(Community Matters) “‘The United States did a lot of damage to their image by failing to attack Syria,” said an Israeli diplomat in Jerusalem.”
Seriously? The resolution is Syria surrendering all its chemical weapon. Criticizing the US for achieving this surrender just shows a blatantly self serving perspective – and a short term one at that. Yeah, yeah, I hear the chorus refrain how Russia saved the day here, but the facts are Pres O and Putin had just met, Kerry “casually mentioned” this as a solution (diplomats don’t just ad lib), then the Russians followed up; nevertheless, even serendipity counts as opportunity meeting preparation.
Ditto Saudi Arabia – upset by a “cooling” in the diplomatic cold war between the US and Iran. Evidence that economic sanctions are driving their government to, at least, conversations with the west . . . and an important ally which continues to deny women equality, a dictator state from which radical islamists groups are financed by certain Saudi families, expresses hurt that we didn’t follow through with an attack on Syria and that we abandoned a dictator neighbor, threatens to pull away from an alliance.
Admittedly, Iran is not a credible player, and we can’t rely on their word but on deeds. Saudi Arabia and Israel are important regional allies – Israel like a brother. Not to mention our disastrous foreign, NSA spying on principals, though, seriously, how long do we imagine this has been going on? Who doesn’t do it? My appreciation for Snowden’s whistle blowing about domestic spying notwithstanding, foreign protests feel a little like the wolf complaining that grandma’d eaten something unsavory before being eaten.
President captured Osama Bin Laden, has captured or killed most of his top men, pulled out of Iraq, Syria is surrendering chemical weapons, Iran is, apparently, at the table talking, we successfully and with minimal damage intervened in Libya, and this administration has prevented what I’m assuming are hundreds of domestic & foreign terrorists incidents. Okay, NSA abuse sucks and I think unconstitutional, and we may need to reign in drone killing; I’m uneducated and not sure about the latter. Benghazi . . . unfortunate, obviously some people fucked up and I wish those who can’t get over the four Americans who accepted the risks of their missions would care as much about the thousands of Americans who die every year because of the lack of healthcare. I don’t want to be an apologist, and I’m offended by these sophomoric refrains.
(Community Matters) NSA Broke into Google & Yahoo Data Centers – I don’t begrudge the spooks, nor even the President for trying. I can’t imagine the enormity of worry and challenge fighting terrorism. And, this is why standards and laws must reign in their ambitions. Of course they are going to go overboard in trying to keep Americans safe. I know Congress and the Courts are feeling the same challenges. The former need to step back into their roles as policy/law makers, representatives of the people, and the latter in protecting the rights guaranteed in the constitution and articulated in our laws.
Community Matters 