U.S. Pres junkets as East/West descends into Cold War 2

Syrian opposition to
 U.S. interference

Leader-impersonators throw away years: Result: regression

Editing, re-reporting, commentary by Carolyn Bennett

The Reagan and post-Reagan years failed to seize a gaping opportunity begging for the founding of a more progressive era. Officials particularly in Washington wasted critical years, choosing instead an ever-expanding siege of violence: global, perpetual wars.

Today's news

 

Further destabilizing Middle East

Provocation USA on Jordan/Syria border 

Though Washington and Amman have imposed a news blackout on U.S. deployment of troops on Jordanian soil, news sources are reporting that more than “1,000 U.S. troops arrived in the Jordanian port of Aqaba via Israel earlier in the week”; and “under heavy Jordanian military escort,” these troops (members of the 26th Marine Expeditionary Force)… have headed toward the kingdom’s (Jordan’s) border area with Syria.”

U.S. Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel announced in April that Washington was sending 200 military troops to Jordan “to help contain the violence in Syria,” increasing speculation among international media that the United States “is setting the stage for intervention” in another Middle Eastern country.

Russia echoes Cold War

For the purpose of shoring up the nation’s security, Russian officials said this week that their country has deployed a permanent naval unit ─ 16 warships and three ship-based helicopters to the Mediterranean Sea region. Russian president Vladimir Putin while denying mere “saber-rattling” noted that the Mediterranean Sea is “‘a strategically important region” and his nation has “tasks to carry out” in the region “to provide for the national security of the Russian Federation.”

Russia’s revitalization of its military power was also indicated in an earlier announcement that the country intends “to resume patrols by nuclear-armed submarines in the southern seas.”

Cold War 2 ─  The first nuclear-powered Russian Borei-class submarine was put into service in January and five months later an anonymous source on the Russian General Staff tells the Itar-Tass news agency that “Moscow is planning to deploy submarines equipped with nuclear ballistic missiles to southern international waters for the first time since the collapse of the former Soviet Union.”

Expanding, Deepening Conflict spells Regression

The continuing U.S. aggression against and destabilization of the Middle East region is at odds not only with the needs of the inhabitants of this region but with concerns of Eastern Europe and South/Central Asia and the Middle East.

Kofi Annan
Peace Envoy, Mediator
Former UN Secretary-General

Despite proposals time and again calling for relations of inclusion of all affected nations and proposals for nonviolence, political resolution of conflict, peaceful negotiation and conversation, U.S. officials have as many times obstructed these attempts ─ this includes relatively recently the attempts by UN envoy to Syria, Kofi Annan. U.S. officials one after another have effectively destroyed the unity, principles and conventions of “United Nations” and continued a foreign relations policy in violence: arrogance and condescension, belligerence, invasion and occupation.

Jordanians protest
44th U.S. President Barack Obama

Jordanian official’s dissent

On the U.S. ratcheting up of violence on the Jordan/Syrian border, Jordan’s opposition party, the Islamic Action Front, has denounced the presence of American troops in the kingdom and asked the government to review its decision to authorize the deployment of foreign troops on Jordan’s soil.

Russian official’s dissent and reprimand

Leading into the Geneva 2 conference on Syria tentatively scheduled for July, a spokesperson for the U.S. State Department, Jennifer Psaki, reportedly claimed that participants in a preparatory meeting  ─ the trilateral meeting held on Wednesday with the participation of UN-Arab League Special Representative for Syria Lakhdar Brahimi and representatives from Russia and the United States ─ had agreed that the Geneva conference should focus on overthrow and replacement of Syria’s head of state: “the forthcoming talks on Syria should focus on the formation of a transitional government to which the current administration should give up all powers.”

Speaking to the press the following day (yesterday), Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov essentially said the U.S. official was lying or, more kindly, had misrepresented what had occurred in the preparatory meeting. “If this was really said by the U.S. State Department,” Lavrov said, “it is a very strong distortion of what the talks were about.”

Also contrary to U.S. and other Western obstructionism and arrogance, Lavrov reemphasized Moscow’s “push for Iran’s participation in the upcoming Geneva conference.

UN official’s dissent

 

Though the preparatory meeting failed to set a firm date for the Geneva meeting and U.S. officials have again been stalling on peaceful resolution to the conflict, the UN-Arab League Special Representative for Syria, Lakhdar Brahimi, expressed hope that the Geneva conference will convene in July.

Mairead Corrigan Maguire

Northern Irish peace activist

Co-founder of Peace People 

(Community of the Peace People)

Assessment and a way forward

A corrupt, distracted and inept national leadership in Washington over the past several years (Reagan onward) has given up the chance to change the ethos and character of U.S. foreign relations. The world is neither the enemy of World War II victor-states nor the enemy of the Cold War West nor should the West be afraid or paranoid about leaders or factions of the East and South. A flawed sameness has gone on for far too long and, for all its technological gadgetry (or because of it), the West has entered a sharp descent into regress (Is this the intent of the “take back America-ites” or sundry nationalists and “Patriots” or the “occupiers”?).

I think nations of the West and particularly my country (land that I love) should: 

Start accepting leaders and nations, without judging or lecturing them

Start engaging leaders and factions nonviolently, respectfully, as equals

Instead of ridiculing, lecturing, condescending to and disparaging difference, seek understanding directly from the rich varieties of cultures and peoples of which we are pathetically lacking, dangerously ignorant, and stupidly dismissive.

Sources and notes

“U.S. Marines deployed along Jordan border with Syria: Report” (Press TV latest update), June 7, 2013 2:5PM GMT, http://www.presstv.ir/detail/307672.html

“Russia deploys permanent naval unit to Mediterranean Sea,” June 7, 2013 8:22AM GMT,

http://www.presstv.ir/detail/307620.html

“Russia slams U.S. for distorting results of trilateral talks on Syria,” June 7, 2013 5:38AM GMT, http://www.presstv.ir/detail/307605.html

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