Massive use of chemical weapons in Syria, 1,429 killed including 426 children

[lustindarkness]

So if this report about the chemical weapons unit commander carrying out the strike without authorization from his superior/Syrian defence ministry is true what might have been the cause ? 

A fuck-up, intentional decision by commander to up the ante, perhaps he was bribed to do it ?

There is a reason why we don't give ground commanders access to chemical or nuclear weapons.  Sounds like a bullshit excuse.  If they provided the commanders with nerve gas they can't go back and say "wasn't our fault, he didn't put in the paper work to use them".

It does sound like a bullshit excuse, but I wouldn't dismiss it so easily. Assad doesn't keep chemical weapons in his backyard, just as Obama doesn't keep them in the White House. Aspects of the military have the weapons. If a part of those aspects go rouge, then I think some questions are worth asking:
--will firing cruise missiles result in regime change, and will the group or groups that get power of the stockpiles be able to exercise better command and control?
--if the regime collapses as a result of firing missiles, will the groups that fill the void respect human rights and the norms of war?
--if we fire cruise missiles and the regime endures, will the firing of cruise missiles lead to a further breakdown in command and control that allowed the use of chemical weapons in the first place?

And that is why I think we should just nuke 'em. Nuke 'em all.

[alfred russel]

You've been watching too much Canadian football Fredo. 

I don't know what that means.

I also don't know what good is going to come from a few missiles fired into Syria, which is the point I was trying to make.

[Ed Anger]

You've been watching too much Canadian football Fredo. 

I don't know what that means.

I also don't know what good is going to come from a few missiles fired into Syria, which is the point I was trying to make.

Nothing. Except for my muder boner to grow.

[CountDeMoney]

It does sound like a bullshit excuse, but I wouldn't dismiss it so easily. Assad doesn't keep chemical weapons in his backyard, just as Obama doesn't keep them in the White House. Aspects of the military have the weapons. If a part of those aspects go rouge, then I think some questions are worth asking:
--will firing cruise missiles result in regime change, and will the group or groups that get power of the stockpiles be able to exercise better command and control?
--if the regime collapses as a result of firing missiles, will the groups that fill the void respect human rights and the norms of war?
--if we fire cruise missiles and the regime endures, will the firing of cruise missiles lead to a further breakdown in command and control that allowed the use of chemical weapons in the first place?

You're really overrating the effectiveness of cruise missile volleys--particularly when, since the establishment of their use as a policy device, none of the above has ever occurred in limited, mission-specific and proportionate-response strikes.

[alfred russel]

You're really overrating the effectiveness of cruise missile volleys--particularly when, since the establishment of their use as a policy device, none of the above has ever occurred in limited, mission-specific and proportionate-response strikes.

So we fire a bunch of really expensive missiles that don't do accomplish anything other than blowing up Ahmet and his family because they live next to some general (who has spent the last few days moving underground). Super.

[Admiral Yi]

I don't know what that means.

Rouge/rogue.

[mongers]

I think the 'publicity' about a cruise missile package is being overplayed, I wouldn't be surprised if it were actually a good bit more than just the advertised 100 missiles.

Perhaps something that tips momentum back in favour of the rebels?

I seems a bit odd to be apparently telegraphing so clearly the scope and nature of the attack beforehand to the Syrian government.

[CountDeMoney]

So we fire a bunch of really expensive missiles that don't do accomplish anything other than blowing up Ahmet and his family because they live next to some general (who has spent the last few days moving underground). Super.

You act like this is some sort of new new development in US foreign policy.

[Admiral Yi]

I seems a bit odd to be apparently telegraphing so clearly the scope and nature of the attack beforehand to the Syrian government.

Obama never, ever, ever does anything without first running the it up the flag pole.

[alfred russel]

I don't know what that means.

Rouge/rogue.

Got it. 

[mongers]

I seems a bit odd to be apparently telegraphing so clearly the scope and nature of the attack beforehand to the Syrian government.

Obama never, ever, ever does anything without first running the it up the flag pole.

Well that doesn't make for the most effective military strategy.

[alfred russel]

I seems a bit odd to be apparently telegraphing so clearly the scope and nature of the attack beforehand to the Syrian government.

Obama never, ever, ever does anything without first running the it up the flag pole.

Well that doesn't make for the most effective military strategy.

If we are really only going to toss a handful of missiles Syrias way and then move on, I doubt this is about accomplishing anything militarily. This would be about doing the minimum possible to go on record as responding after chemical weapons were used, and responding when your red line was crossed.

[CountDeMoney]

I seems a bit odd to be apparently telegraphing so clearly the scope and nature of the attack beforehand to the Syrian government.

On the other hand, it would be beneficial to know exactly what the Syrians are doing tactically in the face of a possible attack, if only to know what their contingencies are in the event that future attacks are required on particular assets; not to mention the longer they're on alert, the more fried they'll be.  But that all depends on precisely how well things are being monitored on the ground, and we just don't know.

I personally don't like the advanced you-know-we're-gonna-do-it stuff either, but that's sorta like Ohio State telling Baldwin Wallace U that they plan on running the ball.  Now they know, but there's not like there's a whole hell of a lot they can do about it.

[derspiess]

I seems a bit odd to be apparently telegraphing so clearly the scope and nature of the attack beforehand to the Syrian government.

Obama never, ever, ever does anything without first running the it up the flag pole.

He's at least a little less deliberate about it than Clinton was.  He wouldn't take a dump without holding a couple focus groups and doing some opinion polls.

[CountDeMoney]

He's at least a little less deliberate about it than Clinton was.  He wouldn't take a dump without holding a couple focus groups and doing some opinion polls.

I don't recall any opinion polls on Bosnia, Kosovo, Afghanistan, Sudan or Iraq'93, '96, or '98.  Silly derhyperbole.