The Conservative Cave
Current Events => General Discussion => Topic started by: Ptarmigan on March 01, 2018, 10:13:52 PM
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Americans and Russians Fought a Battle in Syria — It’s Time to Care
https://www.nationalreview.com/2018/02/us-russia-syria-implication-serious/
One of the interesting aspects of the Trump era is the extent to which our political culture is obsessing over marginalia while truly significant events transpire largely out of sight and out of mind. For example, late last year the Iraqi government announced the defeat of the ISIS caliphate within Iraqi borders — a significant moment, no doubt — but that same day Donald Trump got in a Twitter spat with the Washington Post’s Dave Weigel over the crowd size at a Pensacola rally. Guess which event got more coverage?
Part of this dynamic, of course, is the president’s fault. He should have trumpeted the allied victory and charted the road ahead. The caliphate was in ruins, but ISIS still exists. Where do we go from here? And part of this is the media’s fault. It’s just easier to follow the president’s lead. After all, that’s where the clicks are. It’s harder to look at the world and discern which stories truly matter.
And that brings me to one of the most momentous mysteries of the new year. Did American and Russian forces just engage in a deadly clash in Syria, and was that clash the direct result of a Putin-approved effort to test American defenses? While Americans were arguing over Russian Facebook posts, did American air power and artillery leave up to 300 Russians dead on a Syrian battlefield?
Looks like American and Russia fought in Syria. Syria is a very volatile area.
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It's not really a battle when you drop bombs on people who didn't think they were fighting you and so didn't bring any air defense weapons to the party. I'm sure they'll bring some next time, so it would probably be a good idea not to try that twice.
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To French's point, when the country (ours) is so obsessed with dumbass Twitter tweets, Facebook rantings, and the color of DJT's underwear that it can't acknowledge the shitstorm that is (and has been) Syria, it's time to rethink the policy.
For 300 Russians to get waxed in a one-sided encounter with U.S. troops who likely had no idea Russkies were mixed up with the bad guys, well, that's the Cold War all over again.
Can't have that. We won that one, didn't we?
:whatever: