Think Tank Speculates War Could Break Out with Syria (Full Version)

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pahunkboy -> Think Tank Speculates War Could Break Out with Syria (4/11/2010 2:32:51 PM)

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/136948

Excerpt:

Another sign of Syria's increasingly open hostility came in late February, when Assad invited Hizbullah head Hassan Nasrallah and Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to dinner. At the meeting, Assad described support for anti-Israel terrorism, which he termed “resistance,” as “a moral and national duty in every nation” and talked with Ahmadinejad about “confronting Israeli terrorism.”Schenker noted that Syria has some reasons to avoid war, such as its apparent desire to cultivate ties with the West. However, he said, Syria may not be able to avoid joining a war if Hizbullah attacks. “After so much crowing about its support for Hizbullah and its regional ilk, could Syria sit out yet another fight?” he asked./snip



reynardfox -> RE: Think Tank Speculates War Could Break Out with Syria (4/11/2010 2:55:08 PM)

Syria were a feared and cutting edge military superpower with a highly trained and dedicated army of experienced and well disciplined troops,  - in the bronze age.
Do yourself a favour and look at their track record over the last 30 years, together with the state that country is in now.
The think tank that came up with that is probably the one that suggested we would all have flying cars and robot servants by 1970.



pahunkboy -> RE: Think Tank Speculates War Could Break Out with Syria (4/11/2010 3:06:53 PM)

Rey,  I don't automatically trust think tanks.





mefisto69 -> RE: Think Tank Speculates War Could Break Out with Syria (4/11/2010 5:50:08 PM)

pack your bags - you'll be deployed to help monitor the peace process



pahunkboy -> RE: Think Tank Speculates War Could Break Out with Syria (4/11/2010 5:51:43 PM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: mefisto69

pack your bags - you'll be deployed to help monitor the peace process


You have no idea how close that could be to being true.   No worries tho.



Arpig -> RE: Think Tank Speculates War Could Break Out with Syria (4/11/2010 5:58:41 PM)

While there may be something to the sabre-rattling I suspect it is just that...sabre-rattling.



OrpheusAgonistes -> RE: Think Tank Speculates War Could Break Out with Syria (4/11/2010 6:06:55 PM)

Schenker is a very smart guy who normally hedges his bets more than the article implies.  I haven't read his piece yet (and I might not ever have the time or inclination) but I'd be surprised if his tone was anywhere near as histrionic as the headline/article.  He's normally more inclined to ask rhetorical questions, shrug, and let people draw their own conclusions.  He also tends to present both sides of the issue, even if his bias is always clear.

I'd also urge anyone who wants to take this report at face value to consider the think tank itself.  Its webpage is here http://www.jcpa.org/ .  Again, I don't think the JCPA is part of Israel's hard right/dick waving hawk brigade; but they do have an obvious slant. 

There's a move afoot to try to drag the US back to Bush era support for Israel.  I would expect a deluge of reports like this in the next few months.  Some will be reasonable and scholarly, some will get tweaked up all the way into hysterical Doomsday scenario territory.  One of the most difficult questions in modern politics is the epistemological question--how do we even decide what counts as evidence and which sources to trust?  It's a vexing concern, so I think it's important to always remember that think tanks are generally driven by agendas (and those agendas are generally driven by the money behind the think tanks) and to read their reports with that in mind.  Just a quick glance at a think tank's previous body of publication is usually enough to suss out roughly where their bias is on crucial issues, which is helpful to intelligent readers who want to form opinions based on something other than knee-jerk reactions.



pahunkboy -> RE: Think Tank Speculates War Could Break Out with Syria (4/12/2010 3:07:43 AM)

OR,

I agree with your assessment.



popeye1250 -> RE: Think Tank Speculates War Could Break Out with Syria (4/12/2010 11:22:16 AM)

And who will Syria be going to war with?



mnottertail -> RE: Think Tank Speculates War Could Break Out with Syria (4/12/2010 11:26:19 AM)

Men who stare at goats.



pahunkboy -> RE: Think Tank Speculates War Could Break Out with Syria (4/12/2010 11:30:38 AM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: mnottertail

Men who stare at goats.


That should read, "unicorns".  lol



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