# Obama orders clandestine support of Syrian rebels **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [August 1, 2012, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-orders-clandestine-support-of-syrian-rebels/630116 "2012-08-01T23:10:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![chappy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b3f665/32.png) [@chappy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chappy)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2012, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-orders-clandestine-support-of-syrian-rebels/630116/61 "2012-08-03T01:47:24Z")
I wonder how the United States would react if Russia intervened militarily in the Mexican theater in an attempt to stop the barbaric slaughter of innocent lives along the US border? Do you think they would be justified just because the US is sitting on one hand in one arena while supplying the enemy with weapons with the other? Wouldn’t they have a _moral_ right (sic) to intervene? What do you think the neo-cons and the looney left would do about it; “Put It All On The Table” like the Mormon prophet and his minions would do with the Iran/Israel issue, or slowly pound them to pieces like Dubya or Wing Nut did and are doing are doing in Iraq and Afghanistan or perhaps how Johnson and Nixon did in Vietnam? Perhaps if we _educate ourselves_ first and then put reasonable, educated, straight talking people (yet to be seen) in office once more they won’t kill him or her like they did Lincoln, McKinley, King, Jack Kennedy and his brother Robert. We don’t have long… chappy ---
**Author:** ![Farmer\_Jane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Farmer\_Jane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Farmer_Jane)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2012, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-orders-clandestine-support-of-syrian-rebels/630116/62 "2012-08-03T01:56:17Z")
I vote Democrat and voted for Obama and will do it again [grudgingly]. But my VERY FIRST THOUGHT when I saw this was, “The Obama administration leaked this on purpose. Wouldn’t be the first time.” I’m not sure if you’ve noticed this about Mr. President, but he is far too savvy to do anything on accident. Gaffes are rare and drama is low. Anytime something becomes “an issue”, I can’t help but to think it was done on purpose. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2012, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-orders-clandestine-support-of-syrian-rebels/630116/63 "2012-08-03T02:13:56Z")
> [@chappy](#): > > We don’t have long… . . . before . . . ? ---
**Author:** ![Ibn\_Warraq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e19b73/32.png) [@Ibn\_Warraq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ibn_Warraq)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2012, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-orders-clandestine-support-of-syrian-rebels/630116/64 "2012-08-03T02:17:48Z")
> [@chappy](#): > > I wonder how the United States would react if Russia intervened militarily in the Mexican theater in an attempt to stop the barbaric slaughter of innocent lives along the US border? Do you think they would be justified just because the US is sitting on one hand in one arena while supplying the enemy with weapons with the other? > > Wouldn’t they have a _moral_ right (sic) to intervene? What do you think the neo-cons and the looney left would do about it; “Put It All On The Table” like the Mormon prophet and his minions would do with the Iran/Israel issue, or slowly pound them to pieces like Dubya or Wing Nut did and are doing are doing in Iraq and Afghanistan or perhaps how Johnson and Nixon did in Vietnam? > > Perhaps if we _educate ourselves_ first and then put reasonable, educated, straight talking people (yet to be seen) in office once more **they** won’t kill him or her like they did Lincoln, McKinley, King, Jack Kennedy and his brother Robert. > > We don’t have long… > > chappy The Jews don’t engage in assassinations anymore unless you’re Arab. They simply spread malicious rumors and turn people into jokes. Now, the Masons or the Illuminati on the other hand…well, they’re a different story. ---
**Author:** ![Ibn\_Warraq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e19b73/32.png) [@Ibn\_Warraq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ibn_Warraq)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2012, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-orders-clandestine-support-of-syrian-rebels/630116/65 "2012-08-03T02:18:56Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > . . . before . . . ? December 21st. ---
**Author:** ![Farmer\_Jane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Farmer\_Jane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Farmer_Jane)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2012, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-orders-clandestine-support-of-syrian-rebels/630116/66 "2012-08-03T02:21:42Z")
> [@Ibn\_Warraq](#): > > The Jews don’t engage in assassinations anymore unless you’re Arab. Unless you’re Iranian. Then it’s fair game. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![FinnAgain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/finnagain/32/12500_2.png) [@FinnAgain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FinnAgain)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2012, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-orders-clandestine-support-of-syrian-rebels/630116/67 "2012-08-03T02:26:56Z")
> [@chappy](#): > > I wonder how the United States would react if Russia intervened militarily in the Mexican theater in an attempt to stop the barbaric slaughter of innocent lives along the US border? You mean, the thing that isn’t actually happening in reality? How does one stop that? As for Russian putting troops on the US border, try to see how that’s different from the US taking military action not on the Russian border. > [@What is the origin and purpose of Jehovah's Witnesses?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-origin-and-purpose-of-jehovahs-witnesses/630088/75): > > Perhaps if we _educate ourselves_ first Unsurprisingly, one of the ways we educate ourselves is by using actual citations to support claims we make instead of just spouting nonsense that’s counterfactual and then demanding that people believe us. > [@What is the origin and purpose of Jehovah's Witnesses?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-origin-and-purpose-of-jehovahs-witnesses/630088/75): > > We don’t have long… Because the Jews/Jehova’s Witnesses and British crown are conspiring to bring about a nuclear holocaust any day now, as you’ve said. Me… I’m not feeling all that rushed. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2012, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-orders-clandestine-support-of-syrian-rebels/630116/68 "2012-08-03T02:31:01Z")
> [@chappy](#): > > Perhaps if we _educate ourselves_ first and then put reasonable, educated, straight talking people (yet to be seen) in office What do you think reasonable, educated, straight talking people would do about the uprising in Syria? ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2012, 11:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-orders-clandestine-support-of-syrian-rebels/630116/69 "2012-08-03T11:59:35Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > What do you think reasonable, educated, straight talking people would do about the uprising in Syria? Stand aside, not get involved and read about the horrifying atrocities on [CNN.com](http://CNN.com) a million miles away, of course. ---
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2012, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-orders-clandestine-support-of-syrian-rebels/630116/70 "2012-08-03T13:54:54Z")
It is interesting that all of these Treaty-of-Versailles nations are rent by civil war? The guys who craved up the old Ottoman Empire mad a lot of mistakes, in the artificial nations they created. The same happened in Europe-it gave rise to WWI. So, is Syria really a nation? I don’t think so. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2012, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-orders-clandestine-support-of-syrian-rebels/630116/71 "2012-08-03T14:08:24Z")
The US had a Civil War, too. I guess we’re not really a nation either. ---
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2012, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-orders-clandestine-support-of-syrian-rebels/630116/72 "2012-08-03T14:43:20Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > Actually, [what Pinochet did](http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Augusto_Pinochet#Dictatorship) was pretty bloody. I know Pinochet had many people killed and tortured. Like a lot of other dictators. But the reports I read about what happened in Syria went above and beyond (or maybe not. I was way too young in 1973 to read day by day reports of what was happening. It might be that it’s more abstract for me regarding Pinochet). Anyway, suffice to say that at some point I quit reading reports about Syria, dreading what I would find written there. And in any case, I didn’t think until the revolution that Assad was such a butcher. But the apple doesn’t fall long away from the tree, I guess. ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2012, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-orders-clandestine-support-of-syrian-rebels/630116/73 "2012-08-03T15:53:22Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > The US had a Civil War, too. I guess we’re not really a nation either. The South will rise again! ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2012, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-orders-clandestine-support-of-syrian-rebels/630116/74 "2012-08-03T16:08:41Z")
> [@clairobscur](#): > > I know Pinochet had many people killed and tortured. Like a lot of other dictators. But the reports I read about what happened in Syria went above and beyond (or maybe not. I was way too young in 1973 to read day by day reports of what was happening. It might be that it’s more abstract for me regarding Pinochet). > > Anyway, suffice to say that at some point I quit reading reports about Syria, dreading what I would find written there. And in any case, I didn’t think until the revolution that Assad was such a butcher. But the apple doesn’t fall long away from the tree, I guess. Well, I’m actually inclined to make allowances for Assad, because he’s fucking **terrified,** gotta be – not only for himself, but for his whole Alawite ethnic-minority, that might get bloodily ethnic-cleansed if his government falls. ---
**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2012, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-orders-clandestine-support-of-syrian-rebels/630116/75 "2012-08-03T16:42:13Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > Well, I’m actually inclined to make allowances for Assad, because he’s fucking **terrified,** gotta be – not only for himself, but for his whole Alawite ethnic-minority, that might get bloodily ethnic-cleansed if his government falls. That’s actually a good point. Many of these dictators are/were actually quite tolerant. Minority groups in Egypt are terrified now that the extremists are in charge, and they have good reason to be. And I really wouldn’t care to be a Berber or a (black) African in Libya these days, either. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2012, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-orders-clandestine-support-of-syrian-rebels/630116/76 "2012-08-03T16:59:19Z")
> [@FoieGrasIsEvil](#): > > The South will rise again! You just reminded me of [something I’ve often wondered about](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=660802). ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2012, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-orders-clandestine-support-of-syrian-rebels/630116/77 "2012-08-03T21:52:40Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > You just reminded me of [something I’ve often wondered about](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=660802). Cool thread! ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2012, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-orders-clandestine-support-of-syrian-rebels/630116/78 "2012-08-03T22:01:45Z")
> [@Diceman](#): > > That’s actually a good point. Many of these dictators are/were actually quite tolerant. Minority groups in Egypt are terrified now that the extremists are in charge, and they have good reason to be. The Muslim Brotherhood are (1) not quite in charge yet, really, and (2) not extremists. Perhaps you are thinking of [Al-Nour.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al-Nour_Party) The two are not on speaking terms. The MB are more like the Islamic equivalent of Europe’s Christian Democrats; not that that’s a good thing to be. > [@Diceman](#): > > And I really wouldn’t care to be a Berber or a (black) African in Libya these days, either. Nitpick: Other than the (black) Africans, who have indeed been taking it on the ear, practically **all** Libyans are Berbers; though the majority are Arabized culturally – somewhat (but they’d still look damn furrin’ to, e.g., a Saudi Arabian). Same with every North African country to Libya’s west, it’s all Barbary (a/k/a [Maghreb](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maghrebi) or [Tamazgha](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tamazgha)). ---
**Author:** ![Ibn\_Warraq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e19b73/32.png) [@Ibn\_Warraq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ibn_Warraq)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2012, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-orders-clandestine-support-of-syrian-rebels/630116/79 "2012-08-04T02:59:41Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > The Muslim Brotherhood are (1) not quite in charge yet, really, and (2) not extremists. Perhaps you are thinking of [Al-Nour.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al-Nour_Party) The two are not on speaking terms. The MB are more like the Islamic equivalent of Europe’s Christian Democrats; not that that’s a good thing to be. I didn’t realize that the Christian Democrats forbid women from being leaders, called for executing homosexuals, insisted that men should be allowed to beat their wives “so long as they break no bones and spill no blood”, called for executing Christians who converted to othe religions, insisted that all Christians have the phrase “ex-Christian” stamped on their ID cards to enable discriminatio against them, and insist that Jews are the descendants of apes and pigs and should be slaughtered as such and declare Christians who blow schoolchildren in Sbarro’s into kosher hamburger “Shahids” who will be sent to paradise where they will serviced for eternity by nubile, willing virgin girls. Moreover, I must say, if you don’t consider people like that extremists, just who do you consider extremists? For example, I assume you don’t consider Hamas and Islamic Jihad extremists. If you do, please explain. Thanks ---
**Author:** ![Farmer\_Jane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Farmer\_Jane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Farmer_Jane)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2012, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-orders-clandestine-support-of-syrian-rebels/630116/80 "2012-08-04T14:42:51Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > Nothing, and I’m not saying the leak is a good idea. But the concept that Iran had no idea who or what hit it is far fetched. If they blow up one of our ambassadors, will you still feel the same? It was a serious insult for the Obama administration to admit they were involved. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-orders-clandestine-support-of-syrian-rebels/630116.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-orders-clandestine-support-of-syrian-rebels/630116.md?page=5)