Yep. Simplism coming from Putin's right wing populistic ideology

Russia acting out of desperation in Ukraine and Syria, trying to project an image of strength and relevance.

Meanwhile their economy is in the toilet and their occupation in the Ukraine is draining huge amount of resources.

There will be another collapse and political upheaval in Russia in the next 10-15 years. Possibly sooner depending on the fate of oil prices.

Russia is now bombing civilians in Syria

debunked? by whom? conspiracy theorists? :)
haha, you're funny

Well no - it was the contemporary religious authority - the Catholic Church that disagreed with Copernicus.

There was no 'scientific community' as such until the enlightenment made the scientific method widespread.

There is a scientific consensus among climate scientists.

No, the contemporary scientific community disagreed with Copernicus, as they have with almost every scientific breakthrough.

Capital letters don't alter the fact that there is greater political consensus than scientific on the issue.

Copernicus made empirical investigations via the scientific method, and come to a conclusion based on evidence.

The Catholic Church deemed it contrary to Christian dogma, not based on any empirical evidence.

There is no analogy to is happening now re climate change. There is widespread SCIENTIFIC (not political) consensus on this issue. Deniers are actually more akin to the church if you are looking for a Copernican analogy.

Not only has the 97% claim been thoroughly debunked but that statement proves that you have no understanding of the scientific method or my reference to Copernicus.

In terms of people killed Assad is far far worse. But that has more to do with military capability compared to IS rather than any difference in ethics...

You are completely right that the general population is damned no matter the scenario.

That's what they argue. In terms of geo-politics, Syria is the last foothold of influence Russia has in the middle east, and Assad is one of their biggest markets for military hardware.

By propping up the Assad regime, they have actually contributed to the instability.

We agree on this.

Assad is the lesser of two evils in Syria sadly. On one hand they have a iron fisted butcher in assad and on the other they have the lunatic fringe in isis. The general syrians cant win

From what I've seen (not much admittedly), Russia sees the Assad regime as the only way to reach stability in the country for the short-medium term.

Find it amazing that the Saudis can be looking to be on the UN human rights council, at the same time as doing nothing about refugees and executing and beheading people at an alarming rate, go figure the civilised world we live in

because you are holier than thou .... IYHO

Yes - in terms of Europe I would call out Hungary and Slovakia as having the most racist overtones in their rhetoric.

In terms of Middle East - Lebanon and Turkey come to mind in terms of accommodating refugees. 100% agree with your calling our the Saudis in particular.

The other aspect is the Russians and the Iranians keeping Assad armed which is prolonging the war, if you want to go to root cause analysis.

It's hard not to, the issue is very complex. In simple terms you look at Saudi Arabia, Oman, UAE, Kuwait taking none.

Well Hungary and Croatia in particular. The article you posted called Hungary's policy borderline racist.

I don't see people criticising Europe for racism.

I see people criticising the EU for being unable to agree to a policy response to resolve the crisis, and I see specific European countries (such as Hungary) being criticised for racism completely appropriately given their rhetoric.

I do feel you are simplifying the issue somewhat.

Also, there are middle east countries who have accommodated (and still are accommodating) refugees far in excess of the numbers going to Europe.

Some middle east countries are not pulling their weight, absolutely.

But I think we need to avoid such generalised groupings as Europe and the Middle East when apportioning blame.

Well put. Any reasonable person would be concerned about those things but they're all manageable.

Regardless, a poor fisherman from Algeria isn't a legitimate refugee. An Eritrean, Somalian, or Yemeni escaping civil war and trying to dodge the system by using a fake Syrian passport I have a bit more sympathy for.

I agree but there are always those who use those fear-mongering buzz words.

Lets face it though, why is Europe getting hammered for their 'racist' stance (sigh) when the Middle East couldn't give a damn?

The cultural shift to another middle eastern country would be 2365983245702345 times easier than to a western one.

Yet people have the gall to criticise Europe?

Absolutely - and I don't think there are many people that don't think that there are legitimate concerns about the following:

- Infrastructure capacity to absorb a lot of people all at once
- People using invalid/fake IDs to increase the likelihood of being accepted
- Difficulties with assimilating differing cultures

But these are all solvable policy problems. Its when people throw around terms like "islamification", "invasion", "criminal dregs" that perspective gets lost.

Here is a rational article articulating the legitimate concerns that do exist in this crisis:

http://www.economist.com/news/europe/21667956-europes-migration-hardliners-have-some-reasonable-concerns-point-taken-mr-orban


Edited by AzzaMarch: 30/9/2015 09:25:12 AM

There are numerous articles from numerous sources suggesting that people are buying fake Syrian passports. I think given the ease of researching this information, it can't all be wrong. Some of it may be over-played but this information has to come from somewhere. I have absolutely no interest in trying to find articles from specific sources just because you 'don't trust' several sites. I'm not playing this game.



https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/migrants-are-disguising-themselves-as-syrians-to-gain-entry-to-europe/2015/09/22/827c6026-5bd8-11e5-8475-781cc9851652_story.html

My opinion is that countries are only willing to do so much. I'm sure even the Germans will reach a point where they have to close/restrict their borders. Those who cheat the system screw it for others. Whether it be 30, 300 or 3000 or even 300,000, it shouldn't matter. There's a big difference between escaping difficult circumstances and escaping a 4 sided war with no end in sight. There's a huge difference between being a poor fisherman in Algeria and getting bombed every day in Syria.

Why would I be any different batty? ;) ;)

LOL....except you of course;) ;)

Oh Dear.....:? please tell me they don't exist

I think its pretty obvious that 97% of the world's scientists cant all be wrong

I chuckle when warmies shriek about denialists, which is just their word for heretic, just like that damn Copenicus and his refusal to accept scientific consensus.

Sorry to go off topic but it's funny you mention this.
Research has shown that conspiracy ideation and global warming denial are correlated. Right wing ideology and global warming denial are also correlated. I chuckle to myself when I think about this.

No.

You have clearly never been to the Middle East, freedom and peace mean different things to different people. Our cities have limited infrastructure and social capacity to absorb those from different cultures.

I'm a progressive. I dont believe in this conspiracy theory perpetuated by right wing and fringe websites which frankly toxify the internet and need to be clamped down upon ASAP.

Europe and Australia should welcome these poor people and let them live where they want. Isnt that what freedom is all about?