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I am not arguing with the obvious corruption, but to provide a counterpoint to the second part of the argument: if we aren’t allowed to make peace with former terrorists, then we can never stop fighting each other, and if we keep fighting each other, then we will keep creating the next generation of terrorists.
Here’s my most optimistic take for Americans. This guy is not as bad as Hitler. He’s out to scam the world, not conquer it militarily. So that’s a plus, for now. If his successor is Vance then the invasion of Canada and Mexico might actually happen.
Yeah, at least he aint sending anyone he doesn’t like to labour and death camps, replacing everyone with loyalists and doesn’t talk of invading random neighbours
What a world we live in, where calling someone not as bad as Hitler is an optimistic take
But the people manipulating him are as bad as Hitler.
Lol Trump is becoming a bitch to every country that the FBI and CIA have spent a decade to show as the main baddies. I wonder how the red necks that have “Russia and Muslims are bad” engraved into their spinal cords are taking this?
The sanctions on Syria should be lifted, but WTF. I mean honestly. It will be interesting to see what Israel does from that as they generally want Syria destabilised. Could further add to the rift between Netanyahu and Trump.
Yeah, this, the Saudis getting closer to him and the Quatari plane gift sounds like he’s slowly realising the Arabs in general have more money while he’s perhaps the one politician in the US who is immune to the AIPAC trying to primary him. And I would guess Israel hasn’t even said thank you.
Imagine Obama or Biden, or Harris, doing this!
Everything about this is like we have all been force-fed industrial strength hallucinogens. That YMCA played by the murderous Saudi prince after that fawning display… WTAF world are we living in any more?
If this was the Matrix I’d be demanding to be unplugged right now, and promptly throw up on the floor
MAGA is unjust and stupid.
That’s just the Trump brand.
… and no one should put all the blame on one man … he isn’t that powerful or persuasive
It’s a complicit government that had decided to allow this orange menace to do as he pleases because it benefits some wealthy owners.
It’s a lot easier to blame one man because it would remove the complicity of a large organization of people that are driving all this.
Blame lies on the judicial branch for not putting him on the chair for his coup attempt and instead telling before elections he can do whatever he wants, legally.
the blame lies on every one of us. we know exactly what is going on, that the government is broken, and yet we do nothing. we are the last guardrails of this democracy. if we don’t do something, this is the people’s fault.
So they just SAY they will build this tower, not they are building it. What’s the chances they aren’t building shit but told our dumb fuck president this to get this done? I think pretty high. They can strimg him along, because they know he will be gone in four years either by end of presidency or death.
And that is what I don’t get. He is so easily wooed by stuff. The UK trade agreement is not great, but he flounts the high tariffs that the importers will have to pay. Someone dangles a picture of something shiny and he jumps. This is so weird
The UK trade deal is great because over here it was basically just reported as “the status quo has been maintained”, and then they just moved on to other news items. No one really cares about it.
Trump was going on and on about how America “has the best beef”, and how it’s unfair that we won’t take it, and this trade deal essentially means that farms will have to follow UK food standards in order to send beef (or whatever) to the UK. Since none of them will, essentially nothing has changed.
It’s easy to just blame the government. When the reality is there is an entire complicit class of voters voting them in
there is also the rest of us who don’t do anything to stop him and his regime.
Agreed. But when critical thinking is systematically being removed from the education system, well, you see what happens.
we do nothing to stop it. we are a cooperative society. if we allow this to happen, then the blame is on all of us.
This needs to be posted in every single LOOK WHAT HE DID NOW thread
100%
I really hope for once Congress does its job and MAGA actually fights him on this, since some have already been saying this is too much even for them, starting with the plane.
Let it be on the record yet again that Trump does not have a luxury plane retrofitted with millions in taxpayer money - not because he refused the bribe, but because he was barred from accepting it. Refusing a bribe =/= Having a bribe forcibly taken from your hands.
Let him not gain anything from it or this, but still have that ethic shitstain smeared all across his face as he tries to gaslight the world with his lies. Not that he wouldn’t try to claim that since he doesn’t have the plane, it means he “refused” it, or “it was a joke all along”.
Qatar offered him a plane. This post is about Syria.
What are you on about? Are you just reading a word or two in these comments and arguing with the first thing you come up with? Because I don’t see how else you could miss their intended point so hard.
Ok? What does it have to do with the fact that “Trump has opened the Presidency up for business/loves his bribes”? Feel free to narrow context outside of the point of my statement, as if either bribe is completely disconnected from the other, but the plane is still a really important catalyst for the rest - it’s what signals “Qatar quid pro quo, then Syria quid pro quo, then somewhere else quid pro quo”. I won’t even say “quid pro quo with anyone”, because that line is already being crossed right here with a terrorist, so that would be moot.
Way more effective to cut the whole evil right at its root, where its most blatant, in order to stop the rest from spreading.
Because it demonstrates that you’re not qualified to speak about foreign policy issues if you can’t even keep two very different countries straight. Much moreso when you don’t apologize and own up to it when it’s pointed out, but instead double down and say, “So what?” because anyone can make an error, but it only becomes a mistake when you refuse to correct it.
This whole thread is full of people who were fully on board with funding Julani to fight Assad because the news told them Assad needed to go, only, they forgot they support him and saw a random tweet calling him a terrorist and only a handful of people were actually aware enough to remember who they support and push back on it. But you really took the cake, you really went above and beyond, by not even getting the country right.
If this is the state of the American public’s awareness of countries like Syria (and it is), then pro-US leaders like Jolani obviously can’t rely on them, who will turn on them at the drop of a hat because they saw a random tweet calling them a terrorist. But I guess they’re in luck since the public has so little influence over policy. So naturally what they do is appease the ruling class, through lucrative deals and bribes.
But who cares? So what if the post calls the US friendly leader of a precarious country a terrorist? So what if you mix up Qatar and Syria? So what if you talk nonsense grounded in willful ignorance because you can’t be assed to learn basic facts about countries the US has been fucking with, yet still expect people to listen to you? The important thing is, for a wonderful moment, you got to make fun of Trump.
Liberals are approximately 10% less anti-intellectual than conservatives, which means they’re still extremely anti-intellectual, but don’t realize it because of how low the bar is.
But they did keep them straight, you’re just misunderstanding their comment. It’s a little complex but it’s not unintelligible.
Their whole top comment is a non sequitor.
First of all, not american, and me “mixing” them up is entirely another assumption of yours - which you are free to make, as I can’t control what you decide to think or how you interpret things, and that’s a-ok with me. I’m in fact considerably closer to Syria and Qatar.
Secondly, this rather seems a personal and touchy subject to you, as your willingness to insult, dismiss and assume (ironically) indicates. This is further reinforced by your posting history, which clearly tells me you’re a very combative person who loves to disagree for the pleasure of it, and doesn’t mind spending a lot of time trying to one-up others disagreeing with you in any way, I assume with ego as a driving force. So with that in mind, no real point in arguing with you, right? Even though it would seem we’re mostly aligned when it comes to the bigger picture.
So I hope whatever is going on gets better, but this is where I stop engaging in toxic rants, regardless of what you may think of me.
What nationality are you? Will you deny that: Qatar human rights are a significant concern, particularly regarding the treatment of migrant workers, who face exploitation, wage theft, and unsafe working conditions. Additionally, there are restrictions on freedom of expression, discrimination against women, and laws that criminalize homosexuality, which contribute to a challenging human rights environment. Is it any wonder Trump is accepting a gift from Qatar?
What? Where do I even hint that I would deny “Qatar’s human rights are of significant concern”? Or that I am surprised that Trump is accepting bribes?
My statements on this matter have pretty much been: Trump openly takes bribes -> Trump should be held accountable -> Regardless of where the bribe takes place or from who it comes. And one commenter starts derailing it because “Hurr durr Qatar and Syria are not the same place”, while another goes “why are you denying Qatar has a human rights problem”, both of which don’t even come near the point I was making. Can’t we just agree what Trump is doing is wrong and not look elsewhere for excuses to nitpick and create chaos? Are the internet points for having “good obvious opinions” really that important?
Literally nothing to do with defending wrongdoing from anywhere or trying to justify it- which is just twisting words to make them seem like something else and go from there to create needless drama - which in turn is why I ignored the other commenter in the first place.
First of all, not american
Then my point is even stronger. If American politics are foreign to you, and you’ve demonstrated ignorance of foreign policy, then maybe try shutting the fuck up, not only about Syria and Qatar, but also about American politics.
No investigation, no right to speak.
You’re one of those people who doesn’t understand what’s being said but is convinced they 100% do. YATAH here.
Your downvotes mean nothing to me because I’ve seen what you upvote.
Like seriously, the fuck makes you think I care if you think I’m an asshole? 800+ upvoted this post, all of those 800+ people were pretty objectively wrong to do so and demonstrated that they’re completely unqualified to speak about foreign policy, so I’m not at all surprised to get ratio’d in the comments or get called an asshole for pointing out that they’re wrong. Genuinely, could not care less what any of those 800+ people think of me, this community has clearly demonstrated its ignorance and I’m not going to pretend otherwise and pull pinches just to farm upvotes.
Like, y’all call al-Jolani “a known terrorist” and then think your insults still carry weight when you call me an asshole?
It’s insane the amount of comments about him accepting and making these bribes while the entire government for the last 50 years has been bought and sold with lobbyists and business owners. It is like he is the only one and not the entire Congress is behind this behaviour…
You are right. But here’s the key difference:
while the entire government for the last 50 years has been bought and sold with lobbyists and business owners
A President enriching others who support him (as opposed to “doing what’s best for the nation” generally speaking), while still wrong, is not the same as personally enriching himself and this blatantly. The US has always been like this and many would have loved to do what Trump is doing, but didn’t dare go this far and so recklessly. Trump is merely a product of his country, and it kind of surprises me it took this long for someone like him to get his paws directly on this kind of power.
Instead of being a businessman currying favor with the President, he skips the middle man entirely and becomes President himself, to his own personal benefit.
But hasn’t it been the case in many things that Trump just does more and more boastfully what others were doing before more quietly and slickly?
I mean, look at the Israeli Genocide, were Biden was actively supporting Israel with guns and ammo (including sending 2000lb bombs which even the US Military won’t use “because they have a too large collateral”) but decorating it all with a bit of Theatre (“we’re talking to Israel about a cease fire”), or how students were already being violently suppressed by the police under Biden when they demonstrated against the Genocide, or the immigrant thing were Biden was already imprisoning and deporting the most immigrants ever (even than Trump’s first term) including separating children from their parents but it was all done much more quietly, or, as others pointed out, the Democrats having been on the take as much as the Republicans (who can forget Hilary Clinton getting paid half a million dollars for a couple of hours work to go give a speech to some Goldman Sachs’ traders just before the election, something which probably contributed to her loss), or the giant civil society surveillance apparatus as revealed by Snowden built-up and supported by both Republican and Democrat presidents.
In these kinds of things Trump pumped up the volume and tore down the curtains hiding what’s going on in the backstage, whilst not really changing the nature of what is being done significantly, just doing more of it and being loudly about it rather than using some florid language to claim to be doing the opposite as the previous ones did.
America had already been moving towards full-blown Fascism before Trump (personally I saw the giant civil society surveillance apparatus as a massive red flag, as that’s the kind of thing that Authoritarian regimes have, not Democracies),
This post reeks of Israeli propaganda. Ahmed al-Sharaa renounced al-Qaeda many years ago and has a lengthy, demonstrated record as a moderate, inclusive leader who fought both the Assad regime and ISIS at the same time. A moderate Arab leader who protects ethnic minorities is a threat to the Israeli narrative about their neighbors.
You totally read my mind. The campaigners against Trump for aligning a little bit with some Arab countries (through bribes of course) totally normalize the infiltration of the Israelis into the western governments. AIPAC literally bribes politicians and boasts about it continuously and of course the politicians return the favor by funneling more taxpayer money to Israel.
Also, remember how Israel rigged theatrical disputes with Biden administration, only for us to discover later there was zero pressure from the Biden administration on the Israelis whatsoever. The Biden administration literally was in on the genocide as much as the Israelis. The Israelis like to play along and pretend they lack enough support so they can suck even more western resources.
Tbf the fact that the Israelis are putting out propaganda in this issue is, in my opinion, a tiny bit of a good thing. If a wedge is driven between Trump and Bibi over this it is a good thing.
It is terrible in every way, shape or form, but if this turns out to make Trump shift policy in the middle east, whatever the reason, might have a sliver of good in it.
If we are denouncing Guerilla/insurgent/rebel leaders offhand for basically fighting against imperialists and dictators, even if their methods aren’t bloodless or ethical, then we would also need to denounce José Mujica, former president of Uruguay who died today, one of the most progressive and honest leftist leaders the world has known.
Are you really going to compare the fight to restore democracy from a military coup as the same as trying to install a theocratic dictatorship
Syrians deserve peace and stability, but that is not at all what is being offered here. Sanctions are cruel, and it’s worth celebrating that they’ve been lifted, but the cost looks like it’s going to be an international effort to pillage and exploit Syria.
These puppets did nothing while israel systematically bombed most of Assad’s leftover military infrastructure, stockpiles, and vehicles. Literally hundreds of airstrikes without any meaningful response. They’re barely disputing occupied territories, even as they expand. Instead they’ve gotten into border skirmishes with Lebanon, attacked the Syrian Druze, and killed thousands of Alawites.
The testimonies of coastal massacre escapees are harrowing. There are more widely publicized stories of door to door executions, but there’s another pattern I heard described several times by people that lived in smaller villages.
Security forces would show up in uniform during the day, ask around about locals and their backgrounds, and disarm the population while assuring them that they would be protected. Then at night, there would be a brutal attack, and what I heard again and again is that the groups doing this are one and the same.
CW: descriptions of horrific NSFL videos:
I’ve seen them laughing as they took turns beating an old man to death. I watched one execute a teenage boy mid-conversation. I’ve seen mass graves full of children, women, elders. I’ve seen dozens of civilians of all ages and identities in lines along roadsides, against walls, some with bound wrists, some clearly mutilated. I’ve seen military vehicles spray entire apartment buildings with machine gun fire.
It’s ludicrous to describe this demon as protecting ethnic minorities while his forces have systematically killed thousands in an ethnic cleansing campaign. There were a few scattered clashes with Assad loyalist forces, but Alawite civilians were then described as such in order to justify liquidating entire villages.
Just because this monster puts on a suit, gets some official uniforms for his dogs to wear for the public, it does not change who he is and what he does. Don’t be fooled by the hollow condemnation of what he dismisses as the actions of extremist elements. This entire regime change operation has been undertaken not by Syrians seeking liberation, but by foreign powers conspiring to strip the country and its people for parts.
Thousands of Syrians trusted this new regime, believed it could be a step in the right direction, and were instead brutalized and exterminated. al-Jolani is an implant and a foreign instrument, and he’s given himself 4-5 years in power. Syrians did not choose him, other states did.
Afaik there’s no evidence that al-Sharaa ordered those attacks on Alawites.
One thing to understand is that Syria is in an extremely unstable situation at the moment. Al-Sharaa is leader of an already fragile group of militants/terrorists that’s barely held together. He can’t afford war with Israel, because the resulting counter-attack might shatter his government. He’s not fully in control either, leading to these horrible attacks on minorities by certain wings of the armed forces. Militants he has less control over still seek revenge against the Alawites for their support of Assad.
He basically needs to stabilize the country, centralize control and demonstrate that Syria will rapidly improve under his rule. That is no easy task, and it’s imo not surprising that the civil war is not over yet in certain parts of the country.
IIRC the EU put as precondition of sanction relief that he gets the militants under control and stops the attacks on minorities. I don’t know for certain that he will or even wants to (he might be a moderate amongst militant Islamists but that’s still fairly extreme), but I also don’t have conclusive evidence that he won’t.
It’s still corruption tho. Whether or not they misrepresent that dude I know nothing about doesn’t take away from the fact that Trump is as easily bribed as a toddler.
No argument here about Trump, but I think the misrepresentation is problematic
Agreed, so far I prefer this guy over Bashar al-asshat.
I ran out of outrage about two months ago.
Okay, now that you’re past the initial outrage stage and able to think with a clear, focused head about this emergency, what action are you going to take?
(Unless you’re not from the USA in which case my apologies)
That was likely the plan. Gl
you have to find balance. the holocaust survivors who taught me how to resist an authoritarian taught me you absolutely must rest, take time to take care of yourself and your family, and mourn your losses. but that period of rest must never be forever. you can’t survive if you simply choose to wait it out. but you also can’t survive if you break yourself fighting back early in the fight
This message should be sent to every US resident each morning.
everyone everymorning everywhere, tbh. even if your world does not feel authoritarian today, it can tomorrow with just one charismatic power hungry sicko. they export their allies when their form of fascism dies off in a place. the nazis survived via operation paperclip. the neoliberal fascists that defined the last era of the century in our country were sent to Ukraine to “help” them. when the era of MAGA ends, their mid ranking terrorists will go to some other humanitarian disaster inflicted by one of the imperial powers that exists as their neighbor. always the host country welcomes them gladly because they’re on the brink of total devastation, but always these exports are snakes waiting to bite.
when we the people are finally free, it will be because our inheritors figured out what we could not: there is no useful nazi. war is how they survive. they convince you you must give them some amount of power to thwart their allies at your gates. the only true cure for nazism comes from rejecting them from society entirely and never allowing them to form their own elsewhere.
nazism is too dangerous to let survive.
You’re right. Scarily. I can’t forget that despite a recent (relative) win I can’t stay complacent even as Canadian.
Letters at the beginning of a sentence get capitalized and this makes it easier to read. You must have missed that day in school; it is like the fucking plague with you.
I’m a stickler but jfc
it’s my personal style. i’m not going to change it. i do it to honor someone
who cares
Not cool man. It’s the Internet
of all the issues with how people type online, this is the one you take enough issue with to comment?
Nah, the problem with the residents of the US is most think they can rest forever and someone else will do thework.
i call it sleepwalking. the worst part is the most dangerous sleepwalkers think they’re awake
It’s like running an engine at redline forever. It’s not sustainable. Something’s gotta give.
That’s his exact plan. At some point you have to tune out and focus on your own life, and he’ll still be there, just less visible and thus more dangerous.
As if there’s any way to escape his stupid ass. The least political things in the world are talking about him. He’s unavoidable and he likes it that way.
It’s more like the earpieces in Harrison Bergeron that keep you from having a complete thought.
Lifting sanctions on Syria is not wrong just because Trump does it. Biden/Harris would probably have done it too, and rightly so because this guy as the ruler of Syria is the best the US can get.
Yeah, to add a different perspective, but largely agreeing.
The Americans have unnecessarily squeezed this new regime in Syria for months more than they needed to, international aid agencies that could provide some stability in the country haven’t been able to enter due to these sanctions, Rest is Politics UK spoke in better detail about this a few months back.
Biden had a smallish wondow of a chance to give this regime a go, Trump has had ample time. In this case, it seems America’s corruption may have circumvented their stubborn prejudice and evangelism.
Bad action; good result? On balance at least?
The former dictator was closely aligned with Russia\Putin so now that he has been dethroned and fled to Russia the USA is trying to get a foothold in the country. Everything else is just noise and BS.
Gaining a foothold by building a trump tower over there? Yeah, that makes sense
Yes, the former dictator was aligned with Russia. Now that they are dethroned the new leaders are trying to form positive relations with Russia’s enemy ,the most powerful country in the world, the USA by openly offering opportunity and financial linkage to the USA’s leader. The USA is always looking for new opportunities. So yeah it makes sense.
Why not building hospitals for syrians, why not gaining a foothold through other means rather than a hotel for trump? Because that hotel only benefits him, his family and his friends, no benefits for Americans nor for syrians. Sound logic you have there.
The Syrians have only known dictators. In that context this is how you win over new friends and forge relationships, plus it’s only a first step. It’s a good opportunity for the USA to increase influence in the region, make a new ally, and find new business opportunities.
Huh?
Not that long ago CNN was writing puff pieces about how he’d “moved on” from his radical past. Around the same time, Biden removed a bounty the US had had on him. He’s capitulated a bunch to Israel and done just about everything he can to appease the US.
Some of us flag burning commies are critical of him
because we blindly hate anyone on America’s sidefor capitulating to Israel and privatizing the economy, and have been skeptical about the mainstream narrative of him moving past his past. We were also skeptical about this whole project of arming “moderate rebels” like him in Syria, fearing that it would destabilize the region. But even I would say, now that he’s in, that trying to replace him would probably just destabilize the region even further.Idk who this Ed Krassenstein is but his name is red in Shinigami Eyes and his bio describes himself as an “AI and Crypto futurist” so he’s not one of ours. So, uh, is this based on a coherent, informed position on Syria, or is this just a knee-jerk reaction to a headline?
If the US shouldn’t accept Jolani as the leader of Syria, then what should they do? Find some more moderate rebels to support against the previous moderate rebels it supported? Have Israel and Turkey annex the entire country? Keep sanctioning them forever for no reason no matter how much they capitulate and cooperate? What exactly would that be aiming to accomplish?
I almost thought that was Klippenstein instead of Krassenstein, and I was going to say he’s a legit journalist.
Yeah, the Krassenstein brothers are hack journalists, so you’re not missing much by ignoring him.
Yes, and?! What will americans do about it?!
