Recently I was invited to participate in a round table discussion by the Atlantic Council…..

For those that are not familiar the Atlantic Co8nciul is a worldwide think tank…..

This from their website…..

The Atlantic Council promotes constructive leadership and engagement in international affairs based on the Atlantic Community’s central role in meeting global challenges. The Council provides an essential forum for navigating the dramatic economic and political changes defining the twenty-first century by informing and galvanizing its uniquely influential network of global leaders. The Atlantic Council—through the papers it publishes, the ideas it generates, the future leaders it develops, and the communities it builds—shapes policy choices and strategies to create a more free, secure, and prosperous world.

I am not a big fan of think tanks…..

This is the email I received from the ‘Council’

The Atlantic Council Syria Project is pleased to invite you to a panel discussion: ” How can the United States counter normalization with Assad in the Middle East“. This hybrid public event will take place on Wednesday, July 19, from 9:00 am to 11:00 am ET and will be streamed online.

On May 11, a bipartisan group of U.S. lawmakers introduced the ‘Assad Regime Anti-Normalization Act’ which could bar the U.S. government from normalizing relations with any Syrian government led by Bashar Assad and enhance the U.S. government ability to impose sanctions on regional individuals and entities that provide support to his regime. The proposed legislation came days after the Arab League, led by Saudi Arabia, allowed Syria back into the League based on a shared understanding to counter Captagon trade and to create a roadmap for national reconciliation and refugee return into Syria.

The event will discuss the unique challenges facing U.S. law makers in a changing Middle East order that warmed-up to Assad, especially amidst Chinese and Russian efforts to edge out the United States in the region, and how this would impact Washington’s strategy in the region.

Speakers

Congressman Joe Wilson
Chairman
House Foreign Affairs subcommittee on the Middle East, North Africa, and Central Asia

Mohammad Alaa Ghanem
Policy Chief
Syrian American Council

Moderator

Qutaiba Idlbi
Nonresident Senior Fellow & Head of the Syria Project
Atlantic Council 

I have decline because there is no one is representing Syria in this ‘discussion’….the actually Syrian people should have a voice in this as well….not some jumped up organization that is more worried about funding than the people of Syria.

Most are well aware of my thoughts on sanctions….more will not make Syria a better or safer place.

Plus there are too many conservatives on this panel which tells me there is no one there that would do fair representation of the nation of Syria….basically it will be nothing more than Assad bashing.

I appreciate the invite but it needs to be more encompassing than it is.

Peace ….Out.

“lego ergo scribo”