Eretz Israel is our unforgettable historic homeland...The Jews who will it shall achieve their State...And whatever we attempt there for our own benefit will redound mightily and beneficially to the good of all mankind. (Theodor Herzl, DerJudenstaat, 1896)

We offer peace and amity to all the neighbouring states and their peoples, and invite them to cooperate with the independent Jewish nation for the common good of all. The State of Israel is ready to contribute its full share to the peaceful progress and development of the Middle East.
(From Proclamation of the State of Israel, 5 Iyar 5708; 14 May 1948)

With a liberal democratic political system operating under the rule of law, a flourishing market economy producing technological innovation to the benefit of the wider world, and a population as educated and cultured as anywhere in Europe or North America, Israel is a normal Western country with a right to be treated as such in the community of nations.... For the global jihad, Israel may be the first objective. But it will not be the last. (Friends of Israel Initiative)

Tuesday 11 October 2016

David Singer: Clinton Will Continue Obama Policy Confronting Russia in Syria and the UN

My previous post, which begins with mention of Jenny Tonge, involves an observation of mine on the execrable antisemitism David Collier discovered over the weekend when he attended visit to the anti-Israel/anti-Jewish Hatefest at Lichfeld Cathedral, a post that does that intrepid photo-blogger great credit.

This post is by another David, Sydney lawyer and international affairs analyst David Singer, who of course needs no introduction to regular readers of my blog.

Writes David Singer:

Hillary Clinton has made it very clear in the second Presidential Debate that if elected next President of the United States she will continue President Obama’s confrontation with Russia both in Syria and at the United Nations.

Clinton told 66.5 million viewers:
“Well, the situation in Syria is catastrophic. And every day that goes by, we see the results of the regime by Assad in partnership with the Iranians on the ground, the Russians in the air, bombarding places, in particular Aleppo, where there are hundreds of thousands of people, probably about 250,000 still left. And there is a determined effort by the Russian air force to destroy Aleppo in order to eliminate the last of the Syrian rebels who are really holding out against the Assad regime.
Russia hasn't paid any attention to ISIS. They're interested in keeping Assad in power. So I, when I was secretary of state, advocated and I advocate today a no-fly zone and safe zones. We need some leverage with the Russians, because they are not going to come to the negotiating table for a diplomatic resolution, unless there is some leverage over them. And we have to work more closely with our partners and allies on the ground.
But I want to emphasize that what is at stake here is the ambitions and the aggressiveness of Russia. Russia has decided that it's all in, in Syria. And they've also decided who they want to see become president of the United States, too, and it's not me.”  
Clinton’s no-fly zone over Libya proved disastrous and has already been rejected by Russia over Syria.

She left unexplained what leverage she could put on Putin to get him to the negotiating table.

Her assessment that Russia wanted Trump elected as President of the United States was probably correct for the following reasons enunciated by Trump during the debate.
“I don't like Assad at all, but Assad is killing ISIS. Russia is killing ISIS. And Iran is killing ISIS…
… I think you have to knock out ISIS. Right now, Syria is fighting ISIS. We have people that want to fight both at the same time. But Syria is no longer Syria. Syria is Russia and it's Iran, who she [Clinton] made strong and Kerry and Obama made into a very powerful nation and a very rich nation, very, very quickly, very, very quickly.
I believe we have to get ISIS. We have to worry about ISIS before we can get too much more involved. She had a chance to do something with Syria. They had a chance. And that was the line. And she didn't.”
The choice for America’s voters could not be clearer:
* co-operation with Russia to first get rid of ISIS and  – unmentioned during the debate  – al Nusra – threats to world peace and security already declared by the UN Security Council or
* continuing confrontation with Russia seeking to resolve the Syrian civil conflict which has raged since 2011. 
Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov extended the following olive branch to America on 18 November 2015:
“The Security Council needs to give preferential attention to the task of creating a solid legal foundation for the fight against this evil [Islamic State] and for the mobilization of an actual global coalition in response to this common uncompromising challenge for us all.”
Obama has spurned Russia’s offer - Clinton is adopting Obama’s position.

Trump seems ready to take up Russia’s offer of defeating ISIS first.

American voters have been presented with a stark choice between Clinton and Trump on America’s future involvement in Syria.

6 comments:

  1. Pre election statements are meaningless!... Politicians will promise all kinds of stuff just to get elected... Basically none of Obama's pre election promises regarding Israel were kept... In fact, they went out the window 2 minutes after his inauguration...

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    1. Maybe. But the best we can do is take politicians at their word and hold them accountable if they speak differently after being elected.

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  2. Of course enforcing a no-fly zone against Russia is insanity of the highest order. Obama is going to tell his half neutered armed forces to shoot down Russian fighter bombers? Obama is going to tell his forces to take out Russian anti aircraft missile systems?

    Really? Maybe in the Leni Riefenstahl movie running in the heads of the MSM guys and gals. Because over here on Planet Reality he's not going to war and he's not risking his deal with Iran over a bunch of rag tag swarthies who can't pay their own way.

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  3. "Clinton Will Continue Obama Policy Confronting Russia in Syria and the UN" - which means she'll do zilch, just as Obama is currently doing, and thousands more Syrians will die. In a 'brilliant' move, Obama was given the Nobel Peace prize at the beginning of his administration, he was too weak to refuse it on the grounds he hadn't yet done anything to earn it, and since then he's been afraid they'll take it back if he does anything aggressive.

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    1. To the contrary Obama has done a lot in Syria in continuing to arm rebel groups fighting Assad and intruding into Syria's sovereign air space without Syria's invitation or UN authorisation. Clinton seems set to continue that policy as President if her remarks during the second Presidential debate are carried through.

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