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Pool / Getty Images
President Barack Obama and Elie Wiesel light candles in the Hall of Remembrance at the Holocaust Museum April 23, 2012 in Washington, DC.
President Barack Obama unveiled sanctions on Monday against those who help Syria and Iran track dissidents through cell phones and computers and said he would keep adding pressure on both governments to prevent mass atrocities.
In a somber speech at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Obama said Damascus and Tehran were monitoring the social media tools that allowed democracy campaigners to organize rallies in the Middle East to plot attacks against opposition groups.
"These technologies should be in place to empower citizens, not to repress them," he said, announcing new asset freezes and visa restrictions against Syrian and Iranian agencies as well as those helping them access surveillance used to plan violence.
Obama, a Democrat, is under election-year pressure to do more to prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon and stop Syrian President Bashar Assad from waging attacks that have killed more than 9,000 people over the past year.
"We will keep increasing the pressure for the diplomatic effort to further isolate Assad and his regime," he told the audience of about 250 people, including Holocaust survivors, government officials and diplomats.
But Nobel Peace Prize winner Elie Wiesel, in pointed remarks introducing the president, warned it may be "almost too late" to stop their abuses.
Obama, who is up for re-election on Nov. 6, stressed that Washington was committed to keeping Iran from getting a nuclear weapon - a major worry of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as well as many Jewish voters in the United States.
"When faced with a regime that threatens global security and denies the Holocaust and threatens to destroy Israel, the United States will do everything in our power to prevent Iran from getting a nuclear weapon," he said.
'Preventive measures'
Holocaust survivor and author Wiesel flagged Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's past comments casting doubt on the World War II mass killings of Jews as a reason to take the nuclear threat seriously.
Pool / Getty Images
U.S. President Barack Obama and Elie Wiesel walk in the Hall of Remembrance at the Holocaust Museum April 23, 2012 in Washington, DC. Obama reportedly announced a new sanctions March 23, on Iran and Syria for entities and people using technology to target citizens.
"In this place we may ask, "Have we learned anything?" Wiesel said in the museum that details the rise of Nazi Germany and depicts scenes from concentration camps, including the hair, shoes and suitcases of victims.
"How is it Assad is still in power? How is it that the Holocaust's number one denier, Ahmadinejad, is still a president?" he said. "We must know that when evil has power it is almost too late. Preventive measures are important. We must use those measures to prevent another catastrophe."
Mitt Romney, the most likely Republican nominee for the White House race, has criticized Obama's approach to Tehran as too conciliatory and said he would not allow Iran to get a nuclear weapon if he were elected president.
The executive order that Obama signed on Sunday freezes U.S. assets linked to those aiding satellite, computer and phone network monitoring in Syria as well as Iran, where Washington believes authorities are targeting opposition members.
It cites the Syrian General Intelligence Directorate, the Syrian cell phone company Syriatel, Iran's Ministry of Intelligence and Security, Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Iran's Law Enforcement Forces and the Iranian Internet provider Datak Telecom, as well as a number of individuals.
Only Datak wasn't already subject to U.S. sanctions. According to the Treasury Department, Datak collaborated with the Iranian government to monitor and track Internet users, and provided information on individuals who tried to circumvent the government's blocks on Internet content.
In a video message to Iranians last month to mark the Persian New Year, Obama accused Iran of imposing an "electronic curtain" on its citizens and promised new U.S. steps aimed at helping ease the Iranian people's access to the Internet and social media.
'Organized crimes'
The new measures could later be broadened to include other agencies, companies and individuals.
Reuters reported in March that China's ZTE Corp. sold Iran's largest telecoms provider, Telecommunication Co. of Iran (TCI), a powerful surveillance system capable of monitoring landline, mobile and Internet communications as part of a contract signed in December 2010. ZTE said it would curtail its business in Iran.
George Lopez, a University of Notre Dame peace studies professor, said the measures announced on Monday were a step toward disrupting the Iranian and Syrian governments' ability to plan and wage attacks that could be replicated elsewhere.
"Because mass atrocities are organized crimes, crippling the means to organize and sustain them — money, communications networks, and other resources — can disrupt their execution," he said in response to the president's announcement.
Obama has been emphasizing the potential for a diplomatic resolution to Iranian and Syrian crises while trying to add pressure on both governments through tightened sanctions. A large part of his 2008 election platform was a promise to wind down U.S. military engagement overseas in Iraq and Afghanistan.
On Monday, he also promised to extend the presence of U.S. military advisers in Central Africa helping Uganda and its neighbors pursue the Lord's Resistance Army, and said he would give the Presidential Medal of Freedom to Jan Karski, a Polish Catholic who worked as an emissary during the Second World War.
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What about Bahrain. Oh never mind, they are our bad guy.
Not that I'm defending Bahrain, as I despise all dictatorships, but in defense of Obama Bahrain is neither killing thousands of their own people (as in Syria), nor are they probably building a nuclear weapon (like Iran). He does have to prioritize the most immediate atrocities and threats.
Hey SF - Iran is not building a nuclear weapon according to all 16 US intelligence agencies.
This is just another example of Obama sucking up to Israel and doing their bidding. We have just granted Israel another 680 million dollars in addition to the hundreds of millions Israel has already been receiving for their "Iran Dome" project. When are we going to stop donating American taxpayer monies to the parasites in Israel. American infrastructure is rotting to the core and we ship our money to Israel.
In addition, we are fighting a war in Afghanistan in order to make it safe for a gas pipeline from Turkmenistan - Afghanistan-Pakistan - India, in order to transport Israeli owned gas to those countries. That war is costing the US trillions.
No more wars for Israel.
http://www.counterpunch.org/2012/04/04/the-real-nuclear-outlaws/
Israel isn't close to any of the countries you mentioned in regard to the pipeline and is surrounded by enemy lands, making it impossible to run apipeline to Israel. Was it bigotry, stupidity or both that made you make a false post? The 680 million dollars to Israel for the "Iran Dome" is for our benefit because it allows us to field test ideas for opur own defense. Countrerpunch is a total joke btw, but they do thrive offthe poorly educated.
Well, I don't really care about Iran one way or the other, so if you say they're not building a nuclear bomb, I guess I'll just trust that they're not.
In that case, Israel is planning a possible airstrike against Iran that could possibly spark a wider regional conflict, apparently just for giggles, so it's still an important matter that demands his attention more than the protests in Bahrain (at least until they start resulting in massive civilian casualties).
That said, I wish the protesters the best and hope that they wear down their corrupt dictatorship to establish a proper democracy.
HEY SF accountant people dying in Syria thanks to NATO,SADIE'S,QATARI,AND TURKEY , They are arming these thugs to the teeth Assad losing more troops and civilians because he is listening to the no good UN and trying to abide by their rules, He should just send his Air force and bomb these Al Qaeda rebels to hell , just like Israel do and the Turks in Iraq and like we do in Pakistan and did in Iraq , but the dummy been too nice , and he is going to pay for it , because these so called monitor's from the UN are nothing but military spies checking the strength of the Syrian military and their weapons sites , just like they did in Iraq and Syria falling for it , Syria should tell the UN to go back to its masters the NATO and the rich Gulf states and tell them to stay out of other countries business .
Jeff -This is for your edification. It shows Israel has the gas rights in Turkmenistan and wants to sell the gas to India. I never wrote that the gas is going to Israel, nor did the article from Counterpunch. Perhaps you should check your reading comprhension. Here is another link. Perhaps you should actually read the Counterpunch article, if you can read.
www.rense.com/general15/game.htm
My Turn, if you're going to insist on pointing out "facts" that run precisely counter to everything reported and established on this site about Syria's conflict, you should post some kind of evidence. Your rant of assumptions and wild, nonsensical accusations aren't worth refuting otherwise. But I've noted that you're still cheerleading for a dictator with a clear record of horrific human rights violations, now suggesting that he use air strikes in his own country's major population centers. How nice. And after NATO refused to consider doing the same to him for fear of massive collateral damage.
Ralph, a gas pipeline through Afghanistan is a ridiculous project, and I can't believe you expect people to believe that we've actually made a major military deployment for such an absurd reason.
You SF accountant Facts are that the NATO Saudis Qataris arming the rebels in Syria , do not listen to listen to these officials in these countries , they are not denying , and about NATO don't want to bomb fearing for the collateral damage , Give a break , where are you living at , and where have you been , NATO never worry about anything like that . sometimes they deliberately bomb people lively hood to make IT miserable for them so do not give me that crap , in in the case me taking up for Assad , I am going to tell one more time and try to read it this time , our Intel. told you that Al Qaeda are in Syria fighting with the rest of them thugs that came from Libya and every Muslim fanatic from other countries , But still you and McCain and couple other Idiots from our gov. insist on arming these people and maybe sending troops to Syria , are you telling me you are on Al Qaeda side , you all make you stupid mind which side are you on , and you need to tell that to Mrs. Rice our UN Representative , because somebody forgot to tell her that too.
Saudia Arabia is probably arming the rebels (though I haven't heard any evidence that NATO is doing the same). So what? I support that. As for your ranting about Al Qaeda and "what side are you on" provocations, I've answered that several times before. I don't care what side Al Qaeda is on. The fact that there are religious fanatics fighting alongside the rebels does not make their cause less worthy. They are fighting for democracy and justice, and deserve to get it.
And of course NATO worries about collateral damage, obviously more than you do if you want Assad to use an air campaign against rebel forces. That's the only thing stopping them from establishing a "no-fly" zone over Syria just like they did in Libya. And really, bombing people just to make them miserable? Nobody does something so pointlessly evil, not even the dictators, and certainly not NATO (bombs and air sorties are expensive, you know).
Finally, and I hope you pay attention this time, I don't support a NATO invasion of Syria. I'm ambivalent about arming them, but I'd rather we didn't.
As always, I opposse the mass-murderer Assad and cowardly nations that protect him in international circles, particularly Russia.
OK SF accountant .. What I said , If Assad so brutal why doesn't he let his air force bomb these rebels like NATO DO IN EVERY CONFLICT THEY HAD AND , Turkey go in Iraq and bomb the Kurds , Israel bomb into Gaza civilians areas , we bombed in Iraq when Fallouja rebels fired at us , that what I said , but hell if Saudis and Qataris arming the rebels , if I was Assad i will Arm the opposition in Saudi Arabia and Qatar and see what happened , but he does not interfere in their countries bus. and now France and Mrs. rice upset because Syria does not want the Saudis , Qataris, Turkey , US , Britain , and all these countries that arming the rebels to send monitors into Syria . How dare are they , one more time SF it remind of the working girl that does it all on Sat. and want to go to church in Nun cloths on Sun . Amazing man , is just a mind boggling to me , how all these countries took the lord place in telling people how to live and what wear and who should rule them . we should have learned that NATO Countries they do not want anything but our help to rule the world and run it and steal all the wealth of the small countries .
Well, that's a fair question, if not a bit pointless. Assad probably doesn't use air forces because first, he has adequate vehicles and artillery to do the job of mass bombardment of all his territory much more cheaply (and he has), so there's no point in deploying aircraft. Second, the moment he uses air power in his crackdown, NATO will probably set up a no-fly zone and shoot them down. There's no point in doing so now since, as I said, Assad isn't using air power and an air campaign would cause more damage than it would prevent. So why bother?
Of course, that doesn't change the fact that Assad has already engaged in widespread, indiscriminate killing that's resulted in a death toll nearing 10,000 people, and that this begin not as a counter-insurgency, but a brutal clampdown on peaceful protests for democracy.
I still don't know what you're going on about with that working girl nun thing. Not that I find anything wrong with that, anyway. Nuns need cash sometimes, you know?
And finally, although I think it's perfectly reasonable and RIGHT to tell authoritarian governments that they're corrupt and wrong and to take steps toward democracy (I'd certainly like us to tell that to Saudi Arabia), that's not what's happening here. We're not telling Syria to become a democracy, SYRIA is telling Assad's government to become a democracy, and they've died in droves for daring to stand up for themselves. What possible reason could there be to stand with Assad? Because Al Qaeda thinks the rebels are right? That's not much of a reason. Even bad people can make good decisions every once in a while. But right now the bad person in charge of Syria has made too many bad decisions, and needs to go. May Assad burn for what he's done.
Oh, I'm sorry. And what about Palestine? This is really disgusting. Hypocrisy beyond the pale. This week the United Methodists are voting whether to divest from Caterpillar, Hewlett Packard, and Motorla for their technology contributions to the extermination of Palestine. I'd have bet there was nothing that could turn my adoration of Pr. Obama into utter disgust. Maybe I was wrong. This is a link to the Rabbi's that are doing everything they can to encourage the Methodists -
Start Loving, to hell with Palestine. Let Hamas, the party that they voted for take care of them. And who the hell is the United Methodists that are trying to exterminate the Palestinians? Is your straight jacket on too tight? Should we give you the padded room so you don't hurt yourself darling?
I know that most of the arab world feels that the US has always favored Israel when working towards a solution and will never be objective. However, the US and Israel are both successful and prosperous nations built on democracy etc. Just when there appears to be hope in giving Palestinians a land of their own (which they ultimately need to have I believe in some form to give longterm peace in that area)....It's pretty difficult to broker talks when israel has a modern system and educated populous while Palestinians have Hamas in control. hezbollahs large influence and a PM who can't even bring peace because there is no one party in control. For example, lets say tomorrow Israel and palestine agree on cease fires, Israel severing expansion in new areas and everthing is just dandy for a few days. It will never last--at some point Hamas will launch a rocket and israel will be forced to defend itself. My point is even if palestinians get there own state they are very disjointed and have very little track record of running a stable country anyway.
Israel is not a democracy nor are they allies to The U.S......lol as for The Palestinian People, they are suffering undue hardships, oppression, suppression and aggression as well as being ethnically cleansed. The real threat has always been the Zionist Party and in that they are now persecuting The Palestinians and have been for over 60 years, they lose a lot of sympathy and support because Thank God, technology and the internet allow for the truth to seep out even under the iron fist of the Israeli government.
Israel isn't a democracy? Well now, the rest of that tirade is wearyingly familiar but that's a new one. Since when did their democracy break down?
Hey Goldenboy - How do you think the Palestinians would do if we gave them 3.5 billion dollars each and every year for decades, plus arm them to the teeth with so called surplus American weapons? It is estimated that Israel actually receives between 8 and 9 billion dollars each year, while the Palestinians receive millions from other nations.
Israel does not want peace, they want more Arab lands, water and rights to oil and gas. They want it all and they want the US to pay for them to get it, all with US lives and US treasure.
CBS just aired a documentary on how Israel is driving out the Christians from Jerusalem and Bethlehem. The US ambassador to Israel tried to stop the documentary from airing, despite having never seen what was in the documentary. It was a perfect example of Israel trying to control information about what really goes on in Israel.
Stop all American aid to the parasites in Israel.
RalphH -- ARE YOU KIDDING MAN YOU ARE GOING TO HELL,The Jews are god chosen people and they do no wrong ask our Conservatives preachers , they think that Israel in the bible is Israel now, so I was thinking of naming my son Jesus so he can do no wrong , You know I am a christian and I followed the teaching of Jesus since I was a kid . But it seemed we believe in the son of the lord and they crucified him , But still they are the chosen one , I Believe everybody is the son of God no one chosen and no one better than anybody else what separate us is our action not our religion , Israel threatens everybody and then they stand behind us so we can finish the fight it was like this 1967,1973,2006 so if living in a dream SF accountant and I believe you are from reading your comments all the time you need to wake up buddy and quit listening to all fictions they been feeding you .
"you need to wake up buddy and quit listening to all fictions they been feeding you."
Says the religious guy.
Yeah. I'll get right on that. Not.
We worry about other governments tracking their citizens.
That is exactly what our government, with industry assistance, is doing here, today, right now.
Without even a warrant, the cell phone companies are releasing 1000's of numbers and tracking data every single day.
Cops are now watching all of us, all the time.
I'm less worried about cops watching me than I am about federal agents tossing me in a cell and shrugging when I ask what I've been charged with. Surveillance is a privacy issue. What we should be worried about is the erosion of our actual legal rights.
SF accountant. I share your worry about the affects of the Patriot Act (Bush built and Obama extended), the NDAA (Obama), and NDRP (Obama). Combined, they mean scary things. I wonder why you seem to discount Larry's mention of government snooping on Americans? They go hand in hand.
Privacy is and always will be a trade-off for security. Thus I don't give it nearly as much importance as judicial rights, where the line is supposed to have been firmly established by the Constitution. I know the erosion of both go hand in hand with tyranny, but as long as we can preserve our rights to a fair trial, I can live with government snooping.
Many Holocaust deniers are non-Islamists.
Why are we not hearing just what these sanctions are or what they are supposed to accomplish? We already cut off the supply of Maxim and Jack Daniels to both countries. Nothing else seems to be working.
Obama is sucking up to the Jewish voters and Israel , Israel is the biggest human rights violators in the world , plus they have got 200 nukes , but oh sorry its OK its Israel I'm bowing , Syrian army and civilians are getting killed by these thugs that we and NATO , the Saudis and Quatrains financing these murderers and we put sanctions on Syria and Iran , Christians getting killed by these thugs that our Intel. told us they were Al Qaeda fighters but we still insist on blaming the Syrian gov. man would somebody tell me whats going on here, Israel and the Saudis and Qataris want Assad out so we and them ally with Al QAEDA , Strange , we fight them in Afghanistan while the Rich Gulf states arming them , and we help them in Libya and now Syria , I wish they just tell us the truth , because our Media sure don't , hell they are just as crooked as the rest of them , they bought and paid for by these Gulf states too.
From what I've been reading, many of you realize there's little to no difference between the Washington Establishments two political Partys, they're both corrupt and self-serving.
Chech out a third Party I saw being covered on CSPAN this morning. It's called the Constitution Party and their Presidential Candidate is Virgil Goode. I checked out their platform, and although I don't agree on everything, over all, it's a lot better than the same old crap we get year after year from the existing corrupt 'Washington Establishment'.
I don't know about you, but I've had enough of deception, outright theft and fraud, unwarrented costly wars, AND intentional dismantling of the 'United States Constitution' and our 'Bill of Rights'.
If you think their platform merits it, spread the word.
Hey Domingo I really appreciate that you see how corrupt our two party system is. Ron Paul realized that awhile back, as well as realized that running as Libertarian was almost a guaranteed loss because of our system being set up to marginalize 3rd parties. So... though I've never heard of Virgil Goode until now, I'm betting his views are at least 90% in line with Ron Paul's. So why in the world would a Constitutionalist or Libertarian spend their vote on Virgil instead of Ron Paul who has a greater chance of winning? You realize RP just won the Iowa and Minnesota recounts? And more recounts are going on as we speak. Help me understand. I'm no conspiracy theorist but if I were the "powers that be," a brilliant/easy strategy would be to start a party like the one you mention with the purpose of draining off RP supporters. I'm not saying that IS happening. I'm just exploring the various paths :-)
p.s.
How strange that a President who represents one of the groups of the two great American holocausts--one against the native Americans and the other against the imported African slaves--pretends to be interested in a European holocaust in which Americans on American soil were neither perpetrators nor victims. Politics does indeed make for strange bedfellows.
Come out of confusion. The works of a man evidence whether he/she is really of Abraham or Moses.
IF and only IF the United States AND Europe AND Jordan, Turkey, Lybia STOP all trade and travel between them and Syria and Iran, THEN the pressure will be on. The citizens, especially in Syris, who live successful econonmicall will start hurting, and those who live week to week, will get angry. But like all boycotts, they are never unilateral. When someone stops doing business, someone else sees an oppoturnity. I wish the people of these countires could get rid of their dictators, but if it happens, I got a feeling it will either be a long time from now OR the oppoistion will have to form a unified, well trained, militia.
To Eric Weisel, "NO, we have NOT learned anything.." and if anything, genocide, repression, torture, are more common than ever. It is like child molestation in the sense that it stopped being a "family matter" and came out of the closet to the public forum, it SEEMS to happen more often. Well, not true. It happens as it always did, EXCEPT NOW. we go after it. People have been enslaved, repressed, massacred, tortured, since 2000 BC. The Nazis and the Communists brought into the modern era, perfecting it and putting it into practice on a mass scale. Until somewone worse than the Nazis come along, the Germans and those in Europe who aided them or did nothing, have to live with the first prize. But it goes on all over the world today, North Korea is a prison camp. Genocide in Africa is rampant. Iran and Syria are beating their people into submission. With all the problems the "western societies" have, THANK GOD or THANK ALLAH or THANK the guy who came down in the spaceship (scientologists) that we live SOMEWHERE where some form of CIVIL LAW, with reespect towards freedom and justice pervails BECAUSE a lot of the rest of the world IS some version of enslavement, bordering on genocide.
Another example of Field Marshall Obama's lead from behind strategy and a policy of walk softly, apologize, bow and carry two teleprompters.
WHEN OUR PROBLEMS BEGAN WITH IRAN
1953 - Iran Coup. The 1953 Iranian coup d'état (known in Iran as the 28 Mordad coup) was the overthrow of the democratically elected government of Iranian Prime Minister Mohammad Mosaddegh on 19 August 1953, orchestrated by the intelligence agencies of the United Kingdom and the United States under the name TPAJAX Project. The coup saw the transition of Mohammad-Reza Shah Pahlavi from a constitutional monarch to an authoritarian one who relied heavily on United States support to hold on to power until his own overthrow in February 1979. This led to the American hostage situation of 1980.Source 1: '%C3%A9tatSource 2: 3: 4: 5: 6:
"The president announced new sanctions on people and entities in Iran and Syria that use technology to target citizens and erode their human rights".
THAT is funny to me because, uhm, isn't that exactly what Bush and now Obama have been doing to us?
We thought Bush was bad. Check out Obama's record with human rights:
NDRP - National Defense Resources Preparedness - In the name of national defense, our government can take control of private sector resources without consent of the owner. Keep in mind this is a refresh of old Martial Law BUT now "in peacetime" and "in non-emergency" are part of the law. In other words, our President can now at any time assume the powers of Martial Law.Obama - Executive Order - March 16, 2012
Trespass Bill - HR 347Free Speech / Protest Now a Felony - when Secret Service says so - Obama signed in March 2012
NDAA - Indefinite Detention of US Citizens (in USA or abroad) without Right to Trial - Obama signed in January 2012Obama signed "with serious reservations" and promises to not use the powers conveyed.
ACTA (multinational version of SOPA) - Internet Censorship - Obama signed in October 2011, characterizing it as a "executive agreement" and thus bypassing Congressional approval.Some big players, including RIAA, MPAA, and Pharmaceutical Research and Mfgrs of America helped develop the treaty. Note: By April of 2009 Obama appointed 5 RIAA lawyers to the Justice Department.
ISP Snooping Bill - HR 1981"Protecting Children from Internet Pornographers Act of 2011" - Obama signed in July 2011.
Patriot Act - Allows the Federal government to secretly search records and conduct roving wiretaps and raids in pursuit of alleged terrorists or their supporters. Signed into law by Bush in October 2001. Obama pushed for extension in 2009. Obama signed 4 year extension in May 2011.
Libya - Obama orders attack on Libya without Congressional approval (under the Constitution that Obama swore oath on, this is illegal) March 2011
Obama sworn in as President in January 2009.
Obama campaigning 2007/2008: "I will bring our troops home..."
Well, he DID bring some of the troops home...
I mean, come on, it's not like he broke EVERY promise he made as a candidate.
SF accountant sorry buddy , but you remind of the working girls in Las Vegas they do not know on which poll they want sit on , you flip flop more than Romney does, and that's often .
I don't even know what you're talking about anymore. Flip flopped on what? My opinions only change when evidence has been established contrary to my earlier conclusions.
OK then listen to the Qataris and Saudis foreign misters , they admitted to sending money and arms and the Al Qaeda fighters from Libya into Syria , isn't that meddling with sovereign country business , or its OK because they are our allies eve n though they are the biggest Al Qaeda financing countries till this day while we were fighting Al Qaeda in Afghanistan they were arming them and paying to hide Bin ladin .
I've never been opposed to meddling with a sovereign country's business, because "sovereignty" is a sad excuse that dictators hide behind to fend off criticism. Anything a government does should have a reason that can be explained and judged by the international community rather than simply claiming they have a right to do whatever they want because they're sovereign. I include the United States in that judgment, by the way.
So that's not a flip-flop. Are you confusing my opinions with your assumptions of my opinions again? You do that a lot.
And I never condemned Saudi and Quatar arming Al Qaeda, or said anyting about them, only that I support other countries arming Syrian rebels. You're the one that keeps brining them up, not me. So how is that a flip-flop?
I love the way these comment pages are buried when the subject matter is politically controversial. It appears as though MSNBC doesn't desire criticism of their political propaganda. Obama is on his way out. I believe the incompetence of the current administration has shown itself in full blossom in the last two weeks. On the home scene agencies of the government have been allowed to get lackadaisical in obeying the law and rules of diplomacy. It always amuses me when something like this happens because everyone plays the fool and says how could this happen? It happens when already in place regulations are not followed. Yes! Already in place. This spells out incompetence on the part of leadership elements. The buck stops with the (HMFIC) Head Mother, etc., in Charge. You know the one that appoints people. Damage control will not help this situation because the real problem in leadership won't be addressed. It never does get addressed at the top. Additionally on the international scene the administration jacking its jaw about human rights and expressing it's thoughts like an old woman just doesn't get the point across. Syria and Iran have the support of their major buyer. Russia. Talk of not being able to reverse engineer a drone is a joke because the Russians have done it numbers of times during and since the end of WWII. If you think that the Russians don't have access to whats left of that drone by now, your head is where the sun don't shine. I'm not saying that the Republicans have all the answers. What I am saying is the current government has shown me that it is incompetent and needs to go. It's a dead race horse and no bets should be placed. Time to move on.
Putting aside your critique of Obama, are the Iranians and Russians really so cozy that Iran would just hand over a prize like a state-of-the-art UAV?
Obama is clearly in the pocket of the Zionists. However, I still believe he is a better alternative than any of the Republicans, who will have us marching off to war against Iran and Syria as soon as they are inaugurated. Until or unless Obama starts a war, he has to be considered a much better alternative to the Republicans, who are all in the pockets of the Zionists.
A look at every single bill against Iran, will show there is a Jewish Congressman or woman as a sponsor or co-sponsor. The most current are Eric Cantor, Steny Hoyer, Brad Sherman, Joe Lieberman and Ros-Lehtinen. They are fighting hard for Israel, because they are Israel firsters, who do not belong in our government.
Sanctions are a rough form of separatism and these sanctions work far better than occupation. Contain and let these governments implode on their death worshipping theocracy.
Iran is a theocracy, but Syria is not. Additionally, as Syria is already in rebellion, sanctions are very unlikely to help or hinder anyone. Just saying.
Hey accountant -- did you say Syria in rebellion , did you change your mind again , I thought Syria having peaceful demonstration and that brutal Assad just want then to drop their heavy Guns while they were marching .
Syria WAS having a peaceful demonstration. About a year ago. Now it is in rebellion. That has never been disputed by anyone (although you seem to forget the peaceful demonstration part).
You do understand, right? This isn't a complicated concept. Here, I'll make a little chart for you:
Protests start > Protests are fired upon > Protests continue > Civilian casualties mount > Military units start to defect > Protesters start to defend themselves > Defectors create the Syrian Liberation Army > Full-scale rebellion starts > Assad agrees to cease-fire
If you have any of your unsupported conspiracy theories to add, feel free to add them to my little chart there. I don't mind.
Hmmm, I can understand sanctions based upon human right violations. But to use the reason "the government is tracking dissidents through cell-phone use"?
Doesn't our homeland security track dissidents in our own country via cell-phone use? This just seems really hypocritical to me. Come on Obama, you can come up with a better reason.
I know I am going to get blasted for this, but...
Don't we have enough of our own problems to worry about? Until this country is in much better shape, we don't need to be policing the rest of the world. Do what is absolutely necessary to protect us and let them deal with their own messes for a while.