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hypocrisy Politics Republican Syria

The Republican Hypocrisy on Syria – Imagine if Romney was President

Michael Tomasky made this observation on The Republican hypocrisy on Syria.

Imagine that Mitt Romney were president. Romney took a far more hawkish line than Barack Obama did on Syria during the campaign. He wanted to arm the rebels, supported in-country cover ops, and so on. So if Bashar al-Assad had used chemical weapons during President Romney’s tenure, there’s every reason to think he’d be pushing for action too. And what, in that case, would Republicans now temporizing or opposing Obama be doing in that case? They’d be breathing fire, of course. There’s a lot of chest thumping talk right now about how a failed vote will destroy Obama’s credibility. I guess that may be to some. But to anyone paying attention, the credibility of these Republicans is what will suffer, and the vote may well come back to haunt some of them in 2016.

The Gold Weasel Medal goes to Marco Rubio, as others such as Tim Noah have noted. Back in April, Rubio thundered that “the time for passive engagement in this conflict must come to an end. It is in the vital national security interest of our nation to see Assad’s removal.” Removal! Obama’s not talking about anything close to removal. So that was Rubio’s hard line back when Obama was on the other side. And now that Obama wants action? Rubio voted against the military resolution in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee last week.

Ted Cruz? Just in June, Cruz wanted to go into Syria and rough ’em up. “We need to develop a clear, practical plan to go in, locate the weapons, secure or destroy them, and then get out.” Now? Syria is a distraction from, you guessed it, Benghazi. He said last week: “We certainly don’t have a dog in the fight. We should be focused on defending the United States of America. That’s why young men and women sign up to join the military, not to, as you know, serve as al Qaeda’s air force.”

There are many others. These two are worth singling out because they want to be president, and their craven and brazen flip-flopping on one of the most important issues to come before them in their Senate careers is more consequential than the flip-flopping of some time-serving senator no one’s ever heard of. But the whole picture is contemptible.

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Politics Syria

Syria: Three Days of Bombings Planned

The Pentagon is readying more intense and longer attacks on Syria than originally planned, set to last three days, the Los Angeles Times reported on Sunday.

War planners now aim to unleash a heavy barrage of missile strikes to be followed swiftly by additional attacks on targets that may have been missed or remain standing after the initial launch, the Times cited officials as saying.

Two US officers told the newspaper that the White House has asked for an expanded target list to include “many more” than the initial list of around 50 targets.

The move is part of an effort to obtain additional firepower to damage Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s dispersed forces.

Pentagon planners are now considering using Air Force bombers, as well as five US missile destroyers currently patrolling the eastern Mediterranean Sea, to launch cruise missiles and air-to-surface missiles from far out of range of Syrian air defenses, according to the report.

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Politics Syria

Sec. Kerry – It’s Not Obama’s Red Line, it’s “a global red line”

US Secretary of State John Kerry says he and Arab League foreign ministers have agreed that the Syrian president’s alleged use of chemical weapons had crossed a “global red line“.

Mr Kerry, speaking in Paris, is in Europe to muster support for action against President Bashar al-Assad.

“Assad’s deplorable use of chemical weapons crosses an international, global red line,” he said.

The Arab countries are divided on the question of military strikes on Syria.

The BBC’s Hugh Schofield reports from Paris that some like Saudi Arabia and Qatar are in favour while others like Syria’s neighbours Jordan and Lebanon are far more cautious, worried about the conflict spreading across their borders.

The US accuses Mr Assad’s forces of killing 1,429 people in a sarin gas attack on 21 August.

Mr Assad’s government blames the attack on rebels fighting to overthrow him in the country’s two-and-a-half-year civil war, which has claimed some 100,000 lives, according to UN estimates.

There are reports that rebel forces have taken control of the historic Christian town of Maalula, north of Damascus.

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Entertainment Syria

Jon Stewart Returns – Look… a Red Line!

After taking the summer off to direct a movie in the middle east, Jon Stewart returned to his day job on Comedy Central last night and did what he does best – deliver the news of the day, better than most so-called “news organizations.”

There was a small issue of a red line that needed addressing.

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Politics Syria

Professor Says Attacking Syria is a War Crime

Professor Noam Chomsky says even with congressional approval, an attack on Syria without UN support is a war crime.

“As international support for Obama’s decision to attack Syria has collapsed, along with the credibility of government claims, the administration has fallen back on a standard pretext for war crimes when all else fails: the credibility of the threats of the self-designated policeman of the world,” Chomsky told HuffPost in an email.

Chomsky recently traveled to the region to learn more about the Syria crisis, and his comments there led some to believe he was open to military intervention if negotiations failed to produce peace. “I believe you should choose the negotiating track first, and should you fail, then moving to the second option” — backing the rebels — “becomes more acceptable,” he said.

But his comments to HuffPost indicate that he remains opposed to any military action that came without U.N. approval.

“[T]hat aggression without UN authorization would be a war crime, a very serious one, is quite clear, despite tortured efforts to invoke other crimes as precedents,” he added.

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Politics Syria

McCain and Graham on Syria – President Must Make Strong Case to Congress

(AP) — Two Republican foreign policy hawks say President Barack Obama must make a strong case for attacking Bashar Assad’s Syria if he wants to win congressional backing for the operation.

Sen. John McCain tells reporters at the White House that Obama’s intervention now will be more difficult because Assad “is moving his forces around.” Both McCain and Sen. Lindsey Graham questioned the wisdom of the administration publicly signaling in advance its intention to strike.

The GOP senators, who often speak with the same voice on foreign affairs, talked in the White House driveway Monday after a private meeting with Obama.

McCain said he believes lawmakers awaiting a critical vote on Syria “must be assured that this is different from the past two years of neglect” on the part of the administration.

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Politics Syria

Republicans to Obama – Forget The Constitution, Bomb A Foreign Country

President Obama did exactly what the constitution requires – before taking military action, consult with Congress. And before he made the decision to do just that, Republicans in Congress were quick to point out that they should be consulted first.

At least two separate letters containing hundreds of congressional signatures made their way to the president, demanding that Congress first debate whether to take military action in Syria.

The president listened and decided to do what is constitutionally required. But his loudest critics in the Republican party are now calling him weak.

They now wonder why Mr. Obama is coming to Congress first. Amazingly, these same “protectors of the Constitution” would rather the president drop bombs in Syria, without their congressional input.

Senator John McCain for example, would have preferred the president took matters into his own hands, bypass his constitutional responsibilities to Congress, and fired missiles into a foreign country.

President Bashar Assad will be ‘euphoric’ about Obama’s decision to wait for Congress over Syria, according to Senator John McCain.

Referring to Obama’s famous remark when he said the use of chemical weapons in Syria would cross a red line, McCain said:, ‘He didn’t say, “It’s a red line – and by the way I’m going to have to seek the approval of Congress.” He said it was a red line, and that the United States of America would act.

‘And that’s a big difference, and that’s one of the reasons why this is so problematic.’

Obama is hoping one of Congress’s most intractable foreign policy hawks will help sell the idea of a U.S. military intervention in Syria to a nation deeply scarred by more than a decade of war.

Having announced over the weekend that he will seek congressional approval for military strikes against the Assad regime, the Obama administration is now trying to rally support among Americans and their congressmen and senators.

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Politics Syria

Alan Grayson Disagrees With President Obama on Bombing Syria – Video

Rep. Alan Grayson went on MSNBC’s Weekends with Alex Witt on Sunday and had a rather tart interview with host Alex Witt. Alex, like the other hosts at MSNBC has taken a rather right-winged, warmongering stance on President Obama’s decision to bring Congress into the Syria decision-making process.

Beginning yesterday with Andrea Mitchell’s apparent surprise that the President would ask for Congressional approval before dropping bombs on Syria, Alex Witt continued today, questioning why Alan Grayson was so much against military intervention in the Syrian conflict.

Grayson began the interview by stating his reasons for being against America dropping bombs.

  1. It’s not our responsibility,
  2. Whatever we do will not accomplish anything useful
  3. It’s expensive
  4. It’s dangerous

Alex Witt was quick to point out that Grayson’s position was not a popular and wondered how much pushback he was getting from other members of the house or from his constituents. Grayson answered that his position was in fact, the popular position, stating that “the polls now show and would continue to show that Americans understand that it’s simply not our responsibility.” Grayson continued;

“We are only one country our of 196. We have our own problems to deal with and we’re not the world’s policeman nor the world’s judge, jury and executioner.”

Later on in the interview, Alex played a part of the President’s speech where he outlined the reason why America must attack Syria. In the video, President Obama asked what message do we send if a dictator is able to gas children and get away with it. Alex Witt asked Grayson to respond to the President’s question. Grayson explained that the rules already in effect requires the perpetrator be brought to “the International Court of The Hague” to answer the charges, “not be bombed!”

Watch the exchange below.

Categories
Politics Syria

Dear Barack Obama. This Is About Syria

Personally, I agree with the British parliament on this one. No to a war or any military engagement in Syria. It is time we stop trying to be the world’s police and look after our own affairs here at home for a change.

We need the investments here. Buildings are deteriorating, bridges are falling down and major cities are filing for bankruptcy. The American worker is physically and mentally spent, because they are forced to accept jobs that cannot and will not pay the bills, while being asked by greedy employers to do more.

This is not the time to be Randy Macho-man Savage. It is not the time to measure the size of your kahunas because you made a statement about a red line. A red line does not a war make.

Sure, I agree that the decision to gas innocent Syria civilians amount to the most serious of crimes, but that action requires the international community to be on the same page and united in their response. And if the international community thinks it’s best that Syria handle their own affairs, then so be it.

You ran on ending wars and rebuilding the American economy. And for the most part,  you’ve been doing that. Let’s not get sidetracked by how the Republicans would spin the story if you decided to do what you ran on. No matter what your decision is, they will find a way to denounce you for it.

Will they call you a weak leader if you decide to invest here at home? Sure they will. Will they call you a weak leader if you decide to fire missiles into Syria from the safety of ships anchored in the ocean? Yes, they will still.

And who cares what other world leaders would think? It was under your leadership that we got Osama bin Laden. And it is under your leadership that we are getting some of the most dangerous terrorists the world has ever known. No world leader would truly say America lacks leadership if you decide against military intervention. On the contrary, it will take real leadership to decide against dropping the bombs.

The military industrial complex would be furious if you don’t follow through with the red line ultimatum. There is a whole lot of money to be made and the stock market is already investing heavily in these weapon manufacturers, in the hope that you will drop the bombs. But consider this: the price of each bomb dropped could be a dilapidated school renovated, a run down bridge renovated, roads built, cities rejuvenated. It could mean sticking to what you ran on and  ending wars instead of creating them.

Think about it, a President of the United States actually investing in the United States?

What a concept!

Sincerely

Ezra Grant.

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Democracy Egypt Foreign Policies Syria United States

Where Democracy Lives

If 2011 will go down in history as a terrible year economically, it will also be known as a turning point year for participatory and representative democracy in many countries throughout the world. True people power, spurred on by technology, second-to-second communications, and defiance of imposing police/military power proved more resilient than even the craftiest dictators. The movements that succeeded in overthrowing one-party, one person or one-ideology governments were not always smooth, and in many cases there is far more work to be done in order for the revolutions to hold onto their gains, but the people who have changed governments are now living in an altered world.

Consider the promise of democracy (the United States still needs to work on some of these):

  • Where democracy lives, citizens do not fear the state.
  • Where democracy lives, the press is freer, but must be more subservient to the truth than ever before.
  • Where democracy lives, the military belongs to the people.
  • Where democracy lives, women, ethnic and religious minorities, and people of all sexual orientations have full civil rights.
  • Where democracy lives, economic and educational opportunities are available to all levels of society.
  • Where democracy lives, the political process is messier, more susceptible to special interests and harder to corral, but power rests with the people.
  • Where democracy lives, justice systems must restore or establish the rule of law, not the rule of the open palm.

As for the countries that are under the most serious political pressure from their citizens,

Democracy now lives in Tunisia, Egypt and Libya

It’s knocking on the door in Syria.

It’s at a turning point in Russia, Hungary, Iraq and Ukraine

This will not be easy, and it’s not clear if the citizens of these countries will eventually taste the fruits of new-found freedom, or if the benefits of democracy will touch their lives. But they are well on their way towards a more productive, politically freer future than they were 12 months ago. The United States has a responsibility to help nurture these democratic movements, even if we aren’t supportive of the groups that are elected under their new political realities.

My hope is that over the next 12 months, more people in the United States and the world over will become involved in their country’s political process from every band of the political spectrum. It’s essential that we have vibrant debate and a full airing of the issues that face us if we are to progress and solve our problems.

So in addition to losing weight, resolve to do one thing that will make the country and the world a better place for all of us. Register to vote. Join an organization. Contact your representative and establish a working relationship with them on an issue. Start a social media site to highlight a concern you have. Be part of the solution.

And join me daily on facebook.com/WhereDemocracyLives

Happy New Year!

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