No Contact Allowed Between Obama and Rouhani
With the world waiting to exhale over whether or not President Obama and his most exceptional nation, would do something exceptional for a change, that wait was for naught. Unfortunately the United States missed that golden opportunity, as the American President used his allotment of time on the world stage to conveyed a message of a steadfast warmonger, uninterested in anything but full compliance on Western terms.
Delivering a disappointingly brawny and bellicose speech that will only exacerbate the divide between his Middle East adversaries, President Obama went on to project U.S. power and its willingness to use said power whenever and wherever its national security interest is challenged.
Appearing woefully out of sync with current global trends denouncing military force to resolve international conflicts, the U.S. President made clear, the West will continue to play the Zero Sum Game. In our humble opinion, if this language is not toned down and tiptoed back soon, the prospect of avoiding a major conflict is almost nil.
Save for a little obligatory lip service to whitewash a hopeless peace process between the Israelis and the Palestinians, essentially the international community was put on notice that its was the US.' way or the highway. Simply put, the message to Syria and Iran: the military options never leave the table. And BTW, no physical contact or photo opportunities just yet.
Other U.N. Players Making News
Firstly, kudos to Ban Ki-moon, as he opened the 68th U.N. General Assembly with an impressively clear, concise, and blunt speech reflecting the conditions of the world's most troubled spaces. Although, when highlighting the Syrian conflict, he may have spoke too soon in recommending a visit to the Hague for those responsible for using of chemical weapons.
Since blame has yet to be placed on any particular person or persons thus far, perhaps he could have been a little more tactful in addressing that thorny issue. With the thought of hanging for war crimes hanging over one's head, one could hardly expect one to remain cooperative. Although, loose lips can claim credit for getting Syria to acknowledge its possession of CW's and its decision to relinquish them for destruction, diplomates at this level should think more carefully before they speak.
Following the Secretary General, was President Dilma Rousseff of Brazil. Wasting no time, the Brazilian leader reminded the world why she'd declined a state visit to the White House. Blasting the United States' intrusive NSA spying apparatus for digitally breaching her nation's security, she vowed to do whatever it takes to defend her country from what she called a violation of international law and human rights abuses.
In no uncertain terms, President Rouseff let President Obama know that the indiscriminate collection of personal data of Brazilians citizens, while snooping on her county's strategic industries would not be tolerated. Well Damn!
Tomorrow, well examine and analyze Iran's President Hassan Rouhani's debut.
The Podcast
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