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Flailing GOP White House hopeful and current New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, speaking on the Hugh Hewitt radio show, puts on his tough act saying he wouldn’t even allow a 5 year old orphan from Syria into the United States.
From In A Nutshell, check out this easy to understand video that explains the broader issue of events in Syria, plus dives into the role of the neighboring countries regarding aid and offering (or not) asylum to refugees.
Really worth the watch.
President Obama spoke to the nation today after a coalition of Arab allies joined the US in strategic airstrikes against ISIS in Syria last night.
The President’s comments precede his trip to NYC where he will ask the United Nations General Assembly for more support in the anti-ISIS campaign.
From NBC News:
“America’s proud to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with these nations on behalf of our common security,” the president said. “The strength of this coalition makes it clear to the world that this is not America’s fight alone.”
He reiterated that support for moderate opposition forces in Syria, who are fighting both ISIS and the regime of President Bashar Assad, is the “best counterweight” against the militants.
“The overall effort will take time,” Obama said. “There will be challenges ahead, but we’re going to do what’s necessary to take the fight to this terrorist group for the security of the country, the region and the entire world.”
Besides hitting ISIS targets, the United States, acting alone, struck training camps and other facilities belonging to a little-known network of seasoned al Qaeda veterans known as the Khorasan Group. Obama said that those strikes demonstrate to the world that “we will not tolerate safe havens for terrorists who threaten our people.”
He thanked the pilots who flew the missions “with the courage and professionalism that we’ve come to expect from the finest military that the world has ever known.”
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said announced an ambitious plan to transfer Syria’s massive chemical weapons stockpile to international control by the middle of next year, at which point they would be destroyed.
A potential U.N. Security Council resolution could authorize sanctions — even military action — if President Bashar Assad’s government fails to comply.
Kerry said any violations will result in “measures” from the Security Council, while Lavrov said the violations must be sent to the Security Council from the board of the chemical weapons convention before sanctions — short of the use of force — would be considered.
“Any violations of procedures … would be looked at by the Security Council and if they are approved, the Security Council would take the required measures, concrete measures,” Lavrov said. “Nothing is said about the use of force or about any automatic sanctions. All violations should be approved by the Security Council.”
Several questions remain, including how realistic is it to assume chemical weapons can be rounded up in the middle of a civil war.
(source)
Russian President Vladimir Putin has written an op-ed for the New York Times entitled A Plea For Caution From Russia.
An excerpt:
No one doubts that poison gas was used in Syria. But there is every reason to believe it was used not by the Syrian Army, but by opposition forces, to provoke intervention by their powerful foreign patrons, who would be siding with the fundamentalists. Reports that militants are preparing another attack — this time against Israel — cannot be ignored.
It is alarming that military intervention in internal conflicts in foreign countries has become commonplace for the United States. Is it in America’s long-term interest? I doubt it. Millions around the world increasingly see America not as a model of democracy but as relying solely on brute force, cobbling coalitions together under the slogan “you’re either with us or against us.”
But force has proved ineffective and pointless. Afghanistan is reeling, and no one can say what will happen after international forces withdraw. Libya is divided into tribes and clans. In Iraq the civil war continues, with dozens killed each day. In the United States, many draw an analogy between Iraq and Syria, and ask why their government would want to repeat recent mistakes.
Later, he closes with:
If we can avoid force against Syria, this will improve the atmosphere in international affairs and strengthen mutual trust. It will be our shared success and open the door to cooperation on other critical issues.
My working and personal relationship with President Obama is marked by growing trust. I appreciate this. I carefully studied his address to the nation on Tuesday. And I would rather disagree with a case he made on American exceptionalism, stating that the United States’ policy is “what makes America different. It’s what makes us exceptional.” It is extremely dangerous to encourage people to see themselves as exceptional, whatever the motivation. There are big countries and small countries, rich and poor, those with long democratic traditions and those still finding their way to democracy. Their policies differ, too. We are all different, but when we ask for the Lord’s blessings, we must not forget that God created us equal.
It will be interesting to see the response from both the political world and the pundits in terms of Putin’s argument and that he used the New York Times to present it.
(via JMG)
Stocks ended higher Tuesday with the tech-laden Nasdaq composite hitting a 13-year high and the Dow Jones industrial average adding nearly 130 points as concerns about Syria eased.
The Dow Jones closed up 129 points, 0.9%, to 15,192 — a four week high, and the benchmark Standard & Poor’s 500 index gained 12 points, 0.7%, to end at 1,684 — also a four-week high.
The Nasdaq closed up 23 points, 0.6%, to 3,729, its highest close since 2000 and 5 points shy of an all-time closing high.
More at USA Today
It appears Syria has agreed to hand over it’s chemical weapons in order “put an end to the war.”
From MSNBC:
Syria confirmed it would accept a Russian-brokered deal to hand over its chemical weapons Tuesday, but the White House said President Barack Obama would still ask Congress to approve the use of military force against Damascus. Syria’s Foreign Minister Walid al-Moualem told NBC News in Moscow that he hoped acceptance of the “peaceful solution” would “put an end to the war.” He was speaking hours after France announced it would seek a U.N. Security Council resolution along similar lines. That added to the international momentum behind the proposal, which has already been endorsed by Iran and China and cautiously welcomed by Britain and Germany.
The Senate vote on a potential strike on Syria is scheduled for tomorrow.
President Obama said Monday that he would seriously consider the idea being floated that, in order to avoid military force for using chemical weapons, Syria place it’s stock pile of chemical weapons under international monitor to ensure no future use of such weapons.
From USA Today:
If we can exhaust these diplomatic efforts and come up with a formula that gives the international community a verifiable, enforceable mechanism to deal with these chemical weapons in Syria, then I’m all for it,” Obama added in an interview with PBS NewsHour.
“But we’re going to have to see specifics,” Obama said. “And I think it is reasonable to assume that we would not be at this point if there were not a credible military threat standing behind the norm against the use of chemical weapons.”
The comments from Obama came after Secretary of State John Kerry suggested earlier on Monday that if Assad turned over “every single bit of his chemical weapons to the international community in the next week” he could avoid military action. Those remarks triggered proposal on Monday from the Russians that Damascus place its chemical weapons under international monitors to head off a confrontation
Obama also expressed pessimism about Congress approving a military strike against Syria, telling NBC News in a separate “I wouldn’t say I’m confident” about the measure passing.
The Syrian government said Monday it welcomed the Russian proposal to avoid a U.S.military strike by placing its chemical weapons under international monitors.
As I said, earlier this week, Bill O’Reilly CAN surprise us.
(via Talking Points Memo)