of thousands who’ve been killed in Syria versus the tens of thousands who are currently being killed in the Congo?” he asked (though at the time thousands were not being killed in Congo).
Hiatt also calls President Obama out for his habit of taking little check-the-box actions to get the public off his back, when it became impossible to tout inaction as smart policy, intriguingly including the much-ballyhooed recent plans for a safe zone on the Turkish border as an example. He also mentions how the big Obama plans for a white-hat “moderate Syrian army” trained and equipped by the U.S. turned into fifty soldiers per year, without going into the ugly details of what al-Qaeda did to the first fifty guys the President sent into the meat grinder.
Hiatt also claims that “when Obama pulled all U.S. troops out of Iraq, critics worried there would be instability; none envisioned the emergence of a full-blown terrorist state.” That is not true. Republican critics were strident in warning that Obama’s talking-point-driven Iraqi pullout would lead to disaster. They did not see ISIS coming across the border in a handful of militarized pickup trucks and knocking over Mosul, but smarter men than President Obama—notably including his ultimate presidential rival in 2012, Mitt Romney — were yelling from the rooftops that Iraq was not ready to be trusted with its own security.
Romney said in October 2011:
President Obama’s astonishing failure to secure an orderly transition in Iraq has unnecessarily put at risk the victories that were won through the blood and sacrifice of thousands of American men and women. The unavoidable question is whether this decision is the result of a naked political calculation or simply sheer ineptitude in negotiations with the Iraqi government.Most of the GOP presidential field followed suit, while Democrats mocked them for lacking faith in the towering genius of President Obama, and the media sided with the Democrats.
It is sheer historical revisionism to suggest that critics of Obama’s pullout were muttering vaguely about how it might be a tad premature. They explicitly warned of disaster, and they were right.
As for Syria, Hiatt notes that “critics” worried President Obama’s blustery threats to Bashar Assad “might prove empty.” (“Critics” in this sense means “everyone who knows anything at all about either Barack Obama or Bashar Assad.”)
Obama’s now-infamous comments about a chemical weapons red line were another example of the feckless “get off my back” approach Hiatt criticizes earlier in his piece. Obama never thought Assad would call his bluff and deploy WMD against his own people; he thought he was setting up an exceedingly unlikely precondition for action, to justify never taking action. He was pretending to be a tough-guy bully without any intention of lacing up his gloves and climbing into the ring. Assad, and his patrons in Russia and Iran, took Obama’s measure perfectly and used his empty threats as leverage to weaken American influence in the Middle East.
Hiatt then returns to all things nobody could have envisioned:
Not just the savagery of chemical weapons and ‘barrel bombs,’ but also the Islamic State’s recruitment of thousands of foreign fighters, its spread from Libya to Afghanistan, the danger to the U.S. homeland that has alarmed U.S. intelligence officials, the refugees destabilizing Europe.It is notable that he studiously avoids mentioning Libya, a crucial piece of the migration puzzle, or the way President Obama played his cards during the “Arab Spring,” which the President completely and dangerously misinterpreted as a flowering of liberal democracy, rather than the replacement of icky semi-competent corrupt regimes with murderous Islamist fascists.
It’s a matter of established fact that the Turks — not the loveliest of regimes, to be sure, but a potent NATO ally — have been yelling about the dangers of the Syrian bloodbath and calling for the West to knock over Assad for years. This was, in part, because they had a close-up view of both the ISIS recruiting and outbound refugee problems. There have been huge Syrian refugee camps in Turkey for a long time. But taking Turkey’s advice would have involved President Obama going up against Iran, and the North Star of his foreign policy is his unshakable belief that Iran is the incipient regional hegemon the West can do business with, the only Muslim power with the capability and will to enforce order on the Middle East.
To be sure, there has never been much of an appetite in any quarter of either European or American politics for war in Syria, except for the interventionist wing of the Republican Party. Some who might have rallied around a serious plan to take decisive action against Assad, al-Qaeda, and ISIS were not prepared to sign up for the usual desultory cruise-missile strikes, followed by Obama collecting applause from the media for “doing something about weapons of mass destruction.”
An opinion piece about an opinion piece. LOL.
An editorial is one person's opinion and in case you didn't know - they are one sided.
Again with the US is responsible for everything. First to blame the US for Iraq and Syria is a joke and the absolute insult to the US soldiers who have died trying to bring any level of common sense and peace to a hell hole. 2nd - get over this idea that the world revolves around the US. Plenty of other countries out there to have a turn with the mess. Novel idea - let other countries be and stop trying to impose your will. If not for oil, you wouldn't even be involved as in Africa or South America where nothing has been done to stop genocide over decades.
So would you like the US to take over all the countries and be responsible to keep them secure? What a f'n joke. Like it would make a difference which party is in power. News flash for you - they don't give a sh*t who is in power in the US. Even before pulling out troops, these guys were still operating and preparing for the exit.
If you stay in every country then you spread yourself thin, tire the military with missions that have no hope of ultimate success or victory. Other countries will test knowing full well that the US population tires of sending their kids to wars that can't be won. As if the average person gives a sh*t what happens overseas anyway.
The fact that you think they care whether it is Obama, a Bush, Clinton or a Trump shows that you really over estimate US political clout with terrorists. They don't give a crap which party you follow and will act the same either way. Also you seem to fail to remember that you didn't win or end it while the Republicans were in power.
I cant climb aboard the moral outrage wagon either. Thousands of tonnes of explosives were dropped in iraq at our behest and the media were silent in reporting anything about civilian casualties of our doing. Somehow this is media approved and endorsed outrage so we should all get on board. Cant help but feel manipulated by the media.
An editorial is one person's opinion and in case you didn't know - they are one sided.
Again with the US is responsible for everything. First to blame the US for Iraq and Syria is a joke and the absolute insult to the US soldiers who have died trying to bring any level of common sense and peace to a hell hole. 2nd - get over this idea that the world revolves around the US. Plenty of other countries out there to have a turn with the mess. Novel idea - let other countries be and stop trying to impose your will. If not for oil, you wouldn't even be involved as in Africa or South America where nothing has been done to stop genocide over decades.
So would you like the US to take over all the countries and be responsible to keep them secure? What a f'n joke. Like it would make a difference which party is in power. News flash for you - they don't give a sh*t who is in power in the US. Even before pulling out troops, these guys were still operating and preparing for the exit.
If you stay in every country then you spread yourself thin, tire the military with missions that have no hope of ultimate success or victory. Other countries will test knowing full well that the US population tires of sending their kids to wars that can't be won. As if the average person gives a sh*t what happens overseas anyway.
The fact that you think they care whether it is Obama, a Bush, Clinton or a Trump shows that you really over estimate US political clout with terrorists. They don't give a crap which party you follow and will act the same either way. Also you seem to fail to remember that you didn't win or end it while the Republicans were in power.
_____________________________________________________________________
You seem to forget President Bush had the IRAQ war won and ready for his successor to keep secure. Obama cut and ran thus giving ISIS free will to kill.
The Washington Post is a far-left publication.
When The Washington Post prints a piece exposing a some of Obama's many failures your boy Obama has a big problem.
I cant climb aboard the moral outrage wagon either. Thousands of tonnes of explosives were dropped in iraq at our behest and the media were silent in reporting anything about civilian casualties of our doing. Somehow this is media approved and endorsed outrage so we should all get on board. Cant help but feel manipulated by the media.
Thank you.
It is sad when any child dies for any reason. Even worse when they are a victim of adult violence. As sad as the image of a drowned child is, there are many more that have died in the days since all around the world and they all deserve so much more. Perhaps the children should be running the world.
You seem to forget President Bush had the IRAQ war won and ready for his successor to keep secure. Obama cut and ran thus giving ISIS free will to kill.
You really are delusional........
An editorial is one person's opinion and in case you didn't know - they are one sided.
Again with the US is responsible for everything. First to blame the US for Iraq and Syria is a joke and the absolute insult to the US soldiers who have died trying to bring any level of common sense and peace to a hell hole. 2nd - get over this idea that the world revolves around the US. Plenty of other countries out there to have a turn with the mess. Novel idea - let other countries be and stop trying to impose your will. If not for oil, you wouldn't even be involved as in Africa or South America where nothing has been done to stop genocide over decades.
So would you like the US to take over all the countries and be responsible to keep them secure? What a f'n joke. Like it would make a difference which party is in power. News flash for you - they don't give a sh*t who is in power in the US. Even before pulling out troops, these guys were still operating and preparing for the exit.
If you stay in every country then you spread yourself thin, tire the military with missions that have no hope of ultimate success or victory. Other countries will test knowing full well that the US population tires of sending their kids to wars that can't be won. As if the average person gives a sh*t what happens overseas anyway.
The fact that you think they care whether it is Obama, a Bush, Clinton or a Trump shows that you really over estimate US political clout with terrorists. They don't give a crap which party you follow and will act the same either way. Also you seem to fail to remember that you didn't win or end it while the Republicans were in power.
_____________________________________________________________________
You seem to forget President Bush had the IRAQ war won and ready for his successor to keep secure. Obama cut and ran thus giving ISIS free will to kill.
The Washington Post is a far-left publication.
When The Washington Post prints a piece exposing a some of Obama's many failures your boy Obama has a big problem.
"my boy" - see there you go again. Cute how you actually believe that there is a difference who is in charge. Money owns both parties and you are just blind to it.
As messed up as I think you are, the fact that you actually believe that any war was won shows just how delusional you are. His Dad may have won his as they were smart enough not to send in the ground troops. Blow the sh*t up and leave. They even sold trading cards celebrating it as sick as that is. (A few kids died there too)
Jr. got sucked into a ground game of occupation that could never be won. There was no army fighting back. Just terrorists going about their business as they are still doing today. Arms dealers cashing in on American soldiers lives and Bush Jr. was powerless to stop it at all. Definitely doesn't have his Dad's intelligence or black op skills.
The incredible part is even after all the years there, lives lost and money spent which the US did not have, you still think that there was any type of victory at all.
