From what can be gathered within a myriad of media reports is that Sec. Kerry / POTUS have agreed to leave “U.S. threat of force” out of U.N. resolution against Syria for non-compliance.   Meaning if Assad does not comply with U.N. mandate to disarm himself of chemical weapons, the U.S. had conceded a strike by us will not be one of the consequences.
Instead, the “stick” per se’, to non-compliance from Syria, would be a return to the U.N. Security Council for a resolution allowing the “use of force”.  
D’oh..  Russia can, by structural Security Council set-up, veto any such follow-up proposal.

[judo photo credit]  (Via Politico)  Journalists emerging from a closed-door briefing at the White House Friday afternoon were informed that President Barack Obama won’t insist that a U.N. resolution governing Syria’s surrender of chemical weapons include a threat of military force if President Bashar Assad doesn’t follow through. (more…)

(Via Fox News) Elizabeth O’Bagy, a pro-Syrian opposition analyst whose credibility has come under fire, might have even more explaining to do – as court documents show she once vouched for a rebel group whose website displayed extremist and anti-American images.
Among the pictures was one showing a burning U.S. Capitol.

O’Bagy was fired earlier this week by the Institute for the Study of War for allegedly lying about her academic credentials. Her writings had been used by U.S. officials to bolster their case for military action against the Assad regime.
O’Bagy discussed the rebel group in question in a June 19, 2013 signed affidavit filed in the case of American Eric Harroun, who was indicted for fighting alongside the terror group al-Nusra in Syria. (more…)

Due to the graphic nature of the content of this post a substantive backdrop is needed.

A few years ago, against the backdrop of Tunisia ablaze and a visible ember headed to Egypt, we hosted a discussion post about the Middle East.
It is one thing to understand the structural framework for the U.S. Rivkin Project, it is quite another thing to see it actually being implemented.   The latter leads those who understand the globalists within the Obama administration to recognize we were about to bear witness to horror.
The formative discussion was based on the context of President Obama’s 2009 Cairo speech where he stated his policy toward Islam in general, and the Middle East in particular.
Within the Obama speech, he proclaimed the approach outlined in the Rivkin Project.  He denied the cries of the Iranian Green Party movement for freedom, and he advocated or an “unclenched fist” toward Iran.  The Salafists saw the opening.
Those of us who have travelled in the Middle East, and those who have followed Mid-East events, knew immediately how this “open-handed” message would be received by Islamist Ideologues who conflate Political Islam toward Muslim considerations.
Those minority ideologues are the people who would advocate for Islam and Sharia Law implementation, the politicization of Islam, upon a religious Muslim majority.
Those ideologues view moderation as weakness, and they know how to use extremist views toward the West in their favor.
Obama’s weak appearances opened the door, allowing the Islamist ideologues to express years of anger and hatred toward the Zookeepers, Mubarek, Gaddaffi et al, who held a tenuous controlling grip on their behavior and radical intent.
As we discussed the predictable unintended consequences, Zurich Mike provided the exceptional analogy of:  [President Obama] Opening the ‘Big Cat’ cages within the greater Zoo that was the Middle East.   A more apt and encompassing analogy has never been written.
What has followed from that early 2010 prediction to today, is bearing out right now.  We are all witness to the consequences from the “unclenched fist”.   First with the crushing of the Iranian Green “Student” Party;  Later with the rise of the Salafist Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt;  Then the manipulation of the moderate cause in Eastern Libya turning to radical al-Qaeda fighters flooding back from Iraq and Afghanistan;  And now to today in Syria.
The content you are about to read is GRAPHIC in the extreme, and I caution you to consider whether or not you want to Bear Witness.   But this is, in its purest form, the visible outcome from an academic leftist Western approach exhibited by President Obama, Samantha Powers, Susan Rice and Hillary Clinton.

Again, I caution WHAT FOLLOWS IS GRAPHIC and Unsettling !

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This strategic approach should not come as a surprise.   Telling Obama to stop hostilities is all part of the Russian/Syrian approach.    The international case, which will win in the court of the U.N and public opinion, will be: why should Assad disarm from CW when Obama is funneling in weapons to anti-government forces to destroy Assad?
This simple ‘anti-Obama action message’ is not only practical, but it will also resonate internationally.   President Obama will have to stop threats against Syria, pledge no military strikes against Assad, and stop weapons shipments into the country; or Assad will be justified in rebuking the administration demands. 
MOSCOW (Reuters) – Syria will fulfil an initiative to hand over its chemical weapons only when the United States stops threatening to strike Syria, RIA news agency quoted President Bashar al-Assad as saying in a television interview.

Assad also said that Damascus will begin handing over information on its chemical weapons stockpiles one month after it joins a anti-chemical weapons convention.
“When we see the United States really wants stability in our region and stops threatening, striving to attack, and also ceases arms deliveries to terrorists, then we will believe that the necessary processes can be finalized,” he was quoted as saying in an interview with Russian state television.  (read more)

The former head of the KGB is now directing the President of the United States on what to do, how to do it, and what will be acceptable.     Totally flaying the White House because he knows POTUS does not have support of his own people.   In essence he is daring President Obama to have a vote in his own congress.   Putin knows such a vote would fail therefore he can position himself as being on the side of the U.S. majority.  His directions published Swooningly by,…. wait for it….  why, the New York Times of course:

(NYT) . . . A new opportunity to avoid military action has emerged in the past few days. The United States, Russia and all members of the international community must take advantage of the Syrian government’s willingness to place its chemical arsenal under international control for subsequent destruction. Judging by the statements of President Obama, the United States sees this as an alternative to military action.

I welcome the president’s interest in continuing the dialogue with Russia on Syria. We must work together to keep this hope alive, as we agreed to at the Group of 8 meeting in Lough Erne in Northern Ireland in June, and steer the discussion back toward negotiations. (more…)

The initial media *Mainstream* Media report stems from the Washington Post, however, CNN is also reporting independent confirmation for the content of the Post article.
(Washington Post) The CIA has begun delivering weapons to rebels in Syria, ending months of delay in lethal aid that had been promised by the Obama administration, according to U.S. officials and Syrian figures. The shipments began streaming into the country over the past two weeks, along with separate deliveries by the State Department of vehicles and other gear — a flow of material that marks a major escalation of the U.S. role in Syria’s civil war.
The arms shipments, which are limited to light weapons and other munitions that can be tracked, began arriving in Syria at a moment of heightened tensions over threats by President Obama to order missile strikes to punish the regime of Bashar al-Assad for his alleged use of chemical weapons in a deadly attack near Damascus last month.
The arms are being delivered as the United States is also shipping new types of nonlethal gear to rebels. That aid includes vehicles, sophisticated communications equipment and advanced combat medical kits. (more…)

The vote President Obama is now asking to delay, is the vote he previously requested which would have doomed his 2nd term to irrelevance – It was certain to fail.  
From an Obama position of brutally obvious weakness, Russia’s Putin twists President Obama and spins him like a top.    President Obama is going to speak to the nation tonight at 9:00pm. 
The core of how this is taking place is discussed, and what’s potentially at the root of the collapsing messaging, after two media reports:
FIRST FROM DC – President Barack Obama said Tuesday he wants Congress to delay its efforts to vote on authorizing the use of force in response to Syria’s use of chemical weapons until the round of diplomatic efforts that began this week has a chance to play out.
Obama’s comments came at lunch meetings with senators, which followed the administration’s commitment to engage in talks at the United Nations, and as Syria and Russia quickly responded to the action at the UN with their own statements and requests.
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(via iOTW) Himes and Blumenthal held a Townhall meeting today at the Darien, Connecticut  Library to discuss with their constituents whether going to Syria is in  Connecticut citizens’ best interest or not.

The room was packed but there was no real discussion that led Blumenthal or  Himes to see things differently, it was more Kabuki theater, with neither ceding  an inch of their steadfast hawkish beliefs. Blumenthal and Himes then informed  the citizenry that the support and opposition for the war was a mixed bag of  opinion, creating the illusion that their opinions are not out of lockstep with  the voters. (more…)

Here’s the White House S.P.I.N….. 

WASHINGTON DC – Secretary of State John Kerry told a closed meeting of House lawmakers that the Russian government is only seeking to help Syria because they believe the U.S. is serious about taking military action, according to multiple sources present.
The comment, which came in a classified briefing of the full House on Monday, mirrors public comments by other Obama administration officials: the threat of a military attack is working to bring the Russians to the negotiating table.
After enduring days of brutal skepticism from lawmakers of both parties, Kerry and other administration officials wasted no time in attempting to link Russia’s proposal to the pressure coming from the White House. Democratic lawmakers agreed.
“This suggestion today by [the Russians] about bring the chemical weapons Assad has under control, I think it’s a direct result of the president saying he’s ready to do whatever is necessary to back up what he’s already said,” Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) said. (link)

The folks who write Saturday Night Live scripts could not have put a finer point on the political hilarity of Monday Sept. 9th any better than what bore out in real life.
First you have Secretary of State, John Kerry, speaking in London ( <- luckily) early in the day, answering a question, and say mockingly: “if Assad gave up his chemical weapons then we would not strike Syria“.

“Sure, he could turn over every single bit of his chemical weapons to the international community in the next week – turn it over, all of it without delay and allow the full and total accounting (of it). “But he isn’t about to do it and it can’t be done.”

This gaffe was jumped on by the Ruskies who said “OK, we’ll take the WMD, Syria will not be able to use it” therefore problem solved.
What happens next is the stuff of SNL legend (watch video)

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