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Subscribe to RSSWhile peaceful anti-government protests continue to be repressed by Syrian security forces, anti-American mobs wreaked havoc on the U.S. embassy in Damascus yesterday. Syria reportedly “refused” to protect the embassy from the attacks, which were encouraged by a pro-government television station. Now, the Obama administration is responding with its harshest rhetoric yet towards President Bashar al-Assad and his regime.
Secretary of State Hilary Clinton condemned the attacks and said Assad has “lost legitimacy” in failing to fulfill his promises of democratic reform. Her comments reflect what has become a harsh U.S. assault on Assad, whose security forces have responded to the Arab Spring-inspired pro-democracy movement with an increasingly brutal crackdown.
“It’s clear based on the Secretary of State’s statements that American policy on Syria has evolved over the course of the last few months,” said Steven Cook, Senior Fellow for Middle Eastern Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations. “In March, the administration called Assad a reformer and obviously, as of yesterday, he’s no longer considered indispensable to Syria’s future. I think that’s overall a good thing that we’ve moved in that direction.”
The attacks included both vandalism of the U.S. embassy and the U.S. ambassador’s residence and an attempted attack on the French embassy, in which three French officials were injured. The Obama administration will request that the Syrian government reimburse it for the damage caused to the U.S. embassy.
Meanwhile, as the U.S. military prepares for an Afghanistan drawdown, a political assassination may reveal that Afghan officials are not as safe as they once were. Today, the half-brother of Afghan President Harmid Karzai was shot and killed by one of his trusted bodyguards. Ahmed Wali Karzai, widely regarded as a key power broker in southern Afghanistan and called the “number one man in Kandahar,” was meeting with tribal leaders in his heavily-fortified compound in Kandahar province when the killing occurred.
The Taliban quickly claimed responsibility for the killing, which occurred when Sardar Mohammed – the assassin – arrived at Karzai’s compound and requested a private discussion with Karzai. After the two entered another room, three gunshots sounded and the deputy provincial council chief rushed in to find Karzai shot dead. Karzai’s other guards then entered the room and shot and killed Mohammed.
The political fallout of Karzai’s death will surely be felt in Afghanistan. In recent years, Karzai had been extending his influence in Kandahar, the strategic base of the Taliban, and the U.S. has come to see his influence as necessary for the stability of the area. He also framed himself as a potential ally in the NATO-led efforts to stabilize the region. Karzai’s death may foreshadow further political tumult as the U.S. executes Obama’s plan to reduce troops by thirty thousand in the next year.
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Let's close our embassy and get the hell out of that country.
That would be my plan!
I think the telling story is that we have yet another 'shift in foreign policy.'
This administration is consistent in one thing... its inconsistency.
We need to just shut everything down, except essential services ...... until 2013.
oh wait ..... it is pretty much shut down since Obama started his campaigning.
On another note:
It is kinda wierd that Boehner got tired of being tooled by Obama on the same day Obama got tired of being tooled by Assad.
bob - This just in...Boehner doesn't need President Obama to make him look like a tool.
I don't follow this all that closely, but my question is: What made us think we could trust Assad in the first place?
And what on earth will we do about Karzai?
What do you mean "us" Kemo Sabe?
Do you mean "us" as in Obama and the libs who believe what ever Obama believes?
Well, "us" were the only ones in the world that fell for the "reformer" crap.
Karzai?
Name one person in the Middle East or North Africa, other than Mubarek, that has ever listened to Obama. (and how did that Mubarek thingy work out?)
Heck ..... even the Saudi's hate Obama and think he is a buffoon.
Yea, I guess you are right ......
Heeeyyy....are you Juven Bachan??
@ bob ~ Obviously, you never read my posts or you wouldn't say such moronic things and try to lump me in with everyone else. That's been tried before, and recently, and I don't take kindly to it.
Just to clarify: I am not now, nor have I ever been an Obamabot. I call them as I see them.
And as I see it, Karzai never listened to Bush, either, and apparently wasn't listening to Petraeus, who was Bush's hand-picked hero in Iraq. I'm not a big fan of Petraeus.
By the way, the line -- from Mad Magazine, as I recall it -- was, "What you mean, "we"?
No. I are not Juven Bachan. Juvenile, sometimes, maybe. Heeeyyy ... are you? LoL
Not you, AM- that Bob guy. Maybe he's not Juven. Maybe he's Jerry- Corpus Christi.
Bob,
You are so off base in all of you postings. It's clear that you don't know what you are talking about. We can just put you in the category of the far right that hates the President and the United States.
FR:Secretary of State Hilary Clinton condemned the attacks and said Assad has “lost legitimacy” in failing to fulfill his promises of democratic reform
Uh-Oh, looks like we are headed towards ousting another dictator. The Left is not going to like this one bit.
I never would have picked President Obama to be such a war-monger. Go figure.
Actually, his war mongering was one of the things I liked best about him. I figured he would fix the economy and keep your side quiet about national defense. Win-win. Just goes to show what I know.
Yeah AM 0-2 on that, who would have figured the Right would go after him for starting wars??? But hey he got the Health Care Reform you wanted passed. Well, I guess, not exactly what you wanted, but hey, it's better than 0-3!
Assad and his father before him have controlled Syria for over 40 years. It has been reported by human rights groups that during their reign, they have killed, tortured and imprisoned over 250,000 Syrian dissidents. They have an avowed hatred of the US and Israel.
George Bush included Syria as part of the axis of evil.
So my question is, with all this history, why did it take the administration so long to figure out they don't like us?
Oh my, Ira-
That's not a popular view here, is it?
Indeed. ;-)
Mixed Bag..
Nope...especially when the administration called Assad a reformer in March, despite his civil rights record.
Oh well, I agree with Obama on some things and somethings not. Not fully indoctrinated yet and I hate Kool Aid.
.....and he was so close to adopting a quasi version of the Debt Commission report.
Oh well
Assad is a monkey and his country is crap. But then again the whole region is worthless and crappy, with the exception of Israel.
Let's just please not start any military action, kinetic military event, or whatever else Obama is calling Libya in Syria.
But I do love Cool Aide and Kool Aide, which is what all the cool kids drink.
I thought all the cool kids drank lime Fizzies with extra sugar. Or was it Red Bull and vodka? I can never remember....
Ira-
I oppose President Obama on more issues (but..not ALL issues) than you can imagine.
That said, I can't tell you how much I wish the President had embraced and advocated for the Plan of his debt commission...for the good of the nation.
If he had done so last December, I don't believe we would be here.
Instead...
It's all this.
Spanky-
Off topic, but...
Go to my Newsvine column, and check out my discussion today on First Read's "First Thoughts" with David Walker on Eric Cantor, and anti-Semitism.
I believe your name came up.
You'll love it.
MB
Mixed Bag..
Why the obsession with the word Semite? Then the fight over the definition. Why does it matter? We all know what an anti-Semite is.
David Walker wrote:
Enmity? A nice simple word like hatred works just fine for me. As I said earlier, that he is delusional and that he has chosen the invisible guy in the sky, Yahweh, to define his delusion is of no moment.
That he is willing to sacrifice this country on the altar of his true god - MONEY/POWER - is the reason he is the target of my hatred. I don't know if you ever took the oath, but when you take it you promise to defend this country and its Constitution against ALL enemies, foreign and domestic. Eric Cantor is an enemy of this country. I took that oath. It is as binding now as it was the first time I took it and the last time I took it.
Save your two-bit pop analysis. I've spelled it out in black and white. There is nothing to read between the lines. Cantor has sold himself for 30 pieces of silver. He has betrayed MY country.
MB...wow...an anti-Semite by any definition used in common vernacular. Period.
True God.. money and power. Thirty pieces of silver.
Sometimes it's the words that slip out that give you away.
You have a Newsvine column? How does one find it? I suspect it would be a hoot.
Anna Molly..
I found what MB was talking about on First Thoughts...the back and forth between DW and MB.
It is an eye opener. Promise.
Thanks, Ira.
I was pretty certain I knew what "anti-Semite" meant.
Don't tell me- let me guess:
They don't like us, because of our freedoms. Well, to hear the teabaggers tell it, those freedoms are all gone now. So, you see, we can count on Syria becoming our friend again.
Neat-o-riffic, huh?
Oh, and I think it was the 'light bulb' law that won 'em over. Yep. No freedoms left at all over here....
Believe it or not, Karzai's death is a good political outcome. He is a known narco-trafficker and as corrupt as they come. The Prime Minister will no longer have to defend or explain his brother and he can now move quickly to place someone better in the role his now-deceased brother played. We may even get some input into the decision.