I pretty much know nothing about the situation there aside from ISIS=bad and I'm interested in learning about it. I figured that, since there are a few people here like gatsby and challenger who seem to know their shit, here'd by a good place to get a decent explanation of who's who and what's happening, or at least some links for some resources that explain it in a simple enough manner for people who have literally no prior knowledge of it.

Muslim nations=bad
Secular nations that existed before the Iranian Coup=good

Thank you.

Not a fluent expert myself but I'll give it a rough go:

-Early 2010 saw a wave of revolutionary new protests and demonstrations that opposed the current Middle Eastern governments known as the Arab Spring
-Was supposed to democratically impeach/depose various leaders, but was responded with violence from the regimes, including Assad (President of Syria) and Gaddafi in Libya, in which we all know how the latter turned out
-Syria turned into a massive shitfest situation reminiscent of WWI in which you've got various factions with different end goals opposed to each other, and yet some supposedly working with one another.
-Assad's regime backed by the Syrian army and Russia
-The opposition comprised of FSA (Free Syrian Army)
-ISIS
-The Kurds
-The Coalition Joint Task Force comprised of Western nations that are more concerned about getting rid of ISIS than actually resolving the overall conflict
-All of which are a total cluster-fuck of entangling alliances that are really just fucking the people of Syria over the most

I'm sure I've left major details out but that's just a basic synopsis of the situation.

Shitty sandpit

Not a fluent expert myself but I'll give it a rough go:

-Early 2010 saw a wave of revolutionary new protests and demonstrations that opposed the current Middle Eastern governments known as the Arab Spring
-Was supposed to democratically impeach/depose various leaders, but was responded with violence from the regimes, including Assad (President of Syria) and Gaddafi in Libya, in which we all know how the latter turned out
-Syria turned into a massive shitfest situation reminiscent of WWI in which you've got various factions with different end goals opposed to each other, and yet some supposedly working with one another.
-Assad's regime backed by the Syrian army and Russia
-The opposition comprised of FSA (Free Syrian Army)
-ISIS
-The Kurds
-The Coalition Joint Task Force comprised of Western nation that are more concerned about getting rid of ISIS than actually resolving the overall conflict
-All of which are a total cluster-fuck of entangling alliances that are really just fucking the people of Syria over the most

I'm sure I've left major details out but that's just a basic synopsis of the situation.

Okay cool, thanks. I hear a lot about all the various factions in discussions here but I've never really known who was who. This should hopefully give me enough of a base knowledge to do some reading.

Can you be more specific? Cuz the middle east includes this (except the caucuses) so there's too much here for me to actually try and explain.

Democratic elections where he was the only  one running.

A country where only one man can run for president is a dictatorship.

Quote from: Alpha on October 17, 2016, 08:54:18 AM

Quote from: challengerX on October 17, 2016, 08:53:17 AM

Quote from: Alpha on October 17, 2016, 08:45:15 AM

Quote from: challengerX on October 17, 2016, 08:41:13 AM

Quote from: Alpha on October 17, 2016, 08:33:46 AM

Quote from: challengerX on October 17, 2016, 08:32:12 AM

Quote from: Alpha on October 17, 2016, 08:05:55 AM

Assad isn't a dictator like many people will tell you

Yes he is.

Nope

Let me guess, Saddam wasn't a dictator either?

No. I believe he was.

Wow, I'm surprised.

How did Assad come to power?

Democratic elections where he was the only  one running.

LOL Exactly

You think that is democratic? You're a disgrace. You're spitting on the graves of people who have fought and died to protect real democracy.

I'm not saying it is real democracy.

Oh oh oh, I could write an essay on this shit and still not explain it. Hell Syria in itself is a shitfest, and even basic factions have internal fighting. Did you know the KRG (Iraqi Kurds) have good relationship with the Turks but the YPG and the PKK do not.

Quote from: Alpha on October 17, 2016, 03:08:39 PM

Quote from: challengerX on October 17, 2016, 01:56:51 PM

Quote from: Alpha on October 17, 2016, 01:55:16 PM

Quote from: challengerX on October 17, 2016, 09:02:02 AM

Quote from: Alpha on October 17, 2016, 08:54:18 AM

Quote from: challengerX on October 17, 2016, 08:53:17 AM

Quote from: Alpha on October 17, 2016, 08:45:15 AM

Quote from: challengerX on October 17, 2016, 08:41:13 AM

Quote from: Alpha on October 17, 2016, 08:33:46 AM

Quote from: challengerX on October 17, 2016, 08:32:12 AM

Quote from: Alpha on October 17, 2016, 08:05:55 AM

Assad isn't a dictator like many people will tell you

Yes he is.

Nope

Let me guess, Saddam wasn't a dictator either?

No. I believe he was.

Wow, I'm surprised.

How did Assad come to power?

Democratic elections where he was the only  one running.

LOL Exactly

You think that is democratic? You're a disgrace. You're spitting on the graves of people who have fought and died to protect real democracy.

I'm not saying it is real democracy.

It isn't democracy at all. It's a dictatorship.

Just because he wasn't elected fairly, doesn't mean he is a dictator.

What type of man do you think he is if he's part of a family that controls the government to such an extent that they hold elections where he's the only choice available? Does that seem like a kind and caring man to you?

You're the type of retard to call Obama a tyrant and a dictator. What a fucking joke. This man has committed numerous atrocities. He has ordered kidnappings, torture, executions, the list goes on.

All of which has been disproven.
And no, I wouldn't call Obama a tyrant and dictator. Stop making baseless accusations with nothing behind them.

Quote from: gats on October 17, 2016, 09:53:07 AM

Can you be more specific? Cuz the middle east includes this (except the caucuses) so there's too much here for me to actually try and explain.

Spoiler

Quote from: Alpha on October 17, 2016, 08:54:18 AM

Democratic elections where he was the only  one running.

A country where only one man can run for president is a dictatorship.

Would you have called all of the great empires from the past, such as England, France, Spain, Russia, and China dictatorships? No. And you wouldn't for Syria. It is far closer to being a monarchy disguised as a democracy.

I refuse to believe you're being serious right now. Fucking lol