Assad Must Go… ahh fuhgettaboutit! - TTG

Following lengthy talks with Russian President VladimirPutin in Moscow today, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry has said the United States is not seeking regime change in Syria and that the U.S. and Russia see the conflict "fundamentally very similarly."

“The United States and its partners are not seeking so-called regime change as it is known in Syria,” Kerry said in a news conference inside the Kremlin, before immediately adding that the U.S. continues to believe that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has no possibility of remaining the country’s leader in the future. However, Kerry said the talks didn’t focus on “what can or can’t be done immediately about Assad” but rather on establishing a political process where Syrians will be able to choose their own leader.  (ABC News)

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Well I’ll be damned. Earlier this afternoon I commented that “it was obvious to me that nothing would come out of this meeting other than a firm reiteration of the Russian position and intended actions. If Kerry and Nuland thought anything else would happen, they are fools.” I never expected Kerry to be the one reiterating the Russian position and signing up our partners to the Russian position as well. Did old Vladimir Vadimirovich use a Jedi mind trick on Kerry?

TTG

Comments

[J]

Putin had spring in his step as he met Kerry.

[turcopolier]

TTG

You have to wonder if Kerry is off the reservation. "A loose cannon on the gun deck of the ship of state," in Ollie North's imitative but eloquent phrase. pl

[Bill Herschel]

Here's what Putin did. First of all, if you read this, you get the Israeli position:

http://www.brookings.edu/~/media/events/2015/12/04-saban-2015-israel-us-yesterday-today-tomorrow/transcripts/uncorrected-transcripta-conversation-with-moshe-yaalon-israels-minister-of-defense.pdf

And it turns out that Israel and the U.S. have been bluffing all along. Sure, the bluffing has included regime change in Ukraine with great loss of life and the destruction of a country, the destruction of Iraq and Libya, the attempted destruction of Syria, a propaganda campaign that must have dwarfed any previous propaganda campaign in human history, Erdogan's antics, and whatever I can't remember, but, well, but when it comes down to actual action, they want no part of it.

Putin has called their bluff. They do not even want to contemplate the possibility of meeting Russia head on.

There is a priceless video on RT showing Nuland shaking hands with Putin. She looks uncomfortable.

[J]

TTG,

One of the Borghese magazines had an article where they were trying to 'decipher' what they called Putin's 'gunslinger walk '. I found it amusing.

[The Twisted Genius]

pl,

Could be. Maybe Nuland was there as Kerry's handler to ensure that this kind of thing wouldn't happen. Oops. I'd give my left nut to know what she and the rest of her coven are talking about now.

[FB Ali]

Have Obama and Kerry become scared, seeing the cut-throats assembled by the Saudis as "the Syrian opposition"?

All Putin had to do get that public acknowledgement was NOT say: "I've always told you so!".

[The Twisted Genius]

J,

I read that, too. It all adds to Putin's mystique of being a bad ass' bad ass. I had to smile about Medvedev's attempt to imitate the walk.

[Alexey]

Earlier this year, after meeting with Russia over Ukraine in Sochi Kerry already made statement. This statement immediately was taken as a sign that Russia and US finally reached a compromise in Ukraine.

It took less than 24 hours, if I remember correctly, for the crowd in DC to backtrack to rhetoric of ultimatums.

I wonder how long that would take before "Assad must go" now.

[Kooshy]

Putin to Nuland, I wanted to personally thank you for Crimea “ Yes we agree F* Europe” meant time watch Kerry’ look
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CWSUPudXAAUHI48.png

[Trey N]

"When it comes down to actual action, they want no part of it.
Putin has called their bluff. They do not even want to contemplate the possibility of meeting Russia head on."

Bingo! The speed of the Russian deployment to Syria and the performance of their various weapons systems has been a real eye-opener for NATO; this is definitely NOT merely the old Soviet military in new uniforms. A lot of the old cliches about Russia's inferior weapons, poor quality of manpower, inability to project force beyond her borders, etc etc are now having to be rethought in the face of hard evidence to the contrary. To paraphrase Colonel Lang from a few days ago here, the "Do it yourself fantasies/delusions" of the neocon/R2P Borg have finally come face to face with the facts of actual reality in the world of geopolitics. It will be very interesting to see how the Borg minions react to the cold slap in the face...

[Cameron Kelley]

Perhaps there's more to Kerry than I thought. In which case he'll be stifled, of course.

[Bill Herschel]

Yup, that's the one. Putin's smile must have driven her nuts. To think that that cretin is leading the United States. OMG.

[fasteddiez]

President Dubya also sported a gunslinger posture, hands eight or so inches from his lighter than air six shooters, especially on the ranch, as he waked up to talk with reporters. On such an occasion, his wife told them "Heck, he's just a windshield cowboy."

[William R. Cumming]

Was Senator Lindsey Graham the only candidate espousing regime change in Syria in last nights Republican Presidential Candidate debate?

[bell]

cookie handouts in exchange for crimea... trade of a lifetime!

[Jose]

Did old Vladimir Vadimirovich use a Jedi mind trick on Kerry?

Yes, it's called reality.

[Herodotus]

Not at all.. Christy went further. He said that if the Russians crossed over he would order the shoot down. The more I hear from these guys the more scarier they become.

[Christopher Fay]

Hillary also supports regime change. Hillary is to the right of Jeb!

[johnf]

Perhaps she was taken along to show her what's what and she will now be given the unenviable task of selling it to all her friends.

I think since the 2013 near-bombing of Assad over the "gas attacks", Obama/Kerry and Putin have understood each other. Putin saved Obama from war then by offering the Syrian Chemical Weapons deal.

The Iran deal would not have been possible without Putin twisting the Iranian's arm.

In the Ukraine Obama/Kerry were pushed into a confrontation thanks to the Nuland coup, but then havered on the sidelines as Merkel/Hollande and Putin worked out a deal which has largely worked and with which they privately agreed.

Straight after the Russian intervention in Syria a lot of private talking went on between Putin and Kerry/Obama at the UN with largely non-hostile public rhetoric from the Administration.

Due to the enormous pressure from neocons inside the US and her "allies" like Israel, Turkey and KSA outside, it has been politically impossible for Obama/Kerry to steer a more peaceful path despite their, I believe genuine, wish to do so. Putin has recognized this. I think Obama and Kerry understand that Putin understands this. So have some allies like France and Germany. So they have taken the lead in the various peace moves and Obama and Kerry have, ultimately, not stood in their way.

There will doubtless be some hostile rhetoric escaping the Administration contradicting Kerry's latest statements. But, hopefully, they will just be the usual smokescreen.

Israel/Palestine next!

[Old Microbiologist]

Yes, it has happened on at least 3 occasions where Kerry announces some great change only to be over-ridden almost immediately by Nuland an she was backed by Obama. If I were an honorable man and in Kerry's position I would have resigned immediately. However, he never did that. This leads to one of 2 conclusions. The first being he is a coward without honor and the second it was the plan all along. I tend to believe the latter.

What is different this time is it is both Nuland and Kerry together. Clearly she looks like she ate shit (perhaps literally) but there you go. To walk this one back seems improbable now so this must mean a real change in policy.

Putin must have shown some serious acting ability to actually reach out to shake her hand. I think I would have stabbed in the heart with a stake as that is the only way to kill vampires. But, he is a better man than I am.

[confusedponderer]

Old Microbiologist,
"I think I would have stabbed in the heart with a stake as that is the only way to kill vampires. But, he is a better man than I am."

Unlike Nuland, Putin is a professional.

I would wager that his KGB socialisation emphacised not being overtly judgemental in interpersonal conduct since the job was about serving the interest of the country, irrespective of who you happen to have to talk to.

Nuland and the wider 'wo don't negotiate with evil' and 'Putin, Putin, Putin' crowd of the neocon and neoliberal persuasions never were housebroken that way, and they merrily live and excpress their self-righteous personalised and their more abstract hostility when serving in government.

There's a book in my shopping cart that I consider to buy, but hesitate because of the price - 'Reclaiming American Virtue' by Barbara J Keys. The short description captures the roots of Nuland's condition IMO rather aptly:

"The American commitment to international human rights emerged in the 1970s not as a logical outgrowth of American idealism but as a surprising response to national trauma, as Barbara Keys shows in this provocative history. "Reclaiming American Virtue" situates this novel enthusiasm as a reaction to the profound challenge of the Vietnam War and its tumultuous aftermath. Instead of looking inward for renewal, Americans on the right and the left alike looked outward for ways to restore America's moral leadership.Conservatives took up the language of Soviet dissidents to resuscitate a Cold War narrative that pitted a virtuous United States against the evils of communism. Liberals sought moral cleansing by dissociating the United States from foreign malefactors, spotlighting abuses such as torture in Chile, South Korea, and other right-wing allies. When Jimmy Carter in 1977 made human rights a central tenet of American foreign policy, his administration struggled to reconcile these conflicting visions.Yet liberals and conservatives both saw human rights as a way of moving from guilt to pride. Less a critique of American power than a rehabilitation of it, human rights functioned for Americans as a sleight of hand that occluded from view much of America's recent past and confined the lessons of Vietnam to narrow parameters. It would be a small step from world's judge to world's policeman, and American intervention in the name of human rights would be a cause both liberals and conservatives could embrace."

Putin doesn't have such baggage.

[J]

Colonel, TTG,

Did you see on the Republican debates where Cristy said he would establish a no fly zone and shoot down Russian pilots. And then you have Carson who wants to put U.S. boots on the ground, and both Cruz and Trump would carpet-bomb where ISIS is (the location of their troops), and Trump carried it further to killing the families of ISIS members.

I have one comment, OMG. And these candidates want to have their thumbs on the big red button?

OMG!

[jonst]

Putin made them "an offer they couldn't refuse"?

[rjj]

She had a bad case of lèse-majesté -- she was lucky not to have ended up heavily sedated in one of those darkened rooms they reserve for "problem" first ladies.

[alba etie]

All
We now are actually seeing a course correction in USG foreign policy away from the neocon crazies in foreign policy . I believe that after the Iran Nuclear Deal got signed President Obama has set about isolating the NeoCons . We shall see..