like Joh Bjelke Peterson (RIP) of Queensland Australia fame did, he called the media his chooks and would throw his chooks some corn every now and them to give them something to squawk about.

well played the Donald. Given the sh1t the media have dumped on President Trump i hope this is the beginning of many "lets feed the chooks" news items ......kudos.

Well, let's just hope it's a lot of shouting and not much by way of intention eh? Middle Eastern countries and states have always been 'volatile' areas and one is inclined to say 'let them get on with it'. The ancients were no different but with their relatively primitive weapons the rest of the world was safe. Can't say that these days! But it isn't that simple and there is always someone ready to take advantage of such situations and another to oppose. The region being oil important I guess also has a bearing. The Iraq conflict certainly made me wary of what leaders were telling the public so have we a similar situation with Syria or does some 'power' want us to believe that? There is one thing for sure; If Russia and USA did got to war it would affect all of us.

Some troll posts trying to deflect the topic have been removed

They say we get the leaders we deserve. Looking at the key players in the Syrian drama this is hard to believe. You couldn't put a cigarette paper between Trump, Putin, Erdogan and Assad as examples of the very worst kind of people on the planet.

 

We should hand give of them a magnum .357 each, fully loaded, and tell them to settle their squabbles on their own.

 

More than enough lives have been destroyed already at the bidding of political egomaniacs on an endless power trips.

15 hours ago, Andaman Al said:

Taunting another military superpower like this is not only disgraceful to the office of the Commander in Chief it is crass, ridiculous and unprofessional. For this one tweet alone Trump shows how utterly unhinged he is and how quickly he needs to be removed from office. He has now endangered the lives of the servicemen and women out in the region, he has alienated ALL his allies , as NO other world leader will condone what/how he has communicated.

 

It is totally shameful that he is in command of the military and I am quite sure right now that every General, officer and enlisted man absolutely despises him for making them look so unprofessional and clownish.

 

Putin will be in hospital having broken ribs treated he will be laughing so much.

 

He treats this like a huge joke and many people will die and if it kicks off, many sons nd daughters of America could die. If the military were going to strike then they should just have done so, instead of this "watch out Russia get ready we are sending lots of missiles", as someone that did a career in the military the more I read what he has said the more unbelievable I find it.

 

wrong Andaman Al

he is doing the same as when the USA hit Syrian targets with missiles last time. He "warns" Russia of upcoming attack so they can remove Russian military personal from targets. This is so he can say Russian deaths are on Putin's head, warned well beforehand etc. Of course Russia will not remove personal as they did not last time either. So be it.

You are LUCKY to have Trump America. We in Australia have a gutless, self interested mob of Politicians running our country and just selling it hand over foot to China. They wont even complain when China tries to setup a military base on Vanuatu right off our coast!

Russia, Get Ready! More like a 10 year old, my daddy has a bigger one, than your daddy! Trumps biggest fear, is Hair Spray will be banned!  

Has Trump given Putin advance notice of the targets yet?

23 minutes ago, Chomper Higgot said:

Has Trump given Putin advance notice of the targets yet?

Here's a quote from Trump addressed to Obama in 2013:

 “No, dopey, I would not go into Syria,” Mr. Trump wrote on Twitter in 2013 when Mr. Obama was considering a strike of his own in retaliation for a chemical attack on civilians, “but if I did it would be by surprise and not blurted all over the media like fools.”

By the way, to all Trump supporters who bridle at Trump being addressed disrespectfully, note how Trump addressed Obama here.

Edited April 12, 20188 yr by bristolboy

8 minutes ago, Chomper Higgot said:

Has Trump given Putin advance notice of the targets yet?

I really hope he has. Killing hundreds of Russian soldiers would be bad for world peace.

1 hour ago, bristolboy said:

So the US opposes the Assad regime because is defying the international banking system. promotes green policies, and rules a nation with important reserves of oil and gas? 

What do you think, because he is a dictator? The US has always been supportive of dictators, see South America and Africa.

Edited April 12, 20188 yr by FritsSikkink

Nice a nuclear war because of a clown in the WH:

 

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/russia-prepares-for-nuclear-war-with-us/ar-AAvNhJP?ocid=spartandhp

2 minutes ago, FritsSikkink said:

What do you think, because he is a dictator? The US has always been supportive of dictators, see South America.

There might possibly be other reasons having absolutely nothing to do with the ones you cited or the one I didn't cite, that Assad is a dictator.  Not saying that the reasons are sensible, morally sound, or practicable.

Syrian Air Force has been dispersed to main Russian bases with A400 defences.

 

Hard to see how Delta Tango can win this. If he's bluffing, he will look a complete <deleted>

 

If he causes significant damage to Russian assets, look out for retaliation. Anywhere.

38 minutes ago, FritsSikkink said:

Nice a nuclear war because of a clown in the WH:

 

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/russia-prepares-for-nuclear-war-with-us/ar-AAvNhJP?ocid=spartandhp

Well, Russia supported the dividing forces in the west in order to weaken the western countries.

 

They succeeded well. Managed to push alt-right and alt-left forces to go against EU in Britain. They succeeded to give the division to USA in the form of Trump. Well done Russia, well done. 

 

But as so often, Putin and many others are a great tacticians, but they lacks the capacity to think strategically. Wounded west is not going surrender, but will fight back..

 

The results are often better if there are solid leaders leading the nuclear countries. Now there is a stupid manchild leading the USA and his actions can be frantic as the tensions grow further. 

In case of nuclear war, remember to buy some bleach to purify your drinking water. There is no societies nor countries left if the full scale war breaks out. Fun times, so fun times... or perhaps not.

Well, tactically, now would be the perfect time for Putin to release the pee pee tapes and see how Trump copes with a total meltdown in his support base (and before anyone cries "that's fake news" - if Steel put it in his dossier you can bet the shirt on your back that it's true).

 

We can round down the times of the missile launch quite accurately I think. Trump won't schedule them if they interrupt his evening TV viewing, or at a weekend if it disturbs golf time,  so they are likely to start when Fox and Friends come on air so he can get the coverage from there during "executive time".

 

Only another 30 mins to an hour before we can expect Trumps next cluster-tweet. Popcorn time.

1 hour ago, Andaman Al said:

Only another 30 mins to an hour before we can expect Trumps next cluster-tweet. Popcorn time.

And as if by magic 45 mins later

 

 

He is so childish it is breathtaking to watch. How can anyone in particular world leaders trust anything that comes out of this manchild's mouth?

4 hours ago, bristolboy said:

So the US opposes the Assad regime because is defying the international banking system. promotes green policies, and rules a nation with important reserves of oil and gas? 

Here a former British ambassador in Syria picking the chemical story apart:

 

 

22 hours ago, Get Real said:

Let them fix their own probs!

This is about Trump and Putin.  Syria is the setting and the two manic arrogant egomaniacs are strutting around bloviating.  This is a dangerous game because both of them are stupid enough to take this to the next stage.

Why don't they just battle it out will water guns the civilized way ?

My main worry is that Britain get's drawn into this spat out of some sort of misguided "alliance" with the USA.  May is having a cabinet meeting today to decide on what action is taken but will NOT seek the approval of parliament.  She doesn't have to but given we are talking about Theresa May and Johnson (foreign secretary) and the lunatic over the pond, I for one, have grave concerns.

1 hour ago, FritsSikkink said:

Here a former British ambassador in Syria picking the chemical story apart:

 

 

I have to agree with that measured, rational assessment. Alternative scenarios are possible but far less credible. Macron has apparently just said that he has proof that the Syrian govt did it - but he didn't say what his proof is. The allies are doing a terrible job of responding to this and I long ago lost confidence in their ability to make a single correct step in Syria.

4 hours ago, FritsSikkink said:

Nice a nuclear war because of a clown in the WH:

 

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/russia-prepares-for-nuclear-war-with-us/ar-AAvNhJP?ocid=spartandhp

 

More like RT, a Russian government owned media outlet engaged in propaganda and scaremongering. I'm sure they'll appreciate the help.

An off topic post has been removed as well as a reply. 

4 hours ago, Andaman Al said:

Well, tactically, now would be the perfect time for Putin to release the pee pee tapes and see how Trump copes with a total meltdown in his support base (and before anyone cries "that's fake news" - if Steel put it in his dossier you can bet the shirt on your back that it's true).

Maybe not a good move tactically.  I think he should keep that one in his back pocket.  Being toe to toe with Trump is what Putin seems to want at the moment.

2 hours ago, FritsSikkink said:

Here a former British ambassador in Syria picking the chemical story apart:

 

 

 

Here's a wee bit more on Peter Ford:

 

Quote

A former British ambassador to Syria who appeared on the BBC to defend the Assad regime had already become a director of a lobby group run by the dictator’s father in law.

 

Peter Ford, 59, courted controversy this month by claiming that President Bashar al-Assad would not have carried out the chemical gas attack on his own people.

 

Now the Telegraph can reveal that just weeks before the April 4 attack  Mr Ford had become a director of the controversial British Syrian Society.

Former UK ambassador linked to Assad lobby group

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/04/22/former-uk-ambassador-linked-to-assad-lobby-group/

 

And the fine organization mentioned:

 

British Syrian Society

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Syrian_Society

 

 

48 minutes ago, CharlesSwann said:

I have to agree with that measured, rational assessment. Alternative scenarios are possible but far less credible. Macron has apparently just said that he has proof that the Syrian govt did it - but he didn't say what his proof is. The allies are doing a terrible job of responding to this and I long ago lost confidence in their ability to make a single correct step in Syria.

 

Less then a day ago it was feigning  "I don't know", now shifting gears to the usual anti-Western stance.

 

4 hours ago, Grouse said:

Syrian Air Force has been dispersed to main Russian bases with A400 defences.

 

Hard to see how Delta Tango can win this. If he's bluffing, he will look a complete <deleted>

 

If he causes significant damage to Russian assets, look out for retaliation. Anywhere.

 

I don't think them airbases can accommodate all the Syrian air force's aircraft. I think less to do with air defense, more with using the Russian presence as a shield, hedging the US will be reluctant to see Russian casualties. Sort of a "human shield" scenario there.

 

As for "winning" - would depend what counts as a "win" and by whom. If anything, Trump exhibited a spectacular capability of announcing things a success regardless of facts or his personal involvement. Can't see how this one would be any different. And yes, his hardcore voter base will lap it up. 

 

Considering his latest (I think....) tweet, he's already preparing an exit strategy (aka excuse).

brit polls on sky say keep out of this messy situation .let them sort it .why risk WW3 for those that have been killing each other since biblical times

25 minutes ago, 3NUMBAS said:

brit polls on sky say keep out of this messy situation .let them sort it .why risk WW3 for those that have been killing each other since biblical times

You mean the Americans and the Russians?

38 minutes ago, 3NUMBAS said:

brit polls on sky say keep out of this messy situation .let them sort it .why risk WW3 for those that have been killing each other since biblical times

 

The poll cited gives somewhat more nuanced results.

 

 

Quote

Asked in general about UK military action in response to the alleged chemical attack in Syria, 36% support it and 37% oppose it - 9% answer neither, 18% don't know.

 

But asked if they would support military action if it results in conflict with Russia, opposition rises to 48% and support falls to 28%, with 10% answering neither, 13% don't know.

Poll: Britons baulk at conflict with Russia over Syria

https://news.sky.com/story/poll-britons-baulk-at-conflict-with-russia-over-syria-11326620

 

As for "been killing each other since biblical times" - eh?

Edited April 12, 20188 yr by Morch

Syria 'chemical attack': France's President Macron 'has proof'

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-43740626