The Fox News Love Affair With Putin Is Affecting Our National Security
Syria 1 - An Introduction To GOP's Involvement In Syria & The Creation Of ISIS
Middle Eastern Promises - President Obama argues for military intervention in Syria and Wolf Blitzer tries averting World War III. (04:34):
Middle Eastern Promises - Blue Bombs Secretary of State John Kerry stumbles onto a potential path to peace in Syria. (05:22) :
Kosovo & Bosnia was a "police action". Iraq & Afghanistan was a "war". Nixon didn't liked to call things what they were.Roger Ailes of Fox news was with him while he made up stuff. Now Ailes is in charge of the whole GOP worldview. No one seems to see a problem with this.
Related:
Frank Luntz Explains Basic Emotional Manipulation Techniques
&
Case Study: Frank Luntz Convinces People That Corporations CAN Be People For The Colbert Report!
Related:
Frank Luntz Explains Basic Emotional Manipulation Techniques
&
Case Study: Frank Luntz Convinces People That Corporations CAN Be People For The Colbert Report!
Guidelines for Syria:
1. Chemical WMDs are EXTREMELY easy to hide and transport. A complete UN search with the infra-red satellite to find underground bunkers and every detector known to man will be needed to make sure they haven't hidden anything.
2. If a mistake is made about getting rid of the Chemical WMDs the results COULD be catastrophic. Assad could use it against his own people while framing the rebels (but doing it properly this time). Eventually, with or without arms, the rebels will win. The rebels will keep on fighting till Assad Al Bashar is dead. Any chemical weapons Assad Al Bashar has will become war booty when he loses. Some will be forgiving. Some will not. The ones who are not will make great recruits for terrorists. Setting a threat of bombing Assad if he hasn't removed ALL the chemical weapons means he can be framed by the rebels. The chemical weapons must be secured, imagine how you would feel if someone sneaks away from this Syrian Civil War with chemical weapons in hand and hit a US embassy. Wouldn't more than 4 people die? What if this happens under a Republican administration?
Going Deeper:
The delay in taking action in Syria (for political reasons) have left only some of the most violent & paranoid fighters in charge. No moderate can last in a civil war this bloody for 3 years waiting for the US to be ready with the right platform to take action so it won't interfere with elections. The longer we wait the more extremist the fighters will get.
From Bill Moyers: No white hats: Up until about a year ago, advocates of intervention in Syria’s civil war hoped that a relatively liberal government could replace the Assad regime. They pointed to the ideological moderates in the Free Syrian Army as a source for potential leaders. But since that time, the FSA has become sidelined by radical and violent Islamists from around the region.
1. Chemical WMDs are EXTREMELY easy to hide and transport. A complete UN search with the infra-red satellite to find underground bunkers and every detector known to man will be needed to make sure they haven't hidden anything.
2. If a mistake is made about getting rid of the Chemical WMDs the results COULD be catastrophic. Assad could use it against his own people while framing the rebels (but doing it properly this time). Eventually, with or without arms, the rebels will win. The rebels will keep on fighting till Assad Al Bashar is dead. Any chemical weapons Assad Al Bashar has will become war booty when he loses. Some will be forgiving. Some will not. The ones who are not will make great recruits for terrorists. Setting a threat of bombing Assad if he hasn't removed ALL the chemical weapons means he can be framed by the rebels. The chemical weapons must be secured, imagine how you would feel if someone sneaks away from this Syrian Civil War with chemical weapons in hand and hit a US embassy. Wouldn't more than 4 people die? What if this happens under a Republican administration?
Going Deeper:
The delay in taking action in Syria (for political reasons) have left only some of the most violent & paranoid fighters in charge. No moderate can last in a civil war this bloody for 3 years waiting for the US to be ready with the right platform to take action so it won't interfere with elections. The longer we wait the more extremist the fighters will get.
From Bill Moyers: No white hats: Up until about a year ago, advocates of intervention in Syria’s civil war hoped that a relatively liberal government could replace the Assad regime. They pointed to the ideological moderates in the Free Syrian Army as a source for potential leaders. But since that time, the FSA has become sidelined by radical and violent Islamists from around the region.
Background:
Understanding The Syria Problem From A National Security Perspective
Guns 4: The Absurdity Of The "Stand Your Ground" Law
Gun Laws Across The States Are So Dis-Jointed They Are Almost Schziphrenic
Fox News's Food Stamp "Hypnosis" - Following The Path Of Jesus?
Understanding The Syria Problem From A National Security Perspective
Guns 4: The Absurdity Of The "Stand Your Ground" Law
Gun Laws Across The States Are So Dis-Jointed They Are Almost Schziphrenic
Fox News's Food Stamp "Hypnosis" - Following The Path Of Jesus?
Sam Richards: A radical experiment in empathy (notice how different the situation is with Syria - try the empathy exercise in the appropriate context):
The problem of violence in the States is, how much can they stand. Judging by mainstream media, not very much. But judging by what's actually going on you get a completely different picture:
Disability rights activists support gun permits for the blind, bigger pants make Stephen feel thinner, and recent articles ruin the fun in dissected human cadavers. (04:58):
Disability rights activists support gun permits for the blind, bigger pants make Stephen feel thinner, and recent articles ruin the fun in dissected human cadavers. (04:58):
Joke: "In America they have guns just lying around unsupervised like a yahoo Libyan!"
A 3-Year-Old Girl Shot and Killed Herself in Yellowstone. How Did She Get Hold of the Gun?
How do kids pick up guns and shoot each other? If there was a zombie apocalypse going on (a real one) then I could understand these sorts of arguments... but what happened to the good old fashioned BB gun?
Guns killing children: An American epidemic
Kids are shooting kids. Daily News study reveals shocking numbers as the gun rights battle rages on: 40 children accidentally shot by themselves or other kids since Newtown. Add in adult culprits, and there have been at least 120 kids shot dead in all.
Kids are accidentally shooting kids — siblings, friends and themselves — in a tragic trend that isn’t showing any signs of improving. At least 40 children ages 12 and under have died in accidental shootings since the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre, a heartbreaking statistic on premeditated crimes versus inadvertent deaths.
Read more.
Article extract:
Guns and kids: the youngest casualties of America's infatuation with firearms - Dear NRA, are you really going to tell me that 'guns don't kill children; children kill children'?
The cover of the recent Children's Defense Fund report (pdf) on gun violence in the United States carries a single statistic:
The number of children and teens killed by guns in one year would fill 134 classrooms of 20 students each.
And then, there's the shameful comparison to other countries:
US children and teens are 17 times more likely to die from a gun than their peers in 25 other high-income countries combined.
Strange:
Keeping Kids From Toy Guns: How One Mother Changed Her Mind Is violent play bad? I used to think so. Then I spent some time outside of the United States.
IMO: Playing with guns is fine. It's the playing with real guns that's not fine. But I also don't think giving a toddler a BB gun is a good idea. There should be some sort of level of accomplishment of responsibility for your child to own & use a BB gun right? Then they move forward from there?
My own analysis of the gun debate, though I'm willing to make concession on the assault rifle thing for better State Militias. Though I think a 3-4 bullet cartridge for non-militia members is fine on a State level. But the American People seem pretty settled on thier views.
A 3-Year-Old Girl Shot and Killed Herself in Yellowstone. How Did She Get Hold of the Gun?
How do kids pick up guns and shoot each other? If there was a zombie apocalypse going on (a real one) then I could understand these sorts of arguments... but what happened to the good old fashioned BB gun?
Guns killing children: An American epidemic
Kids are shooting kids. Daily News study reveals shocking numbers as the gun rights battle rages on: 40 children accidentally shot by themselves or other kids since Newtown. Add in adult culprits, and there have been at least 120 kids shot dead in all.
Kids are accidentally shooting kids — siblings, friends and themselves — in a tragic trend that isn’t showing any signs of improving. At least 40 children ages 12 and under have died in accidental shootings since the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre, a heartbreaking statistic on premeditated crimes versus inadvertent deaths.
Read more.
Article extract:
Guns and kids: the youngest casualties of America's infatuation with firearms - Dear NRA, are you really going to tell me that 'guns don't kill children; children kill children'?
The cover of the recent Children's Defense Fund report (pdf) on gun violence in the United States carries a single statistic:
The number of children and teens killed by guns in one year would fill 134 classrooms of 20 students each.
And then, there's the shameful comparison to other countries:
US children and teens are 17 times more likely to die from a gun than their peers in 25 other high-income countries combined.
Strange:
Keeping Kids From Toy Guns: How One Mother Changed Her Mind Is violent play bad? I used to think so. Then I spent some time outside of the United States.
IMO: Playing with guns is fine. It's the playing with real guns that's not fine. But I also don't think giving a toddler a BB gun is a good idea. There should be some sort of level of accomplishment of responsibility for your child to own & use a BB gun right? Then they move forward from there?
My own analysis of the gun debate, though I'm willing to make concession on the assault rifle thing for better State Militias. Though I think a 3-4 bullet cartridge for non-militia members is fine on a State level. But the American People seem pretty settled on thier views.
How Many People Have Been Killed by Guns Since Newtown? Slate partners with @GunDeaths for an interactive, crowdsourced tally of the toll firearms have taken since Dec. 14.By Chris Kirk and Dan Kois
Update, June 19, 2013: As time goes on, our count gets further and further away from the likely actual number of gun deaths in America—because roughly 60 percent of deaths by gun are due to suicides, which are very rarely reported. When discussing this issue, please note that our number is by design not accurate and represents only the number of gun deaths that the media can find out about contemporaneously. Part of the purpose of this interactive is to point out how difficult it is to get accurate real-time numbers on this issue.
Using the most recent CDC estimates for yearly deaths by guns in the United States, it is likely that as of today, 6/28/2013, roughly 16,486 people have died from guns in the United States since the Newtown shootings. Compare that number to the number of deaths reported in the news in our interactive below, and you can see how undertold the story of gun violence in America actually is.
Update, June 19, 2013: As time goes on, our count gets further and further away from the likely actual number of gun deaths in America—because roughly 60 percent of deaths by gun are due to suicides, which are very rarely reported. When discussing this issue, please note that our number is by design not accurate and represents only the number of gun deaths that the media can find out about contemporaneously. Part of the purpose of this interactive is to point out how difficult it is to get accurate real-time numbers on this issue.
Using the most recent CDC estimates for yearly deaths by guns in the United States, it is likely that as of today, 6/28/2013, roughly 16,486 people have died from guns in the United States since the Newtown shootings. Compare that number to the number of deaths reported in the news in our interactive below, and you can see how undertold the story of gun violence in America actually is.
Looking at these huge death figures we have to wonder why people in the Media are only mentioning a few. The reality is random death and murders in the US is far more common than people like to believe.
In graphic words & images... the kind of violence American Culture seems able to live with is the equivalent of:
In graphic words & images... the kind of violence American Culture seems able to live with is the equivalent of:
SOME OF THE STUFF YOU HEAR IN TV DOESN'T SEEM TO TAKE MUCH INTO ACCOUNT. HERE WAS A RECENT "DEBATE:
CNN Chief International Correspondent Christiane Amanpour flipped out on the AC360 LaterSyria panel Thursday night, calling out the “false moral equivalence” of anti-interventionists. She clashed with blogger Andrew Sullivan over the emotion in the case, shouting down her fellow panelists to get a word in edgewise. After Anderson Cooper and Sullivan brought up the need to separate the emotion from the policy, Amanpour sighed and said, “I can barely contain myself at this point.” She proceeded to go on a rant about the “false moral equivalence” in arguing against going in.
“How many more times do we have to say that weapons of mass destruction were used, and as bad as it is to decapitate somebody, it is by no means equal. We can’t use this false moral equivalence about what’s going on right now. They tried to do it in the second World War, they tried to do it in Bosnia, they tried to do it in Rwanda, and they’re trying to do it now. There is no moral equivalence.”
When the others tried to jump in, Amanpour shouted, “Wait just a second!” She firmly argued that Obama simply cannot allow Assad to get away with using chemical weapons, noting how Bill Clinton is still apologizing for Rwanda. Sullivan jumped in to say, “This is not reason, this is emotion.” Amanpour fired back, “It’s not emotion. This is history coming out.”
They clashed over whether turning away from such terrible crimes is sometimes in America’s national interests, while Charles Blow accused Amanpour of painting a “false choice” about not caring about dead kids and not wanting to bomb Syria. She cried, “Nobody’s saying that! You’re playing rhetorical games!”
Watch the video HERE, via CNN.
“How many more times do we have to say that weapons of mass destruction were used, and as bad as it is to decapitate somebody, it is by no means equal. We can’t use this false moral equivalence about what’s going on right now. They tried to do it in the second World War, they tried to do it in Bosnia, they tried to do it in Rwanda, and they’re trying to do it now. There is no moral equivalence.”
When the others tried to jump in, Amanpour shouted, “Wait just a second!” She firmly argued that Obama simply cannot allow Assad to get away with using chemical weapons, noting how Bill Clinton is still apologizing for Rwanda. Sullivan jumped in to say, “This is not reason, this is emotion.” Amanpour fired back, “It’s not emotion. This is history coming out.”
They clashed over whether turning away from such terrible crimes is sometimes in America’s national interests, while Charles Blow accused Amanpour of painting a “false choice” about not caring about dead kids and not wanting to bomb Syria. She cried, “Nobody’s saying that! You’re playing rhetorical games!”
Watch the video HERE, via CNN.
Related articles reflecting a certain level of "heartlessness" that exists in the States today (mostly hidden from view):
7 Instances of All-Out, Mean-Spirited, Right-Wing Lunacy From This Week Alone - A Christian radio host says he’s happy to attend same-sex marriages as long as the grooms are told they deserve to die.
VIDEO: Jon Stewart Eviscerates "Succubus-Like" Fox, and Dissects Improbable Rise of a Diplomatic Solution to the Syrian Crisis - After a build-up to war, media got a case of the "blue bombs."
Dear NRA, Are You Really Going to Tell Me 'Guns Don't Kill Children, Children Kill Children'? - Startling statistics reveal the deadly and tragic consequences of America's infatuation with firearms.
5 Screwed Up New Ways America Is Abusing the Homeless - Cities are cracking down on the homeless in endlessly nasty ways.
How Weird Christian Right Beliefs Impact America - What you see on Breitbart or the Blaze or the 700 Club is just the tip of a massive iceberg of what’s really going on in conservative Christian circles.
Domestic Abuse? Fatal Shooting? Take George Zimmerman's Guns Away, Already - Why are people like Zimmerman so protected?
When Did Sadness Become a Disease? How We've Pathologized Everyday Life - Here’s the bad news: you’re stressed out and depressed. The good news? According to two recent books, you’ve got a lot of company.
Heartless: Nevada Dumps 1,500 Mental Patients Via One - Way Greyhound Ticket to California - City of San Francisco and state of California begin formal suit against neighboring state.
John Kerry Couldn't Sell a Used Car - It's not entirely Kerry's fault that he had to come on stage after Colin Powell's performance, but it is his fault that he's flubbed all of his lines.
How Southern Slavery Turns White People Into Republicans 150 Years Later - The legacy of slavery continues to drive voters in areas that once housed large numbers of slaves to vote Republican. - It's the Southern Strategy gone wild times 2!
John Kerry's Extremely Unconvincing Case for Syria Attack - Kerry says this will be an "unbelievably small, limited kind of effort." So what will it accomplish then?
The Wealthy 'Make Mistakes', the Poor Go to Jail - I left my Wall Street trader job and began photographing drug addicts in NYC. These two worlds have entirely different rules.
College Students Cheer Sex Abuse - A freshman week chant shows how deep rape culture goes.
Food Stamp Recipients Forced to Work 20 Hours a Week in Exchange for $132 a Month in Food Stamps- Not a great deal.
Hate Women, Make Money: 8 Ads and Products That Take Sexism to New Lows - Forget metaphors or subtle stereotyping, these ads and products let contempt for women stand front and center.
Pastor Who Claimed He Raped Teenage Boys to Keep Them "Sexually Pure" Will Not Serve Jail Time - Iowa's "rape the gay away" pastor gets his sentence reduced and visitation rights with his children.
Trayvon Martin's Medical Examiner: Prosecution Threw the Case - Fired Zimmerman trial coroner says conviction was never going to happen.
Texas Is About to Execute a Man Because He Was in a Gang - Robert Garza is scheduled to die for belonging to the same gang as a killer.
7 Instances of All-Out, Mean-Spirited, Right-Wing Lunacy From This Week Alone - A Christian radio host says he’s happy to attend same-sex marriages as long as the grooms are told they deserve to die.
VIDEO: Jon Stewart Eviscerates "Succubus-Like" Fox, and Dissects Improbable Rise of a Diplomatic Solution to the Syrian Crisis - After a build-up to war, media got a case of the "blue bombs."
Dear NRA, Are You Really Going to Tell Me 'Guns Don't Kill Children, Children Kill Children'? - Startling statistics reveal the deadly and tragic consequences of America's infatuation with firearms.
5 Screwed Up New Ways America Is Abusing the Homeless - Cities are cracking down on the homeless in endlessly nasty ways.
How Weird Christian Right Beliefs Impact America - What you see on Breitbart or the Blaze or the 700 Club is just the tip of a massive iceberg of what’s really going on in conservative Christian circles.
Domestic Abuse? Fatal Shooting? Take George Zimmerman's Guns Away, Already - Why are people like Zimmerman so protected?
When Did Sadness Become a Disease? How We've Pathologized Everyday Life - Here’s the bad news: you’re stressed out and depressed. The good news? According to two recent books, you’ve got a lot of company.
Heartless: Nevada Dumps 1,500 Mental Patients Via One - Way Greyhound Ticket to California - City of San Francisco and state of California begin formal suit against neighboring state.
John Kerry Couldn't Sell a Used Car - It's not entirely Kerry's fault that he had to come on stage after Colin Powell's performance, but it is his fault that he's flubbed all of his lines.
How Southern Slavery Turns White People Into Republicans 150 Years Later - The legacy of slavery continues to drive voters in areas that once housed large numbers of slaves to vote Republican. - It's the Southern Strategy gone wild times 2!
John Kerry's Extremely Unconvincing Case for Syria Attack - Kerry says this will be an "unbelievably small, limited kind of effort." So what will it accomplish then?
The Wealthy 'Make Mistakes', the Poor Go to Jail - I left my Wall Street trader job and began photographing drug addicts in NYC. These two worlds have entirely different rules.
College Students Cheer Sex Abuse - A freshman week chant shows how deep rape culture goes.
Food Stamp Recipients Forced to Work 20 Hours a Week in Exchange for $132 a Month in Food Stamps- Not a great deal.
Hate Women, Make Money: 8 Ads and Products That Take Sexism to New Lows - Forget metaphors or subtle stereotyping, these ads and products let contempt for women stand front and center.
Pastor Who Claimed He Raped Teenage Boys to Keep Them "Sexually Pure" Will Not Serve Jail Time - Iowa's "rape the gay away" pastor gets his sentence reduced and visitation rights with his children.
Trayvon Martin's Medical Examiner: Prosecution Threw the Case - Fired Zimmerman trial coroner says conviction was never going to happen.
Texas Is About to Execute a Man Because He Was in a Gang - Robert Garza is scheduled to die for belonging to the same gang as a killer.
Dude, Where's My War? - Pundits argue that the successful use of diplomacy in Syria is the worst defeat in American history. (04:28) :
"This successful use of diplomacy is the worst defeat in US History" - Technique: 'I have never seen a fiasco like this from a US President' From A Wall Street Journal dude (Owned by the Murdochs who seem to be creating news faster than we can keep up with it!).
Notice the nonsensical arguments, constant backtracking, rumor and fear mongering that goes into every issue (even Congress seems to be jumping around in a random way in thier views which is dangerous for National Security - I'm saying so publicly now). This post is just meant to highlight a few. To help alleviate "news" media interference in National Security and forcing decisions that lead to more deaths of American Citizens & Global Citizens in the short to long run, there should be some sort of control to keep the media honest & transparent... just like National Security issue should be discussed openly and transparently.
Just an example of outright everyday nonsense coming out of the channel that Congress seems obsessed with:
Castrated America - Fox News criticizes President Obama taking Roger Ailes' advice regarding to Vladimir Putin and Syria. (03:03):
Castrated America - Fox News criticizes President Obama taking Roger Ailes' advice regarding to Vladimir Putin and Syria. (03:03):
Definition of so·ci·o·path [soh-see-uh-path, soh-shee-] - a person with a psychopathic personality whose behavior is antisocial, often criminal, and who lacks a sense of moral responsibility or social conscience.
Article: Signs of dating a sociopath.
Comparision articles:
How Many People Have Been Killed by Guns Since Newtown? (Over 8 thousand)
Over 360,000 Gun Deaths Since 9/11 -- From the Outside It Looks Like America Is a Country Gripped by Civil War Should the outside world intervene?
Notice that Syria has an actual civil war where ONE global super-power IS openly supporting one side. The other side consists of small countries who have to deal with the refugees and can't stand the human tragedy and so are supplying arms. But Russia can supply more weapons, including aircraft, so Assad has managed to hold on to power MUCH longer than he should have been able to in a civil war with no outside interference.
Going Deeper:
How Many People Have Been Killed by Guns Since Newtown? (Over 8 thousand)
Over 360,000 Gun Deaths Since 9/11 -- From the Outside It Looks Like America Is a Country Gripped by Civil War Should the outside world intervene?
Notice that Syria has an actual civil war where ONE global super-power IS openly supporting one side. The other side consists of small countries who have to deal with the refugees and can't stand the human tragedy and so are supplying arms. But Russia can supply more weapons, including aircraft, so Assad has managed to hold on to power MUCH longer than he should have been able to in a civil war with no outside interference.
Going Deeper:
Syria & American Exceptionalism - America's plan to bomb the truth out of Syria regarding its alleged use of chemical weapons hits a diplomatic snag. (04:32) :
1. Syria said it didn't use Chemical Weapons (libertarians bought it) then they said they don't have Chemical Weapons (not sure if it was believed or not), now they are willing to 'give up the Chemical Weapons it did not have' to begin with!
2. One of those "not wars" we like to engage in from time to time. Jon Stewart
This is a sarcastic remark about the use & misuse of theWar Powers Act.
3. 2:30 - America has been the anchor for International Norms saying this so soon after we played the get out of international norms free card - Jon Stewart
"You know what, folks? I miss George W. Bush. That man knew how to sell a war. 's be clearObama has hard evidence of weapons of mass destruction and he can't even get England to go along with it. Meanwhile, President Bush got an international coalition with nothing more than Colin Powell's reputation and half a test tube of crystal light." -- -- Stephen Colbert
THIS IS A REFERENCE TO IRAQ BUT LET'S BE CLEAR, THE PROBLEM WITH THE IRAQ WAR WAS LACK OF CHEMICAL WEAPONS & LACK OF EVIDENCE OF CHEMICAL WEAPONS. IT WAS A WAR ENTIRELY SET-UP USING FEAR AND RUMOR.
TO GO TO WAR WHENEVER YOU ARE ANGRY, FOR NO REASON, ATTACKING WITHOUT EVIDENCE, IS BAD FOR NATIONAL SECURITY. TO GO TO WAR WHEN ACTUAL NATIONAL SECURITY INTERESTS ARE AT STAKE IS GOOD. TO HAVE PROPER INTERNATIONAL NORMS WHERE CLEAR RED-LINES ARE DRAWN AND ENFORCED IS BEST.
IT'S EVEN MORE IMPORTANT TO HAVE NATIONAL US - RED LINES AS THE US IS A SUPER-POWER AND THOUGH IT DOESN'T WANT TO POLICE THE WORLD, UNTIL PROPER TREATIES ARE SET, IT IS IN IT'SNATIONAL SECURITY INTERESTS TO KEEP AN EYE ON WHAT'S GOING ON AND LIMIT WMD'S. (CONSIDERING ALL THE DAMAGE THE US HAS DONE SINCE REAGAN TOOK OFFICE WILL LEAD TO BLOW BACK. THAT BLOW BACK NEEDS TO BE MANAGED AND REDUCED. THIS WILL ONLY HAPPEN OVER TIME. RUNNING AWAY NOW FROM A FLAMING FIRE - THE INTERNATIONAL POLITICAL SCENE - IS NOT THE ANSWER!)
THIS IS THE SCALE WE HAVE. WE DO THE BEST WE CAN WITH WHATWE HAVE. HERE'S AN IMPORTANT LOOK AT THE IRAQ WAR TO SHOW THESE ARE NOT EQUIVALENTS IN ANY SENSE OF THE WORD:
By Mick Krever, CNN
The United States has fundamentally misread the uprising and subsequent civil war in Syria, the former American ambassador to that country and one of American’s most experienced Foreign Service officers told CNN’s Christiane Amanpour on Wednesday.
“I think we made a mistake right at the beginning in somehow thinking that Syria was like Egypt, like Tunisia, like Libya,” Ryan Crocker told Amanpour. “You and I know it's not.”
That misreading has lead Crocker to a stark conclusion.
“Assad isn't going anywhere outside of Syria anytime soon, if ever,” he said. “And maybe we're beginning to understand that.”
Crocker is a career diplomat who has served as ambassador to Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, Kuwait, Afghanistan and Pakistan.
“The Syrian regime has been ready for this fight since Hama in 1982; very few Americans remember what happened then. You and I do, when up to 10,000 innocent Sunni civilians were murdered by Assad,” he said. “It radicalized the Sunni population and the regime knew that a day of accounting may come. And they've been ready for it for three decades.”
That 1982 revolt in Hama was put down by Bashar al-Assad’s father, Hafez. His response, brutal and merciless, an example to any would-be revolutionaries, was famously dubbed “Hama Rules” by the writer Thomas Friedman.
Bashar al-Assad “is just like the old man,” Crocker told Amanpour. “Maybe not quite as flexible and more doctrinaire, just as ruthless.”
Russia’s proposal to put Syria’s chemical weapons under international control, while unlikely to alter the dynamics of the civil war itself, is a positive development, Crocker said, as is Iran’s backing of such a deal.
“Iran has suffered from chemical weapons,” Crocker said. “They are no fans of them. So pressure from Tehran, pressure from Moscow will be critical in all of this.”
Indeed, he said, even if a deal is not struck, the past week has been a very successful one in the world of international diplomacy.
“Whatever happens next, we have the Russians and Iranians on record as saying that Syria should put its chemical weapons under international control,” he said. “We have Syria acknowledging it has such weapons and it is prepared to do so.”
But Russia’s plan, even if implemented, would almost certainly leave the civil war in a bloody downward spiral. Crocker says he only sees two alternatives for the civil war.
“Either Assad regains control, foot by bloody foot,” he said, “or it settles into some kind of stalemate.”
Only if a stalemate settles in will a diplomatic solution be possible, he opined. In other words, now, in which Assad clearly has the upper hand, is not the time.
“I'm from the West of the United States,” Crocker said. “We have giant forest fires; the one burning now in Yosemite. You can't extinguish them. You can only contain them. That's Syria. We can't extinguish that fight. Neither side is ready. All we can do is try and contain it and keep it from spreading further into Lebanon, into Iraq, into Jordan, into Turkey. That's the best we can do right now and wait for circumstances to change.”
The United States has fundamentally misread the uprising and subsequent civil war in Syria, the former American ambassador to that country and one of American’s most experienced Foreign Service officers told CNN’s Christiane Amanpour on Wednesday.
“I think we made a mistake right at the beginning in somehow thinking that Syria was like Egypt, like Tunisia, like Libya,” Ryan Crocker told Amanpour. “You and I know it's not.”
That misreading has lead Crocker to a stark conclusion.
“Assad isn't going anywhere outside of Syria anytime soon, if ever,” he said. “And maybe we're beginning to understand that.”
Crocker is a career diplomat who has served as ambassador to Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, Kuwait, Afghanistan and Pakistan.
“The Syrian regime has been ready for this fight since Hama in 1982; very few Americans remember what happened then. You and I do, when up to 10,000 innocent Sunni civilians were murdered by Assad,” he said. “It radicalized the Sunni population and the regime knew that a day of accounting may come. And they've been ready for it for three decades.”
That 1982 revolt in Hama was put down by Bashar al-Assad’s father, Hafez. His response, brutal and merciless, an example to any would-be revolutionaries, was famously dubbed “Hama Rules” by the writer Thomas Friedman.
Bashar al-Assad “is just like the old man,” Crocker told Amanpour. “Maybe not quite as flexible and more doctrinaire, just as ruthless.”
Russia’s proposal to put Syria’s chemical weapons under international control, while unlikely to alter the dynamics of the civil war itself, is a positive development, Crocker said, as is Iran’s backing of such a deal.
“Iran has suffered from chemical weapons,” Crocker said. “They are no fans of them. So pressure from Tehran, pressure from Moscow will be critical in all of this.”
Indeed, he said, even if a deal is not struck, the past week has been a very successful one in the world of international diplomacy.
“Whatever happens next, we have the Russians and Iranians on record as saying that Syria should put its chemical weapons under international control,” he said. “We have Syria acknowledging it has such weapons and it is prepared to do so.”
But Russia’s plan, even if implemented, would almost certainly leave the civil war in a bloody downward spiral. Crocker says he only sees two alternatives for the civil war.
“Either Assad regains control, foot by bloody foot,” he said, “or it settles into some kind of stalemate.”
Only if a stalemate settles in will a diplomatic solution be possible, he opined. In other words, now, in which Assad clearly has the upper hand, is not the time.
“I'm from the West of the United States,” Crocker said. “We have giant forest fires; the one burning now in Yosemite. You can't extinguish them. You can only contain them. That's Syria. We can't extinguish that fight. Neither side is ready. All we can do is try and contain it and keep it from spreading further into Lebanon, into Iraq, into Jordan, into Turkey. That's the best we can do right now and wait for circumstances to change.”
Obama's UN Speech Extract:
With respect to Syria, we believe that as a starting point the international community must enforce the ban on chemical weapons.
When I stated my willingness to order a limited strike against the Assad regime in response to the brazen use of chemical weapons, I did not do so lightly. I did so because I believe it is in the national security interests of the United States and in the interest of the world to meaningfully enforce a prohibition whose origins are older than the United Nations itself.
The ban against the use of chemical weapons, even in war, has been agreed to by 98 percent of humanity. It is strengthened by the searing memories of soldiers suffocated in the trenches, Jews slaughtered in gas chambers, Iranians poisoned in the many tens of thousands.
Now, I know that in the immediate aftermath of the attack there were those who questioned the legitimacy of even a limited strike in the absence of a clear mandate from the Security Council. But without a credible military threat, the Security Council had demonstrated no inclination to act at all.
I disagree that the chemical weapons in Syria don't oppose a threat, not sure how the Security Council is defining military though. A militant attack like the one in Nairobi, Kenya would be even more effective with chemical weapons if their goal is to slaughter as many innocents as they can.
With respect to Syria, we believe that as a starting point the international community must enforce the ban on chemical weapons.
When I stated my willingness to order a limited strike against the Assad regime in response to the brazen use of chemical weapons, I did not do so lightly. I did so because I believe it is in the national security interests of the United States and in the interest of the world to meaningfully enforce a prohibition whose origins are older than the United Nations itself.
The ban against the use of chemical weapons, even in war, has been agreed to by 98 percent of humanity. It is strengthened by the searing memories of soldiers suffocated in the trenches, Jews slaughtered in gas chambers, Iranians poisoned in the many tens of thousands.
Now, I know that in the immediate aftermath of the attack there were those who questioned the legitimacy of even a limited strike in the absence of a clear mandate from the Security Council. But without a credible military threat, the Security Council had demonstrated no inclination to act at all.
I disagree that the chemical weapons in Syria don't oppose a threat, not sure how the Security Council is defining military though. A militant attack like the one in Nairobi, Kenya would be even more effective with chemical weapons if their goal is to slaughter as many innocents as they can.
Considering the havoc created by a small group of militants in Kenya, it makes sense to take another look at the effects of chemical weapons (let me put it this way, with chemical weapons no one would have made it out of that mall alive).
Report: In Syria, the death toll from chemical weapons pales in comparison to that from conventional warfare. Britain’s Channel 4 has the chilling story of a massacre in Al-Bayda.
Report: United Nations has to defend it;s report from Russia!
Report: Assad moving chemical weapons to Iraq and Lebanon, Syria opposition General Salim Idriss claims to CNN’s Amanpour
These are the variables to keep track of for the Chemical Weapons: 1. Easy to move - 2. Can become war booty - 3. Can be used for revenge. - 4. Can be stored in small places such as basements. - 5. Can be used as a'weapon of last resort'. - 6. This situation may become a small bio-weapon problem as well, now that so much who ha has been made over it (such as Anthrax or something similar).
All of these factors need to be taken into account for any National Security decision.
Report: In Syria, the death toll from chemical weapons pales in comparison to that from conventional warfare. Britain’s Channel 4 has the chilling story of a massacre in Al-Bayda.
Report: United Nations has to defend it;s report from Russia!
Report: Assad moving chemical weapons to Iraq and Lebanon, Syria opposition General Salim Idriss claims to CNN’s Amanpour
These are the variables to keep track of for the Chemical Weapons: 1. Easy to move - 2. Can become war booty - 3. Can be used for revenge. - 4. Can be stored in small places such as basements. - 5. Can be used as a'weapon of last resort'. - 6. This situation may become a small bio-weapon problem as well, now that so much who ha has been made over it (such as Anthrax or something similar).
All of these factors need to be taken into account for any National Security decision.
Obama's UN Speech Extract:
The Syrian government took a first step by giving an accounting of its stockpiles. Now, there must be a strong Security Council resolution to verify that the Assad regime is keeping its commitments. And there must be consequences if they fail to do so. If we cannot agree even on this, then it will show that the United Nations is incapable of enforcing the most basic of international laws.
A regime that is going to have to fight foot by foot to win a war it knew was going to happen because it is repressing a majority population as a remnant state from the cold war (i.e. Russia is supporting Assad the way the US supported the Shah of Iran - so as long as Russia is supplying Syria with weapons it's RUSSIA PLUS SYRIA's ASSAD AGAINST THE REBELS ... NOTHING MORE AND NOTHING LESS. The odds are stacked against the rebels who were previously just peaceful protesters of the majority of the population)... will not declare all it's chemical weapons stockpile. Assad can't leave and this is a fight to the death. There are already reports of chemical weapons leaving - which still have to be confirmed - but if chemical weapons are found leaving Syria they must be stopped immediately. Chemical weapons that may exist, say in a bunker, if not used will fall into the hands of the ones who win. Another possible loose end.
The Syrian government took a first step by giving an accounting of its stockpiles. Now, there must be a strong Security Council resolution to verify that the Assad regime is keeping its commitments. And there must be consequences if they fail to do so. If we cannot agree even on this, then it will show that the United Nations is incapable of enforcing the most basic of international laws.
A regime that is going to have to fight foot by foot to win a war it knew was going to happen because it is repressing a majority population as a remnant state from the cold war (i.e. Russia is supporting Assad the way the US supported the Shah of Iran - so as long as Russia is supplying Syria with weapons it's RUSSIA PLUS SYRIA's ASSAD AGAINST THE REBELS ... NOTHING MORE AND NOTHING LESS. The odds are stacked against the rebels who were previously just peaceful protesters of the majority of the population)... will not declare all it's chemical weapons stockpile. Assad can't leave and this is a fight to the death. There are already reports of chemical weapons leaving - which still have to be confirmed - but if chemical weapons are found leaving Syria they must be stopped immediately. Chemical weapons that may exist, say in a bunker, if not used will fall into the hands of the ones who win. Another possible loose end.
Related:
Ron Paul on "Why they (violent fundamentalists) attack us"
Ron Paul on Foreign Aid
Iraq War Illustrated
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