John Kerry on Syria: how a gaffe could stop a war

The Guardian ^ | September 10, 2013 | Jonathan Freedland

[maggief]

Write a new chapter in the diplomatic handbook. Dedicate it to the off-the-cuff remark – the gaffe, even – which averts a war.

We don't yet know if John Kerry's apparently unplanned comment in London, suggesting Syria could avoid a US military strike by turning over its stash of chemical weapons, has set in train a process that will ultimately prevent armed American action. But Barack Obama described it as a "possible breakthrough" and the relief can be felt across multiple world capitals.

Of course the practical problems are legion – one report claims that getting rid of Syria's chemical weapons stockpile could take not weeks or months but "years". Nevertheless, this latest initiative deserves to be taken seriously because it gives all the key players something they need. Crucially, it would allow the antagonists to step back from the brink without losing face.

[Cowgirl of Justice]

Yup.

His face could stop a clock.

Even a stopped clock is right twice a day.

[cuban leaf]

WaPo: Most important ‘takeaway’ what Obama said to @DianeSawyer : “absolutely” back from brink IF #Syria gives up #CW wapo.st/1ez3Sz8

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I’ve been in IT since 1983 and that looks like computer code. What does it say in english?

[jacob allen]

Apparently Unplanned Comment????????

[Chewbarkah]

Supposedly Barkie acknowledges that Putin brought up international control of Syria’s chemical weapons at the G20 meeting.

So when Kerry echoes it a day or so thereafter, was that a “gaffe” or a signal of accepting the proposal? The ambiguity allowed Putin to lock in the latter, thus reversing looming disaster for Russia’s position in the Middle East, while making the U.S. look like a toothless bully. O Barak, tak durak.

[Travis McGee]

There are many ways to become entangled in a nasty civil war, with thousands of American boots on the ground.

Remember Beirut? We went in as “peacekeepers” but in the end their was no peace, we took fire from the Shia neighborhoods south of the airport and we fired back.

The rest is history.

Beirut was just one city, and our “peacekeeping” (sic) mission didn’t involve securing dozens of chemical weapons depots. Syrian “peacekeeping” would be 100X Beirut, and in the end, we’ll be fully embroiled in that war.

[maggief]

WaPo: Most important ‘takeaway’ what Obama said to Diane Sawyer: “absolutely” back from brink IF Syria gives up CW

Link: http://www.washingtonpost.com/posttv/politics/obamas-interviews-in-3-minutes/2013/09/09/039d965e-19b7-11e3-82ef-a059e54c49d0_video.html

From the Guardian:

Nevertheless, this latest initiative deserves to be taken seriously because it gives all the key players something they need. Crucially, it would allow the antagonists to step back from the brink without losing face.

#

I posted the WaPo (via Reuters) because it relates to the Guardian article, and is an incredibly weak takeaway from Obama’s media blitz.

[GeronL]

How does one identify “good guys” in that god-awful mess with so many different rebel groups and even foreign fighters on the side of and not taking orders from Assad?

[maggief]

“Supposedly Barkie acknowledges that Putin brought up international control of Syria’s chemical weapons at the G20 meeting.”

Kerry stepped in it. Purposely? Who knows. The State Department, Jen Psaki, was quick to call Kerry’s comments “rhetorical”. Then Hillary reverses Psaki, acknowledging Kerry’s “gaffe” as fact.

http://www.theatlanticwire.com/politics/2013/09/hillary-clinton-articulates-administrations-new-line-syria/69204/

“Now, if the regime immediately surrendered its stockpiles to international control as was suggested by Secretary Kerry and the Russians, that would be an important step. But this cannot be another excuse for delay or obstruction. And Russia has to support the international community’s efforts sincerely, or be held to account.”

#

Was Kerry attempting to preempt Hillary?

[QQQQ]

“You never want a good crisis to go to waste.”

Agree, but in this case it was a disaster for O and K.

[Travis McGee]

Sending "peacekeepers" into Syria to guard chem depots is a fool's errand.

We also went into Beirut as neutral "peacekeepers," but soon we were taking sniper and mortar fire from the Shia slums south of the airport where the Americans were located. Then it was "game on" with involvement in the Lebanese civil war, and we know how that ended. Beirut was a walk in the park compared to securing Syrian chem depots.

And like in Beirut, all it will take is an "end times" oriented Iranian-backed Shia Hezbollah commander to fire on us, and we'll be involved in the Syrian civil war up to our eyeballs. Except this time, we could be facing Iranian troops and Russian weapon systems.

[Hoodat]

Saying ‘No’ to George Patton back in Spring 1945 also stopped a war. Unfortunately, saying ‘No’ also resulted in tens of millions living under Soviet domination for the next 45 years.

[Toespi]

A gaffe, an incredibly small gaffe.

[Travis McGee]

You can’t tell. And anybody who wants to drag the USA into a shooting war in Syria just has to lob a few mortar rounds at future “peacekeepers” the way they did in Beirut.

[Truth2012]

I think he has the Teressa Heinz disease. It is called being a drunk bloated creep.