Syria Quotes - Page 3

• When people want to inspire you to turn against some group of people, they'll often use empathy. When Obama wanted to bomb Syria, he drew our attention to the victims of chemical warfare. And in both of the Iraq wars, politicians said, "Look at the horrific things that are happening." I'm not a pacifist. I think the suffering of innocent people can be a catalyst for moral action. But empathy puts too much weight on the scale in favor of war. Empathy can really lead to violence.

  Paul Bloom

  War, Thinking, People

  Source: www.guernicamag.com

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• Syria is Iran's only ally in the Arab world. It's their route to the sea.

  Mitt Romney

  Stupid, Iran, Sea

  TRANSCRIPT: Presidential debate on foreign policy at Lynn University, www.foxnews.com. October 22, 2012.

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• The latest developments in Iraq are deeply troubling, but as the United States considers military and diplomatic responses to the actions of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) action, we should be clear that U.S. troops on the ground cannot go a million miles near a sectarian civil war-it's simply not an option.

  Sean Patrick Maloney

  Military, War, Islamic

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• Representatives of the American intelligence agencies - and I hope they won't be angry - but they could have been more professional, and the diplomats as well. After they found out that he was flying to us, and that he was flying as a transit passenger, there was pressure from all sides - from the Americans, from the Europeans - instead of just letting him go to a country where they could operate easily.

  Vladimir Putin

  Country, Gay, Agency

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• There are some gestures, of course, that you can only interpret one way, but no one has ever seen those kinds of gestures directed by Obama at me or by me at Obama, and I hope that never happens. Everything else is fantasy.

  Vladimir Putin

  Gay, Gestures, Way

  "Vladimir Putin interview: Ten interesting things the Russian leader said". www.telegraph.co.uk. September 4, 2013.

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• While the foreign policy elite in Washington focuses on the 8,000 deaths in a conflict in Syria – half a world away from the United States – more than 47,000 people have died in drug-related violence since 2006 in Mexico. A deeply troubled state as well as a demographic and economic giant on the United States’ southern border, Mexico will affect America’s destiny in coming decades more than any state or combination of states in the Middle East.

  Robert D. Kaplan

  Destiny, America, People

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• We have a contract for the delivery of the S-300s. We have supplied some of the components, but the delivery hasn't been completed. We have suspended it for now. But if we see that steps are taken that violate the existing international norms, we shall think how we should act in the future, in particular regarding supplies of such sensitive weapons to certain regions of the world.

  Vladimir Putin

  Taken, Gay, Thinking

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• Today further EU targeted sanctions on Syria come into force. The message is clear and unambiguous: those responsible for the repression will be singled out and held accountable.

  William Hague

  Today, Messages, Responsible

  "Syria Death Toll Rises As Tanks Pound Residential Neighborhoods". www.huffingtonpost.com. August 2, 2011.

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• If you study the behavior or the attitude of Syria, Iran, and U.S., you understand that these three countries can't come to terms with each other.

  Shirin Ebadi

  Country, Attitude, Study

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• In the past, Germany could rely on the French, the British and, especially, the Americans, to assert our interests in the world. We have always criticized the U.S. for being the global police, and it was often appropriate to do so. But we are now seeing what happens when the U.S. pulls back. If the U.S. leaves the room, other powers immediately walk in. In Syria, it's Russia and Iran. In trade policy, it's China. These examples show that, ultimately, we are no longer achieving either - neither the dissemination of our European values nor the advancement of our interests.

  Sigmar Gabriel

  Past, Police, World

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• For example, the use of chemical weapons [in Syria]- some on the Democrat side have said well, this encourages the North Koreans to use chemical weapons against our troops.

  Rand Paul

  Use, Weapons, Sides

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• Islamic State is mainly a direct result of the failure in Syria. That's where IS has grown. That's where IS spread from.

  Paul Wolfowitz

  Islamic, States, Results

  Source: www.spiegel.de

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• Secretary [John] Kerry has called Civil War [in Syria] an unbelievably small war that we're going to get involved with.

  Rand Paul

  War, John Kerry, Get Involved

  Source: www.wbur.org

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• On the other hand, you have to balance that against expanding our nuclear forces, add to our so-called depleted military, which is already more powerful than the rest of the world combined; attack in Syria, send forces to Syria, start bombing. Who knows what could be next?

  Noam Chomsky

  Powerful, Military, Hands

  Source: www.counterpunch.org

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• I think we can't be naive in dealing with the Russians or dealing with the Syrians. But at the same time, I think we could try to encourage - and I think this is what diplomacy should do - encourage the self-interests of all parties to believe that it is in their best interest to get evil actors or rogue actors such as Syria or Iran, if you try to have less belligerent and less bellicose behavior.

  Rand Paul

  Party, Believe, Thinking

  "Rand Paul On Syria: 'I Think There's Evil On Both Sides'". "Tell Me More" with Michel Martin, news.stlpublicradio.org. September 11, 2013.

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• We have Islamic rebels [in Syria] who've been eating the hearts or organs of their enemies. We have priests that have been killed. We have Christian villages that have been razed by Islamic rebels. We have Islamic rebels who say they don't recognize Israel and would just as soon attack Israel as [Bashar] Assad. So really, I see no clear-cut American interest, and I'm afraid that sometimes things unravel, and the situation could become less stable and not more stable.

  Rand Paul

  Christian, Islamic, Heart

  Source: www.wbur.org

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• I think there's evil on both sides [of Syria], and I think that's one reason I don't want to be involved in civil war. I see things in personal terms. I just can't see sending one of my sons - or your son or daughter - to fight in a civil war, where on one side we have a dictator, who in all likelihood gassed his people.

  Rand Paul

  Daughter, War, Fighting

  Source: www.wbur.org

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• Syria is on the back end of basically a decade-long drought. Over the last decade, farmers and herders have been ravaged in Syria forcing them to give up and move to urban areas. This has put a huge strain on urban resources, and it's surely one of the reasons for the uprising there.

  Thomas Friedman

  Giving Up, Moving, Uprising

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• If, as we decided in Munich, there will be a cessation of hostilities and humanitarian assistance can flow into Syria - then this will open the door for the beginning of the political transition process.

  Adel al-Jubeir

  Doors, Political, Transition

  Source: www.spiegel.de

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• The Arab awakening has been, up to now, a lot about freedom from dictatorial regimes - Syria, Yemen, Libya, Tunisia, Bahrain and Egypt. But once you got freedom from, then you need freedom to. Freedom from is about destroying things. Freedom to is about constructing things, constructing the rule of law.

  Thomas Friedman

  Egypt, Law, Needs

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• [Barack] Obama was reaching a point [with Syria bombing] where he might not have been able to carry it off.He was losing support internally, and was compelled to send the vote to Congress, and it looked as if he was going to be defeated, which would have been a very serious blow to his presidency, to his authority.

  Noam Chomsky

  Blow, Support, Might

  Source: www.truth-out.org

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• Israel produces and stores chemical weapons. So therefore the US will prevent the Chemical Weapons Convention from being imposed on the Middle East. But it's necessary to evade this by misrepresenting the convention, and I think maybe 100 percent of the media, or close to it, go along. But that's a critical issue. Actually, Syria's chemical weapons were developed largely as a deterrent to Israeli nuclear weapons. Also, not mentioned.

  Noam Chomsky

  Thinking, Media, Issues

  Source: www.truth-out.org

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• Our intervention to destabilize the Assad regime has really made the chaos worse in Syria. And if you were to get rid of Assad today, I would actually worry about the 2 million Christians that are protected by Assad.

  Rand Paul

  Christian, Worry, Today

  Source: abcnews.go.com

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• If 90 percent or 95 percent of those - chemical stockpiles [in Syria] were eliminated, that's a lot of chemical weapons that are not right now in the hands of ISIL or Nusra or, for that matter, the regime.

  Barack Obama

  Hands, Isil, Weapons

  Source: www.cbsnews.com

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• I believe that the United States is not genuine regarding having a cessation of violence in Syria.

  Bashar al-Assad

  Believe, United States, Violence

  "President al-Assad's interview given to Associated Press". Interview, sana.sy. September 22, 2016.

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