Adam Garfinkle At The American Interest: ‘Of Photo-Opportunism and Hazmat Garbage Collection’

December 30, 2013 / chr1 / 2 Comments

Grafinkle offers a Middle-East roundup from country to country:

‘As long as our elite press censors itself in this manner, an objective socio-political description of these (and other) countries will remain impossible, and a distorted understanding will inevitably feed misbegotten policy adventures like the Libya war. I would like to be able to assure you that what ails the academy and the press does not afflict the clear-eyed professionals at the CIA and the State Department and USAID and the NSC and the officer corps of the uniformed military. Yes, I would like to… but a lot of these guys went to those same universities.’

Related On This Site: A Few More Syria Links-’Unmitigated Clusterf**k?’…

More Syria-From Via Media: ‘Congress on Syria: Going In On A Wing and A Prayer’…From Slate: ‘In Aleppo, Syria, Mohamed Atta Thought He Could Build The Ideal Islamic City’

Michael Totten At World Affairs: ‘Syria’s Regime Not Worth Preserving’…James Kirchik At The American Interest:

Michael Totten’s piece that revisits a Robert Kaplan piece from 1993, which is prescient: “A Writhing Ghost Of A Would-Be Nation”. It was always a patchwork of minority tribes, remnants of the Ottoman Empire

Adam Garfinkle At The American Interest: ‘What Did The Arab Spring Really Change?’…Liberal Internationalism is hobbling us, and the safety of even the liberal internationalist doctrine if America doesn’t lead…Via Youtube-Uncommon Knowledge With Fouad Ajami And Charles Hill

Is Bernhard Henri-Levy actually influencing U.S. policy decisions..? From New York Magazine: ‘European Superhero Quashes Libyan Dictator’…Bernhard Henri-Levy At The Daily Beast: ‘A Moral Tipping Point’…Charlie Rose Episode On Libya Featuring Bernhard Henri-Levy, Les Gelb And Others…

Conor Friedersdorf At The Atlantic-‘The Attack In Benghazi: Worth Investigating After All’

August 2, 2013August 2, 2013 / chr1 / 1 Comment

Full piece here.

There’s probably a cover-up here, but as discussed, it’s likely got much more to do with CIA operations in Benghazi. Perhaps they were putting a lid on radical Islamist factions gathering within the power vacuum of post-Gadhfi Benghazi and points east, or trying to run guns elsewhere, including Syria.

As this blog noted, Eli Lake was on this a while ago:

Full piece here.

‘The honor given behind closed doors to “Bob,” the officer who was in charge of the Benghazi intelligence annex and CIA base that was attacked in the early morning of September 12, 2012 and then abandoned for nearly three weeks, illustrates the murky lines of command that preceded the attack, and helped make it a politically volatile issue. While the State Department was responsible for elements of the security for the diplomatic mission at Benghazi, the mission itself was used primarily for intelligence activities and most the U.S. officials there and at the nearby annex were CIA officers who used State Department cover.’

Walter Russell Mead’s take on Benghazi:

‘A Washington Post-ABC News poll shows that more than half of Americans believe the Obama administration is covering up over Benghazi, and that a narrow plurality also thinks the congressional GOP is in on the whole fiasco for political gain. That seems about right to us.’

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Surprise!:

-Al Qaida doesn’t appear to be ‘on the run,’ as the State Department has issued a travel (alert) for Americans, and those jailbreaks in Libya, Iraq, and Pakistan appear to be coordinated. A return to realism would be nice, but where are the James Baker types in the Republican Party? Are we even the same country anymore and what problems would hard-core Westphalian realists face?

Should we have gone into Syria?

Relax at your own peril with Islamic terror, but don’t necessarily build a huge Homeland Security bureaucratic complex either, as Americans are looking at their Federal government with increasing suspicion? Tough to get the balance right, and America is currently undergoing a civil liberties/libertarian anti-Statist resurgence with a Progressive in power and the Snowden affair in the mix. Meanwhile, there are real threats out there: Lara Logan On Afghanistan Via Youtube: ’2012 BGA Annual Luncheon Keynote Speech’

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Just as Bush was criticized for thinking that inside every Iraqi is an American waiting to get out (Reaction to 9/11? To finish the first Gulf war? Shame over having abandoned the Kurds? Getting rid of Saddam on Bernard Lewis’ thinking that the tyrant hybrids to go?) …

…it could be said that Obama could be criticized for thinking that inside every protester in Egypt is a proto-community activist waiting to get out. The Cairo Speech and the liberal internationalists are running up against unpleasant reality. In this blog’s opinion, putting human rights activists turned diplomats in charge will have consequences. Events are already catching up.

Predictions are hard, especially about the future. It’s tough enough just to figure out what’s going on now.

Via Reuters: ‘U.S. Ambassador To Libya Killed In Benghazi Attack’

Walter Russell Mead At The American Interest Online: ‘Obama’s War’…From The WSJ: “Allies Rally To Stop Gadhafi”…From March 27th, 2009 At WhiteHouse.Gov: Remarks By The President On A New Strategy For Afghanistan And Pakistan…From The New Yorker: ‘How Qaddafi Lost Libya’…

Just how far Left is this administration anyways? Is Bernhard Henri-Levy actually influencing U.S. policy decisions..? From New York Magazine: ‘European Superhero Quashes Libyan Dictator’…Bernhard Henri-Levy At The Daily Beast: ‘A Moral Tipping Point’…Charlie Rose Episode On Libya Featuring Bernhard Henri-Levy, Les Gelb And Others…

Eli Lake At The Daily Beast-‘Exclusive: CIA Honored Benghazi Chief In Secret Ceremony’

May 23, 2013 / chr1 / 2 Comments

Full piece here.

‘The honor given behind closed doors to “Bob,” the officer who was in charge of the Benghazi intelligence annex and CIA base that was attacked in the early morning of September 12, 2012 and then abandoned for nearly three weeks, illustrates the murky lines of command that preceded the attack, and helped make it a politically volatile issue. While the State Department was responsible for elements of the security for the diplomatic mission at Benghazi, the mission itself was used primarily for intelligence activities and most the U.S. officials there and at the nearby annex were CIA officers who used State Department cover.’

The State Department and the CIA are going at one another under such political pressure. I can remember thinking that we seemed to be embarking on a rather different course for Middle East policy under Obama, and I’ve yet to be persuaded his worldview is accurate enough (I tend to disagree with his ideals), and his leadership deep and competent enough to deliver.

Walter Russell Mead’s take on Benghazi:

‘A Washington Post-ABC News poll shows that more than half of Americans believe the Obama administration is covering up over Benghazi, and that a narrow plurality also thinks the congressional GOP is in on the whole fiasco for political gain. That seems about right to us.’

I still think the primary motivating factor for getting to the bottom of Benghazi is why we didn’t at least make all attempts possible to help, as nothing is worse for troop morale. The administration particularly needs to be seen as succeeding in Libya, and is particularly sensitive to any criticism that it isn’t.

The liberal internationalist, former human rights campaign folks guided by realpolitik, and yes, Bernhard Henri-Levy’s input in the face of Gadhafi’s tyranny were motivating factors in our involvement.

Here’s a quote from Anne-Marie Slaughter, on liberal internationalism:

‘The central liberal internationalist premise is the value of a rules-based international order that restrains powerful states and thereby reassures their enemies and allies alike and allows weaker states to have sufficient voice in the system that they will not choose to exit’

We also formed an alliance with Anglo-French interests. Our Middle-East policy is hinged upon a worldview that doesn’t seem to be lining up that well with events on the ground in the Muslim world, and I fear sacrifices too many of our strengths for too few gains, exposing too many of our weaknesses.

In addition, our military is stretched pretty thinly right now and the Republican establishment isn’t showing deep understanding of the issues either. The Muslim world is not about to live up to our ideals, and this is as much about living up to our own. To me, this generally means our sovereignty and interests first, solid alliances and international institutions next, and we’ll take it from there.

As always, it’s up for debate.

Via Reuters: ‘U.S. Ambassador To Libya Killed In Benghazi Attack’

From The WSJ: ‘Pakistan Tells U.S. to Halt Drones’

April 15, 2011April 15, 2011 / chr1 / Leave a comment

Full article here.

Relations are not good at the moment, as popular sentiment is very much against us:

‘The U.S. strategy in the war in Afghanistan hinges on going after militants taking refuge in Pakistan. The breakdown in intelligence cooperation has cast a pall over U.S.-Pakistani relations, with some officials in both countries saying intelligence ties are at their lowest point since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks spurred the alliance.’

Of course, we need this cooperation to succeed, and The Pakistani state is likely quite involved with terrorism.

From The AfPak Channel At Foreign Policy: ‘Spy For A Spy: The CIA-ISI Showdown Over Raymond Davis’…From Foreign Policy: ‘Taseer’s Murder Another Sign Of The Dysfunctional Pakistani State’