The Awkward Photo John Kerry Doesn’t Want You to See
Chris Miles
policymic
8/27/2013
© AFP
…In February 2009, before the proverbial Sh*t hit the proverbial fan, Kerry led a delegation to engage Syria. It was a “frank exchange” of ideas and talk about the possibility of peace in the region.
According to AFP, Assad told his visitors that future relations should be based on a “proper understanding” by Washington of regional issues and on common interests.
Apparently, Kerry praised Assad as a “very generous man” back in 2011, something which conservatives reminded us of ahead of Kerry’s State Department nomination.
So here we are. Today, experts believe President Obama is likely to order a limited military operation in Syria – a cruise missile strike on military targets – rather than a sustained air campaign to topple President Assad…
The complete article is at policymic.
Related: Kucinich: Obama risks impeachment if he acts against Syria without Congressional approval.
Dennis Kucinich warns that Obama risks impeachment if he takes military action against Syria without congressional approval because, he argues, there is no “imminent or actual threat” to America.
Kucinich also takes issue with how Obama phrased his statement earlier today when he said “I meant what I said, I have not made a final decision.” Kucinich says it’s not ‘I, the president’ but rather it’s ‘we the people’ who formed the Constitution and it dictates that only Congress can take this country to war.
Watch at the link.
As Syria strikes loom, Samatha Power’s skills better suited to classroom than UN
…Ambassador Power has very little experience in multilateral diplomacy or political positioning. She has even less practice in negotiating on behalf of the United States.
Her writings and previous work point to a long history of making highly intellectual arguments about what the world should look like
She is better suited to convincing Harvard graduate students to write more about international problems. Her lack of experience sitting across the table from an experienced Russian diplomat could prove disastrous for the United States…
…Power’s background just doesn’t fit. And as the Syria situation unfolds at the Security Council, her abilities and inexperience are showing. Now is not the time to have someone on the job who is just learning how to be a tough negotiator…
Al Jazeera Favorite McCain Ignores Constitutional “Niceties” On Syria
…“The 1973 War Powers Act requires the president to notify Congress within 48 hours of launching military action and bars U.S. armed forces from fighting for more than 60 days without congressional approval.”
As we pointed put in a column on Obama’s war against Libya, the law says more than that. The War Powers Act says the president can go to war on his own only if there is an imminent threat to the U.S. It authorizes the use of force only in situations “where imminent involvement in hostilities is clearly indicated by the circumstances, and to the continued use of such forces in hostilities or in such situations.”
Where is the imminent threat to the U.S. from Syria?
Though out of session, members of Congress, led by Scott Rigell (R-VA), are moving to assert the primacy of the Constitution in the current Syria crisis…
…“As he contemplates the American response to Syria’s gas attack, President Obama has made it clear that he is consulting international law,” notes U.S. News & World Report. The publication claimed that “a consensus is building that it may be lawful to use military force in defense of human rights without violating international law,” a concept known as the “responsibility to protect” (R2P) and popularized by Obama advisors such as Samantha Power…
Read the whole thing.
Ron Paul, on Chemical Weapons in Syria: ‘I think it’s a false flag’
“Assad I don’t think is an idiot—I don’t think he would do this on purpose in order for the whole world to come down on him,” and stated flatly that “It’s a false flag, I think, really, indeed.”
Watch the video at the link.
At ZeroHedge, Don’t Show Obama This Report About Who Really Is Behind The Syrian Chemical Attacks
…The incredibly frank discussion between Saudi’s spy-chief Prince Bandar and Russia’s Putin exposed a much deeper plot is afoot and the following details from the actual people on the ground in the chemically-attacked region of Syria suggest Obama is playing right into the Saudi’s plan…
