jerseyhoya wrote:Even though almost certainly no one else cares, a few points:
1) One of their larger minor parties is called the Sex Party

pacino wrote:something like 750 bases from what i can gleam.

who cares about the amount, it's their mission that matters

VILNIUS, Lithuania (AP) — The European Union agreed on Saturday that the Aug. 21 chemical attack outside Damascus appears to have been the work of Syria's regime, but that any potential military attack against it should wait for a U.N. inspectors' report.

After meeting with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, the EU ministers ended days of division on the issue with a statement saying the available intelligence "seems to indicate strong evidence that the Syrian regime is responsible for these attacks."

Lithuanian Foreign Minister Linas Linkevicius, who hosted the meeting, put it more bluntly in targeting Syrian President Bashar Assad, speaking of "more and more evidence that the Assad regime is behind all these crimes. We can't just ignore this."

The EU nations, most of which have been skeptical of a quick retaliatory strike against the regime, underscored "the need to move forward with addressing the Syrian crisis through the U.N. process." The ministers said they hope a "preliminary report of this first (U.N.) investigation can be released as soon as possible."

Kerry welcomed the stand of the 28 EU nations, calling it "a strong statement" backing all "the efforts to hold the Assad regime accountable for what it has done."

The German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung reported Saturday that the U.N. chemical weapons inspectors could submit initial findings from their tests of samples collected in Syria by the end of next week. The respected weekly said the interim report to U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon will likely contain details on the gas, ammunition and delivery systems used in the attack that killed hundreds of people in a suburb of Damascus.

Instrumental in bringing the EU together around a common viewpoint was the decision on Friday by French President Francois Hollande to wait for the U.N. report before deciding to intervene militarily, even though France had said the report would only show a chemical attack had taken place, not apportion blame.

The EU ministers welcomed "President Hollande's statement to wait for this report before any further action."

German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle said the U.S. should follow France's example.

"We jointly welcomed the fact that France has decided to wait for the presentation of the United Nations report," Westerwelle told reporters. "We have also made clear our expectation toward our American partners that one should follow the example of France before capitals decide on taking further measures."

The EU ministers also stressed that perpetrators for such chemical attacks should face possible prosecution by the International Criminal Court in The Hague.

Germany joined in on blaming the attack on the Syrian government. It had been the only European member of the Group of 20 not to co-sign a joint statement issued Friday at the end of the group's meeting in St. Petersburg, Russia, blaming the regime.

The Dude wrote:So they assassinate him, then some of the growing radical Islam rebel army factions gains traction and Iran is super pissed and you're only getting rid of a symptom. Then what

mozartpc27 wrote:

The Dude wrote:So they assassinate him, then some of the growing radical Islam rebel army factions gains traction and Iran is super pissed and you're only getting rid of a symptom. Then what

1. You deny any involvement in the assassination.

2. If the next guy sucks, you kill him too.

Targeted assassination probably isn't a realistic option, but Assad richly deserves it and a program secretly dedicated to a targeted assassination, whether it is ultimately successful or not, is infinitely preferable in my mind to a half-hearted (if transparent) military strike that will effect neither regime change nor any meaningful alteration to behavior.

karn wrote:It's absolutely unimaginable to me that they are showing Youtube videos of dead children to congresspeople as a means of drumming up support.