Financial Times:
The US accused Russia on Sunday of supporting “barbarism” over the bombing of the Syrian city of Aleppo...This is all very interesting, especially considering the following:
Accusing Russia of supporting a Syrian regime offensive that has derailed a ceasefire agreement negotiated between Washington and Moscow, Samantha Power, US ambassador to the UN, said Russian and Syrian forces were “laying waste to what is left of an iconic Middle Eastern city”.
In a blistering speech to an emergency UN Security Council meeting, Ms Power said: “Instead of pursuing peace, Russia and Assad make war.”
While Moscow was likely to argue that it was pursuing terrorists in Syria, she said that “Russia is espousing fiction”. “What Russia is sponsoring and doing is not counterterrorism; it is barbarism,” she added.
Bloomberg:
When future historians debate why the U.S. did so little to stop the tragedy in Syria, they should dig up the speech President Barack Obama just gave at a U.N. summit on refugees.In summary, Obama is trying to stare down the schoolyard bully Putin, even though Obama isn't willing to confront Putin. Words are not enough with Putin, and Obama's failure in Syria is evidence of that.
While Democrats signaled their collective virtue by denouncing a tweet from Donald Trump Jr. that compared Syrian refugees to Skittles, Obama lectured foreign ministers and heads of state this week on the same topic. "And just as failure to act in the past, for example, by turning away Jews fleeing Nazi Germany, is a stain on our collective conscience," Obama said, "I believe history will judge us harshly if we do not rise to this moment."
Obama went on to state something obvious: "We must recognize that refugees are a symptom of larger failures -- be it war, ethnic tensions, or persecution." But then he said something bizarre: "If we truly want to address the crisis, wars like the savagery in Syria must be brought to an end, and it will be brought to an end through political settlement and diplomacy, and not simply by bombing."
This of course is a straw man. No one who has argued for more U.S. involvement in Syria has said more bombing alone will solve these problems. What's more, the U.S. is doing a lot of bombing in Syria today against the Islamic State.
But there is also something sinister about Obama's formulation. The U.S. is not just another country when it comes to the collective security of the Middle East. Through its alliances and interventions, it has been the region's reluctant sheriff since the end of World War II. In this sense, it's rich of Obama to pose as a Jeremiah when he has acted more like a Nero.
His administration's pursuit of diplomacy and publicly stated policy to not attack Syrian forces gave Russia a green light to establish its forward air bases in Syria a year ago. As Secretary of State John Kerry pursued Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov to restart peace negotiations, the Russians deployed bombers and jets to Syria and struck a pact with Iran to regain territory for the dictator, Bashar al-Assad.
This toothless diplomacy has further immiserated the Syrian people. The U.S. government confirmed Tuesday that it was Russian aircraft that destroyed an aid convoy this week, halting the delivery of food and medicine to the besieged citizens of Aleppo, and killing 20 aid workers.
It's worse than this though. This atrocity was committed during what was supposed to be a cessation of hostilities negotiated by Kerry and Lavrov this month in Geneva. The second phase of that agreement would have established a center in Jordan where Russian and U.S. military officers would share intelligence to target the Islamic State and other jihadis in Syria.
Back in the USA...
Facebook:
Granted, Facebook isn't a news site, but sometimes there are things there which are newsworthy. In this case, it is Ted Cruz's endorsement of Donald Trump:
This election is unlike any other in our nation’s history. Like many other voters, I have struggled to determine the right course of action in this general election.
In Cleveland, I urged voters, “please, don’t stay home in November. Stand, and speak, and vote your conscience, vote for candidates up and down the ticket whom you trust to defend our freedom and to be faithful to the Constitution.”
After many months of careful consideration, of prayer and searching my own conscience, I have decided that on Election Day, I will vote for the Republican nominee, Donald Trump.
I’ve made this decision for two reasons. First, last year, I promised to support the Republican nominee. And I intend to keep my word.
Second, even though I have had areas of significant disagreement with our nominee, by any measure Hillary Clinton is wholly unacceptable — that’s why I have always been #NeverHillary.
Six key policy differences inform my decision...The six differences he lists are: Supreme Court nominations, Obamacare, energy, immigration, national security, and Internet freedom.
Regardless, this is an odd endorsement coming from Cruz, after he verbally backhanded Trump at the Republican Convention. This endorsement doesn't read like Cruz is trying to mend fences with Trump, but rather that he refuses to support Clinton. So he will advocate wasting your vote on Trump first.
In other news...
CNN:
Arnold Palmer, known as "the King" for his transformative legacy in golf, has died at the age of 87.
He died Sunday evening at a Pittsburgh hospital while awaiting cardiac surgery, according to a statement from his company.Palmer was much more than just a great golfer. He was a cultural icon. He was one of the great 20th century superstar athletes who made advertising a second job for all superstar athletes.
Anyone remember this ad?
Golfing made Palmer famous, but it was his personality that made him an icon.
My own connection to Palmer came via my childhood dentist, who we shared. I remember one time visiting my dentist, and I got to see Palmer in the dentist chair, laid back with mouth wide open, getting some kind of dental work. You don't normally get to meet celebrities that way.
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