Should the Syrian rebels bow to the inevitable in Aleppo?

[Shodan]

@aldiboronti

And of course Assad isn’t going to set up internment camps.

Are you sure about that?

Assad is astute enough to recognize that he can get away with what he has been getting away with - Iraq and Viet Nam mean that Obama’s “red line” doesn’t mean anything, and Hillary lost the election - we aren’t going to be shooting at any Russian jets just now.

And Trump isn’t going to make it any better. Nothing can make it any better. You can call that pessimistic if you like.

Regards,
Shodan

[aldiboronti]

@Shodan

Are you sure about that?

Assad is astute enough to recognize that he can get away with what he has been getting away with - Iraq and Viet Nam mean that Obama’s “red line” doesn’t mean anything, and Hillary lost the election - we aren’t going to be shooting at any Russian jets just now.

And Trump isn’t going to make it any better. Nothing can make it any better. You can call that pessimistic if you like.

Regards,
Shodan

I take your point but detention cells aren’t really internment camps. Unfortunately detention and torture are common throughout the Arab world, they’re not confined to Syria. Internment camps are something different, camps where whole sections of the populace are confined. Both certainly unpleasant but horses of a different color.

And as for making it better I believe Assad’s victory would certainly make it better for the civilians of Aleppo. Not being bombed is far preferable to being bombed.

[Shodan]

@aldiboronti

I take your point but detention cells aren’t really internment camps. Unfortunately detention and torture are common throughout the Arab world, they’re not confined to Syria. Internment camps are something different, camps where whole sections of the populace are confined. Both certainly unpleasant but horses of a different color.

Maybe he wouldn’t bother with camps - Assad could just kill them, the way Saddam Hussein did the Iranians and Kurdswho supported Iran, or drive them out of the country.

And as for making it better I believe Assad’s victory would certainly make it better for the civilians of Aleppo. Not being bombed is far preferable to being bombed.

Maybe you’re right. Do you think the rebels care?

If anyone took anyone else’s best interests seriously, there wouldn’t be a war.

Insert the Frog and the Scorpion story here.

Regards,
Shodan

[aldiboronti]

@Shodan

If anyone took anyone else’s best interests seriously, there wouldn’t be a war.

Insert the Frog and the Scorpion story here.

Regards,
Shodan

You’re 100% right there. As you imply, it’s their nature.

[ganthet]

@aldiboronti

You’re 100% right there. As you imply, it’s their nature.

So now you are interested in assigning fault?

[aldiboronti]

@ganthet

So now you are interested in assigning fault?

You misunderstand the purport of my original post. I am perfectly willing to assign fault. But the fact is that in the end it doesn’t matter. It is what it is.

[MandaJo]

@aldiboronti

You’re 100% right there. As you imply, it’s their nature.

Whose? And what do you mean by “nature”?

[aldiboronti]

@MandaJo

Whose? And what do you mean by “nature”?

Pick a card. And as for nature see Shodan’s reference to the fable of the frog and scorpion above.

[MandaJo]

I know the fable. I’m asking if you feel like Syrians are inherently, biologically, possibly even genetically prone to violent, self-destructive, irrational behavior?

[Captain_Amazing]

@MandaJo

I know the fable. I’m asking if you feel like Syrians are inherently, biologically, possibly even genetically prone to violent, self-destructive, irrational behavior?

They probably are. They’re human beings, after all.

[Mijin]

FWIW I’ve worked with many Syrians, back before the arab spring and they were kind to me and others. If they were secretly inhuman monsters that we therefore shouldn’t care about, none of that came across.