Neck of the woods

“U.S. Senators John McCain, Joe Lieberman and Lindsay Graham on Friday urged Washington to help arm Syria’s rebels with weapons and create a safe zone inside the country for a transition government. They also called for a far tougher position against Iran over its suspected, and seemingly inexorable, drive toward acquiring nuclear weapons capability. McCain blasted President Barack Obama, who defeated him in the 2008 presidential election, for recently setting the “red line” for Syria at use of chemical weapons. “If you’re (Syrian President) Bashar Assad, maybe you interpret that to mean that you can do anything short of chemical weapons before the United States will intervene,” the Republican from Arizona told the Ambrosetti Forum, a gathering of political and business leaders on the shores of Lake Como in Italy…………”

These three U.S. senators seem to spend more time in our region, the Middle East, than in the USA. More time than even some of us spend. They gave up on their early plan to establish their own private base in Iraq after the American (early) withdrawal. They would have called that a ‘settlement’: McCain and Graham violently opposed Lieberman’s suggestion of the term “Kibbutz”: they said it sounded socialistic and un-American; ditto for shtetl. They threatened to storm the beaches of Libya (along with Bernard–Henri Lévy) but were beaten by NATO. They have been trying to liberate Syria and Iran for several years (and Lebanon), but have been frustrated.
Remember: McCain had originally wanted to remain in Iraq for one hundred years (a hundred year Reich?) if necessary, and to retire after that to Arizona where he would run for the job of Sheriff Joe Arpaio. Now they are all waiting for Mr. Obama to be defeated in November so that General John Bolton can march through the Middle East with his terrible swift sword again, making it the New New Middle East again.
Cheers
mhg
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