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- Cease Fire -
not
Commence Fire
It is not the use of force which is in question; it is the
application of that force and the goals to be achieved by its use
Eric LaMont Gregory
A Cease fire with the sharp claws of enforcement
Here we are again, after years of fighting, untold suffering and the spread of refugees across multiple borders, the White House is awake and in spite of uncertain economic times the lights are on again. This may not seem like a cause for celebration, but discounting blessings no matter how meager is not in good form in a forward looking America.
No matter what Obama does in relation to the crisis in Syria, in a grading system that extends from A to F, and so that no viewpoint is left behind from F to A, the very best grade Obama can hope for is a C. Obama must understand that the effort that he is trying to submit is being delivered too late in the game, and therefore cannot achieve anything other to reflect the fact that he was perilously descending into the region of a D grade.
Had he acknowledged the fact that he was in trouble with this course on the Near East earlier in the term; perhaps something could have been structured. This is now an object lesson for the future, and the question becomes how he earns that C.
That said let us return to the reality of saving the C grade.
It is noted that you have approached another student that is also in the C category in Near East studies, the Congress, and requested that they get on board military action, that is, to strike with another C - Commence Fire. A Congress still mired in Libya. And, as acts of desperation often do when the consequences are poorly understood Commence Firing seems to gaining momentum.
Mention the word momentum and one can expect the realm of self Censorship to raise its thoughtful head and chant a familiar chorus, Commence Fire has the Mo. Need I remind you that that same realm of self-Censorship told us that Romney was gaining the Mo leading up to the last presidential election? So the C that Obama has in his, albeit developing vision seems to contemplate the if you are going to get a C then you might as well accept others who are earning a C and join them. Misery, it is often said likes company and the C earners are joining forces. They wear the C turned one right angle clockwise like a badge of honor, but the bell curve which it resembles in that position is an indictment to the acceptance of mediocrity, where C grades are the most numerous and they clump together in indistinguishable self-importance.
And while the aforementioned C’s are joining forces they might want to consult another C, Condi, and attempt to ascertain what she had in mind trying to fight that stalwart of a US foreign policy, the Smart one, and think that her diplomatic (military) policy of fomenting Chaos in the Greater Middle East (Condi that is a judgment and not an restatement of policy) could but lead to chaos. It should not go unnoticed even from the idyllic setting of Stanford that Condi should find herself at the same institution from which Sayyid Qutb returned to Egypt and to which a direct line of association to Osama bin Laden, Ayman al-Zawahiri was established and a direct line of influence to the 9/11 hijacker Mohammed Atta exists.
Kindly note is also another word that fits well with Fire and it is Cease as in Cease Fire. And, one often finds the military phrase - return to barracks - following it in operational command terminology. And, the big C - Command might just be the biggest C that this matter involves when all thing have been considered.
Now lets little c – consider, big C – Cease, and to demonstrate that there is no predilection to the word F- Fire we will see how well it joins with cease to form a coherent term, and if you will permit instructional latitude, a coherent policy.
Policy can be thought of as synonymous with the phrase, a way forward. A way forward is essentially a means to connect the dots, as it were, between a point and another point. The purposeful use neither a to b nor 1 to 2, merely acknowledges that to many these are not equally valid observations of the same thing, so point to point will suffice, as another little, but important c - clarity, is the goal of policy.
We now have a suggested policy Cease Fire, which is being counter distinguished to Commence Fire, as a policy, a way to get from point to point and achieve our goals, as it were.
Drawing your attention to the lateness of this intervention, and in order to save your C grade, consider that a Cease Fire would attain everything that you want to achieve with a Commence Fire and there are additional benefits .e.g., demilitarization and disarmament. However, it cannot in fairness to the other students be sanction that your coursework should not be due within the same deadline as other students. Therefore, you should need no more than 10 days to a fortnight to implement a Cease Fire.
Turning to the evidence upon which intervention is called for, you maintain that a number, it has been suggested more than a thousand, were killed ruthlessly and against all concepts of humanitarian law by forces using weapons that are an affront to human dignity, and remind of the most horrendous examples of man’s inhumanity to man that history all too often records that humankind is capable of.
Therefore the question must be asked is it your intention to kill another thousand people in retaliation, and if so does having 2000 people dead solve the murder of 1000. But war has its own logic, and since there is so much of it. It is worthy of the best of human efforts to understand it.
While you prepare to use military force, Commence Fire, to avenge the death of a thousand people. It should prove helpful to know, and specifically, which thousand people in Syria you wish to exact revenge upon, and at this point any reasonable description of them will suffice and the names and addresses, or whereabouts unknown can be duly recorded as time permits.
Once we have identified who is to die, surely we offer them the option to voluntarily submit themselves to interdiction and trial. Thereby, clearly having made your intentions known, and given those who might consider that the collateral damage that often occurs in seeking them out could spillover to some that are not on the list of 1000 to die. Therefore, by previously giving the 1000 who are to die the opportunity to surrender, and if one should avail themselves of so reasonable an offer, then it would be your intention to only kill 999, if two, then 998. Fully aware and having scrutinized the math you have employed over the five years of your presidency, there is no reason to belabor this point, since your understanding of mathematics at this level is clearly evidenced.
The question of the use of force is a priori, the question is what force and how it will be applied and by whom. If there is proof that the Milosevic principle applies then apply it.
Milosevic did not personally and with malice of forethought take up a weapon and strike a fatal blow, however when one commands one also accepts responsibility for the actions of one's troops, and in that sense Milosevic did systematically and grievously murder thousands of civilians, non-combatants, which a combatant can not do with impunity in fact and in law. To do so as a policy of war constitutes a war crime, a crime against humanity and justified his arrest and trial at The Hague.
If the evidence is clear and justifies that Assad be arrested and taken to trial then that phase of this conflict and the force to effect the rule of law should and must be undertaken, because no level of murder that affronts humanity can go unpunished.
At the same time, the justification for the use of force to make an arrest is not justification to use more force than is necessary to move that individual from point to point.
The call for a cease fire is a call from a position of strength. Law exists and works only because ultimately the threat of force stands behind it, and this a reality that stands at every level of law and law enforcement. It is properly said that the army is not a scalpel, however in the circumstances of Syria, the salient point is; spare the sword; spoil the opportunity for peace.
It is not the use of force which is in question; it is the application of that force and the goals to be achieved by its use.
One light infantry, American, one light infantry Commonwealth of Independent States, they cover the north, we cover the south. Warn Iraq, police your own people and declare the 100 kilometer area of your border with Syria a demilitarized zone, the same message to Jordan, Turkey move everybody out of that area and they can return when we are done, if compensation is in order pay it. The problem can be isolated to the failed state of Lebanon, and here decades of arms stores have to be moved east if they want to keep them or we destroy them. Syria becomes a demilitarize zone for the next 20 years, the minimum length of time it will take to rebuild it. The travel of anyone suspected of engaging in the transportation of arms will be deported to their home country and put under the strictest measures to prevent their travel from that country. Empty the Sinai, while we are in the area if we have to. Israel will have little problem with their Syrian border when we have a light infantry in the area, and if Egypt will not or cannot secure the Sinai, it is in the interest of stability in the area that someone does.
In short the day of running from those who kill, maim, and bring the type of destruction that we have watched destroy Syria is at an end. Weapons removed from Syria are to be destroyed utterly and completely. Those who want to store them can store the memories of them, but not the actual weapons.
We take over the airports in the area and move the fleet to intercept; challenge and offload any ship entering the area with the intention of bringing arms into the area of the cease fire, or any demilitarized zone set to buffer the specific cease fire area.
Start dropping the leaflets identifying the places where arms are to be delivered and now that the satellites have been recast, which was the primary delay in commencing military action anyway, monitor them. And, Putin the former FSB chief just happens to have a light infantry at the ready. Iceland might be a good place for the summitry to put things in place, that way Obama won’t have to be out of town for too long, while C – Fire is implemented.
Bring another C – Colin, back to assume titular commander of UNTSO, to coordinate between the American and CIS forces operational command.
Mr. President that you have the teeth is unmistakable; the best way to use them is to take a bite out of the Cease Fire – Demilitarization / Disarmament apple. And that will leave a reasonably good taste on the palate of our allies.
Cease Fire not Commence Fire.
