Wednesday, September 10, 2014

Cheney: 'Our President Must Understand That We Are At War'

from nbcnews




Former Vice President Dick Cheney said Wednesday that he hopes President Barack Obama lays out a “forceful, bold and immediate strategy to defeat ISIS" tonight, but Cheney's remarks at a conservative think-tank were more focused on suggesting that the president does not understand the severity of the threat.
"Our president must understand we are at war and that we must do what it takes, for as long as it takes, to win," Cheney said during a speech at the American Enterprise Institute, adding the threat from ISIS is "far more dangerous that the administration has been willing to admit."
Cheney, a key architect of the war in Iraq, painted Obama’s foreign policy as an effort to avoid tough choices rather than address threats head-on.
“So often President Obama responds to crises by announcing all the things that he will not do,” he said. “And here again we can only hope that pattern ends tonight.”
The former vice president's remarks come a day after he addressed congressional Republicans about foreign policy, prompting reminders from Democrats about Cheney's role in in the unpopular war in Iraq.
"Dick Cheney is more responsible than anyone else for the worst foreign policy decision in the history of the country," Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said on Senate floor Wednesday.

IN-DEPTH

- Carrie Dann


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Tuesday, September 9, 2014

Been There, Tried That: What Obama Won't Say in Foreign Policy Address

from nbc



President Barack Obama is set to hit rewind on his approach to foreign policy when he addresses the nation Wednesday.
A president who rode opposition to the Iraq War to the White House will try to convince the American people that, this time, the U.S. must wade back into the much-despised quagmire to eliminate the threat from jihadist group ISIS.
It’s not the first time Obama has retreated from some of his most frequently-played sound bites regarding the terror threat in the Middle East. But with the ISIS threat feeling ever closer to home since the terror group beheaded two Americans, there’s a new urgency to the U.S. approach abroad.
The prime-time address comes amid some good news for the administration: A new NBC News/ Wall Street Journal poll shows that a majority - 61 percent - of Americans say that taking military action against ISIS is "in our national interest," while just 13 percent disagree with that statement.
Here’s a look back at some of the key statements that Obama has made about terror groups, military action, and the situations on the ground in Iraq and Syria that you won’t hear from him Wednesday night:
A ‘JV team’
During a January interview with the New Yorker, in the wake of the ISIS capture of Fallujah, Obama referred to militant offshoot groups as “a JV team" compared with Osama bin Laden’s old Al Qaeda network.

Obama Explains ISIS 'JV Team' Comment

MEET THE PRESS
         
“The analogy we use around here sometimes, and I think is accurate, is if a jayvee team puts on Lakers uniforms that doesn’t make them Kobe Bryant,” Obama told the magazine’s David Remnick. “I think there is a distinction between the capacity and reach of a bin Laden and a network that is actively planning major terrorist plots against the homeland versus jihadists who are engaged in various local power struggles and disputes, often sectarian.”
On Sunday, in his interview with Chuck Todd for NBC’s Meet the Press, Obama insisted that he was not referring to ISIS with that comment. “Keep in mind I wasn’t specifically referring to ISIL. I’ve said that, regionally, there were a whole series of organizations that were focused primarily locally,” he said, adding that ISIS has “evolved” during that time.
Fact-checking organizations say that Obama is stretching the truth to say that he wasn’t referring to ISIS at the time of his comments. Even if you agree with the president’s distinction, though, it’s clear that we’re no longer going to hear that kind of characterization of a group now deemed worthy of proactive American military strikes.
“Of the people, by the people, and for the people.”
The political and foreign policy worlds suffered some whiplash last August, when Obama abruptly pressed the pause button on anticipated airstrikes on Syria. After evidence appeared to show that Syrian President Bashar Assad had used chemical weapons against his own people, Obama was widely believed to be ready to pursue a Syrian attack without congressional authorization. But a stroll with Chief of Staff Denis McDonough around the White House grounds changed his mind. In an address on August 31, 2013, the president stated that he would ask for a congressional blessing after all, saying that “our power is rooted not just in our military might, but in our example as a government of the people, by the people, and for the people.”
(It's worth nothing that Obama's announcement came after Britain voted down a similar authorization, which would have forced the United States to act largely alone.)
The divided Congress balked, and the issue faded after negotiators struck an agreement to destroy Syrian chemical weapons caches.

Obama: ‘I will seek authorization for the use of force’

NBC NEWS
         
While Obama has now indicated that he wants “buy-in” from Congress before green-lighting a military strategy to deal with ISIS, he’s made clear that he does believe he has constitutional authority to launch military action on his own. And with midterms fast approaching, leaders on both sides of the aisle are likely to seek to avoid an authorization vote that could be potentially problematic for endangered candidates.
A residual force?
There’s no question that Obama’s campaigns had a firm foundation in his promises to end the unpopular wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, promises that the president stood by. But critics point out that Obama has now blamed some of the slide back into violence on the Iraqi government, even after having taken broad responsibility for pulling troops out in 2011. During a debate with then-GOP rival Mitt Romney in 2012, for example, Obama appeared to dispute the notion that he wanted a status of forces agreement that would have left some U.S. troops in the region. But he told reporters earlier this year that the decision not to leave a residual force “wasn’t a decision made by me.” “That was a decision made by the Iraqi government,” he said.
In October of 2011, then-Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki made clear that Iraq had rejected American demands that the residual U.S. troops be granted immunity from prosecution, scuttling any deal to keep a force there.
Still, in his remarks to the nation on Wednesday, the president will need to offer an explanation of why Iraq has so quickly slid back into a hotspot for terror and violence, and the issue of a residual force is sure to come up.
“Sovereign, stable and self-reliant”
When Obama marked the end of the war in Iraq in 2011, he acknowledged to an audience of soldiers at Fort Bragg that “Iraq is not a perfect place.”

Obama Marks 'Extraordinary Achievement' of Leaving Iraq

NBC NEWS
         
But, he said, “we're leaving behind a sovereign, stable and self-reliant Iraq with a representative government that was elected by its people.”
Now, nearly three years later, the Obama administration can point to a brand new unity government there after the ouster of Maliki, whose alienation of the Sunni population is widely considered to have exacerbated the country's divisions.
But that new system of leadership had become a prerequisite for sustained air attacks on ISIS, the militant group that swept into the region as the Iraqi military crumbled. As the United States seeks a new international coalition to aid moderate forces in beating back the invasion, “stable” and “self-reliant” remain far from the reality on the ground.
“A red line for us”
Perhaps no foreign policy statement has been referenced as much by Obama’s critics as his assertion that Assad’s possible use of chemical weapons would be “a red line for us.” He said: “We have been very clear to the Assad regime, but also to other players on the ground, that a red line for us is we start seeing a whole bunch of chemical weapons moving around or being utilized. That would change my calculus. That would change my equation." In August of last year, evidence indicated that the Syrian regime had indeed deployed the weapons, and Obama has since been roundly criticized for his sluggish response. (Syria's chemical weapons have since been neutralized as part of an international agreement.)
As the administration gingerly tries to address ISIS in a nation still controlled by the president it vowed to take out, the White House will be haunted by its previous choice of words.

- Carrie Dann

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Thursday, September 4, 2014

Afghan political uncertainty clouds NATO summit

from washingtonpost
By Associated Press September 4 at 1:09 PM

NEWPORT, Wales — Time is short for Afghan leaders to resolve their presidential election and sign a security agreement so allied troops can remain in the country after the end of the year, NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen warned Thursday.
Speaking on the opening day of the NATO summit, Rasmussen said that allied nations stand ready to commit to assisting and funding Afghanistan, but final decisions can’t be made until the political stalemate is over.
The April 6 voting to elect a successor to President Hamid Karzai resulted in a runoff between former Foreign Minister Abdullah Abdullah and ex-Finance Minister Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai.
Both candidates pulled their observers out of a ballot audit meant to determine the winner, and the final results of the audit are expected sometime next week. Until a president is elected, the U.S. and other countries do not have a security agreement finalized to protect foreign troops in Afghanistan after combat ends Dec. 31.
Without a signature on the security agreement, Rasmussen said, “there can be no mission. Although our military commanders have shown great flexibility in their planning, time is short. The sooner the legal framework is in place, the better.”
Rasmussen spoke at the end of a summit session on Afghanistan.
Because the presidential election is not final, the Afghan defense minister, Gen. Bismullah Khan Mohammadi, represented his country at the summit. Mohammadi reassured Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel during a meeting Thursday that both presidential candidates continue to support the security agreement. Outgoing President Hamid Karzai and the two candidates did not attend the NATO meetings.
The two candidates sent a message to NATO, Rasmussen said, indicating “that they will do all they can to reach a political agreement.”
Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.





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Wednesday, September 3, 2014

Obama Calls Ukraine a ‘Moment of Testing’ for NATO

from nytimes


By JULIE HIRSCHFELD DAVIS
    PLAY VIDEO|1:28

    Obama Urges NATO to Help Ukraine

    Obama Urges NATO to Help Ukraine

    President Obama pushed the alliance to send a message of support to Ukraine and to help modernize and strengthen its security forces.
     By Reuters on September 3, 2014. Valda Kalnina/European Pressphoto Agency
    TALLINN, Estonia — President Obama on Wednesday declared the conflict in Ukraine a “moment of testing” for the United States and Europe, calling Russia’s intervention a “brazen assault” on the nation’s territorial integrity that warrants a unified response.
    On a day of conflicting reports of a cease-fire agreement between President Petro O. Poroshenko of Ukraine and President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia that both soon walked back, Mr. Obama condemned what he called “Russia’s aggression against Ukraine” and said Moscow was guilty of having violated the postwar international order.
    “It is a brazen assault on the territorial integrity of Ukraine, a sovereign and independent European nation,” Mr. Obama said in a speech to more than 1,800 students, young professionals and civic and political leaders at a concert hall here. “It challenges that most basic of principles of our international system — that borders cannot be redrawn at the barrel of a gun; that nations have the right to determine their own future.”

    Ukraine Crisis in Maps

    The latest updates to the current visual survey of the continuing dispute, with maps and satellite imagery showing rebel and military movement.
    Rejecting Mr. Putin’s frequent denials of intervention in Ukraine and his assertion that the Russian presence there is part of a humanitarian or peacekeeping mission, Mr. Obama said it was clear Moscow was responsible for the escalation of tensions there.
    “It was not the government in Kiev that destabilized eastern Ukraine; it’s been the pro-Russian separatists who are encouraged by Russia, financed by Russia, trained by Russia, supplied by Russia and armed by Russia,” he said. “These are the facts. They are provable. They are not subject to dispute.”
    Mr. Obama spoke before news emerged that Mr. Putin had proposed aseven-point plan to end the conflict in Ukraine that could take effect on Friday — precisely when Mr. Obama and his counterparts from NATO would be meeting in Wales to devise a response to Russia’s behavior. Mr. Putin’s announcement appeared deliberately timed to blunt that effort.
    Earlier Wednesday, at a news conference with President Toomas Hendrik Ilves of Estonia, Mr. Obama had reacted cautiously to preliminary reports of a halt to the fighting in eastern Ukraine, saying it was “too early to tell” whether the cease-fire was real, and casting doubt on whether it would be lasting.
    By the time he stepped back from the podium at the close of the question-and-answer session, hopes for an agreement were already fading, with the Kremlin saying it could not negotiate a cease-fire because it was not a party to the conflict, and Mr. Poroshenko’s aides saying there was no formal pact.
    Later in the day, Mr. Obama stepped up his criticism of Moscow, saying “the actions of the separatists in Ukraine and Russia evoke dark tactics from Europe’s past that ought to be consigned to history.”
    While Mr. Obama has said repeatedly he does not see the Ukraine crisis as the start of another Cold War, the episode is unleashing old tensions that are creating echoes – particularly for Estonia and other Baltic nations with Russian-speaking populations – of an East-West rivalry playing out uncomfortably close to their borders.
    The president’s speech was part of a visit intended to show solidarity with fretful allies and reassure them – particularly newer NATO members and those bordering Russia — that the United States and Europe are serious about defending them from a newly aggressive neighbor. Mr. Obama met with the presidents of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania here on the eve of the NATO summit in Wales that will be dominated by the question of how the alliance will respond to the Ukraine crisis.
    “The defense of Tallinn and Riga and Vilnius is just as important as the defense of Berlin and Paris and London,” Mr. Obama said Wednesday, invoking the founding principle of collective defense that undergirds NATO. “An attack on one is an attack on all, and so if, in such a moment, you ever ask again, ‘Who’ll come to help?’ you’ll know the answer: the NATO alliance, including the armed forces of the United States of America.”
    “We’ll be here for Estonia. We’ll be here for Latvia. We’ll be here for Lithuania,” the president said. “You lost your independence once before. With NATO, you will never lose it again.”
    To back up the words, Mr. Obama referred to a $1 billion initiative that will position more American equipment in the Baltic States to be ready in the event of an attack, more training exercises, and more United States forces “including American boots on the ground” rotating through Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. At the news conference, he announced that the initiative – which must be approved by Congress – would include additional air force units and aircraft for training exercise in the Nordic-Baltic region that could be based at Amari Air Base in Estonia.
    At the summit, NATO is expected to endorse a rapid-reaction force of 4,000 troops capable of deploying at 48 hours’ notice, supported with logistics and equipment pre-positioned in eastern European countries closer to Russia, with an upgraded schedule of military exercises and deployments that are intended to make NATO’s commitment of collective defense more credible and enhance its deterrence..
    Mr. Obama used the speech to call for NATO member countries to increase their defense budgets to help rebuild the capacity of an alliance that has been eroded in recent years as military spending has fallen. The United States accounts for 75 percent of NATO spending, and Estonia is one of the few nations that meets the target of spending 2 percent of its G.D.P. on defense.
    “This week’s summit is the moment for every NATO nation to step up and commit to meeting its responsibilities to our alliance,” Mr. Obama said. “Estonia does it; every ally must do it.”
    Even as the president said the United States “will not accept Russia’s occupation and illegal annexation of Crimea — or any part of Ukraine,” he stopped short of promising to send arms to the country’s beleaguered military to fend off such action, a step some members of Congress and even some of his own advisers have pressed.
    Mr. Obama argued that American and European sanctions are weakening Moscow, and said the United States will continue to help Ukraine in other ways, including training its military. He called on NATO to make “concrete commitments” this week to help Ukraine modernize and strengthen its forces. Mr. Poroshenko is to attend a meeting Thursday at the NATO summit to discuss such assistance.
    “We have no interest in weakening Russia,” Mr. Obama said, “nor do we not seek confrontation with Russia.” But he added that a solution to the current crisis “starts by Russia changing course and leaving Ukraine.”


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    Tuesday, September 2, 2014

    Politicians, colleagues and friends react to the beheading of South Florida journalist Steven Sotloff

    from miamihearald.com


    Posted on Tuesday, 09.02.14


     

    MIAMI HERALD STAFF REPORTS AND WIRE SERVICES


    “Here is what they need to understand – Steve Sotloff was a Floridian, but more importantly he was an American. If you attack one American, you are attacking all Americans. Last week President Obama said that his Administration does not at present have a strategy for dealing with ISIS – these immoral evil people. I think I can speak for all Floridians and all Americans when I say that the time for a strategy is now, and part of that strategy needs to include destroying them.” — Gov. Rick Scott
    “Today we mourn the death of Miami native son, Steven Sotloff, at the hands of the brutal and evil ISIS terrorists. Our deepest condolences go out to his parents and his entire family. The cruelty shown to Steven is in stark contrast to the courage and bravery he displayed both as a journalist and an American. Our hearts are with the Sotloff family at this time of grief, and we pray for an end to this terrorist violence.” — Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos A. Gimenez
    “I cannot imagine coping with the pain Shirley and Art must be feeling right now as they lose a son due to a savage terrorist organization and my heart and prayers go out to their entire family. This atrocious and brutal act shows that ISIL’s cruelty knows no bounds and that it has no respect for human life. ISIL is a global terror group that espouses an ideology that poses a grave threat to regional security as well as U.S. national security interests both at home and abroad.” — U.S. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen
    “Steven’s balanced and earnest approach to journalism was met with love by many in the Middle East, but with brutal disdain by those whose tactics stood in such clear contrast to his own. Through Steven’s execution, ISIL has demonstrated yet again its limitless capacity for cruelty and its unbridled hatred of freedom-loving people everywhere. ISIL continues to establish that its violent grasp for regional control represents a threat to the American people, our allies, and the principles of freedom and human rights that we cherish.” — U.S. Senator Marco Rubio
    “Our hearts go out to the family and friends of Steven Sotloff. Let there be no doubt, we must go after ISIS right away because the U.S. is the only one that can put together a coalition to stop this group that’s intent on barbaric cruelty.” — U.S. Senator Bill Nelson
    “The Muslim community is shocked and they have condemned the killing of James Foley and Steven Sotloff. These are not considered acts of a true Muslim. We pray for the safety of everybody against this heinous crime of those so-called Muslin defenders. And we share the grief of the Sotloff family. Whatever the Muslim community can do to help alleviate the loss and grief we will do.” — Shabbir Motorwala, Coalition of South Florida Muslim Organizations
    “This heinous and revolting behavior is a particularly chilling example of the threat that Islamic militants in the global jihadist movement poses worldwide, the same threat faced by Israel on several fronts from associated terrorist groups in the region. We know that all people of good will join with us in condemning ISIS for this horrific act and call on the international community to bring Steven’s murderers to justice. Our hearts and prayers are with the Sotloff family. May Steven’s memory forever be for a blessing.” — Greater Miami Jewish Federation
    “Everyone's been concerned. Everyone is grieving. It's terrible. I've been praying for him.” — Pepe Cazas, neighbor of Sotloff’s parents in Pinecrest
    Sotloff “gave his life so readers would have access to information from some of the most dangerous places in the world.” — Nancy Gibbs, editor of Time magazine






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    Monday, September 1, 2014

    Ukraine crisis: NATO to create 'high-readiness force,' secretary general says

    from cnn


    By Ralph Ellis, Faith Karimi and Victoria Butenko, CNN
    updated 7:26 PM EDT, Mon September 1, 2014


    STORY HIGHLIGHTS
    • NEW: New NATO unit not a threat to Russia, White House says
    • NATO Leader: New unit will "travel light, but strike hard if needed
    • Moscow asks Ukrainian military to retreat from civilian locations
    • Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov calls for talks, not threats of sanctions
    Kiev, Ukraine (CNN) -- NATO members meeting this week in Wales are expected to create "a very high-readiness force" to deal with Russian aggression in Ukraine and other international conflicts, NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said Monday.
    In a speech on the NATO website, Rasmussen said the fighting force will be part of an overall Readiness Action Plan that "responds to Russia's aggressive behavior -- but it equips the alliance to respond to all security challenges, wherever they may arise."
    He said this "spearhead" force would be able to "travel light, but strike hard if needed."
    NATO will look at possible upgrades to infrastructure that could include airfields and ports, he said.
    Ukrainians brace for rebel attack
    Putin: Don't mess with us, we're nuclear
    Why did Ukrainian forces leave border?
    Russia denies invasion of Ukraine
    The White House supports the idea of a rapid response teams for NATO, but National Security Spokesman Caitlin Hayden cautioned that the force would be "defensive" in posture.
    The new force is "not intended as a provocation, or as a threat to Russia, but rather as a demonstration of NATO's continued commitment to our collective defense," Hayden said.
    New bases will be set up and equipment pre-positioned at bases, a NATO diplomatic source said.
    "We are also facing crises to the southeast and south," said a senior NATO official. The plan "needs to be able to deal with all crises that we might be facing in the future from wherever they might come."
    Rasmussen said President Petro Poroshenko of Ukraine will attend the summit and NATO will "make clear our support for Ukraine."
    On the ground, Ukrainian forces appear to be outgunned by Russian rebels.
    "We have seen as recently as Saturday, that the Ukrainian army is very, very unarmed compared to the rebels," said Michael Bociurkiw, a spokesman for the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, which is monitoring the situation in Eastern Ukraine.
    On Monday, U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron told Parliament that the presence of Russian soldiers on Ukraine soil is completely unjustified and unacceptable.
    "Russia appears to be trying to force to Ukraine to abandon its democratic choices through the barrel of a gun," he said.
    Cameron said new sanctions measures will be drawn up by the EU within a week.
    Ukraine airfield attack reported
    A Russian army tank attacked airfields in eastern Ukraine on Monday, Ukrainian military officials said, amid worsening tensions between Kiev and Moscow.
    Photos: Crisis in UkrainePhotos: Crisis in Ukraine
    Russian troops in Ukraine
    Russia's message on Ukraine
    A battle is under way at the airport of the eastern city of Luhansk, Ukrainian counter terrorism officials said.
    "There is a very, very bad situation developing in Luansk," Bociurkiw said. "Ukrainian officials are warning of a humanitarian catastrophe due to the lack of water and electricity."
    Shortly before the attack, Russia urged the Ukrainian military to retreat from civilian locations in the east, saying pro-Moscow separatists in the region will not disarm for fear of getting killed.
    The same day, Ukraine said one of its patrol boats was capsized and two of its crew are missing off the coast of the city of Mariupol. Officials did not say who was behind the attack.
    Poroshenko has said thousands of Russian troops are in his nation's east, helping the separatists.
    Though Russia has denied sending its troops to Ukraine, it defended the rebels' action in the east.
    "Washington and Brussels need to ask Kiev authorities to stop shelling the houses, schools, hospitals and so on because you leave militia with no choice but to stand up to protect their people," Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said.
    Lavrov: 'Let us sit down and talk'
    "Let's not ask militia to lay down their weapons and allow themselves to be killed."
    Lavrov said negotiations, not threats, will help resolve the crisis between the two neighbors.
    "Let us sit down and talk instead of threatening with sanctions and stubbornly making absolutely unrealistic demands of the militia laying down arms," he said. "This is what the peace plan of Poroshenko is about."
    Russian President Vladimir Putin sparked controversy when he talked about "statehood" for eastern Ukraine.
    "Substantive meaningful talks related to the issues of society's political organization and statehood in southeastern Ukraine should start immediately in order to protect people living there," Putin said Sunday.
    The Kremlin later denied that Putin was calling for statehood in the region, saying he was referring to inclusive talks with all sides represented.
    Russia annexed Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula in March following the ouster of President Viktor Yanukovych the previous month.
    Violence broke out in the eastern Donetsk and Luhansk regions in April when separatist leaders declared independence from the government in Kiev. Since then, the conflict between the pro-Russia rebels and the Ukrainian military has killed 2,500 people, according to the United Nations.
    U.S. lawmaker visits Ukraine
    A U.S. lawmaker called for the arming of Ukrainian forces along the eastern border.
    Sen. Robert Menendez, D-New Jersey, is in the Ukrainian capital of Kiev. He said the conflict in eastern Ukraine is not a rebel uprising, but a Russian invasion.
    "We should be providing the Ukrainians with the type of defensive weapons that will impose a cost upon Putin for further aggression," said Menendez, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
    In the past, U.S. President Barack Obama has opposed supplying Ukraine with weapons. .
    Poroshenko warned that his nation's crisis with Russia has worsened, and is inching closer to a "full-scale war."
    The European Union has demanded Moscow withdraw its troops or face additional sanctions.
    European Council President Herman Van Rompuy said new sanctions are in the works for Russia. Proposals will be ready for consideration in a week, he said over the weekend.
    READ: After eight months of conflict, what's next for Ukraine?
    READ: What is Russia doing in Ukraine, and what can West do about it?
    READ: Opinion: Fog lifts to show Russia at war

    CNN's Victoria Butenko reported from Kiev, Jim Acosta reported from Washington and Faith Karimi wrote and reported in Atlanta.

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