The problem--of course--is that the AKP's strategic doctrine has been "soft power" and "defanging the military," and soft power doesn't mean a damned thing to Assad. Assad is capable of reading a newspaper, and knows full well that the United States is broke and tuned-out and that twelve percent of Turkey's serving admirals and generals are in prison. He also knows the Turkish military is deeply demoralized.
This is the strategic situation: Iran has threatened to retaliate against Turkey if it interferes. It can, and everyone knows it. Quite some number of the Turkish military's senior leadership would be unlikely at this point to trust to NATO or American guarantees. How many? I don't know. But it's logical. After all, where was America, where was NATO, when their leadership was being locked up for years, without conviction, on incoherent charges of coup-plotting? Oh, yes, they were exhilarated.
The point of having a strong military is not to use it. If you have to use it, your foreign policy has been a failure. The point of a strong military is deterrence--in other words, to signal, credibly, that you might use it. In this, Turkey is obviously compromised right now.
It may be that Turkey can still exhibit some influence on this situation, but I doubt it. I hope so, but I doubt it. This is a tragic failure of Turkish and American foreign policy.
It was entirely right for the West to use its moral influence to urge that civilian control over the military be established in Turkey. But it was also right for the West to use its moral influence to note that the evidence that these men were plotting a coup, at least the evidence that anyone has seen, raises very reasonable doubts about the charges.
FP: The PostWest. And as predictable as they come. I am sorry, but pressing civilian control of the military when the military was protecting democracy and the AKP was dismantling and replacing it with Islamism was not right and the chicken are coming home to roost. Don’t be surprised if the Iranian AchtungMyJihad proves right about the fate of the West.This is the strategic situation: Iran has threatened to retaliate against Turkey if it interferes. It can, and everyone knows it. Quite some number of the Turkish military's senior leadership would be unlikely at this point to trust to NATO or American guarantees. How many? I don't know. But it's logical. After all, where was America, where was NATO, when their leadership was being locked up for years, without conviction, on incoherent charges of coup-plotting? Oh, yes, they were exhilarated.
The point of having a strong military is not to use it. If you have to use it, your foreign policy has been a failure. The point of a strong military is deterrence--in other words, to signal, credibly, that you might use it. In this, Turkey is obviously compromised right now.
It may be that Turkey can still exhibit some influence on this situation, but I doubt it. I hope so, but I doubt it. This is a tragic failure of Turkish and American foreign policy.
It was entirely right for the West to use its moral influence to urge that civilian control over the military be established in Turkey. But it was also right for the West to use its moral influence to note that the evidence that these men were plotting a coup, at least the evidence that anyone has seen, raises very reasonable doubts about the charges.
John Bolton: On Deck: Why I May Run for President
Adam Smith wrote in The Wealth of Nations that “the first duty of the sovereign, that of protecting the society from the violence and invasion of other independent societies, can be performed only by means of a military force.” Today, failing to protect our national security inevitably endangers our economic prosperity by making us vulnerable to global adversaries.
It is clear that President Obama does not agree with Smith’s wisdom. Obama’s policies are jeopardizing not only our national security and economy, but our constitutional sovereignty too.
That is why I have been considering running for President. The Republican Party must nominate a leader who, unlike Obama, understands instinctively that America’s liberty, prosperity and national security are inextricably linked.
Sadly, last week’s debt-ceiling legislation, potentially resulting in catastrophic cuts to our defense budget, only reinforces my deep concerns. This may have been the best we could get, and it is far better than we feared. But the deal risks massive defense cutbacks, potentially pointing a dagger at the heart of our security and sovereignty.
FP: He is correct, but it’s too late. The US is succumbing to the social, economic and historic forces that have brought down all dominant powers to date. These forces induce self-destructive domestic and foreign policies.It is clear that President Obama does not agree with Smith’s wisdom. Obama’s policies are jeopardizing not only our national security and economy, but our constitutional sovereignty too.
That is why I have been considering running for President. The Republican Party must nominate a leader who, unlike Obama, understands instinctively that America’s liberty, prosperity and national security are inextricably linked.
Sadly, last week’s debt-ceiling legislation, potentially resulting in catastrophic cuts to our defense budget, only reinforces my deep concerns. This may have been the best we could get, and it is far better than we feared. But the deal risks massive defense cutbacks, potentially pointing a dagger at the heart of our security and sovereignty.
Claire Berlinski: Honor and Dignity
There is a connection here, too, to the appalling low standards of speech and rhetoric in American political life--and in its daily life, as well. It is one cliche after another, just an endless string of them, revolving lifelessly on their hooks like carcasses in a slaughterhouse, and no one objects. No one even notices. It is assumed that all politicians speak in cliches and talk to the public as if they were small children. It is not only Obama who does this: It is virtually the entire political class. And why wouldn't they? It is considered quite normal to find People magazine--and only People magazine--in the waiting room of the dentist's office. How would anyone recognize adult speech at this point?
It is very telling that the word "adult" has come to be a synonym for "pornographic." What we really mean by an "adult" movie is an "adolescent" movie. The dignity of adult taste, adult expression, adult enthusiasms, adult interests, adult discipline, and an adult appreciation of cause and effect has come to be conflated with elitism.
Undoing the mess must somehow mean undoing this error, but I have no idea how.
FP: The natural political trend is not towards democracy, as most would like to believe, but just the opposite. If you don’t believe it, consider that the ancient foundations of Western civilization—Greece and Rome—started as democracies and ended in dictatorships. The EU has strong non-democratic aspects and many of the former Soviet states have not turned into democracy. The notion that the US will escape historic forces is wishful thinking. And a major trigger is the decline of education. Politicians realize that ignorant, unable to reason publics are infantile and gullible and can be easily controlled, fooled, distracted and exploited. The replacement of education with job training and indoctrination does the job and suits them just fine.It is very telling that the word "adult" has come to be a synonym for "pornographic." What we really mean by an "adult" movie is an "adolescent" movie. The dignity of adult taste, adult expression, adult enthusiasms, adult interests, adult discipline, and an adult appreciation of cause and effect has come to be conflated with elitism.
Undoing the mess must somehow mean undoing this error, but I have no idea how.
Joel Kotkin: Lost Angeles
But in the new century, Los Angeles has begun to fade, and it can’t blame its sorry condition on the recent recession. The unemployment rate is one of the highest among the nation’s largest urban areas. Streets are potholed. Businesses and residents are fleeing. In virtually every category of urban success, from migration of educated workers to growth of airport travel, Los Angeles lags behind not only such fast-growth regions as Dallas, Houston, and Raleigh-Durham, but also historical rivals like New York.
FP: I’m afraid that it’s just a different rate of decline for different cities, but they will all go down given the US circumstances.NATO helicopter makes ‘hard landing’ in southeastern Afghanistan
A NATO helicopter went down Monday in Afghanistan’s southeastern Paktia province, provincial and NATO officials said.
NATO described the incident as a hard landing, adding that an investigation had been launched to determine the cause of the crash, which comes only days after 30 U.S. troops and eight Afghans were killed when insurgents shot down their helicopter during a nighttime operation in Maidan Wardak province, west of Kabul.
“Initial reporting indicates there was no enemy activity in the area at the time of the incident,” the coalition said in a statement about Monday’s incident, which happened in the Zormat district, a restive, rugged region of Afghanistan.
FP: Not to mention the failure of the helicopter on the Bin Laden mission. Looks like the documentation of US military equipment failing as a result of budgetary constraints and insufficient maintenance/replacement is correct. During 3+ wars. Rome again.NATO described the incident as a hard landing, adding that an investigation had been launched to determine the cause of the crash, which comes only days after 30 U.S. troops and eight Afghans were killed when insurgents shot down their helicopter during a nighttime operation in Maidan Wardak province, west of Kabul.
“Initial reporting indicates there was no enemy activity in the area at the time of the incident,” the coalition said in a statement about Monday’s incident, which happened in the Zormat district, a restive, rugged region of Afghanistan.
A Failed Presidency -- The American Problem
Few Americans needed Standard & Poor to confirm the mismanagement of the United States government and its finances. The downgrading of American credit will raise interest rates on America’s huge debt and ultimately on all Americans. Popular polls say that most Americans blame Congress—but that’s too simplistic. As much as Barack Obama would like to shift that blame onto Congress, the fault lies squarely on the shoulders of President. It is first and foremost a leadership problem that is crippling America—and the leader is President Barack Obama—not the many members of Congress.
No matter how many speeches he makes, the conclusion is clear: Obama’s greatest failure is spending America into enormous deficits, and being clueless about how to get the economy to recover. His speeches, riddled with “I” and “We” are mostly serving to indict him for his failings. Appearing on TV more than any other sitting president, Barack Obama is constantly “explaining” why things aren’t working, when he should be working on what to do different and better.
Instead he is “campaigning,” which is the only thing he knows how to do reasonable well. But he can’t fix the economy; he has neither the experience nor the knowhow to do it. His failed, misguided policies have only exacerbated the size of his mistakes and shortcomings.
FP: Obama is indeed Jimmy Carter on steroids, but the problems of America are much more profound and much older than just Obama, whose very election is a component and indicator of the decline already in progress.No matter how many speeches he makes, the conclusion is clear: Obama’s greatest failure is spending America into enormous deficits, and being clueless about how to get the economy to recover. His speeches, riddled with “I” and “We” are mostly serving to indict him for his failings. Appearing on TV more than any other sitting president, Barack Obama is constantly “explaining” why things aren’t working, when he should be working on what to do different and better.
Instead he is “campaigning,” which is the only thing he knows how to do reasonable well. But he can’t fix the economy; he has neither the experience nor the knowhow to do it. His failed, misguided policies have only exacerbated the size of his mistakes and shortcomings.
EU debt crisis: We must give these continental emperors underwear, at least
Continental Europe is in the grip of delusions. If the average eurozone leader, central banker or bank chairman were a private citizen, he would long since have been diagnosed as hopelessly deranged and confined to a lunatic asylum. Were he a private citizen, he would be much less dangerous. Those who insist they are the Pope or Napoleon may cause distress to their friends and family; those who insist that the euro is a viable currency and that the Greek rescue package has solved the problem could cause distress to the entire world economy.
…
In reality, therefore, there is no choice. In its present form, the euro is finished. That leaves an almighty problem: what happens next? No one has yet come up with a plan for an orderly unravelling, which is most unlikely to happen. The probable outcome is defaults and a further banking crisis. That could already be imminent. For months, it has been apparent that many continental banks were naked emperors, whose capital ratios were sustained only by fantasy valuations. (Those responsible should not be in a madhouse. They should be in prison.) But it does eventually become impossible to blur the distinction between a bank balance sheet and a nudist colony. There are strong rumours that a couple of important banks are on the point of collapse. If that did happen, where would the panic stop? At moments, it seems as if we had created a problem whose solution is beyond the power of the human mind.
FP: The PostWest.
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In reality, therefore, there is no choice. In its present form, the euro is finished. That leaves an almighty problem: what happens next? No one has yet come up with a plan for an orderly unravelling, which is most unlikely to happen. The probable outcome is defaults and a further banking crisis. That could already be imminent. For months, it has been apparent that many continental banks were naked emperors, whose capital ratios were sustained only by fantasy valuations. (Those responsible should not be in a madhouse. They should be in prison.) But it does eventually become impossible to blur the distinction between a bank balance sheet and a nudist colony. There are strong rumours that a couple of important banks are on the point of collapse. If that did happen, where would the panic stop? At moments, it seems as if we had created a problem whose solution is beyond the power of the human mind.
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