Senate Foreign Relations Committee votes to give President Obama the power to launch

[Ajkuhuun]

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[Orruar]

It's so strange that a political discussion would start in a thread with the title that this one has.

[aowen]

'International norms/laws' have a long history of conflicting with each other. Sovereignty vs. human rights. When is it okay to step in? Are rights universal or do they emanate from one's community (nation, state, globe, or otherwise). All things to think about.

Next, is consistency important? How many people have died in other countries by the hands of despots? What have we done about that? Does it matter if they are killed by chemical weapons or by regular bombs, guns, artillery, etc.

Is international law constituted and recognized by all, is it a post-colonial imperial force to coerce the 'periphery' to conform to standards set by the 'powerful', or does it have other dynamics. Is international law even enforceable? Do the Geneva Conventions matter when the UN is impotent from underfunding and corruption?

I guess what I'm getting at is when considering foreign policy, what underlying norms/values/morals, historical selections, and theories are going to inform your viewpoint.

In the case of Syria, I'd have to say that due to any lack of commitment to real change, bombing a stone-age country into the stone-age will be an echo of the same misguided tautologies that have plagued our past policies in the Middle East. It will further disrupt and anger the region, feed a force of rebels liable to commit further atrocities equal in stature.

Put more neutrally, the biggest problem with this notion, at this stage at least, is the failure to consider a) the consequences of support for rebel forces, b) whether it's actually reasonable to expect a short operation, c) whether constituents have the appetite for more war in this region, d) any kind of exit plan once the job, whatever the job may be. I think the lack of intervention so far can be pinned down to the difficulties in adequately assessing these considerations. This is such a volatile situation that it's very difficult to be sure we won't just make the situation worse in the long-term, or at least end up being culpable in the total collapse of the state.

[Estolcles]

We need to just leave the middle east to fuck themselves into oblivion.

Syria's shit. Let them extinct themselves.

Then again, I really have no love for any of the middle eastern countries. I'm a supporter of the "Glass Project".

[Stinkum]

Originally Posted by Estolcles [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

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[Estolcles]

Da fuq? ^^^

[Stinkum]

Originally Posted by Estolcles [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Da fuq? ^^^

It's an illustration of how everyone imagines you look like anytime you post your warped, morally autistic political opinions.

[Estolcles]

Originally Posted by Stinkum [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

It's an illustration of how everyone imagines you look like anytime you post your warped, morally autistic political opinions.

My "warped, morally autistic opinions" are influenced by several friends of mine who are Gulf War vets who are looking at being deployed AGAIN because of this bullshit. The "Glass Project" being a direct quote.

[r00t]

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[Estolcles]

Originally Posted by r00t [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

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I needed a laugh today. This .gif gave it to me. Thanks!