#John Batchelor Show 16 March 2011

http://audioboo.fm/boos/304667

pl

 

Comments

[WP]

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703818204576206432070204102.html

Is this an awakening, a show of principle, or a trick show to avoid accountability for inaction?

[William R. Cumming]

So PL do I accurately restate your conclusions as to Saudi direct intervention in Bahrein as inferring that US supports Saudi efforts to block Iranian influence with Bahrein's Shia population?
If that inferrence is correct why is Hillary Clinton pretending US policy is something different?

[Patrick Lang]

WRC

According to NSC source today, "we are happy with French and British initiative on Libya. Our policy east of Suez is 'evolving.'"

I think that Saudi and other Arab government actions against revolutionaries frightened the Obama administration into thinking that if Qathafi succeeded in his counter-revolution, then all the others would be encouraged to apply maximum force and that the Egyptian revolution might be endangered if the army re-thought its role. In any event the Arab governments are going to take an increasingly hard line against revolt and are going to look to distance themselves from the US. pl

[WP]

Col.

So, as I follow-up on my summary post from yesterday, has something changed in that the NSC began to see the consequences of allowing the enemy MQ to win? Is this an awakening with the realization that ideals cannot be completely abandoned?

In all, the intervention seems like a good thing to me. Perhaps the children's crusade in Libya might have a chance and our hopes for a more modernist future may emerge.

To the extent that some of our diplomats were working on this while it appeared the US has simply abandoned its priniples and I showed loss of faith in them, I owe our hard working diplomats an apology and they deserve kudos!

[William R. Cumming]

Thanks PL for response! I now believe that MQ's plans for the afterwards of the defeat of the insurgecy have now become available to the US and suddenly the Administration understood what its stance would be at least partially responsible for achiving. Personally I believe that stance involved oil, OPEC, and Libyan foreign policy.

[William R. Cumming]

So two stories now circulating in DC. First, Hillary converted to "intervention" and Obama sided with her over GATES! Version number two is Obama pro-intervention all along and finally sided with Hillary and overruled GATES? Betting someone in DC knows the truth? So is OBAMA in let your subordinatens fight it out school of management? Very wasteful management style IMO. I am sure dead Libyan insurgents would agree.