COLLECTIVE MADNESS


“Soft despotism is a term coined by Alexis de Tocqueville describing the state into which a country overrun by "a network of small complicated rules" might degrade. Soft despotism is different from despotism (also called 'hard despotism') in the sense that it is not obvious to the people."

Friday, October 06, 2006

"What a week, I love Friday night Happy Hour(s) at the Elephant."


Welcome all. Time to relax. Stay as long as you Like. Anything is on the table.

111 comments:

  1. Why the concern about Russia supplying Hezbollah with weapons, intelligence, and "engineers"? Has it been forgotten so soon that Lebanon is functioning under the Franco-American UNSC Resolution 1701? Everyone needs to take a deep breath; everything is under the administration's control!

    It looks like Vlad has come out to play ball.

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  2. The proper or ideal size and depth of the future US military has been debated all over the blogosphere, inconclusively. However, even the talented Mr. Rumsfeld will be unable to overcome the truism that an object cannot occupy two places simultaneously. Indeed, the closest approximation of that would require the mass of the universe to collapse into a volume the size of a fine grain of sand. Consequently, given the laws of the known universe, it can be safely said, “It ain’t gonna happen.”

    Understanding this, Mr. Rumsfeld has adopted the policy of closing the time-space gap by having the same object occupy two places over relatively short, diminishing periods of time; with the result that troops are bounced between Afghanistan and Iraq, for instance, with regularity. Of course, the bouncing, following Newton’s inertial laws, is demanding greater inputs of energy to maintain the desired outcome. In short, the DoD is having to apply greater increments of carrots and sticks to get the object to move within the required pattern.

    With the Bear on the loose, a whole lot more bouncing is what the future holds. Surely, the DoD and the Administration anticipated this. Right? There is probably a plan to have Vlad appear on Oprah and cleanse his soul. That's the new model ticket.

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  3. ..the engineers will be protected by commando platoons from Russia's 42nd motorized rifle division ..which are commanded by Muslim officers

    This is huge. Can it be anything less than a Russian declaration that they are going to stand with the Muslims in the coming conflagration? If they wanted to deploy in a seeming fashion, they would have offered their services as part of UNIFIL. And exactly who will the soldiers of the 42nd be protecting the engineers from? The Lebanese Army? Hisbollah?

    Deuce, you called it. The new Russian (Soviet) adventurism has begun in earnest. The rest of the world be damned. Caroline Glick is the best of the thinkers in Israel and that puts you in good company.

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  4. Allen,

    The unsung pursuit in your pinball machine is the creation of local balls that will bounce around in bounded regions and allow our big ball to bounce around elsewhere. The creation of local balls is evident in the Phillipines as well as Iraq. I guess one question that comes to my mind is where are the Afghans in the entreprise of their own security?

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  5. Allen,
    I think the Soviets looked out saw the US in a transition period of its military configuration Also unavoidable to view is our current situations in Afgh and Iraq.
    Your observation that since there's no perpetual motion machine yet invented each troop movement/rotation takes a bit of bounce out of our forces while simultaneously depleteing our war making inventory.
    Ivan sees the field wide open for play and he's going to do so.
    Can we respond? How? We could use Rufus' previously mentioned LPG tankers to supply Georgia through the winter, but that is a very short term pallative. the seaport at Supsa is the terminus for "Western Early Oil" pipeline from Azerbaijan and the Caspian Sea oil fields. No doubt it can handle large ships.
    Now we see what NATO means in 2006-7.

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  6. A known insurgent who had been captured three times, then released.

    Prosecutors have said that the servicemen killed Awad out of frustration and then planted an AK-47 assault rifle and a shovel by the body to make it look as if he had been caught digging a hole for a roadside bomb.

    Bacos testified that the squad entered Hamdaniya on April 26 while searching for a known insurgent who had been captured three times, then released.

    Squad leader Sgt. Lawrence Hutchins was "just mad that we kept letting him go and he was a known terrorist," Bacos said.
    - CNN

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  7. bloodydarkpastryman,

    re: balls

    Your point is well taken. Do recall, however, that neither the US nor the Brits have had good luck subcontracting defense.

    During WWII, all sorts of folk wanted a piece of the action. On the whole, like de Gaulle, they tended to be more bother than they were worth. In Korea, who did the serious fighting and dying?

    Over the six odd decades since the end of the Great Great War, the Anglosphere has had only Israel as an ally of contender weight. So, for all the good intentions, when push comes to shove, don't expect much from our third world friends.

    Vladimir has thrown down the gantlet; the administration would be well advised to take him seriously. To survive against the demographics, the Russians must bring more fecund populations back into their sphere of influence. We had better pay close attention to the “Stans”.

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  8. Batum is the biggest of the ports in Georgia


    Ports in Georgia

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  9. Habu are you having an identity crisis.

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  10. Hey, whit, you left out my Hat Tip on that Pelosi link!
    ---
    Anonymous said...
    Well, Westhawk, you have opened up a large area here which I feel the investment gurus may be underestimating. China, under its state control has a habit of downplaying the bad news, denying its existence, leaning on foreign companies to retract their research where it doesn't conform to state guidlines, or moving it sideways to "of-balance sheet" accounts. (A move perfected long ago by the British Chancellor, Gordon Brown)The following 2 links show this process, plus the willingness to entertain thoughts of defrauding US investors through reverse takeovers.
    here
    and
    here
    This next link clearly shows the politics involved, as explained by Westy here
    The following links confirm that these bad lending practices have persisted for many years, and are endemic.
    here
    here
    here
    here
    and here
    The frightening part for me is that over this vast period of time, the authorities have seemed incapable of reigning in the semi-autonomous regions, or at a minimum, imposing a modicum of investment oversight on their activities. With write-offs being such a high %age of GDP, you have to wonder what the true GDP would be. In the longer term, one has to speculate on the opportunity cost of all this misdirected investment.

    This brings to mind the glut of investments made by global telcos just prior to the Nasdaq crash of 2000/2003. The telcos Cap ex for 99/2000 was far in excess of cash flows, financed for the most part by "funny money". IPOs of anything "tech" were flying out the door, and mountains of new companies with ideas were funded without proper plans.

    True it lead to tremendous leaps in, for example DWDM progress, but so many companies were competing in the same field, that there was no pricing power. Add that situation to the sudden contraction of spend by the telcos, (particularly after the massive investment in 3G freehold)in an effort to rebuild their balance sheets, and you had the perfect formula for the crash that happened.(plus Greenspan kept interest rates too high too long).
    Will there be a crash in China?
    Emerging hundreds of millions of peasant farmers into the cities, demanding a life, may force the Authorities to somehow maintain the spigots at current levels, to maintain social cohesion, but the peasants have no puchasing power.
    I fear manipulation of the remnimbi must continue, exporting unemployment to the west, at the same time running IPOs in the west to gain currency for write-offs and balance sheet re-builds.Ultimately, we may see a scenario not dissimilar to nasdaq 2000.
    Capitalism is the most efficient way to allocate scarce financial resources.
    Capitalism surrendered to greed and corruption in 2000, but soon corrected. In China?............

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  11. Regarding Russia, Rattlegator rather omnisciently said this at the BC on 8/15/06:



    Wretchard, I can't be sure what tree you're barking up when you state, and then ask:

    So I would say that Michael Ledeen has a point. Where I am not too sure is whether there is not some other, perhaps even larger consideration.

    but I will tell you this: in 1958 the United States sent a contingent from Florida A&M University on a continental tour of Africa to expressly counter the propaganda and outright lies of the Soviet Union. Other cultural exchanges were sent to other spots around the globe by other American cultural representatives.

    It occurs to me that the administration, for good reasons, is taking great pains to not make plain what seems rather plain to me: all of this foolishness, and all of these proxies (including Iran), leads back to Russia.

    When Ahmadinejad says the state of Israel may be a good solution to a European problem but its in the wrong place and should perhaps be next to Germany, it may be a Persian or Arabic train of thought but the cynicism strikes me as European. Eastern European. It sounds very much like 1950's Russian -- desperately trying to start a race war in America by inflaming the black population via any possible means.

    Same script, same writers, just a more gullible crowd of folk willingly pimpin' for their patron who is successfully throwing rocks and hiding his hand.

    The upshot: contrary to popular belief, WWIII has not yet been concluded. The Cold War still rages. The sap suckers simply changed the playing field, dropped some of their anachronistic nonsense, but retained their distaste for most things American.

    It was about proxies back then, and its still about proxies right now. The brains behind this Islamofascist race to the bottom by both Sunni and Shia, however, is Russian. The brains behind those Hezbollah tunnels in south Lebanon is Russia. And the brains behind that brilliant fake "insurgency" in Iraq is Russian.

    And as I constantly reflect back on September 11, 2001 -- I'm sorry, but I don't see Saudi Arabians coming up with that plan. I do see masters of the totalitarian state coming up with something as devious, and Godless, as that.

    8/15/2006 08:21:20 PM

    I said then and still believe Putin is the unseen master chess player moving the pieces on the board vs Bush. I also believe Bush & team are also playing the game behind the veil of the WOT. After all, Condi's core expertise is Russia.

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  12. Oh, I'd have to disagree, the Brits have a long history of using proxy forces, not as coequals as with France, but the Gurkhas stand as evidence of a much wider, successful program, across the Empire.

    All the way back to George Washington at least.

    The US tends to overwhelm the local infrastructure.

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  13. habu1; 6:16:31 PM

    re: transition

    Of growing concern to me is the possibility that the Russians have not seen "transition" so much as "debacle". That was always the risk to the “rope-a-dope”, long war methodology. It has never worked in the past; it will not work now.

    The US desperately needs a Reagan at this juncture. Instead, the country has a seemingly weak executive fighting a civil war with his subordinates and the possibility of a hostile Congress during the next two years. Habu, we just may need some high waders to handle really deep shit, for a while.

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  14. Think Gog and Magog vis-à-vis Israel.

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  15. The Russians see a technological edge, held by US, but an edge that can be dulled, quickly.
    The US weapons stocks are not that deep, not in terms of a major War.

    Even the Israeli operate on a "just in time" inventory basis. 34 days of limited combat burned 'em up.

    The Russians will believe that depth of force is paramount. It's always worked for Russia, historicly.

    Disable the US satellites, partisans operating in depth. Dull the technological edge with time, distance and scale.

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  16. j willie brings to mind the word nemesis, as in, how the old KGBers see themselves, vs USA.

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  17. doug,
    Those Marines that are going down, for killing that Iraqi, the Iraqi that had been "Caught & Released" three times.
    Just tote up those Marines as some more US friendly fire casualties. This time caused by that "Catch & Release" Policy.

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  18. 2164,
    It sure would appear that way.
    I liked the Gable but I'm no Gable. I really liked the Steve McQueen (both) but they seemed hard to see clearly. The one of McQueen holding up the teo fingers in what appears to be a V for victory is actually an old Saxon response to their enemies. The archers would hold up their two fingers to show that they still had the fight in 'em since it was the enemies habit of cutting off the fingers of the archers.
    Then the bomb and finally what is the natural for my name, a Habu, SR-71..I'm stay'in with it. It was an awesome aircraft.

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  19. Wait until the idea that these fellows capped a three time loser gains traction.
    Hope for the Republicans sake it does not "soak in" for five more weeks.

    This, to me, is more despicible than Mr Foley's folly.
    To put US troops in such a position, vis a vie enemy combatants.

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  20. All I see is a tripod ad, no SR-71.
    But maybe it's me.

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  21. P.S.

    I actually got to talk to Steve McQueen at the 12 Hours of Sebring.
    He was walking by and I said "Hi Steve,good luck" and he said "Thanks" ....

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  22. Habu, have the one for you. It will be on your desk in the morning.

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  23. Mr Kane, Republican candidate for Seanate, from the State of New Jersy, calls for Mr Hastert's resignation.

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  24. Dr,
    You don't see the SR-71 it's too fast. But do you see the cotton ball?

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  25. desert rat; 6:32:47 PM

    re: proxies

    I believe you have made my point when you speak of inequality.

    Try I as I may, I cannot think of a single battle fought by the UK or the US in which auxiliaries were decisive to victory; although, as at Trenton, I can think of several where they were a liability. Hmmm…Morocco.

    Moreover, I did not say "proxies." And in any serious confrontation, the Brits and the US have relied on the tried and true - the thin red-line and all that stuff.

    The Gurkas were great police and garrison troops as evidenced by their wide use in such places as Hong Kong. Although fiercesome warriors, they were best used in the roles cited.

    As Elector of Hanover, King George III used many conscripts from his German possessions and those of his relatives. It must also be said that after 1777, most were assigned to garrison duty in the rebellious Colonies.

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  26. breakout from Monte Cassino, into the Liri valley, italy, WWII. Ghurkas took the critical ridge in a night attack.

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  27. Not having military experience (wish that were not the case), I have a hard time assessing our troop level adequacy, but common sense seems to suggest that a 500k army is just not big enough for the multiple front situation in which we now find ourselves. I know that drum has been beaten here like Keith Moon's skins, but, you have to wonder what Bush and Rummie are thinking vis-a-vis Putin and his multiple current and prospective proxies.

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  28. Well sure, allen.
    What are US troops doing in Iraq but manntaining a garrison.

    A task better suited for foreign auxilleries.
    Mohammed @ ItM's point, really.

    We are wasting the world's best shock troops running police calls in Iraq. Then not detaining the detainees, after they are policed.

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  29. Allen,
    W and Putin will come together at some conference soon and W needs to be the Reagan in Reykjavik when Reagan walked out on Gorbachev over SDI.
    That turned things around in a big hurry and hastened the fall of the Soviet Union. W's got to be tough.

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  30. allen,
    El Salvador, 1981-84, won by auxilleries, almost exclusively.

    Many early US actions in Indochina were successful, using foreign auxilleries.

    The Congo, early 60's. Flemish airborne and mercenaries. US Spec Ops.

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  31. You think that of every where, rufus.
    Now you've added Baghdad to your list. For better or worse, we are going to cut and run?

    Mr Bush leading the retreat?

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  32. We're seeing--or will see soon--why Gazprom hired Schroeder as CEO.

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  33. James Baker was on the book circuit and he said that before Iraq II, everyone asked him '"why did you not go on to Baghdad after the win in Kuwait?"..he stated, "they don't ask me that anymore."

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  34. More likely an ISF Coup and taking command of the Government, a rewrite of the Constitution, secularizing it, like Turkey's and try, try and try again.
    All with US support, we've been here and done this, before.
    Sometimes well, sometimes not.

    But Mr Bush will not backpedal for as long as he's the President, have no doubt.

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  35. And if the Government's corruption and inefficentcies preclude that, again?
    As long as the country side burns, the US will not be leaving. How the countryside is policed is our responsibility. By allowing the release of detainees the US promotes the violence.

    Abrabcadbra says so, laughingly, at the UN
    The Marines are up for Life in Prison, after they reached the same conclusion and took action to end the cycle of violence.
    Outside the approved Rules of Engagement.

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  36. Senator Warner is pessimistic about the "War", he just got back.
    We are drifting "sideways" says the Senator.

    He gives them 3 months.
    He does not say, the what.
    Mr Bush disagrees, says a spokeswoman

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  37. redaktor:

    re: the body is Islamofascist...yes, and especially the a**hole! (however that corporal host carries some deadly cancer)

    re: who's zoomin' who, as Aretha would say, seems like it's a group grope amoung the mentioned players - all four are playing the other three.

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  38. I haven't seen or heard any of the evidence against the Marines.
    I doubt if I ever will. I'm not sure if the UCMJ makes publication mandatory or locks it away.
    All I can say is that I've seen lethal force used in some pretty unusual situation but always in a war setting. We're asking a lot of Marines, who are trained to kill to pass out candy one minute and empty a magazine the next.
    It makes me sick to see our troops used to do anything but fight and kill the enemy.

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  39. If the rest of the country was anywhere near living up to our soldiers, there'd be a peaceful, contented world out there. Well, peaceful, anyway.

    o/t, but late last night half asleep I watched an extraordinary interview between George Soros and Neil Cavuto. Here's a link--tho the actual thing had some 'tells' far more chilling. Maybe later this weekend I'll try to analyze the facial expressions.

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  40. Rufus,
    I think they do (from what I see on what little TV I watch) and from what I read a slendid job.
    However it's got to do a head job on you.
    You go to PI,Lejune or whereever and you're learning killing skills.I guess I'm guessing here but I think they still teach Marines to kill the enemy. Then along comes an O-4 with the word that today(in a war zone) we're going to help the children bathe their burros,and then we'll read to them. It's gotta mess you up, cause the next day you're on patrol look'n for charlie-aziz.
    God bless 'em.

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  41. How unfair of the Republicans to out Harold Ford, Jr.



    Now we are playing hardball!

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  42. All you've got to remember about Russia is, it snows like hell in Moscow in the Winter; and Winter means all months except Summer

    I'm not buying this "Russia On The March" Slavic peril stuff coming from 2164th. The first reason is demographic. Russia is imploding in population. Second is economic:

    From Wikipedia:

    GDP (millions of US dollars):

    1 US 12,485,725
    2 Japan 4,571,314
    3 Germany 2,797,343
    4 China 2,224,811
    5 UK 2,201,473
    6 France 2,105,864
    7 Italy 1,766,160
    8 Canada 1,130,208
    9 Spain 1,126,565
    10 South Korea 793,070
    11 Brazil 792,683
    12 India 775,410
    13 Mexico 768,437
    14 Russia 766,180

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  43. redaktor: score sheet

    Sorry, had to make a beer run.

    Isn't keeping score a big part of what this blog's commentary covers? Seems like what we've been sayin here earlier tonight, is that Putin, although behind, has started permitting some visibility into his game plan, and is developing momentum. We, on the other hand, are currently in that dreadful Four Corners offense of Dean Smith's. As others have mentioned, we are asking our armed forces for the equivalent of having Jordan, Worthy and Perkins stand there and hold the ball, instead of doing the one thing they know how to do. Never won a championship for Dean (cost him one in 77), and it aint gonna win for us. Strikes me as I type this that Dean could also be kind of pig-headed and inflexible, but, like Bush, you knew that he meant what he said, & vice versa.

    Can't answer all those questions in one post, but two years ago, I would have said we had gained strategic territory by encircling Russia (in the stan's, Ukraine, Georga, etc). Seems like the tide's flowing the other way at the moment, but some ebb and flow may be the natural order of things.

    China has a massive long term debt problem that will preclude it from competing at the Russian level for the forseeable future.

    The Islamof**kers aren't winning, and in my book, don't have the athletes/resources to play a truly deep game. But they can play/be used in a spoiler role, and Putin is currently doing a better job of using them. Maybe Brent Scowcroft was right?

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  44. At the BC under “Breaker Morant”:

    Teresita said...
    Every "Abu Grahib", every "Pendleton 8" does incalculable damage to the mission in Iraq and the US image abroad, and blaming it somehow on the anti-war crowd defies belief. It's like pointing the finger at the Democrats for the Mark Foley thing. There's Rules of Engagement, and there's a thing called military discipline, and there's a thing called plain decency.
    10/06/2006 06:35:33 PM

    Does this episode ever bring back memories. What a mess!

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  45. teresita; 9:44:02 PM

    re: Russia is imploding

    That is why Russia is on the move. There is more than one way to overcome demographic collapse.

    Oh, you might add to your list the number of nukes held by the various players. You will find that nukes can overcome a world of other disadvantages.

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  46. Adding further insult to injury,
    Attention, Terrorists: TSA Not Ready for Terrorist Attack, DHS IG Report

    “Read the DHS Inspector General's report on the TSA's unpreparedness (portions have been redacted from public view--though probably the whole thing should have been).”

    And who is that funny little man and friend of the President who would not allow profiling from 2001-2006?

    Norm Mineta

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  47. allen:

    Agreed - what's the negative economic destructive value per respective portfolio - sort of vaults the Bear into a runaway second place, ignoring all the other dimensions of destruction.

    However, I would submit that Reagan proved that the ultimate measure of the champion is not economic but willpower/cojones....as 2164 so nicely illustrated earlier today, Putin has some heavy stones.

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  48. Putin is KGB heart and soul. GWB missed that when he got a peak. He missed it because KGB is supposed to hide things like that. KGB, like all good intelligence services, are students of history. It is my believe that Putin is an excellent student of history. I further believe that the Tiananmen Square protests in 1989 and the Chinese response impressed him deeply. Tiananmen Square was supposed to go the other way. Communism was to fall and a wave of democracy was going to finish off the last great communist power.

    That did not happen. The government ruthlessly, and without regard for world opinion crushed the uprising. The operable word is crush. Putin believes that Gorbachev and Yeltsin lost their cajones. He has not. Putin not only is a historian. He is going one better and wants to right an historic wrong. He will restore Russia to greatness. The siezing of Yukos was his Tiananmen Square.

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  49. Rufus,

    I deliberated about that as I typed, and agree that economic was huge, but it took Reagan cojones to put that economic power to proper and strategic use, in stark contrast to jc dips**t carter's squandering of same. Reagan understood that economics provided that platform, but it was cojones that were required to stay on that platform - to not flinch in Iceland or when deploying missiles in Europe, or in Nicarauga and Grenada. The man defined resolve.

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  50. Redaktor - I kinda agree with Rufus re: winning, eg, the green part of that map has been that way for centuries - bfd (and with probably net negative economic output for the last few). Don't get me wrong, i think they are dangerous, just like ugly-ass water moccasins, but in the long-run I believe the good folks in America will rise up and stomp them dead (after walking over any wrong-headed, not-well-meaning Columbia U types that get in the way). And when the good folks get pissed and do rise up, they will define the rules of engagement. That's my long view take; in the short run, I just get very, very frustrated, one of my foibles being a lack of patience.

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  51. The russian economy is booming--as are all the eastern european economies which have adopted the flat tax.

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  52. Granted, they're coming off low bases, but GDP growths rates in "new" europe are treble or quadruple "old" europe's--and, sustained, for four and five years running, now. you could look it up.

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  53. So redaktor, you think the soft power of demographic, combined with ruthlessly pursued assymetrical warfare poses a winning combination?

    Putin, not having to face a traitorous MSM/Democratic Party equivalent (he just has em offed), did not blink an eye when exterminating those assymetrical warriors in the theatre and school, and he never will. That attitude, plus nukes, overcomes even an exponential demographic disadvantage. Also, it's one thing to for Abdul to beat Ivan on Abdul's home court with a ragtag bunch of no-name teammates; it's quite another to take Ivan on in Ivan's gym, where Ivan's coach controls the thermostat, the lights, the crowd, the refs, the clock and also puts far better athletes on the floor. I just don't see abdul jammin ivan, especially with Putin as ivan's coach.

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  54. Why would the present Russian elite worry about the ethnicity of the governed? The Czars didn't. All that matters is governance.

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  55. Allen is right--the Rus and the Muz can make common ground on political practice--they don't need no religious bond.

    Totalitarian/authoritarianism, with accommodating populations who believe in authority top-down, is sufficient for a productive alliance.

    Both Rus & Muz mentalities are threatened most of all psychologically, by the crazy western freedom.

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  56. Redaktør remember one thing about trends. There are those that follow them and there are those that set them. I have been following the things that many in here have been saying and there seems to be a common agreement. We have not been ruthless enough. We have not siezed the initative. We will when it becomes clear to enough others that we have to.

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  57. Speaking of foreign involvement, Russian proxies a step or two removed
    On Nov. 5 -- just two days before our own mid-term congressional elections -- the people of Nicaragua will cast ballots for a new president. Friends of democracy in Latin America have been stunned by new polls showing that Ortega -- the ardent Marxist who once ruled Managua with a Soviet-backed iron fist -- is again poised to take control of government, a decade and a half after U.S.-backed freedom fighters succeeded in ousting him from power. If he wins, Ortega will have key regional allies -- men who, by themselves, present no immediate threat to our security but who, together, could create problems aplenty for the United States and its democratic Latin American allies.

    Ortega's backers in the region have learned to use the "democratic process" -- elections -- to their advantage. Venezuelan strongman Hugo Chavez, awash in petrodollars and with the encouragement of Cuba's aging Stalinist dictator, Fidel Castro, is committed to spreading an anti-American "Bolivarian Revolution" throughout the southern hemisphere. Chavez protege, Bolivian President Evo Morales, was barely in office two months before he re-wrote the country's constitution -- giving himself authoritarian powers. And in Ecuador, leftist Rafael Correa is now the front-runner in the race for the Oct. 15 presidential elections. If elected, Correa has vowed to ''re-found'' the nation, on the pattern of Bolivia and Venezuela.

    Like Adolf Hitler, the anti-American leftists in Latin America are using elections -- not revolutions or military coups -- to take and then solidify power. It's a tactic that seems to have escaped the striped-pants set in our State Department. Until this week's visit to the region by Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, the State Department's response to the threatening leftward turn to our south -- and a Sandinista return to power -- has been both flat-footed and tone deaf. ...

    Oliver North asks
    Who Lost Nicaragua?

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  58. Who has been on the watch, for the past 6 years?
    Slieght of hand.
    Watch me here, not over there.

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  59. "Yond Cassius has a lean and hungry look;
    He thinks too much: such men are dangerous"
    So said Caesar to Anthony.

    The same lean and hungry look is about Vladamir Putin. In the mold of Cassius who has convinced his minions that as Cassius told Brutus,

    "Men at some time are masters of their fates:
    The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars,
    But in ourselves, that we are underlings."

    We are confronted with a skilled practitioner of the dark world of tradecraft and deception. Our Cassius cabals to those who would grow fat and sleep well if they follow his mandative.

    So it is well for the West to remember the words of Cassius also,that

    "Men at some time are masters of their fates:
    The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars,
    But in ourselves, that we are underlings."

    We must master at this time and place in history many fates.

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  60. I need a couple Alka-Soviets--I've got dyspepsia.

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  61. We'll see if these new red democracies are really democracies or not.

    If they export revolution, if they can't be voted out at the next regularly-scheduled election, then we've just had a march stolen, is all.

    Back to square one (what choice is there?), and this time, don't sell "democracy" as the end of history.

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  62. FYI:
    The list of contributors on the left side has been increased by one.

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  63. Buddy Larsen said...
    I need a couple Alka-Soviets--I've got dyspepsia.

    11:46:47 PM
    Quit spending so much time with doug. I laughed so hard, I got one of those, ' Are you blogging again?"

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  64. One more contributor. Habu has stepped up to the plate.

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  65. T DR 11:24 I add.

    There are certain precursors to having a "democracy"..it's not just about voting.
    That is the challenge we face with a tribal ME and Islam in general and in the Central American countries that have learned not to fear the ballot but use it as a tool..
    In Islam their religion precludes subordinating Sharia law for legislative law.
    Representative democracy worked in the Colonies and eventually through Europe because of the Enlightenment. It germinated the "rights of man", something that has not occured in the Islamic world. They never made it to the Enlightenment because they were already structured to the murderous ideology of Mohammad.
    The communists have learned, as the world has learned from us that the act of voting is only that, but from that you can rule. And that is what is happening to us all. One man, one vote, and eventually you are ruled not represented. Executive and administrative edicts with the force of law abound, written by bureaucrats. The Corpus Juris Secundum is corpulent with dated law, but law that allows rulings unknown to any modern man.
    And we are told that ignorance of the law is no excuse. Foul, most foul.

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  66. If it is to late Nicaragua, is it to soon for Venezuela?

    Where do we draw the line?
    We've abandoned our outpost in Central America to the Chinese. Which, economicly is fine, let the Chicoms dredge the Canal and Panama Bay.
    But by ignoring the Region the US has weakened our friends. The US, the omnipower, is not, really.
    Unless it's throw wieght, then Russia stands tall.

    Across the Globe our foes advance.
    rufus says these places are unimportant, are out side our zone, or not worth the effort.
    Cascading defeats don't lead to Victory. The tide has yet to turn.

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  67. We could de-carterize Central America with a new canal. Lookee hereThe Tico Times

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  68. On the tico times, scroll down to article on a canal. We should jump on this.

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  69. now that i be up at da plate we'uns can all take up the greek custom of toss'n on the floor..

    i be rit'n from a difrent stile than most ya'll. maybe tho in a ball score or harvest moon story..i'll try to keep it serus and think'n stuff...but you're allowed to blurt out or o/t iff'n it fits ya.
    i do believe i be start with the history of the TV dinner or the advent of Carter's Little Liver Pills ..but i'm onhurd to be a part of our knowlidgology. whiff me luck

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  70. Seems I was ill informed. The victim of the Marines was not the three time loser, but some poor slob the Marines grabbed when they could not locate the terrorist, Saleh Gowad.
    The medic says that the Marines, instead of finding Saleh Gowad, seized civilian Hashim Awad from his home, threw him into a hole and shot him in the head 10 times.

    According to the latest post at BC.

    A squad of Marines in the stockade, a dead Iraqi civilian, Hashim Awad and a terrorist Saleh Gowad running free as the breeze.

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  71. i am being summond to bed ....yippee

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  72. Gran Canal?
    Nuclear demolitions would be needed. Big, big dig.
    Studied the idea a couple of decades ago, the nuclear option was advocated as the only practicle means, if politically difficult.

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  73. Never mind that Russia doesn't have an expanding population and is right up there with Canada as one of the nations least in need of lebensraum, and never mind that Russia is chock-a-block full of natural resources with 1.8 times the area of the United States. Let's say Russia starts invading people for living space and to steal their resources. Which way do they go? West? Nope, that way is blocked by NATO (with the US/UK nuclear umbrella) and a crapload of resentful former client states who are now the enthusiastic hosts of the US Air Force and could become launching points for the US Army after the slightest sign of trouble. East? Let Putin disengage from Chechnya and tangle with China and North Korea, more power to him. North is nothing but elves and toy makers. That leaves south. Kazakhstan this, Uzbekhistan that. Putin wants another tussle down there? Is that a promise?

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  74. Good points all teresita, but that would not be the smart strategy. The smart plan is the one in play, make life miserable for the US wherever whenever, like three billion in arms to Venezuela and nuclear supplies to Iran.

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  75. Not land, teresita, financial reserves and political power--gold!

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  76. Putin has said he wants to double the russian GDP in ten years. the cheapest way of all to capitalize the project is to drive up the net value of cumulative exports.

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  77. Yep, indicates intellectual flight.
    The liberals are buying one way tickets out of Iraq.
    "... Al-Sudani doesn't plan to see if that ever happens.

    "I am planning to book a one-way ticket out of here." ..."

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  78. rufus , if yo like and are ambitious do a post here on your take on that and I'll run it in the morning.

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  79. Don't forget the tripwire function. Lose a soldier or two, and the USSR has "blood rights" in Leb.

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  80. re the end of this comment string: pretty good links n stuff, rufus--funny, honest, hopeful, optimistic. frigging postrophes and performance anxiety, feh.

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  81. buddy,

    The ring of CCCP is so much more poetic, don't you think? And "red" is a favorite color.

    Re: Lebanon: given the interest of the Soviets, Turks, Chinese, and French, I am beginning to think Hezbollah was more badly injured than initially thought; thus, the tripwire you see. Moreover, apparently some anxiety is evident of a sudden Israeli strike.

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  82. Boston Globe says Condi arranged the release of the four Rus, and Putin is acting badly.

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  83. teresita; 12:24:23 AM

    Like sex and money, when is enough, enough?

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  84. -it's like Madison Avenue's "you can't be too thin"--

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  85. Like sex and money, when is enough, enough?

    For gals, usually four or five clitoral detonations all in a row will do it, unless the fella starts to get scared before then. Money? A person who has no debts is rich enough.

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  86. teresita,

    re: detonations

    Oh, sure, laugh it up. Girls have all the fun. They got the fully automatic model, while the guys were handed the old one shot flintlock. There is no god! Life is unfair!

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  87. Holy Prophet's turban, Batman, Mohammed had clit envy! That explains every little thing.

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  88. terri,

    You are going to love this gal!

    H/T LGF

    Nyamko Sabuni

    “Her suggestion that all girls should undergo compulsory checks for genital mutilation (otherwise known as female circumcision) led to controversy.” [Don’t you just love the sanitatized “circumcision”. Any man who would write such drivel should have his knob bobbed.]

    “Sabuni was also attacked by Muslim groups for proposing a ban on headscarves for girls under 15 and the introduction of a specific mention of honour crimes in the criminal code.”

    "I am very disappointed that a person whom I consider to be an Islamaphobe has been appointed integration minister.” [Well, I should think he would! Imagine, Muslims forced into civilized behavior. Where will it end?]

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  89. Allen said:

    Oh, sure, laugh it up. Girls have all the fun. They got the fully automatic model, while the guys were handed the old one shot flintlock. There is no god! Life is unfair!

    Well it's quite logical, if you think about it. Evolution doesn't want monogamous males, it wants them to spread their DNA around as much as possible. So humans have evolved such that the male becomes...er...no longer interested in sex for a while immediately after having sex. This gives him a chance to drift around and find a different piece of tail by the time he has recharged.

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  90. Teresita,

    re: wonder around

    There you go, rubbing it in. Yes, some of us do wonder, and wander, aimlessly scratching our bellies and behinds, but not for the reason you think.

    Mother nature provided a male organism commensurate with the male's ability to maintain a train of thought. You give us far more credit than due. Additionallly, in nature, some guys have all he luck.

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  91. why don't you two just get a room?

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  92. Tereista and I are rationally discussing sexuality in the context of TWAT, Buddy. There is no need to introduce gratuitous prurience into the conversation. This is why Wretchard has so often disabled comments and banned some of us to the outer darkness of Blogdoom!

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  93. "Buddy Larsen said...
    oh, i see."

    I should hope so! Blogging is serious business, you know. Serious bloggers are constipated souls, relying upon digital manipulation to relieve the impaction of conscience. Johnson or Swift once wrote that man never thinks so often or as well as when at toilet.

    Question:

    What do the Imam's do with all those little excised clits? Think there could be a holy shrine somewhere in one of their most holy cities where the little appendages are neatly piled like itty-bitty cannon balls, stroked and kissed by the trembling hands and lips of supplicants?

    I do have to see to that prescription.

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  94. Re those mutilations, wonder if western feminists are aware of them? haven't heard anything--have you? maybe they just haven't been deformed. oops, i mean, "informed".

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  95. Buddy Larsen,

    Oh, yes, the fembats are well aware. At the moment, they are more interested in confronting Mr. Bush than their de facto Islamofascist allies. Pathetic, really. No price is too great to pay in the interest of the proletariat’s progress.

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  96. So, you're saying that feminism is not really about women's rights, but is in fact just another attack on free market capitalism by the international left?

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  97. buddy,

    No, I am saying that fembat leadership is incapable of the level of philosophical sophistication your premise requires. They remain trapped in the anarchist phase of the revolution. Useful Gucci idiots, if you will.

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  98. Good point--no matter how little credit one gives them, it will be too much.

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  99. Oh, yes, the fembats are well aware. At the moment, they are more interested in confronting Mr. Bush than their de facto Islamofascist allies.

    In other words, they want less bush and more gore.

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  100. teresita,

    re: In other words, they want less bush and more gore.

    Or, I might say, less bore and more boar.

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  101. teresita,

    Common on now, darlin, play fair. If your are going to quote and respond to Buddy at the BC, give your old pals here at the EB a link, hey?

    Turn about is fair play. I did link you yesterday, remember.

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