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This week on the podcast, we parse the Syrian question with experts on both the Middle East and the political perspective. The Hoover Institution’s Fouad Ajami explains why we should take action, and National Review’s political correspondent, Robert Costa, examines the the political implications and how the Republican vote will play out. Finally, the topic that the hosts won’t touch. What is it? You’ll have to listen all the way to the end of the show to find out.
Music from this week’s show:
Pink Thing by XTC
The Ricochet Podcast opening theme was composed and produced by James Lileks.
You’re in the Army now, EJHill.
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That song selection..oh no.
Unfortunately, there a dearth of songs about Syria.
Why is gassing people bad when Assad does it but not when Saddam does it? Iraq was an “unnecessary” war, as I recall hearing from candidate Obama. I do not see anything but self-absorption on the part of this president, and I see no reason at all to think he would stay the course for longer than a day and a half—after all, it’s not his red line, dontchaknow. For this reason—and to show the president that his credibility is in fact under the microscope—I say vote “no.”
*clears throat*
UK members may see in the pic Dad’s army.
BTW, I don’t think the US armed forces should be mercenaries of certain Arab states (that development may be post-podcast).
Oh, what about the movie music for Syriana? – close enough.
It wasn’t OK when Saddam did it, it was just bad when Bush did something.
Sometime…had to be January or so after 9/11… I had a roommate who use to be an artist, in NYC, whose studio overlooked the Towers, close enough to see when it happened. She signed up at age 31, with her doctor husband’s support, as a bomb technician. (AO, for those that know Navy.)
At one point she pulled out a copy of the New Yorker with a story on Saddam gassing the Kurds and demanded why we weren’t taking care of that, too. I think that I said something to the effect of “one thing at a time”– we were attacking the folks who had most directly attacked us first.
She graduated before Iraq started, and I’ve often wondered what she thought of that whole thing. Probably was spitting nails about watching trucks full of something on CNN rolling across the Syrian border…..
An AUMF will need 18 Republican votes in the House, zero in the Senate. The Republicans should at least be smart enough to require the Democrats to own this by providing the majority of votes.
Strongest reason for Ricochet podcast to remain outside paywall: flagship or submarine — pick one.
Great to have the guys back after a week off!
Fouad Ajami is a real treat. I hope you can have him on again, especially with the Middle East uncertainty we are bound to be encountering in the near future.
Rob nails it! Childish Prez is an understatement.
Problem: Big baby Prez wants Congress to enable moral grandstanding on by some one who picks and chooses morals on a political whim. And then to grandstand on behalf of an “international community” that lacks any clarity and confidence in its communitarian principles or aims?
Please send a note to Robert Costa to listen to the part of the podcast that took place after he signed off. If he does, he may begin to understand how “people who backed war” 10-12 years ago may have misgivings today. It was a great ten minutes, and I would sum it up as “it’s the leadership, stupid”.
That said, if you polled “The Lileks Plan” of knocking around a few Syrian Elites and their stuff to let them know the world disapproves of using chemical weapons, I think it would be sky high. It’s not showing disapproval for using chemical weapons that is the issue, it’s trusting those at the levers of power with an open ended mandate for a not well articulated purpose given their track records both here and abroad.
Let’s all practice saying Fouad. Fou-ad, Fou-ad, Fou-ad. It’s not that difficult James.
Is it just me, or is Rob the funniest thing in uniform since the Dukakis tank moment?
Though in his defense, Rob has a more credible military bearing than our Commander in Chief. Pity that Bashar isn’t as stupid as Yosemite.
Not Reggie. Jughead.
I love the Ricochet Podcast! Please keep the small talk *and* the politics.
I get such a kick out of James’ use of language: “little tiny go-buggies” and “a single photon of glory” made me chuckle right out loud.
Fouad Ajami’s brief history of the Alawi people (Alawites) was very interesting to learn.
Can we please retire the epithet “isolationist” please?
At least for everyone but the guys who go “we don’t need no other folks mixed with us at all.”
Which, honestly, includes a decent number of folks but not in the relatively main stream.
Who was demanding “politics only”? Some of the best podcast moments have been discussing non-political stuff.
Fouad Ajami is a real treat. I hope you can have him on again, especially with the Middle East uncertainty we are bound to be encountering in the near future. ·September 4, 2013 at 7:52pm
Agreed. Ajami can soak up hours of air time. Please.
To echo James a bit – behaviors, especially negative ones, don’t change unless some pain is felt. There have to be repercussions for behaviors for people to change – and sanctions never do anything because they never affect the ruling person or group. If a dictator is gassing his own people, do we really think economic sanctions are going to impact him in any way? Sanctions do not affect him, they affect the people, which, as dictators are wont to do, only impacts the dictator if enough of them get pissed off enough to rise up and do something about it. If he’s already got the iron hand out, then sanctions mean literally nothing but additional suffering by the people who actually want to see a regime change.
So it may very well be in our interest, and international interest, to throw Tomahawks at the living quarters of your run of the mill dictator. Kill him, or her. Put his or her family in direct peril. Destroy the comfortable living conditions he or she has gotten used to. Change their world.
Then you might start seeing a different response when we rattle the saber. Until then – we’ll get bupkis.