Notations on Our World: On #SyriaRefugees

The refugee crisis has reached epic proportions.  The World has been witness to the tragedy on an hour by hour basis as people have been trying to make their way.  This From the Economist of London showcased the flow in a dramatic way: 

The heart-wrenching image of the young Syrian child, Aylan, as his lifeless body was washed up the shores in Turkey was heartbreaking.   It emerged that the Syrian family  Aylan wanted to go to Canada and Canada rejected the Asylum application filed by his family.   Canada has denied that an  application was in fact filed.   It was also interesting that the Canadian  Immigration Minister suspended his campaign to work on the refugee issue and as the Canadian Prime Minister Steven  Harper expressed shocked at the image of the child. 

Europe's initial reaction was captured in this New York Times Editorial--The image was telling:

The E.U. reacts to images of a drowned Syrian boy. For more from Patrick Chappatte: http://nyti.ms/1dpe553
Posted by The New York Times Opinion on Thursday, September 3, 2015 

But after Aylan's image was shown all around the World, it was the simple statement from the Wall Street Journal said it all:  

His name was Aylan. He was three years old. “It is not only immigrants who are drowning in the Mediterranean, it is also our humanity.”
Posted by The Wall Street Journal on Thursday, September 3, 2015

As all saw in the "Daily Update",   Aylan's Father asked one thing:  Let him be the last one. It is of note that as we went to press, The UK Prime Minister reversed his stance and said that the UK will take in more refugees.   It must also be noted that there are some 54 Million People who have been displaced around the World--14 Million of them Syrians.   

Notations On Our World: On the Iran Deal

The Iran Deal is done.    The Obama Adminstration has secured the necessary votes to sustain the President's Veto.   This is as in a recent interview with Al Monitor's Barbara Slavin, The Iranian Majlis (Parliament) speaker, Ali Larijani (a former negotiator himself) praised the President's wisdom in this regard.   The magic number, though, is 41 to secure a filibuster proof majority so that the President does not have to wield his veto pen.   Our team found it quite hilarious that Roger Cohen of the New York Time referred to the Iran Deal as the "Obamacare of Foreign Policy".   His final closing thoughts was telling, though: "...Here’s some breaking news for Aipac: Iran is a nuclear-threshold state today. The great merit of the deal is to slash and ring-fence acquired Iranian nuclear capacity until 2030. To say that is not in Israel’s security interest is utterly unpersuasive...."   

This morning's New York Times reported on the strategy by the Democrats to secure the deal from day one.    The House Democratic Caucus (with few exceptions) has pretty much held together as well.     However, there will be moves made by the GOP caucus for a "Plan B" which includes a renewal of the Iran Sanctions Act for an additional 10 years.   The so-called Plan B includes moves by US States as noted in a recent Al Monitor Report.   Senator Rubio and Governor Walker came out noting that they would abrogate the deal on day one and that it does not have any "legal standing".    They say they will get US allies to go along with it.   However the reality is otherwise as Iran's emergence has already begun.     The President is also going to be "pressing the flesh" as he hosts King Salman of Saudi Arabia at the White House.

This depicition the Economist' KAL said it all on the achievement by the President:

Notations On Our World (Special Edition): Late Breaking News on the #IranDeal (With One More late breaking development)

As our team has been assessing the World today, it was noteworthy as the 34th Vote to ensure a Veto-Proof Majority was secured by the White House on the Iran Deal.   US Senator Barbara Milkuksi of Maryland is the 34th Vote needed to secure the Iran Vote and to avoid a Congressional override of the Veto.   This is as the next goal will be to achieve a "filibuster proof" majority as noted by i24news within the past few hours:



This is a developing story as the Iranian Foreign Minister is continuing his second tour of Arab Capitals to explain the deal.     The Secretary of State is right now speaking live in Philadelphia at the National Constitution Center on the Iran Deal to reflect upon the deal as he is mounting a robust defense of the deal.       As we went to press, he's laying out the robust support for Israel that the Obama Administration has.    He reflected upon his order to land at Ben Gurion during the Gaza War as one sign of his profound commitment as he noted that "I take a back seat to no one on my commitment to Israel".    

Our team just received this from JINSA though as the opposition to the deal continues and as @Haaretz just reported that the Israeli Prime Minister is unlikely to back down despite this late breaking development: 

New Report: Iran Nuclear Deal Threatens U.S. Interests and Increases Probability of Military Conflict

Former U.S. Military Officials Launch Educational Campaign

Click to download the full report

Washington, D.C. - The Iran Strategy Council is launching an aggressive national campaign to educate Americans regarding the Iran Nuclear Deal. In its new report titled, Assessment of the Joint Comprehensive Plan, the JINSA-commissioned Council concludes that the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) will not only fail to peacefully prevent a nuclear Iran-but it will threaten vital American interests while increasing the probability of military conflict as the agreement sunsets. 

 

"We assess that The JCPOA will enable Iran to increase support for terrorist and insurgent proxies, aggravate sectarian conflict and trigger both nuclear and conventional proliferation cascades," the Iran Strategy Council Report concludes. "It will provide the expansionist regime in Tehran with access to resources, technology and international arms markets required to bolster offensive military capabilities in the vital Persian Gulf region, acquire long-range ballistic missiles and develop other major weapons systems."

"Implementing JCPOA will have significant strategic consequences for our interests and allies in the region. It is imperative that policymakers understand these and being planning for how to address them now. Our group of retired senior military leaders has sought to provide an objective analysis of the deal's impact and what that might mean for U.S. policy," said Retired General James Conway, former Commandant of the Marine Corps and Retired Air Force General Chuck Wald, former Deputy Commander of the U.S. European Command.

 

"Contrary to the false choice between support for the JCPOA and military confrontation, the agreement increases both the probability and danger of hostilities with Iran," the report notes. "Given the deleterious strategic consequences to the United States, implementation of the JCPOA will demand increased political and military engagement in the Middle East that carries significantly greater risks and costs relative to current planning assumptions."

 

The Iran Strategy Council is an organization of former top senior military senior officials and defense analysts with the mission of educating audiences on the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) and how it will make the United States and its allies less safe and war with Iran and its proxies more likely. The Council will address the likelihood of a nuclear arms race, strengthening terrorist networks such as Hamas and Hezbollah, increasing the chances of proxy wars, the U.S. needs for enhanced missile defense technology in response to Iran's permissible ICBM research, and how much would the U.S. military have to increase its land-based and naval presence in the region - at a time when legally mandated budget cuts to the U.S. military are already reducing America's security capabilities.  

 

Members of the Iran Strategy Council Include:

General James Conway, USMC (ret.) - Council Co-Chair

34th Commandant of the Marine Corps

General Charles Wald, USAF (ret.) - Council Co-Chair

Former Deputy Commander of United States European Command (EUCOM)

Admiral Mark Fitzgerald, USN (ret.)

Former Commander of U.S. Naval Forces Europe/Africa

General Lou Wagner, USA (ret.)

Former Commander of the U.S. Army Materiel Command

Lieutenant General Michael D. Barbero, USA (ret.)

Former Director, Joint Improvised Explosive Device Defeat Organization

Vice Admiral John Bird, USN (ret.)

Former Commander of the U.S. Seventh Fleet, with an area of responsibility of more than 48 million square miles including 36 maritime countries

Lieutenant General David Deptula, USAF (ret.)

Former Deputy Chief of Staff for Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance, U.S. Air Force Headquarters

Major General Lawrence Stutzriem, USAF (ret.)

Former Director, Plans, Policy, and Strategy, North American Aerospace Defense Command and U.S. Northern Command

The Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs (JINSA) was founded in 1976 as a non-profit, non-partisan organization to advocate on behalf of a strong United States national security posture. Visit JINSA online atwww.jinsa.org.

Click here to download the full report