You can almost see him banging his shoe on the table, "We are still world power! We are still world power! Not just USA, but Russia too!"
Putin speaks to the American people in The New York Times
- Thread starter Grandluxe
- Start date
You can almost see him banging his shoe on the table, "We are still world power! We are still world power! Not just USA, but Russia too!"
Reviews in for Obama speech: âIncoherent,â âdisingenuous,â ânothing newâ
by Ed Morrissey
http://hotair.com/archives/2013/09/...a-speech-incoherent-disingenuous-nothing-new/
by Ed Morrissey
http://hotair.com/archives/2013/09/...a-speech-incoherent-disingenuous-nothing-new/
Associated Press now raises doubts about Obama's version of the chemical attack story. Putin vindicated?
http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2013/sep/12/ml-syria-attack-scenarios/
The Associated Press
Thursday, Sept. 12, 2013 | 12:27 a.m.
The U.S. government insists it has the intelligence to prove it, but the American public has yet to see a single piece of concrete evidence _ no satellite imagery, no transcripts of Syrian military communications _ connecting the government of President Bashar Assad to the alleged chemical weapons attack last month that killed hundreds of people. In the absence of such evidence, Damascus and its ally Russia have aggressively pushed another scenario: that rebels carried out the Aug. 21 chemical attack. Yet one week after Secretary of State John Kerry outlined the case against Assad, Americans _ at least those without access to classified reports _ haven't seen a shred of his proof.
The Obama administration, searching for support from a divided Congress and skeptical world leaders, says its own assessment is based mainly on satellite and signal intelligence, including indications in the three days prior to the attack that the regime was preparing to use poisonous gas.
But multiple requests to view that satellite imagery have been denied, though the administration produced copious amounts of satellite imagery earlier in the war to show the results of the Syrian regime's military onslaught. The Obama administration maintains it intercepted communications from a senior Syrian official on the use of chemical weapons, but requests to see that transcript have been denied. So has a request by the AP to see a transcript of communications allegedly ordering Syrian military personnel to prepare for a chemical weapons attack by readying gas masks.
"We can't get our heads around this _ why would any commander agree to rocketing a suburb of Damascus with chemical weapons for only a very short-term tactical gain for what is a long-term disaster," said Charles Heyman, a former British military officer who edits The Armed Forces of the U.K., an authoritative bi-annual review of British forces.
Inconsistencies over the death toll and other details related to the attack also have fueled doubts among skeptics. The Obama administration says 1,429 people died in 12 locations mostly east of the capital, an estimate close to the one put out by the Western-backed Syrian National Coalition. When asked for victims' names, however, the group provided a list of 395. On that list, some of the victims were identified by a first name only or said to be members of a certain family. There was no explanation for the hundreds of missing names.
AP Intelligence Writer Kimberly Dozier reported from Washington.
http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2013/sep/12/ml-syria-attack-scenarios/
The Associated Press
Thursday, Sept. 12, 2013 | 12:27 a.m.
The U.S. government insists it has the intelligence to prove it, but the American public has yet to see a single piece of concrete evidence _ no satellite imagery, no transcripts of Syrian military communications _ connecting the government of President Bashar Assad to the alleged chemical weapons attack last month that killed hundreds of people. In the absence of such evidence, Damascus and its ally Russia have aggressively pushed another scenario: that rebels carried out the Aug. 21 chemical attack. Yet one week after Secretary of State John Kerry outlined the case against Assad, Americans _ at least those without access to classified reports _ haven't seen a shred of his proof.
The Obama administration, searching for support from a divided Congress and skeptical world leaders, says its own assessment is based mainly on satellite and signal intelligence, including indications in the three days prior to the attack that the regime was preparing to use poisonous gas.
But multiple requests to view that satellite imagery have been denied, though the administration produced copious amounts of satellite imagery earlier in the war to show the results of the Syrian regime's military onslaught. The Obama administration maintains it intercepted communications from a senior Syrian official on the use of chemical weapons, but requests to see that transcript have been denied. So has a request by the AP to see a transcript of communications allegedly ordering Syrian military personnel to prepare for a chemical weapons attack by readying gas masks.
"We can't get our heads around this _ why would any commander agree to rocketing a suburb of Damascus with chemical weapons for only a very short-term tactical gain for what is a long-term disaster," said Charles Heyman, a former British military officer who edits The Armed Forces of the U.K., an authoritative bi-annual review of British forces.
Inconsistencies over the death toll and other details related to the attack also have fueled doubts among skeptics. The Obama administration says 1,429 people died in 12 locations mostly east of the capital, an estimate close to the one put out by the Western-backed Syrian National Coalition. When asked for victims' names, however, the group provided a list of 395. On that list, some of the victims were identified by a first name only or said to be members of a certain family. There was no explanation for the hundreds of missing names.
AP Intelligence Writer Kimberly Dozier reported from Washington.
Putin's appeal to the American people is audacious, to use a term Obama likes.
I think it is unprecedented, both in its very audaciousness and in the reaction. For most of our history, th eonly people who would have responded well to an appeal from the Russian leader would have been the Hollywood left, university dopes and members of the media. Ordinary rank and file citizens would have rejected it out of hand and would have been offended at what would seem an appeal to ddisloyalty.
Obama has managed to change all that. Many Americans actually trust Putin more than Obama. We know Putin is a KGB killer and thug, but at least he is rational. With Obama, you can't be sure.
I think it is unprecedented, both in its very audaciousness and in the reaction. For most of our history, th eonly people who would have responded well to an appeal from the Russian leader would have been the Hollywood left, university dopes and members of the media. Ordinary rank and file citizens would have rejected it out of hand and would have been offended at what would seem an appeal to ddisloyalty.
Obama has managed to change all that. Many Americans actually trust Putin more than Obama. We know Putin is a KGB killer and thug, but at least he is rational. With Obama, you can't be sure.
Putin sees a divided America (who doesn't?) and he's exploiting it.
As an orthodox Marxist (I'm not orthodox) I'd have to say that all apparent divisions in the US are merely symptoms of a more fundamental and growing division between the owners of capital and the owners of labor, between the creditors and the debtors. But what about the role of religion? Granted, that's one reason why I'm not orthodox.
As an orthodox Marxist (I'm not orthodox) I'd have to say that all apparent divisions in the US are merely symptoms of a more fundamental and growing division between the owners of capital and the owners of labor, between the creditors and the debtors. But what about the role of religion? Granted, that's one reason why I'm not orthodox.
I wasn't actually being sarcastic. Like VV, I very much dislike the whole "American exceptionalism" meme. I think it's a propaganda tool that's better than anything the Soviets have ever come up with.
As to VV not being religion-friendly, I think I'd beg to differ. During his rule, religion has been promoted like nothing I've ever observed before. I don't think that his reasons for this are anything benevolent or moral, but the fact remains.