Saturday, October 25, 2014

Joe Biden, said in October that the problems for the US in Syria was America’s allies, not its enemies (he later apologized for it)

Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Qatar and The United Emirates wet-nursed ISIS and the Kurds are holding ISIS at bay in Kobane, Patrick Cockburn gives an update:





Patrick Cockburn is an Irish journalist who has been a Middle East correspondent since 1979 for the Financial Times and, presently, The Independent. Among the most experienced commentators on Iraq, he has written four books on the country's recent history. Cockburn's latest book is The Jihadis Return: ISIS and the New Sunni Uprising.

Transcript  - Real News

Kurdish Fighters Move to Regain KobaniSHARMINI PERIES, EXEC. PRODUCER, TRNN: Welcome to The Real News Network. I'm Sharmini Peries, coming to you from Baltimore.
Fierce fighting is going on in the northern Syrian town of Kobani, bordering Turkey and Iraq. The U.S. is now dropping arms ammunition and supplies to the PKK that is deemed a terrorist organization by the American ally Turkey. The Turkish army has until now prevented reinforcements from reaching the town during this month-long seige of Kobani.
Our guest today, Patrick Cockburn, is joining us from Canterbury, England. He is the author of The Jihadis Return: ISIS and the New Sunni Uprising. He's also a correspondent for The Independent of London, mainly on Middle East issues.
Thank you so much for joining us, Patrick.
PATRICK COCKBURN, JOURNALIST, THE INDEPENDENT: Thank you.
PERIES: Patrick, you wrote in your article in The Independent this week that the U.S. resupply effort marks a radical change in American policy towards direct cooperation with Kurdish fighters on the ground, who Turkey has denounced as terrorists. Why this shift in policy, both on the part of the Americans and perhaps the Turkish?
COCKBURN: I think the main reason is that the Islamic State, ISIS, appeared to be on the verge of capturing Kobani, this Syrian-Kurdish town just south of the Turkish border. And this would be one more victory for the Islamic State. And I think that the White House probably thought that this was too humiliating. Remember that President Obama had said he was going to degrade and destroy the Islamic State in September. And it would look very bad if they simply won another victory. They already defeated the Iraqi army, the Syrian army, the Syrian rebels. And if they now defeated the Syrian Kurds as well, the whole bombing campaign against them would look a failure. So I think that's the main reason why they switched policy and started supporting them on the ground with dropping them weapons and by other means.
PERIES: And what are the Turkish saying about this?
COCKBURN: Well, they're in a great muddle. Turkey has this rather strange policy. It's meant to be an ally of the U.S., along with Saudi Arabia and the Gulf monarchies, in opposing the Islamic State. But Turkey has a rather different agenda, that it has a big Kurdish minority, about 15 million, and it isn't pleased by the idea of supporting the Kurds in Syria just across the border. In fact, it appeared that it would have preferred--if it had to choose the Islamic State and the Kurds ruling that area, it would prefer the Islamic State. Of course, this is very difficult for the United States, because there's your main ally, a very important ally, who is basically supporting the people who you're bombing, who you're opposing.
PERIES: So, in one of our previous interviews with you, it looked like Kobani was about to fall to the Islamic State. But they've held on. Since then, the U.S. has decided, of course, to provide arms to the PKK, with Secretary of State John Kerry actually saying it would be irresponsible and morally very difficult not to arm the Kurds. Aside from the sudden pretense of morality, what do you think has led to this shift from about to fall to now actually the Kurds holding up?
COCKBURN: Well, the Kurds there belong--are well-organized. They fight very hard. I mean, they've been fighting heroically. I think at the beginning of the month, right up to the middle of the month, there was an assumption that they'd eventually go down, they'd eventually be defeated, because the Turks had sealed them off. There were--Turks weren't allowing arms through or ammunition or food or reinforcements.
But as I said, I think the U.S. simply couldn't afford to let the Islamic State win another victory. And the length of time that the Kurds held out made it pretty clear that they were effective fighters, maybe the only effective fighters in Syria against the Islamic State. The Islamic State has beaten all its other opponents pretty fast. I mean, it's a pretty nasty organization, but it's a very fanatical one, and militarily it's a pretty effective one. So the Kurds are the only people who've actually fought for so long against it without being defeated. So I think that that played a role as well.
You know, initially there were some airstrikes, but you had John Kerry saying, well, Kobani isn't the center of our effort. If it falls or not, they're basically treating it as something they could live with. Eventually, I think, they decided they couldn't. And they also get very fed up and impatient with the Turks for sealing off Kobani, not allowing reinforcements through, and basically creating a situation in which the Islamic State was likely to win. So I think they just told the Turks last weekend that they were going to drop supplies regardless of what Turkey did. And they asked the Turks to let Iraqi Kurds come through Turkey to reinforce Kobani.
PERIES: That's a interesting new development as well.
COCKBURN: Yeah. I mean, this is significant. You know, this is a very messy situation. Turkey doesn't like the Syrian Kurds because they're very close to the Turkish Kurds. It has better relations with the Kurds in Iraq. So it decided it was easier for them to say that they could send 200 fighters.
I think it's probably more important from the point of view of the defenders of Kobani to get arms and ammunition, particularly antitank weapons. But I think they were getting very low on ammunition as well. In the U.S. has been dropping these by parachute from C-130 transport aircraft. And I think that has made a difference.
Also, the U.S. airstrikes all over Iraq and Syria hadn't been very effective previously because the Islamic State fighters had dispersed. They weren't in their headquarters. They were very difficult to find. So out of the first sort of 969 air missions to Iraq and Syria in the first two months of the air campaign, only about 90 attacked targets. The rest had to come home because they couldn't find anybody to attack. Now suddenly, at Kobani, when the Islamic State has to concentrate its forces to attack the Kurds, the aircraft have got good targets and the Kurds are in direct contact with the Americans, I mean, by radio. So in a funny way, America has got what wants in this case, which is a reliable partner on the ground. But it isn't the partner they chose to begin with.
PERIES: Right. But at the same time, one could interpret the situation as Americans allowing the Kurds to draw the ISIS out into Kobani and where there could be better targets and let the Kurds and the ISIS fight it out and destroy each other, and there would be nothing wrong with that, because this would help the fight against the IS, as well as satisfy Turkey in terms of the Kurds.
COCKBURN: I don't think it'll work that way. I mean, the Islamic State may have suffered some heavy casualties, but then it's recruited lot of people. So maybe it's lost 1 percent of its forces--and probably that's an exaggeration.
As for the Syrian Kurds, this whole issue, I mean, of Kobani has become, you know, like the sort of Alamo for them. It's become a great symbol. You know, there are Kurds all over the area [incompr.] 30 million Kurds [incompr.] I mean, distributed in different countries [incompr.] Iraq, Iran, and Syria. So they've all been enthused by what's happening there. So I don't think that the Islamic State and the Kurds are going to wipe each other out. On the contrary, I think that each is going to develop further out of this battle.
PERIES: Right. So another interesting twist in all of this is that actually something you wrote in your book The Jihadis Return, you describe how the Saudis have provided significant financing, weaponry, and ideological support to the Islamic State. And your recent reporting on this issue furthers that connection. This is strange because Saudis have joined the coalition and the fight against ISIS. So what's really going on there?
COCKBURN: Yeah, I don't think that coalition is exactly what it looks like. You know, Joe Biden, the U.S. vice president, said in the beginning of October--he later apologized for it, but I think what he said was true, that what had happened in Syria was that the real problem for U.S. was America's allies, not its enemies. And it's allies, people like Saudi Arabia and Turkey and Qatar and United Arab Emirates, had been so intent on getting rid of President Assad, the Syrian leader, that they poured money and weapons into the area that increased the sort of sectarian civil war between Sunni and Shia, all in order to get rid of Assad. But the real beneficiaries had been people like the jihadis, which would include the Islamic State.
PERIES: And to what extent do you think all of this is strengthening the Kurdish power across the region?
COCKBURN: I think it does in a couple of ways. You know, this sort of siege is something that all the Kurds have been following intently in whatever country they're living in; whether it's in the Middle East, whether it's in San Diego or anywhere else, they've been following this every detail every day. This is a great sort of battle for them. So it has great sort of symbolic value. And that in a way increases their unity and sense of solidarity. It also shows that they can fight, that nobody else has defeated the Islamic State. The Iraqi army had 350,000 men. You know, they all ran away. So it increases their strength. The Turks are not happy about this, but it's not clear that the Turks can do anything about it.
PERIES: Right. And in terms of the Iraqi Kurdish coming over to fight now, you know, more consolidate power across the region, is this having causing problems with Baghdad?
COCKBURN: Not that I'm aware of. I mean, there are tensions between Baghdad and the Kurds the whole time, but they've been brought together to a degree by the attack of the Islamic State which defeated both of them. It defeated the Iraqi army in June, although the Iraqi army was meant to have 60,000 men in Mosul and the Islamic State only had a bit over 1,000, it was the Iraqi army that broke and ran. Then the Kurds said, oh, well, it wouldn't have happened to us. But in August it did happen to them. They also get defeated. So it has brought them together, to a degree, that they have a common enemy.
PERIES: Right. Patrick, I thank you so much for joining us today.
COCKBURN: Thank you.
PERIES: And thank you for joining us on The Real News Network.
------------

The Kurds lost a hill to ISIS overlooking Kobane. The US coalition thought that was not very nice and taught ISIS a lesson on how not to hold a hill. Watch this (Check out the black flag at the top of the hill - I don’t understand Kurdish but I think we hear their version of “Holy Shit” on the sound track: 

219 comments:

  1. Replies
    1. At the beginning of the video you can see an ISIS fighter to the right of the flying black flag. Around the 17 second mark, he hears the incoming jets - he hauls ass down the hill - at the 21 second mark he gets an assisted flight down the hill - He probably thought he was getting a Jato assist into heaven.

      Delete
    2. Rufus - don’t say that I never give you anything! :)

      Delete
    3. I like that video. IT'S OUR TURN TO CHOP HEADS.

      Delete
  2. ISTANBUL, Turkey – Coalition airstrikes helped Kobane’s Kurdish defenders recapture the strategic Tel-Shahir village Friday, as Turkey said the number of Peshmerga being sent by Iraqi Kurdistan to reinforce Kurdish rebels in the besieged Syrian town had been reduced to 150.

    Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan also confirmed reports the rebel Free Syrian Army (FSA) would deploy 1,300 of its troops to Kobane in the fight against Islamic State (ISIS).

    In Kobane, at least 11 ISIS fighters and four from the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) were killed in the fighting for Tel Shahir, a village on a strategic hill overlooking the town, according to a Rudaw correspondent on the Kobane border.

    YPG forces were forced to withdraw from Tal Shahir on Thursday due to a shortage of ammunition and weapons.

    This week, the Kurdistan Region voted overwhelmingly to approve sending the Peshmerga to support their kinsmen in Kobane along the Turkish border, and Ankara has said it would give them passage across its soil.

    On Thursday, Erdogan said an agreement had been reached with the YPG’s Democratic Unity Party (PYD), the main Kurdish faction in northern Syria, to send 200 Peshmerga.

    “The PYD had agreed on a group of Peshmerga of up to 200-300 people. According to information I have just received, this figure has now reduced to 150,” Erdogan said on live television during a visit to Estonia.

    He also confirmed several media reports the FSA, a loose group of anti-Islamist rebels backed by Turkey, the West and the Arab World, had agreed to send 1,300 of its men to fight alongside the Kurds in Kobane and that Ankara was also happy to let them cross through Turkish territory.

    “Our relevant bodies are now discussing how this transit route should take place. We have no issue with the FSA crossing from our side to the concerned region. We have said before that we are positive towards this,” Erdogan said.

    ISIS jihadists have laid siege to Kobane, which sits hard on Turkey's border, for the past five weeks in an attempt to strengthen their grip along the frontier. Scores of U.S.-led coalition air strikes on ISIS positions over the past month have helped stop the town from falling but have not been enough to drive the militants out.

    The deployment of Peshmerga with heavy weapons could be a turning point in the battle for the town, where lightly-armed YPG fighters have been battling the jihadists armed with tanks and armoured vehicles.

    Erdogan did not elaborate on why the number of Peshmerga had been reduced. Although the PYD has called for international help in Kobane, it is thought to be uneasy about the arrival of Peshmerga because of its assertion that the YPG should be the only Kurdish force in Syria.

    {...}

    ReplyDelete
    Replies

    1. {...}

      However, this week the various Syrian Kurdish factions signed a power-sharing agreement in Iraqi Kurdistan to try and put aside their differences in order to maximise international support. The PYD's main political rival is the Kurdish National Council (KNC), which is backed by Iraqi Kurdistan's President Masoud Barzani.

      Turkey had rebuffed earlier requests by the PYD to allow its own fighters from other Kurdish areas in Syria, which are encircled by ISIS, to cross through Turkey into Kobane. Ankara sees the PYD as an extension of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), a Turkish Kurdish insurgent group which has waged a 30-year war against the state.

      Turkey and the PKK are now engaged in tentative peace talks to try and end the insurgency which has cost some 40,000 lives and has devastated Turkey's mainly Kurdish southeast.

      The arrival of 1,300 FSA fighters will greatly help the beleaguered Kurdish fighters in Kobane and also carries political implications. The PYD and the FSA have had an ambivalent relationship throughout Syria's civil war and have even battled each other at times.

      However, there have been an increasing amount of battlefield alliances between the groups as they have found a common enemy in ISIS and the YPG has said it would work with the FSA to try and defeat the jihadists. The FSA has been wary of the PYD because of its links to the Syrian government while the PYD says the FSA is not concerned with enhancing Kurdish rights.

      Delete
  3. CHECK OUT THE VIDEO AT THE BOTTOM OF THE POST

    ReplyDelete
  4. Good to go !

    The "Rat Doctrine" being implement in plain view of the world.

    One to two hundred Iraqi troops will b deployed to Kobane, as was advised right here at the Elephant Bar. I had been concerned that the force would be a little 'light'. The news that an additional 1,300 FSA rebels would be joining the Kurds back by Assad ... interesting.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Fuckin' Rat Doctrine.

      Any Boy Scout Doctrine.

      Delete
    2. The FSA uniting with forces allied with Assad ...
      That is another step forward, another indication of the strength of US leadership in the fight.

      The US will not accept al-Qeada operatives taking power in Syria.
      Not now, not ever.

      No matter which other countries may desire such an outcome.

      Delete

    3. No matter which other countries may prefer such an outcome.


      The remark, revised and amended.

      Delete
    4. Robert "Draft Dodger" Peterson wrote that only US troops could 'Get 'er done"

      "Accept no Substitutes", he wrote ...

      Boldly sending his betters where he refused to go.

      Delete
  5. All these changes because the US decided to act as only the US can. We're still the superpower, gentlemen.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Here:

    http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=mozart+piano+concerto&FORM=VIRE1#view=detail&mid=31D74CA6E4729BF1691B31D74CA6E4729BF1691B

    is some decent music for the tin eared Quartz.

    The crap Quartz has put up on occasion is nothing but one long metallic scream........

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The answer my friend,
      are pixels on a screen,
      the answers are pixels
      on a screen.

      Delete
    2. One long fingernails on the blackboard urban drug induced metallic scream.

      That's Quartz music for ya.

      One wants to blow one's eardrums out.....

      Delete
    3. Allow me to introduce you to something precisely the opposite of Quartz.

      Ivy - Edge of the Ocean

      Delete
    4. That, Miss T, is a real improvement over the typical Quartz, but it still ain't country -

      Try this, Urban Navy Gal -

      http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=youtube+country+music+shania+twain&form=VIRE1&first=1#view=detail&mid=97CEF174F99AFFE9AE2D97CEF174F99AFFE9AE2D

      Delete
    5. .

      One wants to blow one's eardrums out.....

      Likely more effective if you put it in your mouth point upward and pull.

      .

      Delete
  7. Good bombing.

    But wait, when I suggested bombing the fuck out of them I was called a 'war monger' by Rufus.

    What was up with that?

    But these days Rufus is acting the General LeMay

    ?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You recommended "Carpet Bombing" Robert "Draft Dodger" Peterson.

      What we saw in that clip, it was not "Carpet Bombing", anything but.
      You use words and phrases just like Humpty Dumpty.

      You will be called on it, every time.
      Sloppy language leads to sloppy thinking, and we just won't have that go unmentioned.

      Delete
  8. If ISIS is now a State, as they have proclaimed, and have declared war upon us, then we should accept that and proceed.

    It is all because of Obama, and taking the troops out too soon.

    ISIS is simply Sunni Iraq/Syria.

    More lives would probably be saved by a policy of unconditional surrender on or part.

    Will we do it?

    Nah.......

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Lacking an unconditional surrender policy we should at least support the Kurds.

      Delete
    2. You mean the US should come to the aid of Assad's and Iran's allies?
      The US should 'dump' on the preferences of the Israelis?

      You are conflicted and confused, now, Robert, there is no doubt of that.

      Delete
  9. It is an excellent question as to whether or not we should treat ISIS/Sunni Syria Iraq as we did the Japanese and the Germans.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. No, it is an ignorant question.
      The Daesh have no industrial capacity, have no navy, has no air force, are not a legitimate sovereign state.

      You want to compare apples to saw dust.

      Delete
  10. Do you have any idea what an unconditional surrender involves? ISIS is not going to surrender. This just off the wire:


    IS attacks crossing as Kobane awaits Iraq Kurd relief
    Mursitpinar (Turkey), Oct 25, 2014, AFP:

    Islamic State group fighters made a new bid to cut off the Syrian border town of Kobane from neighbouring Turkey today as preparations gathered pace to deploy Iraqi Kurdish reinforcements.

    The Kurdish regional government in northern Iraq unveiled plans yesterday for up to 200 well-trained peshmerga to join Syrian Kurdish forces defending Kobane in the coming week.

    Kurdish news agency Rudaw said the first contingent could head to Kobane as early as tomorrow but there was no immediate confirmation of that timetable.

    Peshmerga ministry spokesman Halgord Hekmat declined to specify what route the Iraqi Kurdish forces would take, but they are expected to travel overland through Turkey, which has said it will allow them transit.

    Since Ankara conceded to US pressure to allow vetted reinforcements into Kobane to prevent IS winning the high-profile battle for the town, the jihadists have made repeated attempts to cut the border before any help can arrive.

    Before dawn today, IS fighters hit Kurdish forces defending the Syrian side of the border crossing with mortar and heavy machinegun fire, an AFP correspondent on the Turkish side reported.

    The heavy mortar fire around the Mursitpinar crossing prompted the Turkish army to order the evacuation of nearby hilltops from where the world's press has been watching the battle for the town.

    The Kurdish news agency said an initial peshmerga contingent of 150 was ready to leave for Kobane and would be headed by Sihad Barzani, brother of Iraqi Kurdish regional president Massoud Barzani and head of its artillery brigade.

    It cited peshmerga officials as saying that an additional 1,000 Iraqi Kurdish fighters would follow.

    Rudaw quoted a senior peshmerga officer as saying that the Iraqi Kurdish forces would deploy with heavy weapons, but that undertakings had been given to both Ankara and Washington that they would not be handed over to Syrian Kurdish forces.

    "Our enemies in Kobane are using heavy weapons and we should have heavy weapons too," he said.

    The main Syrian Kurdish fighting force in Kobane has close links with the outlawed rebel Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) which has fought a three-decade insurgency in southeastern Turkey. Ankara has been adamant that no heavy weaponry should fall into its hands.

    Turkey has tightly controlled the flow of both fighters and weapons to Kobane and has accepted only Iraqi Kurdish or Syrian rebel reinforcements for the town.

    ReplyDelete
  11. The US fought for the unconditional surrender of Iwo Jima - Here is what it cost:


    IWO JIMA (16 February–17 March 1945). The capture of the Japanese island of Iwo Jima in World War II by three U.S. Marine divisions supported by more than 800 warships and landing craft has been described as the classic amphibious assault of World War II. One of the Volcano Islands 750 miles south of Tokyo, Iwo Jima could give Japan two hours' warning of U.S. B-29 raids from the Mariana Islands and provided a fighter base for the harassment of U.S. bombers. To reverse this situation and afford a haven for crippled American aircraft, the Joint Chiefs of Staff directed that Iwo Jima be seized.

    The eight-square-mile island is dominated at one end by Mount Suribachi (556 feet). The island's defenses—the most elaborate, dense, and best integrated in the Pacific—included three airfields; more than 730 major installations with 120 guns larger than 75 mm; 220 large mortars, howitzers, and rocket launchers; and 10 miles of underground tunnels linking hundreds of bunkers and blockhouses. One of Japan's most able generals, Lieutenant General Tadamichi Kuribayashi, with 21,000 troops, defended Iwo Jima. The overall commander of the marines was Lieutenant General H. M. Smith, supported by Admiral R. K. Turner. The 82,000-man landing force (Third, Fourth, and Fifth Marine Divisions) was under the command of Lieutenant General H. Schmidt.

    Following three days of bombardment from six battleships and five cruisers, the marines landed on 19 February under cover of the heaviest prelanding bombardment of the war—more than 6,000 tons of shells and bombs pounded the island before noon. Because of the massive preparation, beach casualties were moderate. However, capture of the remainder of the island required the most bitter battle of the Pacific, in which—amid black volcanic sands, grotesque crags, and steaming sulfur pits—gains were counted in yards. Heavy casualties were inflicted by both sides. Seizure of Mount Suribachi (23 February) by the Twenty-eighth Marine Division gave attackers the dominant terrain, from which a ten-day struggle ensued to overrun the fire-swept airfields and capture ridges, buttes, and deep caves in which Kuribayashi made his last desperate stand. Although Iwo Jima was officially declared secured on 17 March, resistance was not extinguished until nine days later.

    The battle cost the United States 4,590 lives and wounded 24,096; more than 20,000 Japanese were killed and 1,083 captured. By the end of the war, 2,251 B-29 aircraft carrying 24,761 airmen had made safe emergency landings on Iwo Jima.

    ReplyDelete
  12. rat is a war criminal from his days in Central America, by his own confessions here, a death threater, a failed father, and, by his own confessions here 'a professional asshole' and serial liar.

    Other than that he is a 'hell of a guy'.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Provide the time stamped quote of that confession, Robert "Draft Dodger" Peterson.
      I'd like to see it, but we all the the truth ...
      It is another of your unimaginative fabrications.
      Another of your libels, just another lie you tell when the truth cascades down upon you.

      Delete
    2. I am still waiting to see it. I do recall several bloggers calling for mass murder of various tribes, nations and ethnic groups. Rat is not one of the proponents, unless I missed it.

      Delete
  13. That is what an “unconditional surrender” costs over eight square miles against a well armed motivated enemy.

    ReplyDelete
  14. One battle cost the United States 4,590 lives and 24,096 wounded. That is over two US combat divisions of casualties. Which two are you going to send?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The "Draft Dodger" already recommended the US deploy the "1st Airborne Division"

      Even though it does not exist.
      That is the quality of his input, his commentary.

      Just fantasy, delusion and libelous lies.

      Delete
    2. "Bob" wants to sacrifice US lives, for people that can do a 'bang up' job of defending themselves, if the US just supplies a 'little' support.

      Robert "Draft Dodger" Peterson willing to send others where he refused to go.

      Delete
  15. B 52s.

    If that is what we wish to finally do.

    The good citizens of Sunni Iraq basically support ISIS.

    You make the call.

    I am for creating a new Kurdistan.

    Other than that I really could not care less.

    I am much more interested in how the life of my Niece is going, among other things.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The Kurds are, for the most part, Sunnis, dimwit.

      You want to kill them, to save them?

      Delete
    2. You call for creating another ally of Iran in the UN.
      Another vote against US Interests.

      You are a fool, aren't you.

      Delete
    3. The "Draft Dodger" does not want to find the enemy combatants and defeat them.
      He calls for the genocide of an entire people, instead.

      Guess he thinks that would be an 'easier', perhaps a 'Final Solution' to his worries about what he fears.

      Delete
  16. You should adopt a niece or nephew, Deuce.

    It rapidly puts things in a more proper perspective.

    It is a healthy thing to do.

    She is sending me some pics this weekend of her India New Year rituals she is putting on for her new German friends.

    ReplyDelete
  17. I adopted this blog and occasionally feed a ferule cat. I don’t want to overextend myself.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. And, we're forever grateful, Deuce. :)

      Say, you don't have an extra twenny laying around, do ya? :)

      Delete
    2. I opened it when Wretchard was in a snit closing off comments. I Disowned it in my own snit. Closed it. Put it up for adoption. Could not find a suitable parent and then adopted it.

      Delete
  18. I suggested putting some troops into Syria and breaking the place up for humanitarian reasons.

    I was severely chastised by Mr Quirk for this suggestion.

    So I can't go there any longer.

    The death toll at the time of my suggestion was way less than 100,000.

    Now it is way more than 250,000.

    Quirk is going to vote for Hillary, which will solve all these minors problems.

    She at least ain't no dick like all the others.

    http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=youtube+country+music+shania+twain&form=VIRE1&first=1#view=detail&mid=97CEF174F99AFFE9AE2D97CEF174F99AFFE9AE2D

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I like this gal.

      In SunniLand, and Iran, and Saudi Arabia she would be stoned to death.

      But she would not be stoned to death in Israel.

      Delete
    2. Shania Twain has a video where her boots cover more thigh than her skirt.

      Delete
    3. ... I suggested putting some troops into Syria ...

      There are plenty of troops in Syria, Robert "Draft Dodger" Peterson.
      There is no need to increase their numbers by including US citizens into the mix.

      Better that the locals, Syrians, Iraqi, Turks and Lebanese handle their own problems ...
      The US 'National Interest' will be served as long as the ISraeli preferences are not achieved, as long as ...
      al-Qeada operatives do not take power in Syria.

      The legitimate government of Syria, the one that is recognized by the United Nations, is a 'natural ally' of the United States in the war initiated by the 14SEP2001 AUMF.

      "Bob" now see the Sunni as an 'Enemy of the US", figure that includes Saudi Arabians, too.
      It makes him a de facto ally of the Shiite, in Iran.

      Delete
    4. And an 'Enemy' of Israel.

      ... we always preferred the bad guys who weren’t backed by Iran to the bad guys who were backed by Iran.”
      Even if the other “bad guys” were affiliated with al-Qaeda.
      “We understand that they are pretty bad guys,” Oren said in the interview.


      http://www.jpost.com/Syria-Crisis/Oren-Jerusalem-has-wanted-Assad-ousted-since-the-outbreak-of-the-Syrian-civil-war-326328

      Delete
  19. Quirk is going to vote for Hillary, which will solve all these minors problems.

    She doesn't think that free enterprise creates jobs, but government does. It would be another four to eight years of Obama.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. She is a white female Obama, he a black male Hillary.

      She at least was born here.

      I love Quirk, but he is nuts.

      Much less so than rat, who is psychotic, however.

      One can have a glass of wine with Quirk, and not fear for one's life....

      Delete
    2. I don't always drink wine, but when I do, it's cardboardeaux. Stay thirsty, my friends.

      Delete
  20. I like Shania Twain.

    She would be stoned to death in Gaza.

    But not in Israel.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=youtube+country+music+shania+twain&form=VIRE1&first=1#view=detail&mid=97CEF174F99AFFE9AE2D97CEF174F99AFFE9AE2D

      Delete
    2. Gaza is part of Israel, "Draft Dodger" Peterson.

      If there is no "Two State Solution" and there is not, there is only "One State", it is inclusive of Gaza, the West Bank and Jerusalem. and ALL the residents there of.

      Delete
    3. The fact that the Zionist regime denies those residents are citizens of the "One State", illustrates that it is an Apartheid State.

      Delete
    4. I swear, that gal can castrate hogs, as well as men.....!

      :)

      Delete
    5. Fuck off rat

      Jack HawkinsFri Jul 18, 12:36:00 AM EDT

      I mean, you are an Israeli, and here is nothing worse than that.

      In all the world, the Arabs of Israel are the scum.

      Now if you were a European, well thatd be different, but Israelis are all Arabs, Semites.
      Scum of the Earth

      ;-)

      Have a nightmare tonight and a shitty tomorrow,
      QuirkFri Jul 18, 01:13:00 AM EDT

      .

      And the voice of the rat is heard in the land.

      And the world once again cringes.

      .
      Bob OreilleFri Jul 18, 02:35:00 AM EDT

      "I mean, you are an Israeli, and there is nothing worse than that."

      There we go. That's a keeper. I am going to store that one.

      Jack "Hamasass PsychoRat of the Desert" Hawkins puts it in one concise line.


      His whole outlook. Simple, ignorant, unbelievably irrational.

      No wonder most people can't stand him.

      Delete
  21. Middleeastern politics are incredibly complicated, but we're not there to win local elections. Our job is simple -


    The 22 strikes in Iraq on Friday and Saturday included attacks in frequently targeted areas near the vital Mosul dam, the city of Fallujah and the northern city of Bayji, home of an oil refinery.


    US warplanes also destroyed an Isis artillery piece near the besieged town of Kobani in Syria, officials said.

    Activists and a Kurdish official said Isis was shelling the town on Saturday. Idriss Nassan, a senior official in Kobani, told the Associated Press fighting was concentrated on the southern and eastern edges of the town, also known as Ayn Arab.

    { . . . }

    The Iraq strikes on Friday and Saturday hit large and small Isis units, buildings, vehicles and fighting positions, and the bomber, fighter and remotely piloted aircraft used in the air strikes all returned safely, Central Command said.

    Iraqi security forces later said they had retaken most of the town of Jurf al-Sakhar near Baghdad, the biggest gain in months of fighting.

    “We have managed to push out Islamic State terrorists from the town of Jurf al-Sakhar today and now we are raising the Iraqi flag over the government offices,” said provincial governor Sadiq Madloul.

    Jes flyin' aroun', bombin' de haidcutters

    ReplyDelete
  22. We tired elections under Bush.

    Didn't work.

    Obama pulled the troops out too soon.

    This stew is his fault, and the fault of the Democrats.

    I say, support the new Kurdistan, and keep the oil warmed up on the B52s.

    Other than that, let them kill on another.

    It is a literary dispute, and we need to read well.

    ReplyDelete
  23. This wonderful Lady would be stoned to death in Gaza, the West Bank, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, in the state of ISIS.......

    But she would not be stoned to death in Israel, nor in Idaho.

    http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=youtube+country+music+shania+twain&form=VIRE1&first=1#view=detail&mid=97CEF174F99AFFE9AE2D97CEF174F99AFFE9AE2D

    Choose Life.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Nor in Mississippi.

      Choose Life.

      Delete
    2. The Zionist government of ISrael kills fetal Jews, it chooses death

      ... the rabbis cited
      “the extreme seriousness involved in killing fetuses, which is like actual murder.”


      http://www.ncregister.com/daily-news/chief-rabbis-of-israel-praise-efforts-to-reduce-abortions#ixzz2l0g8NiJB


      Delete
    3. She is gladness, Gladness, She is Life Itself. She is Gladness Itself.

      She is honored and accepted in Israel, in Idaho, in Mississippi.....

      Delete
  24. If you don't want children, don't get pregnant in the first place. Contraception is Free under Obamacare.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Of course, it's not really "free." Those, like Quirk, and Bob, that make more than $250,000.00 / yr. are paying for it.

      Damned nice of'em, wouldn't you say? :)

      Delete
    2. Actually, it is, if you don't care about human life.

      Suck that fetus.

      Delete
    3. That's what they do in ISrael, Robert "Draft Dodger" Peterson.

      Their socialist health care provider just sucks those little buggers right out of existence.

      Delete
  25. As Miss T said

    Your body

    Your choice

    Your purse

    I love ya Ruf, sometimes, but you are an IDIOT about fifty percent of the time.

    $250,000 thousands a year?

    I wish I had $250,000 thousands cash money total.

    I would give it to my Niece.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hey Quirks, you got 250k I can borrow?

      Want to impress by old girl friend in Vegas.

      I need one of then goldie chains about my neck.....

      ...and a flashy suit......

      .....and a super rent a car........

      And change for the phone booth where you left me last time......

      By the way, my old friend Umatilla Jack has died.

      Delete
    2. Maybe he'll do a refinance for "O"rdure.

      Betcha you could get 7% out of him, Legionnaire Q.
      He is a poor credit risk, having been turned down often by 'the system', but the real property will be collateral, just don't go over 65% of appraised value, with the note.

      Delete
  26. If you don't make $250,000.00 / Year Obamacare is "Free to You."

    I just assumed that I was surrounded by people that made that much, due to all the pissin' and moanin'.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. .

      The simplistic reasoning of the liberal toady, if you disagree with the policies he advocates for any reason it must be because you are a rich white guy and a racist religious nutjob who is only worried about god and his pocketbook.

      It is interesting to note that there have been studies indicating that it is always 'other people's' money that these same toadies are so fond of giving away rather than their own. What's yours is mine and what's mine is mine or so their meme runs.

      Spare me the opining of some hick from Mississippi who sits on his porch all morning drinking Bud and waiting for his SS check to arrive.

      .

      Delete
    2. Have you ever wondered why the Blue States are "rich," and the Red states are "poor?"

      Delete
    3. .

      Please, explain, oh Sultan of Corn.

      I don't suppose it could have anything to do with Wall Street or Silicon Valley.

      .

      Delete
    4. Maybe, Liberal Economics are superior to conservative economics?

      Delete
    5. .

      Good lord, to refute that all one has to do is look at their poster boy, Krugman.

      .

      Delete
    6. Just maybe, on a continuum of 1 - 10 (with 1 being most conservative, and 10 being most liberal,) the Sweet Spot is closer to 6 than it is to 4? - closer to 7 than it is to 3?

      Delete
    7. My Bet: Over/Under at 6 1/2.

      Delete
    8. I'm really tempted to go to 7 with that. :)

      Delete
    9. .

      Lord, spare us, the Corn King is a figgerin again.

      .

      Delete
  27. "Iraqi security forces later said they had retaken most of the town of Jurf al-Sakhar near Baghdad, the biggest gain in months of fighting.

    “We have managed to push out Islamic State terrorists from the town of Jurf al-Sakhar today and now we are raising the Iraqi flag over the government offices,” said provincial governor Sadiq Madloul. "



    I'm sure this will make headlines all over, today, right? :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. .

      Why would it make it to the headlines? The US is involved in a war of attrition and daily Toyota Counts won't change the fact that we are not doing enough to help those people in Iraq (all whom are citizens of Iraq) who are fighting the same fight we are against the same enemy.

      .

      Delete
    2. :) :) THAT is Freakin' Amazing! :) :)

      You have gone from "Don't Do Anything,"

      To "You Aren't Doing Enough"

      inside of two months. :)

      Yowza !! :) :)

      Delete
    3. See, Rufus, when the arguments are laid out, in a concise and lucid manner ...
      People like Legionnaire Q can be brought along the pathway of knowledge.

      We have fixed Ignorance.

      Delete
    4. :) :)

      I don' know; I think we just spread the confusion in a different direction.

      :) :)

      Delete
  28. .

    Quirk is going to vote for Hillary, which will solve all these minors problems.


    Once again, Obumble, you summon your inner-rat, ignoring context, distorting posts, basically lying by omission. The only difference, while the rat does it for the pure joy of being a prick, you evidently do it as the result of the infirmities of old age.

    .

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you.

      I will try to do better, and come to my real self.

      Delete
    2. you evidently do it as the result of the infirmities of old age.



      that is a decent excuse.

      Delete
    3. Naw, he's just nit very smart.

      Delete
    4. .

      Say, U got 250K for me?

      Naw, Rufus got my last $250,000. He lives in Mississippi doncha know. Spent it on Bud.

      .

      Delete
    5. If Rufus spends $250K, it will be on "growing" Bud, Not "drinking" Bud. :) :) :) :)

      Delete
    6. $250,000 in seedlings would get a farmer close to $1,250,000 in wholesale produce, in Colorado.
      Maybe even more.

      Delete
  29. Never heard of a "fetal Jew" before today...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Even you can learn something new everyday, "O"rdure.

      Delete
  30. Jack HawkinsSat Oct 25, 01:39:00 PM EDT
    The Zionist government of ISrael kills fetal Jews, it chooses death

    IF one is not alive? Can it die?

    Doesn't something have to be born 1st?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. No, something does not have to be born, to be alive.

      That has to be one the dumbest questions that has ever been asked.




      Delete
    2. The Bible says when God put the breath of life into his little mudpie, only then did Adam become a living soul. So, biblically, one must emerge from the womb and breathe before becoming a person.

      Delete
    3. .

      The Bible?

      Good lord, T, get a clue.

      .

      Delete
  31. The Healthcare Worker Quarantined in Newark Tested Negative for Ebola.

    ReplyDelete
  32. That woman in the video is William Blake's 'Woman'.

    This is the best of western Culture.

    My Niece may become a USA citizen.

    She would be a credit to our country.



    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tis only a dream. Tain't no woman free. Got no money, got no car, then you got no woman and there you are, bust a move.

      Delete

    2. Israel's sex Trade Is Booming & It's Living hell For The Victims

      The Parliamentary Inquiry Committee, headed by Knesset member Zehava Galon of the left-wing Yahad party, commissioned a report in an effort to show that Israel is prepared to combat the sex trade in Israel. Conservative findings showed that some 3,000 and 5,000 women are smuggled to Israel annually and sold into the prostitution industry, where they are constantly subjected to violence and abuse.

      Their report, issued annually, said some 10,000 such women currently reside in about 300 to 400 brothels throughout the state. They are traded for about USD 8,000 – USD 10,000, the committee said.

      Delete
  33. Energy is delight

    And is of the body


    William Blake

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Energy is pure delight.

      And is of the body.

      William Blake

      Minor correction.

      Delete
  34. The truth is, Ms T ...
    "O"rdure was not talking about a 'person', his question was about life
    Can there be life, without some thing being born.

    There is no doubt that an amoeba is alive, that an amoeba is a good example life
    An amoeba is not born.

    End of Part 1

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. "O"rdure's question was not concerning when a fetus became a person, it was about when if was a life,, prior to birth.

      One has to realize that the fetus is, philosophically, alive, before it is even a fetus.
      The sperm and the egg, they are both alive with life before inception.

      Delete
    2. Thanks for clarifying,

      You are a certifiable moron.

      Delete
  35. Energy being pure delight as expressed in Woman we can therefore affirm the superiority of Western Culture and Israeli Culture as well over that of Moslem cultures around the world.

    Energy is pure delight.

    The higher cultures do not stone women to death.

    Not in Israel

    Not in Idaho

    Not in Mississippi

    We do not clip clits.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. ... most of us are black Jews, but practicing Christianity. I am a Christian.

      I love my tribe so much that I want them to treat women and children right by ending FGM (Female Genital Mutilation) and early child marriage. Women and girls are not men’s properties. It is our God- given right not to be mutilated and married off at a tender age. I am the first born of a family of six and underwent FGM at the age of 9 one early morning with a group of other girls. Vaginal genocide was committed on us.

      And now here I am living to tell and be a voice for the voiceless.


      A Survivor’s Battle Against Female Genital Mutilation – by Jamie Glazov

      Delete
    2. The higher cultures do not stone delight to death.

      See: William James

      'The Varieties of Religious Experience'

      Chose life and energy as the Jews have done.

      That is the starting point: chose that which has fruits for LIFE.

      Delete
    3. The discovery of widespread FGM in Iraqi Kurdistan suggests the assumption to be incorrect that FGM is primarily an African phenomenon with only marginal occurrence in the eastern Islamic world. FGM is practiced at a rate of nearly 60 percent by Iraqi Kurds, then how prevalent is the practice in neighboring Syria where living conditions and cultural and religious practices are comparable?

      Why should a US soldier die to protect this horrid practice?, Robert "Draft Dodger" Peterson ?

      Delete
    4. Go the post and link directly above your last comment "Bob", the Jews do practice FGM, they do clip clits.

      Children of Abraham, they are.

      Delete
  36. In Mississippi we just kill them with low wages, and No Healthcare.

    ReplyDelete
  37. .

    Rufus IISat Oct 25, 03:01:00 PM EDT

    :) :) THAT is Freakin' Amazing! :) :)

    You have gone from "Don't Do Anything,"

    To "You Aren't Doing Enough"

    inside of two months. :)

    Yowza !! :) :)



    More nonsense, Rufus, if you would have been watching my posts over the last 2 months rather than giving us daily Toyota
    Counts and your ludicrous 'Baghdad Bob' impressions, you would have noted the difference between my opinion, which I still hold, that we should not have got involved in this conflict in the first place and my position now, once we were up to our asses in it, which is we should due what it takes to win it. My argument with Ash on the latter position ran through much of one post steam and in to another.

    No doubt you missed that change while searching for post to justify your comment that we are 'making military history' albeit slowly.

    .

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. And, the sensible approach, the whole time, has been the one that we're taking. Give the locals just enough help to allow them to sort it out on their own.

      The optimal strategy is hardly ever on the end (either end) of the spectrum. - the exception being, of course, full-blown, existential war. WWII comes to mind.

      Delete
    2. .

      Speaking of Baghdad Bob, do these quotes remind you of anyone here?

      BB: 'We have destroyed 2 tanks, fighter planes, 2 helicopters and their shovels - We have driven them back."

      BB: "We have them surrounded in their tanks"

      BB: I can say, and I am responsible for what I am saying, that they have started to commit suicide under the walls of Baghdad. We will encourage them to commit more suicides quickly."

      BB: "We will welcome them with bullets and shoes."

      :o)

      .

      Delete
    3. So, your contention is that Centcom is, essentially, just a collection of Baghdad Bobs?

      You doubt their reports?

      Delete
    4. You have serious doubts as to the effectiveness of what we're doing?

      Delete
    5. But, you want us to do A Lot More of it?

      :) :) :) :) :) :)

      Delete
    6. Legionnaire Q presents a variation on a theme

      "One indication of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results."
      —Old Vaquero Saying

      Delete
    7. Another indication would be to ...
      ... have serious doubts as to the effectiveness of what we're doing but still want to do A Lot More of it

      Delete
    8. .

      And, the sensible approach, the whole time, has been the one that we're taking. Give the locals just enough help to allow them to sort it out on their own.

      The fact of the matter we are not. This was one of the problems I foresaw in the first place and why I questioned our getting involved. It is the bloody incompetence with which we conduct these little affairs. We have seen it over and over again. Goofy ass ROE, letting politics drive the war not the military objective.

      In Kobane today, at least a month after the US got involved, the Kurds are still complaining not only about not having heavy weapons but also about not having enough ammo for the limited weapons they do have. We got into that fight late and half-heartedly until we finally got fed up with Erdogen. We can only assume that we are limiting the aid we give to the Kurds in order to soothe Turkey's ruffled feathers or those of the nations that designate the PKK terrorists.

      Above you posted an article about the Iraqi forces supported by the coalition taking a village. Two days earlier, IS took over a village Anbar Province. Reports of the fight there are instructive.

      This from last Wednesday,


      But the Iraqi government, the U.S. military and Iraqi forces have no ready solution for tribes whose towns are now encircled, not far from the airbase.

      In the village of Zuait albu Nimr, 45 kilometers northwest of Ramadi, the Albu Nimr tribe has been fending off Islamic State since the beginning of October.

      They have relied on air drops of small amounts of ammunition, but their survival is minute to minute.

      "If our tribe falls, then that will deal a strong blow to all the fighting tribes in Anbar," said a tribal leader by phone, who wondered why U.S. fighter jets had not hit the jihadists surrounding them given that they were out in the open.

      "We gave the US forces the exact locations of some Islamic State positions … but they didn’t attack (most of) them."

      The overflights have however acted as a deterrent to the militants, he added, saying the aircraft had disrupted Islamic State's resupply lines. The small army company attached to the community was not enough to defend them, he said, even if it had sufficient ammunition.

      Trapped in their village, families had resorted to fire wood for cooking and, unable to reach their farms, were trying to grow vegetables in their back yards, he said. Women had had to deliver babies in their homes.

      "We have almost completely run out of supplies and are living on dates and water," the fighter said.


      http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/10/22/us-mideast-crisis-iraq-anbar-idUSKCN0IA1PY20141022

      The article goes on to explain other happenings in the war...

      (continued below...)

      .

      Delete
    9. Astonish'n :) :) :)

      ya just gotta see it ta believe it. :) :)

      Delete
    10. .

      Acording to Reuters, the town fell the next day,

      BAGHDAD, Oct 23 (Reuters) - Islamic State wrested a Sunni Muslim village in western Iraq on Thursday from tribal defenders who put up weeks of fierce resistance, and the insurgents tightened a siege of the Yazidi minority on a mountain in the north.

      The attacks showed Islamic State's continued operating resilience despite air strikes by U.S.-led coalition forces aimed at defeating the ultra-radical Sunni jihadist group, which has captured large expanses of Iraq and neighboring Syria, beheaded prisoners and massacred people from other religious communities, and declared a medieval-style caliphate.

      The Albu Nimr tribe had been fending off Islamic State (IS) since early October but finally lost the village of Zauiyat albu Nimr in the western province of Anbar overnight on Thursday.

      A small Iraqi army unit was stationed in the village but evacuated by helicopter in the early hours of Thursday, along with leaders from the Albu Nimr, a tribal figure from the village told Reuters in Baghdad.

      Residents said the bodies of tribal fighters and soldiers lay strewn in the streets of Zauiyat albu Nimr on Thursday, and the very few who survived the onslaught had been told by IS insurgents to drop their weapons and leave.

      "Islamic State are out to purge the village of Bu Nimr members," said the tribal figure in Baghdad. "Sleeper cells inside the village have been assisting the Islamic State by providing the names and the locations of the houses of prominent resistance members.

      "A list of 200 names that include the high officers in our village has been set and all of these names are to be killed."

      The fall of Zauiyat albu Nimr leaves remaining areas under government control in Anbar more vulnerable to seizure by IS, which overran the regional city of Hit early this month.

      Islamic State holds much of western Anbar and is looking to isolate pockets of resistance, including the Ain al-Asad air base and the Haditha Dam.

      http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/10/23/isis-capture-anbar-village_n_6036178.html

      As with the other article, it goes on to explain other areas of conflict there.

      .

      Delete
    11. In other words, translated, you don't have a clue, neither does Hero Obama.

      I have a clue ----

      A new state called Kurdistan.

      That is the best we can hope for, and help create.

      Will we do so?

      Fuck no, not with Obozo in the high saddle.

      Obozo is the cause of all this shit in the first place by taking the troops out too soon.

      Rufus, please continue to post about solar, or wind, or tidal energy.

      But get off the Geo-Politics.

      I don't want you to continue to sound like a fool.

      Delete
    12. .

      So, your contention is that Centcom is, essentially, just a collection of Baghdad Bobs?

      You doubt their reports?


      My comments were aimed at you general, and your hyperbolic nonsense, not Centcom. Centcom reports, Rufus gives us the 'the greatest massacre in military history'. You are ridiculous.

      .

      Delete
    13. Really? :)

      We're somewhere between 3,000 - 6,000 To O, bub.

      That's pretty much a "massacre" in my book.

      Delete
    14. .

      You make my point Rufus.

      Where did you get that number?

      .

      Delete
    15. Look at my post, above. Every day, now, we're hitting isis "units." These are formations of fighters.

      We're up to around 2,000 bombs dropped.

      There is No Way that the isis bodycount can be less than 3,000. My over/under would be in the 4,500 to 5,000 range.

      You need to understand, a 500 lb. bomb can kill your ass from a pretty good distance, and that's what those B-1B's are dropping.

      I'll guarantee you that I'm in the "ballpark."

      Delete
    16. .

      Good lord, Rufus. Listen to yourself.

      You know when you get's to a figgerin you always get into trouble. You haven't a clue as to how many IS have been taken down. The only articles I have seen put the estimates at a third of what you are suggesting.

      Yesterday, you put up a post saying you estimate there were 5,000 IS militants killed. Soon, after Deuce puts up another article saying the count is around 1000. You come back with a post saying 'I'll go with my estimate."

      Of course you will. That's the way you roll.

      .

      Delete
  38. We're trying to help the Iraqis get to the point where they can make some gains in The Most Important Places, First.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The Iraqis pretty much got themselves into this mess; we're giving them a little breathing room to get themselves out of it.

      It's costing us very little in "treasure," and, so far, nothing at all in "lives."

      I'm finding it pretty hard to find fault with That strategy.

      Delete
    2. And, when I post Centcom releases, you make fun of me for being a "General" Baghdad Bob. ;)

      pretty weak, bubba, pretty weak :)

      Delete
    3. .

      Nonsense, when you post Centcom numbers, I point out that your daily 'Toyota Counts' are likely the result of flashbacks to your experience in Vietnam with Westmoreland's body counts.

      When you say we are 'seeing military history made before our eyes', I compare you to Baghdad Bob.

      "We will welcome them with bullets and shoes."

      :o)

      .

      Delete
    4. Gotcha. So, Today's Centcom "bomb" count is samey, same as Westmoreland's "body" counts.

      And, by posting them, I'm the same as Baghdad Bob.

      Delete
    5. .

      Right with the first sentence or at least close enough for government work.

      As far as the Baghdad Bob reference, that rests not so much on the 'Toyota Reports' as on your whole body of work since the US first engaged.

      :o)

      .

      Delete
    6. You don't believe they've dropped that many bombs?

      Delete
  39. Legionnaire Q just wants to have 90 Day Wonders.

    He is from a culture that demands ...

    Instant Gratification

    bah, bah , bah bleats the Legionnaire ...
    As he searches for the shepherd.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'll say it right now; this is probably the most intelligent military operation of my lifetime.

      Delete
  40. I'll step up and say it right now, Rufus is probably the most ignorant analyst of my life time.

    He should stick with solar.

    ReplyDelete
  41. All we are doing is fucking around and Rufus thinks this is genius......

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I said earlier Rufus is 50% moron.

      I raise that now to 75%.

      Delete
    2. Robert Peterson - The draft dodger will not be satisfied until bodies are coming back to Dover AFB, in coffins.

      If Americans ain't dyin' our "Draft Dodger" is whinin'

      Delete
  42. There is no good argument against the tactical plan that has been formulated and is being implemented.
    What is so affectionately referred to as the ...
    "Rat Doctrine"

    Even where it has only marginally and ineptly utilized, illustrated by the performance in Kobane, it has stopped the advance of the Daesh. It has allowed the diplomats and elected officials of the countries involved to begin to come to terms with US Interests, with the Stark Reality that the US cannot, will not, accept al-Qeada operatives taking power in Syria.

    The US selected Mr Malaki to run the government of Iraq.
    That is where the error in US actions was made.

    Not with the removal of US troops.
    As with most things related to the US policy failures in Iraq, the seeds of he current debacle, were laid by Team Bush.
    The removal of US troops, that was on the schedule first developed by Team Bush, as well.
    Mr Obama, is at fault, if there is a fault ... for ...
    Staying the Course

    But as this episode has played out, the US WAS slow to react.
    US Airpower should have struck at the captured heavy weapons and battle tanks lost by the Iraqi Army, immediately after the fall of Mosul. Not waited for that equipment to be brought to the battlefield in both Syria and Iraq.

    But the local forces are proving themselves capable. The Daesh are not Super Soldiers they are not invincible.
    They are the same as men everywhere ...
    The Daesh have no ideological advantage, no numerical advantage, no logistical advantage.
    They are, for the moment, better trained, more experienced, but that will not be enough.

    Just look to the experiences of Robert E. Lee.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. .

      The end result was never in doubt. At some point, we will declare victory and go home. The only things in question are what will be the thing we leave behind that we will define as victory and the nature of any unknown unknowns that may occur along the way.

      .

      Delete
    2. Re: unknown unknowns

      Those are all part of The Plan, of which the Rat Doctrine is merely a part. Those of us not in the loop will have to watch events unfold and wait patiently at the feet of the oracle of the EB to enlighten us. Without doubt, Mossad and the American police forces Mossad has trained will do terrible things for us to watch.

      Heavy rests the crown ...

      Delete
  43. Fucking rat doctrine......

    and Robert E Lee.....

    Jesus Christ

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Next we will hearing about the Second Battle of El Alamein or some shit.

      (Quirk fought in this battle and killed 39 Jerry)

      Delete
    2. I know, I was there, part of the early shock troops.

      Delete
    3. Even Winston Churchill ...
      The situation is now manageable, the program to manage it is being implemented.
      Not only tactically, but strategically.
      After the Daesh are degraded, defeated and decimated. The Iraqi and Syrians will have "Done it themselves" and in doing so, forge a political solution to their past and current divisive political situation.

      “When the situation was manageable it was neglected, and now that it is thoroughly out of hand we apply too late the remedies which then might have effected a cure. There is nothing new in the story. It is as old as the sibylline books.

      It falls into that long, dismal catalogue of the fruitlessness of experience and the confirmed unteachability of mankind.
      Want of foresight, unwillingness to act when action would be simple and effective, lack of clear thinking, confusion of counsel until the emergency comes, until self-preservation strikes its jarring gong–these are the features which constitute the endless repetition of history.”


      - Winston Churchill - House of Commons, 2 May 1935, after the Stresa Conference, in which Britain, France and Italy agreed—futilely—to maintain the independence of Austria.

      Delete
    4. .

      After the Daesh are degraded, defeated and decimated. The Iraqi and Syrians will have "Done it themselves" and in doing so, forge a political solution to their past and current divisive political situation.

      :o)

      Good one, rat.

      Kumbaya, old horse, kumbaya.

      .

      Delete
    5. Re: The Iraqi and Syrians will have "Done it themselves"

      Quirk, you have forgotten that the French won WWII.

      Delete
    6. .

      Bob OreilleSat Oct 25, 04:55:00 PM EDT

      I know, I was there, part of the early shock troops.



      Did you make it through alive?

      .

      Delete
  44. http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=youtube+country+music+shania+twain&form=VIRE1&first=1#view=detail&mid=97CEF174F99AFFE9AE2D97CEF174F99AFFE9AE2D

    ReplyDelete
  45. Even Robert E. Lee had some sort of a slim chance (of coming out of it with a "truce," anyway.) ISIS has None. Nada. El Zippo.

    They is, truly, "Daid Men Walk'n."

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. They are not going much further, but they can hold what they got, which is their home ground of Sunni Iraq.

      Baghdad? nah

      Now is the time for a free Kurdish State.

      That is in our interest.

      Delete
    2. The discovery of widespread FGM in Iraqi Kurdistan suggests the assumption to be incorrect that FGM is primarily an African phenomenon with only marginal occurrence in the eastern Islamic world. FGM is practiced at a rate of nearly 60 percent by Iraqi Kurds, then how prevalent is the practice in neighboring Syria where living conditions and cultural and religious practices are comparable?

      Why should a single US soldier die to protect this horrid cultural practice,
      Answer US that Robert "Draft Dodger" Peterson

      Delete
  46. Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.

    This famous statement has produced many paraphrases and variants:
    Those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it.
    Those who do not remember their past are condemned to repeat their mistakes.
    Those who do not read history are doomed to repeat it.
    Those who fail to learn from the mistakes of their predecessors are destined to repeat them.
    Those who do not know history's mistakes are doomed to repeat them.
    - George Santayana

    ReplyDelete
  47. The Qouter is back.

    This time Santayana.

    whoo eeiieieie

    ReplyDelete

  48. That famous quote is really quite stupid.

    History may have some themes but it does not repeat exactly.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The discovery of widespread FGM in Iraqi Kurdistan suggests the assumption to be incorrect that FGM is primarily an African phenomenon with only marginal occurrence in the eastern Islamic world. FGM is practiced at a rate of nearly 60 percent by Iraqi Kurds, then how prevalent is the practice in neighboring Syria where living conditions and cultural and religious practices are comparable?

      Why should a single US soldier die to protect this horrid cultural practice,
      Answer US that Robert "Draft Dodger" Peterson

      Delete
  49. This was kinda overlooked in the morning's mayhem:

    The Kurds retook the town of Zumar and several nearby villages from early on Saturday after heavy coalition air strikes against the insurgents, security sources said.

    If the Kurds manage to hold Zumar, that could enable them to disrupt Islamic State supply lines to nearby towns and cities.

    A Kurdish intelligence officer in Zumar said peshmerga forces had advanced from five directions in the early morning and encountered fierce resistance, but ultimately prevailed. A spokesman for the peshmerga ministry also said Zumar was now in Kurdish hands.

    Zumar was one of the first Kurdish-controlled towns to be overrun in August by Islamic State who went on to threaten the autonomous region's capital, prompting air strikes by the United States - a campaign since joined by Britain and France.

    If the Kurds are able to keep Zumar, it would also make it easier for them to advance on Sinjar, where Islamic State are besieging members of Iraq's Yazidi minority on a . . . .
    http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/story/385207/news/world/iraqi-security-forces-kurds-gain-ground-against-islamic-state

    Kurds Kick Turds out of Z'town

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Baghdad Bob your ass.

      He never wrote a headline like that. :)

      Delete
  50. http://www.suntimes.com/news/obituaries/30068726-418/mike-harari-87-planned-mossads-revenge-against-1972-munich-olympic-massacre.html#.VEwwdPnF-Ck
    Mike Harari, 87, planned Mossad’s revenge against 1972 Munich Olympic massacre

    The headline contains misnomers (editorial opinion): There was no Mossad revenge; there was Israeli justice.

    "Mr. Harari was also involved in planning Israel’s dramatic rescue of hostages held by militants in Entebbe, Uganda in 1976."

    The [terrorists] were German, working with Arafat.

    ReplyDelete
  51. http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/oct/23/kobani-death-us-air-strikes-550-isis-syria
    US-led air strikes on Syria have killed more than 500 Isis and al-Nusra fighters

    "US-led air strikes on Syria have killed more than 500 people, mainly Islamist militants, since they began last month, activists said as fighting continued in the border town of Kobani."

    The video shows two (possibly three) people on that hill, plus a flag. Four precision munitions were used to take them down. As for the other bodies shown, if they were on the hill at the time of the bombing, the number of dead ISIS would be about six (6). Whether the flag was still streaming, I cannot say.

    ReplyDelete
  52. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2795522/almost-2-000-women-six-months-treated-female-genital-mutilation-english-hospitals-official-figures-show.html
    Almost 2,000 women in six months are recorded as victims of female genital mutilation, first ever official figures for England show

    ReplyDelete
  53. "Jack HawkinsWed Oct 22, 10:04:00 PM EDT
    The Zionists have raveled the world, killing those the deem enemies.
    Even waiters in Europe that 'looked' like they were someone they were not.

    The 'Mossad' has killed scores across Central America, helping to maintain the most rancid regimes in Guatemala, Panama, El Salvador and Honduras. Regimes that even the US refused to support, the Israeli jumped right in, teaching the techniques of population subjugation they had refined in Palestine.Techniques now being aught to US police orces across the land, fuckin' terrible things that are happening while we watch it occur."


    Name a single police department trained by Mossad.

    "Techniques now being aught (sic) to US police orces (sic) across the land, fuckin' terrible things that are happening while we watch it occur."

    What "terrible things" are happening?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Been here, done it, yesterday.

      Delete
    2. Name a single police department trained by Mossad.

      "Techniques now being aught (sic) to US police orces (sic) across the land, fuckin' terrible things that are happening while we watch it occur."


      Now, dear desk co-ordinator let us begin.
      It was stated that the Mossad had killed scores in Central America. This was referenced in Guatemala in the statements of Ros Mont, in Guatemala. Done deal.

      Now where was it stated that the Mossad was training US police. it was stated that ... Techniques now being aught to US police orces across the land

      Please, show us where it was written that the Mossad was doing the teaching.
      The militarization of the civilian police in the US, is a fuckin' terrible thing.

      Delete
    3. Jack HawkinsSat Oct 25, 09:19:00 PM EDT
      Been here, done it, yesterday.


      "Mossad" did not appear in your material, nor did any terrible things done by American police forces due to Mossad training.

      I asked for only one name. In your phony list is "Atlanta". Atlanta's police department has never received training by Mossad.

      You lie.

      Delete
    4. Chaparral Serendipity - Page 50 - Google Books Result
      books.google.com/books?isbn=1569350000
      Gyeorgos C. Hatonn - 1993
      After Rios Montt seized power in an Israeli-orchestrated 1982 coup, Mossad officials, instructors and technicians took charge of the entire Guatemalan national ...

      Should I continue ....

      Delete
    5. Apr 4, 2013 - Los periodistas que mencionan a Rios Montt, deberían hablarnos cómo la CIA y el Mossad financiaron a los mercenarios contras ...
      ......................................

      Efraín Ríos Montt — Wikipédia
      fr.wikipedia.org/.../Efraín_Ríos_Mo...Translate this page
      French Wikipedia
      Efraín Ríos Montt (né le 16 juin 1926 à Huehuetenango) est un militaire et un ... la présence d'officiers du Mossad (du moins, de services de renseignements ...

      Delete
  54. Those who would repeat the mistakes of the past must control the teaching of history.

    ReplyDelete
  55. Israel’s Hand in Guatemala’s Genocide

    Ben-Menashe said the Israelis supplied a total of six helicopters to the Guatemalans along with computers and software to keep track of alleged subversives who could then be identified and executed. Ben-Menashe said he learned of the mass slaughters during his travels to Guatemala and reported back to his Israeli superiors about the atrocities involving the equipment that they had authorized. The response, he said, was concern but inaction.
    ...
    After our phone interview had ended, Ben-Menashe called me back to stress that the Israelis were unaware of the genocidal nature of the Guatemalan military campaigns against the Ixil Indians, although the Israelis did recognize that they were assisting in mass murders of dark-skinned Guatemalans.

    “As we saw it, they [Guatemalan military authorities] were targeting all non-white villagers who were sitting on fertile lands that the white Guatemalans wanted,” he said ...

    ReplyDelete
  56. Like Guatemala's other suppliers of arms, Israel (which had been supplying arms to Guatemala since 1974) continued its aid provisions. The cooperation did not just involve material support, but also included providing intelligence and operational training, carried out both in Israel and in Guatemala.

    In 1982, Ríos Montt told ABC News that his success was due to the fact that "our soldiers were trained by Israelis."

    There was not much outcry in Israel at the time about its involvement in Guatemala, though the support for Ríos Montt was no secret. The Israeli link was not lost on the average Guatemalan: At a cemetery in Chichicastenango, relatives of a man killed by the military told Perera,
    "In church they tell us that divine justice is on the side of the poor; but the fact of the matter is, it is the military who get the Israeli guns."


    - even Wiki.

    ReplyDelete
  57. Israel’s Proxy War in Guatemala

    Known as “Brother Efraín,” a fundamentalist convert of the California-based “Church of the Word” (Verbo), Rios Montt thanked his God in heaven for anointing him as Guatemala’s president, but on earth he thanked Israel for establishing his March 1982 military coup. Israeli press reported that 300 Israeli advisors helped execute the coup, which succeeded so smoothly,

    Brother Efraín told an ABC News reporter, “because many of our soldiers were trained by Israelis.”

    Through the height of la violencia (“the violence”) or desencarnacíon (“loss of flesh, loss of being”), between the late 1970s to early 1980s, Israel assisted every facet of attack on the Guatemalan people.

    Largely taking over for the United States on the ground in Guatemala (with Washington retaining its role as paymaster, while also maintaining a crucial presence in the country), Israel had become the successive governments’ main provider of counterinsurgency training, light and heavy arsenals of weaponry, aircraft, state-of-the-art intelligence technology and infrastructure, and other vital assistance.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. A February 1983 CBS Evening News with Dan Rather program reported, Israel “didn’t send down congressmen, human rights activists or priests” to strengthen Israel’s special relationship with Guatemala.

      Israel “taught the Guatemalans how to build an airbase. They set up their intelligence network, tried and tested on the [Israeli-occupied Palestinian] West Bank and Gaza, designed simply to beat the Guerilla.”

      Time magazine (03/28/83) chimed in that Guatemalan army “outposts in the jungle have become near replicas of Israeli army field camps.” At one of these Israeli outposts replicated in Huehuetenango (among the areas hardest hit by the genocide, with the second highest number of massacres registered by a UN truth commission), Time continues:
      “Colonel Gustavo Menendez Herrera pointed out that his troops are using Israeli communications equipment, mortars, submachine guns, battle gear and helmets.”

      Naturally, as Army Chief of Staff Benedicto Lucas García had stated previously: “The Israeli soldier is a model and an example to us.”

      Delete
  58. The militarization of the civilian police forces of the United States is a fucking terrible thing.
    In and of itself.

    The excesses of that militarized civilian police force ..easy to document, but I'm not going to do it.

    ReplyDelete
  59. Guatemala’s interest in purchasing Israeli arms and seeking Israeli advisors was heightened by its increasingly difficult relations with the United States. Guatemalans resented the various pressures Washington exerted, as well as the patronizing attitudes of its advisers sent with the American weapons. In 1977, a series of events resulted in Israel becoming Guatemala’s principal arms supplier and primary source of counterinsurgency advice.
    ...
    At Carter’s request, Congress suspended military aid to Guatemala, and the administration included Guatemala on a list of “gross and consistent violators of human rights.” This directed US officials not to support multilateral loans to Guatemala from the World Bank or the Inter-American Development Bank, unless the loans demonstrably financed “basic human needs.” [30]

    The Israeli government immediately stepped in to fill the vacuum and a flourish of activity ensued. Israel did not put “strings” on its arms or advice and was indifferent to the repressive practices of the Guatemalan regime. The flow of arms and "agricultural development" advisers picked up considerably. In June 1977, Barbados customs agents discovered a shipment of 26 tons of arms and ammunition destined for Guatemala from Israel in an Argentinian cargo plane, portending the expanding role of Israel as Guatemala’s main arms supplier. [31] Soon Israel Aircraft Industries (IAI), owned and controlled by the Ministry of Defense, installed an Elta radar air traffic control system at the airport near Guatemala City. ...

    In December 1977, Israeli President Ephraim Katzir made a seven-day trip to Guatemala, where he signed an agreement on military assistance. President Laugerud Garcia also announced that Guatemala would purchase five Dabur-class missile patrol boats from Israel. His defense minister visited Israel soon afterward to finalize the purchase and to seek other Israeli military equipment. [33] A meeting between the defense ministers of the two countries, as well as between Guatemalan officials from other ministries and their Israeli counterparts, took place early in 1978, in Israel.

    The defense ministers discussed the supply of weapons, munitions, military communications equipment (including a computer system), tanks and armored cars, field kitchens, other security items and even the possible supply of the advanced fighter aircraft, the Kfir.

    They also talked about sending Israeli personnel to install computer and radar systems, to assist in training and equipment maintenance, to establish an electronics school, and to train and advise the Guatemalan army and the internal security police (known as G-2) in counterinsurgency tactics.


    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. There were a large number of retired Israeli officers and military men seeking employment with foreign governments in the early 1980s, a situation reflected in the Israeli presence in Guatemala. Guatemala needed precisely those skills the Israelis were most qualified to offer. Arieh Egozi noted in Yediot Aharonot that such individuals have become a major Israeli “export article.” [44]

      By early 1982 there were at least 300 Israeli advisers in Guatemala. [45] The New York Times reported that “Israel is known to have intelligence teams, security and communications specialists, and military training personnel in Guatemala.” [46]

      Israel officially denies providing advisers to Guatemala. The Israeli ambassador in Guatemala City commented:
      “Maybe there are Israeli persons here, but they are not with the Israeli Army and not with the embassy. We do not even have a military attache and we do not have advisers here.”
      [47]

      Nevertheless, Israeli advisers are known to have trained the Guatemalan air force and army special forces, as well as the intelligence services. The Washington Post reported that, “Israeli advisers -- some official, others private -- helped Guatemalan internal security agents hunt underground rebel groups.” [48]
      (Mossad)
      Undoubtedly there are both official advisers and “independents” -- former IDF officers who offer their personal services as mercenary “anti-terrorist consultants,” advisers, trainers, and even simple bodyguards. [49] (In addition, dozens of independent Israeli arms merchants, usually retired IDF officers, promote weapons sales for personal profit in Guatemala and elsewhere in Latin America. [50])

      Much of the work of official Israeli advisers has been done under the guise of “civic action” programs, “cooperative agricultural development,” “literacy campaigns” and other seemingly innocuous labels. Israeli advisers -- either sent by the government or freelancing -- reportedly trained elite troops known as “Kaibiles” for the Indian pacification program undertaken by President Lucas Garcia in the fall of 1981, and carried out more extensively by Rios Montt. [51] By the early months of 1982, the Kaibiles had killed hundreds of Indian civilians. [52]

      When Gen. Efrain Rios Montt staged his coup on March 23, 1982, the Israeli news magazine Ha’olam Hazeh reported he had the help of 300 Israeli military advisers who assisted in training, planning and executing the coup. Yediot Aharonot referred to the coup as “the Israeli connection.” [53] Rios Montt himself acknowledged to an ABC reporter that things had gone very smoothly “because many of our soldiers were trained by Israelis.” [54]

      During the 17 months of Rios Montt’s rule, Israel’s intensified military involvement in Guatemala was supplemented by assistance on other levels. Shortly after Rios Montt seized power, the two countries signed a wide-ranging Trade and Economic Cooperation Agreement. Guatemala’s tourist board reportedly targeted US Jewish communities in its promotion campaign, and Guatemalan radio regularly aired Israeli programs. [55]

      Magen David Adom, Israel’s Red Cross, solicited contributions from American Jews so that Israel could dispatch relief supplies to Guatemala. During this period, a Guatemalan business leader told the Los Angeles Times:
      “We’re isolated internationally. The only friend we have left in the world is Israel.”


      Delete