COLLECTIVE MADNESS


“Soft despotism is a term coined by Alexis de Tocqueville describing the state into which a country overrun by "a network of small complicated rules" might degrade. Soft despotism is different from despotism (also called 'hard despotism') in the sense that it is not obvious to the people."

Wednesday, June 22, 2016

Let’s enter another war: This time, after seventy years of consistent failure, we can be assured that with the combined efforts of the CIA, Pentagon, and under the guidance of The US Congress, we will get it right!



Kerry meets with diplomats urging more military action in Syria


Smoke rises from Manbij city, Aleppo province, Syria, on June 8. (Rodi Said/Reuters)
Secretary of State John F. Kerry met Tuesday morning with several of the diplomats who signed an internal memo urging the United States to use more military force in Syria to compel the government to abide by a truce and negotiate a political solution.
A senior State Department official, speaking on the condition of anonymity about the private conversation, said Kerry met for 30 minutes with 10 of the memo’s 51 signatories. The official declined to discuss the substance of their conversation.


The memo, marked “Sensitive But Unclassified,” was posted last week on an official “dissent channel” established during the Vietnam War for employees to voice their concerns without fear of repercussions. The signatories were all mid-level diplomats who have worked on Syrian policy issues over the past five years since peaceful protests against the government mushroomed into a civil war. The fighting in Syria has left more than 400,000 people dead, displaced more than half the population, and created a wave of refugees in neighboring countries and Europe.

Memos are sent to the dissent channel every year, and they are typically written by individuals or small groups of diplomats. The large number of signatories to this memo reflects a growing frustration within the State Department over continued ceasefire violations, the Syrian government’s blocking of humanitarian aid convoys, and the ongoing violence and suffering.

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Although U.N.-brokered talks between the government and the opposition started earlier this year, they are on hold. The United States is leading coalitions of countries that are trying to get the talks back on track, and conducting a military campaign against the Islamic State that has carved out a caliphate in Syria and Iraq.

The 10-point memo that the diplomats submitted argues that the Russian and Iranian military support of the Syrian government of Bashar al-Assad weakens the potential for an enduring ceasefire and negotiations.

“Initiating targeted military strikes in response to egregious regime violations of the [cessation of hostilities] would raise the cost for the regime and bolster the prospects for a real ceasefire – without cities being bombed and humanitarian convoys blocked – and lead to a more serious diplomatic process, led by the United States,” the memo stated.
The memo contends that a “more muscular military posture under U.S. leadership” would assert the willingness to impose “consequences” on the Assad government, and increase U.S. negotiating leverage.

“We are not advocating for a slippery slope that ends in a military confrontation with Russia,” the memo said. “Rather, we are calling for a credible threat of targeted U.S. military responses” to enforce a truce and negotiations.

10 comments:

  1. They almost got it done, but Obama backed out at the last minute. They'll have to wait for Hillary.

    ReplyDelete
  2. .

    Secretary of State John F. Kerry met Tuesday morning with several of the diplomats who signed an internal memo urging the United States to use more military force in Syria to compel the government to abide by a truce and negotiate a political solution.


    The Syrian peace agreement has been falling apart. Kerry solution for fixing it? Bomb the hell out of one side of it.

    The truce was doomed to failure from the beginning. You can't argue that you will have a truce with some of the militants but still be free to attack the 'bad ones', not when everyone's idea of who constitutes the 'bad ones' differs.

    The Obama administration was perfectly willing to sleep walk their efforts in Syria while the various opposition militias were successfully depleting the Assad regime. Without directly intervening, the US was seeing one of its chief objectives, Syrian regime change, come to fruition.

    However, though Assad was on the ropes and people for the first time were predicting the fall of the regime, Russia entered the fray and and pulled Assad's chestnut's from the fire. It was only then that the US seemed to take the fight more seriously so as not relegated to the sidelines. Now, Kerry proposes going back to the standard US playbook, if the other side doesn't play ball bomb the hell out of them.

    .

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. O.K. then, General Q....what is YOUR solution to stopping the slaughter ? Exactly.

      Now is your time to strut your stuff.

      We all know you are a 'humanitarian'.

      What is your solution ?

      Get it on record and sent it to our Government.

      Delete
  3. .

    Had CNBC running in the background and saw Trump's speech to day. It was the first time I saw him give an extended speech that touched on most of the points he wanted to make without raising his voice or offering up some stupid remark sure to be front and center on late-night monologues.

    .

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You haven't been paying attention.

      He has made several speeches like that.

      Switch to Fox News.

      Delete
    2. Hillary hasn't had a real press conference since before the primaries began.

      She knows the questions will be 'too hard'.

      ************

      There was this laugher the other day though -

      Via The American Mirror:

      While Latino syndicated radio host Enrique Santos gushed over Hillary Clinton during his interview with her this morning, he confessed his family doesn’t feel the same.

      Speaking to Clinton on the phone, Santos told her, “My father’s voting for Trump because he says he can’t trust you. My mother says you’re a crook and my brother says you should go to jail."


      http://www.theamericanmirror.com/video-latino-radio-host-tells-hillary-familys-voting-trump/

      Delete

  4. India sets new record in space mission; PSLV C34 successfully injects 20 satellites into orbit
    U Tejonmayam| TNN | Jun 22, 2016, 09.53 AM IST

    Highlights

    •India has injected 20 satellites including 17 foreign satellites into orbit in a single mission.
    •Primary payload of the mission is India's Cartosat-2 series, which provides remote sensing services.
    •The mission also injected satellites from US, Canada, Germany and Indonesia into orbit.

    India sets new record in space mission; PSLV C34 successfully injects 20 satellites into orbit
    .

    CHENNAI: India took a big leap in space technology on Wednesday when Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO)+ used its workhorse PSLV-C34 to inject 20 satellites including 17 foreign satellites into orbit in a single mission and set a new record on Wednesday.
    .

    The 320-tonne Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C34) took off on its 36th flight at 9.26am from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre with 20 satellites including its primary payload Cartosat-2 series, which provides remote sensing services, and earth observation and imaging satellites from US, Canada, Germany and Indonesia. It was also 14th flight of PSLV in 'XL'configuration with the use of solid strap-on motors.

    http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/science/India-sets-new-record-in-space-mission-PSLV-C34-successfully-injects-20-satellites-into-orbit/articleshow/52862382.cms

    ReplyDelete
  5. yo, bob, did you read the link from yesterday? any thoughts?

    http://www.theglobeandmail.com/multimedia/shooting-war/article30173312/

    ReplyDelete