USA, France and Syria: a war without pay-off

In the very next days, the U.S.A along with France will decide, whether they will fire their cruise missiles against Syria. As usual those great democracies put forward morale and human rights. Which is normal, as they each claim having a universal responsibility.

 

However, a basic principal of war is the payoff rule: how much will my country get back against the human, financial and political cost of a war ? The present situation in Syria is far from giving a clear and simple answer, for the following reasons:

Gas attack in Damascus: the low proficiency of state public relations services and mass media

Usually I prefer taking time for thinking, reading and analyzing documents before writing any post.
Regarding the infamous gas attack of 21. August in Damascus, I start being fed up by the lack of proficiency of the governmental public relations services and of the mass media. Therefore I will stick to the news in this post.

Firstly, I would like to clearly state that I don't negate that a gas attack has taken place on 21. August. I don't negate that hundreds of people have been killed. My only concern is the weakness of the arguments displayed to the citizens of our democracies so that they properly understand what has taken place and can then support their respective governments. This is how war becomes legitimate: when a democratic Nation unanimously decides to back its government when it has to enforce peace wherever it is.
Today, my only concern is the respect for the citizen.

Politics: the gap between official statements and reality- Analysis of a meeting between Hitler and C.G.E. Mannerheim.

A Finnish friend of mine forwarded me yesterday a recording of a conversation between Adolf Hitler and Marshall Mannerheim, taped on 4th June 1942 at the occasion of Mannerheim's birthday.

Here is the link to the recording: (Yle).

Although the sound is rather poor and difficult to understand for non-native speakers, following points can be underlined:

-A first part is composed of the official statement of both Hitler and Mannerheim, who both promise backing each other in their war against the Soviet Union.

-A second part is Hitler's monolog on WWII and many considerations, which show, beyond some strategic analysis, the importance of a sound and accurate intelligence and preparation for war.