Posted: 18 June 2013 | Author: lobotero | Filed under: Foreign policy, International Situations | Tags: Armed Conflict, Syria, WMDs |
I am leery about info coming out and into the media….I recall the WMD thing that was used to get us to invade Iraq with overwhelming popular support….I just think we need to move carefully…..this will not end well for the US……but when has that fact ever stopped us from making the move?
Insider sheds light on Syria’s chemical arms – Features – Al Jazeera English.
Posted: 18 June 2013 | Author: lobotero | Filed under: Foreign policy, International Situations, War | Tags: Armed Conflict, Personal Thoughts, Random Thoughts, Syria |
We all have heard the atrocities that are being committed in Syria and our Neocon lawmakers that are bitching about the 93,000 Syrians that have been killed……..finally the imaginary “red line” has been crossed and the US will act…….the first step is to send arms, small arms, to the Syrian opposition…..now my thought is…..just how will the killings stop with more4 weapons introduced into the conflict? Just who among you thinks that war will be a better place with even more weapons for both sides to use on each other?
This is not going to end well for the US!
Posted: 17 June 2013 | Author: lobotero | Filed under: Foreign policy, International Situations | Tags: Arms, Middle East, Regional Conflicts, Syria |
My loyal readers know that I am concerned with the direction some politicians want the US to travel in the Middle East……..I believe that it is a fool’s errand to push too hard on support for the rebels…..since not many people can tell you who the rebels are other than they oppose Assad……..caution is needed…..
John McCain was just in Syria…..what a guy, what a guy……he has been a vocal proponent for the US to dive into the civil war with both feet……his idea along with a couple of his posse is to arm the rebels……now think about that……..(pause here for reflection)……we armed the rebels in Afghanistan and that was a disaster…..we armed the rebels in Libya and the country is awash with weapons and we lost an ambassador and these dipsticks want to add more arms to yet another conflict……..does anyone see the folly here?
The conflict has spilled over the borders of Syria……Syria into Turkey….then Syria into Lebanon and then Israel into Syria…..and it will only get worse……and the border violations will just get into the realm of a major international situation……Iran is arming the government…..Russia is in the pockets of Assad and then there is the US and EU who feel that throwing weapons at the conflict will somehow make all right in the Middle East…..and finally there is Iran who has given Assad its undying support…..weapons and I would not be surprised, people……
This is quickly becoming a proxy war being fought between world powers and emerging powers and those that want to be a world power…….this situation is leading nowhere good.
To illustrate the complexity of this situation……
Russia will not cancel plans to deliver an air-defence system to Syria despite Western opposition in order to help deter foreign intervention in the two-year-old conflict, according to the country’s deputy foreign minister.
Speaking in Moscow on Tuesday, Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov also accused the EU of “throwing fuel on the fire” by letting its own arms embargo on Syria expire.
“We think this delivery is a stabilising factor and that such steps in many ways restrain some hotheads from exploring scenarios in which this conflict could be given an international character with participation of outside forces,” Ryabkov said.
The rebels are trying to exert their dominance in the area…….
The questions of the Syrian Civil War spilling over into its neighbors have long since been answered, but the situation in Lebanon looks to be escalating rapidly, with a pair of missiles, fired from Syrian rebel positions, pounding the outskirts of the capital city of Beirut today.
The attacks only wounded four in a residential area, but point to the rebels’ pledges of hitting Lebanon as retaliation for Hezbollah’s involvement in their war. Rebels had been saying that they were planning attacks on Lebanon for “several weeks,” and officials said the strike today was a “warning” to Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah to withdraw.
Turkey is thumbing it’s nose at Iran……..
Thanks to Turkey’s meteoric economic rise over the past decade, the second part of that vision has been, for the most part, fulfilled. Turkey today is the Middle East’s dominant economy; surpassing runners-up Iran and Saudi Arabia by a wide margin. Turkish businesses are rising in the Middle East, and Turkish cultural products, from television programs to schools, are in demand across the region.
But, Turkey’s plan to be a stand-alone power in the region is nowhere near fruition. The war in Syria has forced Ankara to revise this policy, and this has meant re-appraising the value of ties with the United States. Since 2011, Ankara has moved close to the United States, looking for shelter once again under the NATO umbrella.
Those are just the most recent example of how the situation in Syria is beginning to spin out of control…….regardless of what McCain and his bunch of lip flappers say, the US needs to tread carefully or we could be butt deep in another Iraq……..
The American people need to keep a vigilant eye on their clowns in Washington……I do not trust them….how about you?
Addendum: After I wrote this draft news broke that the US will be sending arms into Syria….it seems that the government has crossed that invisible “red line”…..God bless us all!
Posted: 14 June 2013 | Author: lobotero | Filed under: Foreign policy, International Situations, War | Tags: Armed Conflict, Civil War, Middle East, Syria |
Everybody is looking for a way to end the conflict in Syria…..but not one of these chest thumping morons have given any thought to what will happen if and when Assad takes it on the lamb…
An objective piece that bears consideration before the US goes all in…..could be making a terrible mistake……
Betrayal in Syria – Opinion – Al Jazeera English.
Posted: 14 June 2013 | Author: lobotero | Filed under: Foreign policy, International Situations | Tags: Armed Conflict, Civil War, Middle East, Syria |
You would think that McCain would be more cautious after his experience in Vietnam when calling for Americans to get more involved in the world’s hot spots……apparently he has amnesia or he just does not care….either way….he WRONG!
Sen. McCain’s mistaken rationale over Syria | Guest opinion.
Posted: 14 June 2013 | Author: lobotero | Filed under: Foreign policy, International Situations, War | Tags: Armed Conflict, Civil War, Middle East, Syria |
Inkwell Institute
Middle East Desk
Crap! Just when I thought it was safe to go to a couple doctor’s appointments…..all Hell breaks loss!
I mean a guy cannot go to the doc for a finger wave without the world going into overload….I mean I had much rather stayed at the office reading news instead of hearing….”turn your head and cough”………
But I digress…….
This is what I found when I returned to my office……
Newser) – The Syrian war seems to have tipped lately in favor of Bashar al-Assad, but here’s one development with at least the potential to change things: The US has concluded that Syria used chemical weapons on a small scale multiple times, reports the New York Times. President Obama has long said that would be a game-changer—he called it a “red line”—though he never spelled out exactly what the consequences would be. That is now the subject of fierce debate within the administration, says the Times.
The new finding comes from US and European intelligence analysts citing a slew of evidence, including sarin found in the hair samples of dead rebel fighters. The memo estimates that up to 150 people have been killed by chemical weapons, and the analysts found no evidence that anti-government forces used any.
So far there has been NO evidence offered other than someone’s word…….but this gives the excuse to use….”Assad has crossed the red line”….which will open up the flow of American arms and such…….
(Newser) – Now that the US has determined that Bashar al-Assad’s regime used chemical weapons, the Obama administration intends to help arm Syrian rebels, officials tell the New York Times. The US will send light arms and ammunition; antitank weapons are also a possibility. Rebel leaders have called for antiaircraft weapons, but Washington currently has no plans to send those, officials say. “The president has said that the use of chemical weapons would change his calculus, and it has,” a top national security official tells the Washington Post.
“Suffice it to say this is going to be different in both scope and scale,” adds Benjamin Rhodes. President Obama won’t, however, send ground troops, and he has “not made any decision” on strategies like a no-fly zone. The CIA will be in charge of delivery, with weapons likely flown to Turkey or Jordan then taken via rebel-controlled routes into Syria, the Post notes. The US remains in favor of political negotiation to end the violence, Rhodes says. But many in Washington fear that Assad now has a clear upper hand and the military aid is coming too late, the Times notes; some in the State Department are urging airstrikes against key Assad sites.
I waited to see or hear what the warhawk McCain and his wing man Graham had to say…..and I did not have to wait long………
Two leading Republican senators called for the United States to establish a no-fly zone to aid Syrian opposition rebels following word that Syrian President Basher Assad has used chemical weapons multiple times during the conflict.
The White House confirmed Thursday that Assad had crossed a “red line” established by President Barack Obama under which the United States would be willing to become more involved in the conflict.
Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., called for Obama to establish a no-fly zone, which would aid the rebels without having Americans put boots on the ground.
McCain secretly entered Syria in late May 3 to meet with opposition leaders and has been calling on the White House to get involved because he said the fight is growing into a regional conflict.
“This isn’t just a bunch of demonstrators being beaten up. This a regional conflict. It spilled over. Jordan is destabilized, Lebanon is about to erupt into sectarian violence, jihadists are falling in from all over the Middle East. This is erupting,” McCain told CNN.
“The goal is to end the war. And the only way this war is going to end quickly and on our terms is to neutralize the air assets that Assad enjoys,” Graham told Politico. “We can crater the runways. There are four air bases he uses. We can stop the planes from flying. We can shoot planes down without having one boot on the ground.”
Everybody wants to do something…..but “no fly” zone will cost over $50 million…..and McCain is for an ever expanding US roll…….but what can we look forward to if and when Assad leaves or is destroyed?
The factions will vie for power and the killing and refugees suffering will continue…….and the country will be awash with weaponry…..does anyone remember Afghanistan in the 90′s? What happens if an American made weapon is used to bring down an Israeli commercial jet filled with passengers? Who will McCain and his cronies blame for that? Certainly not themselves for demand more weaponry for the rebels.
No matter what decisions are being made Syria has many years more of this civil war…..and America’s intervention can only make it longer and more bad……
The question should be…..If the US gets more involved in Syria, will it be a game change or a quagmire?
Posted: 12 June 2013 | Author: lobotero | Filed under: Foreign policy, International Situations, War | Tags: Arms, McCain, Middle East, Opposition, Rebels, Syria |
Everything we see and hear about Syria is made up……McCain crosses the Turkish border into Syria to hold meetings with opposition commanders (a photo op) and the next day Kerry and others hold a peace conference to help determine the future of Syria…..but….
BEIRUT — Syria’s main Western-backed opposition group said Thursday it will not participate in U.S.-Russian sponsored peace talks on Syria while massacres are underway in the country, dealing a blow to international efforts to end the devastating civil war.
A spokesman for the Syrian National Coalition, Khalid Saleh, also said the group will not support any international peace efforts in light of Iran’s and Hezbollah’s “invasion” of Syria.
Saleh was referring to the increasingly prominent roles Iran and the Lebanese militant Hezbollah group have had in backing President Bashar Assad’s forces on the ground.
If you would like a conspiracy then ask…..did McCain’s visit to the opposition have anything to do with the apparently failure of peace talks?
McCain wants to arm the opposition with heavier armaments, but only the “good” guys who have been vetted…….vetted by whom? Who will decide the good from the bad? There is a folly behind the arming of the opposition…….
Nikolas Gvosdev lists the possible consequences of providing arms to insurgents in Syria. He points out that there is no way of knowing how these weapons will be used:
Indeed, America’s 1980s experiences with supplying arms to the mujahedeen in Afghanistan and the contras in Nicaragua highlight some of the problems with weapons transfers. Groups on the ground may want to horde weapons for use in internecine battles with rivals to establish their dominance after the enemy has been defeated. Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, the Afghan commander who received the lion’s share of military aid from the U.S., Pakistan and Saudi Arabia during the fight against the Soviets, was notorious for his attacks against rival mujahedeen groups, especially those led by Ahmad Shah Massoud. Some of the weapons he received from the West were used, not to drive out the Soviets, but to turn parts of Kabul into smoking rubble during the 1990s when he attempted to take power for himself.
One would think that America’s largely uninspiring record of arming insurgencies in the past would eliminate any desire to try again. Something that continues to impress me about interventionist arguments on Syria is how very short-sighted they are. Most Syria hawks are not concerned with who will govern Syria or how in two or five years’ time, but are preoccupied entirely with finding some way to get the U.S. into the conflict regardless of the effects that this could have in and around Syria. If an even worse government came to power through U.S. and Western military aid, or if these weapons helped fuel another decade of civil war, the U.S. would be partly responsible for condemning Syria to even more suffering, and worst of all our government would be doing this for no good reason.
Here is a ‘what if’ for you people, you war hawks, to consider…….say we arm the opposition to the hilt and after a while the situation becomes more calm and reasonable….but then someone shoots down an airliner from Israel full of people with a LAW we provided to the opposition…..who will get the blame for that? McCain and his war hawk buddies? Not a chance! It will be the NEW scandal the morons have to latch onto to keep from repairing an ailing country.
Does anyone remember Afghanistan in the 80′s? It was awash in American arms…and they have been used against us…….Or how about Libya? Same scenario. And now our boy McCain is trying to repeat history…….Syria is just nothing but a quicksand bog waiting for us to step into it….and if McCain and his buddies have anything to do with it we will be up to our necks in blood ………..something that needs to be considered and stoop using the Syrian people as a political prop……..consider the dire consequences of our actions….there are plenty of examples of our poor judgement.
Posted: 29 May 2013 | Author: lobotero | Filed under: Foreign policy, International Situations | Tags: Benghazi, Middle East, Scandals, Syria |
I continue to give my readers as much information as I can about the “scandal”
that is Benghazi…..you have heard all the talking points….now read what a pro in the diplomatic corps has to say…..he has NO agenda for he has worked for both Repub and Dem presidents….he comments on the report he did….interesting to see what is what….read it NOW!
Benghazi Interview: Pickering Dissects Congressional Follies, Media Coverage and ‘Cover-Up’ Charges by Joe Conason on Creators.com – A Syndicate Of Talent.
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