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Muso
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 Posted: Fri Apr 27, 2012 7:46 am Post subject: Obama bitch slaps Kofi Annan |
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Your shit be broke, yo~
| Quote: | Two top Obama administration officials said today that the diplomatic initiative to end the violence in Syria, led by U.N. Special Envoy Kofi Annan, "is failing."
Under intense questioning during Thursday's Senate Armed Services Committee hearing, both Kathleen Hicks, the current deputy under secretary of defense for policy, and Derek Chollet, National Security Council senior director for strategy, said that the Annan plan was headed toward collapse and that new options for confronting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad were being prepared.
Asked by the committee's ranking Republican, Arizona Sen. John McCain, if Assad had complied with the six points of the Annan plan for Syria, which charts a path away from violence toward political negotiations, Chollet acknowledged that violence is actually increasing.
"Do you believe the Annan plan has succeeded or failed?" McCain asked both officials.
"I would say it is failing," Chollet said.
"I would say it is failing and that Annan himself is extremely worried about the plan," Hicks concurred.
Annan lamented reports of increased violence Wednesday but said he still wanted to increase the number of monitors on the ground.
"If confirmed, this is totally unacceptable and reprehensible," said Annan."Equally, a credible political process is required if we are to sustain any long-term calm on the ground."
As The Cable reported last week, Chollet was added recently to the senior leadership of the Syria policy team and is coordinating the interagency process to look for a "Plan B" for U.S. policy for if and when the diplomatic initiatives break down.
Several times during the hearing, McCain complained that the United States was not leading in Syria, waiting for others to request more assertive action and hiding behind the excuse that there was no international consensus on the way forward.
"My view is that the United States is leading diplomatically," said Hicks, pointing to the Friends of Syria group of countries that meets periodically to discuss the issue as well as repeated action at the U.N. Security Council.
"Actually, we have not led the Friends of Syria, at least according to the Friends of Syria, because I have met with them, so that's not a fact," McCain said.
The Pentagon is planning for the possibility that the U.S. military might be called upon to participate in a mission to establish safe zones along the Turkey-Syria border, according to Hicks.
"We are doing a significant amount of planning for a wide range of scenarios, including our ability to assist allies and partners along the borders," she said.
But Chollet said that Turkey has not yet requested a discussion within NATO about setting up safe zones inside Syria, which would require military support. He added that if Turkey did request such a discussion, NATO would be obliged to take up the matter.
"I am unaware of any official or any serious discussions for that matter about how NATO might help Turkey in that regard," Chollet said.
McCain said that expanding the U.N. observer mission, which only has 15 people on the ground right now, would likely not solve the problem. He referred to Thursday's Washington Post editorial, "Where U.N. monitors go in Syria, killings follow."
The editorial noted reports that the Assad regime is sweeping into villages and towns as soon as the monitors leave, killing civilians and punishing those who are suspected of cooperating with the U.N. mission.
McCain was scolding and sometimes sarcastic about what he regards as a feckless U.S. Syria policy.
"I'm glad to hear that we are playing such a ‘leadership role'," McCain said. "I can guarantee you nobody in the Middle East thinks that. I can guarantee you that this is a shameful situation where people are being slaughtered. We are talking about economic sanctions and diplomatic sanctions. We should be helping these people."
Hicks has been nominated to be principal deputy under secretary of defense for policy, succeeding acting Under Secretary of Defense for Policy James Miller, and Chollet has been nominated to be assistant secretary of defense for international security affairs, succeeding Sandy Vershbow, who is now NATO's deputy secretary-general.
On Wednesday, French Foreign Minister Alan Juppe raised the idea of intervening militarily against the Assad regime in Syria and said that the Security Council might have to consider a Chapter 7 resolution, which could authorize the use of force. "We cannot allow the [Assad] regime to defy us," he said. |
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pjp
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| Posted: Fri Apr 27, 2012 10:46 pm Post subject: |
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Nothing against the man, but the UN is useless. It has no means of enforcement.
"the Annan plan for Syria, which charts a path away from violence toward political negotiations"
1. Stop violence.
I fail to see the need for 5 additional points. Why 5 and not 3 or 76?
It is often said that you can't lead a horse to water or force someone to change unless they want to. So which of the 6 points in his plan are there to convince al-Assad to change?
"wanted to increase the number of monitors." Uhm, OK. Maybe the UN needs some of those 'insect' surveillance devices. Swarms of them, so they can monitor to the smallest detail the charges that can be brought up at trial 10 years from now.
I'm completely opposed to the US spending money on creating safe zones. Does no one else think it is necessary? If not, why should we? If it's a real threat, light the place up, none of this trying to place a bomb here or there in someone's lap.
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pigeon768
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| Posted: Sat Apr 28, 2012 3:38 am Post subject: |
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| pjp wrote: | | Nothing against the man, but the UN is useless. It has no means of enforcement. |
Sure it does. It has the United States of America.
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BoneKracker
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| Posted: Sat Apr 28, 2012 6:08 am Post subject: |
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Fuck them. Let them kill each other. The combat elements of the U.S. military deserve a break.
France and Turkey should take the lead, because it's a former French possession and because Turkey is a part of NATO and right on its border with a large military that needs training anyway. Russia should chip in heavily financially, because they're the ones who have been arming the Syrian regime for decades. Germany should support France because they need to offset the fact that they keep invading France. The Dutch can keep the French and Germans from massacring everybody, and the Spanish can send cucumbers.
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energyman76b
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| Posted: Sat Apr 28, 2012 11:06 am Post subject: |
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why not start with Bahrain?
oh wait, Bahrain, like the Syrian 'freedom fighters' are supported by Saudi Arabia.
Nuke Saudi Arabia, instant peace.
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pjp
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| Posted: Sat Apr 28, 2012 5:37 pm Post subject: |
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| pigeon768 wrote: | | pjp wrote: | | Nothing against the man, but the UN is useless. It has no means of enforcement. |
Sure it does. It has the United States of America. |
| energyman76b wrote: | | Nuke Saudi Arabia, instant peace. |
I don't think you'll find too many Americans that like the US-Saud relationship. That said, what makes you think they are the sole problem?
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energyman76b
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| Posted: Sat Apr 28, 2012 5:50 pm Post subject: |
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| pjp wrote: | | pigeon768 wrote: | | pjp wrote: | | Nothing against the man, but the UN is useless. It has no means of enforcement. |
Sure it does. It has the United States of America. |
| energyman76b wrote: | | Nuke Saudi Arabia, instant peace. |
I don't think you'll find too many Americans that like the US-Saud relationship. That said, what makes you think they are the sole problem? |
because they sent soldiers to Bahrain, fighting for the ruling class. They support terrorists all over the world. They fund the extremists in Egypt, Lybia, Tunesia.... Syria? Wouldn't have been erupted without Saudi funded 'rebels'.
If you see islamist terrorist groups somewhere they are almost always supported by Saudi Arabia.
Coincidally, SA and Iran are not friends. Now, who is threatend with war and who isn't?
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| AidanJT wrote: |
Libertardian denial of reality is wholly unimpressive and unconvincing, and simply serves to demonstrate what a bunch of delusional fools they all are.
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Satan's got perfectly toned abs and rocks a c-cup. |
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pjp
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| Posted: Sat Apr 28, 2012 5:58 pm Post subject: |
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| energyman76b wrote: | because they sent soldiers to Bahrain, fighting for the ruling class. They support terrorists all over the world. They fund the extremists in Egypt, Lybia, Tunesia.... Syria? Wouldn't have been erupted without Saudi funded 'rebels'.
If you see islamist terrorist groups somewhere they are almost always supported by Saudi Arabia.
Coincidally, SA and Iran are not friends. Now, who is threatend with war and who isn't? |
What's their motivation? They don't seem to be taking meaningful steps to take over the region, so destabilizing other governments doesn't seem to be particularly useful.
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energyman76b
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| Posted: Sat Apr 28, 2012 6:38 pm Post subject: |
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| pjp wrote: | | energyman76b wrote: | because they sent soldiers to Bahrain, fighting for the ruling class. They support terrorists all over the world. They fund the extremists in Egypt, Lybia, Tunesia.... Syria? Wouldn't have been erupted without Saudi funded 'rebels'.
If you see islamist terrorist groups somewhere they are almost always supported by Saudi Arabia.
Coincidally, SA and Iran are not friends. Now, who is threatend with war and who isn't? |
What's their motivation? They don't seem to be taking meaningful steps to take over the region, so destabilizing other governments doesn't seem to be particularly useful. |
their motiviation? spreading their form of islam? creating new islamic states after their liking?
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| AidanJT wrote: |
Libertardian denial of reality is wholly unimpressive and unconvincing, and simply serves to demonstrate what a bunch of delusional fools they all are.
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Satan's got perfectly toned abs and rocks a c-cup. |
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dmitchell
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| Posted: Sat Apr 28, 2012 7:32 pm Post subject: |
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| pjp wrote: | | If it's a real threat, light the place up, none of this trying to place a bomb here or there in someone's lap. |
"Light the place up." American ingenuity at inventing euphemisms for mass murder never ceases to amaze.
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dmitchell
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| Posted: Sat Apr 28, 2012 7:34 pm Post subject: |
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Radio talk show host Michael Savage used to refer to this guy as Kofi-cup Annan. I always thought that was cute.
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notageek
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| Posted: Sat Apr 28, 2012 7:54 pm Post subject: |
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Really I couldn't give a rat's ass about yet another middle east conflict.
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pjp
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| Posted: Sat Apr 28, 2012 10:04 pm Post subject: |
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| energyman76b wrote: | | their motiviation? spreading their form of islam? creating new islamic states after their liking? |
Could be. Thanks.
| dmitchell wrote: | | "Light the place up." American ingenuity at inventing euphemisms for mass murder never ceases to amaze. |
I'm just saying, if we're going to get into a war, do it right. None of this fear of killing someone bullshit. That's what delivers Vietnam, Korea, and Afghan-Iraq (to name the most prominent).
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sugar
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| Posted: Sat Apr 28, 2012 10:56 pm Post subject: |
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| pjp wrote: | | Nothing against the man, but the UN is useless. It has no means of enforcement. |
Article 2, Chapter 1 of the Un charter
| Quote: | All Members shall settle their international disputes by peaceful means in such a manner that international peace and security, and justice, are not endangered.
All Members shall refrain in their international relations from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state, or in any other manner inconsistent with the Purposes of the United Nations. |
there's no means of enforcement, because that's the whole idea.
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pjp
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| Posted: Sat Apr 28, 2012 11:10 pm Post subject: |
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Well, there's an article, so there must not be any violence.
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BoneKracker
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| Posted: Sun Apr 29, 2012 1:27 am Post subject: |
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| dmitchell wrote: | | pjp wrote: | | If it's a real threat, light the place up, none of this trying to place a bomb here or there in someone's lap. |
"Light the place up." American ingenuity at inventing euphemisms for mass murder never ceases to amaze. |
Personally, I am most fond of "turn it into a sea of glass".
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pjp
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| Posted: Sun Apr 29, 2012 4:21 pm Post subject: |
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I always liked the slightly more subtle, MX, when you care to send the very best.
Aptly named too.
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