Fears of extremism taking hold in Syria as violence continues

[kayecy]

11. Why are you trying to defend Israel's indefensible settlement activity?....

did you forget about Israel? it too is considered a "settlement... Have you spoken to hamas recently? islamic Jihad members? and i noticed in the past before there were settlements post 67, that, there were also attacks on israel and now there are less

You say “Israel is considered as a settlement” - What a pathetic attempt to defend West Bank settlement expansion!........You are prevaricating again......I don’t believe you really think that stopping settlement expansion would increase violence against Israelis......Why are you trying to defend the indefensible?

Its is immoral to place israel, its citizens in a more dangerous position

What nonsense!.......Why would stopping West Bank settler expansion place Israel or its citizens in a more dangerous position?

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and the Palestinians like any people have the ability to create a western democracy, its a matter of national will, western education and culture. I don't believe any of those aspects exist within their culture presently, with enough "mass" and i believe its essential for any long term peace and stability to have a chance

You may be right but why has Israel not introduced “western education” into the West Bank?......After ruling the West Bank for 45 years, by your own admission it has achieved nothing in the way of changing Palestinian views and yet it has succeeded in doing so with Arab Israelis.......Israel is the de facto ruler of the West bank......It is just a much its responsibility (and in its long-term interest) to change Arab opinion there as is it is within the Green Line.

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whereas i have my own moral compass and believe (unlike you) that dictatorships are illegal and have no rights, and in fact should be on a "removal list, it doesn't mean one does stupid things like remove a stable secular dictatorship and replace it with tribal and religious based dictatorship.....that is even more immoral

Did you post something to that effect at the time of NATO’s involvement?.......Perhaps you could see the future more clearly than NATO?.......Stating that a post-Gaddafi government would be tribal would have been nothing but a guess at that time, but you didn’t need a crystal ball to see what the future for Benghazi residents would have been had Gaddafi been allowed to fulfill his promise of "no mercy"........If you did object to the removal of Gaddafi, were you also content to standby and watch a massacre take place?

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so tell us: ....will you or will you not do anything at all to help the syrians, or do you stand by your version of morality and declare it immoral and illegal to aid them?

You believe the Syrian secular rebels deserve your support in toppling Assad but the Libyan rebels didn’t simply because the Libyan rebels are tribal and religious-based.

That is too fine a distinction for me.......My moral code is less conditional.....I will support any action that I think will minimize death and suffering......The Syrian rebels have my moral support just as I supported the Libyan rebels..... I hope they succeed in their objective but whether it will lead to a democracy or even fewer deaths than under Assad is anyone’s guess.

It is sometimes difficult to decide the most effective thing to do......I shall probably wait until the situation becomes clearer........You obviously know the best thing to do in such sitations......You have leapt into action by posting a Washington Post article.......Perhaps it would help the rebels if I posted a similar article!
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