Stalin did have 141 divisions on the border, from Romania to Poland. All were deployed within some 20 km of the border, all ready for the attack. Romania was to be attacked first to cut the German oil supply. Hitler pre-empted the Soviet attack the same as Israel did in 1967. That's why he was so successful.

As to Turkey/Greece situation, we can only guess the future. All I can say is my observation- Greece has seized being a serious nation and serious people after WWII, and NATO is no longer a force to be considered seriously, either.

I doubt Stalin was prepared to attack Hitler. The necessary massing of troops and armor would have at least slowed the advance of German troops. In fact the German advance across western USSR was so rapid they outran their supply service and had to call a temporary halt to allow them to catch up.

If the situation continues to devolve, expect to see Turkey decide to leave NATO. Once that happens, all Greece has to do is allow other NATO members to stage from their territory, no Greek phalanx needed.

Stalin was never fooled by the supposed friendship with Hitler. Neither was Hitler. They both needed time to attack each other. Hitler beat Stalin by a matter of weeks or even days.
And Istanbul reverting to Constantinople? With Muslim birth rates several times that of the Europeans, we already have Londonstan and Paristan is soon to follow. Oh, yes, with Greece devolving closely behind Venezuela, I don't tnink that Greek phalanx is about to be reborn.

Absolutely, Trump's action was just a giant eraser, used strictly to erase (or just blow up) some of those phony red lines drawn around the world by the Obama team. Some of those that have been laughing at US might start taking another look and perhaps we can get some respect back. I just wonder who's next to get a message?

With total fruitcakes like Kim Jong-un leading a country it probably did nothing more than to embolden him. Someone will eventually have to demonstrate to him that his direction and actions are unacceptable to this world. And hopefully the Chinese will show him the way. I can only dream that Trump and Putin can build some kind of positive civil relationship and not let their egos get in the way of what's best for this world.

Exactly correct allosaur!

Which one is our enemy? Why a red line when using gas? No one ever watched their child die from gun shot or bomb wounds and said; "Well, at least it wasn't gas!" After 150,000 people have been killed in the civil war while 'leader's' try to ascertain who has the right to use violence against their people to extort taxes and property from them it seems irrelevant to be concerned about women and children and gas.

Don't forget, Obama fell for it before Trump.

Personally, I don't understand why we are intervening here. We weren't asked to and neither of the parties support freedom so it isn't as if this is even potential nation-building...

That's why you're the professor of chemistry! :)

Phosgene is a chlorinated gas.

Read straightlinelogic's latest novel, and you'll have a completely different perspective.

Initially, I thought the same and that perhaps it was a ruse. However, after some thought, WMDs (Chem, Bio or Radiological) are to be treated like a hot stove top. You touch it, you get burn- immediately. And remember, the same people who told use over and over that they had negotiated removal of all chemical weapons from Syria, are the same people that allowed Syria to self verify. Also they're the same people who gave nuclear technology, latest avionics from Boeing and billions of $ to Iran for "peaceful" use. The same people who also negotiated for Iran to self verify compliance with agreement regarding nuclear program for Iran.

Iran is a country sitting on vast reserves of cheap oil, natural gas and coal. They may have needed more refineries but not nuclear energy.

Historians will point at the Iran deal as the most stunningly stupid blunder in American history. Then again, maybe it wasn't a blunder. Maybe it was by some nefarious design against America.

The enemy of my enemy is my friend. Hm. Ask Stalin how that worked out. For centuries, Poland and imperial Russia took turns invading each other, so when Hitler suggested the USSR and Germany work together to eliminate the "Polish threat," Stalin jumped at the opportunity. He was so convinced that he could trust Hitler that he refused his generals' demands he reinforce the border with Poland and keep some defense forces on alert. Without massive infusion of U.S. material and supplies, operation Barbarossa would have succeeded.

Turkey appears to have struck a deal with the Devil (multiple devils, in fact) that will eventually be regretted. Russia and Shiite Iran are not friends of Sunni Turkey, and once the current conflict is settled, Turkey will discover the foolishness of that deal. Iran may be Muslim, but it retains Persian dreams of empire. Instead of destroying the Kurds, I expect Iran will offer them a deal to help them carve out a new Kurdistan from Iraq, Syria, and Turkey. Russia will exercise its Black Fleet muscle and its Mediterranean port in Syrian Latakia to control access to Turkish ports.

I wouldn't be surprised to see Greece consider joining the Russians in pressuring Turkey as well. After all, the opportunity to regain and rename Istanbul to Constantinople would be tempting.

The Art of War: Kill a chicken to scare the monkey.

This is what I posted on FB 4/6: Ya know, I would not be surprised if our CIA or someone like George Soros sprayed Syrians with chemicals just to start a war. And stupid Trump fell for it! I don't think Syrian leaders sprayed their own people. Call me crazy, but I do not trust anyone!

I knew Trump was a fallible bull in a china shop when I voted for him. Glad he threw all those Tomahawks over little King Barry's red line.
The enemies who are not our friends now know for certain they are not dealing with a bowing and apologizing Liar-In-Chief weaselly coward
who libtard thinks Muslims are more special than anyone else.

I realize that poison gas is a bad thing....so bad even the Nazis didn't use it in WW2 [except to kill Jews] But what exactly difference does it make if a child is killed by a bomb, or by gas? They are just as dead. The biggest problem that I can see in modern conflicts is that the world powers interfere and the conflict gets dragged out for decades, instead of one side just winning and it being over. Somebody has to win eventually....the sooner the better. Sure the winner will screw over the looser...but that has got to be better than unending conflict. an unending conflict that spills over on to neighboring areas.

Next time will be the charm! Just one missile dropped on either Assad's or Kim Jong Un's palace with them in it is what will change the narrative. I firmly believe we can't negotiate with such evil so the only options are to either leave them alone or eliminate them.

I would point out that the first purported gas attack by the Assad regime was later found to be perpetrated by the rebels themselves when they inadvertently punctured the tanks on some stolen agents. They used it as a PR campaign to blame Assad. The conservative media was quick to castigate Obama for drawing a red line and not acting. (Obama should have just come out and said that the rebels gassed their own people but he sides with them and that wouldn't have played well for his ideological narrative so instead he simply said nothing and allowed the mainstream media to cover for him.)

I'm not convinced that Assad used chemical weapons this time either. I'm certainly open to some real evidence, but my personal preference is to leave Syria alone - we have no allies in this fight.

According to a link I saw today, an expert on chemical agents said that the effects, smells, and vapors were more consistent with an anhydrous ammonia or chlorine gas effect rather than a military/weaponized agent. Sarin gas is odorless and colorless and would have resulted in deaths of first responders as well as victims.

I suspected ISIS (or perhaps CIA) staging immediately. This smelled of "false flag" as soon I saw the victims. The symptoms of saran gas are inconsistent with what I saw; the symptoms looked more like those from phosgene.

I guess that is why I said "IF". I see today that the news is saying the event may have been staged by ISIS. Surprise, surprise.

I agree that Trump made an error, but the premise that the "enemy of our enemy is our friend" is faulty.

Looks like another plant to bring Trump down. Smacks of WMD's of Bush time. As hilly Billy might also say....s..t or get off the pot.
2000 years of Muslim brotherhood fighting themselves. When will it ever end, when will it go away. In the wind.

Hot topic, huh? I think Trump may have had the same reaction to the dying kids that I did. But, when I first saw that video on tv I said out loud, "Look out. I'm not sure Assad would do that." I still think it could have been a false flag. ISIS had very positive reviews of our bombing that followed. That region has been a mess for a long time. Our involvement hasn't helped. With or without video cameras they will continue to stone women to death, gas children, throw people with alternative lifestyles off of tall buildings, etc. I'm still not convinced we should keep meddling in that part of the world. We should either demonstrate our might in a swift action or stay the hell away. Anything in-between will continue to get us what we've got - a mess. I understand that the word in DC now is that we will work to simultaneously remove ISIS and Assad. Oh boy...

My grandmother was a bit of an ole hillbilly. I'm not proud. But, I remember something she used to say, "You stir the sh*t long enough and you'll get some on ya."

A message that the US is not afraid to act if it has reason to do so. It doesn't mean that we have to follow up with anything. It doesn't mean that we won't. This was for Obama's "red line". Next time it might be to emphasize a point in the Iran nuclear treaty or to punish bad behavior from Korea. Our words are meaningless if we are afraid of dicking up a little dust from time to time. There are 4 forces that matter in the world, China, Russia, the USA and The amorphous nation of Islam. All the other actors are bit players and as long as the leads do not come into direct conflict the world will be remain as safe as it ever was.