Dilbert_X wrote:
FEOS wrote:
No reports on any collateral damage on the news last night. Of course any dead or injured non-combatants is horrible.
It was in the article referenced in the OP, try to keep up, and as far as I am aware Syria and the US aren't at war so all the dead are likely to be non-combatants. Strange that didn't occur to our resident Geneva Convention expert.
I'm sorry. I thought you had said four children were killed...not that Syria claimed four children had been killed. I assumed there was new information corroborating what media had reported as the Syrian party line. But you take what they say as the gospel...so long as it reflects negatively on the US. Should've seen that coming.
Whether or not two nations are at war has no bearing on the combatant or non-combatant categorization. But being a GC expert, you should know that already. Probably just testing me or something, right?
BTW, to you, Aussie, and GTT: I clearly stated "on the news last night" in my initial response. Should've made it pretty clear, but I guess you all "only read what you choose to".
Dilbert_X wrote:
FEOS wrote:
Not all of Syria's (or the US's) policy decisions in the ME are (or will be) hinged on this one incident. It won't prevent Asad from talking with Israel. It won't prevent Syria from establishing diplomatic ties with Lebanon (which it still dominates both politically and militarily, though not directly).
Uh huh and what would the US attitude have been if the Syrian govt had sent soldiers into the US and killed a bunch of civilians building a house?
All the US policy decisions in the ME have hinged on one incident, why shouldn't the Syrians do the same?
And do you know that it was a bunch of civilians building a house? Of course you don't...you only have what Syria says was there. Kind of like all those "wedding parties" where dozens of insurgents get taken out by airstrikes. All that talk of dozens of civilians being killed kind of goes away when they can't produce any evidence, doesn't it?
Just keep buying the other sides' propaganda right off the bat. Don't bother to wait and see what comes out of the investigations. As always, innocent until proven guilty for everyone but the US on BF2S.
Dilbert_X wrote:
FEOS wrote:
And clearly they haven't done enough to stem the flow of militants into Iraq, or the action wouldn't have been needed.
If thats true then thats something to be dealt with through diplomacy, not helicopter gunships.
And its not up to nations to prevent people travelling through them.
And what do you think has been done over the past 5 years? And what has Syria done about it? The square root of fuckall, that's what. Hence the SOF mission.
And it is
completely up to a nation to police its borders, both inbound and outbound.
CamPoe wrote:
ATG wrote:
Rather smug of you to assume that our leadership did not consult directly with the leadership of the other nation before we attacked.
Well the Syrian government press releases seem to suggest they didn't.
"If [the US has] any proof of any insurgency, instead of applying the law of the jungle and penetrating, unprovoked, a sovereign country, they should come to the Syrians first and share this information," he [Syria's press attache in London, Jihad Makdissi] said.
Rather naive of you to assume that the Syrian government would publicly admit to allowing the US to hit a target in their country.