Trump Orders Strikes on Syria Over Suspected Chemical Weapons Attack

cornflake said:

Which activities has France distanced itself from? It bombed Iraq, Syria, Libya...

He referred to himself as a house nigger, in response to a joking comment, but I don't really think there's anything people shouldn't joke about.

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Stuff like climate change, trade, whatever. What was Trump's attempt at leverage not too long ago, withholding aluminum and steel to European (and other?) markets?

You are entitled to your opinion, but it's not universal. Dave Attell once did a sex toy joke in front of a 13 year old boy. To each their own.

Lots of people are worried this could somehow start WW3.

Not me.

I'm more of the mind that this is actually a coordinated action between Trump and Putin in order to distract the American public and to raise Trump's standing. (Because God knows blowing shit up is as American as it gets and people will always cheer for military action...). I'm trying to find them again, but I've already seen reports that Russia was warned before the strikes, and that the bases we targeted were (Much like the last time Trump shot his missiles) already evacuated earlier this week. I'll post links if I can find them again, but take it with a grain of sale in the meantime. (not that either scenario should surprise anyone...)

From the Associated Press's Twitter

Alessandra Kelley said:

I cannot agree with that.

Who is making the joke and what their position is relative to the subject of the joke make a big difference.

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Agreed in the specific. I was speaking in the general sense, in response to the idea that a white comic should never utter "the N word" apparently in any circumstance or fashion. I'm not even specifically defending Maher's comment, just saying, in general, nothing people can't joke about. In the specific, yeah, OJ shouldn't be making jokes about homicide.

Interval for a rant from across the pond.

I just watched a White House News Briefing on the Strikes- ( with General Mackenzie, I think).

I'm astonished at the incomprehensibly garbled 'questions' submitted by some of the attending journalists.

Full marks to the spokesman and the General for even managing to determine what the questions were.

Back to normal programming.

Alessandra Kelley said:

I have not been able to bear watching any television news since the 2016 election. All my observations are my own, based on reading straight news accounts in reputable journals....

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Same here.

There's just too many questions for me.

On the poisoning in the UK.

Reports said 20 UKers had been poisoned along with the Russian ex-Spy. Where are they now, and why are they no longer mentioned?

Where the attack took place, Salisbury, it's one of the most heavily military-based cities in the UK, hence why a spy took cover there. Lucky the military were so close to be called in and stop any potential spread....

Porton Down clarified a military-grade chemical weapon had been used, yet they also said they hadn’t been able to produce evidence that it was Russian. This was at the time Boris Johnson sat with Russian envoys and said Porton Down did have proof it was Russian-based. Yes Porton Down isn't the only intelligence sourc May will use to find out where it's from, but Johnson said Porton Down specifically had the evidence. Porton Down called out liar there.

Porton Down are UK masters at chemicals and messing about with them. It's also only a stone's throw from Slalisbury. When asked if they had leaked the nerve agent, they said no. But just a note on their history:

"From 1945 to 1989, Porton [Down in the UK] exposed more than 3,400 human "guinea pigs" to nerve gas. It seems probable that Porton has tested more human subjects with nerve gas, for the longest period of time, than any other scientific establishment in the world.... During the past 80 years, some 25,000 humans have been subjected to Porton's experiments,"

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The Guardian. Science Section: The History Porton Down Can't Hide

And more alarmingly:

On February 1, 1961 a Land Rover set off at 10.45 am from the village of Ilchester. It was driven by scientists from Porton Down.
The Land Rover travelled through Wedmore and on to the outskirts of Bristol. As it went, Zinc Cadmium Sulphide was sprayed into the air in an attempt to simulate germ warfare.

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BBC Inside Out, Porton Down.

And now we've bombed which country for doing what exactly?

So what evidence do they have that they still won't pass over to Russia? It's Russia's right to see any evidence.

As for Syria... We’ve seen nothing other than Teflon non-stick Tony Blair giving his backing to the attack: the same man who swore there was weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.

I can uderstand Russia's anger here.

If I'm going by the facts I do have, I understand why the Russians are calling bullshit and pointing fingers back at us. May's not giving us anything else to go on, just "I know, and that's enough for you small people."

cornflake said:

Agreed in the specific. I was speaking in the general sense, in response to the idea that a white comic should never utter "the N word" apparently in any circumstance or fashion. I'm not even specifically defending Maher's comment, just saying, in general, nothing people can't joke about. In the specific, yeah, OJ shouldn't be making jokes about homicide.

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Bill Maher calling himself a "house nigger" is not remotely comparable to O.J. Simpson "joking" about homicide. One guy is being an asshole reveling in his White privilege and assuming because he occasionally fucks Black women that means his gold Ghetto Pass came in the mail and now he can talk shit like the homies hangin' on the corner. Truth: He Can't. The other guy is a murderous asshole who tried to outrun his Blackness abandoning his wife and kids to shack up with a pretty White woman he would later mercilessly butcher without pity or remorse along with an innocent man who was in the wrong place at the wrong time.

They aren't the same thing and if there's a "joke" in there somewhere, it's lost on me. It's not that a White comic should never utter "the Nigger word" as much as if you do, you'd better be fuckin' funny. Maher failed that criteria and faceplanted.

Personally, I'd be cool if Trump bombed whatever shithole Simpson's evil ass is chillin' in.

I can only marvel at the intel gathering effort that has been mustered in less than a week. The intelligence agencies have been oblivious to Syria's chemical weapons' manufacturing abilities for an entire year, but in less than five days they knew what were the chemicals involved, where they came from and how to best destroy them. Man, those guys are geniuses. All of them.

-cb

cbenoi1 said:

I can only marvel at the intel gathering effort that has been mustered in less than a week. The intelligence agencies have been oblivious to Syria's chemical weapons' manufacturing abilities for an entire year, but in less than five days they knew what were the chemicals involved, where they came from and how to best destroy them. Man, those guys are geniuses. All of them.

-cb

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Honestly, I would be likely to believe that they actually did have all the information, and it just wasn't shared with the US because we're at high likelyhood of leaking classified intel to Russia, putting their sources at risk.

ShaunHorton said:

Honestly, I would be likely to believe that they actually did have all the information, and it just wasn't shared with the US because we're at high likelyhood of leaking classified intel to Russia, putting their sources at risk.

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Sounds about right. Weren't there worries about Trump being unable to keep his mouth shut from the beginning? Not necessarily in an "I'm going to tell my buddy Putin about this" but just in a "Lemme tell you what they told me this morning! It was bigly secret!" And, then, Putin hears about it.

frimble3 said:

Weren't there worries about Trump being unable to keep his mouth shut from the beginning?

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Or more likely, put together a huge report knowing Trump would never read it.

-cb

I would not be surprised if all that was blown up was some empty warehouses. As far as preventing chemical research - firstly if they're using chlorine there's no need to research that. And if all their production facilities have been destroyed, they can buy or beg for some more chemical weapons from Russia or elsewhere.

Hmm, and what happened to all those chemical weapons the west gave Saddam to use during the Iran-Iraq war? Probably tucked away safely underground somewhere.

"Mission accomplished" President P-Grabber sez. What the entire hell does that even mean?

Is the civil war in Syria over? Is that the end for Assad gassing his own people? Has Russia backed down quivering in shock and awe in the face of Trump's awesome wrath?

No, no, and no. Trump dropped some bombs, blew some stuff up, blustered and boasted. Then he went right back to sucking up and blocking sanctions against Russia announced by his own U.N. secretary.

Because that's how being compromised by Vladimir Putin works, don'tcha know?