Friday, August 8, 2014

Commentaries, Opinions, And Editorials -- August 8, 2014

Kurdish peshmerga troops participate in an intensive security deployment against Islamic State militants on the front line in Khazer August 8, 2014. US warplanes bombed Islamist fighters marching on Iraq's Kurdish capital on Friday after President Obama said Washington must act to prevent 'genocide.' Azad Lashkari/Reuters

Obama Intervenes In Iraq: Lessons Learned From Benghazi And Rwanda -- Howard LaFranchi, Christian Science Monitor

Benghazi and Rwanda, two crises where military intervention was not used, likely figured in the backdrop of Obama's decision on what to do about a looming genocide and an imminent threat to US personnel in Iraq.

Washington — No one has ever accused President Obama of being overanxious to use military force.

But as Mr. Obama considered and ultimately authorized US military action Thursday to address the mounting humanitarian and security threats posed by Islamist militants in northern Iraq, two earlier crises where military intervention was not used likely figured in the backdrop of White House discussions on what to do about a looming genocide and an imminent threat to US personnel in Iraq.

One was the attack on US diplomatic compounds in Benghazi, Libya, in 2012, and the other was the Rwanda genocide in 1994.

Read more ....

Commentaries, Opinions, And Editorials -- August 8, 2014

Airstrikes, Sure; but What About a Strategy in Iraq? -- New York Times

Why Can't ISIS Be Stopped? -- Nancy Youssef, McClatchy

As US bombs militants in Kurdistan, Maliki clings to power in Baghdad -- Jane Araaf, CSM

Who are the religious and ethnic groups under threat from ISIS? -- Joshua Berlinger, CNN

Hamas could have chosen peace. Instead, it made Gaza suffer. -- Dennis Ross, Washington Post

Hamas emerges weakened from Gaza war -- Karin Laub and Mohammed Daraghmeh, AP

Graphic content: How media differ on use of Gaza images -- BBC

Without shift in Afghan strategy, Taliban only winners -- Scott Smith, Special to CNN

Turkey election: The price of Erdogan's popularity -- Mark Lowen BBC

Presidential Election Set to Seal Erdogan's Supremacy -- Hasnain Kazim and Maximilian Popp, Spiegel Online

Military threat key to push FDLR rebels in Congo to disarm: U.N. -- Michelle Nichols, Business Insider/Reuters

The Vladimir Putin School of Leadership -- Leonid Bershidsky, Bloomberg

The Global Economy’s Groundhog Day -- Ashoka Mody, Project Syndicate

Hashtag diplomacy won't save lives -- Gary Bauer, USA Today

1 comment:

Unknown said...

When GWB was president, he said something to the effect "I am the decider."

Then we have Mr Clinton. He goes around weeping all the time that the world that America should have done something about the Rwandan genocide.


America was the lone superpower at the time. It had resources to spare. CHECK

America had the airlift capacity to send troops. CHECK

America had the troops available. CHECK

In 1994 America had the 1st black President (per Tony Morrison). CHECK

What am I missing?