Beyond Iraq, I am also profoundly worried about the continuing meltdown of Syria, which is a geopolitical Chernobyl. Until it is capped, it is going to continue to spew radioactive instability and extremist ideology over the entire region.
The requirement for military force is clear when looking at the first of the nine points agreed in Vienna, which states that ‘Syria’s unity, independence, territorial integrity and secular character are fundamental.’
Why would Russia care about chemical weapons in Syria? They have no incentive to care.
In the process of the Arab Spring, we have unfortunately seen a development in Syria where the regime has been oppressing its people.
The Syrian border town of Qa’im was the main gateway Islamic radicals used to go to Iraq. Syria became the passageway for extremists from Egypt, Libya, Afghanistan, Yemen, Saudi Arabia and other Muslim nations to fight a jihad against American forces in Iraq.
Of course, Putin may well have reasons for wanting Trump to be president – not least Trump’s apparent skepticism toward NATO and his lack of opposition to Russia’s military interventions in Ukraine and Syria.
A good friend of mine works at Oxfam and has been closely involved in the charity’s aid efforts in Syria.
The president needs to make certain an absolutely thorough vetting system is in place that will not allow terrorists from Syria or any other part of the world into our country.
The Cold War, Bosnia and Ukraine remind us that peace is fragile. Iraq and Syria remind us that no society or culture is immune from conflict.
The understanding of Syria’s devastating civil war has been distorted by the immense danger and difficulty of covering it.
President Chavez has always been a loyal friend of Gaddafi, assassinated in the crudest way possible. Europe should think about the bombings and the destruction of Libya that filled the country with terrorists. Who’s truly ruling Libya’s military and sending thousands of armed men to fight in Syria? It’s Al Qaeda.
The United States should propose partition in Syria. Assad can keep what he controls, and the rebels can form local governments and establish a new entity.
Like Syria, the government of Bahrain employs aggressive tactics to censor and monitor its people’s online activity.
We’ve got a very difficult situation created by this embrace of the so-called Arab Spring. And that’s not getting better. It’s getting worse. The carnage for the people of Syria is horrific, and it’s quite frankly too little, too late to reverse a lot of that.
As the United States Congress considers military intervention in Syria, per President Obama’s request, I think it’s important to be very honest about what we are considering.
What ISIS has proven is that they’re not only active in Syria and Iraq, but they’re active in Europe.
Russia is not engaged in a fight against Daesh in Syria. On the contrary, they are actually targeting moderate opposition.
Let’s put America first. Let’s not spill American blood to fight the enemies of other countries as is the case in Syria.
The word ‘democracy’ and the name of Assad do not blend very well in much of Syria.
The Arab Spring is a true phenomenon. Embrace Arab Spring; embrace the aspiration for freedom of the people of Egypt, Syria, and Yemen.
Information-sharing between Western governments about the identities of those who have traveled to Syria and have received militant training is the key to preventing more incidents such as the one at the Jewish Museum in Brussels.
There’s a conspiracy going on online every day between these top U.K. individuals within ISIS leadership out of Syria.
The Trump administration launched the cruise missile strikes in Syria, an act of war, without a U.N. resolution or Congressional authorization.
The name Muhammad is the most common name in the world. In all the countries around the world – Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Morocco, Turkey, Syria, Lebanon – there are more Muhammads than anything else. When I joined the Nation of Islam and became a Muslim, they gave me the most famous name because I was the champ.
My guess is that before Obama departs, he will adopt some of the more aggressive military options he has been resisting, such as ‘safe zones’ inside Syria and more aggressive deployment of U.S. special forces.
Our actions to overthrow secular dictators in Iraq and Libya, and attempts now to do the same in Syria, have resulted in tremendous loss of life, failed nations, and even worse humanitarian crises while strengthening the very terrorist organizations that have declared war on America.
It is time for all civilized nations to stop the horrors that are taking place in Syria and demand a political solution.
ISIS filled the vacuum in Iraq and Syria created by a lack of effective governance.
Despite what you hear in the news from the Obama administration and the military, our strategy of conducting infrequent airstrikes and re-taking pockets of Iraq and Syria terrain will only help us achieve short-lived tactical victories.
We all have to announce our full solidarity with the struggle of those seeking freedom and justice in Syria, and translate this sympathy into a clear political vision that supports a peaceful transition to a democratic system of rule that reflects the demands of the Syrian people for freedom.
In Syria, a progressive foreign policy would have shown military restraint while pumping up our ability to gain political leverage over Syria’s benefactors and providing humanitarian funding to make sure that anybody that wanted to leave Syria could.
It’s difficult to see how Syria can have any long-term future with Assad there as president. Many people would never return to that country if that were the case.
In truth the importance of U.K. airstrikes and the U.K.’s eight additional planes is more political than military. It is in honesty a micro military issue. There is no great military necessity for the U.K. to be involved since planes are queuing up from a wide range of countries over the skies of Syria.
There’s a real question of what the United States could do if we detain somebody out of Syria right now.
We, in Syria, our point of view stems from our experience.
We have a relationship with Syria, an old relationship. We also have good relations with the people of Syria, with all segments of the population. This is the situation as well in Iraq and other countries.
The 2013 deal, whereby the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons verified the destruction of 95% of Syria’s declared chemical weapons, was negotiated between Russia and the U.S. and either the Russians haven’t honored their side of the deal or they have been betrayed by the Syrians.
I work with the president and speak with him multiple times a week. This is a man, he didn’t become the president by accident. And as much as everyone wants to talk about stability, was he unstable when he passed the tax reform? Was he unstable when we finally hit back at Syria and said no more chemical weapons?
Russia isn’t likely to have any more military success in Syria and Iraq than has the United States.
Israel specifically does not want Syria to hand over weapons, chemical or conventional, to Hezbollah.
I was a fighter pilot, flying Hurricanes all round the Mediterranean. I flew in the Western Desert of Libya, in Greece, in Syria, in Iraq and in Egypt.
More than a decade and half after 9/11, U.S. military actions in countries such as Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan and several other Muslim nations are governed by the Authorization for the Use of Military Force (AUMF) that was passed in the days immediately after 9/11.
I believe President Obama means everything he says about sticking to the unprecedented backing of Israel and keeping all options on the table against Tehran, as well as countering its adventures in Syria, Yemen, and Iraq.
Syria is a multi-confessional state: in addition to Sunni and Shia Muslims, there are Alawites, Orthodox and other Christian confessions, Druzes, and Kurds.
Guantanamo Bay is a facility that I think should be utilized by the United States for detainees, say, out of Syria.
Recent action in Syria and Palestine also tell us that the awakening voices of democracy in those regions are occurring, and that those in that region are able to pursue it without being stifled by terrorists that are despotic.
It is important that democracy in Lebanon is protected and that Hezbollah will not be supported by outside forces like Syria and Iran.
I’m a little disappointed in what’s happened. I’m beginning to lose faith in Obama. This Syria thing is ridiculous. He should not be drawing red lines.
The targets we all agree on – every country in the world except the U.S., Nicaragua, and Syria – will have targets under the Paris Agreement. So everyone knows what the targets should be, and then we can have a difference of opinion on exactly how these emissions will be reduced.
There are very few fighters in the ISIS organization in Iraq and Syria coming from the United States; most of them have either come from a region of the Middle East or from Europe.
I profoundly do not believe that the United States could make things better in Syria by being there. And we have an evidentiary record of what happens when we’re there – nearly a decade in Iraq.
Hamas does not represent the national aspirations of the Palestinians. It represents extreme Islamic ideas, which they share with Iran, Hezbollah, and Syria.
