Are you concerned?

[Horus]

Much as i think we need to do something about Syria, I am a bit concerned about Trumps rhetoric. Making statements like “get ready Russia the missiles are coming” is to my mind a bit too provocative with the current tensions.

[Grandad]

I share your concern Horus. The man is irrational and unpredictable and his brash rhetoric could backfire very seriously. It has been said in the past that the next International war will start in the middle east and he could well be pushing in that direction.
The Syrian problem can only be resolved by diplomatic means AFTER Assads military has been neutralised. But, and this is a very big but, with Putin and Iran siding with Assad, action to destroy Assads military capability could be a trigger for something much larger.
I would like to give Putin credit for weighing up the situation more carefully than Trump seems capable of. Trump seems to make instant decisions without taking account of the consequences.
If Macron and May are to become jointly involved with Trump, there is a strong call for it to be debated in Parliament where the decision to join or not should be taken. The concern is tha May would use The Royal Prerogative to make that decision herself without reference to Parliament.
I think there needs to be some very careful deliberations in the coming weeks to avoid a major conflagration which I see as an increasing risk.

Blair was drawn in by Bush to go into Iraq. Look what a mess that was and still is.

[LovelyLadyLux]

Here Trumps response was not instantaneous. It did come after he consulted with his Generals cause there was a New Forecast briefing with him saying that and then some time after the tweet came.

[LovelyLadyLux]

Well it seems the USA might attack (gulp) soon.

The question is - Was Assad really the culprit behind the gas attacks? And really honestly really - what SHOULD be done about this?

Can we live with innocent women, children, seniors, non-combatants being attacked with chemicals?

[Horus]

I think the answer is no and Obama should have acted when he originally said he would respond to any chemical attack but he did not. Russia does seem to be flexing its muscles in the world and is blatant in its actions, I do not for one minute think that they are not involved in the nerve gas attack in the UK, they are assisting a mass murderer in Syria and they invade other countries. The problem in the UK is that we were seriously misled by Tony B-liar over Saddams chemical capabilities and that left a sour taste in many peoples mouths, it has also made our politicians look weak when crisis decisions need to be made. We do need to stand up to Russia, but I am not sure about the best way, I am sure that we could cripple their economy if everyone upheld the sanctions against them in the same way that Reagan made it clear that they would never compete with an American 'Star Wars' defence system if it went ahead. Whatever we do we must not back down out of fear of Russia, Putin is of the old school KGB and only understands threats and retaliation.

[Mad Dilys]

I remember how scared I was at the time of the Cuban Crisis. I was just out of my teens and didn't know how to cope with a serious situation out of my control.

I finally decided that if these were going to be my last days on earth, everything I did would be to the very best of my ability - being unselfish, helpful and trying not to do things I might regret even in the smallest way. ( It wasn't a permanent fix but did last a long time )

When the crisis was over, I decided that unless I could alter events myself, I'd just get on with my life and enjoy it while I can. I have happily had a lot longer than I expected. Al Hamdulillah

[LovelyLadyLux]

It was actually Obama who gave the Syrians "US Assault weapons" sooooo hard to say what those were or where they actually went.....

Not to sure there IS going to be an actual war right now but ?

Russians sure do seem to like Putin which I'm sure is feeding his feelings of conquering the world. Our Canadian leader has proven himself to be a "goof" on the world stage so I highly doubt we'll have any say or sway with anything.

[LovelyLadyLux]

Well the USA just announced it is going to strike Syria...........in response for the use of chemical weapons.

I surely surely surely hope this is not the start of the end.

[Mad Dilys]

Amen to that LLL

[Horus]

All done and dusted and the strikes have taken place, I doubt it will escalate any further unless Russia tries to complicate the situation, the main fallout will be political especially in the UK when that traitor Corbin starts whingeing in Parliament.

[LovelyLadyLux]

Well - done and over with and hopefully the strikes were accurate enough to actually HIT the bad guys (chemical plants, munitions, weapons caches etc) although am sure we'll all hear they only hit schools fully of kids and hospitals.

So far Russia went to the UN Security council and they've not granted or I should say rejected Russias request.

Now all those critical of the strike will come forward yet can we all sit and watch a Regime out of control continue to use chemicals on their own people? From what I've heard on the news Syria did launch missiles into the air but didn't actually hit anything. Russia has upped patrols but isn't doing anything (and I hope they don't)

Always these situations start with a 'no win' and then get worse.

All in all this strike does seem to be ONLY to wipe out facilities making chemical weapons and isn't geared to winning the war.

[Horus]

I see it as a rock and a hard place situation, if we ignored Russian involvement in assisting Assad to use banned weapons on his own people and then ignore their involvement in killing people with nerve agents on British soil, then I am afraid that the Russian bear will become more beligerant, at least this latest action may just make them think of future implications if they try it again. So we either stand up to them now or face a possibly greater threat if we ignore them and let it go unchallenged. Smack a bully on his nose and they often think twice before picking on you again.

[LovelyLadyLux]

Yeah - I'd actually forgot about the nerve agent attack you guys had.

I think Putin is quite a smart calculating man. He obviously loves his country but there is also that throw in into his personality where he can't be simply satisfied with Russia he wants more!

The world is between a rock and a hard place with this one. One really can't ignore what is going on but always a delicate matter when intervening in another country. Use of chemicals was clearly way over the line and for what it is worth I highly doubt this was the end of anything. I think 'we' are gonna be back.