I know they are his hometown paper, but is the ass-kissing really necessary?
"Kerry’s star appears to be rising, both within the Obama administration and among the American people. According to a Gallup poll released this week, 60 percent of Americans said Kerry is doing a good job, higher than both the president and vice president."
Yeah, he's a jerk and a liar but he sure is popular.
So how much did the White House pay Gallup for the results?
"Despite a number of verbal miscues, John Kerry’s star rising; Statements have at times haunted the new secretary" by Bryan Bender | Globe Staff, September 20, 2013
WASHINGTON — John F. Kerry has a history of speaking his mind, both in speeches and in off-the-cuff remarks. It is a habit that over the course of his long public career has sometimes haunted him.
He became a national figure in 1971, when he said many members of the military in Vietnam, including himself, had committed atrocities, a statement his detractors criticized during his 2004 presidential run. During that failed campaign, he was also accused of being a “flip-flopper” for the clumsy way he explained his votes on Iraq War funding: “I actually did vote for the $87 billion before I voted against it.”
Now, as secretary of state, where carefully articulated positions are the ingredients of successful international diplomacy — and where misstatements of policy or inartful comments can reverberate through foreign capitals — Kerry has made several remarks this year that his staffers have been forced to clarify or disavow.
“The Senate is a place where you can speak your mind and say things philosophically in line with your beliefs,” said William S. Cohen, a former secretary of defense and senator from Maine. “When you go on the team of the president, you are no longer a free agent. You have to really take care to make sure whatever you say is consistent with the president’s policies and positions. You have to stay out of the headlines.”
At times, Kerry has struggled to keep his comments out of the headlines. One unscripted moment was highlighted earlier this month when he challenged Syria to give up its chemical weapons in a week to avoid a US military strike. His aides quickly clarified the remark, saying that he was being “rhetorical,” only to later embrace the statement when it became clear that it might lead to a peaceful resolution of the issue. Russia seized on the comment and Syria agreed to it.
I thank him for that gaffe even though Obama said it was his idea.
Yeah, Obomber saved us after having brought the world to the brink and needing to be pulled back by Russia.
It is too early to say whether the deal will succeed, but some believe Kerry’s remark developed into a breakthrough that might not have happened had he been reading from a script.
Again, thank you.
“In retrospect, what he said in London was not a misstep,” said P.J. Crowley, who served as chief spokesman for Kerry’s predecessor, Hillary Clinton.
Yet other proclamations have turned out to be verbal missteps, touching on US policy toward Syria, Iran, North Korea, and Egypt. Kerry said on MSNBC on Sept. 5 that he “opposed” [President Bush’s] decision to go into Iraq” even though he voted in favor of the use of force in 2002, before he became an opponent of US military involvement. Fact checkers at the Washington Post awarded him four “Pinocchios,” its worst rating, for the claim.
Amerikans love a liar, huh?
Kerry’s aides declined to speak on the record about his misstatements and would only address, speaking on condition of anonymity, what they called unfair criticism. They said that Kerry speaks thousands of words every day in speeches and press conferences and that to focus on a few mistakes is mean-spirited. They noted he is growing in stature and influence in the administration.
Indeed, despite the slip-ups, Kerry’s star appears to be rising, both within the Obama administration, which has made him the chief messenger and problem-solver on Syria, and among the American people. According to a Gallup poll released this week, 60 percent of Americans said Kerry is doing a good job, higher than both the president and vice president.
Kerry, of course, is hardly the only administration to misspeak occasionally. It was President Obama who made an apparently off-hand reference warning that Syria would be punished if it crossed the “red line” of using chemical weapons. Without public or congressional support for a strike against Syria, Obama’s threat has not yet been fulfilled.
Kerry’s series of questionable remarks have ranged from inartful phrasings to misstatements that have generated immediate controversy:
■ On Egypt, Kerry said last month that in ousting President Mohammed Morsi, the military was “restoring democracy.” Some critics said that undermined the American position in the region, feeding suspicions that Washington supported the overthrow of that nation’s only democratically elected leader. Kerry later clarified his statement, saying that the “temporary government has a responsibility with respect to demonstrators to give them the space to be able to demonstrate in peace.”
Related: The Kerry Chronicles: No Excuse For Egyptian Comment
Btw, Washington did support the overthrow.
■ On Syria, Kerry was criticized by leading members of Congress this month for saying, as a way of building domestic and international support, that any US trike to punish the regime of President Bashar Assad would be “unbelievably small.”
Senator John McCain, Republican of Arizona and a vocal supporter of a more muscular US approach, called the statement “unbelievably unhelpful.”
Even Obama was forced to distance himself from Kerry’s description, saying “the US does not do pinpricks.”
■ On North Korea, Kerry was seen as freelancing when he appeared to offer China a deal in return for its help with Pyongyang. Kerry, traveling in Beijing, said that the United States would remove some of its new missile defense systems in the region if China helped persuade North Korea to abandon its nuclear ambitions.
Kerry told reporters the next day “there have been no agreements, no discussions, there is nothing actually on the table with respect to that.”
I'm not opposed to the U.S. lowering its instigation on the Korean peninsula, either.
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Maybe I'm wrong. Given the crop of creeps down there and my comments....
He didn't help himself with this I can tell you that:
"John Kerry urges quick end to partial shutdown" by Indira A.R. Lakshmanan | Bloomberg News, October 06, 2013
BALI, Indonesia — Congress needs to think ‘‘long and hard about the message’’ the partial government shutdown sends overseas about US credibility, Secretary of State John Kerry said Saturday, urging lawmakers to ‘‘end it now, end it today.’’
The furlough of US government workers is imperiling American interests worldwide, including by delaying security assistance to Israel and potentially weakening enforcement of sanctions against Iran, Kerry told reporters at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in Bali.
You can $ee who his first concern is, and I imagine that is no surprise now.
Kerry is standing in for President Obama after he canceled his trip to Asia to seek an end to the impasse with Republicans in Congress who are demanding changes to the president’s health insurance legislation.
He finally got to be president.
Related: Kerry pledges US support for Southeast Asia
Obama’s absence meant he could not hold planned meetings with the leaders of Russia and China, which hurts his agenda in the short term, Kerry said.
Obama’s absence may add to growing anxiety in Asia that the United States is too preoccupied with internal political challenges to pursue its so-called Asia pivot, his second-term foreign policy priority to enhance America’s standing in a region adjusting to China’s economic and military emergence.
Translation: Asia's anxiety is eased by such a thing.
The United States is seeking to boost defense ties with the region and finalize the 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership trade pact.
Kerry insisted the shutdown won’t have a long-term impact on US foreign policy or Obama’s economic agenda, calling it ‘‘political silliness’’ forced upon the country by the House of Representatives.
He urged ‘‘all of our friends and foes watching around the world’’ to ‘‘not mistake this momentary episode in American politics’’ as anything more than that.
‘‘Momentary disruption always has the ability to have an impact,’’ Kerry said, calling the shutdown a distraction in Washington and an ‘‘opportunity for mischief’’ by those who oppose US policies.
So when is the false flag, Kohn?
APEC leaders gathering in Bali understand Obama’s decision and would have done the same if they were in his shoes, Kerry said. Obama had been presented a challenge ‘‘by a small group of people within one branch of the United States Congress.’’
Gee, who could he be referring to?
"Kerry made the comments in a speech via satellite from London to a foreign policy conference in California by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, the most powerful pro-Israel lobbying organization in the United States."
Yeah, that's them!
Obama informed the leaders of the host countries of APEC and the Association of Southeast Asian Nation summits, Indonesia and Brunei, of his decision by phone Thursday, according to the White House. Earlier this week, he called off planned stops in Malaysia and the Philippines scheduled for the end of what would have been a weeklong visit to the region.
US exports to the Pacific Rim rose to $326.4 billion in 2010, from $254.6 billion in 2009, according to US Census Bureau data.
The United States has played a crucial role in past APEC and ASEAN meetings and sending Kerry in Obama’s place ‘‘is very different from having the president show up,’’ Lieberthal, now a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution in Washington, said by e-mail.
Globe sure does make you think sometimes.
Obama’s absence will be made more notable by China’s diplomatic push around the meetings. President Xi Jinping of China visited Indonesia and announced plans to boost defense and security cooperation with Malaysia after meeting with Prime Minister Najib Razak near Kuala Lumpur.
Chinese Prime Minister Li Keqiang plans to attend the ASEAN meeting and then make official visits to Thailand and Vietnam, Qin Gang, a spokesman for China’s Foreign Ministry, said in a statement.
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Or this:
"Kerry urges a swift OK to Syria chemical weapons deal; Impatient with claims of rebel responsibility" by Deb Riechmann | Associated Press, September 20, 2013
WASHINGTON — Secretary of State John Kerry on Thursday called on the UN Security Council to move swiftly to approve a US-Russian deal to eliminate Syria’s chemical weapons, saying there is no time to argue with those who remain unconvinced that the Syrian regime carried out a chemical attack last month that killed hundreds.
That is exactly the time we should be arguing with them and demanding pressure to the brake peddle.
Kerry didn’t mention Russian President Vladimir Putin, but his remarks were a clear attempt to rebut Putin’s statement that Russia has strong grounds to believe that Syrian rebels — not President Bashar Assad’s regime — were responsible for the Aug. 21 attack.
Speaking at a conference, Putin said, ‘‘We have every reason to believe that it was a provocation, a sly and ingenious one.’’ He said those who perpetrated the attack relied on ‘‘primitive’’ technology, using old Soviet-made ammunition no longer in the Syrian army’s inventory.
While a recent report by UN inspectors did not ascribe blame, the United States, Britain, France, and others believe that the report’s findings offer conclusive evidence that the attack was conducted by the Syrian military. Assad, in an interview this week with Fox News Channel, denied that his regime was responsible for the attack.
The United States, Britain, and France pointed to evidence in the report — especially the type of rockets, the composition of the sarin agent, and trajectory of the missiles — to declare that Assad’s government was responsible. Moreover, they argue that there is no evidence that opposition forces possess sarin gas.
‘‘So there you have it. Sarin was used. Sarin killed,’’ Kerry said.
Actually, I thought that at one time but now it is appearing that the whole thing was a staged hoax because the U.N. found no residue of sarin in Ghouta.
Turns out the whole thing -- again -- was a complete lie, a staged and scripted hoax (with video)! That explains the lack of protective gear worn by the "medical workers," the injections that made kids unconscious (can't have kids twitching and moving when they are dead; you know how kids are, they just can't stay still despite orders), and all the other anomalies regarding those fakes.
What an amazing system of propaganda, 'ey? First there is the false charge, then the limited hangout with the truth hidden.
‘‘The world can decide whether it was used by the regime, which has used chemical weapons before — the regime which had the rockets and the weapons — or whether the opposition secretly went unnoticed into territory they don’t control to fire rockets they don’t have, containing sarin that they don’t possess, to kill their own people.
‘‘And then, without even being noticed, they just disassembled it all and packed up and got out of the center of Damascus controlled by Assad. Please. This isn’t complicated.’’
What a lying piece of shit! But we all like him!
Kerry’s comments in support of the UN report followed weeks of US skepticism about whether the UN inspectors would be able to make valid determinations, mainly because of the length of time that transpired between the attack and when the inspectors were given access to the site.
The United States wants a new Security Council resolution now under discussion to make the US-Russian agreement reached last week in Geneva legally binding in a way that is verifiable and enforceable.
The United States and Russia are arguing over putting the resolution under Chapter 7 of the UN Charter.
Chapter 7 deals with threats to international peace and security and has provisions for enforcement by military or nonmilitary means, such as sanctions.
Russia, which already has rejected three resolutions on Syria, would be expected to veto a UN move toward military action, and US officials have said they do not contemplate seeking such an authorization. Russia holds veto power in the Security Council, along with the other permanent members, the United States, China, Britain, and France.
‘‘We really don’t have time today to pretend that anyone can have their own set of facts approaching the issue of chemical weapons in Syria,’’ Kerry said. ‘‘This fight about Syria’s chemical weapons is not a game. It’s real. It’s important. It’s important to the lives of people in Syria, it’s important to the region, it’s important to the world that this be enforced — this agreement that we came out of Geneva with.’’
Really in a rush, isn't he?
Putin expressed optimism when asked whether he trusts Assad to fulfill Russia’s plan for Syria to surrender its chemical weapons and avoid a US strike. He said Damascus’s actions so far have given reason to believe the initiative will be implemented....
Responding to a question about what would happen if Assad’s government breaks its pledge, Putin said ‘‘we have no reason to believe they would fail to fulfill their obligations.’’
******************
Asked if Syria’s list of its chemical arsenals could be trusted, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said Damascus will ‘‘have to do its best to convince the international community that the list they present is complete and that efficient verification and control can be provided.’’
Speaking in Moscow, Medvedev sought to emphasize that Russia shouldn’t be held solely responsible for the plan’s success.
‘‘The responsibility [for success of the plan] has not shifted to the Russian federation,’’ Medvedev said.
‘‘It’s our joint responsibility’’ and not ‘‘the sole responsibility of the Russian federation.’’
Sure being made to look that way in my jewspaper.
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Related:
"Israeli ambassador Michael Oren has revealed that the Israeli government has privately been seeking regime change in neighboring Syria for the past two years....
Right about the time the "peaceful protests" began!
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Thus the FALSE FLAG to be pinned on Syria!
"Russia denounces UN chemical report on Syria" by Steven Lee Myers and Rick Gladstone | New York Times, September 19, 2013
MOSCOW — Russia sharply criticized the new report on Syria’s chemical arms use on Wednesday as biased and incomplete, hardening the Kremlin’s defense of the Syrian government even while pressing ahead with a plan to remove its arsenal of the internationally banned weapons.
The Russians also escalated their critiques of Western governments’ interpretations of the UN report, which offered the first independent confirmation of a large chemical-weapons assault Aug. 21 on the outskirts of the Syrian capital, Damascus, that asphyxiated hundreds of civilians.
Although the report did not assign blame for that assault to either side in Syria’s civil war, analyses of some of the evidence it presented point directly at elite military forces loyal to the Syrian president, Bashar Assad. The United States, Britain, France, and human rights and nonproliferation groups also say that the report’s detailed annexes on the types of weapons used, the large volume of poison gas they carried, and their trajectories all lead to the conclusion that the forces of Assad were culpable.
The JU.N. is nothing but a vehicle to justify western intervention and war.
The Russian criticism came as the five permanent members of the Security Council began a second day of negotiations at the UN on a draft resolution aimed at ensuring that the Syrian government honors its commitment to identify and surrender all chemical munitions for destruction, as it agreed to do under a deal negotiated Saturday by Russia and the United States that averted a punitive US missile strike on Syria.
Russian news reports quoted the country’s deputy foreign minister, Sergei Ryabkov, as saying during a visit to Damascus that the Syrian government had provided additional information that showed that insurgents used chemical weapons not only Aug. 21, but also on other occasions.
The Syrians offered no such information to the UN chemical weapons inspectors before they left Syria with a trove of forensic samples on Aug. 31. The inspectors have said they would return to Syria to investigate other allegations, but no dates have been announced.
They have been in there the past month.
Ryabkov spoke after meeting with Assad and his foreign minister, Walid al-Moallem. He did not disclose the precise nature of the additional information the Syrians had conveyed to him, but he was blunt about his criticism of the report presented Monday at the United Nations.
“We are unhappy about this report,” Ryabkov said in remarks broadcast by the state television network, RT. “We think that the report was distorted. It was one-sided. The basis of information upon which it is built is insufficient.” He also said Russia needed “to learn and know more on what happened beyond and above that incident of Aug. 21.”
His remarks came a day after Russia’s foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov, also questioned the UN report....
I'm glad to see foreign leaders are questioning all this. How far the world has come regarding AmeriKa.
France’s foreign minister, Laurent Fabius, who had just visited with Lavrov, reacted angrily to the Russian accusations, saying they had surprised him. “Nobody can question the objectivity of the people appointed by the UN,” Fabius was quoted by Agence France-Presse as saying at a news conference in Paris.
Really?
Russia, which like the other permanent Security Council members has veto power over any resolution, is resisting coercive language in the draft offered by the Western members that could lead to military intervention in Syria.
Russians as peacemakers and keepers. Who could ever have believed that in the society I was raised?
The Russian position, despite evidence that others say is abundantly damning of Assad’s forces, appeared intended to sow enough doubt to call into question additional pressure on Syria’s government, and perhaps to cloud evidence that at least some of the country’s arsenal was of Soviet origin.
Related: Sunday Globe Special: Syria's Sarin Gas
Except the attack was not consistent with sarin.
Russian President Vladimir Putin also asserted in an opinion page article in The New York Times last week that there was abundant evidence to believe that the rebels had carried out an attack using chemical weapons to force international intervention.
No investigation of it by the NYT.
Related: John McCain rebukes Russia’s ‘regime’ in Pravda
Israel also wrote a letter regarding the subject.
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Related: Russia opposes use of force in resolution on Syria
Syria submits its chemical weapons inventory
Watchdog gets new details of Syrian chemical arsenal
