John Kerry's Syria Solution In The Works For Months

[Tx4obama]

John Kerry's Syria Solution In The Works For Months

WASHINGTON -- Secretary of State John Kerry may not have been speaking completely off the cuff on Monday when he said Syria could turn its chemical weapons over to the international community in order to avert a U.S. strike. In fact, the proposal appears to have been long in the making, pre-dating the horrific chemical attack in Damascus in late August.

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"This wasn't an accident," a top White House official told The Huffington Post.

President Barack Obama highlighted this fact on Tuesday when he met with Senate Democrats and Republicans on Capitol Hill for their respective caucus lunches.

According to a senior Senate aide, Obama told Democrats that he had asked Kerry to reach out to Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and offer the diplomatic solution.

"He mentioned that that occurred during the G-20 meeting (a year ago), when he met with (Russian President Vladimir) Putin -- that he would assign Kerry to discuss diplomatic alternatives," added Sen. Dean Heller (R-Nev.).

A senior administration official confirmed to The Huffington Post that Obama and Putin first discussed the concept in Los Cabos at the G-20 in June 2012. After the first plenary session, while world leaders were mingling, Obama and Putin went to a corner of the room and spoke for nearly half an hour about Syria.

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Full article here: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/09/10/john-kerry-syria-solution_n_3901863.html

[shenmue]

1. They're melting

Soon, the anti-Kerry and anti-Obama tupes on this board will have to find something else to shriek and cry about.

[RobertEarl]

5. We are stronger than ever

They heard us say NO to war and they melted. They had never heard such a united voice in all their establishment ears.

Not just no, but HELL NO!

[Whisp]

25. you should use those awesome powers for evil, instead of good.

I didn't know I mingled with such powerful yellers and insulters that they could change the world by cranking mindless decibels.

[RobertEarl]

28. So you are deaf?

Deaf to the cries for Peace; no more war?

You must be. You certainly have not joined in the joyous chorus. Mindless decibels? Fuck that shit.

And your personal attacks on me just earned you a nice slap down, didn't it?

[Whisp]

29. you call that a slap down?

I would practice first, if I were you.

But I'm not.

goody.

[RobertEarl]

31. Well

I had to bend way over to the floor to even get close. So you dropping an inch was by proportion quite a slap down.

You and your personal attacks against Peace people are quite the story, indeed.

[Whisp]

33. Peace people

hehe.

...... heh.

well, looks like you got your peace but you are still warring with people that preferred to wait it out and see what happens before jumping out of our skins with fearmongering and lies.

[RobertEarl]

37. Missiles are just fearmongering and lies?

You really are quite the subject. And no, we don't have Peace yet. Not until more warmongers have died off and become such a minority they can't be heard.

I guess you hate Michelle Obama, too? Yep, a real piece of work you have become. Hate, hate, hate. Sad.

[lumpy]

32. The Rabblers by Anthony Beggins

are alive

[Logical]

41. Yes, they will never get this. Anything that makes Obama not perfect must be wrong. n-t

[Moses2SandyKoufax]

12. What's melting?

You mean John Kerry's face?

[YvonneCa]

17. Back to kindergarten...n/t

[Scurrilous]

54. Beyond infantile.

[Cali_Democrat]

2. LOL. This is gonna leave a mark on the Obama and Kerry haters....

What will their spin be now?

[Abukhatar]

3. misunderestimated by the armchair Potus

Seems a consistent pattern by a number of armchair lotuses, second guess, call him names, denounce him - these by people deciding they know what's inside the room based on what they see through the keyhole

First it was the Somali pirates, then obamacare, then the debates, then Egypt, then Libya....

[msanthrope]

14. The 101st Chairborne are all knowing. Ask them about the Catfood they were forced to eat. nt

[PCIntern]

27. Wish I could rec your reply! nt

[another_liberal]

24. Hating war . . .

I hope you agree that hating war is not really the same thing as hating the President?

You might want to consider that your mockery of others' sincerely held beliefs is rather unflattering to you as well.

[lumpy]

34. There is always something to argue about.

No problem.

[Lifelong Dem]

4. It was only when no drama Obama used a little drama that something happened

Like Kerry said. "Nothing focuses the mind like the prospect of a hanging."

[karynnj]

8. LINK PLEASE - I have never read that quote and there are few people it

sounds less like than Kerry.

[Lifelong Dem]

9. Kerry said it today

"Nothing focuses the mind like the prospect of a hanging," Kerry told a congressional committee Tuesday. He said Obama would look at the plan but added: "We’re waiting for that proposal, but we’re not waiting for long.”

http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/09/10/20416189-syrias-foreign-minister-well-declare-chemical-weapons-sign-arms-ban?lite

[another_liberal]

26. He might be well advised . . .

There is still a great deal to be done. He might be well advised to make certain he doesn't hang himself with that kind of boasting.

[lumpy]

35. Don't think he is too worried.

[another_liberal]

38. And that is . . .

I'm afraid you may be right, and that is exactly why he should be.

[Tx4obama]

10. I saw a clip of him saying that on TV earlier today. Link below to article

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"Nothing focuses the mind like the prospect of hanging," Secretary of State John Kerry said Tuesday at a House Armed Services Committee hearing.

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http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-250_162-57602219/obama-to-work-with-u.n-on-russian-proposal-for-syria/

[YvonneCa]

15. House Armed Services Committee...

...hearing today. He said it.

[politicasista]

46. delete

Last edited Tue Sep 10, 2013, 10:56 PM - Edit history (1)

link had answer.

[Hekate]

56. It originated with Samuel Johnson, 1709-1784

"Depend upon it, sir, when a man knows he is to be hanged in a fortnight, it concentrates his mind wonderfully."
in Boswell's "The Life of Samuel Johnson."

It is a much-beloved quote, by some of us.

http://www.samueljohnson.com/mortalit.html#383
http://www.samueljohnson.com/briefbio.html

[karynnj]

59. Thanks to you and thanks to everyone else

That does explain the archaic language. I never heard the quote before and I do get - after reflection - the meaning in this case.

[phleshdef]

6. BOOM!

[phleshdef]

7. This thread is awfully quiet! (another link here)

Kerry's "Gaffe": Secretary of State John Kerry has been ridiculed in some quarters for having “accidentally” raised the idea that is now central to the deal being worked on -- if not yet fully worked out -- to turn Syria’s chemical weapons over to Russia for safekeeping and prompt destruction under U.N. supervision.

In fact, the idea had been discussed on and off for weeks in a “very tight circle,” one administration official said -- a circle that included Kerry, the president, National Security Advisor Susan Rice and U.N. Ambassador Samantha Power. It surfaced in public in the Israeli press over the weekend, and Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov had talked about it well before that.

And Obama said in interviews Monday night that he and Russian President Vladimir Putin had discussed the idea at the G-20 last week. “This wasn’t an accident,” said one top White House official.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/09/10/syria-attack_n_3900671.html?1378832543

[YvonneCa]

18. Kerry also said it was purposeful...

...at House hearing today.You are right about this thread being awfully quiet...

[lumpy]

36. Ah, Silence is golden. Wonder what the next round will be about.

[Safetykitten]

11. The Pee Wee Herman foreign policy

[Scurrilous]

13. Thanks Tx4obama.

K & R

[msanthrope]

16. Oh...9pm EST...I bet it's a friggen ghost town in here until FDL tells 'em what to think....nt

[YvonneCa]

19. ...

...

[ProSense]

20. Here's a May press conference

Remarks With Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov
http://www.state.gov/secretary/remarks/2013/05/209117.htm

[Scurrilous]

23. Thanks.

[rug]

21. "While it's not clear whether Kerry had planned in advance to make that remark on Monday,

the concept had been first proposed more than a year earlier."

It's a good thing the Russians were paying attention.

[stupidicus]

22. SO you mean they were planning to violate the UN Charter, congressional and public disapproval

if need be for months now?

that's good to know.

thanks

[RobertEarl]

30. Yes they were

Planning to do just as Bush did. And here on this thread are a bunch of noisy "Go ahead, Bush did it, so can Obama" types. They really are sickening aren't they.

[stupidicus]

42. I'd say so

my participation here, as short and meager comparatively speaking as it has been, has been a deeply saddening and maddening experience.

I'm guessing I won't have to explain why

[lumpy]

40. No they have been working to find solutions to Assad's problem of socking it to his people.

n

[stupidicus]

43. which obviously included what I posted

n

[Beer Swiller]

39. Spin away. Feel better about your beliefs. Avoid cognitive dissonance.

G'head!

I really don't care who gets the credit, so long as my country is not dragged into yet another unnecessary war so a few people can make money or one party or the other can score political points. I realize that people like you don't care one whit for what I just said; everything's a zero-sum-game, D v R, Blue Team v Red Team, political game for you.

But your demigod Obama lost this round, to We The People, not only of the United States, but of the world, triggered by the British in particular. No way, no how, did Obama expect THAT vote in the British Parliament. Makes me proud of my Scottish and English blood relatives, it does. I know you won't admit that, and I know I'll be attacked with all sorts of snark, but I don't care.

Obama's first option in response to the use of chemical weapons in Syria, by nobody really knows whom, was to militarily intervene. He came right out and said so. But that was multi-diminisional chess? His lying to us was just brilliant statesmanship? Do you really expect most of the American people to actually believe that?

I think you're, well, a wee bit fanatical, in your support for whatever Barack Obama does. I pity you.

I, a son of New Deal Democrats, for whom Jesus sat on the right hand of God and FDR upon the left, say this.

Take your best shot. If it's a good one, I might even respond.

[Moses2SandyKoufax]

44. +1

The best outcome is avoiding another war. If some "grownups", and when discussing BOGers I use that term loosely, still want to believe in santa clause, then I guess there's nothing we can do about it.

[Luminous Animal]

45. If it is Kerry's solution, why does Obama credit Putin?

In Media Blitz, Obama Says Russian Proposal Could Avert Syria Strike

In an interview with PBS NewsHour’s Gwen Ifill, Obama added that Russian President Vladimir Putin raised the chemical weapons proposal in their discussion at the G20 Summit last Friday in St. Petersburg. “I did have those conversations,” he said.

Obama did not explain why neither he nor his aides chose not to publicly promote Putin’s idea until today, after Kerry’s remarks.

Even your article article says that Putin brought it up:

"Putin broached the idea that had been discussed in [a] previous meeting about reaching an international agreement to remove chemical weapons," said the official. "Obama agreed that could be an avenue for cooperation, and said that Kerry and Lavrov should follow up on the concept to shape a potential proposal. Putin agreed to relay that to Lavrov."

[JI7]

49. diplomacy

[SunSeeker]

50. Your clip just says Vlad "raised the proposal...that had been discussed in previous meetings."

Obama doesn't say it was Putin's idea, at least not it that excerpt.

[blm]

53. He SHOULD credit Putin now - that's a crucial part of the effort.

Did anyone really believe that Putin wanted any military confrontation defending Assad's use of chemical weapons right before his hosting the Olympics?

Kerry had been working on Assad since 2005. Kerry and Lavrov had been working closely together on Syria even before Kerry was confirmed as Sec of State. Clinton was never considered an honest broker on Syria.

[politicasista]

47. Kick

[joshcryer]

48. But they had to re-write a speech! It's clear they didn't know wtf they were doing!

[SunSeeker]

51. No, they weren't sure how long it would take Assad to buckle.

So until Assad buckled, they had to keep the pressure on and write the speech like they were about to strike. And they will need to keep the pressure on until all of Assad's CW are destroyed.

[joshcryer]

52. Exactly. There's no telling how long Russia would take.

The people in that other thread are maddeningly illogical.

[freshwest]

55. IIRC, a year. CWC, over 20+ years. Assad's blunder, 20+ days. The world has no time left for war.

[markpkessinger]

57. So that means that the President enlisted the support of David Cameron for missile strikes . . .

. . . that's David Cameron, the head of government of our closest ally, stood by and watched as Cameron went way out on a limb for the President, only to suffer serious political damage when he was roundly defeated before Parliament, the President all the while knowing he was intending to leave Cameron twisting in the wind in the end. If that had actually happened, I think Cameron would be contemplating a missile strike on Washington about now! Seriously, that would be an unprecedented diplomatic betrayal.

Are you sure you want to stick with this theory?

[rucky]

58. Yes, my wife properly rubbed this in my face last night.

I hope the deal with Syria goes through.