General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsOK, so we're going to war and we're going to depose Assad. What happens after that?
For that matter what happens when it starts? And yes, we know with a fairly strong degree of certitude that it's going to happen:
Syria crisis: warplanes spotted in Cyprus as tensions rise in Damascus
Warplanes and military transporters have begun arriving at Britain's Akrotiri airbase on Cyprus, less than 100 miles from the Syrian coast, in a sign of increasing preparations for a military strike against the Assad regime in Syria.
Two commercial pilots who regularly fly from Larnaca on Monday told the Guardian that they had seen C-130 transport planes from their cockpit windows as well as small formations of fighter jets on their radar screens, which they believe had flown from Europe.
Residents near the British airfield, a sovereign base since 1960, also say activity there has been much higher than normal over the past 48 hours.
If an order to attack targets in Syria is given, Cyprus is likely to be a hub of the air campaign. The arrival of warplanes suggests that advanced readiness at the very least has been ordered by Whitehall as David Cameron, Barack Obama and European leaders step up their rhetoric against Bashar al-Assad, whose armed forces they accuse of carrying out the chemical weapons attack last Wednesday that killed many hundreds in eastern Damascus.
<snip>
(this is a really informative article and includes what military strikes could look like)
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/aug/26/syria-warplanes-cyprus-tensions-damascus
Who takes power? The rebels are disparate groups and they already fight among themselves. The Free Syrian Army isn't exactly besties with Jabhat al Nusra.
Assad is threatening to attack Israel if the U.S. and allies attack his forces. Does H'zbollah get even more in on the action?
If you think attacking Syria is a good idea, you might want to mull over what happens after we kick Assad to the curb and ponder the very real possibility that things could get worse. A lot worse.
RobertEarl
(13,685 posts)Just like PNAC has planned.
And Saudi Arabia gets to stay a monarchy while they abuse their women.
WW3 looks closer than ever. Good job, Obama.
Jackpine Radical
(45,274 posts)We attack Syria, Iran blusters & maybe takes a couple of shots at Israel, then we go into Iran. Iran gets arms from Russia
Iran won't be a cakewalk like Cheney told us Iraq would be.
railsback
(1,881 posts)which they've built to power the entire country.
You must really think these people are complete idiots.
GeorgeGist
(25,294 posts)Art_from_Ark
(27,247 posts)Catherina
(35,568 posts)Iran has US Surrounded, All Right
Posted on 12/12/2011 by Juan Cole
From Democratic Underground:
Each star is a US base. But just to be clear, Iran is the one that is threatening us.
http://www.juancole.com/2011/12/iran-has-us-surrounded-all-right.html
PowerToThePeople
(9,610 posts)cali
(114,904 posts)It's going to happen. Kerry signaled that today. So did the White House briefing. They've been building up forces to conduct an attack.
KittyWampus
(55,894 posts)Assad, or a war, or an invasion.
cali
(114,904 posts)is blind or not very smart.
GeorgeGist
(25,294 posts)like a military takeover is not a coup.
PowerToThePeople
(9,610 posts)I was being a little snarky. That phrase was said more than any other thing in the briefing today.
Fumesucker
(45,851 posts)Luminous Animal
(27,310 posts)HooptieWagon
(17,064 posts).... are operating on a knee-jerk emotional response. Neither side in the conflict is our friend....they are all "bad guys". And its quite possible we will make the situation worse. A strike on Syria could drag the whole region into war...is Obama prepared to do that, even putting boots on the ground? It will be another quagmire....possibly bigger and longer-lasting than the ones Bush got us in to.
KittyWampus
(55,894 posts)Cali_Democrat
(30,439 posts)Thanks Obama!!
See upthread.
JI7
(89,173 posts)trof
(54,255 posts)Was it "The Iraqi Blues"?
Or "The Pottery Barn Rag"?
Yeah, I'm pretty sure I've heard this song before.
Or maybe just another verse to the same song?
Art_from_Ark
(27,247 posts)at a long ago and faraway place called Woodstock
Autumn
(44,748 posts)Seriously, I don't have a clue. I just know that we have been down this road before and it sickens me.
cali
(114,904 posts)KittyWampus
(55,894 posts)cali
(114,904 posts)the result of attacking syria will almost certainly mean the end of Assad.
Arctic Dave
(13,812 posts)If the US does bomb, expect a significant amount of weaponry to show up in Syria. Not to mention years of sabotage and blowback.
New and improved capabilities to flatten anything held by insurgents.
Xithras
(16,191 posts)No need to speculate. The rebels own popular slogans reveal their intentions.
Victory will be followed by genocide and ethnic cleansing. The Islamists who now dominate the insurgency have already demonstrated how they intend to lead as well. Women will be forced to cover themselves. Minority religious sites will be destroyed. Gays will be beaten.
The Syrian civil war can be summed up as "right wing religious authoritarians vs. fascist authoritarians". We're apparently standing on the side of the religious authoritarians.
City Lights
(25,171 posts)mysuzuki2
(3,521 posts)We have seen in Iraq and Afghanistan that throwing the bad guy out is the easy part. Putting something better in it's place is a lot harder. I see no way that US military intervention in Syria will have a positive outcome.
JI7
(89,173 posts)customerserviceguy
(25,183 posts)Various factions will spend years fighting to be the top of the heap, and while they may not use chemical weapons, they'll be happy to kill civilians of any age with more conventional weapons.