Posted on 10/09/2015 12:44:37 PM PDT by Kaslin
When Barack Obama accepted the Democratic presidential nomination in 2008, he predicted that the occasion would be remembered as "the moment when we ended a war and secured our nation and restored our image as the last, best hope on earth." Some seven years later, America is weaker, and the world is a far more dangerous place.
President Obama did not end the war in Iraq. His precipitous withdrawal of American troops allowed the Islamic State group to take control of major cities and Iran to become the puppet master in Iraq. His decision to announce when the U.S. would withdraw troops from Afghanistan emboldened the Taliban, as witnessed most recently in the assault on Kunduz. But most importantly, the president's feckless policies have set the stage for Russia's ascendancy and its move to become a major player in the Middle East.
Thanks to the administration's dithering on Syria, Russia now has 30 warplanes in the air that are launching attacks on anti-Bashar Assad rebels, and soon there may be troops on the ground -- "volunteers" like the ones Russia has employed against Ukraine. Meanwhile, Russia is firing its most sophisticated cruise missiles from warships in the Caspian Sea a thousand miles away, again targeting not the Islamic State but the Free Syrian Army. Turkey, a NATO member, has also claimed that Russian planes have violated Turkish airspace.
It would be bad enough if Russia's intervention in Syria accomplished nothing more than propping up the murderous regime of Assad, which has killed more than a quarter-million Syrians and led to the exodus of 3 million refugees. But Russia's role is far more insidious. Russia's move also enhances Iran's power in the region and makes it far likelier that we will see future confrontations between Iran and its Sunni neighbors.
Lest we forget, Russia remains a powerful nuclear state. According to the Arms Control Association, Russia currently has 1,582 nuclear warheads deployed on 515 intercontinental ballistic missiles, submarines and strategic bombers. In addition, Russia's nuclear arsenal includes 4,500 stockpiled warheads and another 3,200 that are intact but no longer stockpiled, awaiting dismantlement under the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty with the United States. Any guess whom these weapons are aimed at?
Throughout the Cold War, the U.S. and the Soviet Union avoided direct confrontation precisely because such confrontation could have escalated into a nuclear war. But avoiding direct confrontation did not mean that the U.S. backed down against obvious threats. When the Soviets secretly put nuclear missiles in Cuba in 1962, President John F. Kennedy didn't ignore the provocation but deployed U.S. ships to blockade the island. During the 13-day crisis, three Soviet ships, including a submarine, approached the American blockade line, and President Kennedy gave permission to the American aircraft carrier USS Essex to take whatever measures deemed necessary to stop the submarine. The ships turned back at the last minute, and the Soviets ultimately withdrew their missiles when the U.S. pledged not to invade Cuba.
There are lessons to be learned from the Cuban missile crisis. Syria is not in our own backyard, as Cuba is, but America's failure to counter Russian interference in the Middle East nonetheless poses a strategic threat. Unless this threat is met by U.S. resolve and strength, a greater war is inevitable.
The Middle East is a tinderbox, with explosions occurring throughout the region that could ignite a major conflagration. America's major ally in the region, Israel, faces an existential threat if Iran acquires nuclear weapons, which the Obama administration's deal makes more likely than not. A Russian-backed Iran also poses threats to Saudi Arabia and other Persian Gulf States.
The rise of Russia also poses a direct threat to Europe. What is to stop Russia from moving against some of its former satellites, especially the Baltic States? The United States has employed economic sanctions but has done far too little to help Ukraine fight Russian-backed rebels, providing no offensive weapons or ammunition against Russian tanks and other sophisticated Russian weapons. If we are unwilling to arm those who are fighting Russian expansion, we will see Russia gobble up more territory on its path to regain superpower status.
Contrary to his promises, President Obama has greatly damaged the standing of the United States in the world. It may well be too late to reverse this trend in his remaining year in office. The tragedy is he shows no interest in even trying.
As long as Putin is killing terrorists instead of arming them like we do, I’m all for what he’s doing.
The enemy of my enemy is my ... non enemy.
Townhall should have included The Won’s dig at Romney about “the 1980s want their foreign policy back”. Missed opportunity.
Another lunatic Neocon. The marching orders must be out today. First Hillary and Bush, today Cruz, now her, then about everyone else except Trump who seems to be the only one not horny for a US/Russo war.
The overall theme seems to be Assad is the number one priority there. And wiping out ISIS impedes Americas historic interests in Syria. (or something)
And this old nag, what was she, labor secretary? She wants to use naval forces, to sink Russian ships approaching Syria.
I’m going to look into a fallout shelter and another sack of rice. Oh, and some 35 million SPF sunscreen. All because the Saudis told DC, “dance!”
Isn’t Putin arming Hezbollah which has been traditionally been regarded as a terrorist group? At least fighting alongside them.
Things have changed. Wake up.
by Jacob Kornbluh
Sept 2, 2015
In a phone interview with CNN Tuesday evening, Trump claimed that there’s “something in the Iran deal” that “people don’t understand” saying if someone attacks Iran, “we have to come to their defense.”
“Does that include Israel?” Trump asked. “And most people say yes, they don’t have an exclusion for Israel. So if Israel attacks Iran, according to that deal, I believe, the way it reads, unless they have a codicil or they have something to it, that we have to fight with Iran against Israel.” ..."
Trump was most probably referring to language highlighted by the opponents of the deal. On page 142, the deal includes a clause that states, “Co-operation through training and workshops to strengthen Iran’s ability to protect against, and respond to nuclear security threats, including sabotage, as well as to enable effective and sustainable nuclear security and physical protection systems.”
Washington-based Center for Security Policy asserted that Annex III appears “to commit the United States and other world powers to the defense of Iran’s nuclear program.”
http://jpupdates.com/2015/09/02/trump-iran-deal-requires-u-s-protecting-iran-in-event-of-israeli-strike/
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Aug 2015...
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September 11, 2015
Jennifer Griffin, Lucas Tomlinson
FoxNews.com
As the Pentagon warily eyes a Russian military build-up in Syria, Western intelligence sources tell Fox News that the escalated Russian presence began just days after a secret Moscow meeting in late July between Iran’s Quds Force commander — their chief exporter of terror — and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Fox News has learned Quds head Qassem Soleimani and Putin discussed such a joint military plan for Syria at that meeting, an encounter first reported by Fox News in early August. ...”
The Quds Force is the international arm of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard, involved in exporting terrorism to Iran’s proxies throughout the Middle East including Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and Yemen. ...”
Officials who have monitored the build-up say they’ve seen more than 1,000 Russian combatants — some of them from the same plainclothes Special Forces units who were sent to Crimea and Ukraine. Some of these Russian troops are logistical specialists and needed for security at the expanding Russian bases.
Sept 23, 2015
A prominent pro-Hezbollah newspaper in Lebanon reported Tuesday that Russia and the terrorist organization have formed an alliance and will fight together in Syria. “The parties to the alliance are the states of Russia, Iran, Syria, and Iraq, with Lebanon’s Hezbollah as the fifth party,”
Al-Akhbar Editor in Chief Ibrahim al-Amin wrote. The pact would be called the “4+1 alliance”—a pun based on the P5+1 that negotiated the nuclear deal with Iran. Hezbollah is a proxy of Iran based in Lebanon and Moscow has been working with Tehran to save Bashar al-Assad’s regime, even sending men and weapons to Syria.
http://www.thedailybeast.com/cheats/2015/09/22/report-russia-partners-with-hezbollah.html
And all *BY DESIGN*. Not the result of 'incompetence', 'inexperience', or any other BS excuse like that. Obama and Putin are in cahoots in Russia's expansionist agenda.
Not buying it.
Comparing Syria to Cuba? Not buying it.
Troops or planes in Syria or Crimea leading to an invasion of Poland, Germany, etc? Not falling for it.
Shut up, Linda.
Funny how people are telling the rest of us to “wake up” from the Cold War, when the Russians themselves admit that it’s on. On, as in never stopped.
If you’d like to be on or off, please FR mail me.
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Why? Don’t like the truth when you read it?
What do you do when you have more than one enemy? Trust me Russia and Putin is no friend.
Just tell Romulus to shut his damn mouth, he likes that. See his home page. (Though I suspect it not being from Sinkspur, it will not have the sweet aftertaste).
Truth is not what you get from neocons.
I’m glad you enjoyed the visit to my trophy case.
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