Meanwhile in Iraq & Syria

[DBTrek]

You've turned into a bunch of fuckin' Canadians now, you've been totally Canadianized; "Hello, Russia? Just to let you know, were going to be shooting some cruise missiles at that base in the middle of nowhere, we don't want you to be alarmed, we're not really shooting at you, this is just for domestic consumption, we apologize for any inconvenience we may cause, here are the grids we are targeting, so you can move all the valuable equipment out of the way beforehand, and ensure that none of your people get hit, again, not for realz, just for show, thanking you for your patience, have a nice day."

You're right.

Why on Earth would the USA *not* want to annihilate a bunch of Russian troops in a missile strike launched over the actions of the Syrian government?
You're not playing for real, unless you're racking up the worst collateral damage one can imagine, and sending an unintelligible message of random violence to everyone in the blast radius.

How the genius of your methods escaped our top brass is a mystery.

[Alexander PhiAlipson]

Meh.
I'll wait 'til tomorrow for some talking heads to explain it all to me. For now, I'm going with sound and fury signifying nothing and the children! It should be fun to watch all the critters scurrying around. Mass protests would be good, but it's a bit much to ask for. Will Gorsuch still get approved? Does President Xi have anything new to discuss--does he even play golf?
Poor Dan must be rattled beyond belief!
No congressional approval!
Aledraan was a peaceful planet!

[DBTrek]

Signifying nothing?

It's signifying -1 airbase for use of chemical weapons.
Your move, Syria/Russia.

For all the talk of how craven we are for not wantonly blasting Russian soldiers off the map over something that caused zero casualties for the USA, I'd remind folk that we still have troops in Syria. The Russians have plenty of military equipment that can reach them, or any US asset they care to target. By all means, let's see what their bold response shall be.

Place your bets gentlemen - what will emboldened Russia do the the terrified US now that we've started knocking their tyrant friend's chess pieces off the map.

I got dibs on "nothing".

[clubgop]

So . . . the consensus of the wizened Martin Hash members is that because the USA didn't annihilate any Russians over the actions of Assad, we're afraid of them and now they're going to conquer the world?

Is that what I'm hearing?

Because I don't want to call anyone stupid prematurely.

You high? We aint starting WW3 over Syria. You know it, I know it, Russia knows it.

[clubgop]

Signifying nothing?

It's signifying -1 airbase for use of chemical weapons.
Your move, Syria/Russia.

For all the talk of how craven we are for not wantonly blasting Russian soldiers off the map over something that caused zero casualties for the USA, I'd remind folk that we still have troops in Syria. The Russians have plenty of military equipment that can reach them, or any US asset they care to target. By all means, let's see what their bold response shall be.

Place your bets gentlemen - what will emboldened Russia do the the terrified US now that we've started knocking their tyrant friend's chess pieces off the map.

I got dibs on "nothing".

Because we did nothing. And what troops do we have in Syria?

[Smitty-48]

You're right.

Why on Earth would the USA *not* want to annihilate a bunch of Russian troops in a missile strike launched over the actions of the Syrian government?
You're not playing for real, unless you're racking up the worst collateral damage one can imagine, and sending an unintelligible message of random violence to everyone in the blast radius.

lol. Yeah, OK there, Ghandi Kumbaya, go ahead and send that intelligible message that America is too scared to even look at Mr. Ivan funny, never mind muss a hair on his pretty little head, I'm sure he and his little buddy Assad, are totally deterred by your "humanitarian" launching of cruise missles into the dirt just to avoid "collateral damage".... your balls are right here in a jar on Mr. Ivan's desk, maybe if you ask nicely, he'll send you a photo of them so you can reminisce about the days when America actually had a pair...

[DBTrek]

You high? We aint starting WW3 over Syria. You know it, I know it, Russia knows it.

I'm sayin'.
So why is everyone all wrapped around the axle over us not indiscriminately killing any Russians as we wiped a Syrian airbase off the map?

The Russians *DO* know that they aren't starting any WW3 over this, and they've probably figured out that Syria is gonna run out of airbase before we run out of Tomahawks. So maybe, just maybe, they'll do the math and advise Assad to knock it off with the chemical weapons before we start hitting stuff that he can't afford to lose.
Because afterall, they aren't going to start WW3 over it.
And we've already shown that we'll crater their boy's assets if he doesn't act right.

. . . and Smitty is on fire with military envy.
Just apply for your US citizenship already.
Then you can finally stop being jealous and projecting your own national insecurities upon us.

[Alexander PhiAlipson]

I'm unsure whether that base ever employed chemical weapons, I'm equally unsure that Assad had any to use.
Sometimes I fuck with more poor little dog's head and pretend to throw a ball--she often falls for it--that's what I think we'll see tomorrow. To some Trump will look as though he acted quickly and decisively, other's impetuously and prematurely--Dan would say there should've been some cooling off period before doing nothing. But from first accounts, it looks like Clinton blowing up used tires on an obstacle course--very few casualties.
So, before I break into my old elementary school to hide under my desk, I'm going to listen to the tales told by idiots, full of sound and fury,
signifying nothing.

[DBTrek]

Let's see when the chemical weapons pop out again.
Or ... let's watch the bold retaliation against our military forces.

And if we see neither, then we'll have to settle for watching some folks here wrestle with their cognitive dissonance like an oiled midget caught in the grip of a python.
(I'm telling ya, guys - the people launching the missiles at the folks who are going to shut up and take it are the terrified ones. For reals!)

[Smitty-48]

. . . and Smitty is on fire with military envy.
Just apply for your US citizenship already.
Then you can finally stop being jealous and projecting your own national insecurities upon us.

Hey, like I said, we got an empty airfield for you right here, go ahead and launch your TLAM's into it, blow your wad to show the world what a bunch of "foreigner loving humanitarians" you are... so jealous of that shit... oh wait, no we're not, we're the foregner loving humanitarians and everybody knows it, we don't have to shoot 50 million dollars worth of TLAM's into the dirt to prove our humanitarian bona fides...

...and who would have "military envy" for a military which is so addled by political correctness and insecure about "collateral damage", that it doesn't even have the resolve to use its cruise missiles like a Boss anymore? If I got military envy, it's for the Russians, not this pussified America, this pussified America ain't nothing but a crying shame.