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"American diplomacy" is an oxymoron

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"American diplomacy" is an oxymoron Empty "American diplomacy" is an oxymoron

Post by Don Hank Fri Jul 13, 2018 6:05 am

Sen. John Kennedy recently spoke to CNN about his visit to the Kremlin (my comments in square brackets):

"I went (to Russia) to ... deliver a message ... to the foreign minister, to the speaker of the house, and to a number of their senators," he said.
The message was "stop screwing with American elections ... get out of eastern Ukraine and let them self-determine ... get out of Crimea [which did, BTW, self-determine and decided to accede to Russia!] and let Crimea self-determine ... stop screwing around in Syria and help us settle the mess [the US was not invited to settle the mess they made]. And ... do not allow Iran to get a foothold in southern Syria, because if you do that, there's going to be another war that Israel's not going to stand for."

This whole rant is a textbook example of how not to practice diplomacy. In real diplomacy – a lost art in the US – the goal is to negotiate between two parties based on the needs and wants of each and arrive at a compromise that is acceptable to each. Sen. John makes it clear he did not care what the other side wanted. He was dictating terms right up front.

Let’s consider his demands. He starts out by reiterating an accusation that was never justified and yet was used to impose sanctions on Russia. Namely, the accusation that Russia had “meddled in a US election.” The CIA and 17 other intel agencies levelled this charge shortly after the 2016 presidential election and have been harping single-mindedly on this ever since as if no other state business existed to occupy the hands of Congress.
All the CIA could come up with was that a Russian private company had hosted a free forum that touched on US politics. Yet US companies host forums on Russian politics all the time and try to influence voters and the Russians are not so juvenile as to make a fuss over it. So this charge is embarrassingly absurd.

As for the surrealistic demand that Russia “get out of Crimea,” apparently the senator can’t tell the difference between a tentative situation and a fait accompli. He also is implying that the Ukrainian coup – which has taken a fairly stable state with a fairly stable economy and turned it into a failed state that is begging for loans to keep it afloat – was somehow the fault of Russia when in fact, Russia stayed away from the Maidan while Western busy-body leaders canvassed Kiev like a bunch of proselytizing Mormon missionaries. USAID attended the show, Soros’ foundations were there, German foreign minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier was on hand, Assistant Secretary of State Victoria Nuland attended the circus to hand out yummy cookies, and according to her subsequent public speech, the US had spent $5 billion meddling in the internal affairs of Ukraine. Yes, Senator, we know, we know. We are exceptional and can write the rules as we go. We can meddle all we want because we are right and the rest of the world is wrong.

As for the charge that Russia is “screwing around in Syria,” the plain implication is that Russia did nothing to benefit the Syrian people or the Middle East since 2015. If that were true, why would polls taken since 2015 (the entry of Russia) show that Syrians still are loyal to Assad? And why would almost every ME and North African country be buying Russian weapons now?  I am so sick of listening to grown men talk like 3rd graders.

Look, Senator, how can Russia dictate to Syria which allies they may and may not invite to help them defeat the terrorists that the US and allies like Saudi Arabia sponsor and that "accidentally" get their hands on US arms?

Why not you and your fellow lawmakers urge the Pentagon to stop screwing around in Syria? The US was not invited. Russia was, and not by Assad but by the Syrian people – who by the way are reeling under the crippling influence of sanctions that deny them basic needs and life-saving medicines. Does the senator even know any of this?

Further, Sen. John’s mention of Israel in the context of war evokes the spectre of US soldiers bleeding and dying for a foreign country. Does he really want to disclose to his constituents our one-sided military commitment to a foreign country so close to election time?

Sadly, Sen. John is no exception. The majority of US national leaders are making perfect asses of themselves pretending Russia – the only world power sincerely and competently fighting terror in the Middle East – is a worse enemy than Hitler, Pol Pot and Osama bin Laden all wrapped up in one.  Given the childish nature of US diplomacy I do not sense any possibility that the US will regain its lost influence on geopolitics within the foreseeable future.  In my opinion, the self-inflicted damage is irreversible. And who benefits?

Why Russia, of course, which has stepped in to fill the void.

Don Hank

PS: Can we get some discussion on this? What can we do on the US side to initiate an exit from this impasse? What can we do to make it harder for our elected reps and media to tell these brazen lies?


Last edited by Don Hank on Fri Jul 13, 2018 7:51 am; edited 2 times in total (Reason for editing : addition)

Don Hank

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"American diplomacy" is an oxymoron Empty Emails to Russian friends not being delivered

Post by Don Hank Tue Sep 25, 2018 2:16 pm

I wanted to let y'all know that emails that I send out routinely to Russian friends are all or mostly being returned as of yesterday. I don't think that coincidentally, all of them suddenly decided to junk my emails. Vladislav is one. I sent him an email from 2 different addresses and got a message saying the address was invalid. Another one I recall went to Mr. Doktorow. Same thing. About a half-dozen friends in Russia also failed to receive their emails. I wonder if anyone else has noticed Russian nationals or ethnic Russians failing to get emails.
If so, perhaps we can use this medium to contact each other and maybe get to the bottom of this.
Spasibo bokshoe!

Don Hank

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"American diplomacy" is an oxymoron Empty Re: "American diplomacy" is an oxymoron

Post by captain ron Mon Apr 29, 2019 5:22 pm

Use Yandex

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