[Washington Post] When has a secretary of state been involved in so many disastrous, self-initiated negotiations? First, John F. I was in Vietnam, you know Kerry Former Senator-for-Life from Massachussetts, self-defined war hero, speaker of French, owner of a lucky hat, conqueror of Cambodia, and current Secretary of State... convenes -- against all advice and holding no cards -- Geneva negotiations to resolve the Syria conflict and supposedly remove Bashir al-Assad from power. The talks collapse in acrimony and confusion.
Kerry's response? A second Geneva conference that -- surprise! -- breaks up in acrimony and confusion.
Then, even as Russian special forces are taking over Crimea, Kerry goes chasing after Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov -- first to Gay Paree, then Rome, then London -- offering a diplomatic "offramp." Lavrov shrugs him off. Russia annexes Crimea.
The crowning piece of diplomatic futility, however, is Kerry's frantic effort to salvage the Arab-Israeli negotiations he launched, also against all odds and sentient advice. He's made 12 trips to the region, aiming to produce a final Middle East peace within nine months.
It is month nine. The talks have gone nowhere. But this has been a fool's errand from Day One. There never was any chance of Paleostinian leader the ineffectual Mahmoud Abbas ... a graduate of the prestigious unaccredited Patrice Lumumba University in Moscow with a doctorate in Holocaust Denial... concluding a final peace .
Now in the 10th year of a four-year term (there never was a reelection -- he just stayed in office), Abbas doesn't have the legitimacy. With half of Paleostine (namely Gazoo) controlled by his rejectionist mortal enemy Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason,, he doesn't have the authority.
And he doesn't have the intention. Abbas openly refuses to (a) recognize Israel as a Jewish state, (b) yield the so-called right of return (which would flood Israel with millions of Paleostinians, destroying the state demographically) and (c) ever sign any agreement that ends the conflict once and for all.
Any one of these refusals makes a final peace impossible. All three make the entire process ridiculous. Kerry has given up trying to get a final agreement. He's given up on even getting a "framework agreement." He's reduced to simply trying to keep the moribund talks going.
At a price, of course. For Israel. It is supposed to keep releasing imprisoned bully boyz simply to keep the Paleostinians at negotiations that they themselves say have achieved nothing.
Abbas wants to call off the farce so he can go to U.N. agencies for recognition -- a strategy of achieving statehood without negotiations with Israel that contradicts every agreement the Paleostinians have signed since the 1993 Oslo Accord.
For their part, the Israelis are tired of the diplomatic Ponzi scheme in which they are required to release bully boyz to keep Abbas at the table. Until when? Until every murderer has been sprung -- at which point Abbas will go to the U.N. anyway?
To keep stringing along the Israelis, some genius decided to dangle Jonathan Pollard. What's he got to do with anything? Why is he being offered as an incentive for Israel to accept otherwise unacceptable conditions?
Posted by: Fred ||
04/04/2014 00:00 ||
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#1
I have to say that Kerry has been looking rather "lost" or disconcerted of late.
Apparently the Israelis have also politely noticed "la difference"....
* IIRC WORLD ISRAEL NEWS > [Confused?] KERRY SCRAMBLES TO SAVE MIDEAST PEACE PLAN.
Not true. 78 "Palestinian Freedom Fighters" are free to resume their endeavors toward Judenfrei World. And don't discount the salubrious effects on the morale of the rest of them.
[Pak Daily Times] President B.O. raised passions during his campaign for the presidency in 2008. The US believed he would revitalise the economy, bring ongoing wars to a halt, advance diplomacy over bellicosity in settling international disputes and restore human rights ...which are often intentionally defined so widely as to be meaningless... . The president charmed the Arabs when he said in Cairo in June 2009, "America's strong bonds with Israel are well known. They are based upon cultural and historical ties, and the recognition that the aspiration for a Jewish homeland is rooted in a tragic history that cannot be denied. On the other hand, it is also undeniable that the Paleostinian people -- Mohammedans and Christians -- have suffered in pursuit of a homeland. For more than 60 years they have endured the pain of dislocation. They endure the daily humiliations -- large and small -- that come with occupation. So let there be no doubt: the situation for the Paleostinian people is intolerable. America will not turn our backs on the legitimate Paleostinian aspiration for dignity, opportunity and a state of their own...The United States does not accept the legitimacy of continued Israeli settlements." In Europe, the president pledged the US would work in concert with European allies and would listen to them. This created an impression that US hegemony would be replaced by an 'era of discourse'.
Though troops were brought home from Iraq, no safeguards were put in place prior to withdrawal. Consequently, mayhem still continues. No peace initiative was formulated for the Israel-Paleostinian conflict -- George Mitchell remained a lame duck peace envoy with no agenda to pursue. The Arab Spring began in mid-2012 and swept away dictators in Tunisia, Egypt and Libya. The US failed to take a position at the right time. It was hesitant about which side to embrace. The dictators were their long time friends while there was an emerging force on the streets asking for a pluralistic society. When the turn came for Syria, the US administration again faltered. Supporting the Assad regime was not an option but the opposition was fragmented and even embraced bully boys. Lack of a timely decision brought death to over 100,000 people and displacement to a million. Iran was suspected to have been in pursuit of nuclear capability. Tehran repeatedly claimed it was pursuing nuclear energy for peaceful development purposes but the US preferred sanctions over dialogue and thus stalemate persisted. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton
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Posted by: Fred ||
04/04/2014 00:00 ||
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#1
The boys throw rocks in jest, but the frogs die in earnest.
#2
It will indeed starin "Washington-Moscow realtions" but won't effecuate any return of the Crimea back to Ukraine.
Any Each + All anti-Russian locals in the Region will have to accept what has happened whether they like it or not.
AGAIN, IMO THE FOCII OF THE KERRY-LAVROV TALKS AS PER THE CRIMEA IS NOTSOMUCH ABOUT RETURNING THE CRIMEA TO SOVEREIGN UKRAINE BUT HOW THE US-NATO/EU + RUSSIA CAN BEST COOPERATE + "SHARE" THE REMNANT OF UKRAINE PROPER WIDOUT THE NOW-RUSSIAN CRIMEA.
* GROONG > [AntiWar] NATO PLANS MILITARY BUILDUP IN THE CAUCASUS.
"Entrenchement" of the Judeo-Christian Bloc.
versus
* WAFF > [Today'S Zaman]RUSSIA WARNS TURKEY, US ON AMERICAN WARSHIPS IN THE BLACK SEA.
Russia = FM Sergei Lavrov is claiming that the transit + prolonged stay of USN surface warships expressly violates terms of the Montreaux Convention.
* CHINESE MILITARY FORUM > RUSSIA MAY DENY NATO AGHAN TRANSIT [To-n-From] IN RETALIATION [NATO suspension of formal cooper wid Russia]: RUSSIAN LEGISLATOR.
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What is SecState JAAWHN + OBAMA facing agz RUSSIA vee the Crimea Crisis?
Just look at CHINA in East Asia-Pacific...
* As per BHARAT RAKSHAK + NIGHTWATCH =...
> China will NOT accept any negotiations where its DE FACTO ["Sole"]SOVEREIGNTY over disputed islands is NOT recognized from the beginning of talks.
> China will blame the PHIL [Japan?], + ONLY THE PHIL [Japan?], FOR ANY LOSS OF LIFE OR PROPERTY, ETC. IFF ANY SHOOTOUT OCCURS BETWEEN OPPOSING MIL OR SECURITY FORCES.
> China makes it clear that it, NOT THE PHIL [Japan?], is the one acting under serious self-restraint or military restraint in these ongoing disputes, in the name of peace + diplomacy which China will claim the PHIL[Japan?] doesn't want nor care for.
ALL THE ABOVE + OBAMA'S LOVE OF "RED LINES" = RUSSIA KEEPS THE CRIME, ETAL. = CHINA WILL KEEP TAIWAN + EAST CHINA SEA + SOUTH CHINA SEA, ETAL.
GUAM-WESTPAC? HAWAII? ALASKA? 1/2-OR-MORE OF CONUS-NORAM?
h/t Instapundit
The federal government is headed for a crisis, a new report warns, and without reforms, a homegrown problem threatens to derail everything from foreign policy, to entitlements, to food safety.
The problem is the way the government manages its more than 2 million civil servants, according to a report from the nonprofit Partnership for Public Service and government consulting firm Booz Allen Hamilton.
#1
No kidding. At least in the old spoils system you could hold your elected representatives personally responsible for the performance of the bureaucracy. Now they're accountable to no one. You can't even sue them for violating your civil rights when they knowingly do so.
#2
You do realize that getting any accountability in government employees pretty much requires that there be no collective bargaining, don't you?
(just sayin'... and that's how they'll kill it)
Posted by: ed in texas ||
04/04/2014 9:08 Comments ||
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#3
As a govt engineer, this doesn't worry me in the least. A fair assessment of my performance and compensation vis-a-vis the private sector would mean more money for me, not less.
For some others....maybe not the case.
As it exists now, your pay is a function of your years of service, not your performance, duties or aptitude.
I would like to see across the board pay raises stopped, they muddy the water and make it hard to reward performers. I would like to see my own union disbanded by means of a real system of hearing legitimate grievances from employees and getting fair decisions from management. They just don't seem to be willing to follow the their own rules without union reps holding their feet to the fire (sometimes). Unions, by consequence of their own rules do help crappy employees hold on to their jobs, sometimes for a long time, sometimes only for a while.
#4
bigjim - CA. Has the regime offered you a gun yet? From the outside looking in, it appears the way Obama is building his Domestic Military is by creating numerous federal armed positions in each federal department and then sending them out to raid, gold mines, private collections, and ammunition manufacturing enterprises. Maybe only in departments run by his personal loyalists?
#5
No, Bubba.
I don't know of any engineers in the federal civilian service that have been issued a firearm.
Thanks for asking though.
I don't have a stormtrooper suit either. Or a death ray. Or a mind control device of any kind.
Not yet at least...
#7
There's a nice property for sale across the road Pappy. If you buy it, you can 'live the dream' with me for a 'kook' neighbor. The stormtrooper suit and ammo will be no problem. For a small fee, I'll take care of the gardening as well as your pets when you're away.
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[Washington Post] When has a secretary of state been involved in so many disastrous, self-initiated negotiations? First, 
[Pak Daily Times] 
