lol what a ****ing clown.

I saw the Taleb chart yesterday. I'm not so sure that Syria is nominally democratic and has favorable treatment of minorities and women.

Why is Assad slaughtering everyone? This is so depressing: so many awful, awful people. I can't comprehend raping, torturing and murdering anyone, let alone civilian children.

I think Taleb is a very smart individual and agree with him on most things though he does have a strong anti Saudi Arabia/Qatar/UAE/Bahrain angle.

Having said that, it still baffles me as to why the US aligns itself with Monarchies in the middle east with some of the worst human rights violations. Also, given the history of US backed regime topplings in the region, i cant help but think there is an element of more of the same in Syria.

The heavy funding of US think tanks and the infiltration of Western Media by the above Gulf States dont put me at ease either.

That said, the media on the other side is Russian backed and its not like they have a track record of journalistic integrity.

This is nothing new. 'We' could have prevented the Rwandan genocide and didn't. It's happened before, it'll happen again, etc, etc,

It's an interesting question. Surely the people dropping bombs don't all think they're monsters and surely they aren't all doing it because they think they will be killed or something if they don't. Probably even Assad doesn't think he's just doing it to hold on to a place of power and privilege.

They must think the victims are mostly terrorists, or supporters, that they deserve it, that they are a real danger to good people who meant no harm (his people) and that they would do something like kill all of his people or at least their way of life if they had the chance. And collateral damage.

So, pretty much the same as everyone who ever fought in war. I'd say, 'ever since Ghengis Khan' as the Mongolian Horde seemed pretty unapologetically just out for the loot, but even he had a theory about how people deserved it.

They align themselves t make sure to get pro-USA friendly policies through. It's easier to control a dictator/monarchy than a democratic country that will vote against the policies it wants. The people of these countries stay poor and have less power/influence to change things while the top gets super rich and happy to abide.

Basically USA control that they trade only with the US dollar, sell oil for dollars, accept USA miltary bases, buy weapons from them, other pro-usa corporate interests as well.

He is defending his country from mercenaries that are sent into his country that have taken over his cities and kill his people and trying to implement sharia law. These are brutal people.

The better question to ask is why are foreign governments backing "moderate rebels" who are paid brutal mercenaries who hate democracy and treat woman as slaves and basically set the world back 100s of years.

US foreign policy is a disaster for most countries. I recommend watching Oliver Stone's untold history of the united states on netflix to get an idea of whats happening.

Quelle surprise.

Most people in the west are quite happy to rationalize away similar atrocities. Collateral damage etc etc.

But I'd put it differently: Assad is a monster, whether he understands it or not. I can't empathize with such an evil bastard whatever justifications their might be. But most westerners are no better. Humanity is a disease.

Quelle surprise encore.

You are ignoring the element of extreme sadism his family seem to delight in. All the torture chambers and executions and other ****.

This is not only vile it is also counter-productive. It is very easy in the arab world to radicalize entire tribes with one single instance of brutality.

I feel like you deserve some kind of award for clarity in the face of such extreme misinformation.

I'm not saying Assad is a good person. But can you not say the same thing about most governments. The USA had its own torture program. I think its easy to single out a single government for political reasons.

What's the alternative Syria run by brutal terrorists like in Libya?

Yo Dan, you gonna poast any mea culpa for spreading Russian propaganda?

I agree with your equivalence of the US and Assad. I don't find either remotely acceptable.

That said, Assad was worse than Gaddhafi, who was worse than Castro, who was worse than Chavez. There's a point where you have to take tough measures to survive and there's a point where you wake up and your Stalin.

Please share with me why else would they would align themselves with Saudi Arabia. Where woman are treated like slaves and democracy does not exist.

I agree. That was my point, at least that some westerners at some times have essentially been in the same position.

I wouldn't go that far, and I'm taking that as a general sentiment, not something literal. Humans have competing instincts and feelings which drive people to protect and help others in some circumstances and to attack and hurt in other circumstances. We're not well adapted to interacting with people who we will never meet. Maybe it's civilization or society beyond a certain point which is a disease. I want to suggest that we need to learn to overcome some of our innate impulses, but that seems pretty hopeless.

I disagree. Gaddafi was not worse than Castro. I think Libya was doing quite better. His people had apartments, healthcare, educuation and electricity paid for.

But he didn't align his country with US foreign policy though. Openly talked about selling oil NOT for dollars, didn't accept US miltary bases, talked about making a gold backed middle eastern currency, didn't have a central bank controlled by them, didn't use western financing. USA would have no problem with Gaddafi if he just played ball like the Saudis and accepted USA hegemony.

To his credit, he spread it in the most ineffective way possible: hour long Youtoobz with no cliffs and no time stamps. I'd wager that max three suckers wasted time watching this.

Cuba had no homeless people, and had healthcare and education for all.

Yes.

I think you misunderstood me. I was agreeing with you and paying you a compliment. I compliment very few people.

Yeah you are right. I just mixed up the order. In fact you could make a case for saying he was actually better than Chavez on the grounds that Chavex was a bit naive on the economy. But I give it to Chavez on the grounds that he held free elections.

I agree the US's sole interest in Libya, and for that matter everything, is solely economic.

I'm a little surprised by the quality and intelligence on display here. It being a US-orientated poker forum I was expecting a lot more in the way of Trump supporter stuff.

What you wrote is pretty much how I feel when I'm in a good mood. Events of late have been pretty depressing politically.

Ahya, sorry about that. I misunderstood you. Thank you.