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"France! Help!"
In April, Mali suffered creepy 7th century style"Slamist radical groups linked to al-Qaeda in the Maghreb seizing like half the country and sho nuff forcefully imposed a Talibanish rule so cruel
— featuring amputations and Allah only knows what other bloody minded bloodiness as punishment — that hundreds
of thousands of people have run for their lives. These creepy jerks now control turf more bigger than
France!
"Non-military solution seems unlikely. Mali already is split in half, and
the Islamist groups have dug into their strongholds in Timbuktu and Goa.
They will be dislodged only by force. The northern desert makes any
military option exceedingly difficult, so a counteroffensive will need
to focus initially on the cities the radicals control."
Risque m"suer! Intervencion that is. After all, it could jam up the new French Pres" political standing (even tho cats in France are liking it au courant) and invite something something blow back - like terrorists creeps acting out on French soil killing innocents.
Looks like M"suer Hollande is zooming out and checking the big pic - that inaction bore a greater peril of producing a jihadist state like Afghanistan
"We must stop the rebels' offensive, otherwise
the whole of Mali will fall into their hands - creating a threat for
Africa and even for Europe"
Pic - "Francafrique"
WoW - the Watchers Council - it's the oldest, longest running cyber comte d'guere ensembe in existence - started online in 1912 by Sirs Jacky Fisher and Winston Churchill themselves - an eclective collective of cats both cruel and benign with their ability to put steel on target (figuratively - natch) on a wide variety of topictry across American, Allied, Frenemy and Enemy concerns, memes, delights and discourse.
Every week these cats hook up each other with hot hits and big phazed cookies to peruse and then vote on their individual fancy catchers.
Thusly sans further adieu (or a don"t)
Council Winners
Non-Council Winners
See you next week! And don’t forget to like us on Facebook and follow us Twitter
Faux Pas!
Often times in Girl World - making up stuff as you go along can kinda backfire
Can such be saithed about the world of the diplopolititary, pacifically - Foreign Policy?
GsGf"s Internat"l Affairs Director cat says "Heck yeah!"
44 likes to say that his approach is pragmatic. And it is. But pragmatism is reactive, not proactive. 44 addresses problems as they come up, simultaneously and separately. He articulates few priorities and no overall vision of where he is taking Great Satan or the world. He wants to end America’s involvement in wars and expects other countries to step up as America steps back. But if China steps up and Europe doesn’t, what then?
44 disconnects and downsizes threats. In Iraq he declared “mission accomplished” and left, even though Iran, which is right next door and presumably the biggest threat in the region, has now moved into Iraq to solidify support for the Shiite regime and to supply arms to jihadists in Syria, Lebanon, and Palestine. In Afghanistan, 44 incrementally downsized America’s goal from defeating Al Qaeda and the Taliban, to weakening the Taliban, to negotiating with the Taliban to rejoin the government—which is how 9/11 started, right?
He targeted and killed specific terrorists such as ObL—immunizing his otherwise feckless foreign policy—but in the process created a bigger problem, a destabilized Pakistan. In Iran, he seeks to stop the development of nuclear weapons but is negotiating secretly with Tehran to stop simply the public announcement of nuclear weapons. He is ready to accommodate an Iranian nuclear capability as long as Iran doesn’t declare it has nuclear weapons.
44’s foreign policy is long on diplomatic ambitions and short on force to back up those ambitions. The president addresses every diplomatic hot-spot on the planet, sending special envoys to the Middle East, Iran, Afpak, Sudan, and North Korea, among others. Meanwhile, he cuts defense spending, which might be needed to implement such initiatives.
In fairness, defense cuts were coming, as were troop withdrawals. But 44 makes the cuts with no apparent regret or planning. He did not visit the Pentagon until January 2012, three years into office, and then he announced new strategic defense guidance that ended the two-war doctrine of having capabilities adequate to fight simultaneous wars in two regions. That this guidance undercut both 44’s policy toward Iran as well as his new pivot to Asia did not seem to be noticed. Where are the forces coming from to reassure Asian allies? And if forces are drawn from the Middle East, where is the threat to back up sanctions on Iran or support for Israel if Iran gets nuclear weapons?
Not only has 44 reduced existing resources to back up his ambitious diplomacy, he has failed to revive the American economy and generate new resources for the future. 44 has no credible policy to spur growth. His strategy of massive spending increases, higher taxes, compounding regulations, indefinitely loose monetary policy, and testier trade policies has not worked to produce prosperity. And without growth and new resources, you can forget any expectations for foreign policy initiatives, ambitious or reactive.
leadership. Leadership offers vision, connects means and ends, and rises above politics. 44 has demonstrated no capacity to do any of those things, either in Congress or in the world community. The optimistic view is that he will do so now because he no longer faces reelection. But that seems unlikely. If you have won two elections as a state senator, one as a U.S. senator, and two as president, and you still have no significant accomplishments to show for it, it’s doubtful that your leadership skills will suddenly emerge in what is presumably your last four years in office.
The world is at risk. Highly doubtful and LOLable that other countries will step up to stop Russia and China from exploiting the advantages they hold outside of negotiations while they talk endlessly inside negotiations. Russia is expanding its influence in Georgia, Ukraine, Syria, Iran, and, as Great Satan, leaves central Asia. China is doing the same in North Korea, the Taiwan Strait, Pakistan, and along the first island chain in the Pacific. Someone has to be there to limit their options.
Meanwhile, American allies are restless, especially Little Satan and Japan. They know that if America retreats, it will be a game changer in their respective regions. Yet 44 appears to be doing just that. He is playing it fast and loose on the diplomatic scene as the economy idles and military resources are withdrawn from around the world. The little light that pundits saw between 44’s foreign policy and that of his opposition in the recent election is about to become a glaring gap, as America drifts and instability around the world increases.
Pic - "While practical and hard-edged, 44 is not a risk taker with a grand strategy"
Senkaku! Or maybe Diaoyu?
As chiz gets all discombobulated betwixt the Ginormous Collectivist Momieland of China and tiny tiny Japan...
Japan’s Liberal Democratic Party national defense task force announced on Jan. 8 that it would increase the nation’s defense budget by
more than 100 billion yen ($1.15 billion), three of five scenarios
explored by the defense ministry recently involve the Self-Defense
Forces squaring off against the People’s Liberation Army (PLA).
While contingencies involving North Korea’s ballistic missiles and Russia were among the scenarios the defense ministry explored, the top three all involved a crisis in the East China Sea.
The first scenario examined a war between China and Japan over the disputed Diaoyu/Senkaku islands in the East China Sea. Earlier on Tuesday Japan summoned the
Chinese ambassador in Tokyo for the first time since Shinzo Abe was
sworn in as prime minister to protest the continued presence of official
Chinese ships in waters around the islets, which are claimed by Japan,
Taiwan and China.
The second scenario, meanwhile, expands on a Senkaku contingency and
looks at a widening war involving PLA attempts to seize the Ishigaki and
Miyako Islands west of northern Taiwan.
The third, and perhaps most controversial, scenario focuses on how Japan
would react to a Chinese invasion of Taiwan in 2021, a date reportedly chosen because it coincides with the 100th anniversary
of the founding of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). According to the
scenario, the PLA would rely mostly on amphibious vehicles, special
forces, ballistic missiles, and a fighter blockade to achieve its ends.
Although the latter scenario makes it clear that the hostilities would
primarily involve the PLA and Taiwanese military forces, it nevertheless
raises the possibility that China would attack U.S. and Japanese bases
on Okinawa, while using long-range ballistic missiles, such as the
DF-21D and DF-31, to threaten aircraft carriers in the region and the
Western United States should U.S. forces attempt to intervene in the conflict.
Interestingly, Japan would have a responsibility to come to Taiwan’s aid
in the event the PLA engages Taiwanese forces, the Japanese-language Sankei Shimbun said in its reporting on the scenarios on Jan. 1.
The two countries late last year also agreed to negotiate possible changes to
the bilateral guidelines to better reflect changes in the strategic
situation as well as give Japanese forces more room to maneuver.
While the scenarios remain in the realm of speculation, Japan’s
inclusion of a Taiwan contingency again underscores the importance Tokyo
places on Taiwan remaining de-facto independent. Certainly, China’s assertiveness in 2012
in both the East China and the South China Sea has done little to
reassure Tokyo that it could live comfortably with a CCP-controlled
Taiwan so close to its waters and territory. As such, rather than being
amenable to “abandoning” Taiwan, as a handful of U.S. academics have
been arguing for the sake of “improved” ties with Beijing, Tokyo may
become more inclined to ensure that the island continues to serve as a
natural barrier to Chinese expansion.
Pic - "Japan is an island country surrounded on all sides by the sea. That means any threats to our country will always approach us via the sea."
As the ever lethal Drones Gone Wild make more dead enemies, exMc4 warns and "spalins why cause that foreign perception amongst creepy intolerant nation states of sorts that cannot seem to uphold or Impose Writ of State, freak the freak out.
"What scares me about drone strikes is how they are perceived around the world. The resentment created by American use of unmanned strikes ... is much greater than the average American appreciates. They are hated on a visceral level, even by people who've never seen one or seen the effects of one."
"It's the perception of American arrogance that says, 'Well we can fly where we want, we can shoot where we want, because we can.'
Oui Oui mon General!!
A bit of Great Satan's je nee sais quoi - hip to hip with her Globe Stomping hyperpuissance. The ability to project American Power at will.
Consider - what foreigners in wild wack spots where Rule of Law is only a myth wouldn't hate that?
Great Satan should be loud and proud with LOLS and sweetly remind sour mouthers - acting out against her bears certain costs
Pic - "We should use Drones a lot more"
Arab Sprang springs along - washing away the old school dictators and Presidents for Life - yet what about corrupt Royalty in Ray Bans?
Are the monarchies immune?
Not anymore! Le Monde has a great Le Piece about Le Monarchies in Le Turf betwixt Suez and Indus
Arab monarchies. This may seem contradictory. After all, no kingdom fell during the Arab Spring, and indeed a common refrain in the western press has been that, compared to their republican counterparts, the autocratic monarchies of the region have proven exceptionally resilient in the face of social unrest.
The reasoning encompasses two arguments: these royal regimes enjoy a deeply rooted sense of cultural legitimacy that resonates throughout their societies. Unlike other authoritarian leaderships, they retain traditional acceptance with the public given their presence before or during anti-colonial struggles. Also, they are more adaptable, having a very flexible set of institutional tools with which to manipulate politics that go beyond mere repression.
However, the monarchies are running on borrowed time, and most are in worst straits than a decade ago. In Bahrain, for example, a mass uprising was stopped only through the combined efforts of the national security forces and the Gulf Cooperation Council’s military intervention. Morocco faced serious protests as well. There, the promise of constitutional revisions temporarily quieted public anger, but by accepting integration without meaningful political reform, the Islamist Justice and Development Party — the face of parliamentary opposition — now risk losing credibility like the rest of the political class. Moreover, the urban-rural divide is no longer salient; dissent is now everywhere, and demands for change have cut across old class and provincial lines.
Like Morocco, the Saudi monarchy is thickly embedded in society. Blessed by geology, it has used its enormous oil revenues to offset overt opposition with new welfare and development programmes, which has allowed the regime to defer more fundamental structural reforms. The opposite is true in oil-rich Kuwait. There, constant street protests against corruption and royal meddling have undermined the Al-Sabah family and the December 2012 elections were boycotted by the opposition. This tug-of-war between the monarchy and parliament has culminated in a critical juncture: either the regime accepts a prime minister who is a commoner, and thus beyond the emir’s control, or it must shut down parliament and backslide to authoritarianism at a very high cost.
In Jordan, the monarchy has become suffocated by two complementary forces. The Islamists want to preserve the monarchy, because the collapse of monarchical rule would allow Israel to portray the East Bank as the new alternative homeland for all Palestinians and thus justify the annexation of the whole of the West Bank. Yet they also desire constitutional monarchy, with greater political freedoms. The monarchy’s Bedouin tribal bedrock has become restless due to rising unemployment and corruption, which allows them to accuse the regime of favouring the wealthier Palestinian majority.
Vested interests run deep in monarchies, because dynastic families develop resilient connections to influential social and political groups that provide support in exchange for patronage, such as merchants, businessmen, farmers, tribes, and the ulama. Drastic reforms that replace absolute monarchy with real parliamentary governance would undercut not just royals but their commoner clients too.
Second, the post-colonial and post-cold war history of the region shows that monarchs have an aversion to transforming their executive power into moral authority; they will only consider constitutional monarchism after exhausting all other options and strategies. So without a concerted popular challenge, kingships have no incentive to bring anything more than cosmetic reforms to the bargaining table.
Once championed as moderate and adaptable regimes, the Arab monarchies now risk squandering a golden opportunity. Though they would have to surrender much power in a democratic transition, their institutions also have much to contribute in helping unify their societies during times of crisis and spare future conflict and instability.
Pic - "Ever notice 2013 kinda looks like 1913?"
Whale, despite two of the most biggest brains in the biz - looks awfully awful clear that 44 will pick Surge Hater Sen Hagel as Great Satan's next Def Sec.
Most likely a Def Sec Hagel will not mind if Defense gets all hollowed out - unlike Uncle Leon - who laid it out to play it out “It would guarantee that we hollow out our force and inflict severe damage on our national defense."
Yet despite a lack lustre resume' (truly - is there a Hagel Bill or Hagel Doctrine we can admire or LOL?) - Sen Hagel wouldn't be that great
What's striking about the case for Hagel is its absence. His backers can cite no significant legislation for which Hagel was responsible in his two terms in the Senate. They can quote no memorable speeches that Hagel delivered and can cite no profound passages from the book he authored. They can summarize no perceptive Hagelian analysis of defense or foreign policy, and can appeal to no acts of management or leadership by the man they'd have as our next secretary of defense.
The fact is that those legislative achievements, intellectual insights, or management triumphs don't exist.
No one would care if the president wanted to send Hagel off to openly and aggressively make the case for Obama's foreign policy as ambassador to Luxembourg. But the secretary of defense has real responsibilities. Even his nomination has real consequences. In fact, nominating a person who is clearly soft on Iran would send exactly the wrong message to Tehran.
In the three weeks since Chuck Hagel’s name emerged as 44’s likely choice as the next secretary of defense, there's been a
lively, if lopsided, debate about his qualifications for the job. The
debate’s been lopsided because the arguments for Hagel have been so startlingly weak. It’s not just that those arguing for Hagel form an unusually motley crew, even by the standards of the anti-Little Satan swamp in which many of them frolic.
They can quote no memorable speeches that Hagel delivered and can cite
no profound passages from the book he authored. They can summarize no
perceptive Hagelian analysis of defense or foreign policy, and can
appeal to no acts of management or leadership by the man they'd have as
our next secretary of defense.
Dislike of hawks, neocons, or friends of Little Satan isn't really a good
reason to select Chuck Hagel. And there's something comical about many
of the defenses of Hagel. His defenders rise up in high dudgeon
to condemn Hagel's critics as smear merchants for criticizing Hagel as
anti-Little Satan and soft on Iran—and then, if they're among the honest Hagel
defenders, they praise Hagel for being anti-Little Satan and soft on Iran.
Pic - "If Persia"s Preacher Command is hot for Hagel, then..."
