DeM Banter: The strategy is key, the plan, the "what's next," and the "what then" must be discussed, debated, and resolved. I have always been interested in leaders that have one plan and when it fails they are upset or disheartened... you need 20 plans, prioritize and hope the best plans stick. How ever it …
MILITARY STRIKES WON’T WORK By Jimmy Carter
DeM Banter: Sometimes it is better to just watch... Putin and Carter...are they agreeing? Washington Post September 12, 2013 Pg. 21 The only way to be assured that Syrian chemical weapons will not be used in the future is not through a military strike but through a successful international effort. Regardless of the postponed congressional …
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A PLEA FOR CAUTION FROM RUSSIA By Vladimir V. Putin
DeM Banter: All I can say is... we are INDEED living in interesting times. New York Times September 12, 2013 Pg. 31 MOSCOW — Recent events surrounding Syria have prompted me to speak directly to the American people and their political leaders. It is important to do so at a time of insufficient communication between …
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The Chain Reaction of the Non-Decision Decision…DeMarco Banter
Of ever increasing popularity in leadership circles is the non-decision decision. You know what I am talking about. You have seen it when a leader is confronted with a tough decision and he/she abdicates the decision by not making a choice. My good friend Geddy Lee is very fond of saying: "If you choose …
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ADMINISTRATION STATEMENTS ON SYRIA MUDDLED By Zachary A. Goldfarb
DeM Banter: It's all about strategy... or a lack there of. If we have not spent the time pondering a strong national security strategy...then everything looks like a crisis. How do we know what is important...what is not...when to engage...when not to? It is time to develop a clear, simple, concise global strategy...no? When reading …
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SYRIA DEBATE SCRAMBLES U.S. POLITICS By Mark Z. Barabak
DeM Banter: Pondering the Syrian conflict over the weekend--and I am wondering if perhaps this is a "normalizing" event in US politics. Could this event break down some of the barriers in Congress? Wishful thinking? Los Angeles Times September 9, 2013 Pg. 8 On both sides of the issue, alliances are forming that cross …
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SAME WAR, DIFFERENT COUNTRY By Thomas L. Friedman
DeM Banter: Amazed we are not hearing more about Libya, Iraq, Afghanistan, and other places we have been involved where success has been less than expected. The British are reporting on it...Disagree there is much to Friedman's "Arm and Shame" concept but do agree the global community is very milted on options in Syria--and this …
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A WAR THE PENTAGON DOESN’T WANT By Robert H. Scales
DeM Banter: The gift of the strategist is to see 3 to 4 steps further down the road than the average planner....where do we see this going? Six months...one year...three years... what will Syria and the region look like? Are we shaping it to conform to what we want it to look like? As we …
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‘A Broader Strategy’?: Washington Post
DeM Banter: I'm just not sure it all adds up to success. Washington Post September 4, 2013 Pg. 18 President Obama's Middle East policy remains vague and contradictory. In arguing Tuesday for military action against Syria, President Obama asserted that strikes in response to the use of chemical weapons would fit into "a broader strategy" …
Why Obama Should Remember Eisenhower’s Vietnam Doubts BY JEFFREY FRANK
The New Yorker / View Original 4 Sep 2013 EISENHOWER 1954, OBAMA 2013 In April, 1954, President Eisenhower was being pressured to take military action in Vietnam, where the French were losing a symbolically important battle at Dien Bien Phu and were about to be driven out of what was then their colony. At a press …
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