Secretary of State, John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister,
Sergei Lavrov met in Switzerland today.
They were there to negotiate a potential deal that would see the United
States and Syria avoid a conflict, and to contain any violence that may spawn
off an attack on Bashar’Al Assad. As the
world watches to super powers convene over a catalyst to another war in the
Middle East, I couldn’t help but think back a few years to something I heard.
It was on the Daily Show with Jon Stewart. He said, “I can’t figure out if Obama is
playing on some jedi level of thinking 20 steps ahead of everyone, or if he’s
just struggling to get by.”
I think Barrack Obama is a jedi.
The left and right broadcasting companies are jockeying for
position over what’s more American, strikes on Syria or not getting dragged
into another Iraq. Meanwhile, President
Obama sits in his office and looks at the data that is coming into him. He is in a position of scrutiny. No matter what positions or stance he takes,
domestic or foreign, someone out there will declare why he is the worst
president ever. It is this clatter of 24
hour news broadcasts, and left vs. right interviews, which leads me to believe
we are all being manipulated by the president.
Let’s look at what’s on the table.
Obama has stated since August of 2012, that a red line for
action against Syria would be the use of chemical weapons. When the gas attack on August 21, 2013
happened, it was almost a year to the date.
Obama’s foreign policies since he’s been in office have been
decisive. It started out just weeks into
his first term in 2009, a US cargo ship was attacked and boarded by
pirates. The US Navy intercepted, shot
and killed three Somali pirates.
According to CNN and the New York times, the decision to act took less
than 24 hours. He shows this decisive
attitude in other incidents around the world.
When the location of Osama bin Laden had been confirmed, the
president took 48 hours to confirm and organize a raiding party in
Pakistan. He and his staff informed no
one of the plan. The Pakistani’s were
left in the dark, as were all of NATO and the UN. When the sun began to set in the capital, the
world had learned that Osama bin Laden had been shot and killed by Navy Seals. He saw his chance and took it. This is a common theme with the
administration. Let us also look at the
countless drone strikes around the Middle East that gets the green light from
Obama. There have been over 350
confirmed drone attacks in Pakistan alone.
That number is more than twice the number of strikes former president
George W. Bush had ordered. This is a
pattern that follows a specific attitude towards direct action.
We saw it once more in Libya. The US Congress voted against action in
Libya, and Obama went and proceeded anyways.
One of my questions now is, why is taking his time to ask
now?
My own personal opinion is: He never wanted to attack Syria
in the first place.
I believe that Obama got Sec. John Kerry to leak the
proposal during his speech.
Oh, what a gaffe the secretary made. I think it was planned.
If Obama had wanted to bomb Syria, he would have done it. He’s showed that if Congress doesn’t think it’s
a good idea, he’ll do it anyways. Now,
let’s look at what this has sparked.
Bashar’al Assad has come
out and confirmed that Syria owns a chemical weapons store. Something they have denied in the past. It also puts Russia into play. Any type of ruling the UN would try and pass
against Syria would have been shot down by Russia or China. By getting Russia involved in the
negotiations, they are now invested in the efforts. If a deal comes to the UN they help sponsor,
they can’t vote no on their own idea. They
are also acting as a buffer in the Middle East.
Regardless of what the US does on the Arabian Peninsula,
there will be a faction, a government, a sect, who is not happy with the
results. The US will always be in a no
win situation in any conflict there.
However, if Russia is the one taking the lead, this changes things. There is no more knee jerk anti-US
reaction. We don’t know how the region
will react. There are so many factions
involved, you’d need a scorebook just to keep track. We do know what type of reception there would
be if US was involved. Someone would be
upset. This ranges anywhere from Iran,
to Russia, to any one of the faction of rebels fighting, it even would affect
Israel, Palestine. I’m willing to bet, that
whatever reaction there is to the Russians, it will be a lot better than that
to a US plan. This leads us to the final
point.
People are talking.
The long people talk, the less chance there is people will die.
For the first time ever, we are seeing open communication
between Syria and the West. Albeit,
through Russia, but it is still happening.
As of Thursday, September 12, 2013, Syria is stating they will sign the
United Nations Charter on Chemical Weapons.
A charter that states they will dismantle and destroy all their chemical
weapons, with the threat of a Chapter 7 action, if they break the treaty.
A lot of this now depends on the players involved. The ball is kicked into Putin’s court. He now has to deal with it. He has been put in the global spot light, if
he succeeds or fails will be televised and broadcast around the world. If he now states he is going to help disarm
chemical weapons from Assad, he now has to do it. Or else, Russia loses a lot of traction
internationally. Even now, Russia is under
immense international pressure for their human rights abuses. One gets the feeling that as soon as Vladamir
Putin opened his mouth, someone put a microphone, with loud speakers, right in
front of him.
As it stands, the world is backing away from a potential
conflict. I believe this is the first
time in years, we as humans can say this has happened. I place it all on what Sec. John Kerry said
in England, when he made his “gaffe.”
Barrack Obama is a smart person. He
thinks a few steps ahead of the plan. It
is in the realm of possibilities that he got Kerry to say the line, to open a
door to diplomacy. This is how world
diplomacy should work. Conflicting sides
coming together and negotiating a deal with something everyone can live with.
“I can’t figure out if Obama is playing on some jedi level
of thinking 20 steps ahead of everyone, or if he’s just struggling to get by.”
It may have been
risky to put war on the table, when what you are after is to stop the use of
chemical weapons. He may be getting
slammed from all sides on how he handled this whole incident. I don’t believe he thinks about that at
all. He’s already thought about it, long
before we have, and is now working on the next problem. He may not be Obi-Wan-Kenobi, but he
definitely took on the persona of the Emperor, when using some Machiavellian dealings
with Syria. Let’s not forget though,
even Palpatine was trained in using the force.
Let’s hope this works
out, and no further bloodshed will come from it.
*fingers crossed*
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