Obama’s Thoughtful Diplomatic Triumph on Syria Leaves His Critics Speechless

[babylonsister]

http://www.politicususa.com/2013/09/14/obamas-thoughtful-diplomatic-truimph-syria-leaves-critics-speechless.html

Obama’s Thoughtful Diplomatic Triumph on Syria Leaves His Critics Speechless

By: Jason Easley
Sep. 14th, 2013


President Obama’s critics on both the left and right were silenced today, as his thoughtful approach to Syria has led to a breakthrough diplomatic agreement on chemical weapons.

Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov have reached an agreement for the destruction of all of Syria’s chemical weapons. Syria’s failure to comply will not result in unilateral U.S. military action, but UN enforced sanctions. This is a complicated framework that expects Syria to submit a detailed list of their chemical weapons within a week, UN inspectors be allowed to complete their work/the destruction of Syria’s production and mixing/filling equipment in November, and it calls for all Syria’s chemical weapons materials and equipment to be destroyed by early 2014.

This is not the sort of agreement that comes together quickly. It is a complicated and detailed agreement that looks to have been in the works for a while. The structure of this agreement verifies the Obama’s administration’s claim that they have been working on this with the Russians for months, and it was first mentioned a year ago.

snip//

Obama has once again triumphed at home and abroad.

The agreement on Syria’s chemical weapons is a victory for intelligence and thoughtfulness. The president took a huge risk by putting himself out there, but it looks like the military threat was designed to jump start the international community and get Syria to the negotiating table. The president was playing chess, while his critics will still playing George W. Bush level checkers.

President Obama brilliantly won on Syria without firing a shot, and his critics are once again reeling in retreat with nothing to say.

[RBInMaine]

1. Yup. Very much what I said in my post.

[MBS]

2. I'm absolutely convinced that this is what Obama and Kerry were after all along.

and that, while the public statements and threats played out, there was furious diplomatic effort going on from Day 1.
Obama and Kerry deserve huge credit for this.

[blm]

7. That's because you paid attention to the issue even BEFORE the chem attack.

Anyone familiar with Kerry's efforts over the last 9 months could see exactly what was going on. And, we were right! ; )

[MBS]

10. You are always right, blm!

; )

[blm]

25. Well......95% of the time, anyway. ; )

.

[karynnj]

16. Not to mention, while speaking yesterday, Lavrov and Kerry both spoke of the

importance of the Geneva 2 process as well as the chemical piece.

This is from the State Department:

Joint Statements After Trilat


Remarks
John Kerry
Secretary of State
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, and UN Special Envoy Lakhdar Brahimi
UN Offices
Geneva, Switzerland
September 13, 2013
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SECRETARY KERRY: Let me just say to everybody that we will not – we will each make a very brief statement. We’ll not be taking questions at this time. And we apologize for that, but we need to get back to the conversations that we’re having on the issue of chemical weapons.

First of all, Foreign Minister Lavrov and I both want to thank Lakhdar Brahimi and the United Nations for their invitation to have a discussion today about the question of the Geneva 2 conference. As everybody knows, the principal reason that Foreign Minister Lavrov and I are here are to have discussions with respect to the initiative to gain control of and remove and destroy the chemical weapons in Syria. That is our principal mission here in Geneva. And I think we would both agree that we had constructive conversations regarding that, but those conversations are continuing and both of us want to get back to them now.

We came here this morning at the invitation of the Special Representative for the Geneva 2 and Syria negotiations in order to discuss where those negotiations are and how we can advance them. I will say on behalf of the United States that President Obama is deeply committed to a negotiated solution with respect to Syria, and we know that Russia is likewise. We are working hard to find the common ground to be able to make that happen and we discussed some of the homework that we both need to do. I’m not going to go into it in any detail today. We both agreed to do that homework and meet again in New York around the time of the UN General Assembly, around the 28th, in order to see if it is possible then to find a date for that conference, much of which will obviously depend on the capacity to have success here in the next day, hours, days, on the subject of the chemical weapons.

Both of us – Sergey Lavrov and I, our countries, our presidents – are deeply concerned about the death toll and destruction, the acts on both sides, all sides that are creating more and more refugees, more and more of the humanitarian catastrophe. And we are committed to try to work together, beginning with this initiative on the chemical weapons, in hopes that those efforts could pay off and bring peace and stability to a war-torn part of the world. And we’re very appreciative for Lakhdar Brahimi hosting us today in an effort to try to advance this initiative.

Sergey.

FOREIGN MINISTER LAVROV: Thank you very much. Ladies and gentlemen, we had a very useful meeting with Lakhdar Brahimi. As you know, as John said just now, we are here basically to discuss the issue of chemical weapons in Syria. Now that the Assad government joined the Chemical Weapons Convention, we have to engage our professionals together with the Chemical Weapons Prohibition Organization, as we agreed with the United Nations, to design a road which would make sure that this issue is resolved quickly, professionally, as soon as practical.

But we are very glad to Lakhdar Brahimi for inviting us on this occasion to discuss a longer-term goal for Syria, namely the preparation for the conference which is called Geneva 2. Russia, the Russian President from very beginning of the Syrian conflict, have been promoting a peaceful resolution. We have firmly supported the Arab League initiative, their being observers, and we supported Kofi Annan’s initiative, the UN observers, and we were one of the initiators of convening Geneva 1. Last year here, we adopted the Geneva communique, resolved major – almost all major players, including all P-5 countries for the region, Arab League, Turkey, European Union, United Nations. And it is very unfortunate that for a long period the Geneva communique was basically abandoned and we were not able to have endorsement of this very important document in the Security Council, as is as adopted.

Thanks to John, who after becoming Secretary of State in spite of his huge workload on Arab-Israeli conflict understood the importance of moving on Syria and doing something about this. And I am very grateful for him for coming to Moscow on May 7th this year when we launched the Russian-American initiative to convene a Geneva conference to implement fully the Geneva communique, which means that the Syrian parties must reach mutual consent on the transitional governing organ which would command full executive authority. And the communique also says that all groups of Syrian society must be represented.

And we discussed these aspects and other aspects of the preparatory work today with Lakhdar Brahimi and his team. We are very grateful to Lakhdar for his insight, for the suggestions which he made and which we will be entertaining as we move forward parallel with the work on chemical weapons. We agreed to meet in New York in the margins of the General Assembly and see where we are and what the Syrian parties think about it and do about it. And we hope that we will be able to be a bit more specific when we meet with you in New York.

SPECIAL ENVOY BRAHIMI: Thank you very much indeed, both of you, first of all, for coming to talk to us in the Palais de Nation in Geneva. We look forward to the work you are doing on chemical weapons in Syria. It is extremely important in itself and for itself, but it is also extremely important for us who are working with you on trying to bring together the Geneva 2 conference successfully.

Our discussions today, as you have both said now, have been useful. And we are not going to retain you much longer; you have other business to do. Thank you again very, very much indeed for being here.

SECRETARY KERRY: Thanks, Lakhdar.

FOREIGN MINISTER LAVROV: Thank you.

SECRETARY KERRY: Thank you, sir.

SPECIAL ENVOY BRAHIMI: Thank you very much.

**** posted in its entirety as the SD has a facebook and twitter link to share it

[blm]

24. Thanks, K, hope people don't miss your post.

.

[1StrongBlackMan]

3. This ...

will not be met well here ...

It seems that acknowledging President Obama's strength, his deliberate thoughtfulness, is beyond the capacity of too many "democrats."

[Phillyindy]

4. Too many people here...

...are so anxious to prove they are "unbiased" and "independent" that they jump at a chance to criticize Obama. It's not unlike what the media does in fear of right wing criticism.

[busterbrown]

5. Currently having a discussion with a acquaintance in Texas

who put on F.B that Obama was punked by Putin by his Oped piece...”Left O scratching his head” It went on and on how that our president was left looking like a fool...

Sending this to him immediately!!!

[wandy]

6. Their is another "win" here and one that may overshadow Syria.......

Don't get me wrong, I am NOT on the Putin cheer leading team. The thing is that Obama may just have gone ahead and improved our relations with Russia. In terms of the safety of the planet this is a good thing.
This may send a message to other despots that they risk getting 'stomped' from two sides.

Cooperation between the US and Russia. Never thought that would happen in this lifetime.

[Volaris]

15. The day that the Russian People wake up and realize they were never NOT a Superpower,

they will be one again. And OUR OWN Nation's leaders can keep thier heads out of their asses for the time it will take for that to happen in Russia, this whole planet will damn-near enter the 22century (mindset, anyway) in about 3 years. If the US and Russia are playing for the same side (Peace on Earth, Goodwill toward Men, and whatnot) AND playing full-bore, no-bullshit Humanity can be saved from our own worst impulses, as this agreement is quite a nice example of, yeah, combating/REVERSING climate change will then be a simple matter of Physics.

I like what's happened here. It's good for America, (it's good for the Democratic President), and ANYTHING that helps the Russian People see that they have an equal place on the world stage in a productoive, positve way is a huge push in the right diretion for them.

Putin can be a real pain in the ass sometimes, but DAMN if he ain't one sly little motherfucker when he wants to be. Must be all that time he spent at Cagey-Be.

[karynnj]

17. He had been on the verge of doing that in May when Kerry and Lavrov

worked together to revive Geneva 2 - a political solution to Syria that had been moribund for over a year. One interesting thing over the last two weeks was that both Kerry and Lavrov have repeatedly spoken of their being no military solution for Syria and that a political solution was needed.

Snowden and Putin's anti gay law - in different way - created a frostier relationship, but - in retrospect, those may be seen to be minor problems. Apparently, Kerry and Lavrov respect and like each other.

[freshwest]

8. 'A victory for intelligence and thoughtfulness' with inclusion and compassion.

[classof56]

9. Right on!

Big round of applause for my President and Mr. Kerry.

[BumRushDaShow]

11. K&R

For what they knew was a risky but hopefully successful strategy.

I really miss the thoughtful analysis that once existed on DU without the 24/7 and vitriolic insults that labels this President everything that Rush Limbaugh proclaims him to be and then some.

This part of linked article is noteworthy -

The idea that has been pushed by the Obama critics on the left that Putin rescued Obama on Syria is even more absurd and ridiculous when the details of this agreement are examined. The pressure is now on Russia to deliver Syria’s compliance. If this agreement falls through, it will be on the Russians. President Obama will get credit for the agreement and for not using the military to act unilaterally no matter what.

The fictional version of President Barack Obama promulgated by many DUers, is that he is some bumbling fool, cluelessly lurching from crisis to crisis like Shrub or Gingrich or Rick Perry. And the constant drum-beat from their bubble-world continues to show a breathtaking scotoma to reality, with the demand for short-term gratification at the cost of long-term gain.

Pushing FOR the ideals of liberalism and progressive policy is one thing, but insulting anyone not meeting the secret list of criteria required to inhabit said bubble world, is just sad.

[MBS]

14. +1000 n/t

[karynnj]

27. +10000

Not to mention, the US gets pretty much what it wants on as expedited as possible removal of Syria's chemical weapons as possible - as your high light says backed by the word of their sponsor Russia.

Those saying that Russia wins - ignore that Russia even blocked the UN from investigating who was responsible for the gas and had NEVER pushed Syria to get rid of its weapons. That idea had no traction until a few weeks ago. It is possible that the use of gas (though Russia publicly denied that) could by itself have been the thing that changed that, but - that if anything - makes the US position that the widespread use of gas needed a reaction. The US did not unilaterally have the leverage to get Assad to turn over the weapons.

The Republicans - in addition to not wanting to give Obama credit - are already on the issue of the political solution to the entire Syrian problem. Here, they clearly favor a military solution - even though few think that possible and certainly Iraq is a data point against that. If you read the comments of the rebel leaders, they may suggest where McCain and Graham really were. They originally were against the targeted strike because they thought it too small and they and Obama agreed that it alone would not lead to regime change - a point Obama and Kerry made and a point that made the 2 Republicans unhappy.

[mountain grammy]

12. I admit to being skeptical and wrote and called Washington repeatedly expressing

my opposition to military action in Syria. There simply must be a better way.
This is it, and our President deserves all the credit..

During the Cuban Missile crisis (I was 14) there was never a doubt in my adolescent mind that our strong, young president would prevail, and he did. Now I'm older and wiser (?) and had serious doubts, but, thankfully, I was wrong.

[karynnj]

18. I was two years younger - and remember the fear clearly

- even to the point where kids at school - likely from parents - were sure Northern Indiana would be a target due to the steel mills. Likely not the first target Russia or Cuba would have picked, but many localized the threat.

[Spitfire of ATJ]

13. But, but, but,...this means working with Putin which means Obama now hates gays.

[Scurrilous]

19. K & R

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

20. But his approval rating on the economy stands at 42% while Americans say the Republicans are more

trusted with the economy. WHAT THE FUCK!?!?!?!?!??!

Have we not learned any fucking thing about the motherfucking Republicans?!??!

WHEN THE HELL WILL AMERICANS WAKE THE FUCK UP!!!!!!!

[RBInMaine]

21. One poll at one point in time doesn't mean shit. The economy will continue to improve.

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

22. Yeah, I know. I guess I'm just really feeling down this week. I think this president gets a lot of

shit for shit beyond his control. Not to say that I agree with all his decisions--namely Summers as Fed Chairman--but I just feel that he gets it from every side, in every corner, at every turn. It never lets up. There's always something else. I know it's called being the president, but no other president has faced the turmoil that this one has faced.

[Cha]

23. "Intelligence and thoughtfulness".. exactly, Jason Easley...

This is the 4th or 5th time today I've read the "Chess" reference..and indeed it is relevant.

Of course, PBO "took a huge risk putting himself out there" but once again he comes through.. Preparation meets Opportunity.

President Obama's Lucky Score Card..

KSK(africa) @lawalazu

PBO Lucky ScoreCard
2008 Ele.
Economy
Somalia Pirates
#Obamacare,
Bin Laden
Somalia pirates
DADT
DOMA
Al Qaeda henchmen killed

2012 Ele.4:41 AM - 14 Sep 2013

50 Retweets 18 favorites ReplyRetweet

Mahalo babylonsistah~

[Jakes Progress]

26. Giggle. Snort.

I knew this was coming.