Natura Abhorret A Vacuo

Big day in the Mideast: now that the Iranian deal is done, Russia is swiftly consolidating its control over Syria, and is demanding that we leave. As reported in the Jerusalem Post, the Russians are busily establishing a secure zone in the eastern Mediterranean. It appears that they are also mounting airstrikes, but not against ISIS. (Russia, of course, doesn’t care two pins about ISIS, except as a threat to its clients’ interests — and as far as the Kremlin is concerned, increasing the flow of migrants into Europe is a welcome lagniappe.)

Clearly this is all a well-planned push to establish, in coordination with Iran, a stable and controlling Russian presence in the region, including defense of the Assad regime. (That would be the same Assad regime that Barack Obama, speaking at the U.N. yesterday, said “had to go”.)

Meanwhile, with the world surely hanging on his words, our Secretary of Defense, Ashton Carter, gave a press conference today. He spoke about budget cuts, and expanding combat roles for women.

More tea, Vicar?

16 Comments

  1. JK says

    Ya know Malcolm? Team Obama might create a oh, I dunno, a Blogdom Czar?

    September 21st;

    This is likely a prelude to a larger proposition. The ideal scenario for Moscow a meeting between Presidents Obama and Putin while the latter is in New York to speak at the UN on September 28th.

    http://warontherocks.com/2015/09/how-russias-gambit-in-syria-changes-the-game/

    Posted September 30, 2015 at 9:00 pm | Permalink
  2. Whitewall says

    Well, the Mongoloid Russians never do anything “delicately” when it comes to foreign interventions. They never did from the first time I ever laid eyes on them in Prague, Czechoslovakia shortly after the 1968 uprising.

    It is ok to drop the Cold War mentality regarding Moscow of today, but it is still necessary to stay in touch with that mentality domestically, especially as long as Barack Obama occupies the White House. Obama is little more than Putin’s lap dog and the world sees it. Obama represents the American Left’s Cold War mentality…the mentality that lost as the USSR collapsed. The Left was on the wrong side. They are now making up for it with groveling before Putin, Castro and the Iranians.

    Posted September 30, 2015 at 9:38 pm | Permalink
  3. I hope some American generals find the moral courage to speak up when Obama tries to have the US military bow to Russian edicts in the ground game. The last thing the US should want to participate in is “fighting terrorism” Russian-style or following Russian plans.

    Obama will continue to dither, but assuredly his own warrior princesses in the WH will offer some new PR campaign. Perhaps Jen Psaki will put her unparalleled diplomatic skills to work on a new # slogan. I believe the I used earlier sums it up: #Hand up,don’t shoot Vladimir…

    Posted September 30, 2015 at 10:35 pm | Permalink
  4. I sure wish you had a edit option to fix posted comments, Malcolm. Invariably, I find errors in my posts – after I’ve hit the “Post Comment” button.

    Posted September 30, 2015 at 10:41 pm | Permalink
  5. Whitewall says

    “Meanwhile, with the world surely hanging on his words, our Secretary of Defense, Ashton Carter, gave a press conference today. He spoke about budget cuts, and expanding combat roles for women.” Well by George, the world may be laughing at us, but we will have a trendy, hip and oh so sensitive military when Obama’s people finally infest it with enough “progressivism”.

    Posted October 1, 2015 at 7:08 am | Permalink
  6. Malcolm says

    Your wish is my commmand, libertybelle. I have installed a plugin that allows users to edit comments for five minutes after posting.

    Meanwhile, if you’d like to post up your correction, or email it to me, I’ll be glad to edit the comment you posted above.

    Posted October 1, 2015 at 9:19 am | Permalink
  7. Thanks Malcolm, I’ll leave my past errors as they lie. Onto important matters – G. Murphy Donovan wrote a piece “Putin, the Indispensable Man?”:

    http://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2015/10/putin_the_indispensable_man.html

    Posted October 1, 2015 at 10:13 am | Permalink
  8. JK says

    Aw heck LB, somebody a long long time ago came up with a sayin’ that makes perfect your hashtagged sum-up above;

    “Hand up, don’t shoot …”

    ‘Cause like I been observing ever since somebody else said;

    “The Iraqis are gonna greet us as Liberators!”
    ____

    Like. When was the last time the USG ‘on the one’ hand had a clue what ‘on the other’ hand was doing with anything having to do in the ME?

    Posted October 1, 2015 at 1:01 pm | Permalink
  9. JK says

    Neato plug-in there Malcolm. Easy to use too!

    Can I get one for my pickup’s steering problem?

    Posted October 1, 2015 at 1:03 pm | Permalink
  10. JK says

    I was over in Libertybelle’s archives just a little bit ago looking for something I didn’t find but archives are a little like Antiques Roadshow. Hopefully LB won’t mind (much) since I already and previously left the following posted comment on her site, re-post it precisely here.

    ***

    JK
    October 2, 2015 at 5:21 pm
    Hit your archives today LB — feel up to a little

    Blast from the Past?

    “The recent Jane’s estimate contrasts sharply with the picture drawn by Secretary of State Kerry on Sept. 3 when he told the Senate Foreign Relations subcommittee that reports the Syrian opposition has become increasingly infiltrated by al Qaeda were “basically incorrect.”

    “He went on to say: “The opposition has increasingly become more defined by its moderation, more defined by the breadth of its membership and more defined by its adherence to some, you know, democratic process and to an all-inclusive, minority-protecting constitution, which will be broad-based and secular with respect to the future of Syria.” In the same week, Kerry cited an article published in the Wall Street Journal on Aug. 30 that said moderate groups, not Islamists, are leading the fight against the Assad regime.”

    “We also noted in May that there were mass defections from the Free Syrian Army to the Al Nusrah Front. And we have reported that some other Islamist fighting groups besides the dominant Al Nusrah Front and the ISIL are not small.”

    “According to a report in the Wall Street Journal yesterday, Israel, which had supported the proposed US strikes on the Assad regime, recently expressed concern to Secretary of State Kerry that a military strike in Syria could strengthen al Qaeda-linked groups and allow them to seize Assad’s weapons.”

    Ding Ding Ding.

    Y’alls mission Fellow Readers, should you decide to accept it is, what month and year did the above appear?

    *Hint — It wasn’t from three weeks ago.

    Link to follow …

    Posted October 2, 2015 at 4:31 pm | Permalink
  11. Malcolm says

    Gee, just guessing – maybe sometime around mid-September, 2013?

    Posted October 2, 2015 at 5:35 pm | Permalink
  12. “I have installed a plugin that allows users to edit comments for five minutes after posting.”

    Nice!

    Another nice feature, Mal, (if it is possible) would be to reply to a specific preceding comment. That way you wouldn’t have to quote what you are commenting about, as I just did.

    Posted October 2, 2015 at 7:25 pm | Permalink
  13. Malcolm says

    I’ll see about that one too, Henry.

    Posted October 2, 2015 at 7:46 pm | Permalink
  14. JK says

    @ Henry

    Howdy. (Fairly) Long time no see.

    Posted October 3, 2015 at 12:50 pm | Permalink
  15. Whitewall says

    Henry, I second JKs greeting. I am getting tired of building our arc. These online instructions are very hard to follow.

    Posted October 3, 2015 at 1:09 pm | Permalink
  16. JK, Robert, et al.,

    I missed you guys. I am still on my bridge quest to achieve the ACBL rank of Silver Life Master (which is one rank above Bronze LM) by year’s end, but I am finding that the quest is becoming a bit tedious. Mayhap I’ll settle for January of 2016.

    Posted October 4, 2015 at 1:02 pm | Permalink

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