Tag: John Kerry

What Option Syria?

I recently wrote a piece about the neocons hiding in the State Dept sending a memo to Obama stating that the best option to fight ISIS was to attack Assad and try to install a friendly government……(in case you are an occasional visitor let me offer the piece for you to read now)…..

Source: Mutual Defense League – In Saner Thought

I bring this all up again because it seems the the biggest neocon in the Sate Dept agrees with the memo…..

In a move that adds to the pressure on President Obama to shift the Syria War strategy, Secretary of State John Kerry has come out in favor of the “dissent memo” signed by unnamed State Department officials demanding a change, saying he believes it to be a “well-crafted argument.”

State Department spokesman John Kirby said Kerry’s comments were somewhat short of a “full-throated endorsement” of the plan, but it is unsurprising to hear he supports the idea of shifting to a war of regime change, as he was the primary architect of the failed attempt to start such a war in 2013.

Kerry had previously only addressed the memo by saying he believed the process of dissent memos is an important one, and that he would meet with some of the authors. Kirby suggested Kerry is now eager to talk to the authors to flush out the idea, and suggested Kerry was open to endorsing the policy change.

Sounds like another experiment in nation building for the US…that has not gone well in the recent past….now has it?

In an opinion piece written The National thew writer agrees with the neocons in the State Dept…..

Last week, news emerged that 51 officers at the US State Department signed an internal memo urging a more muscular approach in Syria. Without action, the diplomats warned, the regime of Bashar Al Assad will have no reason to abide by the cessation of hostilities or negotiate in good faith. And to stem the appeal of extremists, the US should recognise that Mr Al Assad is responsible for the vast majority of the hundreds of thousands of victims in this conflict.

The call comes amid a desperate situation for the Free Syrian Army’s Southern Front in Deraa, arguably the only place where the US policy deserves true praise. The one-eyed policy of focusing on extremists and neglecting the regime is quickly eroding what was a successful effort. Whether the rebel coalition will overcome the brewing crisis there will hinge on whether the diplomats’ advice will be heard.

http://www.thenational.ae/opinion/comment/the-us-has-only-one-good-option-in-syrias-conflict

For those that have not seen or read the memo from the dorks in the State Dept…..click below……

Source: State Department Draft Dissent Memo on Syria – The New York Times

There seems to be some dissent to the dissent….(could not resist using that)…….

Several prominent law professors who were formerly members of the Obama national security legal team are debating the “dissent memo” signed by 51 mid-level career State Department diplomats about the administration’s current policy toward Syria. The diplomats think the United States should carry out airstrikes against the forces of Syrian President Bashar Assad, not just against the Islamic State. The debate has raised a section of Power Wars that reported out the behind-the-scenes legal policy deliberations over the 2012-13 “Syria red line” episode, including the existence and contents of a secret 17-page administration legal memo that assessed the legality of using force unilaterally against Assad’s forces. But I don’t think the debate has perfectly reflected what my reporting showed.

Source: The Obama Legal Team and the Lawfulness of Attacking Assad – Lawfare

Now that you have as much info as you could possibly use…..

After reading the material…do you agree that this is the best way to fight ISIS?

Mr. Kerry, You Are Such A Liar

It is nothing new that politicians are mostly liars and full of crap….but recently the king liar award goes to our Sec of State, John Kerry.

MSNBC’s Chris Hayes interviewed John Kerry about the Saudis war on Yemen.  He mentioned the recent belated decision to block the transfer of cluster bombs to the Saudis, and pressed Kerry on why the U.S. was arming the Saudis. Kerry’s answer is notable for its repetition of a shamelessly pro-Saudi line:

Saudi Arabia was literally threatened by virtue of the Houthi placing missiles along the Saudi border aimed at Saudi Arabia, and there were cross-border incidents taking place in a way that threatened Saudi Arabia. And they together with other countries and ourselves felt that it was important…and so there was a reason for a coalition to respond to that.

It is very important to understand that what Kerry said here isn’t true. This never was a war of self-defense, and it compounds the U.S. disgrace of aiding the Saudis’ war to claim that it was. The Saudi-led coalition intervened specifically to reinstall the deposed president and drive the Houthis out of the capital, and it did so shortly after Hadi had fled to Riyadh. The goals of the intervention were always far more ambitious and sweeping than what Kerry says here, and it is unfortunate that he wasn’t challenged on this point. The issue fourteen months ago was not that the Saudis were actually threatened by the Houthis, but that their preferred ruler had been driven out of the country and they wanted him to be reimposed. The Saudis and their allies chose to make Yemen’s conflict their own, and this administration chose to help them do that. The U.S. is still helping them batter and starve Yemen today.

With all his tap dancing all he really did was give the Saudis a pass……

John Kerry this week waved off concerns about U.S.-supported Saudi-coalition airstrikes in Yemen that have indiscriminately bombed civilians and rescuers, and instead blamed the Shiite Houthi rebels for the bulk of the civilian casualties.

“There have been a lot of civilian casualties, and clearly, civilian casualties are a concern,” Kerry told MSNBC’s Chris Hayes. “I think the Saudis have expressed in the last weeks their desire to make certain that they’re acting responsibly, and not endangering civilians.”

Source: John Kerry Gives Saudis a Big Pass on Indiscriminate Bombing of Civilians in Yemen

The typical dance of a yes man bureaucrat…in other words…he was lying through his capped teeth.

But then what would you expect from a DC insider given the reins of the State Department?