Netanyahu has finally spoken. Make note that he is careful not to say the Syrian regime did this, but Peres..the perennial Israeli leftist does make the leap.
http://www.americanthinker.com/2013/08/dangerous_times_russia_rising_in_the_middle_east.html
August 24, 2013
Dangerous Times: Russia Rising in the Middle East
By James Lewis
Now that America is leading from behind, more serious powers are rushing to fill the vacuum. Obama seems ready to let that happen, which is why India just launched its first homemade aircraft carrier and why Japan is rearming to keep China from stealing the whole South China Sea.
When America bugs out, what follows is not love and peace — contrary to deeply delusional liberals. What happens is a worldwide scramble for king of the hill. Instability breeds war, as we can see in the news headlines. Obama knocked over the Mubarak regime in Egypt, a pillar of peace and stability for thirty years. Now civil war has erupted all over the place — Egypt, Libya, and Syria. So much for the vaunted “Arab Spring.” The Iranians are laughing their heads off, getting ready to sucker the West again.
And to show his profound concern for all the killing, Obama is sending vacation postcards from Martha’s Vineyard, laughing and smiling and having fun.
The Arabs aren’t smiling. In Egypt, both sides blame Obama. In Libya and Syria, we have alienated both sides, too. Behind the scenes, the Saudis are paying for the Egyptian military to knock down the Muslim Brotherhood, while the oil sheikhs of Qatar are trying to shaft the Saudis.
Only Israel is democratic, stable, and prosperous, nervously watching while her enemies kill each other. Egypt is now at war with Hamas in Gaza, where the Muslim Brotherhood is hiding out. Hezbollah is entangled in Syria, defending the regime against Al Qaida rebels.
In the absence of American strength and reliability, all the players are turning to Russia, which is emerging:
. as a vocal defender of Christianity against Muslim persecution around the world;
. as a plausible peacemaker in the Middle East, with far better relationships with Israel, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and Syria than America has today;
. as the monopoly natural gas supplier for Germany, with the consent of the Franco-German axis;
. as the only country with a credible a nuclear umbrella to protect its friends and deter its enemies;
. as a country that understands the value of relatively free markets — witness the 14% flat tax Putin just introduced in Russia.
Vladimir Putin now looks like the heir of Peter the Great, the modernizing Tsar. This is another bizarre twist in history, but facts are facts.
Putin’s Russia is not a Marxist imperialist power. That’s important, because we are used to thinking about an expansionist Soviet Empire. Today, Putin has to be practical, to build up Russian strength after decades of imperial overreach and national decay. He is therefore using the Russian Orthodox Church as his ideological base, to build his own popularity. He is following in the footsteps of the Tsars. So far he is not moving aggressively, aiming instead for international prestige, economic gains, and influence in the near abroad. One reason is that he has a global competitor, China.
That doesn’t mean Putin is a nice man, or that Russia isn’t going to pursue greater power. Putin is a Great Russian ruler. China, Europe, and Islam are his biggest historical threats. But in the nuclear age there are threats all around.
Putin is therefore looking to take our place as the decisive power in the Middle East. He also wants to play a big role in the next OPEC, based on shale gas and oil. He also likes to poke us in the eye.
The biggest surprise is that in contrast to Obama, our most America-loathing president ever, Vladimir Putin is emerging as a defender of traditional Western values.
Is that weird enough for ya?
(snip)
“Netanyahu has finally spoken. Make note that he is careful not to say the Syrian regime did this, but Peres..the perennial Israeli leftist does make the leap.”
Peres:
President Shimon Peres, meeting Sunday morning with visiting French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius, .....said that the “time has come for a joint effort to remove all the chemical weapons from Syria. They cannot remain there either in the hands of Assad or of others.”
He said that while he could “understand the problems and doubts” about intervening in Syria, “the moral call is superior to any strategic considerations.” He praised Fabius for speaking out on this issue, and said his voice “has been the clearest in recent days concerning the situation in Syria.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Pen: Remember I quoted Fabius last night on the other thread.
France’s foreign minister, Laurent Fabius, said on Saturday that “all the information at our disposal converges to indicate that there was a chemical massacre near Damascus and that the [regime of Bashar al-Assad] is responsible”.
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/aug/24/syria-cameron-obama-intervention
Now, Fabius is in Israel.
Reviewing all of the principal players’ comments to date, it is nearly impossible to draw any firm conclusions.
1) Unequivocally, a chem attack took place.
2) Unequivocally, US, Britain, and France are blaming Assad for the chem attack.
3) Unequivocally, Assad is blaming rebels
4) Israel-—”time has come for a joint effort to remove all the chemical weapons from Syria. They cannot remain there either in the hands of Assad or of others.”
4) Russia-—Russia said on Sunday that assigning blame too soon over the alleged chemical weapons attack in Syria would be a “tragic mistake”, ahead of a United Nations’ investigation on Monday.
YET, as of today, not a SINGLE statement of evidence that Assad launched the attack, except a mention that Assad was preventing UN inspectors from examining the site, thereby demonstrating his guilt.
KEEPING IN MIND that just yesterday Cameron had said:
The Prime Minister spoke with President Barack Obama by telephone to ask for help with convening an emergency session of the United Nations Security Council.
He wants to put forward a “game-changing” resolution that would give the Syrian government, led by Bashar al-Assad, “one last chance” to disarm.....
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/syria/10264658/David-Cameron-to-give-Syria-ultimatum.html
NOW that Assad says UN inspectors may inspect the site (probably coercion from Russia?), OBAMA NOW says it’s too late??? because the crime scene has been contaminated!!!
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/08/25/us-syria-crisis-usa-idUSBRE97O08S20130825
To which Russia says: Any unilateral military action bypassing the United Nations will ... lead to further escalation (in Syria) and will affect the already explosive situation in the Middle East in the most devastating way.”
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/08/25/us-syria-crisis-us-russia-idUSBRE97O09W20130825
NO evidence, NO inspection...only a “justified” opportunity to take out the chem weapons.
Is Obama engaging in an erratic war of ego with Putin? with his too late for an inspection talk?
Lastly, something Peres said caught my attention:
“...here must be an international attempt to take out the weapons. It is very complicated and it is very expensive but it is more dangerous and more expensive to leave it there. It must be done,” he said.
So...sounds to me like all of the principals (except Russia) have decided that the chem weapons are going to be removed, no matter who was responsible for the attack. And even Russia has not unilaterally “forbidden” the idea.
IF, big IF, Assad agrees to peacefully disarm chem weapons, would rebels (who admit at least to having chem weapons), be equally agreeable to disarm?
Thinking out loud...and trying to connect the dots from the available sources.