NO ! There was a document on USG stationery which Gen. Wesley Clark saw; it was the policy of the group headed by the then Dep. SecDEf Paul Wolfowitz. No personal surmise and not fuzzy at all. We who were there still have nightmares.
You are so correct (once again),Juan.
Having over-demonized, if there is such a term,Iran (and Asad and Putin), we find ourselves in a near hopeless box of flailing against former partners and potential future friends.
What is shocking to me is that our foreign policy establishment seems to have lost its ability to pursue a nuanced foreign policy. Is that all driven by an agenda to achieve minimal gains before November 9 or January 20 ?
No,no,no. The Trump "supporters" are actually not at all. What they are is shown on the sign: they hate HRC with a passion, and they believe that Trump will deliver them from her and from what they believe standard politicians have done to them and their country.
To them it is quite irrelevant what Trump says and what he does; it is all about what he promises( e.g."lock her up"!)
Amazing essay; certainly thought-provoking. Thanks for sharing; I plan to pass it on.
Question: How could it become required reading for politicians and the general public, followed by mandatory discussions ?
xtian,
You and General Flynn do not disagree. You were referring to your professional colleagues--with whom I identify also--and he was referring to the general public.
I was serving in another branch of the USG at the time, in a fairly senior position, and my experiences were similar to yours.
The simple math, well known to politicians, is that there are more among the uninformed masses than among the professional specialists. Ergo.
Good insights ,Juan, and new information (for me). Which of the politicized Turkish media can be trusted here ? As you point out,they all have domestic agendas.
Another dimension is the historical fact, well-known to JC--that the oddly shaped Hatay Province--Alexandretta to Syria--was donated to Ataturk's Turkey by Mandate France in the late 1930s, giving Turkey control of the NE corner of the Mediterranean and setting off a perpetual dispute between Turkey and Syria once the latter became independent after WW II. It was there that Syrian refugees first crossed into "Turkish" territory in large numbers in 2011/12 and from where foreign agents have been operating.
Actually, Merkel's comments did cause the girl to cry, but not because she told her that she was not welcome. I heard the entire exchange;once again,misrepresentation, or deliberate disinformation.She talked about the problem of refugees and asylum seekers and how difficult it is to live away from home. then she hugged her.
Well, it could have been phrased differently: Instead "Ottomans joined WW I on side of Germany and Austria", how about "Ottomans entered into WW I AGAINST Britain,France and Russia, all of whom had nibbled away on the declining O.E."
AK: Do not include the Baathist Parties as you say in this. The founder was Christian as were many of the leaders and followers, precisely because the Ba'ath was totally secular (in order to reach across religious divides in the Fertile Crescent).
How about a "Blessing in Disguise"? Most Americans want their troops home, and I believe that Obama's heart was never in the Afghanistan mission--he used that deployment to justify immediate withdrawal from Iraq by calling the former the "right war" vs. the latter ("wrong war").
He may even have been hoping secretly that Karzai would refuse to sign the BSA and hence giving him the excuse for immediate and complete withdrawal. If so, I concur completely.
NO ! There was a document on USG stationery which Gen. Wesley Clark saw; it was the policy of the group headed by the then Dep. SecDEf Paul Wolfowitz. No personal surmise and not fuzzy at all. We who were there still have nightmares.
You are so correct (once again),Juan.
Having over-demonized, if there is such a term,Iran (and Asad and Putin), we find ourselves in a near hopeless box of flailing against former partners and potential future friends.
What is shocking to me is that our foreign policy establishment seems to have lost its ability to pursue a nuanced foreign policy. Is that all driven by an agenda to achieve minimal gains before November 9 or January 20 ?
No,no,no. The Trump "supporters" are actually not at all. What they are is shown on the sign: they hate HRC with a passion, and they believe that Trump will deliver them from her and from what they believe standard politicians have done to them and their country.
To them it is quite irrelevant what Trump says and what he does; it is all about what he promises( e.g."lock her up"!)
Am completely with you,Anisa.(and Juan Cole,as usual)
Amazing essay; certainly thought-provoking. Thanks for sharing; I plan to pass it on.
Question: How could it become required reading for politicians and the general public, followed by mandatory discussions ?
xtian,
You and General Flynn do not disagree. You were referring to your professional colleagues--with whom I identify also--and he was referring to the general public.
I was serving in another branch of the USG at the time, in a fairly senior position, and my experiences were similar to yours.
The simple math, well known to politicians, is that there are more among the uninformed masses than among the professional specialists. Ergo.
Good insights ,Juan, and new information (for me). Which of the politicized Turkish media can be trusted here ? As you point out,they all have domestic agendas.
Another dimension is the historical fact, well-known to JC--that the oddly shaped Hatay Province--Alexandretta to Syria--was donated to Ataturk's Turkey by Mandate France in the late 1930s, giving Turkey control of the NE corner of the Mediterranean and setting off a perpetual dispute between Turkey and Syria once the latter became independent after WW II. It was there that Syrian refugees first crossed into "Turkish" territory in large numbers in 2011/12 and from where foreign agents have been operating.
Actually, Merkel's comments did cause the girl to cry, but not because she told her that she was not welcome. I heard the entire exchange;once again,misrepresentation, or deliberate disinformation.She talked about the problem of refugees and asylum seekers and how difficult it is to live away from home. then she hugged her.
And Henry Kissinger wrote his doctoral dissertation about Prinz Metternich.
Well, it could have been phrased differently: Instead "Ottomans joined WW I on side of Germany and Austria", how about "Ottomans entered into WW I AGAINST Britain,France and Russia, all of whom had nibbled away on the declining O.E."
Have readers still not learned what a caliphate is? (as opposed to what our politicians imply to scare the public). 632 CE-1924 CE.
Check it out.
AK: Do not include the Baathist Parties as you say in this. The founder was Christian as were many of the leaders and followers, precisely because the Ba'ath was totally secular (in order to reach across religious divides in the Fertile Crescent).
How about a "Blessing in Disguise"? Most Americans want their troops home, and I believe that Obama's heart was never in the Afghanistan mission--he used that deployment to justify immediate withdrawal from Iraq by calling the former the "right war" vs. the latter ("wrong war").
He may even have been hoping secretly that Karzai would refuse to sign the BSA and hence giving him the excuse for immediate and complete withdrawal. If so, I concur completely.