POWERFUL Thom Hartmann commentary: The US Needs to Stay out of Syria Civil War

[alp227]

From today's show: Thom Hartmann says that the US should not intervene in Syria because he thinks a country that compels intervention in its civil war cannot stand on its own. Thus, the US will leave Syria worse than before. Think about it: what if Canada intervened in the American Civil War?

[Vinnie From Indy]

1. I like Thom, but I quit listening after he offered

that the US won the Revolutionary War without any meaningful assistance from other countries. That is so wrong he should be embarassed. If it were not for the French navy, Washington would have never forced a surrender at Yorktown. He would have seen the British sailing away on the British ships sent to rescue Cornwallis that the French navy held at bay.

[Douglas Carpenter]

3. well yeah I think anyone familiar with the American War of Independence would have to agree that

without French naval power aggressively fighting on the side of the Americans along with all the additional assistance they provided - it is unlikely that the Americans could have defeated the might of the British Empire. However, in regards to Syria - I am certain Thom is right. We would be walking into a mess that we would regret.

[Ilsa]

4. Sometimes he gets a few things wrong,

and if confronted with facts, he'll back off on his opinion, unlike RW talk show hosts. I think he has a pretty good record overall.

[sulphurdunn]

9. I think he was referring

to French land forces. I tend to be of the opinion that even had the Brits shipped away from Yorktown, they would have called it quits. Even without the impact of the French navy, the cost of the war had become unsustainable and the Battle of Yorktown made it obviously unwinnable even tough they controlled the cities and won most of the battles.

[jjewell]

2. I agree with Thom...

The "governed" in EVERY country, ALWAYS outnumber, by a vast degree, the "governors". The suppressing military is ALWAYS comprised and composed of members of the same "governed". It is incumbent upon the "governed" to determine their "governance". If their own military sons, daughters and relatives are willing to fire upon them to preserve a corrupt government, I am so sorry, but so be it...

I feel bad saying this, but I believe it to be true. The US, beyond insisting that other external powers stay out, or remove themselves from the fray, should stay OUT of this, and allow the Syrians their OWN self determination...

The law of "unintended consequences" has not been revoked. This scenario is how we created Osama Bin Laden...

[newfie11]

5. I also agree with Tom

Look how well the Iraq and Afghanistan people fared from our help.

Where is the proof of Sarin
Gas?

This is just another weapons manufacturer's dream.

[dotymed]

6. Thom I agree with you

about a few things here.
1. We should stay out of Syria's civil war.

2. Intervention is a neo-con idea...it is totally supported by Bill Clinton.

I am an FDR Democrat. I no longer have a party. Bill Clinton (very likable) but his signing of NAFTA and help in deregulating the financial industry, IMO showed his true colors.

[B Stieg]

11. The problem with Bil (and, potentially, Hillary) is that...

... they are both adherents of "The Middle Way," the oddball mix of conservative economic "principles" and liberal social ideals based on Harold Macmillan's (conservative British PM) 1938 book of the same name.

[DhhD]

7. http://video.pbs.org/video/1099844054/

Frontline 2: 10 Trillion Dollars and Counting

Let us keep our money and build her in our country; we need new schools, bridges, etc.

[Dustlawyer]

8. K&R! We need to cut our military by at least half, then slowly decrease from there!

We can still have the worlds largest military and have roads, bridges, social programs. The problem is our government is run by the companies that make the killing machines, banks that want us to be their protectors for their overseas investments, and oil companies who want us to open up new, rich fields for them in other people's countries! They want our tax dollars to pay them to run things government should run. They all want our (99%) tax dollars to pay for them all of that shit while not being taxed themselves, and you know what? That's what they have now! Now they are spying on us to head off any opposition, such as OWS!
I will say it again, we need COMPLETE CAMPAIGN FINANCE REFORM (CCFR) to take back our government from the rich who own our politicians. Sounds like a far out conspiracy theory, but look at the evidence. 90% were in favor of background checks for assault weapons. Hell, we cannot get 90% of Americans to say they like apple pie! In the end the measure failed miserably because gun manufacturers said "No!" The $$$ talks people! It's more money than you can imagine!
Dig into BP and what they have done in the litigation from the oil spill and you will see how that kind of money buys so much influence and corrupts almost everything! They control the media, the Court, Plaintiffs Steering committee, politicians from local government to Washington D.C. This is just one multinational, now add in all other oil companies, Wall Street, Big Pharma, Insurance, ..., and see just what we are up against. Our system of campaign finance is the "ROOT CAUSE" of almost everything we get upset about at DU! Lets quit bitching about all of these other issues and put everything behind the fight to get CCFR passed! Publicly funded elections is the only way to return America to a Democracy instead of a Fascist state!

[sulphurdunn]

10. +100

No finance reform (both public and private), no change. No change means much, much more of the same and worse.

[jjewell]

12. The Iranian students, protesters and govt opposition...

didn't require outside assistance to overthrow the Shah's powerful, US backed government in 1979, and the Syrian govt opposition shouldn't need outside assistance now...

[jakeXT]

13. BBC was there in 53 in the 70's

http://eprints.soas.ac.uk/15701/1/The-BBC-Persian-Service-and-the-Islamic-Revolution-of-1979.pdf

The British government used the BBC Persian radio for advancing its propaganda against Mosaddegh and anti-Mosaddegh material were repeatedly aired on the radio channel to the extent that Iranian staff at the BBC Persian radio went on strike to protest the move.
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/1953_Iranian_coup_d'état