Gen. Mattis thanks Trump for calling him an overrated general

[Stefan2k4]

I disagree. It's everything about Syria. Why did Turkey not attack the Kurds before? Because that meant invading Syria and starting a war with Assad. Assad wouldn't take kindly tio having his country invaded. Assad may not have been kind to the Kurds, but in a way he provided them with stability and protection. And that's most likely what will happen now and how this will be resolved. The Kurds will have to strike a deal with Assad and he will protect them from Turkey, pretty much the way it was before we got involved.

[Barbecueboy]

Polanski and Weinstein deserve to be in prison, alongside Bill Cosby and Trump. The joke about Meryl Streep is about her acting abilities. Not sure why that is hard to understand.

Because of the high esteem you place on her ability to take on other characters persona versus the free pass you give her on her own bad character and characters she supports.

Which by the way, is the platform of your peeps.......

[Barbecueboy]

Allies are great but potting the sons and daughters of Americans in harms way and asking them to possibly make the ultimate sacrifice should require a really good reason to do so. Syria is a civil war. It's a dispute between a people and their leader. It was really never any of our business to begin with. We should never have gotten involved. Sure Assad is not a nice guy. We don't like him and he never like us. But is that sufficient reason for us to get involved in their civil war? I don't think so! What happens if Assad is overthrown? Who takes his place? Will they be any better than he is? Will all of them wind up hating us in the end? These are questions nobody answered before we got involved, but they should have!

The Kurds may be good people, or maybe they aren't. Maybe they were only our allies because they needed us? Who knows? Maybe they were like the Mujahideen "freedom fighters" in Afghanistan back in the 70s and 80s whom we praised and aided because they were fighting against our then enemy, the Soviets, but later after driving the Soviets out, morphed into the Taliban and later Al Qaeda. And then on Sept 11 2001 mastermind an attack that killed thousands of Americans. We've seen this movie before and it almost always ends badly for us. We create our own monsters who come back to haunt us years down the line. And it always starts with us getting involved in fights that are not our fight.

Freedom and democracy is not something you can gift to a people. It's something these must earn on their own so they can appreciate it and value it. Because they must be willing to maintain it and defend it. Freedom and democracy is also hard work and requires commitment, sometimes commitment to ideas that are counter intuitive like tolerance, free speech, responsibility, and the ability to accept the results of elections even when you don't agree with them. We cannot "export freedom and Democracy around the world." It just doesn't work. We can only offer an example and hope the rest of the world take note.

Dam fine post right here.......

[Barbecueboy]

Abandoning the Kurds isn't about Syria. Doing so leaves them open to be slaughtered by Turkey.

You should really do your own thinking man........and be a little more " aware" of the surroundings.

[Barbecueboy]

I disagree. It's everything about Syria. Why did Turkey not attack the Kurds before? Because that meant invading Syria and starting a war with Assad. Assad wouldn't take kindly tio having his country invaded. Assad may not have been kind to the Kurds, but in a way he provided them with stability and protection. And that's most likely what will happen now and how this will be resolved. The Kurds will have to strike a deal with Assad and he will protect them from Turkey, pretty much the way it was before we got involved.

I like your foreign policy better than mccarters.........clearly you understand the fluidity and complexities of that region....i don't, I appreciate the cliff notes.

[ZERO25]

Allies are great but potting the sons and daughters of Americans in harms way and asking them to possibly make the ultimate sacrifice should require a really good reason to do so. Syria is a civil war. It's a dispute between a people and their leader. It was really never any of our business to begin with. We should never have gotten involved. Sure Assad is not a nice guy. We don't like him and he never like us. But is that sufficient reason for us to get involved in their civil war? I don't think so! What happens if Assad is overthrown? Who takes his place? Will they be any better than he is? Will all of them wind up hating us in the end? These are questions nobody answered before we got involved, but they should have!

The Kurds may be good people, or maybe they aren't. Maybe they were only our allies because they needed us? Who knows? Maybe they were like the Mujahideen "freedom fighters" in Afghanistan back in the 70s and 80s whom we praised and aided because they were fighting against our then enemy, the Soviets, but later after driving the Soviets out, morphed into the Taliban and later Al Qaeda. And then on Sept 11 2001 mastermind an attack that killed thousands of Americans. We've seen this movie before and it almost always ends badly for us. We create our own monsters who come back to haunt us years down the line. And it always starts with us getting involved in fights that are not our fight.

Freedom and democracy is not something you can gift to a people. It's something these must earn on their own so they can appreciate it and value it. Because they must be willing to maintain it and defend it. Freedom and democracy is also hard work and requires commitment, sometimes commitment to ideas that are counter intuitive like tolerance, free speech, responsibility, and the ability to accept the results of elections even when you don't agree with them. We cannot "export freedom and Democracy around the world." It just doesn't work. We can only offer an example and hope the rest of the world take note.

Good post...…..But I would prefer to play a little defense, on their soil, not ours!

[mcarter815]

Because of the high esteem you place on her ability to take on other characters persona versus the free pass you give her on her own bad character and characters she supports.

Which by the way, is the platform of your peeps.......

Are you seriously incapable of separating an artist from their work?

[Barbecueboy]

Sure i am......what I'm not able to separate is the artist and her scummy circle of friends and inspiration.

[Barbecueboy]

That you seem to give a pass to just because she is an award winning actress.

[mcarter815]

I haven't said anything about her except for her acting abilities. I think a lot of actors are insane, but that doesn't stop me from enjoying their work.

[Barbecueboy]

I haven't said anything about her except for her acting abilities. I think a lot of actors are insane, but that doesn't stop me from enjoying their work.

But do you compare yourself to them like the good general did?

She is a piece of (not a nice word)(not a nice word)(not a nice word)(not a nice word) that happens to be a good actor.......much like pelosi....schummer....schiff.....etc.

They just don't call themselves actors, even though they are.