I have criticized President Obama perhaps a lil too harsh lately.

[darkangel218]

Today I am happy he is my President. I am happy he is taking a stand in fighting the genocide happening in Syria.
I am happy he cares enough to stand for what is right.

Thank you, Mr President.

[Renew Deal]

1. Will you be happy if he gets congressional approval and starts lobbing missiles?

[darkangel218]

3. I will be happy when there will be no more planes

Capable of dropping napalm bombs on kids.

[BlueStreak]

6. What evidence s there that chemical weapons were dropped from planes?

[dennis4868]

17. Wait....

you think DUers need evidence to show their hatred of Obama? Come on man, you are in DU.....

[darkangel218]

18. It was all over the news.

The last or one of the latest attacks, when the napalm bombs were dropped.

Gah...

[BlueStreak]

25. OK. What evidence is there that chemical weapons were dropped from planes?

Being "all over the news" is not, in itself, evidence.

George Bush sending condolences over Mandela's death is all over the news.

[darkangel218]

27. So you deny that napalm bombs were dropped on/near that school??

Wow...

[uponit7771]

30. That's not the litmus, SYRIANS dropping nape on the school is and that even doesn't meet the

...go do something test

[BlueStreak]

32. I simply asked for evidence.

Do you have any evidence of that?

[LukeFL]

2. Too little too late perhaps?

I am sick and tired if people like you guys who are never satisfied with the president despite the mountain if crap he has to deal with daily- not having your " supporters" behind your back must be painful for him because he not only has the tea party, right wing crazy demonizing him but also his own "base"

UGH!!!

[darkangel218]

4. You have the right to feel that way.

I do too. No excuse for it.

[Laura PourMeADrink]

5. I think that is what makes our party great. We don't blindly follow like repukes nt

[underthematrix]

7. I trust and support the President. I voted for PBO

because I trust his ability to deal with complex situations like Syria. Besides he has access to classified national security briefings, which I do not. In other words, he has more information than me.

The President's greatest enemy is the willful ignorance of the people he tries so hard to protect and serve. These ignorant people are easily manipulated by the media on both the left and the right. These ignorant people live in an either or world where choices and decisions are simple. I am baffled and frustrated by the stupidity of my fellow Americans. The issues the President is dealing with in Syria are highly complex. It is not an either or situation. There's an article posted right here on DU suggesting that Syria's chemical weapons came from Britain. Does that mean the Prime Minister was in favor of gassing Syrian women and children or anyone else for that matter? I think not. But Americans are so ignorant, the media will spin it in such a way, that they will become enraged either at the Prime Minister or some other individual. The best defense against ignorance is information, not manipulation but information. You have to assume, whether on the left or right, the information the media feeds you is packaged to create a narrative of their choosing, one that has been dumbed down and simplified for your consumption. It is also designed to elicit a strong emotional response from you, usually rage or fear.

[BOG PERSON]

8. what genocide?

which minority is the syrian govt trying to exterminate?

[darkangel218]

9. Do you have a better name for the murder of the thousands of innocent civilians?

[BOG PERSON]

10. yes

"spectacle"

[darkangel218]

19. Care to e explain what do you mean by that?

[KT2000]

31. Genocide

the deliberate and systematic extermination of a national, political, or racial group.
I would classify civilians living in neighborhoods populated by those opposed to the Assad regime as falling under the political category.
Genocide is what is accomplished with chemical weapons. It is used against civilians - not usually used on the battlefield.

Sorry - but spectacle hardly covers what happened to 1400 people when their nervous systems failed to communicate with the rest of the body - seizures, convulsions, foaming at the mouth, pain and slow death.

[BOG PERSON]

33. "the political category"

in other words any armed conflict over political power is a potential genocide and nato has a moral obligation to step in and determine the outcome of (r2p)

chemical weapons are used in war. were used in the iran-iraq war against iranians. it has not been established that the govt was responsible for the cw attack (it has not even been established YET precisely what cw were used). there is not a broad consensus on how many died in the attack, figures range from 400 to 1500. incessantly repeating what you want to believe does not make it true.

the scary thing is what liberal interventionists purport to oppose ("genocide&quot is a very real foreseeable consequence of western intervention to support the syrian contras, who will be very eager to exact victors' justice against the syrian minorities that took the side of the baathist govt against crazy jihadis (and nato won't give a shit about them just like they didnt give a shit libyan rebels ethnically cleansing black libyans)

[KT2000]

36. we can disagree

about what action to take but understand that the people who were killed were families - real human beings - not soldiers.
You choose not to believe our government and minimize (spectacle?) the effect of illegal use of chemical weapons. I believe this happened and know that in addition to those who died, many, many more will spend the rest of their shortened lives with chronic illness, brain dysfunction and disability - too bad for the children, huh?

Use of chemical weapons must stop - do you know what is next if this does not stop? Biological weapons - something not so localized.

[BOG PERSON]

37. no anything that is that aggressively broadcast on television

in order to draw as many eyes as possible is spectacle

a : something exhibited to view as unusual, notable, or entertaining; especially : an eye-catching or dramatic public display

the bodies in those videos are as real as the bodies in the abu ghraib pictures, doesnt change the fact it was produced for mass consumption

[KT2000]

41. I am not kidding here

and not meant as a put down, but my heart is sad for the cynicism that had taken hold in this country. That means no matter what our government says anymore, the majority don't believe. If our government, with Obama as president (and I do have my criticisms) is lying about this, or if the people have only cynicism left for the government, we are truly done as a country. Truly done.

[nadinbrzezinski]

34. Is he targeting a specific minority?

Genocide has a very specific meaning.

Massacre, that is the word you are looking for.

Regardless, like all civil wars, well most civil wars, neither side is innocent here. The rebels have committed their fair share of massacres, and there is no clear evidence of who launched the Sarin. I don't care how far the government bends to justify the attack.

Was Sarin used? Not in doubt at any moment. It is WHO launched it.

As to the Napalm (like) substance, we again know it was used, but not who.

[KT2000]

38. Genocide

is the systematic extermination of political, national, racial, and cultural groups. These were civilians, not soldiers. The survivors will live their shortened lives with chronic illness, brain dysfunction and disability.

You call it a massacre, someone else called it a spectacle - a little "bending" is going on around here too.

[nadinbrzezinski]

39. genocide has a very specific meaning

Genocide is "the deliberate and systematic destruction, in whole or in part, of an ethnic, racial, Caste, religious, or national group",[1] though what constitutes enough of a "part" to qualify as genocide has been subject to much debate by legal scholars.[2][3]


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genocide

Definition of GENOCIDE

: the deliberate and systematic destruction of a racial, political, or cultural group
— geno·cid·al adjective
See genocide defined for English-language learners »
See genocide defined for kids »


This is Websters

mas·sa·cre
ˈmasikər/Submit
noun
1.
an indiscriminate and brutal slaughter of people.
"the attack was described as a cold-blooded massacre"
synonyms: slaughter, wholesale/mass slaughter, indiscriminate killing, mass murder, mass execution, annihilation, liquidation, decimation, extermination; More
informal
a heavy defeat of a sports team or contestant.
verb
verb: massacre; 3rd person present: massacres; past tense: massacred; past participle: massacred; gerund or present participle: massacring
1.
deliberately and violently kill (a large number of people).
synonyms: slaughter, butcher, murder, kill, annihilate, exterminate, execute, liquidate, eliminate, decimate, wipe out, mow down, cut down, put to the sword, put to death; More

I am sorry if I still believe in words having meanings, specific to them.

Can Syria see genocide? Yes, absolutely, but none who is a responsible adult has called this genocide, YET. Was what happened in the outskirts of damascus a massacre? Yes, it fit the definition to a T.

What was happening in Bosnia was genocide. what happened to the Maya in Guatemala in the 1980s (and I bet you had no clue until now) was genocide. On the other hand, the cold blooded murder of US Troops in 1944 was a massacre, as well as the killing at Wounded Knee

[KT2000]

40. Yes - it was genocide

the extermination of civilians in the towns where those opposed to Assad lived. I am aware of the definition and it fits.

It stopped because Obama stood up to them.

Why did you say - and I bet you had no clue until now? Is that supposed to suggest that I am not as smart as you? Also - why make reference to "responsible adult" in your comments? Is that supposed to mean that I am an irresponsible little kid? My dear Nadine, that is not the way responsible adults behave.

I usually avoid your posts because of such egotistical comments - gee! you didn't disappoint.

[nadinbrzezinski]

42. You know what? If you have such a huge personal problem with me

use the ignore feature. As far as I am concerned, I will. I really don't give two shits if you do or not.

Good bye,

And no, you did not disappoint either. And I am proof positive you have no fracking clue what I am talking about when I talk of the Maya Genocide.

[BOG PERSON]

11. please link the specific post where you were unfairly critical of the president

i have never noticed your posts before so i must have overlooked it

[LittleBlue]

12. Perhaps we have criticized Bush a little too harshly

Saddam was gassing the Kurds, after all.

[darkangel218]

13. Do you have proof of that??

As far as I know , no WMD were found in Iraq.

Try again.

[LittleBlue]

14. Link

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halabja_poison_gas_attack

The man who perpetrated the attack was convicted and executed as a war criminal for it.

[darkangel218]

15. Ok, i stand corrected.

Thanks for the link.

I guess at the time I wasnt informed enough.

[LittleBlue]

16. It's alright

I barely remembered it myself.

And I can understand why you feel the way you do. It's just food for thought.

[Douglas Carpenter]

22. the use of chemical weapons and the suppression of the Shiites and Kurds under Saddam

was far, far more brutal than Assad. But somehow or other we managed to make matters worse. That is what usually happens when regimes collapse and the ancient quarrels between ethnic and religious minorities explode.

[nadinbrzezinski]

35. Don't forget the CIA participation in this

http://theweek.com/article/index/248745/how-the-us-helped-saddam-hussein-use-chemical-weapons-against-iran

The joke went before the war started that we knew that Sadam had them since we sold it to them.

[Douglas Carpenter]

20. do you understand what will likely happen if the Assad regime collapses and the rebels take power?

Christians to Beirut - Alawites to the grave

[darkangel218]

21. Ok, so what do you propose instead? do nothing?

[Douglas Carpenter]

23. I do not support making it worse - Military intervention will make it worse.

Make no mistake - if the Assad regime collapses we will see a bloodbath way beyond anything we have seen so far -

Here is one sensible approach that at least have possibility of making things better as opposed to the absolutely certainty of military intervention making thins worse:

Jimmy Carter calls for Syria peace summit

Source: Politico

Former President Jimmy Carter condemned possible chemical weapons attacks in Syria, but called for a “peace conference” and working with the United Nations, rather than using a military solution.

...

“It is imperative to determine the facts of the attack and present them to the public. Those responsible for the use of chemical weapons must bear personal responsibility,” Carter said in the statement. “The chemical attack should be a catalyst for redoubling efforts to convene a peace conference, to end hostilities, and urgently to find a political solution.”

The Carter Center urged against a military response to possible chemical weapons use without a U.N. mandate, saying the action would be “illegal under international law and unlikely to alter the course of the war.”

“Instead, all should seek to leverage the consensus among the entire international community, including Russia and Iran, condemning the use of chemical weapons in Syria and bringing under U.N. oversight the country’s stockpile of such weapons,” the center said in the statement.


Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2013/08/jimmy-carter-syria-peace-summit-96087.html?hp=l1_b4

[MNBrewer]

24. Genocide against whom?

[mike_c]

26. as long as he expresses his support verbally, and not with steel shards...

...I'm happy that he's getting it off his chest. But killing people? No.

[NaturalHigh]

28. So you're in favor of another war then?

How generous of you to compliment our president as he contemplates dropping bombs overseas. Oh, and never mind those innocent civilians that will comprise the "collateral damage." After all, if God cared about those people, they wouldn't have been in the wrong place, right?

Telling you what I think about you and your post would likely get me banned.

[darkangel218]

29. Consider the feeling mutual.

Civilian genocide doesn't matter, since is overseas?,

How particularly carrying of you.