What to do with Assad?

[omega3]

So there are alot of UN reports (so not only US propaganda) that point out Assad has been killing millions of innocent people over the years. On the other hand taking him out would allow ISIS to take over like in Iraq. So what is the best way of dealing with the Syria situation then?

 

[compuwiz1]

With surgical precision. He should cherish his days, for he is not long for this world

 

[pauldun170]

How was the estimate of millions of innocent people arrived at?
You should put relevant links in your post.

You say "Assad has been killing millions of innocent people" but prvide nothing else.
Pre-civil war? Just post civil war? What data defines innocent vs combatant?


For example lets say we were talking about the Unitied States, and the posted stated "The United States has been killing millions of people in the middle east,
You would then toss in a couple of links
https://www.commondreams.org/news/2...least-13-million-lives-lost-us-led-war-terror
http://www.psr.org/assets/pdfs/body-count.pdf
http://www.globalresearch.ca/us-has...-37-victim-nations-since-world-war-ii/5492051
https://www.statista.com/statistics/269729/documented-civilian-deaths-in-iraq-war-since-2003/

Then we could have a more informed discussion.

 

[pauldun170]

Option 1
The best way to deal with Syria is stop trying to destabilize Syria and oust Assad and to let Iran, Russia and Assad do what they need to do to stabilize the country. Discretely put pressure on the other dickwads countries fighting the proxy war to stop funneling weapons and cash to the dozens of factions trying to ruin Assads day.
Once Syria is stabilized to a point where Assad has control, privately explain to him that he will be leaving one way or another and that a really nice, out of the way and private mansions awaits him in Iran or Rusia or maybe just a coffin at the hands of someone else. hen he says no, say lolz and walk away.

Option 2
Keep bombing everywhere we think Assad is, civilians be damned until we kill him. Have T-shirts made that say "US is great world saver!! Mission accomplished!!) Hold up big shiny object to distract everyone when Syria as civil war continues and various "Islamic brotherhood of Islamic stuff" factions try and take over the place. Work with other players to put former company CEO or soccer player in power for a token puppet government (We use rock paper scissors to decide). Spend next 10 years ignoring bombings and strife in country and use it too justify War on terror stuff.

Option 3
Break up Syria under Assads nose.
Let the Kurds have northern Syria (until turkey say 'nah son!!!" and creates a new headache)
Israel Jordan get a little border buffer. Watch Israel say "dats mine" to whatever they want after we tell them "chill bro. Don't touch that because you are going to give everybody a headache if you grab more land"
That whole western party of Syria will be retained for usage by the United States, Iraq...etc etc for showing off all our cool new weapons with a 20 year lease.
Then watch as Russia and Assad go broke. Laugh from a distance until civil war starts up again.

Option 4
Under the banner of some country song with an American flag and and eagle. Do some troop supporting war stuff and invade the country after providing Russia with a valet ticket for their dinky little base.
Mission accomplish our way to defeating Assad and ISIL and thanks troops for their service as we send them there for next 15 years for "War on terror".
Blame democrats for national debt and clearly state that spending trillions on entitlement programs is wasteful when we have critical need to fight civil wars for other people

 

[FIVR]

As punishment, and in the tradition of Fetuleh Gulen I vote he gets to move into exile in northern Florida.

 

[FIVR]

So there are alot of UN reports (so not only US propaganda) that point out Assad has been killing millions of innocent people over the years. On the other hand taking him out would allow ISIS to take over like in Iraq. So what is the best way of dealing with the Syria situation then?

The current tally for deaths in the SCW is still around 600,000. Even if you somehow attribute all of those to Assad, it's still way under "millions of innocent people".


The US killed some 1-2k civilians in the last month in Iraq and Syria. That's actually about 20x what third party humanitarian groups think Assad did in the same period.

I urge you to read reputable (NOT CNN/BBC/FOX) sources on the SCW. You will have to look hard to find such material, but the raw intelligence is out there if you want to take the time to parse it.

 

[theeedude]

Nothing. It's not our problem, except that we helped create it by aiding the rebels and fueling the civil war.

 

[cytg111]

I think we underestimate the geopolitical prospects here. Russia, India, Pakistan, Israel, China, ~Iran and ~Syria is cooking too.
Like putting automatic rifles in the hands of illiterate african tribes, parts of this world is not ready for the responsibility of nuclear technologies. Either we reason with these borderline countries or ...

 

[UNCjigga]

Well it sounds like Trump and Nicki Haley have a plan to present to the Security Council this week.

/Pulls up lawn chair, puts a sixer in the fridge...

 

[BoomerD]

Why do you think we should "do" anything with him?

Yes, he is apparently a brutal, barbarous ruler...but it's not OUR country, not OUR people affected...and, dammit, removing a similar ruler worked out so fucking well in Iraq...

 

[ch33zw1z]

I dunno, how about we MAGA and get our noses out of their business.

Wasn't that the sales pitch we just bought?

 

[theeedude]

MAGA = Make Arabia Great Again?

 

[Jaskalas]

As some nice posters have pointed out for us, Syria has lost half a million people. The alternative risks losing even more.
Going to war to "save lives" sounds nice... but if, in practice, your war costs many more lives... why did you bother?
Iraq clearly showed that the United States has no clue how to accomplish such a task neatly, and cleanly.
In effect, we have no option to use force that will save lives in Syria.

So then we ask "what option yields the fewest casualties"? I am open to suggestions, but we must be prepared to accept a possibility that letting Assad win might be the answer. If saving lives is your primary concern. Anything short of stability is just going to endlessly take more.

What is the fastest / most effective way to stabilize Syria? I doubt it is regime change.

 

[Sonikku]

As punishment, and in the tradition of Fetuleh Gulen I vote he gets to move into exile in northern Florida.

I have no love of Assad, but that's pretty harsh even for this guy.

 

[Moonbeam]

If and when really annoying ads get to me I'll probably use Adblock.

 

[Ajay]

Option 4
Break up Syria under Assads nose.
Let the Kurds have northern Syria (until turkey say 'nah son!!!" and creates a new headache)
Israel Jordan get a little border buffer. Watch Israel say "dats mine" to whatever they want after we tell them "chill bro. Don't touch that because you are going to give everybody a headache if you grab more land"
That whole western party of Syria will be retained for usage by the United States, Iraq...etc etc for showing off all our cool new weapons with a 20 year lease.
Then watch as Russia and Assad go broke. Laugh from a distance until civil war starts up again.

Thoughtful post. Something like Option 4 is the best one for the U.S. geopolitically. Of course, Turkey is a linchpin state for the west (NATO), and is more important in many ways than even Israel. With Erdoğan aiming to become mini Ottoman Emperor, and increasing populating growth, and a deep historical hatred for the Kurds, etc., offending Turkey is fraught with risk as you indicated. So, dealing with Syria isn't exactly a win-win situation for the U.S. But as one of the few countries in the world that is able to act and lead, it will probably fall to us to do *something*.

Hopefully, we can learn reverse the implosion of deep strategic thinking that has infected America past Bush 41. Has that not happened, we may have been prepared to deal with the Syrian crisis before it took the lives of more than 1/2 a million ppl and displaced million more.