THE POPE AND THE CATFISH

PARALLEL COURSES ON THE SYRIA INTERVENTION ISSUE. THE POPE AND THE CATFISH APPEAR TO BE IN AGREEMENT, ONCE YOU UNDERSTAND THE COMPLETE POSITION OF EACH.

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      Pope            NAMAZU                        Pope Photo Attribution: http://www.presidencia.gov.ar/       

 THE OPPOSITION

Photo by 

Vera Kratochvil http://www.publicdomainpictures.net/view-image.php?image=12001&picture=group-of-monkeys

EDITOR'S NOTE: 
Update 3/12//2018 Peace certainly hasn't broken out but we thought the reasoning of the Great Catfish is worth a second look.

Update 3/15/2016 Putkin has ordered a partial pull out of Russian forces from Syria in response to on going "peace talks" with "moderates" in the opposition

Update 9/25/2015 Putin has brought an increasing number of Russian forces to Syria and vows to strike ISIS with or without U.S. assistance. He demands that the U.S. coordinate with Syrian forces before striking targets in Syria, and he is cooperating with Iran. While bad news of ISIS, the outlook for positive U.S. influence in the area does not look good. A nation can only survive intact without adult leadership for a very limited time.

Up date 9/12/2014 Another look back to a post to the time last year when no one had heard of ISIS. The big issue was Assad's use of Chemical weapons on his opponents. Had we invaded then and toppled Assad we would have turned Syria over to the very people who now make up ISIS. Today in Italy a U.S. Navy ship is processing the confiscated chemical weapons of the Assad regime, and the people who would have toppled Assad are now the ISIS. We really need adult leadership in the White House and Congress.

Namazu published in favor of an indictment by the World Court at the Hague of President Assad of Syria based on the available evidence to date. Noting that the "intelligence" released so far was sufficient for an indictment, not a conviction, the Great catfish none the less pressed for an immediate indictment so that additional intelligence could be brought forward and examined for value as evidence. Namazu noted that such an indictment would express immediately the global sense that a first use of any Weapon of Mass Destruction (WMD) is a crime against humanity and punishable by the World Community, in this case utilizing the World Court with elements of the intelligence, police and military establishments of complainant nations working with the Court's prosecutor's organization. The Great Catfish outlined his reasons for why military force would be counter productive. Four days later the Pope described his position in an open letter to Mr. Putin of Russia host of a major confab of big power heads of government coming up in Russia shortly. (G-20 Meeting)

According to reports in the HUFF POST  Pope Francis told Russian President Vladimir Putin who is about to host a meeting of the G-20 in an open letter the following:

 "... to abandon the "futile pursuit" of a military solution in Syria as the Vatican laid out its case for a negotiated settlement that guarantees rights for all minorities, including Christians."......"Francis lamented that "one-sided interests" had prevailed in Syria, preventing a diplomatic end to the conflict and allowing the continued "senseless massacre" of innocents."  ....""To the leaders present, to each and every one, I make a heartfelt appeal for them to help find ways to overcome the conflicting positions and to lay aside the futile pursuit of a military solution," 

"...... Archbishop Dominique Mamberti, the Vatican's foreign minister, noting that the Aug. 21 attack had generated "horror and concern" from around the world." Noted before a gathering of 71 Vatican ambassadors called to explain the Papal position he said: 

"Confronted with similar acts one cannot remain silent, and the Holy See hopes that the competent institutions make clear what happened and that those responsible face justice Mamberti told the 71 ambassadors gathered."

 So, to the minds of our editorial staff it would appear that the Pope has incorporated a call for international institutionalized justice aimed at the responsible individuals which closely parallels the Great Catfish's call for an indictment by the World Court, though the Vatican never mentions the institution at the Hague specifically. We weren't able to obtain an interview with the Pope in a timely manner but of course we can reach Namazu via the hydrophones anytime, so we interviewed him to see to what extent he and Pope Francis are in agreement, and if his position has modified any over the last several days. Here is what the Great Catfish had to say:

Editor: Namazu you did not propose any formal peace negotiations when you first published on the subject. What is your take on the Pope's call for negotiations and dialogue.

Namazu: I don't disagree with his call for negotiations. I think his confidence in the effectiveness of such talks is based on faith in divine intervention. Remember his call for negotiations comes with a call to prayer and fasting over the issue. He is counting on divine intervention to both get the belligerent factions to the conference table  and to actually engage in productive dialogue and compromise. As I explained  in my post defending the rehiring rights of unemployed former demigods, I actually believe in God, and so therefore in the very real possibility of divine intervention. However, the one area where the All Mighty doesn't seem to intervene is in the exercise of human free will. Make no mistake about it there is a lot of ill will among the parties in Syria. I don't see how any such talks could produce anything if al Qaeda (editor's note 2015, now ISIS) is included at the table. They are illogical, bigoted, violent , and just plain evil minded. They are proven ruthless killers. You don't negotiate with people like that you hunt them to the ground. So I back the Pope's call to negotiations in principle, I'm going to personally be praying and fasting, but with al Qaeda (now ISIS)  in the field and a crime against humanity on the table, I'm not as confident of open cooperative hearts and minds as Pope Francis is. But my job is articulating worldly wisdom. Pope Francis' job is often to fly in the face of worldly wisdom. I've already published the most peaceful worldly wisdom, the excruciatingly correct procedure under international law. I don't want to reject any divine inspiration, I just don't have as much faith as the Pope; which shouldn't be a surprise to anyone given that I'm unbaptized Catfish. 

Editor: How do you react to the statement by Vatican's Foreign Minister concerning bringing the responsible individuals to justice?

Namazu: Here we are in even closer agreement than a casual first reading would indicate. While the Vatican doesn't mention the Hague specifically the Vatican's Foreign Minister is quite clear that the focus must be on bringing the actual responsible parties to justice. That is the focus of the Hague procedure that I recommend. However if you read my first post carefully I mentioned the value of a Hague indictment even when responsible parties are eventually tried by succeeding national governments instead of an international tribunal. The Pope basically doesn't agree with hanging anyone for anything. But Saddam Hussein was tried by his own countrymen for very similar crimes and was executed. Even Pope Francis would have to admit that the execution of Saddam Hussein produced something of a deterrent effect on anyone thinking of using WMDs. The main thing isn't the ultimate sentence, the value of the indictment is the instant notification to any commander in chief anywhere thinking of loosing the WMD genie on the world that the World Community is watching, universally condemns such actions, and seeks to punish individuals responsible. 

 More over an indictment notifies soldiers in possession of WMD components of their international obligation to disobey unlawful orders and to never participate in crimes against humanity, to follow the international "law of armed conflict". A timely indictment is a far more powerful signal to those we want to deter from loosing these things than standing off a coast and bombarding from the air a nation that has already been victimized by WMDs. Who do we think we are going to hit, Assad? That won't happen even if we target the presidential residence. In the Vatican's focus on bringing the responsible individuals to justice, we are on exactly the same track.

Editor: Did you communicate with the Pope? 

Namazu: I understand that somebody tried to copy and forward my posting to him and urge him to offer a practical solution as well as prayers and fasting last night. My intelligence indicates that this individual's e-mail went to an inactive mail box, a mistaken address, and probably was received at the office of L'Osservatiare Romano. That e-mail would have arrived late last night, certainly too late to have actually been read by the Pope or to have influenced his no doubt already written open letter to Putin. 

Editor: So you deny the rumors that you are a papal confidant?

Namazu: For the time being yes, I've never directly communicated with him. However the guy uses Twitter and we really don't know where else he may be hanging out on the Internet. Should he ever start reading my stuff like tens of thousands of people all around the world do now , who knows? My answer in the future may be different. Right now I'd have to admit to being subject to some Papal influence. Having said that, let me again remind my friends on the mostly deeply Protestant American religious right that I'm not a "Papist".  I'm a catfish, ineligible for baptism, who just finds truth where I find it and try to share it with my biped friends because so few of my species read.

Editor: So you back the Pope's position?

NAMAZU: Pretty much so.  It doesn't add anything that could hurt, and may have a real chance of helping. It fully incorporates my own proposal . It conforms to existing international law and puts the horse in front of the cart again, making military force the action of last resort, not the first.

Editor: So would you ever support the use of military force?

NAMAZU: Yes, if authorization of force was made by a duly elected legislative body and granted to the Commander in Chief conditional upon the exhaustion of diplomatic and international legal remedies. Such an authorization puts some teeth into the diplomatic and legal efforts. But we have to stop executive heads of government from reaching for the big guns first. The Pope's alternative moves the horse around to the front of the cart.  

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