Julian Assange can remain in Ecuador's embassy 'for however long it takes'

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35. I think he lets them have a very long lead.

Long enough for the horse to trip over. Take Syria and Iran, for instance.

His "advisers", as you put it, are members of the permanent national security bureaucracy that much run things, generation in and generation out, regardless of who's in the Oval Office. George Ball, who was one, used to call them "The Mandarins". Not much happens unless they're ready to take the jumps and follow the President's lead through the reins.

It takes enormous will and willingness to spend political capital to go in any direction other than what they want. Strong arms aren't enough. I don't see much evidence of that sort of assertion by Obama in the foreign policy and national security areas. Which is why we're getting into real danger in the ME/PG region. We do not want to take another fall there.