What a weird, wild and even wonderful day it was on the foreign affairs front. There’s been some debate as to whether John Kerry’s comments about Syria relinquishing its chemical weapons was a gaffe, an ad-lib or a Hail Mary pass but it *may* be leading to a breakthrough.
As one of those people who likes neither the idea of air strikes nor seeing the Assad clan/gang/guvmint get away with gassing its own people, I’m glad that the Obama administration is seriously looking into this diplomatic alternative. It’s an unexpected development: it’s been a long time since the Russians did anything but stir the pot and cause trouble but the Syrians *are* their clients and they’re the ones who have the relationships to pull a disarmament rabbit out of their hat. It’s also been a long time since I wrote such a long damn sentence…
Vladimir Putin: peacemaker? It’s surreal but weirder things have happened in the last 30 years so ya never know. It’s going to be fascinating to watch this play out.
Stongly Agreed.
A lot has to be worked out (what does being under the control of the international community mean, …) I hate the idea of there not being any penalty to those who released the gas. Is this a serious offer or just trying to delay? etc. etc.
But when it comes to politics, this is an interesting idea that deserves consideration.
One thing, though, that I haven’t understood all along. With the USA military propaganda for well over a decade preaching that we have missles that can pick a fly off the back of a cow, the perception has been built that we should be able to hit strategic targets in Syria (or elsewhere) as easy as pie.
Of course, I understand that even the strikes shown for propaganda were sometimes missles hitting the wrong target. I understand that this wouldn’t preclude other countries from targeting us. etc.
Seems like a classic trap in the military to is to claim ultimate power and ability only a few years later to suffer from their prior claims.