++J Street sees the re-election of Bibi as a threat to Israel's Shield--that is America's role at the United Nations to side-track anti-Israel resolutions and to veto more noxious ones. J Street sees the United States going more international in putting pressure on Bibi on the Palestinian issue.
++Fred Kaplan, who doesn't just us WASPs, writes in Slate "Israel Just Lost".Kaplan's point is that Bibi by doubling down on his stance against Israeli Arabs and the Palestinians puts the country into a box. Expect to see the disinvestment movement to become mainstream in our discourse.
++"Bibi Wins,Israel Loses" by Jonathan Alter repeats the themes of most of our op-eds that Bibi took the expedient way but left Israel with longer ,more durable troubles, particularly in the Western world.
++The Imperial Post thinks Bibi brought alot of grief on Israel. But, of course, this makes an Iranian nuclear deal harder?
++What makes the deal harder was that the GOP wants to jump the gun on additional sanctions and this plays into the Iranian hard-liners who can just blame the Zionists and call the whole thing off.
++The United States just took Iran and Hezbollah off the terrorist list. I wish there were objective criteria for both the "terrorist countries" and the "terrorist groups". On both the United States gives them credit for fighting ISIS.
Showing posts with label Fred Kaplan. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Fred Kaplan. Show all posts
Wednesday, March 18, 2015
Thursday, June 12, 2014
Late Afternoon
++Sgt. Bergdahl is en route and will land in Texas tomorrow where it is planned that he will meet his parents.
++The Daily Beast through contacts with the Taliban obtained the texts of the two letters Bergdahl sent home from captivity, one of which pleads for understanding of the circumstances around him leaving his camp.
++Journals sent home to a woman friend reveal that three days before he left the post, he was thinking of "Going Galt".
++Meanwhile planeloads of Americans are leaving Iraq. 3 planes of security contractors have been loaded up as the ISIS is heading toward Baghdad.
++The American embassy has drawn up evacuation planes as mortars are hitting the outskirts of town.
++John McCain and, if course, Jennifer Rubin blame Obama for the collapse of Iraq. Fred Kaplan in Salon says blame it on Prime Minister Malicki.
++The American trained Iraqi army stripped off their uniforms and left their equipment as ISIS overran Mosul and Takrit.
++ISIS now is considered the richest terrorist group as they stole $425 million.
++Kurdish forces took oil-rich Kirkuk.
++There are rumors that the Iranian Revolutionary Guard has been fighting on the ground and has taken half Takrit back.
++The Iraqi government has asked the United States for assistance in the form of drone attacks.
++President Obama said that all options are being considered short of troops on the ground.
++The atmosphere is similar to the days that led to the collapse of Saigon.
++Barbara Boxer says that the people who once advocated for the invasion of Iraq have now become the "Blame America First" Crowd.
++The Daily Beast through contacts with the Taliban obtained the texts of the two letters Bergdahl sent home from captivity, one of which pleads for understanding of the circumstances around him leaving his camp.
++Journals sent home to a woman friend reveal that three days before he left the post, he was thinking of "Going Galt".
++Meanwhile planeloads of Americans are leaving Iraq. 3 planes of security contractors have been loaded up as the ISIS is heading toward Baghdad.
++The American embassy has drawn up evacuation planes as mortars are hitting the outskirts of town.
++John McCain and, if course, Jennifer Rubin blame Obama for the collapse of Iraq. Fred Kaplan in Salon says blame it on Prime Minister Malicki.
++The American trained Iraqi army stripped off their uniforms and left their equipment as ISIS overran Mosul and Takrit.
++ISIS now is considered the richest terrorist group as they stole $425 million.
++Kurdish forces took oil-rich Kirkuk.
++There are rumors that the Iranian Revolutionary Guard has been fighting on the ground and has taken half Takrit back.
++The Iraqi government has asked the United States for assistance in the form of drone attacks.
++President Obama said that all options are being considered short of troops on the ground.
++The atmosphere is similar to the days that led to the collapse of Saigon.
++Barbara Boxer says that the people who once advocated for the invasion of Iraq have now become the "Blame America First" Crowd.
Tuesday, June 3, 2014
Morning Notes
++Senators Sessions and Graham want to know what Hillary knows about the release of Sgt.Bergdahl. After all she had lunch with President Obama this past week.
++Hillary did come out and defended the swap.
++Dick Cheney thought a staff shouldn't let President Obama get so exposed. He won't have done the deal. But he did in releasing Al Qaeda members to Yemen. We call them Cheney's Raiders.
++GOP strategists have been arranging interviews with Bergdahl's platoon. Thanks to the New York Times for letting us who was behind these series of stories.
++Jeffrey Toobin says President Obama broke the law with the exchange.
++The Imperial Post asks whether the price was too high.
++Lindsey Graham is going to hold hearings on the release.
++Senators McCain and Chambliss had been briefed on the prisoner swap in February.
++President Obama had made a signing statement on the bill that held his hands on releases from Gitmo. Both Reagan and W liked signing statements.
++General Martin Dempsey defended the Bergdahl move and said that the US brings back their own whoever they are and that complaints about his behavior will be dealt with.
++The Pentagon will look into whether anyone was killed looking for him as one Platoon leader claimed.
++The always charming John Sunnunu says that concerns over Bergdahl's health are like Obama's explanation for Benghazi.
++Marc Thiessen reminded us that it was the big bad Taliban who were released.
++Columnists reminded us that Bibi Netanyahu exchanged 1,027 Palestinian prisoners for 1 Israeli soldier and President Reagan swapped 1,500 rockets for hostages.
++Fred Kaplan at Slate says that the release of the five Taliban commanders may lead to larger peace talks in Afghanistan.
++One note. The five Taliban commanders have been in GITMO for ten years and have been tortured. They will be kept in Qatar for a year. Presumably we will have ended the war in Afghanistan by that time.
++Hillary did come out and defended the swap.
++Dick Cheney thought a staff shouldn't let President Obama get so exposed. He won't have done the deal. But he did in releasing Al Qaeda members to Yemen. We call them Cheney's Raiders.
++GOP strategists have been arranging interviews with Bergdahl's platoon. Thanks to the New York Times for letting us who was behind these series of stories.
++Jeffrey Toobin says President Obama broke the law with the exchange.
++The Imperial Post asks whether the price was too high.
++Lindsey Graham is going to hold hearings on the release.
++Senators McCain and Chambliss had been briefed on the prisoner swap in February.
++President Obama had made a signing statement on the bill that held his hands on releases from Gitmo. Both Reagan and W liked signing statements.
++General Martin Dempsey defended the Bergdahl move and said that the US brings back their own whoever they are and that complaints about his behavior will be dealt with.
++The Pentagon will look into whether anyone was killed looking for him as one Platoon leader claimed.
++The always charming John Sunnunu says that concerns over Bergdahl's health are like Obama's explanation for Benghazi.
++Marc Thiessen reminded us that it was the big bad Taliban who were released.
++Columnists reminded us that Bibi Netanyahu exchanged 1,027 Palestinian prisoners for 1 Israeli soldier and President Reagan swapped 1,500 rockets for hostages.
++Fred Kaplan at Slate says that the release of the five Taliban commanders may lead to larger peace talks in Afghanistan.
++One note. The five Taliban commanders have been in GITMO for ten years and have been tortured. They will be kept in Qatar for a year. Presumably we will have ended the war in Afghanistan by that time.
Thursday, May 29, 2014
Meanwhile as the Imperial Post sleeps in their pup tents
++By the way, Dick Cheney says Obama is "weak,weak,weak".
++Fred Kaplan at Slate posts a positive article about President Obama's speech at West Point entitled "Obama Lays Siege to His Critics". Kaplan points out that Obama's point is to ween our foreign policy away from military adventurism and create a high bar for the future use of the military in overseas wars.Kaplan lays out President Obama's typology for varying American national interests from "core interests" where we will respond to issues like dictators where we find human rights violations appalling.
++Over at Ezra Klein's new shop The Vox, Max Fisher wrote "Obama just announced the most anti-war foreign policy doctrine in decades." I think that might explain the Imperial Post's horror. Fisher thinks the closest analogies may be Jimmy Carter's Notre Dame speech on the Cold War and more precisely Ike's military industrial speech.
++Of course, Morning Joe Scarborough was alarmed.
++I thought President Obama was trying to make American actions around the world coherent and rational. Good Luck with that. His explanation of American leadership on the Ukraine helped explain how various actions formed a coherent and effective response,the explanation of which escaped the media while it has been on-going.
++However,if you look at our military and intelligence budgets, you will see it will take some time before the United States can step down from its imperial pretensions.
++Meanwhile in the world of elections, there is great news--the amazing Sam Wang of Princeton Elections is back with an article in Politico to explain when real data will appear to explain the mid-terms. He tries to explain how the Imperial Post and New York Times reach different conclusions about how will take the Senate. The Post has the GOP near 80%, while the Times have the Democrats at 58%. Basically, Sam sides with the Times because they use polls,the Post doesn't. Wang says the polls will tell the story. He also says that at this stage both predictions are statistically toss-ups because there is scant data available.
++Fred Kaplan at Slate posts a positive article about President Obama's speech at West Point entitled "Obama Lays Siege to His Critics". Kaplan points out that Obama's point is to ween our foreign policy away from military adventurism and create a high bar for the future use of the military in overseas wars.Kaplan lays out President Obama's typology for varying American national interests from "core interests" where we will respond to issues like dictators where we find human rights violations appalling.
++Over at Ezra Klein's new shop The Vox, Max Fisher wrote "Obama just announced the most anti-war foreign policy doctrine in decades." I think that might explain the Imperial Post's horror. Fisher thinks the closest analogies may be Jimmy Carter's Notre Dame speech on the Cold War and more precisely Ike's military industrial speech.
++Of course, Morning Joe Scarborough was alarmed.
++I thought President Obama was trying to make American actions around the world coherent and rational. Good Luck with that. His explanation of American leadership on the Ukraine helped explain how various actions formed a coherent and effective response,the explanation of which escaped the media while it has been on-going.
++However,if you look at our military and intelligence budgets, you will see it will take some time before the United States can step down from its imperial pretensions.
++Meanwhile in the world of elections, there is great news--the amazing Sam Wang of Princeton Elections is back with an article in Politico to explain when real data will appear to explain the mid-terms. He tries to explain how the Imperial Post and New York Times reach different conclusions about how will take the Senate. The Post has the GOP near 80%, while the Times have the Democrats at 58%. Basically, Sam sides with the Times because they use polls,the Post doesn't. Wang says the polls will tell the story. He also says that at this stage both predictions are statistically toss-ups because there is scant data available.
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