U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu indicated in an August meeting with reporters that they were exploring the possible imposition of a no-fly zone over Syria.
Secretary Clinton was on an official visit to Turkey. I reached her by phone shortly after the meeting.
PHOTO: US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton (L), Turkey’s President Abdullah Gul (C) and Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu (R) (AFP) CLICK TO ENLARGE
GlossyNews.com: Secretary Clinton, the U.S. is a pioneer in this sort of project. You pretty much eradicated the mosquito in the Panama Canal Zone more than a century ago. How difficult do you think it is going to be to eradicate the flies in Syria?
“It’s not really about eradicating flies.”
Hillary Clinton: I’m not sure how to answer that. It’s not really about eradicating flies. We have more important things in mind.
GlossyNews.com: So what eradication do you intend?
Hillary Clinton: We want to do it right. The plan would be to stop everything from flying.
GlossyNews.com: My goodness! Even the birds and the bees and the butterflies? It sounds very ambitious.
Hillary Clinton: We’re talking about humans and cargo here, Barb. The idea is to prevent aircraft from flying. It’s for the protection of the Syrian population.
GlossyNews.com: So how would you accomplish this?
Hillary Clinton: By sending in military aircraft, drones and missiles to strike, bomb and strafe the population and installations.
GlossyNews.com: Is that what you call a no-fly zone and protection of the Syrian population?
Hillary Clinton: You don’t understand, Barb. You have to fly aircraft in order to prevent the flying of aircraft, and you have to strike, bomb and strafe Syrians in order to protect them.
GlossyNews.com: You’re right. I guess I don’t understand. How do the Syrians feel about this?
Hillary Clinton: They love it, Barb. They want us to strike and bomb and strafe them.
GlossyNews.com: And you know this…how?
“We provide only nonlethal aid such as maps with suggestions of where best to kill people.”
Hillary Clinton: They’ve said so themselves, and especially the Syrians from Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Libya, Egypt, Jordan, Israel and the U.S. Of course, the U.S. would never send its own aircraft and combat troops or equipment for this purpose. We provide only nonlethal aid such as maps with suggestions of where best to kill people.
GlossyNews.com: Then where is the equipment made?
Hillary Clinton: Oh, it’s made in the U.S., of course, but we sell or give it to others and then instruct them to give it to Syrians from Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Libya, Egypt, Jordan, Israel and the U.S. to be used to protect other Syrians. You can protect a lot more Syrians with a half-ton bomb than with an automatic rifle, but we let others provide that kind of aid under our guidance so that our hands are clean – speaking of which, I should have stopped by the washroom.
GlossyNews.com: I guess this is a lot different than eradicating mosquitos.
Hillary Clinton: Yes, but eradication is eradication, and as you say, we’ve always been good at it.
Such a concise statement of U.S foreign policy! I’m in awe.
Sometimes people have to tell you what’s best for you.