The Iran Deal Should Be Irrelevant

The Neutralist has not been paying oodles of attention to the Iran deal and the president’s non certification of it.

Supposedly, from much of its press, it is a great agreement and Mr. Trump should have re-certified it.

Of course, he campaigned on the promise not to.

So what does he do now?  Punt it over to Congress.

The deal is discussed ad nauseum in the media with most saying stay with it even if they believe it is several levels less than the best thing since bread that is sliced.

The advocates of re-certification make the argument that if we do not do it, then our word is without meaning and who will negotiate with us, as our faith is not good?

Also, the case has been made that Iran is keeping to the letter of the agreement.

All in all, if it is true that the deal is worth keeping and we are going to be part of an international system, then we would agree, on balance, it is better to be part of the agreement.

The problem is, our history with the Persians has been one of mistakes.

By now, only the most obstinate would disagree that our promotion of the coup against Mossadegh turned out to be a bad idea.  Sure we got 16 years of a hard guy ruler and oodles of oil.  Yet beneath the surface during that time was a revolution coming that would sweep it all away,

Is certifying or decertifying a mistake?

The Neutralist has no idea.  Sure, an Iranian bomb would not be desirable, but Pakistan having one is not all that wonderful either.  If the mullahs stay with the plan, that’s great.  If they don’t what are we going to do?  Bomb them? Probably not.

No, The Neutralist believes in the Neutralist position of non-intervention.  Of course, to non-intervene means to withdraw.  Withdraw completely from MENA.  That means no more intervening in Syria, no more trying to put the Iraq humpty dumpty together.  An end to dealing with Erdogan or other kleptocrats.  We would no longer have to help the Saudis with their obscene war in Yemen.

And, with that, the Republic would fall just like it did when we left Viet Nam.

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The Congressmen Speak:Khanna, Jones and Pocan in NYT op-ed on their Resolution to stop the war on Yemen

Well, they don't speak, but write, and their New York Times piece is well done.  They are exhaustive in the links to make the case to stop the war on Yemen.

Please go to the link and then call your rep and tell him to support the resolution, H. Con. Res. 81.

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More Neocons Going After The Russian-It probably isn't enough

The anti-Russkie drumbeat gets louder and louder everyday.  Two posts ago, we noted that God, that is the voice of Morgan Freeman is worried.

Morgie, Rob Reiner and others are teaming up to take on the bogeyman in the shape of Putin.

They, however, are not the only ones.  Over at Sic Semper Tyrannis, Colonel Lang has information on Alliance for Securing Democracy.

Who are they?

“The recently created Alliance for Securing Democracy, housed (at least for now) at the German Marshall Fund--USA is one of the core anti-Putin, anti-Russia operations that merits keeping an eye on, especially as it impacts Congressional hearings, resolutions, and media.  It’s an alliance of hard core neo-cons who were in the thick of promoting the 2003 Iraq war and the "axis of evil" attacks on Iran-Iraq-North Korea during Bush 43 administration, with the hillary-cons.”   

Just who is the German Marshall Fund?  On The Ministry of Information, I mean NPR, they are occasionally mentioned as providing money for some of the propaganda programming.  I thought it was a fund to thank us for lending Les Boches a helping hand after we were done bombing them to smithereens.

Here is a link to Der Spiegel that is a tribute to the founder, but basically is a history of the GMF.

It is a Neocon safe space.

Read Sic Semper Tyrannis article DECAMERON: NEO-CON RESET.

The article also updates us on the doings of Neocon star Bill Kristol.

“Kristol has a new home on the Advisory Board of the Alliance for Securing Democracy along with Michael Chertoff, and the anti-Putin ex-Ambassador to Russia, Michael McFaul.  Also on the Board is Jake Sullivan, a top Hillary operative at the State Dept.   Chertoff recently landed a Wall Street Journal article on September 6th, headlined, Congress Can Help Prevent Election Hacking.   I expect there will be a lot of Congressional action on this front if the “Alliance for Securing Democracy” has its way.  

Securing democracy?  The crowd that brought us Iraq in 2003, Libya in 2011?”

Why is Bill Kristol still circulating.  One has to understand that he probably believes he is a genius, but his war promotion and other buffoonery should mark him as the anti-prophet, i.e. anything he says on any subject should be seen as conclusive evidence that taking the opposite tack is wisdom.

The Neutralist has asked before, but if there is a reader that has a cogent argument as to why anyone should listen seriously to this man, please let us know.

SST references Glenn Greenwald and he is always worth reading.

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And, for your listening displeasure, a Neocon anthem!

House Bill to End War "on" Yemen Is a Great Idea!

Notice above the word on in quotes.  Our foul support of the Saudi war makes the nation and people of that land the victims of a vicious and stupid campaign that is little more than genocidal.

I suppose that some theory of American foreign policy is served by doing the Saudi's bidding.  Certainly Big Oil is happy to see us do that.

Of course, if we believe that it is good policy, then all the folks who spout about "American Exceptionalism" are hypocrites.  We, at the Neutralist, have long given over to that belief.

There is a moment afoot to restore at least a modicum of our national honor.

At The American Conservative, Daniel Larison has a September 28, 2017 column about the effort in Congress to end U.S. involvement in the Yemeni war.

According to Larison

Democratic Reps. Khanna and Pocan and Republican Reps. Massie and Jones are the co-sponsors of the bill, and they deserve a lot of credit for working on this and bringing attention to a conflict and our government’s role in it. The U.S. role in supporting the war should receive much more scrutiny than it has, and this bill provides members of Congress with the opportunity to debate the indefensible policy that has implicated the U.S. in the crimes of the Saudis and their allies. One of the reasons that U.S. support for the war has gone on for so long with so little opposition is that Congress has failed to challenge the Obama and Trump administrations’ decisions to back the coalition. This bill offers the chance to do what Congress should have been doing for the last two years.

He quotes FP

Democratic Reps. Khanna and Pocan and Republican Reps. Massie and Jones are the co-sponsors of the bill, and they deserve a lot of credit for working on this and bringing attention to a conflict and our government’s role in it. The U.S. role in supporting the war should receive much more scrutiny than it has, and this bill provides members of Congress with the opportunity to debate the indefensible policy that has implicated the U.S. in the crimes of the Saudis and their allies. One of the reasons that U.S. support for the war has gone on for so long with so little opposition is that Congress has failed to challenge the Obama and Trump administrations’ decisions to back the coalition. This bill offers the chance to do what Congress should have been doing for the last two years.

The Neutralist concurs.  Though it rarely works wonders, we urge everyone to contact their reps and tell them you support this gang of four.

Larsson's last paragraph emphasizes the point,

U.S. involvement in the war is not only unauthorized, but it is enabling the commission of war crimes and other violations of international law. Ending that involvement could also be the first step in forcing the coalition to halt its campaign and blockade. All House members should join their four colleagues in calling for a stop to U.S. backing for the disgraceful and atrocious war on Yemen.