People have been asking why President Obama did not go to Congress about Libya but is willing to do so with regard to a much less robust action in Syria. The answer is a pragmatic and not a legal or constitutional one. Obama did not need Congress in the case of Libya. He had the […]
Gulf Arab Press divided on Syria Strike (OSC)
The USG Open Source Center paraphrases items in the Gulf Arab press regarding the US strike on Syria Gulf Press Carries Mixed Reactions to Potential US Military Attack on Syria OSC Summary Saturday, August 31, 2013 Document Type: OSC Summary On 30 August, websites of Gulf newspapers were observed to carry mixed reactions to a […]
Invoking International Law Against Obama: Old Europe, New Europe and NeoCon Fail
Caretaker Czech Prime minister Jiri Rusnok and president Milos Zeman have denounced President Obama’s plans to bomb Syria not just as unwise but as actually illegal. In the United Nations Charter, which the US crafted and to which it is a signatory, there are only two grounds for going to war: self-defense and a UN […]
Military-Ruled Egypt Opposes US Strike on Syria
The newly assertive Egyptian military and the civilian transitional government in Egypt are helping make President Obama’s life difficult. Likely it was Egypt that blocked the Arab League from calling for intervention against the Syrian regime despite its condemnation of Damascus for using chemical weapons. Egyptian foreign minister Nabil Fahmy rejected a Western strike on […]
The Ghost of Iraq haunts Obama on Syria as British Parliament Defects
The heavy propaganda for an Iraq War waged by the Bush administration and the Blair government in 2002-2003 came back to haunt the Anglo-American alliance on Thursday when the British parliament voted 285 to 272 not to authorize a military strike on Syria. While the government of Prime Minister David Cameron could theoretically have proceeded […]
Eight things to consider before intervening in Syria (ECFR)
Anthony Dworkin, Daniel Levy and Julien Barnes-Dacey write for the European Council on Foreign Relations: 1. What are the goals of intervention? All statements coming from the western leaders most likely to undertake military action (US, UK and France) suggest a narrow focus on chemical weapons (CW), rather than action designed to sway the overall […]
Rush to Western Strike on Syria slows, but does not Stall
What is known is that during heavy bombardment of Ghouta in Rif Dimashq on August 21, rockets were fired that did not explode and instead released gases that killed several hundred people, most of them non-combatants, and injured hundreds of others. US intelligence agencies released an intercept on Wednesday showing that after the attack, a […]
NSA Spying Abroad isn’t OK Either (Kurzman)
Charles Kurzman writes at ISLAMiCommentary: Caption for graphic: NSAW SID Intelligence Oversight (IO) Quarterly Report – First Quarter Calendar Year 2012 (1 January – 31 March 2012) – Executive Summary, May 3, 2012, compiled by Kurzman from pages 5-6 of 13. http://apps.washingtonpost.com/g/page/national/nsa-report-on-privacy-violations-in-the-first-quarter-of-2012/395/ Many Americans were upset to learn this month that the National Security Agency […]
The Kosovo Fallacy and Syria (Axworthy-Cole Debate)
I was on the CBC’s excellent The Current to discuss former Canadian Foreign Minister Lloyd Axworthy’s proposal that Western action in Syria should resemble the Kosovo campaign of the 1990s. I disagreed, pointing to the many differences between the two situations I come in about halfway through. Click on the image below to go to […]
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