If Syria had been hurling bombs at France, or even Greece, there would be war by now. But Turkey is not a white country. And so Turkey is having to fight Syria on its own. This I am calling NATO racism.
Just like there was no non-violent solution to Hitler the only just conclusion to the state mayhem in Syria is military action by an alliance of countries.
Turkey is a NATO country. The NATO premise is that if any NATO member is attacked, all NATO countries will join in a counter attack.
Well, a NATO country has been attacked. Turkey has been attacked.
The organization constitutes a system of collective defence whereby its member states agree to mutual defense in response to an attack by any external party.
Nowhere does it say in the NATO chapter that NATO needs UN approval, or approval from China and Russia before action can be taken.
It is a shame that the world watches as tens of thousands get killed in Syria.
NATO should take action on behalf of Turkey, or it should dissolve itself.
I stand for non violent movements for democracy. That is my principle. But Syria is a clear case for military action to lead to regime change.
Given the circumstances only Turkey can save the day. Turkey is the only legitimate regional power around there. And it needs to flex some muscle.
Can Turkey force U.S. and other NATO countries to attack Syria?the United States, would be compelled to strike back on Turkey's behalf..... British Foreign Minister William Hague Sunday called the incident "outrageous" ..... Secretary of State Hillary Clinton .. called the incident a "brazen and unacceptable act........ The meeting, or "consultations," is one Turkey called under Article 4 of the NATO treaty .... With the consultations, there is a chance Turkey will demand a collective military response. The notion comes from what is known as Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization's Washington Treaty, which states that should a member nation - which Turkey is - be attacked, other NATO members are compelled in a collective act of self-defense ...... the plane was shot down in international air space. .... Turkey's prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, may feel compelled to make a decisive response ..... "Turkey is a NATO member. Turkey is a very, very formidable power. Turkey is four times the size of Syria. The Turkish military is a mighty institution. ...... "And the idea that this ragtag regime in Damascus would shoot down a Turkish airplane, a jet fighter ... a Phantom - F-4 Phantom plane - tells you that Bashar al-Assad's regime has the sense of invulnerability, that no one is coming to the rescue of the Syrian population"
When I started working on this blog post weeks ago I spent some energy to the song and dance required to get Nitish to contest all 40 parliamentary seats in Bihar. I think he could win 35 of them easy.
But no song and dance is now necessary. The BJP itself has said it will contest all 40 seats. That does give an opening to Laloo. But Nitish is the obvious beneficiary.
It is perhaps time to revive the old Janata Dal. Janata Dal was a national party with major presence in many states.
UP is but a natural home to the Janata Dal. The formula that Nitish has applied to Bihar can easily be reapplied to UP. Mulayam might be a master politician, but he can not deliver on development, he could not give India double digit growth rates.
India remains a country of small farmers. The Nitish formula speaks to 70% of the country. And Nitish is no slouch on urban affairs. The guy is an engineer by training, after all.
Keep performing well. Plan to contest all 40 seats in Bihar. Seek unification with the Biju Janata Dal in Orissa and other Janata Dals if possible. Seek to contest at least 100 seats nationwide.
Build a non BJP, non Congress alliance early. And get yourself projected as the prime ministerial candidate. I think it's possible.
Laloo might not come around, but what are his options? What about a Nitish, Laloo, Paswan alliance? 30 seats to Nitish, 7 to Laloo, and 3 to Paswan? Better still, merge the three parties.
Could the Samajwadi Party and the Janata Dal become one again? They used to be one party. Orissa and Karnataka are fair game.
Nitish's number one strength is his amazing performance as Chief Minister of Bihar. His number one weakness is not having articulated as to how he has managed to (1) perform so well electorally and (2) how he has been able to give Bihar the growth rate he has. If he were to do a good job of articulating that he could come up with an ideology that would help him cross state boundaries.
Development is his mantra. Development can be India's mantra. Nitish has the option to start a grassroots movement across India and produce a new crop of leaders.
Stick to your condition that Narendra Modi can not be the NDA candidate for PM, and the PM candidate has to be announced before the election.
The BJP projects Modi as its candidate. You break away from the NDA and have JD (U) contest for all parliamentary seats in Bihar. You end up with 35 MPs.
Nitish wants the next PM to be a BJP person. And Modi is the most eligible BJP person for his economic record in Gujarat. Either he accepts Modi, or he does not accept BJP. In my book that makes room for a third front.
How do you fight a guy who is all smoke and mirrors?
Tax cuts - huge ones - to millionaires and billionaires have been the centerpiece of Mitt Romney's grand plan. Last night he said that was not the case. He said he will do nothing to add to the deficit. So no tax cuts to the rich? But I thought that was kind of central to everything you have to say, Mitt.
Break the mirrors, Barack. That is how Bruce Lee did it.
