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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsObama's staff is rewriting his speech because of what happened today. That's how planned this was
@verumserum: BTW, Obama's staff is rewriting his speech because of what happened today. That's how planned this was: http://t.co/9cvXD07j0R
Russian Proposal Catches Obama Between Putin and House Republicans
WASHINGTON President Obama woke up Monday facing a Congressional defeat that many in both parties believed could hobble his presidency. And by the end of the day, he found himself in the odd position of relying on his Russian counterpart, Vladimir V. Putin, of all people, to bail him out.
Putin knows that everyone wants an out, so hes providing one, said Fiona Hill, a former national intelligence officer and co-author of Mr. Putin: Operative in the Kremlin. It seems like a bold idea that will get everyone, including Obama, out of a bind that they dont want to be in.
It just adds to the uncertainty and makes a vote soon a little more difficult, said Howard Berman, a Democrat and former chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee. It just gets dragged out and causes the Congress to say lets wait to see what happens with this before they vote.
All of which had White House speechwriters revising their drafts before Mr. Obama addresses the nation Tuesday night in what is shaping up as one of the most challenging moments of his presidency. He hoped to explain why it was necessary to retaliate for a chemical weapons attack that, according to United States intelligence, killed more than 1,400 in Syria, but also reassure Americans the result would not be another Iraq war.
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/10/world/middleeast/surprise-russian-proposal-catches-obama-between-putin-and-house-republicans.html?emc=edit_tnt_20130909&tntemail0=y&_r=1&
David__77
(23,170 posts)That of Assad, Obama, and Putin, this development is most helpful to Assad.
ConcernedCanuk
(13,509 posts).
.
.
If Syria is pretty much left alone with it's internal strife,
Global War is not a concern.
But if the USA gets into a pissing contest with Russia, Iran, China and all the other NEIGHBORS of Syria;
Global war is indeed a possibility imo.
My concern now is that the MIC wants global war -
and it's gonna get it -
any way they can.
(sigh)
CC
bvar22
(39,909 posts)...and most hurtful to Al Qaeda and the other radical Islamists "Rebel" factions??
Yes?
Thought so.
Tx4obama
(36,974 posts)Just because Obama didn't know 'when' Putin was going to come out and talk about the new proposal doesn't mean that Obama and Putin didn't talk about it at the G20 conference.
Also, Obama revises his speeches ALL the time - sometimes he makes changes right up until it's time to give a speech.
Obama revising his speech doesn't prove anything one way or the other.
markpkessinger
(8,366 posts)Logical
(22,457 posts)stevil
(1,537 posts)What your point is. Not being disrespectful....thread title and body do not make sense to me.
Suich
(10,642 posts)dkf
(37,305 posts)If all along they had planned a rollout of a Russian-Syrian agreement, the speech should have been mostly done.
Hekate
(89,977 posts)snappyturtle
(14,656 posts)the address especially because this newest approach was not
in the original plan of the U.S. ........should have been. imho
Hydra
(14,459 posts)This is totally off script, so will the President accept this change of events gracefully and say that we're done or will he ask for the authorization anyway "just in case"?
dkf
(37,305 posts)That's for the 11 dimension chess believers who think its all planned.
Summer Hathaway
(2,770 posts)should stay out of discussions about chess.
You only embarrass yourself when you try to look like you know what you're talking about.
pkdu
(3,977 posts)dtom67
(634 posts)In THIS game, the russians are the ones that came out on top. They know,as anyone with any sense of honesty knows, that chemical weapons use is not why we are attacking. That crap is what we tell the bewildered herd in order to rally them behind military action. The russians offer up assad's chem weaps in order to illustrate the fact that we don't give a damned about thhose weapons. We will push to attack, even if the chems are surrendered. The reason the speech needs to be rewritten is that they will now have to add NEW REASONS to attack Syria, because the "chemical weapons" excuse is being undercut by the ruskies.
Have no fear, we WILL attack.
The Saudi's got their checkbook open. You know that means someone is gonna die.....
Oh,yeah btw... your "tiddlywinks" post isn't that compelling....
Summer Hathaway
(2,770 posts)And yet you felt compelled to respond to it.
"The reason the speech needs to be rewritten is that they will now have to add NEW REASONS to attack Syria, because the "chemical weapons" excuse is being undercut by the ruskies."
Yes, yes, of course. Aha. Yes, no doubt. Mm hmm, sure of it now.
sibelian
(7,804 posts)Ghost Dog
(16,881 posts)inspired game is very effective...
Always with this in mind (and this is only to his South and West):
[center]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vladimir_Putin#Martial_arts[/center]
/... http://tv.msnbc.com/2013/09/08/how-judo-and-kgb-tactics-inform-putins-diplomatic-strategy/
[center][/center]
OilemFirchen
(7,143 posts)It's not Paul Revere with a thumb drive, granted...
Ghost Dog
(16,881 posts)(No, seriously) Thanks for that!
--- ¿Why does that remind me of the likes of, ummm, Rudyard Kipling (or, say, Eric Blair). Mmm?
randome
(34,845 posts)[hr][font color="blue"][center]A ton of bricks, a ton of feathers. It's still gonna hurt.[/center][/font][hr]
dtom67
(634 posts)but this is classic political democratic thought. The rule of the Polyarchy demands that the Public be led to reaching the correct decisions via emotional manipulation, NOT logical discourse.
That isn't what we were told growing up, but there you have it.
That is just the way it is ....
see Lippmann or Bernays and you will see what I mean.
and then check the dates they were formulating these ideas.
long time ago ......
Kingofalldems
(38,314 posts)snappyturtle
(14,656 posts)the address especially because this newest approach was not
in the original plan of the U.S. ........should have been.
kelliekat44
(7,759 posts)I have been asking people here to flood the WH.gov site with pleas to not attack Syria. I did this and at the same time I offered a suggestion to allow Assad to give up his chem stash and allow them to be destroyed and in return the USs would call off an "imminent" attack. Ask the Russians to negotiate with Assad to call the rebels into account while also offering them a chance to make their grievances known. Off a chance for the rebels...all groups...to meet together under UN security to air out their differences and come up with a plan that would allow them to work together to get Assad to make concessions on running the country with the rebels playing a role. But all sides must agree to allow Christians, and all Muslim sects to worship freely and operate their businesses without being subjected to warfare. Well at least the first half of the suggestion was thought of and seems to be in place.
If Assad agrees and seriously allows the takeover of his chemical weapons stashes than the next negotiation step could take place. But is he doesn't make a good faith effort than nations should proceed to wipe out these sites through covert ground operations by offering safe harbor to Assad's military generals and folks who know about the chemical weapons sites.
2ndAmForComputers
(3,527 posts)Hasn't been the same since.
pnwmom
(108,915 posts)that it would succeed?
Skidmore
(37,364 posts)naivete. In what world does anyone live where situations involving many players do not require some adjustment of course? The only thing your post suggests to me is that you are engaging in a certain rigidity of thinking and are trying to force the flow of events to fit your script. Contrary to the conventional wisdom that appears to prevail DU these days, not everyone in the world is privy too or involved in the grand conspiracy for world domination and destruction. Putin responded. Hence the rewrite. The speech will be adjusted to accommodate new information as events unfold.
randome
(34,845 posts)[hr][font color="blue"][center]A ton of bricks, a ton of feathers. It's still gonna hurt.[/center][/font][hr]
FSogol
(45,312 posts)FedUpWithIt All
(4,442 posts)JoePhilly
(27,787 posts)They've been predicting a 2nd Iraq, and the end of Obama's second term as a result.
And they can feel it all slipping away.
Kingofalldems
(38,314 posts)Oops.
Avalux
(35,015 posts)Putin is not coming to Obama's rescue and saving his butt - he's forced to do this to keep Assad in power so that Syria remains stable, and Russia can maintain a presence in the middle east. They have their only military base outside of Russia in Syria. It's critical they can maintain the current arrangement. Obama has known this all and leveraged it.
msanthrope
(37,549 posts)Comrade Grumpy
(13,184 posts)I congratulate him for realizing he was heading in the wrong direction and taking up the Russian proposal.
woo me with science
(32,139 posts)frylock
(34,825 posts)rather than flipping the bird and insisting that this was scripted from jump.
joshcryer
(62,265 posts)Hoyt
(54,770 posts)Appears that's exactly what Obama did.
I'll give him credit for that.
Or, I guess I could bash Obama by saying: I don't care if everything worked out well, Obama is bad, bad, bad. Obviously, I'm assuming everything will work out as hoped.
randome
(34,845 posts)[hr][font color="blue"][center]A ton of bricks, a ton of feathers. It's still gonna hurt.[/center][/font][hr]
dkf
(37,305 posts)with half a brain knows isn't true.
Can't you all be reality based instead of imparting Obama with super Jedi tricks? You look so foolish sometimes.
Orsino
(37,428 posts)...I'm not ready to call him a hero or just lucky.
I'm not ready to write off a second term, either, not just because a speech got rewritten twenty-three times instead of twenty-two.
dkf
(37,305 posts)Anyone who is certain of the opposite I can't take seriously.
Skidmore
(37,364 posts)about what others believe. I have written and read a number of posts by other DUers who have pointed to the leverage that maintaining a threat of a strike gives even in negotiations of a peaceful or political resolution. You can't realistically expect that Assad says "Okey-dokey" and everyone pats him on his head and goes home without making certain that there is follow through. That threat will linger for some time in the future whether you like it or not.
dkf
(37,305 posts)Getting rid of nuclear ambitions works.
Syria is on the list. Eventually the neocons will be there.
Skidmore
(37,364 posts)shock registered in your posts?
dkf
(37,305 posts)Silly me. I thought I was electing the driver who would keep us out of the ditch.
Skidmore
(37,364 posts)He has been actively working on a way to get Syria back into the world community. Just now on MSNBC, the guy from Buzzfeed was on "The Cycle" and clearly stated that the idea for accounting for Syria's CWs was first discussed with Putin a full year ago. There is much that goes on in the negotiations between nations that none of us knows about. We see the results. The President is not an enemy but a man trying to do a thankless job.
Orsino
(37,428 posts)...but at the moment, the situation looks a lot better than it did.
kenny blankenship
(15,689 posts)He has been given a gift from Heaven here between Congress's cold shoulder and Russia's gesture. Also, it must be said that Britain's refusal to make the same mistake they made before is key - it has a huge impact on our Congress.
In order for this prospective agreement to NOT lead to future grief basically it has to be "meaningless". There's no way for an agreement about Syrian WMDs to be implemented to everyone's satisfaction during the middle of a fucking civil war. The importance or meaning of the hoped for agreement is all in allowing the two great powers to back away from a suicidal confrontation over a country that has no intrinsic value to either of us. Mr. Obama should have had enough time now to reflect on how incredibly stupid nearly getting us into WWIII over Syria was. He should studiously avoid any language that would enable or obligate the US (under his or any succeeding administration) to foolishly dangle its weenie over the Sarlacc of the Middle East EVER AGAIN.
Stay the fuck out!
wandy
(3,539 posts)Russia has interests in that area and may have no desire for a long term chemical weapon conflict.
Much less for something akin to Iraq II.
If President Obama finds himself working with Mr. Putin to bring about a resolve, the worst I would accuse him of in that instance would be taking advantage of a good situation.
FedUpWithIt All
(4,442 posts)There are multiple actors involved and an idea was discussed and then yesterday it was agreed to.
I am really having a hard time following along with all the vitriol being aimed at Obama. I think he and Kerry are handling things extremely well. It wasn't too long ago that we had an administration where a strike would have happened, without Congressional approval, disregarding public opinion, without diplomacy discussions and even in spite of concessions offered by other nations. Pauses for reflection, debate or consideration would not have been too likely.
It is beginning to seem as if people are simply bored and are jumping on this crisis for something new to entertain themselves. This isn't entertainment. This isn't a reality show. In the real world things take time. In the real world the solutions to conflict are not always so simple or black and white.
I am proud of my President through all of this.
1StrongBlackMan
(31,849 posts)I am really having a hard time following along with all the vitriol being aimed at Obama.
It is beginning to seem as if people are simply bored and are jumping on this crisis for something new to entertain themselves.
You are being far to charitable. To better understand, visit the DU archives
or better yet, pick the 5-50 most vitriolic post you can find today, and enter the posters name into the sites google search feature; but insert the date January, 2012, or even January 2009
and read forward.
woo me with science
(32,139 posts)It should chill every American that brazen, lying propaganda and rewriting of history appear to be the status quo now in political messaging in the United States of America.
phleshdef
(11,936 posts)Your bitterness tastes so delightful.
woo me with science
(32,139 posts)People will say we're in love.
polichick
(37,152 posts)Kingofalldems
(38,314 posts)Liberal_Stalwart71
(20,450 posts)Speeches are revised all the time. This is nothing new, folks.
The Straight Story
(48,121 posts)Spitfire of ATJ
(32,723 posts)That phrase is overused.
RC
(25,592 posts)nashville_brook
(20,958 posts)being reported that he was going ahead with the original. seriously.
Waiting For Everyman
(9,385 posts)I get jumped on to the point of absolute nonsense even after being nice enough to self-delete an op that linked to the Daily Mail, because it was objected to that strongly; but you have a tweet from Brietbart News in yours and there are CRICKETS about it.
I'm not objecting, just finding the selective vision and selective outrage very interesting.
MNBrewer
(8,462 posts)Blessed be.
kentuck
(110,916 posts)How do the speechwriters kniw what he thinks??????
Logical
(22,457 posts)Union Scribe
(7,099 posts)And I see the warhawk-turned-peacehawks have shown up to spread their peace upon you, lol.
Nye Bevan
(25,406 posts)in international negotiations involving several different countries and a weapons stockpile?
Really, I never heard of such a thing.
Ruby the Liberal
(26,212 posts)bvar22
(39,909 posts)Its the Pee Wee Herman Defense:
[font size=3]He MEANT to do that![/font]