DDGD January 17, 2016
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Today’s
Post is brought to you by… Hands-Wringers Anonymous: Through
a slow delicate and experts-guided process of behavior modification, we will
teach you how to wash your hands instead.
The Delirica
The Daily Delirynth
The
(Mis)Adventures of Vladdipus Rex, Episode 60 – Snakes on a Plane:
And so it happens, dear reader, that in a world growing more delirious by the
day, the day came when Russia
was accused of deliberately targeting civilians in Syria. Indeed, the “UK foreign
secretary condemns tactics of Russian pilots, saying they are running return
raids on targets to hit rescue workers.” But having allowed things to
deteriorate to this point, what can a UK or a US do but accuse and condemn and
keep turning their backs on it all hoping that it could all somehow go away on
its own? Yet, and as the old saying goes: when you start by wringing your hands
you end by chewing your fingers.
The
(Mis)Adventures of Vladdipus Rex, Episode 61 – The Secret Clause: For
it comes to mind, dear reader, as one hears of the
secret clause embedded in the treaty that King Vlad The Clutch signed so
many months ago with his Syrian counterpart President Assad The Pug, that not
too long ago after the signing a certain prodemocracy activist, known for the
irreverent style and intuitive nature of his analysis, made the
following two assertions/predictions. The first explained the nature of
Vladdipus Rex’s (mis)adventure in Syria as follows:
…the real reason behind Putin’s
move into Syria is not any sort of values affinity with Assad. Putin is here
repeating what he previously did in Crimea and is still trying to do in Eastern
Ukraine: take over and secure a territory that holds strategic significance for
Russia. Russia has for long maintained a military base in the coastal city of
Tartus, one which it updated and modernized shortly before the onset of the
Syrian Revolution in March 2011.
This newest venture is not simply
about safeguarding this base. Now that the Obama Administration has repeatedly
shown how strongly it is committed to minimizing America’s military footprint
in the world, Mr. Putin sees an opportunity for expanding and strengthening
Russia’s presence along the Mediterranean, and for ensuring that the future of
that presence is not dependent on anyone’s goodwill but is assured through Russian
military might.
The second warned of the
consequences that Vladdie The High Roller had to contend with:
Still, there will be long-term
repercussions for Putin in Russia as a result of his adventure in Syria.
Everything from car bombings or lone wolf attacks in Moscow and St. Petersburg
and wherever Russia has a presence abroad, to full-scale rebellions in certain
Muslim-majority provinces and republics within the Russian Federation could be
on the menu. But these potential developments are not things about which Putin
seems to be worried at this early stage: the prize he is after seems to be
worth the risk for him. It is here where he could be miscalculating.
Now, with the
bombing of the Russian plane over Sinai behind us, and with these new
revelations before us, dear reader, we have to acknowledge that Syria has been
bought and sold with an official contract and lies now under Russian hegemony
until Russia wishes otherwise. For while the document theoretically allows for
Assad the Fickle to ask for termination of the contract, given Vladdie one year
to comply, the latter’s fondness of Polonialism (See
The Deliricon under P) could mute such an eventuality.
Among other
revelations in the
seven-page contract dated Aug. 26, 2015, the Kremlin has made an open-ended
time commitment to its military deployment in Syria, and either side can
terminate it with a year’s notice.
Russian
military personnel and shipments can pass in and out of Syria at will and
aren’t subject to controls by Syrian authorities, the document says. Syrians
can’t enter Russian bases without Russia’s permission. And Russia disclaims any
responsibility for damage caused by its activities inside Syria.
Beyond Syria, there is a world of
opportunities waiting to clutched. And the High Falutin Platyputin is
preparing for that. Oh yes, he is. With “three
new divisions on Russia’s western flank with Europe, and… five nuclear missile
regimens ready for combat duty this year,” Europe beware.
The decades
when we thought of Europe as stable, predictable and dull are over. The
continent’s map is becoming medieval again, if not yet in its boundaries then
at least in its political attitudes and allegiances. The question today is
whether the EU can still hope to permanently replace the multicultural Habsburg
Empire, which for centuries sprawled across Central and Eastern Europe and
sheltered its various minorities and interests. The answer will depend not only
on what Europe itself does but also on what the U.S. chooses to do. Geography
is a challenge, not a fate.
Turkey better beware as well: Putin
Looks for Regime Change in Turkey.
First, it
imposed economic sanctions. Then it attacked Erdogan’s inner circle, including
in the media his son Bilal, accusing them of trading oil with Islamic State.
And in the ultimate gesture of hostility, Russia invited Selahattin Demirtas,
leader of Turkey’s Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party, or HDP, to Moscow… So
Putin just very publicly took sides in Turkey’s civil war, much as he feels
Western countries did during Russia’s Chechen wars…
As with the
U.S. sanctions policy towards Russia, Putin probably hasn’t set a goal of
toppling Erdogan from power any time soon. For the foreseeable future, the
Turkish strongman is as safely entrenched in office as is Putin. Like the U.S.,
though, Putin seems to have dug in for a long-term policy of sapping Turkey’s
economy and undermining Erdogan politically. What isn’t clear is whether the
goal is to teach the U.S. and its allies to mend their ways, or to split them
over whether to defend NATO ally Turkey, or to join Russia in distancing
themselves from its increasingly authoritarian Islamist government.
Syriosis:
Starvation
in Syria 'a war crime,' U.N. chief says. U.N. Secretary-General Ban
Ki-moon: "Let me be clear: The use of starvation as a weapon of war
is a war crime. All sides -- including the Syrian government, which has the
primary responsibility to protect Syrians -- are committing this and other
atrocious acts prohibited under international humanitarian law… U.N. teams have
witnessed scenes that haunt the soul. The elderly and children, men and women,
who were little more than skin and bones: gaunt, severely malnourished, so weak
they could barely walk, and utterly desperate for the slightest morsel."
And while a spade has finally been called a spade, accountability remains a
distant illusion, as the NYT correctly argues: Starvation
in Syria Galvanizes U.N., but Accountability Seems Distant as Ever.
Saudaran:
The
House of Saud’s sectarian venom spreads across Middle East. “The ruling
family, having incited Sunni-Shia conflict, will not be able to control it.”
The ideological campaign to demonize Saudi Arabia by highlighting elements of
its behavior that could also be easily and legitimately noted in Iran’s case
continues. And of course, all of this is happening by accident. Yeah. One
fine morning, a bunch of pundits, academics and government officials from all over
the world just decided that it’s time to speak ill of the would-be dead, if
they had their way. And no, human rights and concerns for regional
stability are not the issue here, because, had these being the issue, the same
people would have been condemning Iran as vehemently as they do Saudi. As I
repeatedly noted earlier, and will continue to remind, it’s all about a
misguided vision for the future of the region that is completely divorced from
its actual realities, but looks some neat on paper.
But that’s not all. Powerful
lobbies, supported one way or another by Iran, seem to be involved. The
following is a case in point as to how: Podemos:
Spain's anti-corruption party ‘received illicit funding from Iran.’ “The El Confidencial
news website claims the party received more than €5m through a Spanish TV
station operated by an Iranian businessman and financed by the government in
Tehran.”
To summarize: the hypocrisy
involved in attacking Saudi Arabia but not Iran, for similar behavior, is an
indication of the presence of an agenda. For both powers are guilty of
practicing and encouraging sectarian tendencies, both powers are known major human
rights abusers, both powers support global terrorism, both powers employs PR
firms and lobbyists to work on their behalf in the West (albeit Iran has
developed more of an edge in this regard over the last two decades due to its
success in cultivating sympathetic members of the its large expat community), both
powers foster blatantly racist impressions of the other, and of others in
general (those who confuse hospitality and kindness to strangers for which both
Persians and Arabs, among other peoples of the East, are known, for some latent
embrace of human equality at some inner level are morons), so, how can either
of these powers pave the way for regional stability without a major change in
outlook and governing ethos in both countries, and without the kind of American
leadership that focuses on changing the troubling behavior exhibited by both.
And yet, realists are not opting for evenhandedness here. No. Rather, they
advocate closer relations with one side (Iran) at expense of the other,
irrespective of the price others in the region (Syrian, Iraqis, Lebanese,
Yemenis, etc.) have to pay for this change in polarization. They celebrate the
one and demonize the other while predicting, and encouraging, in fact, its
destruction, knowing fully well that a Saudi implosion will have dangerous
repercussions all over the region.
Personally, I don't want to see
more states fail, and I definitely don’t want to see a country as pivotal as
Iran, Saudi Arabia, Turkey or Egypt collapse. Rather than accept the
inevitability of any of this, I prefer that we try to prevent it. But this goal
cannot be achieved by rewarding the very rogue behavior that brought us to this
point. You cannot reward the very attitude you want to see change. But this is
exactly what the realists have done and are still doing. They think that what
they have just achieved is a diplomatic triumph not a disastrous
capitulation. But, contrary to what they hope and claim, the policies advanced
by realists are not compensating for the blunders of turn-of-the-century neocons;
rather, they are amplifying and adding to them, as witnessed by the fact
that we have far more violence and chaos in the region today than there was
eight years ago. But such an objective criterion for measuring progress is not
what the “realists” use to assess their accomplishment. Rather, they think that
their vindication will come tomorrow. For now, millions in Syria, Iraq and
elsewhere will have to endure the misery and havoc of their triumphant
diplomacy.
![]() |
Freedom Girls from Pensacola, Florida entertain Trump supporters in Pensacola, Florida on January 13, 2016 |
Tales
from the Trump Side: Back in the first half of the twentieth
century, the Trump's Freedom Girls show would have been hailed as a testament
to American family values and would have registered with most Americans. Today,
it actually still registers with those who yearn to these imagined
"simpler" times, and there are, whether we like it or not, quite a
few of them around, and they are mostly, though not exclusively, white
Americans. For this, mockery should not be our only answer to the ongoing Trump
Show, at least not when it comes to the country’s political class, as it would
further alienate those Americans, deepening the social and political divides
plaguing this nation. Smart politicians have to find smart ways of addressing
the concerns of these Americans while simultaneously showing them that hate
speech and fear are not the answer. But can any of the current contenders rise
up to the challenge?
For
our collective security: In the meantime, a question for Trump
supporters and all gun advocates in the United States: If you're “OK,” in the
name of our collective security, with imposing extra security checks on
thousands of Syrian refugees in order to weed out the handful of possible
terrorists, why can’t you, by the same token, be OK with similar intensive
background checks imposed on those who want to buy guns, in order to prevent
the criminal few from getting their hands on them? Doesn’t our collective
security demand the same amount of vigilance here? After all, gun violence is
responsible for far more deaths in the United States than terror attacks.
Quote of the Day
"Our democratic way of life
is forever the resolve of Taiwan's 23 million people." --Tsai Ing-wen, leader
of the opposition Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) in her first speech after
becoming the first woman to be elected as president of Taiwan.
Tweet(s) of the Day
Video(s) of the Day
This video from the summer of 2015
chronicles the struggle of one Abu Azrael, a leader of the Iraqi Shia militias
fighting against the Islamic State and other Sunni rebels in Iraq. He is hailed
by many Iraqis as a hero. He even has his own private page on
Wikipedia. Yet, he has committed atrocities and war crimes since the
beginning of his illustrious career, crimes no less heinous in nature than
those perpetrated by IS. But he is not considered a terrorist and is often
honored, in Iran and Iraq, by Mullahs of all ranks for his “heroic” deeds. But
classifying him as such might anger Iran, and hurt efforts to combat the
Islamic State, so the realists are willing to endorse arming and working with
him and his fellow militias, ignoring their abuses against Sunnis combatants
and civilians, just as they did before (even though, they were these abuses
that reenergized IS after a long decay).These inconsistencies, while unnoticed
here in America, are bound to further deepen our crises, there in the middle
East.
This other video about Abu
Azra’el by Al-Jazeerah (Arabic) shows him mutilating a corpse, and being feated
by Mullahs.
Cartoons: The Cauldron
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