President Talks About Syria

For John, BLUF:  Good move by President.

---

I am happy for the President's speech.  The Juan Williams comments on Fox at 2:55 were good.  I feel sorry for John Kerry (experiencing new things is good for all of us).  For those who think this makes us weak, and look weak, I would caution other nations that it may be a bad idea to step on the Presdent's cape when he is frustrated. Regards  —  Cliff

Threats

For John, BLUF:  Question everything.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

---

This may not be true but it is too funny to bother checking.



Regards  —  Cliff

Hans Blix Says No

For John, BLUF:  There is a lot of opposition out there to a US attack on Syria.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

---

Here are some thoughts of Mr Hans Blix, who has been a UN WMD Inspector.  This is just an extract from a longer article, "Even if Assad Used Chemical Weapons, The West Has No Mandate to Act as a Global Policeman".  The subtitle is "By ordering air strikes against Syria without UN security council support, Obama will be doing the same as Bush in 2003".  That seems to be a fairly strong condemnation of possible action.  The source of this item is the web site Common Dreams.

It is true that the UN security council is not a reliable global policeman.  It may be slow to take action, or paralysed because of disagreement between members.  But do we want the US or Nato or "alliances of willing states" as global policemen either?  Unlike George Bush in 2003, the Obama administration is not trigger-happy and contemptuous of the United Nations and the rules of its charter, which allow the use of armed force only in self-defence or with an authorisation from the security council.  Yet Obama, like Bush and Blair, seems ready to ignore the council and order armed strikes on Syria with political support from only the UK, France and some others.

Such action could not be "in self-defence" or "retaliation", as the US, the UK and France have not been attacked.  To punish the Assad government for using chemical weapons would be the action of self-appointed global policemen – action that, in my view, would be very unwise.

While much evidence points to the guilt of the Assad regime, would not due process require that judgment and consideration of action take place in the UN security council and await the report of the inspectors that the UN has sent to Syria – at the demand of the UK and many other UN members?

I think Mr Blix is a little cranky about "W", but basically his analysis is pretty good.

Regards  —  Cliff

Reduce the Number of Secrets

For John, BLUF:  Over-classification in pernicious.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

---

The Editors of the new Blog, War on the Rocks provide us a copy of EISENHOWER’S DECLASSIFICATION INSTRUCTIONS, 1947.♠  Here is the payoff quote from the Memorandum:

The Army possesses no inherent right to conceal the history of its affairs behind a cloak of secrecy, nor is such conduct conducive to a sound and healthy approach to the day to day performance of its duties.

Well worth reading the whole thing.  And, there is a link at the bottom of the WOTR post to a copy of the original memo.

Regards  —  Cliff

♠  I think they got it from a distinguished Army historian.

New Meme Coming Out

For John, BLUF:  HIstory is a natural resource, to be exploited, like coal.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

---

From the InstaPundit we have this little blurb:

CONFEDERACY:  The New Democratic Talking Point.  It’s said of the Austrians that they do their best to convince the world that Hitler was a German and Beethoven was an Austrian.  Likewise, the Dems would like you to believe that Jefferson Davis was a Republican, and Abraham Lincoln a Democrat.

And why, in Virginia, is US Route 1 known as the Jeff Davis Highway?

Some Republican Governor should fix that.

In the mean time, maybe the Jeff Davis Republican/Abe Lincoln Democrat meme is just just a trial balloon for 2016.

Regards  —  Cliff

How Syria is Like Spain

For John, BLUF:  The US needs a dose of isolationism.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

---

A friend of mine♠ wrote and EMailed the following meditation on the civil war in Syria.

As Mark Twain reputedly said (and Niall Ferguson definitely quoted):

"History does not repeat itself, rather, it rhymes."

Or something like that.  I propose a harmonic verse that matches from the past that relates to decision-making vis-a-vis Syria.  The Spanish Civil War, where the dichotomy between the "right" side and the "wrong" side seemed so clear cut and, parenthetically, which is still portrayed as such in many venues today.  Or rather protrayed in one-sided fashion.

Here is the snapshot, a legitimate Republican Government is challenged by a militarist coup led by conservative military officers in league with other conservative and reactionary elements in Spanish society in 1935.  The Spanish version of fascists led by General Francisco Franco.  The Republicans fight to defend "democracy" and the cry arises for other nations of the world to intervene.  The Western Democracies essentially decide not to intervene, the US Congress passes things like the Neutrality Act and instead the Militarists (a better characterization) are aided by Nazis and the Italian Fascists while the Soviet Union aided the Republicans.  Seems a clear case of neglect by the West, right?

Wrong, as idealists flocked to Spain to fight in the international brigades for a romantic cause they learned that the Republican front was a loose alliance of socialists, anarchists, some liberal democratic types, terrorist, and Stalinists masquerading as communists.  Some, like George Orwell, learned the true face of totalitarianism from his erstwhile allies among the Republicans and his experience inspired him to write 1984 and Animal Farm.  Yes, Virginia, Orwell was inspired to write his visions of Utopian horror by "the good guys."  Stalin's purged reached down into the Comintern in Spain as the Soviet cadres flew back to the socialist utopia for a bullet in the head or a trip, with family, to the Gulag "without right of correspondence."

The insight?  Both sides were riddled with agenda driven iconoclasts and criminals, and also included good people caught up in the maelstrom.  Sounds like Syria.  The West sat it out.  Correctly I would say, and then made a real error three years later in Munich.  Syria is not Czechoslovakia and Damascus ain't Munich...its more like Toledo, or Madrid, or Barcelona.  I know I am stepping on some "progressive" toes here, but check out the facts.

Thus endeth the Lesson.

This discussion reminded me of the early chapters of Ken Follett's Winter of the World, which looks at the Spanish Civil War.  Or perhaps Earnest Hemingway's book For Whom the Bell Tolls.

We need to stay out of Syria and their problems.

Regards  —  Cliff

♠  Retired Navy Officer, former Naval Aviator, PhD in History.

Voting in Minnesota

For John, BLUF:  Some say there is no voter fraud, just voter suppression, but I am not seeing it.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

---

Via The InstaPundit we have a link to the blog Election Law Center, which yesterday had a post titled "Somali Immigrants Charged With Illegal Double Voting in Minn".  Would this fall under "too much of a good thing"?

On the other hand, maybe, as immigrants, they don't really understand the voting process here in the United States.

I do wonder if NSA (No Such Agency) played a role in this bust?

Regards  —  Cliff