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Fmr. US Amb to Iraq Jim Jeffrey: Now Gasping for Lameness
Oh my! Retired, former U.S. Ambassador to Iraq James Jeffrey has turned into a real tiger. Now at the Washington Institute, a “think” tank, Jeffrey surveyed the current crumbling scene in Iraq from his office window (May is already boiling, and April was the bloodiest month there since 2008, with 712 killed, 1,633 wounded in sectarian violence) and wildly uncorked this remark:
Obama should also signal his willingness to consider new approaches to Iraq if the Maliki government continues its campaign against the Sunni Arab and Kurdish populations.
[Jon Stewart-type mug face to camera look now]
OMG! A willingness, really? And to consider? And the stinger, a new approach?!?
Hard hitting.
Insightful.
Utter bullshit. All the impact of a David Bowie-Justin Bieber slap fight.
Heavens me, Prime Minister Maliki must be a’ quaking in his sandals. Maliki watched in 2010 as the U.S. stood aside and allowed Iran to broker the election that put him in power. He tried to arrest his Sunni VP practically hours after the last US troops left Iraq. He has seen the U.S. do nothing as he seeks to crush violently the Sunni and Kurd minorities over an extended period of time, including during Ambassador Jeffrey’s own lame tenure. Maliki has allowed Iran to tranship weapons into Syria across Iraq while the U.S. dithered from some dark corner.
Maliki knows a defeated nation when he sees one. This is how America loses wars, former Ambassador Jeffrey.
Grrrr!
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John Poole said...
1PVB- I sense some envy. I doubt any of us on these forums are “think tankers”. We’re forced to tread in the government’s “sensory deprivation tank” where Obama is hoping we just don’t “get it”. Those who do discern how truly sinister Obama is will find themselves in Hillary’s Camp Susan McDougal and specifically in the Vince Foster estuary. But, it’s good to know our families will not be charged for the bullet.
05/14/13 1:42 PM | Comment Link
Kyzl Orda said...
2Peter, you have highlighted a problem concerning the relationship between think tanks and State or other agencies. Too often these agencies’ policy and planning outlets are kinda revolving doors for think tanks, each briefly feeding off each other then the ‘specialist’ is gone who knows where.
Maybe the think tanks get someone who knows there are two Tripolis in the region and, hehe, actually spent time in an Arab country?? Sorry, 8 hours in Benghazi if you are with a Congressional staff, cough cough, or a weekend in the Hilton *insert name of Mid East capital here* does NOT count or make an area expert, but its amazing how many rely on this in hiring. However, the individual must be articulate
It is disappointing and may be Amb. Jeffrey needs time to acclimate not having to write and shepherd policy memos through a heavy-handed bureaucracy rife with hidden agendas, or its because he is now at the Washington Institute for Near East policy, which usually provides a partisan view on the Mid East through a pro-Israel lens and its research output is often devoid of substantive information on the Arab world. The Washington Institute garners ‘specialists’ more comfortable gabbing in front of the media than sitting down and producing qualitative research on Arab affairs.
This is part of a problem for think tanks though. For some time, the quality of think tank research has deteriorated. Think tanks rely way too heavily on State and other government staff, not all of whom have practical experience and knowledge in their region and the focus seems to be to further the think tanks’ name, not much else, and there is a problem with providing outside-the-belt analysis and resolutions to serious matters if think tanks are going to rely heavily on hiring government officials. Where is the independent and fresh perspective?
05/14/13 8:14 PM | Comment Link
Kyzl Orda said...
3John, that dredges up memories, Whitewater and what happened to Foster. Out of morbid curiousity, I looked up whatever happened to Susan McDougal and she is now a chaplain at the University of Arkansas. Paraphrasing Dave Barry, cannot make this up …
05/14/13 8:25 PM | Comment Link
Eric Hodgdon said...
4Sorry to crash in, but this is from a current article from common dreams.
“The U.S. State Department does the bidding of biotech giants like Monsanto around the world by “twisting the arms of countries” and engaging in vast public campaign schemes to push the sale of genetically modified seeds, according to a new report released Tuesday by Food & Water Watch.”
http://foodwaterwatch.pr-optout.com/Tracking.aspx?Data=HHL%3d8%2b%3c0A0-%3eLCE180%3c7%401-GLCE17.6&RE=MC&RI=4219443&Preview=False&DistributionActionID=14265&Action=Follow+Link
Food people, food. Will this trump all other concerns and get people to stop and go in a new direction?
Save the Earth.
05/14/13 8:32 PM | Comment Link
John Poole said...
5Regarding PVB and I (or is it me?) ending up in Camp McDougal if Hillary is POTUS in 2016 I was not implying that Foster was killed. I meant that we will be given the same option if we find the conditions intolerable under Hillary’s rules and our families will not be charged for the round. Our wooden bowls will have our names engraved on the bottom for posterity.
05/14/13 11:16 PM | Comment Link
Kyzl Orda said...
6Ahh suicide you mean? Well, that option or commit a rash of misdeeds, making sure to break a few of the more serious commandments in the process for good measure, then forgive yourself and become a chaplain at University of Arkansas.
Clinton might return in some form but not likely as President, not because of Benghazi. On the upside, she could return as an envoy for Monsanto promoting GMO stuff and pay off the rest of her campaign debt. For someone who kept reminding the President of such a debt, is she going to incur it all over again??
05/14/13 11:34 PM | Comment Link
meloveconsullongtime said...
7Jeffrey’s “think tank” blurb is in the style of late-Soviet and present day Chinese Communist officialdom’s desiderata. Typical Chinese Communist public statements of the early 21st century go something like this (I’m making this up, with the ease of familiarity):
“According to the correct path of scientific development and in view of prevailing conditions, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs affirms its resolve always to strive for practical solutions to international problems ways of mutual benefit for all nations in the World. The Minister of Foreign Affairs declares his personal support of this policy under the correct guidance of socialist spiritual civilisation and the Three Represents.”
…and then Chinese think tanks will produce lots of publications quoting the above over and over. I only wonder if the Chinese Communists have learned this from the Americans or vice versa.
05/15/13 11:46 AM | Comment Link
Kyzl Orda said...
8Dear MLCLT, boy, you nailed that well. Thank you. That was the best laugh
05/17/13 6:32 AM | Comment Link