“Punting the Pundits” is an Open Thread. It is a selection of editorials and opinions from around the news medium and the internet blogs. The intent is to provide a forum for your reactions and opinions, not just to the opinions presented, but to what ever you find important.
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Trevor Timm: The US decision to send weapons to Syria repeats a historical mistake
Why does the US continually send deadly weapons to the Middle East, make things even more chaotic than they were before and expect better results the next time?
As pretty much everyone who was paying attention predicted, the $500m program to train and arm “moderate” Syrian rebels is an unmitigated, Bay of Pigs-style disaster, with the head of US central command admitting to Congress this week that the year-old program now only has “four or five” rebels fighting inside Syria, with dozens more killed or captured. [..]
Sadly, instead of a debate about whether we should continue sending weapons to the Middle East at all, we’ll probably hear arguments that we should double down in Syria in the coming days and get US troops more cemented into a war we can call our own (that still to this day has not been authorized by Congress). There are already reports that there are US special operations forces on the ground in Syria now, assisting Kurdish forces who are also fighting Isis.
When the vicious and tragic cycle will end is anyone’s guess. But all signs point to: not anytime soon.
Michelle Chen: Europe’s Handling of the Migrant Crisis Shows Just How Morally Bankrupt It Has Become
This week, Hungary attempted to seal off its border to throngs of desperate refugees with a crudely constructed wire fence. A flimsy prison gate cordoning off Fortress Europe: there could be no clearer metaphor for the absurd small-mindedness of a political bloc that once prided itself on its humanitarian vision.
Families scrambled at the gates at the stroke of midnight. Security forces tried to push back crowds who had traversed continents and oceans, only to see their last hope for sanctuary dissolve in an acid hail of riot police and tear gas.
It’s not as if Europe has no experience with these obligations. Sixty years ago the continent was awash in refugees created by social upheaval and two world wars. But the 20th century humanitarian regime has failed the refugees produced by today’s social calamities, leaving Europe unraveling at the seams.
Before turning on the Republican debate on Wednesday night, I had begun writing an article on Hillary Clinton’s alarmingly bellicose foreign policy ideas. But Hillary’s hawkish stance is a portrait of restraint in contrast to the adolescent muscle flexing and locker room taunts that mark the foreign policy exchanges of the Republican presidential contenders in their most recent debate.
The competitive bluster got so fierce that Donald “I am the most militaristic person” Trump turned out to be one of the least unhinged in the claque. After 14 years of costly, destabilizing war in the Middle East, these candidates pledge, you ain’t seen nothing yet. [..]
If you want a president to lead us into constant wars “anywhere in the world,” Republicans have your man.
America, of course, must lead this effort. Republicans disagree about how many troops are needed, or whether we can simply train and arm our surrogates while raining bombs from drones across various regions. [..]
There is a dangerous vacuum on foreign policy – a vacuum caused by the withdrawal of common sense and prudence, and filled with unhinged bluster and blind belief in the military. Listening to Republicans, one can only shudder at the fate of our country.
Ralph Nader: General Motors: Homicidal Fugitive from Justice
Yes, it’s official. General Motors engaged in criminal wrongdoing for long knowing about the lethal defect in its ignition switch that took at least 174 lives and counting, plus serious injuries. At least 1.6 million GM cars – Chevrolet Cobalt and other models – hid this danger to trusting drivers, according to the Center for Auto Safety (http://www.autosafety.org/). Corporation executives who lie to or mislead the federal government violate Title 18 of the federal code, and risk criminal penalties.
But, the long-mismanaged automaker was not required by the Justice Department to plead guilty at all. Preet Bharara, the U.S. Attorney from New York, and Attorney General Loretta Lynch did not bring an indictment against either General Motors or known culpable officials in GM, including top GM lawyers and safety directors, who participated in the cover-up year after year, while lying to federal officials and not reporting these defects.
Eric Margolis: Russian Mouse Threatens US Elephant
The Russians are coming! The Russians are coming!” So echoed the cry this week from the Pentagon, the US media and Republican candidates for president.
How silly. It seems the Russians have sent six tanks to Syria, some medium artillery and a bunch of military technicians to two bases on Syria’s coast near Latakia. According to Republican warmongers, the wicked Soviets…ooops, sorry, Russians…are intervening militarily in the five-year old Syrian War and planning new bases in the strategic Mideast nation.
Talk about the pot calling the kettle black. The United States has about 800 bases and military installations around the globe. Russia has only a handful of small bases near its borders.
The exception is in Syria where Russia has had a small naval supply/repair facility in Tartus and an electronic listening post for almost 50 years. Moscow has long been Syria’s principal foreign ally and arms supplier.
While the US ruled almost the entire Mideast – what I call the American Raj – Syria was regarded as a limited Soviet/Russian sphere of influence. No more.
John Nichols: Debaters a Tutorial on Democratic Socialism
The Republican candidates had a lot to say about the senator, and he has something to say to them.
Bernie Sanders earned quite a few mentions in the second round of Republican debates, which at the very least offers a measure of the extent to which the senator from Vermont has become a factor in the 2016 presidential race.
Sanders was not generally referred to by name, but his democratic socialism came up frequently enough.
Republicans in both debates on Wednesday night noted the fact the Democratic presidential race has been shaken up by “a socialist” – employing a term that at the Reagan Presidential Library is still considered a choice epithet. [..]
Sanders followed the debate on social media. His humorous, mildly-sarcastic tweeting of the main Republican debate went viral. And his Facebook post on the debate “garnered over 176,000 likes and 35,000 shares,” which according to The Hill newspaper was better than for any of the Republican contenders.
“The evening was really pretty sad. This country and our planet face enormous problems. And the Republican candidates barely touched upon them tonight. And when they did, they were dead wrong on virtually every position they took. The Republican Party cannot be allowed to lead this country,” observed Sanders on Facebook. “That’s why we need a political revolution.”
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