Showing posts with label Negotiations. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Negotiations. Show all posts

January 26, 2020

Cannibals Love To Have You For Dinner

I love this saying from one of my colleagues in the National Security field about the Middle East:
If you aren't invited for dinner, you're likely on the menu!

Oh how true it is. 

It reminds me of a mother-in-law joke my father used to tell about this guy telling his friend:
Yeah, we had my mother-in-law for dinner. And boy was she good!

Anyway, no one can tell a joke like he did. 

Last thing you want to be is on the menu. ;-)

(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)

Share/Save/Bookmark

April 16, 2017

North Korea and Iran--No Time For Nuke Time

We are at a unbelievably critical moment in history. 

North Korea and Iran have nuclear weapons capability and are threatening and maniacal enough to use them. 

Negotiations, incentives, and phony deals have led to nothing but advancing proliferation of weapons of mass destruction with our enemies and their continued vows to kill us. 

As Iran vows to annihilate Israel and chants:


"Death to America"

North Korea vows a nuclear attack saying Washington will be:

"Engulfed in a sea of fire."

The Talmud (Sanhedrin 72a) teaches the principle of self-defense:


"If someone rises up to kill you, kill him first."

Preemption is justifiable if the threat is real and imminent. 

North Korea and Iranian threats are very real and getting ever more imminent as their capabilities increase--and if anything, they have been underestimated and underreported.

They have continued to build and test nukes and the missiles to deliver them to the U.S. and our allies, despite pleas as well as carrots and sticks to cease their menacing actions.

The prior administration's position of "strategic patience" has meant nothing but indecision and a do nothing approach as things get worse and not better.

Now, we have the opportunity to destroy the deadly nuke sites before these despotic regimes hit us and our population of nearly 320 million people with a nuke first strategy!

We are a peaceful nation that believes deeply in freedom and human rights, but we cannot live under constant threat of nuclear attack on our cities and allies. 

A preemptive strike is a very, very serious decision, but we cannot wait indefinitely and let ourselves become victims of the most horrific weapons and their destructive capabilities and aftermath. 

What do we do if North Korea and Iran refuse their endless pursuit weapons of mass destruction and their threats to use them on us?

Perhaps, this is soon to be a rhetorical question if not the most dire of all decisions to make and the time to make them. 

May G-d have mercy  on us--if ever their was a time, now is the time to pray and mean it.  ;-)

(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
Share/Save/Bookmark

July 21, 2016

A New Diplomacy In Town

A wonderful colleague sent me this really impressive photo.

This was one of my favorite of 3 aircraft carrier strike groups taken together (Abraham Lincoln, Kitty Hawk, and Ronald Reagan)--the 1st and the 3rd of which are Nimitz-class nuclear-powered supercarriers. 

According to the slides, there were literally 4 four nuclear submarines standing guard in the waters beneath, as well as a B-2 stealth bomber flying overhead.  

What I really liked the most though wasn't even the photos, but rather the motto for the carriers of:

"Over 90,000 tons of diplomacy...wherever... whenever..."

Diplomacy can be listening, negotiating, and compromise, but it can also be through the projection of the ultimate national and human strength. 

With a staggering rise in global terrorism, militaristic adventurism, and the proliferation of dangerous weapons of mass destruction, perhaps it's time to harden up on some of the soft power, and demonstrate as well the very credible hard power and resolve we have for protecting American lives, freedom, and human rights. ;-)

(Source Photo: here)

Share/Save/Bookmark

July 11, 2015

Dancing With The Devil

In negotiating an agreement with the West, Iran is masterfully eking out concessions, while we are threatened with the potential for another Holocaust: 

- No more answering questions about their past nuclear WMD activities.

- No more gradual sanctions relief.

- No more giving up all their spinning centrifuges.

- No more anywhere, anytime inspections of suspicious military sites.

Actually, this is all quite amazing!

And at the same time as Iran doesn't give a real inch toward what the West wants, their negotiators are now throwing in yet more of what they want and that includes doubling their oil sales immediately and the removal of the arms and ballistic missile embargo.

Hey, if you are the Iranians in the negotiations--ask and ye shall receive. 

But what about what we should be asking for, but are not:

1) Iran needs to give up and dismantle their infrastructure for producing nuclear weapons--ALL of it, period.  Isn't it obvious that Iran having nukes is inevitable if they are allowed to continue to be permitted to have some nuke capability in plain sight and the rest conducted in hiding out of our limited inspections purview?

2) Iran must cease being the leading state sponsor of terrorism world-wide or for that matter any sponsor of terrorism--that is not how civilized nations behave! How can Iran be trusted on any nuke agreement as long as they continue to murder and terrorize innocents just as part of what they do. Just as an example, does anyone remember the 242 U.S. Marines killed in the Beirut barracks bombing. What happened to "We don't negotiate with terrorists"?

3) Iran cannot continue their overt hatred of the West, while pretending to negotiate an end to sanctions. Chanting "Death to America" (and Israel), burning our flag and our President in effigy, calling us their worst enemy, and threatening to attack and annihilate them is not in spirit of negotiating an agreement, is it? Again, where is foundation for trust here to even make an agreement?

4) Iran can't deny the truth of the Holocaust and the murder of six million innocent Jewish people in the most cruel ways just 70 years ago and simultaneously sit at the table today with world leaders in suits and ties and smiles, pretending to make a verifiable agreement that means anything. 

While we all want true world peace, this leopard has not at all changed its stripes. 

The words "Never Again" are not just an empty saying, but rather they are a commitment that all good and decent people must take upon themselves to ensure that hatred, terror, and evil are no longer permitted in the league of civilized nations. 

The devil always presents himself in an appealing way, but as history has shown over and over again, he never fails to hurt those who try to appease him.

May G-d guide the leaders of this great nation with wisdom and to see those with whom they negotiate for who they really are--and may a true peace reign in our times. 

(All opinions my own.) 

(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
Share/Save/Bookmark

February 20, 2015

Learning To Compromise

My wife and I decided after living in the same condo for the last 15 years that maybe it was time for a change. 

There is a great area that we hang out in with workout, grocery, pharmacy, public transportation, and--most importantly to my wife--Starbucks--all right there.

So my wife made an appointment for us to look at this rental right above all the action....

The apartment was nice, modern, and best of all in this vibrant neighborhood--but on the smallish side (we would definitely be cramped) and with a substantial monthly. 

My wife, the perennial city dweller, loved it, and I didn't.

Next, my turn up, we went with a real estate broker to see a charm of a house--this was the one we'd "been waiting for," all these years. 

Solid, roomy, castle-like...but it would have some ongoing house maintenance things and was a little distance from public transportation (i.e. we'd mostly have to drive). 

This time, my wife hated it, and I loved it.

Back and forth--argue and debate--getting no where (this is a very egalitarian relationship--my wife tells me what to do!) :-)

Thinking about this, I say "Okay, let's compromise"--let's look for a more upscale and roomy condo that we can make our own but in the neighborhood she really likes (and yeah, I like it too). 

1-2-3, with a little searching, we find something online we like, and back to the real estate broker to make an appointment. 

This story is not over in terms of where (or if) we are going to move to, but along the way we continue to learn as a couple to get along, love each other, and of course, compromise. ;-)

(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
Share/Save/Bookmark

January 14, 2015

Lobbying Will Get You...Where?

In Washington, D.C., lobbying is a way of life. 

Just walking from the State Department to the Metro means you'll get accosted by somebody wanting action on some issue. 

I took this photo in action today of this guy obviously not in favor of the Keystone XL pipeline. 

He equates it with "Climate Chaos!"

He is holding a sign up to me and trying to hand me some literature.

Whether or not piping tar sands oil from Canada to the Gulf Coast is net good for the economy and national security or bad for the environment and global warming, is of course a matter of debate. 

But like all issues, there are two sides to everything--so prove your case!

Maybe the point to free speech is that everyone can not only have an opinion, but also express it and advocate for it. 

There can be open and amble discussion, vigorous debate, compromises, and ultimately a vote and decision--that hopefully gets us to the best course of action. 

Unlike countries run by dictators or religious fanatics who attempt to quell all opposition--where bloggers are flogged and jailed and authors and satirists are threatened and murdered--we try to make our best case and not condemn those who simply think different than us. 

In expressing ourselves here, someone may occasionally joke and say, "now don't chop my head off for saying this," but in other countries they really mean it! 

Tyrannical dictatorships and Jihadists terrorizing and imposing their will on the masses just won't cut it anymore. ;-)

(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
Share/Save/Bookmark

Eye To Eye

I took this photo from a sticker plastered on the street corner in Washington, D.C. 

What I like about it, aside from it's cute, is that I see a message here about good communications and conflict management skills. 

Notice the eyes are different (one is green/yellow and the other is orange/blue)...like it's two people. 

But there is one mouth open, speaking between them.

This speaks to that while we may be talking to each other and even think we are saying the same thing ("violently in agreement"), we need to make sure that we are listening, understanding, and working through our differences--so at the end, we are both really "seeing eye to eye." 

While each of us is different, and we may never fully agree (and cabn "agree to disagree"), we can also negotiate and come to terms on a win-win course of action. 

Talk it out, bridge the gaps, and get to a place where we not only are able to see eye to eye, but can then go forward together and make it truly work. ;-)

(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
Share/Save/Bookmark

November 29, 2014

Soften The Hearts

This last year has shown some difficult negotiations between the P5+1 and Iran.

It seems as if the P5+1 have been doing everything possible to get Iran to stop pursuing dangerous WMD, but that the response is just forever, "No."

So the deadline for a deal was extended once again. 

Many are saying no deal is better than a bad deal--and that certainly makes sense. 

The key is for national and global security to take precedence over any deal for deal's sake.

Everyone desperately wants peace, but it should be a real and lasting and verifiable peace.

Most people are good and want peace, but there are always those extremists who have an irrational hatred and seek nothing but power and destruction, and they says things like they want to "annihilate Israel" or seek to build ICBMs that can reach Europe and America. 

Oh L-rd, please soften the hearts in Iran to agree to a real and lasting peace that safeguards us, and that brings prosperity and betterment to the world. 

Maybe this next extension will be the charm--let's hope and pray.

Note: The characters in the cartoon are fictional and do not intend any disrespect to anyone--simply the hope for a softening of hearts and minds of Iran's leaders, and with that the attainment of a real and verifiable peace with this next round of negotiations. 

All opinions my own.

Share/Save/Bookmark

November 14, 2014

Iran: Engagement or Containment

As the deadline for the now 2nd round of current negotiations with the dangerous Iranian mullahs fast approaches on November 24, we need to remember who we are dealing with over there.

Despite nearly endless negotiations that have gone on since 2002 (or for almost 13 years ), including yet another round of new talks that began 14 months ago and which were extended already once again...


Just this week, no less than Iran's Foreign Minister and lead negotiator made clear their position on nukes, and it is not favorable to coming to any real agreement:


Here in his own words:

  • Iran insists that the U.S. must bow to Iran's "Inalienable Nuclear Rights."
  • Despite our wanting to believe that a deal is possible, he states, "Some [Western] countries have fallen prey to miscalculations [about Iran's position] due to wrong analysis."
  • He goes on to say, "U.S. sanctions against Iran "have left no impact" on their position. 

While our goal may be for a peaceful Iran without nuclear WMD, "a goal without a [genuine] plan is just a wish!"


Hmm...is this a real partner for peace?


It is recognized that:


1) Iran has one of the world's worst records of human right abuses of their own people! 


2) "Iran is the single largest state sponsor of terrorism in the world."


3) Iran threatens "annihilation" and Genocide to their neighbors in the West. 


We cannot fool ourselves anymore that Iran will ever voluntarily give up their desire or pursuit of The Bomb!


Enough rewarding Iran with billions of dollars in incentives just for coming to the table with no meaningful results. 


Yes ideally, we would all love to celebrate this Thanksgiving with a REAL deal for peace.


However, we don't need a bogus agreement or another meaningless extension that gets the Iranians that much closer to nuclear breakout capability and the world to the next major regional or even global war. 


Albert Einstein said, "Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results."


Perhaps it's time to change the playbook then...


Engagement is an excellent opportunity with a partner that is willing to seriously negotiate, but containment and ultimately military intervention is necessary when talks are simply a long-running ruse or sham to dangerous nuclear WMD and world terror. 


(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)

Share/Save/Bookmark