The Turkey Shoot of 2012: Day 6

Oh, dear.

Shelling Across the Syrian-Turkish Border

Shots fired both ways across the Syrian-Turkish borders, and tonight Turkey has called for UN action (though what that might be is unclear at the moment).  From the letter delivered to the Security Council by the Turkish envoy Ertugrul Apakan:

"This is an act of aggression by Syria against Turkey. It constitutes a flagrant violation of international law as well as a breach of international peace and security."

Turkey, you'll recall, has been a member of NATO for 60 years.  Anyway ... Good grief, people.  I was hoping that the only bombshells of the day would be the purely verbal ones lobbed in the presidential debate.

Thoughts on Afghanistan -- Mission Incomplete

Thoughts?

Libya and the Liberal Way of War

Here's an interesting bit from a British paper:

By merely bolstering the weaker side, we are prolonging Libya's civil war: The interventionists lack the courage of their convictions. If they really want Gaddafi gone, they should just get on with it.

Welcome to 21st-century war, liberal style. You do not fix an objective and use main force to get it. You nuance words, bomb a little, half assassinate, scare, twist, spin and make it up as you go along. Nato's Libyan campaign is proving a field day for the new interventionism. Seemingly desperate to scratch another Muslim itch, Britain's laptop bombardiers and their tame lawyers go into a daily huddle to choreograph the latest visitation of death on some wretched foreigners.

Each day the tacticians tot up a gruesome calculus of wins and losses. Wednesday's defection of Libya's foreign minister, Moussa Koussa, somehow cancelled out two days of retreat by the rebels towards Benghazi. That retreat cancelled out a weekend of victory over Gaddafi's army along the northern highway. Nato bombing cancelled out rebel ineffectiveness. Everything is stalemate punctuated by surprise.

Also, are we indeed heading for a stalemate?  Well, that's just fantastic.  Ugh.

Jon Stewart on the Libya Speech: "Is the United States the Rebels' Air Force Forever?"

I was none too impressed with the president's Libya speech.  Apparently neither was Jon Stewart:

The Daily Show - America at Not-War - Obama Defends Military Action in Libya
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RELATED POST: Jon on Libya previously here.

Libya Rant: Letting Darkness Fall

Oh, my.

VDH on Obama's Trip Abroad (Updated with More Egghead Opinion!)

VDH calls it the "postnational, postmodern, post-everything Presidential Trip" and then delivers a post-mortem on it.

I found a great deal of the trip, with its farrago of media coverage and gaffes and EUrocrats and all, to be a bore when it wasn't an embarrassment.

Hey, how's that enlightened diplomacy going? Methinks the French and Germans aren't too impressed.

More from -- wait for it -- the Washington Post (!). Quote-tastic quote right here:

Barack Obama has proved in the past few days that he can work smoothly and productively with a wide range of foreign leaders -- provided that he allows them to set the agenda.

. . . What's striking about Obama's diplomacy, however, has been his willingness to embrace the priorities of European governments, Russia and China while playing down -- or setting aside altogether -- principal American concerns.

What country is he supposedly working for, anyway? OH, FOR CRYING OUT LOUD.

UPDATE: Harvard eggheads take on Obama's speech to the Turkish parliament.

Euro Notes: After World War II with France, the UK, and the US

It was often a difficult relationship where the French were concerned.

Oh, and are we now to consider Sarko a "post-Gaullist"?