A structurally subtle sentence set into a presser given by U.S. Secretary John Kerry to the press in the Middle East, yes.   But ask yourself this:  when was the last time a Secretary of State needed to tell the world, his boss, The President of The United States, was honest?
The irony is, and what the media will not report, this Kerry statement was given at the exact same time a series of Russian ships are docking in Egypt; as discussions begin between the Egyptian and Russian government’s for a Russian military base to be located in Egypt.    Egypt is looking for a “DEPENDABLE” ally.
Abu Dhabi: US Secretary of State John Kerry says no deal with Iran is better than a bad deal. And any deal with Iran would not allow them to own a nuclear weapon.
He was addressing a joint press conference with Shaikh Abdullah Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, UAE Foreign Minister.

“US President Obama is a man of his word,” Kerry said. “He said in his speech before the UN that the US will not allow Iran to have a nuclear weapon and this is our policy to which we are committed.”

Kerry said the US has a strategic partnership with the UAE, Saudi Arabia and other partners in the region.  (read more)

John Kerry says that “President Obama has prosecuted al-Qaeda with unprecedented intensity”.   I swear; he did, he said that – we have video to prove.
Yet, al Nusra Front (aka al-Qaeda in Syria) are now considered on “our team”, and Kerry says they are the “best fighters”.   In Afghanistan, at Obama’s behest, we are now negotiating with Taliban (aka. al-Qaeda in Afghanistan).  And lest we forget Benghazi, Libya, and our dead Ambassador, Chris Stevens, and three other Americans, where not a single al-Qaeda terrorist has been held to account.
…. President Obama is prosecuting al-Qaeda?   Uh-huh.   And Chris Christie is “Conservative”.   Gotcha.

(more…)

This story is another reflection of how short-sighted and self-interested the circle around President Obama is.    Everyone knows that Israeli covert military strikes are done to stop the risk before it reaches the gate.  They live surrounded by enemies.  
In this example a Russian / Syrian military weapons cache was destroyed.   The White House leaks that Israel were the ones who carried it out.   This type of leak puts international pressure on Israel, makes them appear further isolated, and can weaken their ability to proactively respond to threats.
(Via Times of Israel) – Israel is fuming with the White House for confirming that it was the Israeli Air Force that struck a military base near the Syrian port city of Latakia on Wednesday, hitting weaponry that was set to be transferred to Hezbollah.
Israel has not acknowledged carrying out the strike, one of half a dozen such attacks widely ascribed to Israel in recent months, but an Obama administration official told CNN on Thursday that Israeli warplanes had indeed attacked the Syrian base, and that the target was “missiles and related equipment” set for delivery to Hezbollah in Lebanon.
Israel’s Channel 10 TV on Friday night quoted Israeli officials branding the American leak as “scandalous.” For Israel’s ally to be acting in this way was “unthinkable,” the officials were quoted as saying. (more…)

This should come as no surprise; it is, quite simply, only about the hundredth time people have reported on the aloof detachment of President Obama.   
Even Bob Woodward wrote an entire book in general about how disingenuous Dear Leader was/is toward fiscal policies, and more specifically his indifferent and bored outlook regarding negotiations with Congress that might actually involve work.  
Remember too, during the OBL kill/capture mission – Obama had to be dragged off the golf course; and then, according to Reggie Love, didn’t want to participate in the event preferring instead to play cards because his presence was required *near* the situation room.
(New York Times) With rebel forces in Syria in retreat and the Obama administration’s policy toward the war-ravaged country in disarray, Secretary of State John Kerry arrived at the White House Situation Room one day in June with a document bearing a warning. President Bashar al-Assad of Syria had used chemical weapons against his people, the document said, and if the United States did not “impose consequences,” Mr. Assad would see it as a “green light for continued CW use.” (more…)

Via Weasel Zippers – who shares: So knowing she’s a liar, knowing that she’s in bed with the “rebels”, that she put out conflicting accounts, that she whitewashed the “rebels” into a more “moderate” force, this woman is worthy, according to John McCain, of being hired to his staff.   This is so unbelievable, it makes one think that there is some greater personal underlying reason operating here.

WASHINGTON DC – Arizona Republican Sen. John McCain hired the Syria analyst in favor of U.S. intervention who was fired for fabricating her Ph.D., Foreign Policy reported.
Elizabeth O’Bagy, formerly of the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), will start Monday as a legislative assistant in Sen. McCain’s office.
McCain told Foreign Policy that “Elizabeth is a talented researcher, and I have been very impressed by her knowledge and analysis in multiple briefings over the last year.” The senator’s office said they would not make any further comment on O’Bagy’s employment. (more…)

We’ve often talked about the marked similarity between these trying times and the similarities to the time just prior to the awakening in Poland which spurred the Solidarity Movement.
Indeed, in Poland then, just like in the U.S. now, the media was selling one central planning script yet a divergent reality existed in the street – amid the people.
It took the people of Poland to actually walk into the street and recognize they had been fooled. They thought for years their individual desires for freedom and smaller government put them in the minority.  Individually they each believed their government was operating with the consent of the governed.  However, they were wrong.
Once the ordinary citizen made the decision to take to the street they recognized their views and perspectives were actually held in the majority. The media was merely selling a guise on behalf of the centralized governing body. (more…)

(UK Independent)  While the Assad regime in Damascus has denied responsibility for the sarin gas missiles that killed around 1,400 Syrians in the suburb of Ghouta on 21 August, information is now circulating in the city that Russia’s new “evidence” about the attack includes the dates of export of the specific rockets used and – more importantly – the countries to which they were originally sold.
They were apparently manufactured in the Soviet Union in 1967 and sold by Moscow to three Arab countries, Yemen, Egypt and Colonel Muammar Gaddafi’s Libya. These details cannot be verified in documents, and Vladimir Putin has not revealed the reasons why he told Barack Obama that he knows Assad’s army did not fire the sarin missiles; but if the information is correct – and it is believed to have come from Moscow – Russia did not sell this particular batch of chemical munitions to Syria. (more…)

I keep wondering when Edward Snowden’s risk to U.S. intelligence will surface in the discussions surrounding Russia, the U.S. and Syria.   {{crickets}}

Russia must be getting some value from harboring Snowden.   Snowden holds many understandings of the U.S. approaches to intelligence gathering, and I’ve yet to see any discussion about what advantage Putin may have from such knowledge.
It just seems odd.

The level the U.S. media will go to protect their chosen one is laughable.   Time magazine hides the “Strong Putin Weak Obama” cover story in America;  Puts out alternate cover story to protect Obama.
(Via Daily Caller)  Time magazine’s cover for its Sept. 16 issue features a  picture of contented-looking Russian president Vladimir Putin, complete with a  black background and a damning caption that declares “America’s weak and  waffling, Russia’s rich and resurgent.”
But Time’s editors are shielding Americans from the demoralizing picture,  putting a cheerful, sky-blue photo on the covers of magazines distributed in the  United States. “It’s time to pay college athletes,” says the chirpy, non-political U.S. cover, which shows a ball-carrying football  player with arm outstretched.  (continue reading)

UNITED NATIONS — Careful not to blame either side for a deadly chemical weapon attack, U.N. inspectors reported Monday that rockets loaded with the nerve agent sarin had been fired from an area where Syria’s military has bases, but said the evidence could have been manipulated in the rebel-controlled stricken neighborhoods.
The U.S., Britain and France jumped on evidence in the report – especially the type of rockets, the composition of the sarin agent, and trajectory of the missiles – to declare that President Bashar Assad’s government was responsible.
Russia, Syria’s closest ally, called the investigators’ findings “deeply disturbing,” but said it was too early to draw conclusions. The Syrian government’s claims that opposition forces were responsible for the attack “cannot be simply shrugged off,” Russian Ambassador Vitaly Churkin insisted. (more…)