My Will Be Done....

There has been some perhaps idle speculation that perhaps Obama's mind has wandered from the business of foreign policy in the direction of his self image as a savior who will direct the United States in the direction of a general leftism.

His press conference today at the ASEAN leaders meeting should put an end to this line of musing.  In it, in addition to trashing ALL the Republican presidential candidates, he made it clear that he regards the effrontery of Russian assertiveness as something not to be endured.  The source of the madcap statements and agitation of those like Ashton Carter and General Breeedlove is made clear.   Obama is the source.

According to him a militarily dictated outcome is simply not possible in Syria.  The counsel of his R2P advisors came through clearly.  His vision of the world is evidently that of Hicks' "Peaceable Kingdom."  This would seem to be a vision in which the course of human history driven by age-old desire for group and individual dominance is at an end and a global Borgist peace is imposed through the superior moral clarity and threats of "the enlightened."

Obama said today that the present R+6 campaign is unimportant and that 75% of Syrian territory is still outside the control of the government.  Yes, but most of that is uninhabited.  He knows that.

It is clear to me now that that Obama is the Grand Master of the Borgist Order.

pl

http://www.c-span.org/video/?404677-1/president-obama-news-conference-usasean-leaders-summit

http://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2016-02-16/us-to-russia-put-up-or-shut-up-on-syrian-ceasefire

 

Comments

[Matthew]

Col: The full absurdity of the President's statement about 75% of Syria being outside of Assad's control is demonstrated by a demographic map of my state. Look how much of Texas lacks many Texans! See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_Texas#/media/File:Texas_population_map2.png

[Croesus]

how appropriate --
delivered from Rancho Mirage, CA

http://www.c-span.org/video/?404677-1/president-obama-news-conference-usasean-leaders-summit

Reuters report on the talk
http://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2016-02-16/us-to-russia-put-up-or-shut-up-on-syrian-ceasefire

[AEL]

It has been said that the Turks and Sauds regard the Americans as easy to manipulate. Is it possible that Obama finds it convenient to not openly breach with his erstwhile Turkish and Saudi allies. Hence, he sits on his ass, makes silly noises and awaits (inevitable) further developments.

The Americans have a longstanding relationship with the Syrian Kurds and now watching the Kurds cooperate with the SAA suggests that there is a deeper game going on. (which could also explain some of the hyperventilating from Turkey and the KSA.

[Trey N]

And Emperor Obama, surrounded by his R2P children crusaders and other fawning members of the Borg hordes, stood majestically on the seashore and loudly commanded the tides not to roll in...

...and by Jupiter, to the astonishment and utter dismay of all watching, the $&*@ waves of salt water continued to relentlessly rise around their ankles, then their knees, then their waists....

We can only hope that every last one of the damn rascals will remain fixed in place until they are completely submerged and washed out to the depths of the bottomless abyss.

[turcopolier]

AEL

"there is a deeper game going on." I don't think so. IMO Obama is every bit as pretentious, shallow and stubborn as he appears. pl

[Croesus]

Syria question posed at ~20 min.

[Bill Herschel]

But uncomfortable, pl, uncomfortable. He is master of his material until he gets to Syria, and then you can see he is nervous. And he says things that are blatantly dishonest, "Russian troops in Syria." That Russia has created a protected zone or some such for ISIS.

He is reading a script. And what a falsehood laden script it is! As you point out.

You are saying he is the dog. I sincerely believe he is one of many tails. If one reads Jeffrey Sachs article, one gets closer to the identity of the dog. But not all the way.

"Treason doth never prosper, what’s the reason? Why, if it prosper, none dare call it treason."

[SmoothieX12]

It has been said that the Turks and Sauds regard the Americans as easy to manipulate.
-------------------------------------
The tradition of bazaar in those places ( I was born there) has a term "sweet tongue", it is akin to calling on the 65-year old woman as "hey, beauty" while trying to sell apricots or tomatoes to her. Anything goes as long as you get your "sale" (desirable) if you are a vendor. They also are a decent judges of human character--they have to be. And some of them, probably, read Alexis De Tocqueville. After all, observing W. fall for the most revolting flattery from madman Saakashvili in Tbilisi, I have to say-it works...for those who, well, have no "experience" . From Tripoli to Ashkhabad to Tashkent. Just add a bit of "sweet tongue" and voila'.

P.S. Honest vendors will call 65-year old woman a "mother", though, and a bargaining is very different business then.

[Jackrabbit]

Your aim is true pl.

[J]

Colonel,

Off topic, but something (irregularities) that is not being reported in the mainstream media is regarding the death of of SCOTUS Judge Scalia.

There is too much 'silence' regarding his death.

He was one of the most powerful men in the world and was a major stumbling block to those powers both internal and external who wish to control our U.S. and deviate U.S. away from our Constitution and Bill of Rights.

Too many inconsistencies on how the Scalia death was handled, and too much silence when pointed questions are asked. Who are the names (individuals) who made the decisions (no autoposy, etc.) from the local to the highest Federal Government levels. A lot of retired police and others are scratching their heads and are very concerned about SCOTUS Judge Scalia's death.

[Swami Bhut Jolokia]

"IMO Obama is every bit as pretentious, shallow and stubborn as he appears"

Perhaps he is. And yet, he has accomplished more good than his predecessor in both foreign and domestic policy.

Do you really think any of the current aspirants (left and right) are going to do better than him?

[mbrenner]

"Obama is every bit as pretentious, shallow and stubborn as he appears."

Yes - it is striking how unchanged the man is from January 2009. It is extraordinary to observe an intelligent person (in IQ terms) speak at length in complete sentences for several minutes and make absolutely no sense whatsoever. Obviously, his mind lacks a gyroscope or balance-wheel that orients it to reality since he gives every impression of truly believing that what he is saying is logical and accords with factual reality.

Also noteworthy is that the phrasing, sequencing, and stresses are exactly those used in the MSM. That tells me that the White House has been in regular communication giving guidelines and instruction that obediently are accepted and observed (mainly for favor and approval as the Colonel correctly has said). Over the past year of two, there have appeared credible reports in books and serious journal articles describing how commonplace the practice has become with potent effect. In other words, what in the past happened on rare, exceptional circumstances now happens as a matter of course - without the justification of some national security emergency.

[plantman]

I don't think Obama is reading from a script..
I think he's a true believer, a true Koolaid drinker.
I find his comments very concerning.
If he still thinks Syria will be a quagmire for Putin, than I suspect he has something up his sleeve to make it so....Perhaps luring Turkey into the fray to act as "replacement proxy" for the long-gone opposition.

[turcopolier]

Swami
I could have voted for Rand Paul. I suppose I could vote for John Kasich but the rest of them are ridiculous. Obama is, from my point of view, a foreign policy disaster. The decision to reinforce massively in Afghanistan and to pursue a COIN strategy there was directly influenced by a lot of hyper-ambitious generals whom he should have ignored. And then, his unrelenting hostility to Russia and energy in pressing the boundaries of NATO eastward imperils the world's peace. Is it not clear that he let Nuland and company follow a policy in Ukraine that Russia had no choice by to see as hostile. Syria? Well, you know about that. pl

[Fred]

Swami,

"he has accomplished more good than his predecessor in both foreign and domestic policy."

Yes, that's why the job creation, take home pay are up and tax burden and personal debt down. Hallelujah! Why in Flint the water is clean and in Ferguson the respect for police and politicians never higher. While were at it lets mention the decline in violence in places like Chicago, why there's only been 365 shootings so far this year (but ) confederate flags)(http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/ct-6-dead-14-wounded-in-weekend-shootings-20160215-story.html)

[annamaria]

“The story keeps changing. How convenient… Who dies with a pillow over their head?" http://www.infowars.com/will-texas-governor-call-for-investigation-into-scalia-death/
http://nypost.com/2016/02/15/detectives-question-lack-of-autopsy-in-scalia-death/

[Babak Makkinejad]

His Iran policy was awful as well; he was marching to war in Spring of 2012.

[Will Reks]

Fred,

Are Flint and Chicago not local and state issues? Seems like this is low-hanging fruit for you.

[James Loughton]

The lack of an autopsy does seem a bit unusual. My father died at the age of 88 here in San Antonio from congestive heart disease at home in my sister's house. He had been bedridden for more than two years, and his room was filled with the appropriate medical equipment. I was present in another room when he passed away. My sister returned home within a few moments, and not knowing procedure, we called the police. They showed up and let us know that in our jurisdiction, any death that does not occur with a medical professional present requires an autopsy, with which we proceeded post haste. The Autopsy did not delay funeral plans. The tiny little West Texas town where Justice Scalia died may not have the same policy or resources that we did here.

[jld]

Oh! Obama does much better with the music
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_BE6phWddAU

[Walrus]

Col. Lang: "It is clear to me now that that Obama is the Grand Master of the Borgist Order."

Unfortunately yes. I was afraid of this from the time shortly after he was elected.

[cynic]

With any luck, Obama's nonsensical statements about achieving success in Syria because the terrorists control a lot of desert may be his ego-protecting exit strategy, enabling him to tip-toe away from the situation.

Via the Saker and Russia Insider we learn that it was the 'exceptional' arrogance of the people around the White House in telling the Russians that an American bombing campaign 'no-fly zone' was about to be imposed on Syria to enable the terrorists to take Damascus in October which caused the Russians to intervene. A little discretion might have enabled them to achieve that objective, but as Tolkien pointed out, oft evil will doth evil action mar.
http://russia-insider.com/en/politics/russias-ambassador-uk-drops-bombshell-us-expected-isis-seize-damascus-october/ri12860

“Last summer we were told by our Western partners that in October Damascus would fall to IS (ie. the Islamic State - AM).
What they were planning to do next we don’t know. Probably, they would have ended up painting the extremists white and accepting them as a Sunni state straddling Iraq and Syria”. ...
What Yakovenko is therefore in effect saying is that the US was planning in the summer to start a bombing campaign to overthrow the government of Syria in the knowledge that this would result by October in the victory of the Islamic State and its capture of Damascus.
Russia Insider has previously explained that it was to stop the US proclaiming a no-fly zone - i.e. commencing a bombing campaign aimed at overthrowing the Syrian government - that Russia intervened in Syria.
The fact Yakovenko says the US told the Russians this would result in the Islamic State capturing Damascus by October explains why the Russians felt they had to act as they did.

[Croesus]

Just an opinion -- I think the Saudis are holding hostage Arab investment in US stock market. If US administration fails to comply with Saudi wishes, they will cut the legs out from under US economy.

Something similar was at the core of the conflict between Iraq and Kuwait: Iraq's economy was straining under war debts and wanted help from fellow Arabs. Iraq's only source of revenue was from oil; Kuwait had extensive investment income and did not need to rely on oil revenue. So Kuwait lowered the price of oil, further straining Iraq's economy. Financial wars always precede and precipitate hot wars.

As for Obama coordinating his talking points with MSM -- well ya, that's what they do. It happened in Jefferson's era; the practice was elevated to a government bureaucracy in the Wilson administration to generate acquiescence to war; it gained full spectrum dominance in the run-up to WWII. The federal Committee on Public Information gave Hollywood its biggest financial boost at a critical time.
There's a company based in lovely Little Washington, VA called Applied Memetics whose business is to create a message and get all forms of media to echo it. Its bread-and-butter customers are US government agencies including DoD.

[turcopolier]

Croesus

"There's a company based in lovely Little Washington, VA called Applied Memetics whose business is to create a message and get all forms of media to echo it. Its bread-and-butter customers are US government agencies including DoD." I wondered where the main contractor might be. Where is this company relative to the "Inn at Little Washington?" BTW, I occasionally have eaten at the inn and in my opinion both the service and the food have declined a lot in the last couple of years. I wonder if some government agency has made it into a proprietary. pl

[Mishkilji]

Too soon to make a judgment on Iran.