Obama Listens to Generals Just Like Mr. Bush…

Okay, take yourselves back to March 2008.

Obama said that while President Bush has said that he follows the advice of his generals regarding Iraq, when they give the president advice he doesn’t like — cautioning against the War in Iraq, for example — Bush doesn’t listen to them.

Let’s move forward to September 2009.

The top military commander in Afghanistan warns in a confidential assessment of the war there that he needs additional troops within the next year or else the conflict “will likely result in failure.”

And here we are today…

Several weeks worth of war cabinet meetings have not made Obama’s staff and NSC advisers any more comfortable with Gen. Stanley McChrystal’s troop request.
They say that President Obama continues to be skeptical about the true applicability of the Iraq model, even allowing for McChrystal’s insistence that it can be modified enough.

Filed under: Democrats, Foreign Policy, Global Threats, Military, Politics

Obama Administration Ordered FBI to Read Rights to Detainees

Found this on FoxNews.com which worries the bejeebers out of me.

U.S. Lawmaker Says Obama Administration Ordered FBI to Read Rights to Detainees

The move is reportedly creating chaos in the field among the CIA, FBI and military personnel, according to Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Mich.

Yeah, I would definitely say that it would create chaos.  And imagine how this process affects our ability to gather intelligence.  I shudder to think that we cannot get anymore information from a high value target without his lawyer being present, thereby potentially putting many more soldiers and civilians at risk.

Besides, doesn’t Miranda only apply to American citizens in the U.S.?  Jeez, can you imagine what it would have been like at during World War II or Vietnam if we had to Mirandize those prisoners of War?

What are these guys thinking???

U.S. Lawmaker Says Obama Administration Ordered FBI to Read Rights to Detainees – Political News – FOXNews.com

Filed under: Foreign Policy, Global Affairs

O’S AMATEUR HOUR

THE real climax of President Obama’s Spring Apologies Tour wasn’t his photo op with our troops in Baghdad or even his “American Guilt” concerts in Western Europe.

While fans in the press cheered wildly at every venue, the real performance came in Turkey. And it was a turkey.

Ralph Peters, FoxNews Strategic Analyst posts his assessment of President Obama’s visit to Turkey.

Right off the bat, he makes a very salient point…

Obama means well. Just as Jimmy Carter, his policy godfather, meant well. But the road to embassy takeovers and strategic humiliation is paved with good intentions — coupled with distressing naivete.

Read more here: O’S AMATEUR HOUR – New York Post

Filed under: Foreign Policy, Global Affairs, Politics

Kissinger Clears the Air; No Unconditional Discussions with Ahmadinejad!

No doubt you heard in the debate last night of Mr. Obama claiming Dr. Kissinger supported his point of view about direct presidential meetings unconditionally.  Well, FoxNews just had the former Secretary of State admit that he does not support that point of view.

Sorry, Barry.  You got it wrong.

Filed under: Foreign Policy

Attending James Madison University

I’m up in the Shenandoah Valley at James Madison University for a two week course on National Security Policy and Regional Implementation. 

Don’t expect to have much time to blog as I’ve got five different authors to review tonight starting with Mearsheimer and Walt “The Israel Lobby” from the London Review of Books (March 2006).

The course focuses on the development, content and implementation of U.S. national security policy; examining the system, state and individual level factors that help to shape national security policy.

Yesterday, we covered the concepts of globalization – and the competing worldviews of Idealism vs. Realism…

Today’s subjects covered the international Political Economy – Globalization and National Security.  While it  was quite interesting to categorize Globalization into 3 phases; Globalization 1.0 being 1492 to 1800, Globalization 2.0 1800 to the mid 20th century and Globalization 3.0 from 1950 to present, I was disturbed that the instructor didn’t want to address my question of what his opinion of Globalization 4.0 might look like.

Tomorrow we look at organizational process, bureaucratic politics and interagency process…

I’ll try to drop a note, but the course load may get in my way!

Filed under: Civil Affairs, Foreign Policy, Global Affairs

‘Undivided Jerusalem’?

Israel National News: Obama Gives Final Burial to ‘Undivided Jerusalem’ Statement.

Feeding The Crocodiles

 

RedPlanetCartoons

Filed under: Democrats, Foreign Policy, Politics

"I Did Not Call You an Appeaser!"

“We have heard this foolish delusion before. As Nazi tanks crossed into Poland in 1939, an American senator declared: ‘Lord, if I could only have talked to Hitler, all this might have been avoided.’ We have an obligation to call this what it is the false comfort of appeasement which has been repeatedly discredited by history.”

For your background reading…

Most commonly, appeasement is used for the policy of accepting the imposed conditions of an aggressor in lieu of armed resistance, usually at the sacrifice of principles. Usually it means giving in to demands of an aggressor in order to avoid war. Since World War II, the term has gained a negative connotation in the British government, in politics and in general, of weakness, cowardice and self-deception. A famous example is Neville Chamberlain’s foreign policy during the period 1937-1939, when he pursued a policy of appeasement towards Adolf Hitler’s expansionist ambitions.

Obama hit’s the roof! 

“It is sad that President Bush would use a speech to the Knesset on the 60th anniversary of Israel’s independence to launch a false political attack,” Obama said in a statement his aides distributed. “George Bush knows that I have never supported engagement with terrorists, and the president’s extraordinary politicization of foreign policy and the politics of fear do nothing to secure the American people or our stalwart ally Israel.

Thinks President Bush’s comments are directed at him, which of course Press Secretary Dana Perino denies!

In turn, White House press secretary Dana Perino denied that the Knesset remark was aimed at Obama. In fact, the language is fairly typical for Bush speeches, and Gordon Johndroe, a national security spokesman for the president, said Bush was referring to “a wide range of people who have talked to or suggested we talk to Hamas, Hezbollah or their state sponsors” over a long period of time.

Yet, Senator Obama (as told in the Washington Post Blog) is now confused at everyone’s attitude and doesn’t understand why the President does not want  him to meet folks like Kim Jong Il and Ahmadinawhatshisname…

At a press conference following the town hall meeting where Obama blasted back at President Bush, with three-term South Dakota Sen. Thomas Daschle looking on, Obama said it “puzzled” him that his willingness to meet with leaders of rogue states was in any way controversial “when this has been the history of U.S. diplomacy until very recently.”

Obama then draws comparison to President Kennedy meeting with Khrushchev and President Nixon meeting with Mao Zedong.

Well, interesting point.  And one to think through.  Not sure where I stand on this.

Filed under: Democrats, Foreign Policy, Global Affairs, Global Threats, History, Politics

Stone; Just Another Part of the System?

Poor Oliver Stone. In addition to writer, producer, director, and actor, he can add supporter of Satan to his list of credits.  The man who brought us such notably anti-establishment films as JFK and Natural Born Killers has been branded by Iran as a part of the very system he’s tried to shake up.

“I sent a negative answer by Ahmadinejad to Oliver Stone,” the Fars agency quoted Mehdi Kalhor, media adviser to the [Iranian] president, as saying Sunday. “It is right that this person is considered part of the opposition in the U.S., but opposition in the U.S. is a part of the Great Satan.”

That must be a stinging rebuke for someone who decidedly is not conservative, nor republican.

“I hate conventional thought,” he said. “I always did. I think I went through a period of being institutionalized myself, in boarding schools, the Army, Merchant Marine and college, in the 1960s. I’ve seen conventional thinking and I’m always rebelling against it.

In the past, the Washington Post claimed he was a intellectual sociopath and Newsweek ran a cover headline saying that his movie JFK couldn’t be trusted. 

So, I’m wondering how Mr. Stone is feeling right now that Iran has labeled him no better than the system he’s been fighting all these years.  I bet that was a serious blow to his ego.

Now, let’s get to the real meat of this post.  Mehdi Kalhor has just made it very clear to me that they consider the U.S. to be the Great Satan, a phrase generally attributed to the Ayatollah in 1979, as well as the opposition parties within our society.  How does this bode for any future negotiations?  The Bush administration, therefore, they think, cannot be trusted.  Any opposition parties to Bush also cannot be trusted.

This effectively closes the door on the diplomatic instrument of National Security Strategy, leaving the economic and military instruments.  We’re currently working the economic piece through the sanctions, but will have to reassess them soon.  As you can guess, if these efforts don’t work, there is only one last instrument of National Security Strategy to use – military.

Filed under: Foreign Policy, Global Threats, Iran, Military, Politics

Never Give In…

 For arguments sake, I enjoy drawing historical analogies.  Just found this one today.  I’ll leave it to you to figure out who really knew what he was talking about.

Reminds me of another recent post. Our Senators are attempting to run this war from their armchairs without the tactical knowledge only available to our ground commanders.  Senator Lugar, stick a sock in it and let General Pace do his job…

This is the lesson: never give in, never give in, never, never, never, never—in nothing, great or small, large or petty—never give in except to convictions of honor and good sense. Never yield to force; never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy.

Winston Churchill — 29 October 1941.

I rise today to offer observations on the continuing involvement of the United States in Iraq.  In my judgment, our course in Iraq has lost contact with our vital national security interests in the Middle East and beyond. 

Richard Lugar – July 2007

Filed under: Foreign Policy, Global Threats, Iraq, Military, Politics, Republicans

Failed States… Your Primer for Understanding Foreign Policy

No one is immune from global politics, every citizen is affected by what happens in another part of the globe.  Face it now and get smart…  Here’s an excellent place to start.

The Failed States Index 2007
By The Fund for Peace and FOREIGN POLICY magazine

It is an accepted axiom of the modern age that distance no longer matters. Sectarian carnage can sway stock markets on the other side of the planet. Anarchic cities that host open-air arms bazaars imperil the security of the world’s superpower. A hermit leader’s erratic behavior not only makes life miserable for the impoverished millions he rules but also upends the world’s nuclear nonproliferation regime. The threats of weak states, in other words, ripple far beyond their borders and endanger the development and security of nations that are their political and economic opposites.

Filed under: Education, Foreign Policy, GWOT, Global Threats, Military, Politics, Religion

Fatah vs Hamas, Is it our own fault?

Hamas owns Gaza, Fatah owns the West Bank.  Syria is preparing for attack Israel this summer. It’s all our fault as well as Israel’s, right?  The out of touch U.N. thinks so.  So why are Palestinians fleeing into Israel if given the chance?  The following is an interesting read.

From Investor’s Business Daily Editorials.  

Harvesting The Thorns Of Hatred Sown For 50 Years In ‘Arafatistan’
By MONA CHAREN | Posted Friday, June 15, 2007 4:30 PM PT

The New York Times reports that “two Palestinians were thrown from the roofs of high-rise buildings in Gaza City. One was an officer of the Presidential Guard, loyal to Fatah, and the other a member of the Executive Force, which was set up by Hamas as a counterweight to the Fatah-dominated official security forces…”

Who is responsible for this savagery? Why, the U.S. and Israel, of course. So declared the United Nations envoy to the Middle East, Alvaro de Soto, in a “confidential report” shared with The Washington Post. 

Read the whole article below the fold…

Filed under: Foreign Policy, Islam