What Could Possibly Go Wrong

Syria and the Albright Syndrome

"Much like the person with a hammer, to whom everything looks like a nail—we continue to believe that every problem can be solved by the military. Sadly—regardless of the administration’s overall political views—we continue to suffer from Madeleine Albright syndrome. As Secretary of State, Albright challenged then chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Colin Powell’s view that the United States should restrict its military interventions to situations in which vital U.S. interests were threatened, quipping: 'What’s the point of having this superb military you’re always talking about if we can’t use it?'" Continue reading →

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Can Obama Control Syrian Outcomes?

"Obama is speaking of a 'limited, narrow act'. The fact is, however, that he has no control over the short-term and long-term responses of the Syrians, Hezbollah, Hamas, the Russians, Israel, and the Iranians. He has no control over current and future terrorists. He may imagine that he is executing a tit for tat or a surgical strike, but the other players need not accept that way of looking at a cruise missile attack. In all probability, their memories and histories suggest that they are not going to consider this attack an isolated event. They will surely connect it to the entire history of U.S. actions in the past, especially those of the past 10 years. I have to wonder who is advising the President at this juncture." Continue reading →

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The U.S. Will Regret Intervention in Syria

"One argument for U.S. intervention in Syria is as a message to Iran to take seriously U.S. threats toward its nuclear program—on which Obama has also painted himself into a corner by saying he will not allow Iran to get nuclear weapons. Yet military options to prevent Iran from getting nuclear weapons or a nuclear capability have never been very credible—bombing likely will not get all of Iran’s nuclear facilities and will likely only spur Iran to accelerate the program to deter further attacks. In fact, limited U.S. intervention in Syria may not only fail to intimidate Iran, but act as a similar nuclear accelerant." Continue reading →

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Chaos and War

"Iraq and Afghanistan were the only hot spots and Iran was the only major country where long-term stability could be seriously questioned. The Palestinian-Israeli conflict was raging, as always. But in contrast to the new wars elsewhere, that six-decades-old conflict was such a known quantity one would be hard pressed to argue that it was a significant destabilizing factor for the region. Bottom line: Two, maybe three, conflicts to seriously worry about. Moderate impact on the major world powers. No broad threat to the global economy. High hopes for future long-term stability. Now, fast-forward to the last day of August, 2013, and look how dramatically the picture has changed." Continue reading →

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25 Quotes About The Coming War With Syria That Every American Should See

"What good would 'a shot across Syria's bow' actually do? A 'limited strike' is not going to bring down the Assad regime and it is certainly not going to end the bloody civil war that has been raging inside Syria. The al-Qaeda affiliated rebels that would take power would almost certainly be even worse than Assad. Even in the midst of this bloody civil war, the rebels have taken the time and the effort to massacre entire Christian villages. Why is Barack Obama so obsessed with helping such monsters? There is no good outcome in Syria. The Assad regime is absolutely horrible and the rebels are even worse. Why would we want the U.S. military to get involved in such a mess?" Continue reading →

Continue Reading25 Quotes About The Coming War With Syria That Every American Should See

Will Boehner Stop Our Rogue President?

"Why this rush to war? Why the hysteria? Why the panic? Syria and Assad will still be there two weeks from now or a month from now, and we will know far more then about what happened last week. Understandably, Obama wants to get the egg off his face from having foolishly drawn his 'red line' against chemical weapons, and then watching Syria, allegedly, defy His Majesty. But saving Obama’s face does not justify plunging his country into another Mideast war. Does Obama realize what a fool history will make of him if he is stampeded into a new war by propaganda that turns out to be yet another stew of ideological zealotry and mendacity?" Continue reading →

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Eric Margolis: Another Jolly Little War

"The US, Britain, Italy and Germany exported chemical weapons plants and raw material to Iraq that produced Sarin nerve gas and burning mustard gas. Many thousands of Iranian soldiers were killed, horribly burned or blinded by these western-supplied weapons. So a little less western moral outrage, please, particularly from the Brits whose own sainted Winston Churchill authorized the use of poison gas against rebellious Iraqi and Afghan tribesmen. North Vietnam was drenched with the toxic Agent Orange, the resisting Iraq city of Falluja was showered by white phosphorous, Iraq was permanently contaminated by radioactive depleted uranium. These foul weapons also kill babies." Continue reading →

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Deadly Cyberattacks Highlight the Need for a Cybersecurity Upgrade

"The Sayano-Shushenskaya hydro-dam disaster was a cyberattack. You can characterize it as an accident in the nature of 'friendly fire.' But overall, this cascading wave of destruction was triggered by a bad computer command. Sayano-Shushenskaya demonstrates the immense scope of destruction that can come from cyberattacks. Indeed, per Gen. Alexander, only nuclear bombs and other weapons of mass destruction can cause more damage, faster, over wider areas. [..] In a speech at the National Press Club, Napolitano stated that the U.S. 'will, at some point, face a major cyber event that will have a serious effect on our lives, our economy and the everyday functioning of our society.'" Continue reading →

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JP Morgan fines may hit $600 million

"JP Morgan's penalties to resolve various probes of the 'London whale' trading fiasco are expected to total $500 million to $600 million, according to people close to the situation. US and UK officials for months have been considering the possibility of a global settlement that would resolve all the probes at once, said another person familiar with the matter. Exact terms aren't known and no final decisions have been reached. Any settlement might include the filing of civil charges alleging that JP Morgan failed to supervise adequately former traders responsible for the bets and lacked sufficient controls to prevent an alleged cover-up of the losses, people close to the investigations said." Continue reading →

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