Doonesbury by Garry Trudeau for August 09, 2015

There will never be a shortage of work for Sorkh Razil in the Middle East.

I suggest a gigantic cage for most of the Middle East.

A target rich environmentSo rich, in fact, that you can stand back and let them slaughter themselves on their way back to the darkness.(Taking their women and children with them.)

It’d be nice if commenters here would stop to think about the actual human lives involved in these conflicts. Countless children, women, and men killed, maimed, made homeless, starved, losing loved ones. Rather than the glib, dehumanizing, “turn it into a cage match,” why not think about actual ways to try and help alleviate some of the suffering? Or is that too complicated for our lazy minds?

With a lot of black gold under it. (Except for the part of it called Israel)

Can anyone explain to me how Assad, who has protected minorities and relentlessly fought jihadism, is a “thug” or “bad guy”, except in the long since exploded propaganda peddled by the likes of Barack Obama (who as late as 2013 was still claiming there were no jihadis in Syria, who lied that Assad used poison gas, and who is now openly arming and training terrorists there)? I remember there used to be a commentor called Dylan 3.1415 here who regularly called Assad ‘Asshat’ and repeated Obamapologist propaganda. Haven’t seen the guy around recently but then I rarely read this strip anymore.

nosirrom said, 1 minute ago: " you can not force democracy ona people who don’t want it."Is that why Amerikastan overthrew the democratic Mossadegh government in Iran in 1953, for example? Because Iranians don’t want democracy?

The Middle East — the place where we fought a high tech war against a low tech enemy and lost. But, we did eliminate an evil dictator. Unfortunately, he was the stabilizing force in the area.

Interesting info on this one, though it seems to be not so funny. I hope he gets back to the Trump meme before he flames out. The right was bound to get out of sorts when Trump started his antics on their side.

And give it all back to the Turks.

Yay, more Red Rascal!

The US should leave the Middle East and let them sort it out. Reline the borders if they have to.

Is Charleston, Tennessee, Florida, or other shooting sites in the “middle east” of the U.S., representing target-rich environs?

The American Ambassador to Syria Robert Ford called Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad evil in an extensive interview with The Daily Caller Wednesday from his mission in the Middle Eastern country.“Yes, actually I do because what’s happening under his authority in terms of people being tortured to death, people being shot who are unarmed and no one being held accountable for it,” Ford responded following a pause after being asked by TheDC if he thought Assad was “evil.”.To say nothing of barrel bombs being used on civilians, and children being tortured in front of the their parents.Nice guy. I thought he’d give up murder after he passed his father’s record of 20-30,000 in Hama, but he’s at 200,000 and probably more. While he makes sure to live in luxury.

I was in a discussion group this morning (face-to-face, not online), and someone was talking about how the U.S. has lost its place in the world as #1. I kept quiet, because the guy seemed to be losing his hold on reality and dominated the conversation. Now I can say it: WHY DOES THE U. S. HAVE TO BE FIRST IN EVERYTHING?

@goweeder“The fantasy that the US is a force for good in the world is the one needing to be corrected.”.Don’t see why.We ARE a force for good.Even with all our faults.We bring the idea of freedom, even if it is rejected.We bring the idea of sanitation, even if it is rejected.We offer goods to those wanting them.We offer better lives to those interested..We aren’t the only ones, but we are among those who offer good things.

@BuckyKatt999“Why is it that more and more people around the world are more afraid of the USA than even the ISIL?”.They aren’t

Well, we all thought “Arab Spring” was so great…..here is the result.