Monday, December 28, 2015

UPDATED--"State Department Lists 'Bringing Peace, Security to Syria' Among Top 2015 Accomplishments"

Update below.
Original post:

Cool, peace in our time, I can roll with that.

From Reason's Hit & Run blog:
Ahh, Syria circa 2015: an idyllic land of peace, prosperity, and security... said no one ever. Well, except for the U.S. State Department, which counts "bringing peace [and] security to Syria" among its top 2015 accomplishments. In a year-in-review post on the department's official blog, it also takes credit for "step[ping] up to to aid the Syrian people during their time of need" and developing a plan for "political transition" that "is responsive to the needs of the Syrian people."

Syria—as you might recall if you haven't lived in an isolated underground lair for the past few years—is currently overrun by the brutal Islamic State and losing citizens by millions, triggering something of a global geopolitical crisis as refugees flood neighboring countries and Europe. Meanwhile, U.S. "aid" has consisted of bombing the crap out of potential ISIS targets and any innocent Syrian adults and children who happen to be nearby.

Let's look at a few recent headlines and news items about this oh-so-safe and peaceful country:


If this is what peace and security looks like to the U.S. State Department, then we're all in deeper shit than we thought....
...MORE

Update-
It's all in the conjugation! You have your Present participle - bringing vs your Past participle - brought.
And the whole present (continuous) progressive tense and the gerund and you can see where I jumped to conclusions can't you?

From The Hill's blog briefing room:

State Department defends naming 'bringing peace' to Syria as 2015 win
The State Department is defending naming "bringing peace" to Syria as one of its 2015 accomplishments.

The claim was made in a Dec. 24 blog post written by John Kirby, the assistant secretary of State for the bureau of public affairs.

Deputy spokesman Mark Toner on Monday called it a "truthful claim."
"Now look, the operative word there is bringing, not brought, so we're bringing peace and security to Syria," he told reporters, adding that it's a "mistaken impression" to think that Kirby is implying that the country's multi-pronged conflict has been resolved. 
Kirby, in the blog post, noted that while the Syrian conflict "has continued to unfold in tragic ways," the United States has given humanitarian aid and pushed for a political transition....MORE
On Saturday I happened to mention (Admiral) John Kirby:
The spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, has become a bit of a favorite among the connoisseurs of foreign ministry spokespersons.* 
Current U.S. spokesman, Admiral Kirby, is a very dim bulb in comparison.**
She can kick ass on Secretary Kerry's minion in Russian, English or Chinese....
Now if I verb the noun 'bullshit', can I demand the spokesman rotate on the pluperfect as he spins and spins?

For good fun here's the reverso conjugator.