NIGHTWATCH: Syria Assad Interview, Other Comments

02 Diplomacy, 03 Environmental Degradation, 04 Inter-State Conflict, 05 Civil War, 05 Iran, 06 Russia, 07 Other Atrocities, 08 Proliferation, 08 Wild Cards

Syria: President Asad gave an interview to Le Figaro which was published by the Syrian news agency Sana on 3 September. Excerpts follow.

Asad denied Syrian forces launched a chemical attack. He said Syria has no motive to make such an attack because it is winning the fight. He challenged the US to produce its proof and show it to the UN since the party making the accusations has the burden of proving them.

He said his soldiers were wounded in the attack on the 21st and the UN inspectors visited them in hospital.

He accused the US President of being a weak leader who succumbed to pressure from small groups and as one who starts wars instead of prevents them.

Concerning a Syrian response to a US attack, he reminded the interviewer that the architects of a war only control the first shot. He said the first and the greatest danger is that the situation will explode into a regional war.

In response to a question about Russian support he said,

Continue reading “NIGHTWATCH: Syria Assad Interview, Other Comments”

Berto Jongman Et Al: Syria Round-Up 2.0

03 Environmental Degradation, 04 Inter-State Conflict, 05 Civil War, 07 Other Atrocities, 08 Proliferation, 08 Wild Cards, 09 Terrorism, IO Deeds of War
Berto Jongman
Berto Jongman

Berto Jongman:  Adam Shatz on How Israel and Saudi Arabia Abuse the USA Repeatedly

Berto Jongman: A Detailed Summary Of The Evidence On Munitions Linked To The August 21st Attacks

Berto Jongman: Al Jazeera on US Three Months of Bombardment of Syria…

Berto Jongman: Bait and Switch – Obama’s “limited” strikes are just the prelude to massive intervention in the Middle East. And Congress shouldn’t fall for it.

Berto Jongman: Joseph Bodansky on White House Involvement in Planning the Syria Chemical Attack

Berto Jongman: Online Recruitment for Syria

Berto Jongman: Syria Non-VIolence Map

Berto Jongman: Turkish Support for Jihadists including from USA, Canada, and France

Berto Jongman:  USA Arrests Female Veteran Non-Violently Protesting Syria War

Berto Jongman: US Cyber Attack on Syria

Berto Jongman:  War Crimes in Syria

See Also:

Continue reading “Berto Jongman Et Al: Syria Round-Up 2.0”

Ioannis Koskinas & Kamal Alam: Reconciliation foolosophy: Fishing without bait

02 Diplomacy, 03 Economy, 04 Inter-State Conflict, 05 Civil War, 07 Other Atrocities, 08 Proliferation, 08 Wild Cards, 09 Justice, 09 Terrorism, 10 Security, 10 Transnational Crime, 11 Society, Civil Society, Cultural Intelligence, Ethics, Government, IO Deeds of Peace, Military, Officers Call, Peace Intelligence
Cianni Koskinas
Cianni Koskinas

使用谷歌翻译在下一列的顶部。

गूगल अगले स्तंभ के शीर्ष पर अनुवाद का प्रयोग करें.

Google sonraki sütunun üstünde Çevir kullanın.

Используйте Google Translate на вершине соседней колонке.

گوگل اگلے کالم میں سب سے اوپر ترجمہ کا استعمال کریں.

Kamal Aman
Kamal Alam

Reconciliation foolosophy: Fishing without bait

By Ioannis Koskinas, Kamal Alam

Foreign Policy, 14 June 2013

The United States, Afghan, Qatari, and Pakistani governments have all voiced their support for the opening of a Taliban office in Doha in order to promote peace negotiations.  Some consider transforming the Taliban from an armed insurgency into a legitimate political group to be the critical first step in the Afghan peace process. However, to date, reconciliation efforts have stalled and focus more on rhetoric rather than substance.

There is no concrete evidence that Taliban leadership is either worn down or desperate to reach a peace agreement.  Attempting to secure his legacy as a peacemaker, Afghan President Hamid Karzai wants to reach an agreement before the end of his term in April 2014. Because the Taliban have also cooperated somewhat with this principle of reconciliation, it is not immediately clear why the current approach has achieved nothing.

Viet-Nam Viet-Cong Redux
Viet-Nam Viet-Cong Redux

The answer is that the Doha peace process has been riddled with unrealistic expectations, and remains hopelessly inconsistent.  Such reconciliation efforts without strategy and clear objectives reflect a hook without bait – while encouraging, these talks are doomed to fail without significant reform.  Only with realistic expectations, a coherent strategy, national solidarity, and lots of patience, will reconciliation stand a chance of materializing.

Where We've Been Thus Far

The reconciliation offer requires three specific things from the Taliban: ending violence, breaking ties with al-Qaeda, and accepting the Afghan Constitution. The fourth, less advertised condition is the acceptance of a residual ISAF element in Afghanistan post-2014. At a recent summit in London, British, Afghan and Pakistani leaders set a six-month timeline to reach a peace settlement.

But substantive results are unlikely to emerge until after the 2014 Afghan Presidential elections. This is the single most important date in the reconciliation process and will set the tone for future debate.  A six-month deadline to reach an agreement is not only unrealistic, but also damaging to the credibility of the process.

Continue reading “Ioannis Koskinas & Kamal Alam: Reconciliation foolosophy: Fishing without bait”

Gianni Koshinas: What Afghanistan Needs After 2014: A lighter, smarter, long-term commitment

01 Poverty, 04 Inter-State Conflict, 05 Civil War, 07 Other Atrocities, 08 Proliferation, 08 Wild Cards, 09 Terrorism, 10 Transnational Crime, Cultural Intelligence, Ethics, Government, IO Deeds of Peace, Military, Officers Call
Cianni Koskinas
Cianni Koskinas

使用谷歌翻译在下一列的顶部。

गूगल अगले स्तंभ के शीर्ष पर अनुवाद का प्रयोग करें.

Google sonraki sütunun üstünde Çevir kullanın.

Используйте Google Translate на вершине соседней колонке.

گوگل اگلے کالم میں سب سے اوپر ترجمہ کا استعمال کریں.

What Afghanistan Needs After 2014:  A lighter, smarter, long-term commitment

Gianni Koshinas

Foreign Policy, 12 February 2013

Maintaining a large military presence in Afghanistan is not in the strategic interests of either the U.S. or the Afghan government. It does not help the United States accomplish its long-term goal of countering terrorism from the Afghanistan-Pakistan region, nor its short-term goal of helping Afghanistan achieve stability and self-reliance in fighting insurgency. It is also economically unsustainable. However, retaining a smaller, lighter, residual presence in Afghanistan is critical to U.S. strategy and vital to core U.S. interests.

Additionally, U.S. strategy in Afghanistan must be based on a vision that goes out decades: Considering only short-term goals amounts to strategic myopia, unworthy of the sacrifices made by almost 2,200 U.S. service members in Afghanistan alone.

A Case for Lighter, Smarter, Long-term Residual Presence

With Osama Bin Laden dead and al-Qaeda's capabilities diminished in the Af-Pak region, the immediate threat of attacks on the U.S. from the region has greatly diminished.  But the ingredients that could help Al Qaeda regenerate in the next decade remain, and thus the mission endures.

In fact, the “surge” of U.S. troops in Afghanistan in 2009 had little to do with bin Laden; rather, it was an attempt to rescue the failing mission of stabilizing Afghanistan. Bin Laden was hunted and killed not by the surge, but by a small, specialized group, the likes of which I argue should remain in Afghanistan to monitor and guard against the long-term threat of terrorist cells.

More importantly, a comprehensive counter-terrorism strategy must include the training of the Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF) to counter domestic threats. But this will take significantly longer than estimates suggest.  As such, the U.S. must alter its stated strategy in Afghanistan to consider the training and equipping of the ANSF a key element of its plan to counter threats, and support Afghanistan in its domestic fight against terrorists that, left unchecked, could re-emerge. The numbers of trainers must be kept low and should not be outsourced to contractors.  Currently, the only elements specifically designed to counter insurgencies are the U.S. Special Operations Forces (SOF). Considering the nuanced task, the training force should be predominantly SOF.

Continue reading “Gianni Koshinas: What Afghanistan Needs After 2014: A lighter, smarter, long-term commitment”

Chuck Spinney: Thoughts on Obama’s March to Folly in Syria

03 Environmental Degradation, 04 Inter-State Conflict, 05 Civil War, 07 Other Atrocities, 08 Proliferation, 08 Wild Cards, 09 Terrorism, Corruption, Cultural Intelligence, Government, Idiocy, IO Deeds of War, Media, Military, Peace Intelligence
Chuck Spinney
Chuck Spinney

President Obama's Syria nightmare is becoming increasingly bizarre.  The man who claimed he could distinguish dumb from smart wars is marching headlong into the dumbest one yet, with allies jumping ship left and right.  Consider, please, the following:

(1) NBC just released a poll saying a majority of the American people are opposed to another war in Syria, and 80% are opposed to a war without Congressional authorization.

(2) But Congress is out of session.  Nevertheless Mr. Obama is under pressure to attack before Congress returns from its Labor Day vacation.  Moreover, despite the fact that at least 188 members of Congress have called for a debate and vote on the war question; thus far, Mr. Obama has not indicated he will call Congress into an emergency session.  Yet six years ago, Senator (candidate) Obama told interviewer Charlie Savage on December 20, 2007: “The President does not have power under the Constitution to unilaterally authorize a military attack in a situation that does not involve stopping an actual or imminent threat to the nation.”

(3) The nearest counterpart to our Congress, the British Parliament, just voted to pull the plug on Prime Minister David Cameron's warmongering — and in so doing, the unwritten British Constitution has made a mockery of the written, legalistic US Constitution.  Bottom line: the checks and balances in the UK are working to ensure our closest ally will not partake in our adventure, while those in the United States are being bypassed.

(4) The UN and the Security Council also pulled the plug on approving and supporting a US strike; ditto for the Arab League and Jordan, and our coup-leading friends in Egypt.

(5) The secretary general of NATO, Anders Rasmussen, said NATO will not be part of a strike on Syria.

So who is left in Obama's increasingly isolated coalition of the willing: France and Israel — two countries with a lot of sordid baggage loading down the Syria Question.  Some readers may never have heard of the Sykes-Picot Agreement, but your can bet most Syrians have.

A reasonable person might ask how an obviously intelligent Mr. Obama could land himself in such a mess?

Continue reading “Chuck Spinney: Thoughts on Obama's March to Folly in Syria”

Jim Dean: Western Allies Prepare 3rd WMD Attack on Syria

03 Environmental Degradation, 04 Inter-State Conflict, 05 Civil War, 07 Other Atrocities, 08 Proliferation, 08 Wild Cards, 09 Terrorism, Corruption, Government, Military
Jim W. Dean
Jim W. Dean

Western Allies prepare their 3rd WMD attack on Syria

“Deep within every one of us lies a natural understanding of good and evil. That is why one man can tell the truth convincingly…but it takes the entire apparatus of the state to peddle a lie, and propagate that lie to new generations.”Gandhi

… by  Jim W. Dean, VT Editor  and  New Eastern Outlook, Moscow

–  First  Published  August  30th, 2013  –

While the world watches to see when and how the ‘punishment attack’ will be launched on Syria, I read reports all day trying to see if anyone would lay out what really has been going on. They did not.

The US and its allies, to their eternal shame, have already used WMD on the Syrian people, but initially in a non traditional form. They changed their game plan for future regime changes to avoid using their own troops and as little cash as possible. How?

They went rogue. They went over to terrorism. They went over to al-Qaeda, that’s how. Using the Gulf State proxies has fooled no one here.

They dusted off Ziggy Brzezinski’s old destabilization plan for starting Muslim holy wars against the Russians in the Caucasus. The strategy was to keep them tied up in the tried and true, ‘death by a thousand cuts’ insurgent wars.

Ziggy has no regrets over the 150,000 dead in the Chechen war. His justification was “Would you have rather seen them marching into Europe?” There was a little problem with that. They never could have marched into Europe as both ‘assured mutual destruction’ and tactical nuclear weapons served as an effective bear trap.

We move on now to how earlier in Afghanistan where Saudi money and CIA logistics cranked up the first major ‘use the locals for cannon fodder’ war in that region. And yes, the Madrasa schools to indoctrinate children to be an endless supply of holy warriors…yes…we and the Saudis did that.

Read full article with graphics and links.

Syria Round-Up (4th Media, Berto Jongman, David Swanson, John Maguire)

04 Inter-State Conflict, 05 Civil War, 07 Other Atrocities, 08 Proliferation, 08 Wild Cards, Corruption, Government, IO Deeds of War

4th Media:

A Century of Lies: The Rationales for Engaging in Foreign Wars, A Century-old White House Tradition

American Jews Push Obama to War

CNN: Putin Criticizes West on Plan to Arm Syrian Rebels

Dangerous Crossroads: The US Attack on Syria, Prelude to World War III Scenario

Putin Speaks Out on Syria

Syria: Western Warmongers Can’t Launder Their Lies Any More

The Examiner: Syrian Rebels Admit to Being Behind Chemical Weapons Attack

We Have No Plans to Attack Syria: NATO Chief

Berto Jongman:

CNN news manipulation on Syria

EXCLUSIVE: Pentagon may be involved in chemical attack in Syria, US intelligence colonel hacked mail reflect

Photographs Showing Measurements Of The Munition Linked To Alleged Chemical Attacks

Senior Syrian military chiefs tell captain: fire chemicals or be shot

David Swanson:

Possible Consequences of a U.S. military attack on Syria—Remembering the Marine Barracks destruction in Beirut, 1983

John Maguire:

UK Prime Minister Cameron Loses Syria War Vote