Middle East news (really M.E.!)

[Prime Junta]

Par for course for a lame-duck president. One of the most aggravating things about diplomatic dealing with America is that even in the best of times you only have a functioning government half the time. The rest of the time you're electioneering. It used to drive the Soviets nuts.

 

[JemyM]

For those who do not get it

 

[magerette]

It's nice when things are simple.

 

[Prime Junta]

I'm fairly certain that many people who watched that didn't realize it was satire. That's what makes it scary.

 

[dteowner]

Been a while since we've needed this thread.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/ml_syria_us_raid;_ylt=AnXSD8xlSY44Kjspv3yGb2IN97QF

That can't be good. Can't help but wonder if the military is getting a green light to do "some shady things that need doing" because it will be Obama's problem to deal with the fallout.

 

[V7]

They've also been ramping up the pressure on Pakistan and while in both cases I doubt Bush and co. are particularly sorry about leaving the mess to Obama I'm not sure the US has been left with a lot of options in either case. The leaks from the latest NIE due out after the election are painting a very bad picture of the US position in Iraq and Afghanistan.

 

[Prime Junta]

Been a while since we've needed this thread.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/ml_syria_us_raid;_ylt=AnXSD8xlSY44Kjspv3yGb2IN97QF

That can't be good. Can't help but wonder if the military is getting a green light to do "some shady things that need doing" because it will be Obama's problem to deal with the fallout.

And I'm sure it wouldn't hurt McCain's prospects if attention shifted to horrors abroad right about now. Could they really be that cynical? You tell me...

 

[dteowner]

If we're going to believe they'd go down that road (certainly a stretch, but I'm not sure I'd bet much money against it), I'd think that would have happened about a month ago when Obama was building his 10 point lead in the polls. 10 days before the election is too late to stir up a proper attention-diverting mess.

 

[V7]

I agree, unless the news is different over there it doens't look like they're beating this up. I'm also not convinced it'd be an election winner - at this point with McCain's camp imploding I suspect pretty much any crises will play to the Obama who at least looks in control.

 

[magerette]

I doubt it's an election ploy, except in passing, as it were. I think dte has the gist of it; the WH is giving the military a pass and it's proceeding to follow intel leads as it sees fit, knowing what little presidential authority Bush has right now is being directed at the financial crisis. And why should Bush care? Not only is it all going to be someone else's mess in a few short months, but any foreign contretemps is seen as playing to McCain's strengths, so it's all good in that light.

I'm curious about what everyone thinks about the current stalemate in negotiations to keep US forces in Iraq. Does anyone on either side think that the US can stay there illegally after December? I've heard Bush has broached a "handshake" solution--that is, we'll just stay on doing our thing regardless until something is hammered out, but that sounds a bit casual for a very unpopular war that's basically become an occupation.

 

[dteowner]

I could see a "2 week handshake solution" that voids about 5 minutes after the inauguration. Dubya would be plenty petty enough to pull that one, and that would certainly put Barack's titty in the wringer right from the git-go.

 

[V7]

And why should Bush care?

I thnk thats the key, its not like he has a legacy to worry about.

 

[dteowner]

I thnk thats the key, its not like he has a legacy to worry about.

It's a shame that his skillful management of 9-11 and its short-term aftermath will get lost in all the stupidity that followed. Could have been a stellar legacy, and instead will easily be the worst since Carter.

 

[V7]

It's a shame that his skillful management of 9-11 and its short-term aftermath will get lost in all the stupidity that followed. Could have been a stellar legacy, and instead will easily be the worst since Carter.

Sorry? Was that the part where no one knew where he was for 24 hours or the bit where he managed to alienate the rest of the world despite the immediate sympathetic reaction?

 

[Prime Junta]

Not to mention piddly little details like "not catching bin Laden" and "getting stuck in in Afghanistan, aka the Graveyard of Empires." Sorry, dte -- he started out his handling of 9/11 by looking frozen in the headlights holding a book called My Pet Goat, and it didn't really get any better after that.

 

[dteowner]

Well, PJ, those problems would be beyond "short-term aftermath". My wholly arbitrary dividing line is the beginning of a military response. Getting the nation emotionally focused after the shock, getting the damage control under way, and rousting up even the pansy democrats to support the need for a military response rather than a decade of toothless UN hand-wringing is what I qualify as stellar handling, as none of those actions were a "sure thing". Admittedly, the majority of decisions after that line were pretty shaky; thus, the ruined legacy.

As for V7's MIA accusation, I expect the Secret Service had quite a bit to do with making Dubya hard to locate, seeing as how that's their job when our government is under direct assault.

 

[Prime Junta]

Personally, I think that all of those things would have happened if you had had Kermit the Frog at the helm: an external surprise attack will inevitably cause everyone to rally around the flag.

By the way, if you think the Dems did "toothless UN hand-wringing," you haven't been anywhere near the receiving end of American military power. Madeleine Albright was known as "Gunboat" in diplomatic circles. Kosovo ring any bells?

 

[dteowner]

For all the atrocities, Kosovo would have devolved into toothless UN talk before the first bomb dropped if it wasn't in the Euros' back yard. See Darfur. I don't think it's a stretch to say the democrats are more prone to talk than action--after all, that's one of the major selling points for Saint Barack according to all you Euros.

 

[Prime Junta]

True, but there's a big difference between "more prone to talk than action" and "toothless UN hand-wringing."

 

[dteowner]

I would opine that the latter is the natural (and, generally, historic) result of the former, particularly on the global scene.

We might make a lot of noise, but in the end it's the Euros that control the direction of UN activity. To wit, Kosovo=action, Iraq=inaction, Darfur=inaction, Somalia=inaction. While there's complications that make each situation unique, you've got documented factional genocide in all 4. You will note the general response, and the location of the exception. My intent with this is observation, not indictment.