# US plans to kick Assad out of Syria by treating the country like NK.

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-plans-to-kick-assad-out-of-syria-by-treating-the-country-like-nk/808468>\
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\
**Created:** [February 8, 2018, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-plans-to-kick-assad-out-of-syria-by-treating-the-country-like-nk/808468 "2018-02-08T19:39:10Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\
**Post date:** [February 8, 2018, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-plans-to-kick-assad-out-of-syria-by-treating-the-country-like-nk/808468/1 "2018-02-08T19:39:10Z")

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> **[US just detailed its plan to kick Assad out of Syria by treating the country...](https://www.businessinsider.com/us-syria-assad-remove-north-korea-2018-2)**
>
> With US forces holding the purse strings and oil fields in Syria, the US intends to make Syria an international pariah state much like North Korea.

> [@](#):
>
> The US has a plan to kick Syria’s Assad out of power by treating the country like North Korea.
> 
> Syria probably needs $200-300 billion in reconstruction after a civil war and protracted fight against ISIS, but the US says Assad won’t see a dime until he holds elections.
> 
> Assad has been linked to war crimes, gross human rights violations, and chemical weapons use, and the US wants to see him brought to justice at the Hague, rather than killed.

I can’t imagine Assad caving when he knows that the goal is a trial at the Hague.

Will Russia just make up the money? Can they?

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**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\
**Post date:** [February 9, 2018, 5:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-plans-to-kick-assad-out-of-syria-by-treating-the-country-like-nk/808468/2 "2018-02-09T05:32:26Z")

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I’m all for getting rid of Assad, but what replaces him? I don’t think the culture in the middle east can handle western style democracy and human rights. They will descend into religious and ethnic bickering and authoritarianism. Hopefully it’ll be better than what they have now, but it was my understanding that after the Iraq war, torture in Iraq got worse than it was under Saddam. Too many factions came up. Syria may not be like Japan after ww2 where once the evil government is gone the people just passively agree to a western style democracy with ingrained human rights.

Also what is to stop China from loaning Syria the money? It isn’t like Syria needs $300 billion tomorrow. China could loan them $30 billion a year for 10 year in exchange for tons of oil or other benefits to China. Hell China could mandate they hire Chinese laborers to rebuild the country using money loaned from China. That’ll create Chinese jobs, and still get them tons of discounts on Syrian oil.

We don’t live in a unipolar world anymore. China could easily just loan them the money.

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**Author:** ![Lord\_Feldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lord_feldon/32/341_2.png) [@Lord\_Feldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Feldon)\
**Post date:** [February 9, 2018, 6:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-plans-to-kick-assad-out-of-syria-by-treating-the-country-like-nk/808468/3 "2018-02-09T06:35:15Z")

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…North Korea, where the same family is still in power 65 years after we bombed their country into dust?

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**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\
**Post date:** [February 9, 2018, 12:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-plans-to-kick-assad-out-of-syria-by-treating-the-country-like-nk/808468/4 "2018-02-09T12:26:16Z")

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Syria doesn’t have tons of oil.

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**Author:** ![Fotheringay-Phipps](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/d9b06d/32.png) [@Fotheringay-Phipps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fotheringay-Phipps)\
**Post date:** [February 9, 2018, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-plans-to-kick-assad-out-of-syria-by-treating-the-country-like-nk/808468/5 "2018-02-09T14:38:58Z")

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For my part I’m opposed to giving them major money regardless of whether Assad stays or goes.