Politics The Elephant in the room...The GOP today

Well, Ben Carson actually impressed me with how he handled the Syrian Refugee issue over the weekend. It's about the only thing that he has said or done that makes sense to me. I'm not sure if he can actually get it done with diplomacy and other issues (Saudi Arabia, Russia, Iran) that might not be supportive of him. But, traveling to Jordan, touring a refugee camp, talking to them in person, asking them if they would rather live in Syria than immigrate, and giving the TV interviews is something that Bernie Sanders should have done.

 

Can you expand on what Carson did? I am not bathing in the US media shower.

From what you've said above, he went to some camps and asked if people would rather live in Syria or move to another country. That's a relative no-brainer. If I had a choice, I'd would rather move back to my home. The real questions are:

• Is it even possible to move back?
• If it is, how long will it take and what should the refugees do in the meantime?
• And to the larger questions, but equally important, how will we:
  • stop the revolution
  • rebuild a destroyed nation and its infrastructure
  • stop ISIS and its desire to take over the rest of Syria (not to mention Iraq)
  • how long will that take?
  • Will it be more stable or less (ie is this just creating more issues to blow back)

 

Carson's positions on Syria refugees is much like every other Republican candidate. Keep them out of the US by any means possible.

Where Carson goes further is his comments about some Muslims being like "rabid dogs" so we must keep them out and an earlier comment about not wanting a Muslim president unless that person swore to give up his Islamic beliefs (an unconstitutional religious test).

His recent trip to Jordan was to demonstrate his "compassion" by essentially reaffirming his opposition to any Syrian refugee being allowed into the US. He wants Jordan, where 600,000+ thousand Syrian refugees have been "resettled" in refugee camps to take in more (and US will help with the cost). A country of 6+ million already adding 10% to its population and straining infrastructure far beyond its capacity. That would be like the US taking in 30+ million refugees. And he wants Jordan to take in more?

The larger issue is the obscene fear mongering over Syrian refugees based on events in Paris, despite the fact that the US refugee resettlement program is nothing like the EU asylum program.

No refugee who has been resettled in the US through the formal UN/US program in the last 20+ years has ever committed a terrorist act. The screening and vetting process is rigorous and comprehensive and takes 18-24 months and the overwhelming number of refugees to be admitted under the program will be families, widows, children/orphans and seniors . Not the "18-40 yr old fighting men" (as described by the the right) like those in Paris. To get into Europe, those "fighting men" simply had to pay someone to take them from Turkey to Greece and once they made it to Greece with little or no background checks, they were essentially free to roam around any EU country under the guise of requesting asylum.

The US refugee resettlement program is the hardest way (and takes the most time) for a potential terrorist to enter the US, yet Carson and all the Republican candidates have so grossly politicized the issue with fear mongering to the point that it goes against everything the US has always stood for in the past.

Carson's trip (and pre-determined) "findings" was an affirmation that we are no longer that America if he has his way.

 

I view it as a long game move to keep them in Jordan, Iran, and Turkey. Because it doesn't seem that Europe or the US/Canada have a plan for returning them back to Syria. Will they have to go back once Daesh is defeated? What if Assad is still in charge and will attack the impoverished rural Syrians who belong to a different religious sect (that want more power in the government)? What about Russia's and Iran's Syrian alliance? It's not going to change if a million Syrians have relocated and settled in Jordan, Germany, Sweden and other western countries. Just like the Cuban refugees were never able to topple Castro from the US and Mexico. I'm sure that most of the refugees that go through the US process are fine, I'm not so sure about those who are escaping to Europe and then can get a new passport in a few years to visit the US.

But instead of continuing to do the stupid thing like calling them "rabid dogs", Carson actually took a break from the campaign trail and looked into the problem first hand. That is what he should have done in the first place, but the media doesn't cover boring stuff like this. They will just replay the sound byte of him saying rabid dogs over and over. And he is for crushing Daesh quickly. Which is probably better then these never ending pinpoint drone bombing runs that are just breeding the next generation of terrorist. I wonder how many of them will want revenge when someone they know gets killed? We bombed Germany and Japan with big bombs or large areas of bombing to end WW2 with threats that we wouldn't stop until they gave up and changed. Maybe it is time to let Russia use a FOAB along with France, and US to use a MOAB or two against Raqqa and other ISIL strongholds. The problem is that will just be a call to arms for a bunch of people who don't like what happened to "innocent" people in those cities and as a new crusade against Islam. Spun by their conservative media and religious leaders. And it could lead to major world war which is what Daesh wants.

Father of All Bombs - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The left wing, liberals, and Progressives need to ask if these refugees and Muslims we want to topple the dictators in the region are supporters of women's rights, the environment, music, free speech, religious liberty, gender equality... This is about the only place in the media where it is having this discussion without interference by the Republicans.


View: https://youtu.be/KWZnfNKoSpo

 

Jordan has taken in 600,000+ already, Turkey nearly 2 million, Lebanon over 1 million. Their infrastructure and capacity is over-extended. EU countries and Canada are doing more than the US.

We have taken in war refugees w/o question since WW II. Recently, more than 50,000 thousand from Iraq and Somalia. It is what we do as a compassionate country. If, at some point, they can and want to return to their homeland, they always have that option.

But there is no excuse for the fear mongering over Syrians refugees, particularly based on an ignorant comparison by many on the right to the EU asylum policy. NO refugees from the Middle East who has entered the US through the refugee resettlement program has ever committed an act of terror in the US. There are far easier ways for potential terrorist to enter the US than through the refugee resettlement program.

Yes, this is a potential problem but not a reason for the fear mongering of allowing Syrian refugees to be resettled in the US now through our comprehensive and time consuming program.
--- merged: Dec 2, 2015 at 2:00 PM ---

A US invasion and occupation of another country in the Middle East is what will more likely result in the next generation of terrorists. That was one of the conclusions of Bush's NIE in '06 ("The Iraq conflict has become the 'cause celebre' for jihadists, breeding a deep resentment of US involvement in the Muslim world and cultivating supporters for the global jihadist movement") and nearly every Republican candidate wants to repeat that same failed policy.

 

Trump is way better than Cruz or Carson. I don't understand why so many people are attacking him now, instead of waiting a few months.

 

Is there anything Ms Palin won't blame on Obama?
Palin links son's arrest to Obama's policies
Maybe parenting had something to do with it?

 

I think "carpet-bombing" is a "kill everything that moves" strategy. Without the humans, Syria would be a fine place. I think what Cruz wants is a modern Christian Crusade to wipe out the Muslims and make it a Christian country. Trump would probably just want to take out more of them, without regard to if there are women and children that can't flee and are killed.