The international community and both sides in the conflict have actually pushed for a ceasefire, albeit sporadically. ISTR that an initiative to get both sides to the table was rejected by the rebels.

A green line...where? There are pockets of fighting all around the country. Where would you draw this squiggly green line?

Partly incorrect. Syria and Russia have been allies for some time, mostly due to the fact it is one of it's major arms importers in the region. I agree though that it is partly to do with Russian anger at the USA and the West for our actions over the last few years and Putin probably thinks enough is enough. It doesn't bode well though and I agree that the next few days/weeks could make for interesting times.

You really do not do yourself any credit SASless - despite your previous calls to be respectful.:ugh:

Bottom line the UK/US has lost all credibility, this thing will be decided by those with some clout not the UK/US end of!

If by that you mean Russia and China, they do have the luxury of being able to do pretty much whatever they want internationally, without having to pay heed to what the folks back at home think.

In the not too distant future the Iran issue is going to come to the fore and we'll be faced with the same question again. When it does, the stakes will be considerably higher and we may not be able to stop one particular ally in the region acting unilaterally (especially if we do back down, as I suspect we now will), possibly with its own nuclear weapons. By putting a big marker down now in Iran's puppet state may make China blink and realize that their present stance is courting disaster. My only concern is that the Russian's are too stupid to blink; they've found our weakness and will exploit to it to the full.

If by that you mean Russia and China, they do have the luxury of being able to do pretty much whatever they want internationally, without having to pay heed to what the folks back at home think.


Precisely

Tom:

If you can't tell the difference between an American hero and a British superhero then there is no hope for you... :E

Ronald,
Putin clutching at straws yet again. Sounds like he has been on the Alex Jones conspiracy website. What next? Will he be offering up the Britam Defence fake e-mails as fact?

Maybe he should have been tasking his intelligence services to monitor all sides in the conflict? After August 21st I bet he has now tasked his intelligence services to keep an eye on Assads and government comms?

If you two want to wear your underpants over your trousers then fellas knock yourselves out:ok:

But thanks for the corrcetion, my apology to SASless:\

The days of western influence over middle eastern affairs are over, we are an irrelevance as far as they are concerned, we should just move on and let them get on with it.

Way to many, way too hard. We chase our tail. There are instances in recent history (last 100 years) where genocide, senseless killing etc, have occurred with significant debates and finger pointing in later years as to why this was this allowed to happen. Why did we stand back and allow the defenceless, women and children not only be killed but brutally so.

" All that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing".

What a wonderful statement. Can someone define what evil is (one man’s terrorist is another’s freedom fighter) and more importantly who the good men are?

This thread is starting to sound like the script to the G-20 summit. Still trying to work out with one of you is Angela Merkel.

:E

.

TEEEJ, Putin is President of Russia, one of the most powerful nations on Earth with one of the finest intelligence agencies. What he says carries a great deal of weight with a great many people around the world. The same can be said of China.

dead_pan. Why are you so worried about Iran and it having nukes? If we are smart and don't keep causing them problems I think its highly unlikely they will simply attack us. Besides we have our own nuclear forces, enough to totally destroy them if they ever launched a nuclear strike against us. If they simply get nukes and use them to deter any foreign aggression against them then I see no problem. I don't lay awake at night worrying other nations will simply nuke us, though if we keep waging war across the region and make them hate us enough I guess anything is possible. If we actually worked with Iran, traded with them, treated them as we would any other nation then any attack by them upon anyone is unlikely.

As for Israel, well they can do what they wish, if they start something and bring Russia and China down on them so be it, I hope it does not happen. I would only ever give them military support if they were attacked in a large way to begin with, I would certainly wish to defend them then, but if they start it however then tough luck.

There is a good chance that with policies of continued intervention you could begin the war your trying to avoid!

Thing is we have shown our hand like a bad poker player re Afgan/Iraq for zero achievement, the populace of the west have no confidence in their leaders and just don't want to know, like i say we are irrelevant, it will be leaders with clout that make the decisions not ours.

http://ilmondodifigenia.files.wordpr...uomo-rotfl.gif

Tom:

What are underpants?

Putin is just on a propaganda trip for the gullible. There is no way he believes the report himself.

Anyhow the most comprehensive and neutral description of the Ghouta attack is on Wikipedia: 2013 Ghouta attacks - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Let me think...

:ugh:

spooky3, I agree totally. Our leaders have made us totally irrelevant on the world stage it amazes me, some small nation with a tiny military strutting around as if we are still the British Empire. As time goes by expect us to have even less influence.

They want to keep doing interventions but have cut the military to something as tiny as it is today.