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- - Syria (https://britishexpats.com/forum/trailer-park-96/syria-807358/)

Well I think the strategy is indeed avoidance of unilateral action and that's why Kerry is working on a coalition.

Presumably of the unwilling.

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Originally Posted by Boiler (Post 11390609)

Presumably of the unwilling.

It usually seems to end up as "the coalition of (the US plus) one". :rolleyes:

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Originally Posted by Pulaski (Post 11390631)

It usually seems to end up as "the coalition of (the US plus) one". :rolleyes:

:nod::nod::nod:

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Originally Posted by Hotscot (Post 11390584)

Well...it's not like Obama himself comes up with the strategy.

No, but I suppose he has to go to the Pentagon guys and say hey we need a strategy that doesn't make things worse or get us involved in another hopeless war. I'll give him credit for not instantly wading in on this one.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pulaski (Post 11390631)

It usually seems to end up as "the coalition of (the US plus) one". :rolleyes:

Israel? It is interesting that ISIS has not moved against Israel yet. I read somewhere that apparently "hypocrites" come before "heretics". i.e. muslims who have followed the wrong path get it before those that were never muslims.

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Originally Posted by sir_eccles (Post 11390862)

They can not move against Israel till they move out of Northern Syria. Then there is the whole Golan Heights thing. They'd probably want to be in Jordan before Israel.

Saudi before either.

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Originally Posted by Boiler (Post 11390888)

Saudi before either.

Talking of which, I see Saudi rounded up 88 "terrorists" yesterday. I doubt the Saudis are going to mess around and I foresee some ISIS style justice being meted out. :unsure:

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pulaski (Post 11390631)

It usually seems to end up as "the coalition of (the US plus) one". :rolleyes:

Are you guys girding your loins? :)

Pete

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Originally Posted by Pulaski (Post 10881128)

No, there are several errors in your understanding/ analysis. Assad, his family and cronies are Alawites, an esoteric offshoot of Shia Islam, so aside from backing the Shiite Hezbollah, the Alawites would tend to be allies of Shiite Iran. In summary Iran, Hezbollah, and the Assad regime are all Shiite, or an offshoot of Shiism.

The large majority (about three quarters) of Syrians are Sunnies, so in any roughly democratic Syria, the country's overall religious leaning would be Sunni Muslim, and therefore opposed to both Iran and Hezbollah, so Iran has a strong interest in opposing the overthrow of the Assad regime.

Reading that post reminded me of a keg of beer I once brewed for a party in 2003 shortly after our invasion of Iraq. It was an IPA, so I decided to call it Iraqi Pale Ale, with the tag line of "it's shia beer, but it's not shiite!". Tasted great, and I'm sure a few Tommies in southern Iraq might have fancied a pint of it at the time.