Paris Aftermath

++The French conducted 200 Raids last night found caches of weapons,including rocket launchers. They have finally pinpointed the "mastermind" as the Belgium citizen.

++ISIS released a video with the carnage of Paris,saying that Washington was next. So be prepared for continued hysteria in the United States. We don't seem to be the country that thinks "Stay Calm".

++Last night's burst of internet venom struck me as peculiar. The attacks on Paris were seen as President Obama's failure but the idea we may coordinate actions with Russia drove people over the edge. Robert Kuttner yesterday has an op-ed on why that alliance is one of the least bad options. 

++I do want to point out that our Republican controlled Congress has not even debated the AUMF submitted to it by the Obama Administration last year. So it's not that the GOP has any high moral ground here because they have avoided the subject.

++Throughout the rise of ISIS, there is a parallel discussion that has gone on in the Beltway. Russia is aiming to supplant American influence in the Middle East. No one remembers that Russia pre Putin has been behind Assad's father and him historically and that they have until Crimea their only "foreign base" there. Throughout the last two years of events in Syria there has been a discussion that the Russians and Iranians have been consolidating control over the area. Patrick Coburn of the Independent has written many articles suggesting all that remains in Syria is pulverized cement.

++The other canard was that the Iran Nuclear Deal encouraged Iran's involvement in Syria because they had new funds available from the lifting of the sanctions. Since several generals of the Revolutionary Guard have been killed,I wouldn't write home about the spreading Shi'ite Crescent.