Dumb American Military Missteps So Far This Century (Commentary)

U.S. Army Sgt. Dale Fletcher, left, hands a hammer to U.S. Army Spc. Justin Calhoun during the construction of living quarters for soldiers on Forward Operating Base Lightning in Paktya province, Afghanistan, Sept. 22, 2013. Fletcher and Calhoun, combat engineers, are assigned to the Kentucky National Guard's 149th Vertical Construction Company. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Justin A. Moeller

Eight Exceptional(ly Dumb) American Military Missteps So Far This Century -- Tom Engelhardt, Mother Jones

The invasion of Iraq as only the tip of the iceberg

This story first appeared on the TomDispatch website.

"But when, with modest effort and risk, we can stop children from being gassed to death, and thereby make our own children safer over the long run, I believe we should act. That's what makes America different. That's what makes us exceptional. With humility, but with resolve, let us never lose sight of that essential truth."

—Barack Obama, address to the nation on Syria, September 10, 2013

Let's be Americans, which means being exceptional, which also means being honest in ways inconceivable to the rest of humanity. So here's the truth of it: the American exceptionalism sweepstakes really do matter. Here. A lot.

Barack Obama is only the latest in a jostling crowd of presidential candidates, presidential wannabes, major politicians, and minor figures of every sort, not to speak of a raging horde of neocons and pundits galore, who have felt compelled in recent years to tell us and the world just how exceptional the last superpower really is. They tend to emphasize our ability to use this country's overwhelming power, especially the military variety, for the global good—to save children and other deserving innocents. This particularly American aptitude for doing good forcibly, by killing others, is considered an incontestable fact of earthly life needing no proof. It is well known, especially among our leading politicians, that Washington has the ability to wield its military strength in ways that are unimaginably superior to any other power on the planet.

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My Comment: Not a fan of Mother Jones/Tom Dispatch .... but aside from Tom Engelhardt comments on American exceptionalism (which he clearly does not understand .... and my explanation on American exceptionalism is here) I find the rest of his post accurate on the multi-billions that have been wasted in trying to transform societies like Iraq and Afghanistan.

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Did The New York Times Editors And Columnists Influence President Obama's Decisions On Syria?

New York Times Editors, Columnists Met With Obama During Syria Push -- Huffington Post

NEW YORK -- In his new book, The Message, MSNBC.com editor Richard Wolffe describes how the Obama White House grew frustrated in 2011 with The New York Times after some negative editorials ran in the paper. President Barack Obama ended up calling Andy Rosenthal, the paper’s editorial page editor, and a couple weeks later Rosenthal and the Times editorial board went to the White House for an off-the-record meeting with the president.

But that wasn’t the last time Obama met with Times editorial board members. On Aug. 29, the president again sat down for an off-the-record discussion with Rosenthal and some members of the editorial board, according to sources familiar with the meeting. Times opinion columnists David Brooks, Gail Collins and Ross Douthat also attended, but editors for the paper's news pages did not.

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Update: Report: Obama Consulted NY Times Editors, Columnists on Syria Strategy -- Breitbart

My Comment: I hope that this story is wrong .... but if this is true this is embarrassing on so many levels that I do not even know where to begin. What is the point of having a national security team/State Department/Pentagon/Congress/and foreign allies .... if the final decision is influenced by a newspaper. Not surprising .... the White House and The New York Times are not admitting or denying this story.

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The Consequences Of America's Shrinking Role In The World

Image from ucg.org

The Puny Superpower -- James Rubin, Newsweek

America's role in the world is steadily shrinking .... and that's nothing to celebrate.

The diplomatic debacle over Syria that is unfolding before the eyes of the world represents more than just a conflicted president struggling with a thorny problem of whether to use military force. And it is not merely about the narrow question of humanitarian intervention—whether America should seek to prevent or deter mass atrocities. Rather, it reflects a profound transformation that appears to be taking place in American foreign policy—a transformation that I fear we will regret.

In the years before World War II, as isolationism took hold across America, an alternative way of thinking emerged to counter those who argued that events in faraway countries with unpronounceable names were not America’s concern. This philosophy—which came to be known as liberal internationalism—drove the responses of Franklin Roosevelt and Harry Truman first to Hitler’s fascism and then to Stalin’s communism. John F. Kennedy was invoking this tradition when he famously called for America to “bear any burden ... in order to assure the survival and the success of liberty.” The idea was that American foreign policy could not simply be a matter of looking out for ourselves, but ought to be tied to larger ambitions—among them, the creation and preservation of a world order in which democratic values and economic freedom could thrive; the championing of a rules-based international system; the mitigation of regional conflicts and instability; and opposition to oppressive ideologies. As the Cold War unfolded over the subsequent decades, American foreign policy certainly varied from president to president. Yet there remained a basic consensus among policymakers in favor of this core idea.

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My Comment: James Rubin's analysis is probably right .... we are entering a new world order but not in the way that many thought would happen a decade or two ago.

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Ex-Mossad Chief: Former Mossad chief Shabtai Shavit

Former Mossad chief Shabtai Shavit, September 2013 (photo credit: IDC/Adi Cohen Zedek)

US Is ‘Floundering’ Over Syria, Says Ex-Mossad Chief -- Elhanan Miller, Times of Israel

Russia’s proposal makes Assad’s ouster less likely, to Israel’s detriment, says Shabtai Shavit; attacks like 9/11 won’t recur, thanks to Western vigilance

Russia’s proposal to remove Syria’s chemical weapons has driven the prospect of Bashar Assad’s ouster further away, to Israel’s detriment, the former head of the Mossad told The Times of Israel in an exclusive interview.

Shabtai Shavit, who served at the helm of Israel’s overseas intelligence service from 1989 to 1996, accused the administration of President Barack Obama of “floundering” over Syria. He noted witheringly that the US had “balked” at firing “half a dozen Tomahawk missiles” at the Syrian regime in the wake of the August 21 alleged chemical weapons attack by Assad, that the US says killed 1,429 Syrians.

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My Comment: He holds back no punches.

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Commentaries, Opinions, And Editorials On President Obama's Syria Speech

Forces of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad are seen in Arjoun village near Qusair town May 30, 2013. (Photo by Rami Bleible/Reuters)

Russia's Syria Proposal Offers Major Powers Clear Advantages -- Paul Richter, L.A. Times

Even if the proposal bogs down at the U.N., it provides a diplomatic way out of a military strike. Syrian rebels and their supporters, however, stand to lose.

WASHINGTON — The Russian proposal for Syria to surrender its chemical weapons has gained great momentum because it provides clear advantages to several world leaders and leaves as the losers a smaller group that lacks much power to influence the outcome.

Even if the Russian proposal bogs down at the United Nations, as many observers expect, it offers a way to put the issue back in meeting rooms rather than on the battlefield, easing anxiety in many world capitals.

A U.S. bombardment of Syria with cruise missiles, which President Obama had planned, would certainly inflict damage, including a high likelihood of civilian casualties. Despite assurances that the attacks would be "narrow and limited," an American military strike would raise risks of escalation and retaliation.

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More Commentaries, Opinions, And Editorials On President Obama's Syria Speech

Obama agenda: Escaping imminent defeat? -- NBC
Political Wisdom: Decoding Obama’s Speech on Syria -- Wall Street Journal
Is Obama a Victim of the CNN Effect? -- Joshua Keating, Slate
Will Kerry’s Loose Lips Save Obama? -- John Cassidy, new Yorker
Russia, US seeing eye-to-eye on Syria? Don't bet on it -- Fred Weir, Christian Science Monitor
Obama's Speech On Syria May Fail To Sway Doubters -- Alan Greenblatt, NPR
Barack Obama's speech won't sell Americans on Syria -- Aaron David Miller, Special to CNN
In Prime Time, Obama Struggles to Reason With Nation Over Syria -- Michael Scherer, Time
FACT CHECK: Obama's Syria case still lacks proof -- AP
Could Russia oppose enforcement of its own proposal on Syria? -- Ariel Zirulnick, Christian Science Monitor
Why Russia Is Now in Control of the Syria Crisis -- Major Garrett, The Atlantic
Putin Seizes on Syria to Cement Middle East Sway -- Bloomberg Businessweek
Threaten to Threaten -- Thomas L. Friedman, New York Times
Obama Rescues Assad -- Wall Street Editorial
Your Move, Putin -- Fred Kaplan, Slate
Obama offers chance to lock up chemical weapons: Column -- David A. Andelman, USA Today
On Russia-Syria offer, what's the catch? Our view -- USA Today editorial
Who Do You Trust? -- Maureen Dowd, New York Times
Dazed and Confused -- William J. Dobson, Salon
Obama’s Call for Action–and Inaction -- Max Boot, Commentary
Syria presents a constitutional moment -- George F. Will, Washington Post
Obama on Syria: The emperor has no policy -- Hamid Dabashi, AL Jazeera
Why the New Syria Plan Won't Work Either -- Jeffrey Goldberg, Bloomberg Businessweek
Did Obama answer these 5 questions about Syria? -- Leigh Ann Caldwell and John Crawley, CNN
Syria speech: What's next on Obama's to-do list -- Lateef Mungin, CNN
Syria speech: What we learned about Obama -- Linda Feldmann, Christian Science Monitor

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America's Allies Are Unwilling To Join The U.S. In Launching Military Operations Against Syria

U.S. President Barack Obama during a news conference at the G20 Summit in St. Petersburg on Sept. 6. Photo by Kevin Lamarque/Reuters

The Coalition Of The Unwilling -- Christopher Dickey, Daily Beast

At the G20 this week, America’s old allies made clear they think they can remain innocent bystanders to the Syrian war. But there’s nothing innocent about apathy, says Christopher Dickey.

Seamus Heaney, the great Irish poet who died in August, wrote that in war there is “no such thing as innocent bystanding,” and he was all too right about that. Those who do nothing to end the slaughter are as complicit as those who brandish their weapons. One might watch and wait for years “balanced between destiny and dread,” Heaney wrote. But there comes a time when there is nowhere to hide from the shared responsibility of humanity.

When President Barack Obama met with the leaders of the world’s most powerful nations at the G20 summit in Russia last week, seeking support for military action against the Bashar al-Assad regime in Syria, he found himself surrounded by a mob of bystanders, a coalition of the unwilling, as it were, and rarely has an American head of state looked so lonely.

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My Comment: Charles Dickey is too harsh on those who do not want to participate in U.S. military operations against Syria. Many do not see Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's government as a threat .... and President Obama has been unconvincing in proving that Assad's government ordered the chemical attack that killed 1,400.

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The Disconnect Between Washington And The American People On Syria

The ''Act now to stop war and end racism'' (ANSWER) coalition holds a rally outside the White House in Washington, August 29, 2013. The group rallied their opposition to U.S.-led military action on Syria. REUTERS/Jason Reed

Why America Is Saying 'No' -- Peggy Noonan, Wall Street Journal

Syria and Obama: Wrong time, wrong place, wrong plan, wrong man.

It is hard, if you've got a head and a heart, to come down against a strong U.S. response to Syria's use of chemical weapons against its civilian population. This is especially so if you believe that humanity stands at a door that leads only to darkness. Those who say, "But Saddam Hussein used chemical weapons—the taboo was broken long ago," are missing the point. When Saddam used gas against the Kurds it was not immediately known to all the world. It was not common knowledge. The world rued it in retrospect. Syria is different: It is the first obvious, undeniable, real-time, YouTubed use of chemical weapons. The whole world knew of it the morning after it happened, through horrified, first-person accounts, from videos of hospital workers and victims' families.

The world this time cannot "not know," or claim not to know. And though Bashar Assad has made his pro forma denials, it does not seem believable that this was not a government operation. Assad's foes may or may not be wicked enough to use such weapons, but it is hard to believe they are capable.

When something like this happens and the world knows and does not respond, you won't get less of it in the future, you'll get more. And the weapons will not only be chemical.

So the question: What to do?

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My Comment: Peggy Noonan has written a commentary that I wish I was capable of doing. This is my must read for today.

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President Obama Is Losing His Foreign Policy Supporters

Obama Team Has Mishandled Syria -- Fareed Zakaria, CNN

Last March, President Barack Obama spoke about how Syria’s use of chemical weapons would be a “game-changer.” It has, except not quite in the sense that he meant. It has been an event that has confused and confounded the Obama administration. Whatever your views on the larger issues, it’s hard not to conclude that the administration’s handling of Syria over the last year has been a case study in how not to do foreign policy.

The president started out with an understanding that the Syrian conflict is a messy sectarian struggle that cannot be influenced easily by American military intervention. He was disciplined in resisting calls to jump into a cauldron. But from the start he confused and undermined this policy with loose rhetoric, perhaps egged on by some of his advisors and critics to "do something."

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My Comment: Fareed Zakaria has been a supporter of President Obama since 2008 .... and I suspect that he is not the only one who has been disappointed by President Obama.

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Americans Are Skeptical Of A U.S. Military Strike Against Syria

Skepticism Grows In US Over Syria Military Strike -- Voice of America

WASHINGTON — With Americans weary over more than a decade of war, and strong memories of the faulty intelligence that led to the invasion of Iraq, skepticism appears to be growing about the proposed military attack on Syria. Polls show a majority of Americans are firmly opposed to such a move.

It was called “shock and awe,” the application of massive military force designed to overwhelm the Iraqi military in 2003. Necessary, U.S. officials said, because of concern about weapons of mass destruction and a desire to end the conflict quickly.

It took until the final days of 2011, though, before the last American troops left Iraq, where an insurgency continues to rage.

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My Comment: This skepticism is justified .... and you can count me as one of the skeptics.

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Is The U.S. Losing It's Credibility In Syria?

Bombing Or Not, We're Losing Our Credibility In Syria -- Mark Steyn, Investors.com

I see the Obama "reset" is going so swimmingly that the president is now threatening to go to war against a dictator who gassed his own people.

Don't worry, this isn't anything like the dictator who gassed his own people that the discredited warmonger Bush spent 2002 and early 2003 staggering ever more punchily around the country inveighing against.

The 2003 dictator who gassed his own people was the leader of the Baath Party of Iraq. The 2013 dictator who gassed his own people is the leader of the Baath Party of Syria. Whole other ball of wax.

The administration's ingenious plan is to lose this war in far less time than we usually take. In the unimprovable formulation of an unnamed official speaking to the Los Angeles Times, the White House is carefully calibrating a military action "just muscular enough not to get mocked."

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My Comment: Mark Steyn is brutal in this commentary .... and sadly right.

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Why Is America Disarming And The World Is Rearming?

A U.S. soldier provides security during a presence patrol around Forward Operating Base Fenty in Nangarhar province, Afghanistan, Aug. 22, 2013. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Margaret Taylor

America’s Vanishing Deterrent -- Frank J. Gaffney Jr., The Washington Times

Syria’s chemical weapons serve as a reminder that few are following the U.S. in disarming

President Obama appears to be poised to embroil the United States in a new war in Syria in response to the recent, murderous use of chemical weapons there. Ill-advised as this step is, it is but a harbinger of what is to come as reckless U.S. national security policies and postures meet the hard reality of determined adversaries emboldened by our perceived weakness.

The focus at the moment is on what tactical response the president will make to punish Syrian dictator Bashar Assad for his alleged violation of Mr. Obama’s glibly declared “red line” barring the use of such weapons of mass destruction. There seems to be little serious thought given at the moment to what happens next: What steps Mr. Assad and his allies, Iran and Hezbollah, may take against us, our interests and allies; what the repercussions will be of the United States further helping the Muslim Brotherhood and al Qaeda forces who make up the bulk of Mr. Assad’s domestic opposition; and the prospects for a far wider war as a result of the answers to both of these questions.

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My Comment: Some good questions are being asked in this post .... read it all.

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Are Rogue Nations Getting A Free Pass From the U.S.

A War-Weary America Gives Rogue Nations a Free Pass -- David Francis, The Fiscal Times

Outrage over the apparent chemical annihilation of entire Syrian communities—including massive numbers of children—reached a tipping point on Thursday when images of the horror were broadcast and published throughout the world.

While most countries offered sympathy coupled their usual condemnations – including the United States -- the French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius called for the use of force against the alleged perpetrator, Syrian President Bashir al-Assad. His goal is to retain power at all costs, even if it means wiping out entire villages in Syria’s ongoing civil war.

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My Comment: The big worry is that these "rogue nations" have a tendency to come back and "bite us" when we least suspect it.

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Is The Middle East Doomed?

President Barack Obama leaves a presidential coin at the gravesite of 19-year-old Medal of Honor recipient, Specialist Ross McGinnis, who is one of two Medal of Honor recipients memorialized at Arlington Cemetery from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The President was at Arlington Cemetery to give Veterans Day remarks, November 11, 2009. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

How Obama's Foreign Pullback Dooms The Mideast -- David Francis, The Fiscal Times

Since President Obama took office in 2009, he has repeatedly said he has no interest in backing the kind of nascent democracies that were supported by George W. Bush’s administration.

“I’m not doing long-term nation-building,” he reportedly told former Defense Secretary Robert Gates and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in 2009. “I am not spending a trillion dollars.”

Obama indicated where he does want to spend America's resources this week when he told Jay Leno on “The Tonight Show” that the United States needed to invest in its infrastructure. It’s become one of the cornerstones of his presidency.

The focus on domestic issues has been especially evident in recent weeks. International crises and incidents have been breaking out around the world – especially in the Middle East. Yet because of the White House’s retreat from the global stage, Washington has been powerless to impact any of them.

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My Comment: I am always surprised to read posts like the one above by David Francis on President Obama's lack of interest on foreign affairs and/or his desire to disengage America from the troubled spots of the world. He has always been open and honest when he ran for President on where he stands and what his focus will be .... and that focus has always been on this .... and on this issue he has tried his best to keep his promise. America is tired of foreign wars .... billions spent on ungrateful nations, U.S. soldiers killed and maimed .... and President Obama personifies this 'tired' mindset. And while I do expect America to re-engage on the world scene one day .... I only hope that it will be done on our terms instead of being dragged into a conflict and/or crisis that we have no control over and/or desire to become involved in.

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