"Stopping Russia Starts in Syria" Anne-Marie Slaughter

"The US, together with as many countries as will cooperate, could use force to eliminate Syria’s fixed-wing aircraft as a first step toward enforcing Resolution 2139. “Aerial bombardment” would still likely continue via helicopter, but such a strike would announce immediately that the game has changed. After the strike, the US, France, and Britain should ask for the Security Council’s approval of the action taken, as they did after NATO’s intervention in Kosovo in 1999. 

Equally important, shots fired by the US in Syria will echo loudly in Russia. The great irony is that Putin is now seeking to do in Ukraine exactly what Assad has done so successfully: portray a legitimate political opposition as a gang of thugs and terrorists, while relying on provocations and lies to turn non-violent protest into violent attacks that then justify an armed response."  Anne-Marie Slaughter

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Slaughter? This woman is aptly named although I understand she experienced a name change somewhere along the way.  She took control of the "New America Foundation" last fall.  Now she is emeritus at Princeton.  You Princetonians can explain to me how a 55 year old woman can be emeritus.

Her basic idea is that the US should bomb Syria's fixed wing air force out of existence AND THEN go to the UN for approval.  She thinks that would start the ball rolling for a rebel victory in Syria and that all right thinking people should welcome that, especially I suppose the religious fanatics in Kuwait and Saudi Arabia who are funding and more or less equipping the Islamist fighters.  The fanatic supporters would do more but they have always been organizationally challenged and usually will not listen to foreign hired help.

She also believes that this ferocity on our part would frighten the Russians into accepting our dictum everywhere.  My, my,  I have seen her occasionally on Zakariah's Sunday festival of mutual admiration.  I find her obvious self love and pomposity to be quite a "turn-off."  She always has a smug little smile and seems to me to suffer from always having been one of the pretty AND smart girls in the class, school, sorority, etc.  A lot of young men and a good many older ones as well cannot resist such creatures and find themselves nodding uncontrollably while saying in Bill Cosby's words, "I loves Mozart."

Her preposterous "proposal" should be seen as satire of actual strategic thought,  I am tempted to compare this to Dean Swift's "Modest Proposal..." but that would be giving her far too much credit.

She and all the other  R2P ladies and male hangers-on continue to see the world as a school yard where the naughty must be taught to do better by whatever means prove necessay.

This frame of mind betrays an inability to see other places and people as they are rather than how they can be described in a graduate school seminar. 

The Russians are damned tough people.  They will not be cowed.  They will simply be irritated and angered.

Her arrival at "New America..." undoubtedly indicates a new phase in her progress toward the Secretary of State's office or the chair of the National Security Adviser.

God help us all.  pl

http://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/anne-marie-slaughter-on-how-us-intervention-in-the-syrian-civil-war-would-alter-vladimir-putin-s-calculus-in-ukraine

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anne-Marie_Slaughter

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'Bomb Syria...For Ukraine's Sake!'

Obama's approaching humiliation over Syria

Psycho

Comments

[William Herschel]

"The Press" are employees and servants of large organizations whose inner workings and agendas are not obvious or accessible to the public. That is what makes blogs so enormously important.

Can anyone name the Foreign Affairs Editor of the New York Times? Does anyone know the first thing about him? I know from an article by their "Ombudswoman" that he vehemently defends the Times' coverage of Ukraine.

[jamzo]

ms slaughter is firmly connected

2002-2009..dean of the Woodrow Wilson School,
2007-2008..visiting fellow at the Shanghai Institute for International Affairs.
2009-2011.. Director of Policy Planning, US State Dept.

first from wikipedia page on anne.marie slaughter

"In late 2005, over 100 Princeton students and faculty signed an open letter to Slaughter and Princeton president Shirley Tilghman criticizing the University in general and the Woodrow Wilson School in particular of biasing selection of invited speakers in favor of those supportive of the Bush administration.[6] Slaughter responded to these claims by pointing to the dozens of public lectures by independent academics, journalists, and other analysts that the Wilson School hosts each academic year.[7] Others noted that, with Bush's Republican Party controlling the Presidency and both houses of Congress, many of the most influential people in the federal government, and in the international relations apparatus in particular, were necessarily administration supporters. "

second from same wikipedia page

"On January 23, 2009, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton announced the appointment of Slaughter as the new Director of Policy Planning under the Obama administration.[1] Slaughter was the first woman to hold this position.

At the State Department, Slaughter was chief architect of the Quadrennial Diplomacy and Development Review whose first iteration was released in December 2010.[9][10] The QDDR provided a blueprint for elevating development as a pillar of American foreign policy and leading through civilian power. Commenting upon the skepticism that often greets such reports, and reiterating Secretary Clinton's strong desire that the QDDR become an essential part of the State Department policy process, Slaughter said: "I'm pretty sure you're thinking, 'I've heard this before,' [a big plan to change the way a government agency works] But this is different."[10] Slaughter received the Secretary's Distinguished Service Award for exceptional leadership and professional competence, the highest honor conferred by the State Department. She also received a Meritorious Honor Award from the U.S. Agency for International Development for her outstanding contribution to development policy.

In February 2011, at the conclusion of her two-year public service leave, Slaughter returned to Princeton University. She remains a consultant for the State Department.[11] She has written that she came "home not only because of Princeton's rules (after two years of leave, you lose your tenure), but also because of my desire to be with my family and my conclusion that juggling high-level government work with the needs of two teenage boys was not possible."[12]"

[Thomas]

The Neos have done nothing but lose for the past 13 years. Wealth and power from their backers has staved off their comeuppance, so far.

The Ukie A team capture just goes to show the incompetence of the advisors let alone the Kievan Junta's command quality.

[Alba Etie]

GCP
Citation ?

[Tyler]

I honestly didn't know whether to laugh or cry at the kerfluffle about the sanctity of the hashtag statement from the State Department.

[Tyler]

I'll have you know the Patriot of the Week vote is a sacred trust and not something I'll disclose to the likes of you, thank you very much sirrah.

[Tyler]

The Chosen just won't stop until we're at war with the world again.

Maybe they can charge the ashes interest.

[Tyler]

GCP's ideal leader is a transgendered, biracial, pansexual, illegal alien reformist jew with a major in Muslim Skateboarding and Pre-Columbian Transgender Art.

[confusedponderer]

Yes, my apologies. I was quite grumpy this morning.

But the death toll of US foreign policy of the last two decades is simply appalling.

And as far as the US public is concerned, these deaths just happened, as if the US didn't contribute anything to them.

Worse than that alone, though hawkish policy may not work well (and arguably it hasn't in the past), it is the sort of policy that works best at the ballot box, and in the US it is carried by a bipartisan consensus.

[GulfCoastPirate]

Alba Etie wrote: Citation?

http://www.nationalreview.com/article/347151/rand-paul-and-israel

[Fred]

"The US, together with as many countries as will cooperate, could use force to eliminate Syria’s fixed-wing aircraft as a first step toward enforcing Resolution 2139. .... After the strike, the US, France, and Britain should ask for the Security Council’s approval of the action taken..."

Just which members of the JCS does she think will go along with such a blatantly illegal order? I wonder what they think of all the 'on to Moscow' talk out of the intelligentsia?

[turcopolier]

Fred
Other than Dempsey I have no faith in them. My dad told me that "when you are tempted to trust a general officer remember how he became one." He had served 32 years from trooper in the cavalry to lieutenant colonel. pl

[JohnH]

From the NY Times editorial board page bio of the Foreign Affairs editor:

"Carol Giacomo, a former diplomatic correspondent for Reuters in Washington, covered foreign policy for the international wire service for more than two decades before joining The Times editorial board in August 2007. In her previous position, she traveled over 1 million miles to more than 100 countries with eight secretaries of state and various other senior U.S. officials."

Thoroughly embedded...

[Imagine]

Not going to happen. They're ready for you.
http://www.infowars.com/curbing-social-protest-in-america-microwave-non-lethal-weapons-to-be-used-for-crowd-control/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Active_Denial_System

Remember the Agonizer device in Star Trek's "Mirror, Mirror"? This is a truck-mounted version. Makes anyone who is not an infant and not physically constrained, drop whatever they're doing and run away.

What could possibly go wrong?

A senior official decided not to deploy it in Iraq because "it might end up being used for torture" [by whom, unspecified]. Allegedly Sec. USAF Wynne wisely refused to deploy it on the battlefield, saying "to avoid vilification in the world press, it should be used on crowds in the US first."[sic]

to show their enthusiastic dream, this promo video demo's long-range deployment against those pesky Peace Demonstrators:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dmuyLIrSjxI

Cheney would be proud.

just remember, what can be done for you, can be done to you.

[The Twisted Genius]

PL,

An old master sergeant told me pretty much the same thing when I was a young lieutenant in the 25th Division. Nevertheless, I had great admiration for Arthur E. Brown who got his first star as ADC for maneuver. I spoke with him at least weekly when I ran the RECONDO School. He was also one of the first to visit me at Tripler AMC after I decided to take a 200 foot helo rappel with a 150 foot rope. I had a lot of faith in him. General Willard Scott, the Division Commander, was no slouch either. I have fond memories of those hollow Army days.

[JerseyJeffersonian]

Hello,

A while back I too posted something regarding Sen. Paul in this vein, but it was at the end of a long, and likely dead thread. I repost my comment below:

All,

A bit off-thread, perhaps, but not very much so should one be interested in seeing an alteration in the dynamic between Israel and the US.

I have noted several posters seemingly of the opinion that Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky might be a change agent in this regard. But before putting down too much weight on that foot, you might wish to read and reflect upon this:

http://spectator.org/blog/22498/rand-paul-and-israel

Well, one might say, this was a position articulated in the heat of a campaign, and things get said in that context that often later fall by the wayside. Frankly, I don't see this as anything other than obeisance, and heartfelt obeisance at that, to the interests of the Lobby. Consider this, too; in our current political system, with campaigning being a perennial state, particularly in the Senate where a) monetary requirements are enormous for electioneering, and b) where treaties (or in the case of Israel, sub rosa understandings functionally equivalent to treaties) are validated, this position is likely one that is considered and final.

It would be a cardinal mistake to confuse the views of Rand Paul with those of his father, Ron Paul, merely because occasional flickers of libertarianism appear in Rand Paul's words.

Remember what we got when the nation swallowed the enticing "Hope & Change" meme. Combine the link in my prior post with the more recent one from Gulf Coast Pirate to inject a cautionary note, and then stop, look, listen. It gets real costly after the election when due diligence beforehand is not done.

[turcopolier]

TTG

There are exceptions but not many. Mostly they should have been Walmart managers. pl

[Babak Makkinejad]

Why does not the German Government oppose vigorously such turns of events?

Can Germany say "no"?

If not, why have elections in Germany; would it not be more efficient to have a pro-consul rule Germany - appointed by US?

In what manner is Germany a sovereign state?

[DC]

I haven't followed the New American Foundation for many years, but around 2001-02 or so I was very impressed with the pragmatic style of Steve Clemons, who ran the blog The Washington Note and seemed (to be the outside observer) to be a spokesperson for the organization. Then, I was impressed with Clemons's principled opposition to the wars in general, and the neoconservative movement in particular. Now, reading Slaughter, one would assume NAF has become yet another neocon mouthpiece in support of loony and expensive global positions. Steve must have gotten his butt kicked. I took a look at his bio and gathered he's been significantly marginalized since the heyday of the early millenium. NAF used to have some really stimulating roundables, nonpartisan and diverse it its composition (which I enjoyed); but assuredly not any more. Thanks for pointing out that biased hacks are back at ruling the roost.

[Tyler]

A hyper tech gizmo that's asking to be the target of concentrated small arms fire. I'm not concerned.

[Joe100]

Col Lang -

What about General Abrams? My father, who worked briefly for Abrams when he took over MAC-V, was not much of a fan of many of the flag rank around him, but as I recall spoke quite fondly of Abrams.

[turcopolier]

Joe100

Abrams was an exception. pl

[turcopolier]

Joe100

I heard Abrams discuss the poor leadership of many officers when I was a student at the Armed Forces Staff College just after VN. He was CoS then. He said that the morale situation then was so bad that the glass covering the portraits of former chiefs of staff that hung in a pentagon corridor was covered with dried spittle. He said that he was going to conduct himself in such a way that he could hope that soldiers would not want to spit on his portrait. pl

[William R. Cumming]

Thanks PL for this posting and interesting comments!

[fanto]

"In what manner is Germany a sovereign state?"
- Babak, Germany is not sovereign state since there is no peace treaty after WW2; there are some secret clauses that - according to musings in the blogs - there are red lines for any german chancellor which he/she has to sign under before taking the oath of office