Assad or ISIS ?

Red_Dave said:

Iran was a secular democracy untill 1954 when we overthrew it, had we not installed the shah Islamists would never have come to power, they never enjoyed majority support under Mossadegh and the fact that they still have the rig elections would suggest that they still don´t to this day.

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sawdust said:

You've just made the point about why it's futile to try to install democracy in a country which doesn't have the ethical foundation to put power into the hands of the people.

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Ockham said:

I've actually said nothing about Iraqi or Syrian civilian improvements - so you're incorrect and using a strawman as clearly my point is very specific. Oppressed people will not tell the truth especially when that oppression is life threatening. Do you have a NATO poll that address oppression and the % of people who will knowingly forfeit their lives for such a poll? I'm thinking not....

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Montecresto said:

That's true. But I was taking issue with your comment that Israel unintentionally targets civilians. In the same Lebanon, in 2006, they destroyed thousands of civilian apartments, killed 1,200 civilians, created another 3/4 of a million refugees, bombed bridges, dams, airports, roadways, and in so doing, destroyed 3 billion dollars worth of non military civilian infrastructure.

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At any rate, Assad in Syria is preferred to an Islamic State in Syria.

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MadLib said:

How many times greater damage would you say that the Assad regime has inflicted on its subjects to maintain power? 100 times? 200? Obviously, what Israel did in Lebanon and what Assad is doing in Syria must be assessed on their own merits (or lack thereof), but I find it odd that many of those who make haste to condemn Israel for relatively precise warfare are seemingly fine with the brutality of Arab dictators.


That's not the only option. ISIS has plenty of enemies in Syria that also detest Assad. ISIS made itself into a counterrevolutionary group before the revolution even finished, wantonly assaulting rebel-held territory and assassinating commanders. The best way to discredit ISIS is to strengthen the opposition to Assad that rejects the caliphate's legitimacy and brutality.

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