Monthly Archives: April 2014

The limits of power

"Obama –whose rise to the presidency was built partially around his opposition to the Iraq War – is definitely cognizant of Americans’ aversion to too much intervention abroad. As recently as Tuesday, he defended his foreign policy strategy — with … Continue reading

Posted in government, Policy | 33 Comments

Latest Washington Post poll – 29 April 2014

I am inclined to think polls such as this are suspect because people who are willing to participate are probably not representative of the accomplished.  pl  http://www.washingtonpost.com/page/2010-2019/WashingtonPost/2014/04/29/National-Politics/Polling/release_342.xml

Posted in Politics | 25 Comments

Kerry said that Israel may become an apartheid state?

"US Secretary of State John Kerry told a group of senior international officials that Israel risks becoming an "apartheid" state if it does not make peace soon, a US news website reported. Kerry made the remarks at a closed-door meeting … Continue reading

Posted in Israel, Palestine | 42 Comments

Open Thread – 27 April, 2014

A photograph of a Catholic school in Aleppo, Syria in Ottoman times.   This was the College of the Holy Land in Aleppo. That is St. Anthony's statue in the center. The Ottoman sultan/caliph was a financial supporter of the … Continue reading

Posted in Open Thread, Syria | 66 Comments

“Stopping Russia Starts in Syria” Anne-Marie Slaughter

"The US, together with as many countries as will cooperate, could use force to eliminate Syria’s fixed-wing aircraft as a first step toward enforcing Resolution 2139. “Aerial bombardment” would still likely continue via helicopter, but such a strike would announce … Continue reading

Posted in Russia, Syria | 54 Comments

“Four Ways The Ukraine Crisis Could Escalate To Use Of Nuclear Weapons” Loren Thompson

"In 1983, the ABC television network broadcast a movie called The Day After about how a superpower nuclear exchange devastated the lives of typical Americans in two midwestern cities. The conflict began with a Russian troop buildup in Eastern Europe … Continue reading

Posted in Current Affairs, government, Israel, Palestine, weapons | 57 Comments

Comments

We still are "typaded."  I have just sent them a service ticket over the disabled comments feature.  pl

Posted in Ukraine Crisis | 4 Comments

HARPER: RUSSIA CLAIMS IT JAMMED AEGIS

A quick note:  Russian Radio is claiming that the Russian Su-24 planes that buzzed the USS Donald Cook in the Black Sea on April 12 were able to jam the Aegis system and that this caused a quiet panic in … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | 27 Comments

“The Emperor has no clothes!” by FB Ali

The recent (April 17) meeting in Geneva on Ukraine was a game-changing event. Yet this significant aspect of it has not been explicitly recognized in any analysis or commentary on the situation; at least none that I've come across. It … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | 57 Comments

“What we left behind” Filkins

"The resurgence of Iraq’s Shiites is the greatest legacy of the American invasion, which overthrew Sunni rule and replaced it with a government led by Shiites—the first since the eighteenth century. Eight years after Maliki took power, Iraqis are sorting … Continue reading

Posted in Iraq | 4 Comments