An anniversary

View 789 Wednesday, September 11, 2013

“Transparency and the rule of law will be the touchstones of this presidency.”

President Barrack Obama, January 31, 2009

Christians to Beirut. Alawites to the grave.

Syrian Freedom Fighters

This was Sable’s 11^th birthday. Sable is our red Siberian Husky whom we brought home on Friday, October 25, 2002. She was born on September 11, 2002. http://www.jerrypournelle.com/images/photos2002/sable1.html

In November last year we found out she had cancer in her right foreleg. The vet thought that if we cut off her leg she’d have about six months to live, otherwise considerably less. We had no difficulty deciding not to amputate her leg. She’s an active dog, and she would have been miserable as a cripple. We brought her home expecting her to get worse over time, and when she wasn’t enjoying life any longer we would have to do something about it; but until then she was acting like a happy dog, able to take walks although not go up the hill…

Well that was nearly a year ago. We had a good walk today, and she’s still a happy dog, not as active as she’d like to be, but she likes being with us. Of course she’s figured out that we’re letting her get away with begging and getting on the couch in the TV room and generally claiming entitlements – some would say we spoil her rotten – but we’re learning to deal with that too. We’re learning to say no again.

So we had a good day.

For most of the world 9-11 has a different meaning,

I fear I am not in the mood to discuss that day.

The President made about as good a speech as possible under the circumstances. He may have got us off the road to war.

I have yet to see evidence convincing to me that Assad ordered the use of Sarin in a Damascus suburb where it was sure to be known to the foreign press, and I have yet to be given a motive for his doing it. If the Sarin has been used to score a decisive gain in the civil war it might be convincing but to kill 1200 people? Send 1000 soldiers with 200 rounds each if all you want is a body count. For what purpose I can’t say. A couple of thousand random civilian casualties will not change a war of that magnitude.

The counter argument is that Assad isn’t really winning, and is getting desperate, and that he hasn’t read Machiavelli – he is willing to do his enemies a small injury, even at the cost of using war gas. All right, let’s use some but not much, and be sure to do it in a place where it is certain that the world will know it was used.

I have this from an old hand:

Sigint indicates that Assad didn’t order that attack

Dear Jerry:

Signal intercepts indicate that rogue elements in the Syrian military may have done the chemical attacks on their own. Assad is still technically responsible, but this may explain why he is now so ready to give those weapons up. If he can’t control them and their use, then he really is more vulnerable to outside military action, and not just from us. His neighbors will worry about them, too.

It is not an unreasonable hypothesis.