re: U.S. considering using force to protect Syrian rebels hit by Russia

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I hate to say it, but there really are no good options left for the US in the Middle East at this point.

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when was the last time there were good options in the ME? WWII?

With oil being $44/bbl right now the Russian economy is hurting. Do you think they will do anything to drastically increase the price of oil? Surely that's a little bit of what they are working towards.

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So its not so much Syria, as its the surrounding countries, correct? I know you guys have probably already said that, but this is all a lot to take in.

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Syria itself is not a major oil producing country. Looks like they rank 68th worldwide just behind Papua New Guinea and in front of Belarus.

LINK

What's going on in the Middle East is not just about Syria. The Russians & Iranians joining with them is what's such a major concern. That and what this new alliance means for the stability of the region.


ETA: Earlier in this thread I laid out some of the very possible consequences of what could happen as a result of Russia being in Syria. Here it is again...

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I agree that ISIS needs to be taken out. I also agree Assad is not a good ally of the US. But let's be honest. Unless we want to risk direct war with Russia, Assad is not going anywhere. Russia is going to wipe out the rebels we support first, they've started that process already. And once they're done with that, they along with Iran and it's proxy Hezbollah, will turn their attention to wiping out ISIS in both Syria and Iraq.

And if I were a betting man, when it's all said and done, Iraq as we know it will either be totally wiped off the map, or at least will see some sort of partition with both Syria & Iran gaining at it's expense. This then leads to another question;

1. What will the effect of a Middle East dominated by a Russia, Syria, Iran Axis be on the world stage?

2. How will Saudi Arabia react to having on it's northern border a Iraq that's a puppet to a emboldened and very strong Iran backed by Russia and by them probably armed with nuclear weapons?

3. How will Jordan, a pretty good American ally, react to a reinvigorated Syria sitting on it's doorstep?

4. How will a much stronger Hezbollah, puppet of a much stronger Iran, act towards Israel? Already just this week it's been reported that Syria has given them enough tanks to equip it's own armored division so it's obvious Hezbollah is about to go through a massive expansion. Right now that expansion is to fight the enemies of Assad. Once that task is done, Hezbollah (and thus Iran) will once again turn it's attention to Israel. And I'm sure, when the time comes, Syria will be more than happy to repay their allies for the help they're giving them today.

So you see, like I said in my other post, giving Russia and it's allies a dominate role in the Middle East can and will have serious consequences. I'm not saying we need to risk war with Russia to stop it. I'm just pointing out that allowing Russia to have a free hand in the Middle East will probably not end up well for us either.

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But, didn't everyone say that Russia wasn't a power and couldn't field crap?

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It's like a lot of people seem to think it's still 1994.

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The Russians & Iranians joining with them is what's such a major concern. That and what this new alliance

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this alliance isn't new.

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I hate to say it, but there really are no good options left for the US in the Middle East at this point.

when was the last time there were good options in the ME? WWII?

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Honestly, I'd say WWI really. Actually, when things really started to take a turn for the worse for the US in the middle East was 1979 with fall of the Shah of Iran. LINK

Before then, things over there were manageable. Since then, it's been one long downhill slide.

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But, didn't everyone say that Russia wasn't a power and couldn't field crap?


It's like a lot of people seem to think it's still 1994.

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Don't we spend 100s of billions of dollars more on the military than Russia? Again, I could be way off base here, but if that's the fact, aren't they still ages behind us in military power?

We spend exponentially more because we pat our troops a lot more and pat for their health care and retirements. Not to mention that we pat to train every soldier 6 times a year that is bad to rape people and you shouldn't drink too much. We also spend a frick ton on modern barracks and movie theaters on base family benifits and countless other bullshite that doesn't actually increase our warfighting ability

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We spend exponentially more because we pat our troops a lot more and pat for their health care and retirements. Not to mention that we pat to train every soldier 6 times a year that is bad to rape people and you shouldn't drink too much. We also spend a frick ton on modern barracks and movie theaters on base family benifits and countless other bullshite that doesn't actually increase our warfighting ability

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All of this.

You're welcome. The bottom line to remember when it comes to Russia is they have aspirations of regaining the old Soviet Union's place in the world. They're rebuilding their military at an astonishing rate. They're hoping to once again exert their control over at least Eastern Europe. Basically, we are probably already in the opening phase of a new Cold War. The question now is how will we react and what will the consequences be of that reaction?