Obama's Foreign Policy

[DC Tom]

THE WAGES OF “SMART DIPLOMACY:” Duterte aligns Philippines with China, says U.S. has lost.

 

 

 

 

ANALYSIS: TRUE. Duterte’s Flip-Flop Into Bed With China Is a Disaster for the United States.

 

Max Boot:

From the American viewpoint, Duterte’s flip-flop — assuming it leads to a lasting strategic shift — is a potential disaster. Aligned with the United States and its regional allies, the Philippines can provide a vital platform to oppose Chinese aggression in the South China and East China seas.

If the Philippines becomes a Chinese satrapy, by contrast, Washington will find itself hard-pressed to hold the “first island chain” in the Western Pacific that encompasses “the Japanese archipelago, the Ryukyus, Taiwan, and the Philippine archipelago.” Defending that line of island barriers has been a linchpin of U.S. strategy since the Cold War. It now could be undone because of the whims of one unhinged leader.

China could either neutralize this vital American ally or even potentially turn the Philippines into a PLA Navy base for menacing U.S. allies such as Taiwan, Japan, and Australia. At the very least, the U.S. Navy will find it much harder to protect the most important sea lanes in the world; each year $5.3 trillion in goods passes through the South China Sea, including $1.2 trillion in U.S. trade.

 

 

Boot notes that this “massive geopolitical shift is entirely Duterte’s doing,” and that “the Philippine people remain largely pro-American.” With any luck, Duterte’s rule will be short, and the Philippines will return to the fold before any lasting damage is done.

 

"I will not go to America anymore. We will just be insulted there," Duterte said.

 

 

Yeah, join the club. We know how you feel.

[unbillievable]

THE WAGES OF “SMART DIPLOMACY:” Duterte aligns Philippines with China, says U.S. has lost.

 

 

 

 

ANALYSIS: TRUE. Duterte’s Flip-Flop Into Bed With China Is a Disaster for the United States.

 

Max Boot:

From the American viewpoint, Duterte’s flip-flop — assuming it leads to a lasting strategic shift — is a potential disaster. Aligned with the United States and its regional allies, the Philippines can provide a vital platform to oppose Chinese aggression in the South China and East China seas.

If the Philippines becomes a Chinese satrapy, by contrast, Washington will find itself hard-pressed to hold the “first island chain” in the Western Pacific that encompasses “the Japanese archipelago, the Ryukyus, Taiwan, and the Philippine archipelago.” Defending that line of island barriers has been a linchpin of U.S. strategy since the Cold War. It now could be undone because of the whims of one unhinged leader.

China could either neutralize this vital American ally or even potentially turn the Philippines into a PLA Navy base for menacing U.S. allies such as Taiwan, Japan, and Australia. At the very least, the U.S. Navy will find it much harder to protect the most important sea lanes in the world; each year $5.3 trillion in goods passes through the South China Sea, including $1.2 trillion in U.S. trade.

 

 

 

 

Boot notes that this “massive geopolitical shift is entirely Duterte’s doing,” and that “the Philippine people remain largely pro-American.” With any luck, Duterte’s rule will be short, and the Philippines will return to the fold before any lasting damage is done.

 

Don't bet on it. There hasn't been a Philippine president this popular since Ferdinand Marcos.

[Deranged Rhino]

The ‘White Helmets’ Controversy

 

Yet, despite the favorable “group think” regarding the “White Helmets” – and more broadly about the rebel cause in Syria – there is another side to the story, including the fact that the “White Helmets” are not just some well-meaning Syrians who emerged to help all civilians suffering from the five years of war.

Not only do they only operate in rebel-controlled areas but they are a source of propaganda about the war, indeed their very existence is an element in the larger propaganda campaign to rally international support for a “regime change” war in Syria. The “White Helmets” brand was conceived and directed by a New York-based marketing company named “The Syria Campaign,” which itself was “incubated” by a larger politically oriented marketing company called Purpose.

(snip)

Thus, the positive image of the White Helmets and the group’s skillful use of social media deflect attention from the sectarian, violent and unpopular nature of Al Qaeda’s Nusra Front (recently renamed the Syria Conquest Front) and other armed opposition groups while hyping accusations that Syrian and Russian attacks are primarily hitting civilians.

In other words, the White Helmets have gone from being talked about to being the ones doing the talking. News stories increasingly use White Helmet witnesses as their sources, often in ways that promote the self-serving myth of White Helmet heroism. One day, CNN announced that a White Helmet aid center had been hit. Another day, TIME magazine claimed that White Helmet workers were being“hunted”.

(snip)

Evidence now suggests that we are seeing a replay of Curveball and the Iraqi WMD in 2003 and the bogus hysteria about stopping a Libyan “genocide” in 2011, both debunked by later investigations but too late to spare those countries from massive death and destruction.

https://consortiumnews.com/2016/10/23/the-white-helmets-controversy/

[Deranged Rhino]

Plans to send heavier weapons to CIA-backed rebels in Syria stall amid White House skepticism

 

“The Russians have seized the initiative,” said a second senior administration official involved in Syria discussions. “You can’t pretend you can go to war against Assad and not go to war against Russia.”

 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/plans-to-send-heavier-weapons-to-cia-backed-rebels-in-syria-stall-amid-white-house-skepticism/2016/10/23/f166ddac-96ee-11e6-bb29-bf2701dbe0a3_story.html

 

Hillary disagrees as she continues to push for a no fly zone which, of course, is a declaration of war against Syria and Russia both and will kill even more Syrians than the Russian air campaign... but details don't matter when the public is more focused on a bogus election.

[dpberr]

Plans to send heavier weapons to CIA-backed rebels in Syria stall amid White House skepticism

 

“The Russians have seized the initiative,” said a second senior administration official involved in Syria discussions. “You can’t pretend you can go to war against Assad and not go to war against Russia.”

 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/plans-to-send-heavier-weapons-to-cia-backed-rebels-in-syria-stall-amid-white-house-skepticism/2016/10/23/f166ddac-96ee-11e6-bb29-bf2701dbe0a3_story.html

 

Hillary disagrees as she continues to push for a no fly zone which, of course, is a declaration of war against Syria and Russia both and will kill even more Syrians than the Russian air campaign... but details don't matter when the public is more focused on a bogus election.

 

Isn't it ironic that Trump is getting blasted for wanting to have a dialogue with the Russians? In other decades, that gets you a peace prize.

[Doc]

Isn't it ironic that Trump is getting blasted for wanting to have a dialogue with the Russians? In other decades, that gets you a peace prize.

 

"Duh huh, the 80's called..."

[reddogblitz]

Isn't it ironic that Trump is getting blasted for wanting to have a dialogue with the Russians? In other decades, that gets you a peace prize.

 

Why can't we just let the Russians handle this one?

[Deranged Rhino]

Isn't it ironic that Trump is getting blasted for wanting to have a dialogue with the Russians? In other decades, that gets you a peace prize.

 

15 years of constant war can only continue if we "elect" someone who's shown her willingness to continue the failed and damning policies started under W and continued under Obama.

 

The US does not want peace in Syria. That much is clear despite the rhetoric that it's the Russians extending the conflict.

 

But I forgot. It's not a proxy war...

Why can't we just let the Russians handle this one?

Because that would mean letting them stabilize the region. That's not something the US Saudis want.

[GG]

Russians are going to stabilize the Mid East, but the pesky US and Saudis won't let them?

 

Pure gold, Jerry. Pure gold.

[reddogblitz]

Russians are going to stabilize the Mid East, but the pesky US and Saudis won't let them?

 

Pure gold, Jerry. Pure gold.

 

I suspect they'd probably have the same luck with it as we do at these types of things. That's why I want to let them handle this one.

 

They didn't fare any better in Afghanistan than we have so far (15 years and counting ) ...

[meazza]

Because that would mean letting them stabilize the region. That's not something the US Saudis want.

 

:lol:

 

Gatorman is that you?

[Magox]

[ALF]

The M.E. is a war between Sunni and Shia. Saddam kept them apart till his major mistake of going into Kuwait.

 

Let Saudi , Iran and Turkey settle there battle.

 

U.S. should try to help the Kurdish and Christians survive this mess.

[Deranged Rhino]

The M.E. is a war between Sunni and Shia.

 

And US hegemony vs Russian hegemony vs Israeli hegemony.

 

Can't leave those out.

 

**********************************

Clinton’s Slog Deeper into the Big Muddy

 

As Gordon Adams and Lawrence Wilkerson, veterans of the Bill Clinton and George W. Bush administrations, observed recently in The National Interest, Clinton’s penchant for military intervention and her deep belief in American exceptionalism put her in tune with Washington’s foreign-policy establishment, which is “why a large number of neoconservative national security experts have endorsed Clinton over Trump.”

But the fact that foreign-policy experts agree with her doesn’t make her right. Since their view is increasingly at odds with reality, reality, all it means is that hers is as well. [see Consortiumnews.com’s “Hillary Clinton’s ‘Exceptionalist’ Warpath.”]

“This ‘consensus’ judgment of foreign-policy makers,” Adams and Wilkerson write, “which Clinton’s views reflect and support, not only fails to perceive the changed world we live in correctly, but executing its strategy risks producing precisely the opposite result from what is intended.

“A no-fly zone in Syria seriously risks putting US military forces at the heart of the conflict, creating the third US invasion in the region since 2001. There is no gain to such a step; there is only high risk of more American lives being lost in an unwinnable war as well as exacerbating regional hostility toward the United States.

“Similarly, a direct confrontation with Russia in central Europe and Ukraine increases by orders of magnitude the paranoia already infecting the Russian leadership that the United States intends to put itself right at the periphery of Russia and perhaps beyond. Not for nothing have Russian military exercises for three years running emphasized attacks by NATO – even on Russian territory itself.”

The search for stability, in other words, leads to less rather than more. Yet Clinton forges ahead regardless.

https://consortiumnews.com/2016/10/24/clintons-slog-deeper-into-the-big-muddy/

[Deranged Rhino]

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US Impunity Erodes World Justice

 

Today, for instance, the U.S. and its allies are accusing Syria and Russia of war crimes in east Aleppo, even as America’s own and allied forces launch a similar assault on Mosul. Both attacks are killing civilians and reducing much of a city to rubble; the rationale is the same, counterterrorism; and there are many more people in the line of fire in Mosul than in east Aleppo.

 

But the U.S. propaganda machine ensures that most Americans see one, in Mosul, as a legitimate counterterrorism operation (with Islamic State accused of using the civilians as “human shields”) and the other, in east Aleppo, as a massacre (with the presence of Al Qaeda’s Syrian affiliate, the former Nusra Front, virtually whited out of the West’s coverage, which focuses almost entirely on the children and makes no mention of “human shields”).

 

The phrase “aggressive war” is also a no-no in the Western media when the U.S. government launches attacks across international borders. In the past 20 years, the U.S. has violated the U.N. Charter to attack at least eight countries (Yugoslavia, Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan, Yemen, Somalia, Libya and Syria), and the resulting wars have killed about two million people.

A complex whirlwind of conflict and chaos rages on in all the countries where the U.S. and its allies have lit the flames of war since 2001, but U.S. leaders still debate new interventions and escalations as if we are the fire brigade not the arsonists. (By contrast, the U.S. government and the Western media are quick to accuse Russia or other countries of “aggression” even in legally murky situations, such as after the U.S.-backed coup in 2014 that ousted the elected president of Ukraine.)

Systematic violations of the Geneva Conventions are an integral part of U.S. war-making. Most are shrouded in secrecy, and the propaganda machine spins the atrocities that slip through into the public record as a disconnected series of aberrations, accidents and “bad apples,” instead of as the result of illegal rules of engagement and unlawful orders from higher-ups.

(snip)

If in 2016 the world seems to be more violent and chaotic than ever, it is not because the United States lacks the will to use force or project power, as both major party candidates for President and their military advisers appear to believe, but because our leaders have placed too much stock in the illegal threat and use of force and have lost faith in the rule of law, international cooperation and diplomacy.

After a century of commercial dominance, and 75 years of investing disproportionately in weapons, military forces and geopolitical schemes, perhaps it is understandable that U.S. leaders have forgotten how to deal fairly and respectfully with our international neighbors. But it is no longer an option to muddle along, leaving a trail of death, ruin and chaos in our wake, counting on an elaborate propaganda machine to minimize the blowback on our country and our lives.

Sooner rather than later, Americans and our leaders must knuckle down and master the very different attitudes and skills we will need to become law-abiding global citizens in a peaceful, sustainable, multipolar world.

https://consortiumnews.com/2016/10/25/us-impunity-erodes-world-justice/

[GG]

 

The phrase “aggressive war” is also a no-no in the Western media when the U.S. government launches attacks across international borders. In the past 20 years, the U.S. has violated the U.N. Charter to attack at least eight countries (Yugoslavia, Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan, Yemen, Somalia, Libya and Syria), and the resulting wars have killed about two million people.

 

So we're not confused about your positions, do you agree with the article's premise that US involvement has killed 2 million people?

[DC Tom]

*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^

 

US Impunity Erodes World Justice

 

Today, for instance, the U.S. and its allies are accusing Syria and Russia of war crimes in east Aleppo, even as America’s own and allied forces launch a similar assault on Mosul. Both attacks are killing civilians and reducing much of a city to rubble; the rationale is the same, counterterrorism; and there are many more people in the line of fire in Mosul than in east Aleppo.

 

But the U.S. propaganda machine ensures that most Americans see one, in Mosul, as a legitimate counterterrorism operation (with Islamic State accused of using the civilians as “human shields”) and the other, in east Aleppo, as a massacre (with the presence of Al Qaeda’s Syrian affiliate, the former Nusra Front, virtually whited out of the West’s coverage, which focuses almost entirely on the children and makes no mention of “human shields”).

 

The phrase “aggressive war” is also a no-no in the Western media when the U.S. government launches attacks across international borders. In the past 20 years, the U.S. has violated the U.N. Charter to attack at least eight countries (Yugoslavia, Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan, Yemen, Somalia, Libya and Syria), and the resulting wars have killed about two million people.

A complex whirlwind of conflict and chaos rages on in all the countries where the U.S. and its allies have lit the flames of war since 2001, but U.S. leaders still debate new interventions and escalations as if we are the fire brigade not the arsonists. (By contrast, the U.S. government and the Western media are quick to accuse Russia or other countries of “aggression” even in legally murky situations, such as after the U.S.-backed coup in 2014 that ousted the elected president of Ukraine.)

Systematic violations of the Geneva Conventions are an integral part of U.S. war-making. Most are shrouded in secrecy, and the propaganda machine spins the atrocities that slip through into the public record as a disconnected series of aberrations, accidents and “bad apples,” instead of as the result of illegal rules of engagement and unlawful orders from higher-ups.

(snip)

If in 2016 the world seems to be more violent and chaotic than ever, it is not because the United States lacks the will to use force or project power, as both major party candidates for President and their military advisers appear to believe, but because our leaders have placed too much stock in the illegal threat and use of force and have lost faith in the rule of law, international cooperation and diplomacy.

After a century of commercial dominance, and 75 years of investing disproportionately in weapons, military forces and geopolitical schemes, perhaps it is understandable that U.S. leaders have forgotten how to deal fairly and respectfully with our international neighbors. But it is no longer an option to muddle along, leaving a trail of death, ruin and chaos in our wake, counting on an elaborate propaganda machine to minimize the blowback on our country and our lives.

Sooner rather than later, Americans and our leaders must knuckle down and master the very different attitudes and skills we will need to become law-abiding global citizens in a peaceful, sustainable, multipolar world.

https://consortiumnews.com/2016/10/25/us-impunity-erodes-world-justice/

 

That site is ridiculous.

[Deranged Rhino]

NATO Calls for More Troops for Largest Military Build-up on Russia's Borders Since Cold War

NATO will press allies on Wednesday to contribute to its biggest military build-up on Russia's borders since the Cold War as the alliance prepares for a protracted quarrel with Moscow.

With Russia's aircraft carrier heading to Syria in a show of force along Europe's shores, alliance defense ministers aim to make good on a July promise by NATO leaders to send forces to the Baltic states and eastern Poland from early next year.

http://www.haaretz.com/world-news/1.749274

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Norway welcomes US Marines amid Russian tensions

 

US Marines are coming to Norway -- a move that could send a chill down Russian President Vladimir Putin's spine.

The move, which was sought by the Americans and announced Monday by Norway, comes as tensions between the US and Russia are increasing amid the humanitarian disaster in Syria and US assertions of Moscow's involvement in cyber hacks on American political organizations and individuals.

Beginning in January, a limited rotational force of approximately 330 Marines will be located in Vaernes, Norway, according to a statement to CNN from the Norwegian Defense Ministry.

http://edition.cnn.com/2016/10/18/politics/marines-norway-russia/index.html'

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U.S. Stuck With Nobody Left to Sanction in Russia Over Syria

 

The U.S. put sanctions on Russia’s main arms exporter, Kremlin aides and the black leather-loving head of a motorcycle gang nicknamed “The Surgeon” after the 2014 invasion of Ukraine. Now, as Washington seeks ways to punish Moscow for its actions in Syria, it may be running out of options.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-10-26/u-s-stuck-with-nobody-left-to-sanction-in-russia-over-syria

 

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PENTAGON IGNORED EVIDENCE OF CIVILIAN CASUALTIES IN ISIS STRIKES, HUMAN RIGHTS GROUP SAYS

 

U.S. AUTHORITIES OVERSEEING the war against the Islamic State in Syria have failed to respond to evidence of hundreds of civilian casualties resulting from coalition airstrikes and potential violations of the laws of war, according to a startling new account from Amnesty International.

In a press release issued Tuesday night, Amnesty said it has presented the Pentagon with evidence that 11 coalition airstrikes in Syria over the past two years appear to have led to the deaths of as many as 300 civilians — and that so far that evidence has been met with silence.

 

 

[keepthefaith]

 

NATO Calls for More Troops for Largest Military Build-up on Russia's Borders Since Cold War

NATO will press allies on Wednesday to contribute to its biggest military build-up on Russia's borders since the Cold War as the alliance prepares for a protracted quarrel with Moscow.

With Russia's aircraft carrier heading to Syria in a show of force along Europe's shores, alliance defense ministers aim to make good on a July promise by NATO leaders to send forces to the Baltic states and eastern Poland from early next year.

http://www.haaretz.com/world-news/1.749274

*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*

Norway welcomes US Marines amid Russian tensions

 

US Marines are coming to Norway -- a move that could send a chill down Russian President Vladimir Putin's spine.

The move, which was sought by the Americans and announced Monday by Norway, comes as tensions between the US and Russia are increasing amid the humanitarian disaster in Syria and US assertions of Moscow's involvement in cyber hacks on American political organizations and individuals.

Beginning in January, a limited rotational force of approximately 330 Marines will be located in Vaernes, Norway, according to a statement to CNN from the Norwegian Defense Ministry.

http://edition.cnn.com/2016/10/18/politics/marines-norway-russia/index.html'

*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^

U.S. Stuck With Nobody Left to Sanction in Russia Over Syria

 

The U.S. put sanctions on Russia’s main arms exporter, Kremlin aides and the black leather-loving head of a motorcycle gang nicknamed “The Surgeon” after the 2014 invasion of Ukraine. Now, as Washington seeks ways to punish Moscow for its actions in Syria, it may be running out of options.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-10-26/u-s-stuck-with-nobody-left-to-sanction-in-russia-over-syria

 

*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*

 

PENTAGON IGNORED EVIDENCE OF CIVILIAN CASUALTIES IN ISIS STRIKES, HUMAN RIGHTS GROUP SAYS

 

U.S. AUTHORITIES OVERSEEING the war against the Islamic State in Syria have failed to respond to evidence of hundreds of civilian casualties resulting from coalition airstrikes and potential violations of the laws of war, according to a startling new account from Amnesty International.

In a press release issued Tuesday night, Amnesty said it has presented the Pentagon with evidence that 11 coalition airstrikes in Syria over the past two years appear to have led to the deaths of as many as 300 civilians — and that so far that evidence has been met with silence.

 

 

 

Obama will be quite happy to hand this mess off to his successor and depart for some nice golf courses in Hawaii.

[Deranged Rhino]

Obama will be quite happy to hand this mess off to his successor and depart for some nice golf courses in Hawaii.

 

And Hillary will be quite happy to continue her hawkish path that neocons and hawks are positively giddy about.

 

Buckle up for more war, more destabilization of the ME on the Saudi's behalf, more red-baiting with the potential of a nuclear exchange because we haven't learned a thing in 15 years of non-stop war.