Monthly Archives: November 2011

Need to Know: November 24, 2011

Need to Know: November 23, 2011

  • Have to step away – streaming #CNNDebate tweets live at http://t.co/MtIdi6SX
  • Perry – we need to use every sanction we have before talking about a military strike on Iran. Also, a no-fly over Syria – #CNNDebate
  • RT @PJCrowley If #Iran has its nuclear program in 40 places, there is no credible plan to knock it out. #CNNdebate
  • Ron Paul calls backfire – "Just think of all the money we gave to Egypt over the last 30-40 years" #CNNDebate
  • Cain wants to a clear mission and vision statement from Israel before they attack Iran. #CNNDebate
  • Romney still holding the wisest line – reasonably (by GOP standards) hawkish but not insanely so. Hunstman's nuance won't fly in this arena.
  • No nuance from Newt tonight. He apparently wants to run every American through a nude body scanner and bomb everyone else. #CNNDebate
  • Huntsman and Romney getting into it over our footprint in Afghanistan. Romney's snark there seemed like a misfire. #CNNDebate
  • Romney sees Indonesia as a blueprint for engagement with #Pakistan #CNNDebate
  • Bachmann calls Perry "naive" for his threat to pull funds from #Pakistan and he backtracks a bit. #CNNDebate
  • Classified? – RT @intelwire Six attempts have been made by jihadists to penetrate Pakistan nuclear sites. Did she just break the law?
  • Huntsman on a smaller footprint in Afghanistan "We need special forces and drones" #CNNDebate
  • Huntsman won the Patriot Act debate but in a manner that absolutely nobody noticed – as usual. #CNNDebate
  • Perry says it's all about failed intelligence collection under Obama. #CNNDebate #USintel
  • Romney firmly backing Newt's homeland security views. #CNNDebate
  • Hunstman on balance – "We are a nation of values…find the balance between individual liberties and security." #CNNDebate
  • Ron Paul on Newt's no holds barred homeland security plans – "You can prevent crimes by becoming a police state" #CNNDebate
  • Newt clearly takes his homeland security cues from Jack Bauer. #CNNDebate
  • Michele Bachmann wished the troops a happy Thanksgiving…everyone else on the panel thinks "Doh! Why didn't I think of that!
  • What? No celebratory gunfire from Michele Bachmann after the national anthem? #CNNDebate
  • What;s with the Miss America walkouts on the #CNNDebate Please tell me there's no swimsuit segment.
  • If Huntsman can't get noticed this time out…
  • Narrator on NatSec legacies over video – "for better" = Reagan clip and "for worse" = Carter.
  • GOP National Security Debate – Live Streams and Tweets http://t.co/tle1wCN2 #CNNDebate
  • #Tahrir video stream added to the #Egypt Monitor – http://t.co/nQLav0NT
  • The CyberWar Daily is out! http://t.co/FIqoCVVR ? Top stories today via @matlab @backtracesec @securityshell
  • The Blogs of War Watchlist is out! http://t.co/pya29086 ? Top stories today via @micahzenko @fahadfaruqui @xeus @davidkenner @cchristinefair
GOP National Security Debate – Live Streams and Tweets

GOP National Security Debate – Live Streams and Tweets

2012monitor GOP National Security Debate Live Streams and Tweets

I will be live tweeting the debate at 8pm EST tonight. You can also stream all of the debate tweets with the Blogs of War GOP Debate monitor at http://gopdebate.blogsofwar.com.

Romney, Gingrich, and Huntsman should have informed positions tonight. Bachmann, Ron Paul, and Santorum will continue to be irrelevant. Rick Perry is essentially a wild card. I don’t expect him to do particularly well but if he can find his groove he could still score points. Perry will do best if he sets his sights on Newt. Newt is the political equivalent of a Gaddafi motorcade in the desert – a big fat juicy target.

Recommended on Twitter: @newtgingrich – Newt Gingrich’s official twitter account.

Follow all the developments in the 2012 presidential race with the Blogs of War 2012 Monitor at http://2012.blogsofwar.com.

UN Resolution Condemns Crackdown in Syria

The process of isolating Assad continues:

“The U.N. General Assembly’s human rights committee voted Tuesday to “strongly condemn” Syria’s deadly crackdown on dissent.

The U.N. resolution calls on Damascus to implement an Arab League initiative that would allow the league to send monitors to Syria. The pan-Arab group, which has suspended Syria’s membership, plans to meet on Thursday to discuss the country’s crisis.”

The vote was interesting:

“The final vote count was 122 in favor, 13 against, 41 abstentions. China and Russia abstained, along with India and South Africa. If China and Russia parlay those abstentions in the Security Council, a Syria sanctions resolution may finally see the light of day.”

We are early in the process here so the impact will be minimal. Alright, so there won’t be any impact at all. That isn’t really the point. This is just one of many resolutions to come and ultimately we may see one that has teeth.

Eventual military intervention is possible but, again, not anytime soon. However, recent comments from Canada are interesting in that they show a willingness to discuss that option in a manner that I would have expected to be reserved for later in the game:

“While any intervention in Syria would have to follow a series of United Nations sanctions, Canada’s armed forces are ready to offer assistance if necessary, Defence Minister Peter MacKay said Sunday.

In an appearance on CTV’s Question Period, MacKay said there are a “cascading number of sanctions that would have to happen before there would be any type of intervention.”

But, speaking from the Halifax International Security Forum, he added that “Canada has certainly a great deal of ability to lend support in a situation, as we saw in Libya.”

MacKay said there is constant planning taking place at armed forces headquarters and, as a result, ‘certainly we’ve prepared for all inevitabilities.’”

Recommended on Twitter: @undispatch – UNDispatch.com, a blog on global issues.

Follow developments in Syria with the Blogs of War Syria Monitor at http://syria.blogsofwar.com.