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."

Saturday, February 20, 2016

"NATO should now isolate Turkey from decision making regarding Syria and then remove them from the alliance once the Syrian war is over. Turkey has been playing both sides and cannot be trusted within the alliance. This would be prudent and Turkey is not exactly going to jump into bed with Russia if removed from NATO.”

Syria conflict: Turkish threats of intervention after Ankara bombing taken seriously by Barack Obama 


| Middle East | News | The Independent

The war in Syria is reaching a climax. The Syrian army, supported by Russian bombers, is advancing north of Aleppo to cut off the Syrian armed opposition from the Turkish border. The Syrian Kurds, backed by US air strikes, are closing in on Isis and non-Isis supply lines in the same area. In the wake of the bomb in Ankara on 17 February that killed 28 people, Turkey is threatening military intervention in Syria in retaliation for the attack. On Friday, President Barack Obama spent one hour and 20 minutes on the phone to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, urging restraint. 
“The Turks and the Saudis are always trying to nudge the US into sending ground troops to Syria, but they are not going to launch a large-scale military intervention on their own,” said a former senior diplomat in the Middle East. Turkish and Saudi policy on Syria has hitherto been full of threats and bombast, but it is dangerously mercurial and some form of military action cannot be ruled out, even if it is opposed by the US or Russia. 
The US knows that Turkish military action would be directed primarily against the Syrian Kurds and the People’s Protection Units (YPG) that have been America’s most effective ally fighting Isis. In his conversation with Mr Erdogan, Mr Obama is reported to have said that the YPG should not seek to exploit recent gains by the Syrian army north of Aleppo to take more territory. But at the very moment that the two men were speaking, the success of US-YPG co-operation was underlined by a little-reported victory in north-east Syria, where the Syrian Democratic Forces, a proxy for the YPG, captured the important Isis stronghold of Shadadeh with the help of US air strikes. 
There is a further reason why the US would be loath to give up its military alliance with the Syrian Kurds. “Over a year ago, the Americans realised that the Turks were not going to close their border with Syria to Isis and other jihadis on its northern, Turkish side,” said the former diplomat. “So the Americans decided to close the border on the southern side, with the help of the Syrian Kurds.” It is this plan which is now close to fulfilment.
President Obama’s policies in Syria since the rise of Isis in the summer of 2014 have always made more sense than critics supposed. Prior to the fall of Mosul, the White House had miscalculated the degree to which the Syrian war could left to fester without destabilising the rest of the region. Mr Obama unwisely compared the movement that became Isis to a junior basketball team seeking to play in the big leagues. 
But Mr Obama has a far more acute sense than most other politicians about the ease with which the US, or any other foreign power intervening in Syria, Iraq or Afghanistan, can become plugged into local confrontations and disputes. I once asked General David Petraeus, the commander of the 101st Airborne Division in Mosul in 2004, what was the most important advice he could give to his successor. He said, after reflecting for some moments, that his advice would be “not to align too closely with one ethnic group, political party, tribe, religious group or social element”. 
This approach is sensible, though scarcely feasible, because a foreign power under pressure acquires local allies where it can find them without inquiring too closely into their character and motives. For instance, Turkey has pushed for the US to support “safe havens” for displaced people and moderate armed opposition in northern Syria. This sounds benign and even humanitarian until one realises that the idea is directed primarily at stopping the Kurds from controlling more territory, and that the Turkish definition of “moderate” appears to include extreme jihadis such as Ahrar al-Sham that usually fight in alliance with the al-Qaeda affiliate, Jabhat al-Nusra.
29-kerry-lavrov-get.jpg
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and US Secretary of State John Kerry give a press conference in Munich. The Americans and the Russians are today crucial military players in Syria (Getty)
It is right to be sceptical of “tail-wags-the-dog” explanations in which big powers shift the blame for their more culpable actions to local allies. But it also true that one of the main reasons for the disastrous outcome of foreign interventions in Libya, Iraq and Afghanistan since 2001 is that they have been justified as actions against a much-demonised enemy and in favour of an over-praised, moderate, secular opposition which did not exist.
In Iraq in 2003, the US dissolved the Iraqi army; this is often recalled as a foolish and unnecessary act by the head of the US occupation, Paul Bremer, which had the disastrous consequence of alienating the Sunni officer class and promoting the rise of al-Qaeda in Iraq. But I was in Baghdad at the time and, in reality, the dissolution of the army was being recommended to the Americans by the Kurdish and Shia leaders, representing 80 per cent of Iraqis, who rightly saw the Iraqi security forces as the most important institution through which the 20 per cent Sunni minority had traditionally held power. The Americans and allies such as the British were unwittingly presiding over a sectarian and ethnic revolution which was bound to have explosive consequences. 
Skip forward 10 years to the poison gas attack in Damascus in August 2013, when the US and Britain almost intervened militarily against the Syrian government. In retrospect, this is recalled as the moment when a chance was lost to back a moderate armed opposition in overthrowing President Bashar al-Assad. In fact, the Syrian army controlled most of the populated parts of the country at the time, so any foreign air campaign would have had to be sustained along the same lines as Libya. And the outcome would have been similar to Libya as well, since Isis, al-Nusra and other jihadis already dominated the armed opposition and would have taken power.

Ankara explosion: 'car bomb' hits Turkish capital

Mr Obama evidently realised this at an early stage, and has shown understandable impatience at what became almost conventional wisdom among politicians and the media. He said in 2014 that the idea that there was ever a moderate opposition “in a position to suddenly overturn not only Assad but also ruthless, highly trained jihadists if we just sent a few arms is a fantasy. And I think it’s very important for the American people – but maybe more importantly, Washington and the press corps – to understand that.” It would be interesting to know if Mr Obama’s thoughts on David Cameron’s famous “70,000 moderate fighters”, whom Britain supports, are equally scathing. 
The Syrian uprising or war has passed through three phases: a short period in 2011 when local forces determined what was happening in the country; 2012 to 2014 when regional powers such as Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Iran played a dominant role; and 2014 to 2016 when the conflict became internationalised. Three events marked the last period, in which the US and Russia became the decision-makers: the rise of Isis in 2014; the consequent start of the US air campaign; the beginning of the Russian air strikes a year later.
Americans and Russians are today crucial military players in Syria and it is becoming too late for Turkey and Saudi Arabia to buck the trend successfully, though this does not prove that they will not try to do so.

184 comments:

  1. The Roosians have told Assad to give up the idea of taking back the entire country. Told him there could be 'consequences' if he insisted....

    Trump wins S. Carolina.

    ReplyDelete
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    1. 73% of Republican S. Carolina voters say they want to end Moslem immigration, at least temporarily....

      One of the main things that 'resonates' with voters....according to the analysts on Fox....

      Ben Carson looks to be last.....Bush and Kasich tied...

      Delete
    2. You have not read what was written, "Counterfeit Bob"

      "Russia has invested very seriously in this crisis, politically, diplomatically, and now also in the military sense. Therefore we of course would like that Bashar Al-Assad take account of that," Moscow' envoy to the United Nations Vitaly Churkin said in an interview with Russian newspaper Konnersant on Thursday, according to Middle East Monitor.

      Moscow' envoy to the United Nations Vitaly Churkin said in an interview with Russian newspaper Konnersant on Thursday, according to Middle East Monitor.

      "We shouldn't assign too much importance to some of the statements, dramatize them... This is my personal point of view. I heard on TV President Assad's statement. It obviously contradicts Russia's diplomatic efforts. There is the Vienna process, the latest agreements with the International Syria Support Group reached in Munich that include the ceasefire, the cessation of military activity in the foreseeable future. We are working on this now," Churkin added, according to RBTH.

      The Russian warning comes as a response to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's recent statements regarding recapturing all of Syria.

      "Regardless of whether we can do that or not, this is a goal we are seeking to achieve without any hesitation. It makes no sense for us to say that we will give up any part," Assad told AFP news agency last week.


      ... This is my personal point of view. ...

      http://www.hngn.com/articles/180947/20160220/russia-warns-assad-over-capturing-all-of-syria-plan.htm

      Now please tell us what the consequences are supposed to be.
      The Russian diplomat did not mention any.

      The Russian official also noted that if the Syrian regime “follows Russia's leadership in resolving this crisis, then they have a chance to come out of it in a dignified way… If they in some way stray from this path - and this is my personal opinion - a very difficult situation could arise. Including for themselves.”

      “If they proceed on the basis that no ceasefire is necessary and they need to fight to a victorious end, then this conflict will last a very long time and that is terrifying to imagine,”

      Delete
    3. https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/news/europe/24030-russia-reminds-assad-to-listen-to-kremlins-advice

      Delete
    4. You call bob "Counterfeit Bob" and yet YOU, on the last thread, posted your own "Counterfeit" posts as proof of what I said.

      You are the "Counterfeit Jack"

      Projecting once again????


      Delete
    5. You are mentally ill, DBD Stalker.

      Get some help.

      Delete
    6. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

      Delete
    7. LOL Deuce, you will have to start deleting Jack's comments soon...

      LOL

      Delete
  2. The syrian non-civil war.

    As everyone here knows, i think both sides of the syrian conflict suck.

    As an American who supports Israel I view the syrian situation and the so called arab spring with wonder and dismay, but in the end? I see the syrians, russia and iran (and hezbollah) slaughter over 360 thousand sunnis in Syria alone. Create 12 million refugees. Kill more palestinians than Israel has ever in 60 years.

    and not a peep of dismay out of the world's (and this blogs) palestinian cheerleaders.

    But the pattern continues across the moslem world....

    And now the Turkey and Russia card...

    America has given the green light for Iranian ascent and a pile of cash to boot...

    Iran is going on a weapons buying spree....

    Judging by the pattern started in Syria, Iraq and yemen (as well as some others) the Sunni arab world will react with it's own arms race.

    War is coming to more places...

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  3. Kasich, who really hasn't campaigned at all, is only .5% behind Jeb! who has spent $100 million.
    Both about 7%.

    The Bush Dynasty is over.

    ReplyDelete
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    1. Carson says he is staying in. This helps Trump. Maybe he wants to be VP.

      Says he has learned since getting into politics that D.C. is totally filled with 'filth'.

      Delete
  4. Trump wants to move the embassy to Jerusalem on day one...

    :)

    He just might

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    1. Trump pledges to be 'neutral guy' in Israel-Palestinian negotiations

      Washington (CNN)Donald Trump said Wednesday night he'd be "a neutral guy" when it comes to negotiating the Israel-Palestinian conflict, during an MSNBC-hosted town hall.

      In an exchange about the potential for a peace agreement, anchor Joe Scarborough asked the Republican front-runner, "Whose fault do you think it is?"

      "I don't want to get into it for a different reason, Joe, because if I do win, there has to be a certain amount of surprise, unpredictability," he said at a town hall Wednesday, adding that by declining to tip his hand, he would be in a better position to negotiate.

      "Let me be sort of a neutral guy, let's see what -- I'm going to give it a shot. It would be so great," Trump said.

      The remark contrasts with the many Republicans -- and some Democrats -- who often pledge unequivocal support for Israel.

      Trump said reaching a peace agreement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is "probably the toughest agreement of any kind to make."

      "A lot of people say an agreement can't be made, which is OK, sometimes agreements can't be made, not good," he said.

      "It is a very, very tough agreement to make," Trump added. "But I will give it one hell of a shot. That I can tell you. But of all agreements -- I would say if you can do that deal, you can do any deal."


      If the US moves its embassy, it would not be neutral.
      Not at all, "O"rdure is either behind the information curve, or thinks Donald is a liar.

      http://www.cnn.com/2016/02/18/politics/donald-trump-israel-palestinian-neutral/

      Delete

    2. Trump previously suggested that the burden of peace rested largely on the shoulders of the Jewish state, saying a peace deal "will have to do with Israel and whether or not Israel wants to make the deal -- whether or not Israel's willing to sacrifice certain things."

      At the Republican Jewish Coalition's Presidential Forum, Trump said he doesn't know whether "Israel has the commitment to make (a peace deal) and I don't know that the other side has the commitment to make it."

      "It has to be said that Israel has given a lot," Trump said, adding, "I don't know whether or not they want to go along to that final step (of making a deal)."

      Delete
    3. Jack, you distort and don't tell the whole story.

      as usual.

      that's why you are known here as Jack "the ass" Hawkins.

      Delete

    4. Then post an actual rebuttal "O"rdure.

      Find some facts, a quote or two.

      But you never do, real discussion and debate seems to be well beyond the scope of your rather limited intellect.

      Delete
    5. Projecting Jack "I always lie" Hawkins?

      You lie, distort and slander.

      You are not worthy of any serious attempt at dialogue.

      As for "limited" intellect?

      More projecting?

      Delete

    6. No, "O"rdure, just an observation based upon your own rather poor work product, displayed here at the Elephant Bar.

      Delete
  5. Trump/Carson sounds like a good ticket.

    ReplyDelete
  6. All is quiet at Jeb! headquarters, and the TV monitors are turned off.

    'Low energy' situation over there at Jeb! headquarters.

    I kinda feel for the guy. He's a decent enough fellow.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Bush has dropped out, nobly and elegantly.

      Delete
  7. Maybe, just maybe, Kasich will hold on to prevail...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. He might prevail as The Donald's VP pick, but that's most probably it.

      Delete
    2. Who The Donald might pick as VP is a teasing interesting question, to be sure.

      Delete
    3. You've called it for Trump already have you? Interesting, especially in light of your success in past calls.

      Delete

    4. He has posted that Mrs Clinton will be indicted, and failing that, the many in the FBI will resign.

      Neither of which have happened.
      Whether or not they will ... "Counterfeit Bob" has no doubts about Mrs Clinton.

      As he has repeatedly libeled her, maybe because she is a woman, it fits his past misogynist behavior.

      Delete

    5. Now "Counterfeit Bob" has no doubt that Mr Trump will be nominated by the GOP...

      Delete
    6. Jack " i lie because I have no soul" Hawkins, why do you slander bob?

      After all it is you that bragged about dozens of avatar logins....

      that is the true counterfeiter.

      Delete
    7. I think I may have called it for The Donald, Ash, but can't remember for sure. I think I did though.

      It's not my political acumen I am proud of though, Ash.

      It is my military acumen.

      Recall how I mocked General Doofus '4th of July' Rufus and General rat's ass 'Memorial Day' Hawkins when they were making their predictions of wiping ISIS of Iraq by last summer.

      I knew this wasn't going to happen. I even took the bets they offered and won them both.

      Neither Rufus nor rat's ass has made any effort to pay to me my legally due debt.

      Delete
    8. I can't seem to get to my Google account or I'd put a picture up and have my name in blue like most everyone else.

      I'll have my daughter do it sometime.

      Not that it matters at all.

      Delete
    9. My other computer is impossibly slow now, and she will try to fix that too.

      Sometime..

      Delete
    10. And both Gen. Doofus and Gen. rat's ass have bragged about their military expertise, but in the actual event didn't know jack shit.

      An old farmer, never even in the military, knew better.

      bwabwabwahahahahaha

      Delete
    11. Oh come on, "Counterfeit Bob" the reason you have no military experience is because you, like Dick Cheney, dodged the draft.

      Happily sending better men than yourselves off to die in your stead.

      Delete

  8. ISTANBUL — Turkey is confronting what amounts to a strategic nightmare as bombs explode in its cities, its enemies encroach on its borders and its allies seemingly snub its demands.

    As recently as four years ago, Turkey appeared poised to become one of the biggest winners of the Arab Spring, an ascendant power hailed by the West as a model and embraced by a region seeking new patrons and new forms of governance.

    All that has evaporated since the failure of the Arab revolts, shifts in the geopolitical landscape and the trajectory of the Syrian war.

    Russia, Turkey’s oldest and nearest rival, is expanding its presence around Turkey’s borders — in Syria to the south, in Crimea and Ukraine to the north, and in Armenia to the east. On Saturday, Russia’s Defense Ministry announced the deployment of a new batch of fighter jets and combat helicopters to an air base outside the Armenian capital, Yerevan, 25 miles from the Turkish border.


    The Turks should have allowed the 4th ID to land and traverse their country, that they did not, put them on the wrong side of the divide. Payback can be a long time in coming, as Colonel Q found out.
    But payback is a medivac, make no mistake about that...

    https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/turkeys-increasingly-desperate-predicament-poses-real-dangers/2016/02/20/a3374030-d593-11e5-a65b-587e721fb231_story.html

    ReplyDelete
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    1. Blowback from the Syrian war in the form of a string of suicide bombings in Istanbul and Ankara, most recently on Wednesday, has brought fear to Turkish streets and dampened the vital tourist industry.

      The collapse of a peace process with Turkey’s Kurds has plunged the southeast of the country into war between Kurds and the Turkish military just as Syrian Kurds carve out their own proto-state in territories adjacent to Turkey’s border.

      The economy is in the doldrums, hit by fears of instability and by sanctions from Moscow targeting such goods and revenue sources as Turkish tomatoes and tourism in retaliation for the downing of a Russian plane in November.
      ...
      “Turkey is facing a multifaceted catastrophe,” said Gokhan Bacik, professor of international relations at Ankara’s Ipek University. “This is a country that has often had problems in the past, but the scale of what is happening now is beyond Turkey’s capacity for digestion.”

      A rift with the United States, Turkey’s closest and most vital ally, over the status of the main Syrian Kurdish militia, the People’s Protection Units (YPG), has further exposed Turkey’s vulnerability.

      A demand by President Recep Tayyep Erdogan that Washington choose between NATO ally Turkey and the YPG, its main Syrian ally in the fight against the Islamic State, was rebuffed by the State Department this month, despite Turkish allegations that the YPG had carried out the bombing in Ankara.

      Delete

    2. On Saturday, Turkey dug in, demanding unconditional support from the United States. “The only thing we expect from our U.S. ally is to support Turkey with no ifs or buts,” Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu told journalists in Ankara.

      Turkey now stands completely isolated, trapped in a maze of quandaries that are partly of its own making, said Soli Ozel, professor of international relations at Istanbul’s Kadir Has University.

      “It has so alienated everyone it cannot convince anyone to do anything,” he said. “It is a country whose words no longer carry any weight. It bluffs but does not deliver. It cannot protect its vital interests, and it is at odds with everyone, including its allies.

      “For a country that was until very recently seen as a consequential regional power, these facts strike me as quite disastrous,” he added.

      Delete

  9. NEW DELHI — Hundreds of Indian security forces imposed a curfew and were ordered to fire without warning in a bid to quell protests by members of an underprivileged community demanding government benefits in a northern state, where at least six people have died in clashes, officials said.

    The violence raged for a second straight day Saturday and protesters burned several railroad stations and attacked shops and vehicles in several towns in Haryana state, said police officer Y.P. Singhal.

    Protesters also blocked highways linking New Delhi to key northern cities, he said, adding that authorities ordered police to fire without warning at those instigating violence.

    The protesters are members of the lower-caste Jat agricultural community, who are demanding benefits both at the federal and state levels, including guaranteed government jobs or university spots. Talks Friday between community leaders and state government representatives failed to lead to an agreement.

    Authorities used helicopters to bring in army soldiers to the worst-hit districts of Rohtak, Bhiwani and Jhajjar, where curfews were in place, Singhal said. Five more towns were put under curfew later Saturday to prevent the violence from spreading.


    Bad form to have the military fire on civilians without warning.
    Not up to the NATO standard, not at all.

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    1. https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/6-dead-in-protests-for-caste-benefits-in-northern-india/2016/02/20/a6bc0364-d839-11e5-a65b-587e721fb231_story.html

      Delete
  10. .

    What can you expect from a country of 1.2 billion that has legalized and institutionalized a caste system?

    What can you say about a country that establishes a mandated spoils system within that caste system?

    Not cool.

    .

    ReplyDelete
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    1. .

      Hardly living up to the Western ideals.

      .

      Delete
    2. If Quirk were to visit India with me I'd try to get him some help under the Other Backward Classes clauses. I'd explain to them that he grew up deprived in the environs of vicious Detroit, Michigan, took to drinking and driving and was fleeing the violence there and was trying to turn his life around. They would understand and offer aid.

      **Affirmative action

      Article 15 of the Constitution of India prohibits discrimination based on caste and Article 17 declared the practice of untouchability to be illegal.[292] In 1955, India enacted the Untouchability (Offences) Act (renamed in 1976, as the Protection of Civil Rights Act). It extended the reach of law, from intent to mandatory enforcement. The Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act was passed in India in 1989.[293]
      The National Commission for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes was established to investigate, monitor, advise, and evaluate the socio-economic progress of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.[294]**

      **Other Backward Classes (OBC)

      The Mandal Commission covered more than 3000 castes under Other Backward Class (OBC) category, regardless of their affluence or economic status and stated that OBCs form around 52% of the Indian population. However, the National Sample Survey puts the figure at 32%.[286][287] There is substantial debate over the exact number of OBCs in India; it is generally estimated to be sizable, but many believe that it is lower than the figures quoted by either the Mandal Commission or the National Sample Survey.[288]

      The reservation system has led to widespread protests, such as the 2006 Indian anti-reservation protests, with many complaining of reverse discrimination against the Forward Castes (the castes that do not qualify for the reservation).**


      As for General 'Memorial Day' rats'ass, I'd have him sent to northern Pakistan where he would feel most at home.

      Delete
    3. QuirkSun Feb 21, 12:17:00 AM EST

      .

      What can you expect from a country of 1.2 billion that has legalized and institutionalized a caste system?
      ****

      Affirmative action

      Article 15 of the Constitution of India prohibits discrimination based on caste and Article 17 declared the practice of untouchability to be illegal.[292] In 1955, India enacted the Untouchability (Offences) Act (renamed in 1976, as the Protection of Civil Rights Act). It extended the reach of law, from intent to mandatory enforcement

      Delete
    4. The reality, "Counterfeit Bob" is that the Indian government has sent its Army to keep the illegal caste system in place, in violation of Article 15 of its own Constitution.

      Bad Form

      The government of India is shooting, without warning, the protesters that demand that Article 15 of the Constitution of India be enforced.

      Bad Form

      Some Chicken Hawks say that the government of India is worthy of US troops fighting and dying in its defense.

      Bad Form

      Delete
  11. Reply button did not work:

    AshSat Feb 20, 09:35:00 PM EST
    Maybe, just maybe, Kasich will hold on to prevail...

    Reply:

    Maybe Mr. Heinz will birth "Kasich's Ketchup" for lovers of white bread and Kraft Macaroni and Cheese.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Maybe, Mr. Kasich will hire Ash as his campaign manager and he will sweep to the nomination, just maybe.

      Delete
    2. The triumvirate of Trump, Cruz, and Rubio is appalling. Kasich only looks good in comparison.

      Delete
    3. Maybe that's why you now live in the great nation of Canada?

      Delete
    4. I certainly think the current crop of POTUS wannabes is abysmal and reflects poorly on The United States of America.

      Delete
    5. In comparison to the Criminal Clinton and the Communist Bernie they all look GREAT.

      As an expat living in Canada I think you reflex poorly on the USA, dissing our Republican Party.

      Delete
    6. Heck, even "the party" dislike Trump and the other top two running are religious nut jobs.

      Delete
  12. We landed under sniper fire arf arf arf, cough, cough, cough.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rZHO1vo762c

    ReplyDelete
  13. Bullets were flying through my hair !!

    ReplyDelete
  14. I just bought this classic Fuldamobil!

    http://bringatrailer.com/listing/1959-fkf-king-fuldamobil/

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Young beauties were begging for me to "give them a ride."

      I knew then my investment was sound.

      Delete
    2. That was then, Doug, this is now

      http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/2014/oct/02/elio-car-three-wheels-and-shoestring/

      The Elio weighs just 1,200 pounds, less than half the heft of a Honda Civic. A narrow cockpit, just wide enough for the driver and a tandem rear passenger, dramatically reduces air resistance. A small trunk accommodates a flight-sized carry-on bag, or a duffel with the rear seat folded down.

      Sales staff call it a handy second or third car, to complement a family sedan, minivan or SUV. At a base price of $6,800, they say, the Elio quickly pays for itself in fuel savings and by keeping mileage off primary family vehicles.

      “We’ve got 35,000 (purchase) reservations that speak to the excitement level and that’s without any TV advertising,” said Jerome Vassallo, vice president of sales. “You don’t have to oversell a $6,800 car.”

      Delete
  15. Not quite the carpet bombing that "Counterfeit Bob" has advocated for, but still, he should be celebrating, today.

    6 Killed, 2 Injured in Shootings in Kalamazoo, Michigan

    Death on a smaller scale than "Counterfeit Bob" was pining for, but still, the dead are piling up,

    Idaho Bob Thu Jan 14, 05:57:00 PM EST

    I'm for carpet bombing Detroit and environs as a necessary precursor to urban renewal.

    "To destroy is to create" saith the Lord of Hosts and Urban Renewal.



    Six lives snuffed out, six families destroyed, "Counterfeit Bob" rejoices.

    ReplyDelete
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    1. You rejoice when Jews are stabbed....

      Delete

    2. Please provide one instance where that has been written.
      One instance where I called for any Jew to be killed.

      You cannot do it, it has never occurred.

      You are projecting once again, "O"rdure

      {;-)

      Delete
    3. Tongue in check, I do it all the time.

      Relax, rat's ass, take a med and go back to your hole.

      Delete

  16. U.S Special Forces operating in Syria have obtained considerable evidence of widespread Turkish involvement in support of Islamic State.

    The most recent, well publicized example, resulted from a raid on the compound of the Islamic State's finance chief, Abu Sayyaf, in May 2015. The raid led to the death of Sayyaf, the capture of his wife, Umm Sayyaf, and the recovery of a cache of documents and computers which, according to intelligence sources, indicate that the Turkish Intelligence Agency, MIT, was fully aware of the Islamic State's smuggling operations, the Turkish companies participating and may even have facilitated the smuggling.


    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/joseph-v-micallef/the-enemy-of-my-enemy-rus_b_9282978.html

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    1. For Washington, the "loss" of the YPK and the SDF would deprive it of the one ground force that has proven to be effective against the Islamic State.

      It would also deprive U.S. air forces of the one role, close ground support, where it has proven to be most effective.

      Delete

    2. Turkish foreign policy is in shambles. Erdogan's attempt to position Turkey as the leader of the Sunni world is failing. Instead Turkey finds itself in a growing conflict with Russia, a conflict that if Turkey invades Syria could erupt into a direct military clash between the two countries. Such a clash could well, according to Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev "draw everybody in" and might lead "to a new world war." The latter is a bit of an exaggeration, but the prospect of broader fighting is a very real threat.

      Ankara's ambivalence in fighting the Islamic State, and its single-minded determination to prevent the creation of an autonomous Kurdish state in Syria, is bringing it increasingly into conflict with the United States. In addition, Turkey's inability to stem the tide of Syrian refugees, at the very least, those that are transiting Turkey's frontiers, is bringing it into conflict with the European Union.

      By aligning itself with the Syrian Kurds, while simultaneous supporting Syrian armed forces against the Free Syrian Army and the various Islamist organizations in the civil war, Russia is singlehandedly changing the reality on the ground in Syria.



      The Russians doing what the US could and should have done in the battle against the Islamic State.

      Delete
    3. The Obama administration pursued a policy in Libya back in 2011 that ultimately allowed guns to walk into the hands of jihadists linked to the Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL) and al-Qaeda (AQ) in Syria, according to a former CIA officer who co-authored a report on behalf of the Citizen’s Commission on Benghazi (CCB), detailing the gun running scheme.

      http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2015/11/30/benghazi-commission-obama-admin-gun-running-scheme-armed-islamic-state/

      Delete

  17. Syrian Army, Backed by Russia, Iran and Hezbollah, Retakes 18 Villages From ISIS Near Aleppo


    Regime forces advance extends their control of road leading to ISIS-stronghold Raqqa.


    Syria's army and allies, backed by Russian air strikes, recaptured 18 villages from Islamic State fighters in eastern Aleppo province on Saturday, a monitoring group said.

    The advance extended their control of parts of a road running towards the jihadist group's stronghold of Raqqa, and built on gains made in assaults that intensified sharply earlier this month.

    Damascus's offensive, drawing heavily on Russian air cover and ground support from Lebanese Hezbollah and Iranian fighters, has brought the Syrian army to within 25 km (15 miles) of Turkey's border.


    http://www.haaretz.com/middle-east-news/1.704423

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Syrian Army, Backed by Russia, Iran and Hezbollah have killed in excess of 360,000 civilians and created over 12 million refugees. This includes killing over 12,000 palestinians....

      Will wonders ever cease

      Delete
    2. At least 46 people have been killed in a double car bombing in the Syrian city of Homs, a monitoring group has said.
      Most of the dead appear to be civilians, according to the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
      It is not yet clear who was behind the bombing but the so-called Islamic State (IS) has targeted the area in the past.
      At least four explosions were also later heard in the southern Damascus suburb of Sayyida Zeinab, the Observatory said.


      http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-35624654



      So now the ISIS side kills....

      Delete
    3. Now things are getting fun...

      Saudi Arabia halts $4B in Lebanese deals over Iran dispute

      BEIRUT (AP) — Saudi Arabia announced on Friday it is halting deals worth $4 billion aimed at equipping and supporting Lebanese security forces in retaliation for the tiny country's siding with Iran amid the Sunni kingdom's spat with the Shiite power.

      The surprise announcement, carried by the state-run Saudi Press Agency, comes as deeply divided Lebanon struggles to handle the fallout from neighboring Syria's raging civil war. The Lebanese prime minister said his government "deeply regretted" the Saudi decision adding that this is a sovereign matter for the kingdom.

      "We did not want the matter to reach what contradicts that nature of historic relations between Lebanon and the country of the two shrines (Saudi Arabia)," read a statement released by Prime Minister Tammam Salam's office. "We are keen on keeping the relations brotherly and friendly."

      One deal involves a four-year, $3 billion Saudi pledge to buy French arms for the Lebanese military, which already has seen the Mediterranean country receive modern anti-tank guided Milan missiles last year. The other involves a $1 billion support deal for the Lebanese police.

      http://bigstory.ap.org/urn:publicid:ap.org:c77c5f28bdcf4b07ac77b8c7986c52cc

      Delete
  18. Very nice website and articles. I will be realy very pleased to visit your website. Now I am found that we actually want. I check your website everyday and attempt to learn something from a blog. Thank you and looking forward to your new submit.

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    ReplyDelete
  19. Ah, notice the Leader of the Hamas calls for the removal of JEWS (not Israelis) from all the land

    Senior Hamas leader Mahmoud Al-Zahar vowed on Saturday to remove all the Jews from “Palestine”.

    Al-Zahar’s comments, quoted by Hamas’s Palestine newspaper, came at a ceremony in memory of a Hamas terrorist who was killed in one of the recent collapses of Hamas’s terror tunnels.

    He said that the struggle to liberate “Palestine” would not be stopped by borders and barbed wire fences.

    Al-Zahar praised "the young people who are standing in front of tanks holding a rock and a knife” before declaring, "We will remove the Jews from our land; this is a divine promise that will take place."

    At the same ceremony, a representative of Hamas’s so-called “military wing”, the Al-Qassam Brigades, said that the "struggle is the only way and the most appropriate way to liberate Palestine and dispose of its occupier.”

    http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/207972#.VsnaEse6xpq

    To deny that Jews have every right to live there is racist. To advocate the murder of every Jew? Well that's just Hawkinisic

    ReplyDelete
    Replies

    1. To advocate the murder of every Jew?



      You are projecting, once again, "O"rdure.

      Delete
    2. Hardy Jack "I hate the Jews" Hawkins.

      You have made your position clear, hundreds of times.

      Now you seem ashamed of them?

      Tsk tsk...

      jack we all KNOW you hatred of Jews, Israel, Zionism and Judaism....

      Doth protest to much....

      Delete

    3. I don't hate

      I do despise Fascists, like you and your Zionist regime.

      Delete
  20. Military reinforcements arrived in Fallujah, security forces prepare to storm the city

    (IraqiNews.com) Anbar – The Command of al-Hashed al-Shaabi in Anbar Province announced on Sunday the arrival of military reinforcements from Baghdad in the outskirts of the city of Fallujah (62 km west of Baghdad) in preparation to storm the city, while emphasized that the troops are waiting to start the battle of liberation.

    Jumaili said in a press statement obtained by IraqiNews.com, “The combat and military forces began to deploy its troops and snipers on the front berms, as well as deploying tanks, armor and artillery units,” pointing out that, “These forces are waiting for the final orders to start the liberation battle of Fallujah from the so-called ISIS.”

    Jumaili added, “The security forces from the army, police and tribal fighters worked on establishing a berm in the regions of al-Kayfiya and Shihabi that extends to seven kilometers, in order to separate and isolate ISIS areas in al-Karma east of Fallujah.”

    “The security forces advanced into a depth of 5 km in the center of al-Karma District, and deployed security detachments in those areas,” Jumaili continued.

    Iraqinews

    ReplyDelete
  21. Airstrikes in Syria

    Attack, fighter, and remotely piloted aircraft conducted 18 airstrikes in Syria:

    -- Near Hasakah, nine strikes struck eight separate ISIL tactical units and destroyed an ISIL fighting position, six ISIL buildings, and an ISIL vehicle.

    -- Near Hawl, five strikes struck five separate ISIL tactical units and destroyed an ISIL vehicle and two ISIL structures.

    -- Near Raqqah, a strike destroyed an ISIL vehicle.

    -- Near Dayr Az Zawr, two strikes destroyed an ISIL culvert bridge and two ISIL-used logistics routes.

    -- Near Manbij, a strike struck an ISIL tactical unit.

    Airstrikes in Iraq

    Coalition forces, using rocket artillery and fighter, attack, and remotely piloted aircraft, conducted 20 airstrikes in Iraq, coordinated with and in support of the Iraqi government:

    -- Near Baghdadi, three strikes struck an ISIL tactical unit and destroyed four ISIL supply caches, an ISIL mortar system, 16 ISIL rocket rails, an ISIL weapons cache, and an ISIL vehicle.

    -- Near Habbaniyah, a strike struck an ISIL tactical unit and destroyed an ISIL fighting position.

    -- Near Hit, two strikes struck an ISIL weapons production facility and destroyed an ISIL vehicle.

    -- Near Mosul, 10 strikes struck an ISIL tactical unit, an ISIL logistical facility, an ISIL fuel storage location, an ISIL mortar booster factory, an ISIL explosive factory, and an ISIL vehicle bomb factory; suppressed an ISIL mortar position and an ISIL heavy machine gun position; and destroyed nine ISIL assembly areas, an ISIL fighting position and two ISIL command and control nodes.

    -- Near Qayyarah, two strikes destroyed an ISIL vehicle and an ISIL assembly area.

    -- Near Ramadi, a strike destroyed an ISIL vehicle and two ISIL fighting positions.

    -- Near Sinjar, a strike destroyed two ISIL fighting positions and suppressed an ISIL rocket position.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. More Sunni Arabs bombed by us, the USA...

      Changing hearts and minds? Eh?

      Might I suggest we build geo-thermic heat exchanges instead?

      the cost benefit is much greater.

      the sooner we devalue oil to under 12 a barrel? the better.

      Delete
    2. Out here in Idaho there is talk of building six or eight or maybe more small nuclear reactors, and, the idea might go somewhere....

      Delete
  22. Glenn Beck Calls A Fast For Ted Cruz

    Following Donald Trump’s victory in the South Carolina GOP primary, talk radio host Glenn Beck urged his Facebook followers to join him and his family “in a fast for Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), our country and the Nevada caucus.”

    “I would like to ask you to join me and my family Monday in a fast for Ted Cruz, our country and the Nevada caucus,” Beck wrote on his Facebook page after the South Carolina election results showed a decisive double-digit victory for Trump, whose candidacy Beck has been staunchly opposed to....

    http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2016/02/21/glenn-beck-responds-to-sc-primary-results-join-me-in-a-fast-for-ted-cruz/

    I can't recall another instance of this in our politics - calling for a fast because one's favorite candidate lost.

    Glenn's slipping.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Slipped into a galactic black hole and spatially reduced to a flux of incoherence.

      Delete
  23. .

    ...The Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act was passed in India in 1989.[293]
    The National Commission for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes was established to investigate, monitor, advise, and evaluate the socio-economic progress of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.[294]**...


    And Idaho Bob goes on ad nauseum trying to defend that which is indefensible by citing more and more evidence of the following

    What can you expect from a country of 1.2 billion that has legalized and institutionalized a caste system?

    And his argument seems to be classification and discrimination are all right as long as you institute affirmative action to assure them a certain number of jobs.

    .

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It's a big country, Quirk, very ancient, much rural.

      You said: What can you expect from a country of 1.2 billion that has legalized and institutionalized a caste system?

      The truth is just the opposite. They are trying to get rid of it. They are/have putting/put in place affirmative action programs for those who have been casted in the past.

      As for your ad nauseum, I made one comment, and now with this, two, and you brought it up.

      The place of women in Hindu society needs a lot of work too. Not as bad as in mooselim lands by any means, but the women remain somewhat subordinate.

      Chill.

      How did you get on the subject in the first place ? When the topic of the day is all USA politics ?

      Delete
    2. I think you'd do better spending your time by getting out there and cleaning up Detroit, stopping the drug trade, providing jogs, since the Democrats certainly aren't doing it.

      You've got something of a caste system going right there, in your own neighborhoods.

      Delete

    3. Idaho Bob Thu Jan 14, 05:57:00 PM EST

      I'm for carpet bombing Detroit and environs as a necessary precursor to urban renewal.

      "To destroy is to create" saith the Lord of Hosts and Urban Renewal.

      Delete

    4. Why do you not feel the same disdain for India, "Counterfeit Bob" ?

      Nor recommend the same prescription?

      Delete
    5. Caste originally was something of an employment system.

      These people do this, those people do that.

      Like a medieval European village.

      If such a system were in force today in USA, Quirk's son, for instance, would be in advertising, striving to induce people to pay too much for things they don't really need, my son would be farming, providing food for the masses.

      Delete

    6. So you are saying that India has a medieval culture, for once we agree, "Counterfeit Bob"

      Delete

    7. Medieval cultures do not qualify for mandatory US protection under Article 5 of the NATO Charter.

      Get your head out of your ass, "Counterfeit Bob".

      Delete
    8. Because India is slowly changing, rat's ass hole, for the better, and there is zero I can do about any of it anyway.

      It's like asking you to go away and leave me alone, and knock off the stalking, you psycho.

      Not going to happen, so the best to do is try to ignore as much as possible.

      Why do you feel no disdain for your pals in Hamas where women are worth 1/2 a man ?

      Oh, wait, I know why. Because the women can't flee from an impossible situation, and your wife wouldn't have been able to high tail it south after 'dropping the kid' in USA.

      You are stalking again, Dead Beat Dad Stalker.

      Delete
  24. .

    The truth is just the opposite. They are trying to get rid of it. They are/have putting/put in place affirmative action programs for those who have been casted in the past.

    Nonsense, they are not trying to get rid of it. The laws you mentioned merely try to ameliorate the discrimination and abuses inherent is such a system.

    .

    ReplyDelete
  25. .

    As for your ad nauseum, I made one comment, and now with this, two, and you brought it up.

    The ad nauseum comment referred to your rote cut and paste of various laws that you pulled from wiki.

    .

    ReplyDelete
  26. .

    How did you get on the subject in the first place ? When the topic of the day is all USA politics ?


    I was responding to rat's post directly above mine. Can't you even follow the flow of a discussion? What do you do jump around from post to post without even trying to understand the continuity? If so, that explains a lot.

    .

    ReplyDelete
  27. .

    You've got something of a caste system going right there, in your own neighborhoods.

    Once again, you prove your ignorance of the difference between class and caste.

    .

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I well know the difference.

      And there ain't much difference in some situations.

      Delete
  28. .


    The NSA’s SKYNET program may be killing thousands of innocent people

    "Ridiculously optimistic" machine learning algorithm is "completely bullshit," says expert.

    n 2014, the former director of both the CIA and NSA proclaimed that "we kill people based on metadata." Now, a new examination of previously published Snowden documents suggests that many of those people may have been innocent.

    Last year, The Intercept published documents detailing the NSA's SKYNET programme. According to the documents, SKYNET engages in mass surveillance of Pakistan's mobile phone network, and then uses a machine learning algorithm on the cellular network metadata of 55 million people to try and rate each person's likelihood of being a terrorist.

    Patrick Ball—a data scientist and the director of research at the Human Rights Data Analysis Group—who has previously given expert testimony before war crimes tribunals, described the NSA's methods as "ridiculously optimistic" and "completely bullshit." A flaw in how the NSA trains SKYNET's machine learning algorithm to analyse cellular metadata, Ball told Ars, makes the results scientifically unsound.

    Somewhere between 2,500 and 4,000 people have been killed by drone strikes in Pakistan since 2004, and most of them were classified by the US government as "extremists," the Bureau of Investigative Journalism reported. Based on the classification date of "20070108" on one of the SKYNET slide decks (which themselves appear to date from 2011 and 2012), the machine learning program may have been in development as early as 2007.

    In the years that have followed, thousands of innocent people in Pakistan may have been mislabelled as terrorists by that "scientifically unsound" algorithm, possibly resulting in their untimely demise...


    .

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. .

      Given the complete set of metadata, SKYNET pieces together people's typical daily routines—who travels together, have shared contacts, stay overnight with friends, visit other countries, or move permanently. Overall, the slides indicate, the NSA machine learning algorithm uses more than 80 different properties to rate people on their terroristiness.

      The program, the slides tell us, is based on the assumption that the behaviour of terrorists differs significantly from that of ordinary citizens with respect to some of these properties. However, as The Intercept's exposé last year made clear, the highest rated target according to this machine learning program was Ahmad Zaidan, Al-Jazeera's long-time bureau chief in Islamabad.

      The highest scoring selector who travelled to Peshawar and Lahore is "PROB AHMED ZAIDAN", Al-Jazeera's long-time bureau chief in Islamabad.


      As The Intercept reported, Zaidan frequently travels to regions with known terrorist activity in order to interview insurgents and report the news. But rather than questioning the machine learning that produced such a bizarre result, the NSA engineers behind the algorithm instead trumpeted Zaidan as an example of a SKYNET success in their in-house presentation, including a slide that labelled Zaidan as a "MEMBER OF AL-QA'IDA."



      And these are the morons that are demanding that Apple give them a back door to customers phones.

      .

      Delete
    2. .

      The article on Skynet is pretty long so I won't print it all; but it does go into the flaws in the system, the false positives, and the potential deaths of innocents that could result from using it. However, just as important is an issue noted in another article on the same subject.


      http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/feb/21/death-from-above-nia-csa-skynet-algorithm-drones-pakistan


      "...Well, in April 2014, at a symposium at Johns Hopkins University, General Michael Hayden, a former director of both the CIA and the NSA, said this: “We kill people based on metadata”. He then qualified that stark assertion by reassuring the audience that the US government doesn’t kill American citizens on the basis of their metadata. They only kill foreigners..."


      If that statement doesn't point to the complete amorality of the people running these programs, I don't know what would.



      .


      Delete
    3. Just get the idea that a false positive is something negative out of your head.

      Delete
    4. .

      Hey, Doug.

      Go fuck yourself.

      .

      Delete
    5. Jeez, I thought I was being funny.

      Just another Dick to some, I guess.

      Delete
  29. QUOTE OF THE DAY

    Hillary Clinton has made over $100 million giving speeches with her so called husband. Her daughter is married to a Hedge Fund guy living in a multi million dollar Manhattan home, BUT Hillary is fighting for the little guy.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Jesus, that poor Hedge Fund guy. All those wonderful women out there and he got himself stuck with Chelsea.

      Delete
  30. ALL MAJOR MEDIA, ISRAELI FIRSTERS AND THE NEOCONS ARE AGAINST TRUMP

    If elected, the Donald won’t owe them anything.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yet Trump has great relations with normal Jews. It should be interesting on how that voting goes.

      Delete
    2. The Neocons thought they owned The Evangelists.

      Delete
    3. And you might wet yourself when he calls the palestinians a savage death cult.

      :)

      Delete
  31. Jimmy Carter has endorsed The Donald, among the Republicans.

    Says he has no positions on anything, hasn't tied himself down, room to maneuver....

    heh

    We go from slogan to slogan - Hope 'n Change to Make America Great Again

    TrusTed is not a good slogan.

    When was the last time you trusted someone who said "Trust me"?

    Jeb! sucked.

    May the best slogan win !

    ReplyDelete
  32. I don't like the idea of someone saying they might appoint their sister to the Supreme Court. If that's what The Donald said.

    ReplyDelete
  33. New Polish government brands Lech Walesa a traitor.....Drudge

    I don't much follow Polish politics, but this seems odd.

    Hopefully Quirk can clarify.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. .

      Like many countries in Europe, Poland is moving right. However, in that country, it's not just the people it is also the government.

      .

      Delete
    2. Well they ought to knock it off. Lech put his ass on the line.

      Delete
  34. The Bettors give Trump a 49% chance of getting the nomination, but only a 15% Chance of winning the Presidency.

    Predictwise

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The Bettors, early on, were giving Jeb! an 80% chance of getting the nomination.

      Delete
  35. Deuce ☂Sun Feb 21, 03:49:00 PM EST
    Yet Trump has great relations with normal Jews. It should be interesting on how that voting goes.

    Normal?

    Is that the Jews that you approve of that share you belief that Jews should not be 1st class citizens?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. No, normal Jews know who they are and what they are. They don’t have to make daily assertions that they are the best.

      Delete
    2. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

      Delete

  36. Show This Column to Anyone Who Claims Bush Lied about WMDs in Iraq

    John Hawkins | Feb 21, 2016


    Throughout the Bush years, liberals repeated “Bush lied, people died” like a mantra. That slander wasn’t true then and it’s not anymore true now that it has resurfaced. There are many legitimate criticisms of the way the Bush Administration conducted the war in Iraq and even more of the way Obama threw away all the blood and treasure we spent there for the sake of politics, but you have to be malicious or just an imbecile at this point to accuse Bush of lying about WMDs.


    To begin with, numerous foreign intelligence agencies also believed that Saddam Hussein had an active WMD program. The "intelligence agencies of Germany, Israel, Russia, Britain, China and France" all believed Saddam had WMDs. CIA Director George Tenet also rather famously said that it was a “slam dunk” that there were weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.


    Incidentally, it’s hard to fault the CIA for their conclusions when even, “In private conversations that were intercepted by U.S. intelligence, Iraqi officials spoke as if Saddam continued to possess WMD. Even Iraqi generals believed he did. In the fall of 2002, the Iraqi military conducted exercises in chemical protective gear – but not because they thought the U.S.-led coalition was going to use chemical weapons.”


    Additionally, many prominent Democrats who had access to the same intelligence that George Bush did came to the same conclusion and said so publicly. If George W. Bush lied, then by default you have to also believe that Bill Clinton, Hillary Clinton, Al Gore, John Kerry, John Edwards, Robert Byrd, Tom Daschle, Nancy Pelosi and Bernie Sanders also lied. Some of them, like Hillary Clinton, even alleged that Saddam was working on nuclear weapons.



    “In the four years since the inspectors left, intelligence reports show that Saddam Hussein has worked to rebuild his chemical and biological weapons stock, his missile delivery capability, and his nuclear program. He has also given aid, comfort, and sanctuary to terrorists, including Al Qaeda members, though there is apparently no evidence of his involvement in the terrible events of September 11, 2001. It is clear, however, that if left unchecked, Saddam Hussein will continue to increase his capacity to wage biological and chemical warfare, and will keep trying to develop nuclear weapons. Should he succeed in that endeavor, he could alter the political and security landscape of the Middle East, which as we know all too well affects American security.” — Hillary Clinton, October 10, 2002


    Even Bernie Sanders, who opposed the war from the beginning, publicly said he believed that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction.....

    http://townhall.com/columnists/johnhawkins/2016/02/21/show-this-column-to-anyone-who-claims-bush-lied-about-wmds-in-iraq-n2122278/page/full

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. And, ho hum, yawn -

      Latest Hillary emails show her private support for trade deals she publicly opposed

      posted at 12:31 pm on February 21, 2016 by Jazz Shaw

      http://hotair.com/archives/2016/02/21/latest-hillary-emails-show-her-private-support-for-trade-deals-she-publicly-opposed/

      Delete
    2. .

      Bush lied.

      Bush is a willful idiot.

      Bush is the dumbest president to hold office.

      Bush's played a large part in moving the US from the status of lone hyper-power in the world to that of a clumsy bull in a china shop.

      I'm not sure which Bush would want for his legacy.

      .

      Delete
    3. .

      And what would anyone expect Hillary to say? She is as big a war-monger as any of the neocons.

      .

      Delete
  37. Let's just call Trump what he is: The Candidate for "White Guys Pissed Off at Their Shrinking Political Power"

    or,

    The Candidate for Racist Assholes

    ReplyDelete
  38. You really are an old fool.

    ReplyDelete
  39. Updated at 5:08 p.m.: Where to start? Writing about a Donald Trump speech is like trying to describe the whiplash that comes with a roller coaster ride. Ninety-degree turns in the middle of a dependent clause, trains of thoughts that dart into tunnels and never return.

    Here’s an attempt:

    “The only category I do badly in is my personality. But that’s okay.”


    Going Dark

    ReplyDelete
  40. Hey, Paul:
    Perhaps you'd be more effective with your criticisms of Trump by including links like this:

    Did Donald Trump Run a Scam University?

    In June 2009, Richard and Shelly Hewson paid the Trump Entrepreneur Initiative, an educational venture owned by businessman and now–presidential candidate Donald Trump, $21,490 for classes that promised to teach them how to flip homes for profit. They ponied up the high price “because we had faith in Donald Trump,”
    (Even the Donald couldn't pry $21,490 from many of us, I'd think.)
    A class-action lawsuit in California and an ongoing civil suit brought by New York allege that Trump University defrauded up to 5,000 students.
    ---
    This sounds like it might be worth it:
    "But instead of getting a personal lesson from Trump, both cases claim, those who signed up got to take a picture with a cardboard cutout of him — and then, the “faculty” allegedly subjected them to another sales pitch, aimed at persuading attendees to sign up for a $34,995 “Gold Elite Program,” which they said would include special training, mentorship, and access to alternative financing sources for real-estate deals." :-)

    http://www.nationalreview.com/article/421236/donald-trump-university-scam-candidate-2016

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Trump is a huckster???? Oh noooooòooo...

      Delete
  41. We're Fucked.

    ...but you already knew that.

    ReplyDelete
  42. Sorry, I copied that from a post at belmon, w/o removing "Paul"

    Why doesn't Deuce force Google to allow edits? :-)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sorry Hula-Head, they no longer accept my calls.
      : )

      Delete
  43. Republican presidential frontrunner Donald Trump had an unusual moment during his Sunday-afternoon rally in Atlanta, Georgia.

    As he spoke, the lights suddenly turned off and left the stage in darkness. But it didn’t phase the reality-television star.

    Without missing a beat, Trump used the opportunity to take a shot at reporters covering the event.

    “They didn’t pay the electric bill,” Trump said. “Oh, I like that much better.

    ReplyDelete
  44. RESPONSE TO THIS STORY IN WAPO:

    The U.S. Air force’s lumbering swing-wing bomber, the B-1B Lancer, is taking a back seat in the air campaign against the Islamic State.

    Lt. Gen. Charles Q. Brown, commander of the Air Force’s Central Command, told reporters Thursday that the B-1s had been redeployed back to the United States for scheduled upgrades to the aircraft’s cockpits.




    Fixer Dave
    2/20/2016 3:25 AM EST
    6th...

    http://www.blackfive.net/main/2006/01/special_forc...

    So we are up in the mountains at about 0100 hrs looking for a bad guy that we thought was in the area. Here are ten of us, pitch black, crystal clear night, about 25 degrees. We know there are bad guys in the area; a few shots have been fired but no big deal. We decide that we need air cover and the only thing in the area is a solo B-1 bomber. He flies around at about 20,000 feet and tells us there is nothing in the area. He then asks if we would like a low level show of force.

    Stupid question. Of course we tell him yes.

    The controller who is attached to the team then is heard talking to the pilot. Pilot asks if we want it subsonic or supersonic.

    Very stupid question.

    Pilot advises he is twenty miles out and stand by. The controller gets us all sitting down in a line and points out the proper location.

    You have to picture this. Pitch black, ten killers sitting down,dead quiet and overlooking this about 30 mile long valley. All of a sudden, way out (below our level) you see a set of four 200' white flames coming at us.

    The controller says, "Ah-- guys-- you might want to plug your ears".

    Faster than you can think a B-1, supersonic, 1000' over our heads, blasts the sound barrier and it feels like God just hit you in the head with ahammer". He then stands it straight up with 4 white trails of flame coming out and disappears."

    Cost of gas for that: Probably $50,000

    Hearing damage: For certain

    Bunch of Taliban thinking twice about shooting at us: Priceless

    ....

    Yeah... lumbering Wink

    Can’t verify the story, but the capabilities are well within scope.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Israel did that with F16's in 2003 over Assad's summer palace

      Maybe they should have just bombed him


      F-16 Fighting Falcon News

      Israeli F-16s buzz Syrian president's palace as warning to Syria

      August 18, 2003 (by Stefaan Vanhastel) - Israeli F-16s buzzed the summer residence of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad early on Aug. 11th, as a warning that Israel holds Damascus responsible for the recent flare-up on its northern border.

      AddThis Feed Button


      Israel sent F-16s over different parts of Syria and Lebanon as a warning sign to Syria. The F-16 planes flew at a low altitude, evading Syrian air defence systems, and arrived back at base without incident.

      According to the Israeli Air Force, F-16s flew low for several minutes over Assad's summer residence in Latakia in northern Syria, after easily getting through the country's radar defenses. The F-16s broke the sound barrier over Latakia as well as over Beirut in Lebanon.
      Israel has attacked Syrian radar stations in Lebanon once since the IDF's withdrawal from the country three years ago.

      According to Syria, no evidence has emerged to support the Israeli claim that fighter jets flew a low-level supersonic run over the residence of Syrian President Bashar Assad in Latakia.

      http://www.f-16.net/f-16-news-article821.html

      Delete
    2. The guys from Lemoore NAS used their Phantoms to do that to us poor hippie farmers in our little canyon.

      Delete
    3. On our way back from a Westpac, on the Connie, we stopped in Pearl Harbor for a week. They had a 'Family Cruise' (forget what they called it now) from Pearl Harbor back to San Diego where we could take a member from our family. 7 days. I took my 14-year old kid brother. They had an air show in the middle of the Pacific. Everyone up on the flight deck. They had an F-14 fly-by, only it was a lot closer than 1,000'. More like about 500' above and 500' in front. Supersonic.

      The guy over the PA says, 'Ok, everyone, plug your ears.' Looking out in the distance, all you could see was a speck and then all of a sudden, right there in front of you and BOOM!. Same thing, goes by and immediately stands it up. Out of distance in a hurry. My brother and I were like, 'Do it again! Do it again!'.

      Delete
    4. I've been to Lemoore. Stayed a week. Learning F-18 computer systems.

      Delete
  45. The South Waziristan region of Pakistan is remote and rugged, with hot summers and freezing winters. Men dress in traditional smocks and turbans, and women are considered second-class citizens.

    ...

    And for as long as 25-year-old Maria Toorpakai Wazir can remember, it has been a stronghold of the Taliban.

    ...

    "Fathers and brothers should trust their mothers and sisters. That's when we will get a lot more confidence and strength.


    War Against the Taliban

    ReplyDelete
  46. Deuce: They don’t have to make daily assertions that they are the best.

    You make daily assertions that Israel is an illegal european colony....

    And yet you say that from America, a European colony...

    For some reason, you dismiss the fact that jews have been in Jerusalem and surrounding lands for 3600 years.

    You flush down the toilet their claim as "european" colonies.

    But what of the Jews that never left? Or the Jews thrown out of their homes from the arab occupied middle east?

    Crickets...

    Sorry Deuce,

    Israel has more of a moral right to be than America has.

    But IF America has a moral right to be? Then of course Israel does too...

    don't be a hypocrite.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Your non sequitur doesn’t stand. The US is not grabbing land from Mexico, displacing Mexicans, bulldozing their homes and building colonies and ghettoizing Mexican communities. Currently, Israel is doing all of that in Palestine and worse. It is difficult to impossible to undo historic wrongs. The wrongdoers from history are dead and beyond justice. The Zionist wrongdoers are very much alive and well, doing their dirty business.

      Your claims are crap and everyone except the Neocons and died in the wool Zionists know it.

      Delete
    2. Fascists always claim to be undoing historic wrongs, playing the victim card. Harken to the Nazi claims of injustice done to the historic Germanic tribes. Guess who was top of the list as their ancient tormenter.

      Delete
    3. The US slaughtered the Indians...

      Did you forget?

      Delete
    4. Texas was carved from Mexico, did you forget?

      As was Los Angels, New Mexico and Arizona

      Did you forget?

      Delete
    5. Israel sits on 1/900th of the middle east.

      the arabs? sit on 899/900th.

      wo stole whose lands?

      learn history deuce.

      Delete
    6. Israel has 20% arab population.

      The arab world? has thrown out almost all the Jews that had lived there for a 1000 years before an arab crawled out of arabia...

      oh and the jews? were thrown out or slaughtered out of medina...

      Delete
    7. The palestinian national movement is a fraud.

      they are arabs.

      no difference from one arab to the other from rafah or jordan.

      Jews have as much right to build on lands in the disputed west bank as the arabs do...

      Sorry deuce as you squat in PHILADELPHIA on native America lands you have quite the set of balls to critizise the Jews living in Israel.

      again, Israel sits on 1/900th of the lands of the middle east, and your friends? 899/900th

      how much is enough?

      Delete
    8. Yep I said it...

      Your friends, the arabs? the so called "palestinians"? are greedy.

      how many arab nations should they have? How much of the globe do they need?

      Sorry Deuce, Israel is tiny and your friends, the palestinains, have sworn to genocide them...

      Thye lost their attempts and now?

      Pathetic death cult savages akin to ISIS...

      Delete
    9. I fully accept that most US History , taught us in school, is self-serving bullshit. That misdeed doesn’t give the current US a right to do it again nor does it justify criminal behavior by the Zionists.

      Delete
    10. Israel has done nothing to help against ISIS. Nothing.

      Delete
    11. It wasn't exactly a 'misdeed'.

      It was what has happened all over the earth.....the farmers pushing out the hunter/gatherers.

      Might as well try to dam the Mississippi, keep it from reaching the Gulf.

      It was inevitable.

      Delete
    12. It is WiO standard, and often repeated argument - 'so and so did bad things therefore Israel is justified in doing bad things'

      He been saying the same shit argument for years and years now. Oh oh, Americans killed Indians and took their land so therefore it is all right for Israelis to commit genocide as well. At least he owns up to Israeli bad deeds by admitting the equivalence.

      Delete
    13. Israel doesn't commit genocide.

      period

      Delete
    14. Ash, you moron, the Hamas Charter is committed to the genocide of the Israelis.

      Delete
    15. No I am saying that America has done far worse with less moral rights to the land

      Delete
  47. Coalition warplanes destructs ISIS bank, kills & wounds 64 militants in Nineveh

    (IraqiNews.com) Nineveh – A local source in Nineveh Province revealed on Saturday, that the coalition aviation shelled one of the largest banks of the so-called ISIS in the province, while indicated that more than 64 ISIS members were either killed or wounded by over 30 air strikes on the organization’s headquarters in the right and left coasts.

    The source said in a statement followed by IraqiNews.com, “This evening, international coalition aviation shelled ISIS headquarters in al-Gamea neighborhood, Mosul University building, Arab neighborhood, in addition to two headquarters in the central markets building near Baghdad garage.”

    The source added on condition of anonymity, “The primary number of casualties among ISIS members reached more than 40 dead including Arab and foreign nationalities and 24 wounded, based on accurate intelligence information.”

    “The shelled headquarters included one of the banks in in the left bank in Mosul that was used by ISIS to as an alternative headquarters to pay the salaries of its members,” the source continued.

    Iraqinews

    ReplyDelete
  48. 17 ISIS militants killed in cleansing battles in northern Ramadi

    (IraqiNews.com) Anbar – Khalidiya Council in Anbar Province announced on Sunday, that 17 members of the so-called ISIS were killed during the cleansing battles in northern Ramadi (110 km west of Baghdad), while emphasized the destruction of a number of ISIS vehicles during the operation.

    The Head of the Council Ali Dawood said in a statement obtained by IraqiNews.com, “The security forces carried out, at noon today, a military operation to cleanse Albu Obaid area (19 km north of Ramadi) from the ISIS control, killing 17 members belonging to ISIS and destructing a number of vehicles equipped by machine guns, as well as a rocket launcher.”

    Dawood added, “The security forces are advancing in the liberation battles of Albu Obaid region in northern Ramadi, backed by the international coalition aviation that played a notable role in destructing ISIS strongholds and gatherings,” pointing out that, “The next few hours will witness the liberation of Albu Obaid area.”

    cleansing

    ReplyDelete
  49. Trump University, huh. Haven't heard much about that.

    Did they have a football team ?

    A university isn't a real university unless it's got a football team. That's what an uncle of mine always said. The better the football team the better the university, he always said.

    ReplyDelete
  50. Why can't the Democrats put up a candidate with at least some human characteristics ?

    Whole thing ticks me off.

    My guy is dead last.

    ReplyDelete
  51. There's always Vermin Supreme.

    ReplyDelete
  52. The United States, Russia and other world powers agreed Feb. 12 on a deal calling for the ceasing of hostilities within a week, the delivery of urgently needed aid to besieged areas of Syria and a return to peace talks in Geneva. Aid shipments were allowed into several besieged areas last week.

    German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said he welcomed the latest provisional agreement and called on all regional powers to use the “window of opportunity” to exert their influence on the warring parties.

    In northern Syria, meanwhile, the Syrian army captured 31 villages Sunday that were controlled by ISIS, according to the pro-Syrian Lebanon-based Al-Mayadeen TV and Hezbollah’s Al-Manar station. Both outlets often have reporters embedded with Syrian troops.

    ReplyDelete
  53. Deuce ☂Sun Feb 21, 09:55:00 PM EST
    Your non sequitur doesn’t stand. The US is not grabbing land from Mexico, displacing Mexicans, bulldozing their homes and building colonies and ghettoizing Mexican communities. Currently, Israel is doing all of that in Palestine and worse. It is difficult to impossible to undo historic wrongs. The wrongdoers from history are dead and beyond justice. The Zionist wrongdoers are very much alive and well, doing their dirty business.

    Your claims are crap and everyone except the Neocons and died in the wool Zionists know it.



    And yet America is bombing arabs and killing many times more civilians than Israel ever has and America is 9000 miles away..

    hmmmm

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The Palestinians have declared war on the Jews.

      They have lost.

      Israel has not genocided them by any standard.

      The deaths? 2200 in the last war? 1/2 were terrorists. Or if you wish "Freedom fighters" I don't care.

      Compare than to the Americans, Iranians, Syrians, Russians, Egyptians and others directly surrounding Israel and not from years gone by but within the last 12 months....

      No one standard to judge.

      But IF we were honest? Israel stands heads and shoulders above even the USA, let alone Iran, Hezbollah, Russia and others.

      Israel bulldozes the homes of terrorists, of course there are no people inside the homes.

      Expansion? MOST of the disputed lands still stand empty.

      Look at a satellite image....

      MOST 96% of the so called west bank is empty...

      arabs have created hundreds of new towns and in the last 50 years, so have the Jews.

      If the Palestinians want to settle the issues? they have had numerous opportunities to do so...

      But let's remember, they rejected statehood, they could have had a state from 1948 to 1967, but didn't.

      you cannot turn the clock back...

      Now the situation is what it is...

      Hamas (a isis like terrorist group) controls the gaza strip, and the corrupt Fatah's abbas is his 11 year of a 4 year term, skimming billions off the billion given to improve the palestinian people's lives....

      Israel is not responsible for reforming the arabs of the west bank and gaza. If they seek war? destruction of Israel and genocide of the Jews?

      Then don't be pissy when the Jew fight back and win...

      :)

      The world is getting tired of the palestinian's bullshit. The terror, the tunnels, the genocidal culture of hatred....

      And as proof? notice no one cares. the arab world (and moslem world) is on fire....

      And many point to the palestinians as those who lit the fuse...

      Delete
    2. .

      And many point to the palestinians as those who lit the fuse...


      :o)


      .

      Delete
    3. Sirhan Sirhan, murdered Bobbie Kennedy...

      light that fuse

      Delete
    4. Syria, Lebanon, Hezbollah, Russia and Iran have now successfully killed about 12,000 palestinians and made several hundred thousand truly homeless...

      Good job...

      But Israel is the evil shit...

      Delete
  54. “Were the Russians to carry out a retaliatory strike against Turkey, we would have a problem,” says a NATO official. In such a case, Turkey could very well invoke Article 5.

    Were the North Atlantic Council to fail to achieve unanimity, Mr. Putin would once again have split the West, the official says.

    It is a given that the diplomatic channels are burning over the possibility of such a conflict. I would hope that President Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry’s self-acknowledged superior diplomacy will win the day and this disaster of a scenario will not materialize.


    Getting Scared

    ReplyDelete
  55. I don't see how anyone with any concern for human rights could support a 'Palestinian' state, because from the git-go half the population - the women - are thought of as being only 1/2 of a human being.

    The arabstinian lovers here never come to grips with fundamentals like that.

    Just the other day I put up a post showing an arabstinian leader showing how to properly beat one's wife.

    No one seemed impressed.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. .

      This from the man who waxes poetic about India, land of the caste system and a growing rape problem.

      But why even bother looking to the East when we can look much closer to home...

      Americans are reading with horror as sexual assault after sexual assault unfolds in India. It’s easy to wonder, “What’s wrong with that country?” But we should be asking what’s wrong with the United States, too.

      Rape and violence against women are a massive problem in India. According to the country's National Crime Record Bureau, crimes against women have increased by 7.1 percent since 2010. The number of rapes reported has also risen. Nearly one in three rape victims in India is under the age of 18. One in 10 are under 14. Every 20 minutes in India, a woman is raped.

      And yet India only ranks third for the number of rapes reported each year. What country ranks first? The United States. In India, a country of over 1.2 billion people, 24,206 rapes were reported in 2011. The same year in the United States, a nation of 300 million, 83,425 rapes were reported. In the United States, every 6.2 minutes a woman is raped.

      Even if sexual assault in India is dramatically underreported, which most likely it is, the statistical difference is still striking—as is our uniquely American inclination to dismiss such monstrous human rights violations as problems that other countries face. Not only is violence against women a global pandemic but the United States may be leading the pack.

      Oh, but you think, women who've been sexually assaulted in America are better treated.
      Rape victims in India, especially in rural villages, are often subject to shaming and considered unfit for marriage. But meanwhile, in Steubenville, Ohio, two young men who were convicted of raping a 16-year-old girl too intoxicated to consent continue to be defended as upstanding football players while the reputation of the young woman is smeared. When the verdict was announced, a CNN reporter came close to portraying the rapists as passive victims: “These two young men that had such promising futures, star football players, very good students, literally watched as they believed their lives fell apart.” Other media coverage seemed equally sympathetic to the perpetrators.

      Meanwhile, the victim was blamed. Early on, one of the 19 coaches of the Steubenville High football team said the victim was just making up the rape. The victim and her family had to get police protection due to the level of threats against them. Two weeks ago, a prominent local activitist in Steubenville spoke about the “alleged victim” (even though the allegations had turned into a conviction) and suggested, according to a reporter, that the victim “might have been a willing participant”. Meanwhile, the woman who broke the story of the rape—she is a local blogger—has been harassed and threatened.

      Isolated incident of smearing and shaming the victim? Afraid not. Just weeks after the Steubenville story broke, two high school football players in Torrington, Connecticut were accused of raping a 13-year-old girl. The response? Dozens of people from the town took to social media to berate and blame the 13-year-old accuser...


      1 2

      http://www.more.com/news/india-rape-capital-world


      You are worried about women, Bob? Well, we've got problems right here. Instead of sitting around the casino every day, why don't you get off your ass and get down the the Idaho Coalition Against Sexual & Domestic Violence and volunteer. Get the message out. Make a difference.

      .

      Delete
    2. .

      And more to the point...


      Mallika Dutt runs Breakthrough, an organization that works to build human rights culture in India and the United States. Dutt says the differences between the two countries are more perceived than real. “There’s an assumption that [in America] we’re more evolved, that we’re more civilized, that the status of women is waaaaay better than the status of women in India or any other part of the world,” says Dutt.

      That's untrue, says Dutt, and the false comfort may do Americans more harm than good. “It's always easier to ascribe negative attributes to the other than to than yourself,” she says.
      But such denial means we focus on the problems elsewhere to the detriment of improving conditions here in the United States as well. Violence against women anywhere should be a reminder to scrutinize injustice everywhere, including right here at home...


      .

      Delete
  56. Former Secretary of State and current Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton believes both Republican candidates Donald Trump and Ted Cruz “missed the mark” with their approach to the Israel-Palestinian Arab conflict.

    ...

    In one e-mail she referred to Israelis as "always cocky"; in another e-mail, dated 2011, she mulled a plan by a senior aide to stir up Palestinian unrest in order to pressure Israel to restart peace talks with the PA.

    ReplyDelete
  57. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

    ReplyDelete
  58. Airstrikes in Syria

    Attack, fighter, and remotely piloted aircraft conducted 18 airstrikes in Syria:

    -- Near Hasakah, nine strikes struck eight separate ISIL tactical units and destroyed an ISIL fighting position, six ISIL buildings, and an ISIL vehicle.

    -- Near Hawl, five strikes struck five separate ISIL tactical units and destroyed an ISIL vehicle and two ISIL structures.

    -- Near Raqqah, a strike destroyed an ISIL vehicle.

    -- Near Dayr Az Zawr, two strikes destroyed an ISIL culvert bridge and two ISIL-used logistics routes.

    -- Near Manbij, a strike struck an ISIL tactical unit.

    Airstrikes in Iraq

    Coalition forces, using rocket artillery and fighter, attack, and remotely piloted aircraft, conducted 20 airstrikes in Iraq, coordinated with and in support of the Iraqi government:

    -- Near Baghdadi, three strikes struck an ISIL tactical unit and destroyed four ISIL supply caches, an ISIL mortar system, 16 ISIL rocket rails, an ISIL weapons cache, and an ISIL vehicle.

    -- Near Habbaniyah, a strike struck an ISIL tactical unit and destroyed an ISIL fighting position.

    -- Near Hit, two strikes struck an ISIL weapons production facility and destroyed an ISIL vehicle.

    -- Near Mosul, 10 strikes struck an ISIL tactical unit, an ISIL logistical facility, an ISIL fuel storage location, an ISIL mortar booster factory, an ISIL explosive factory, and an ISIL vehicle bomb factory; suppressed an ISIL mortar position and an ISIL heavy machine gun position; and destroyed nine ISIL assembly areas, an ISIL fighting position and two ISIL command and control nodes.

    -- Near Qayyarah, two strikes destroyed an ISIL vehicle and an ISIL assembly area.

    -- Near Ramadi, a strike destroyed an ISIL vehicle and two ISIL fighting positions.

    -- Near Sinjar, a strike destroyed two ISIL fighting positions and suppressed an ISIL rocket position.




    How many civilians did America kill?

    How many arabs are now homeless refugees?

    Do you care or do you only care when Jews/Zionists do so called bad things?


    I never hear you bitch about the fakisitinians launching rockets at civilians, or naming buildings after terrorists....

    ReplyDelete
  59. US Scrambles to Contain Growing ISIS Threat in Libya......Drudge


    I wonder if General Jack 'Memorial Day' Hawkins or General Galopin2 '4th of July' Rufus would wish to hazard a date as to when ISIS with be gone from Libya?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I am hearing of early rumblings of ISIS in Tunisia.

      Delete
    2. None of this would be going on without O'bozo, and Hillary, messing things up.

      Delete
    3. .

      Why did the US really bomb Libya?

      The Feb. 19 airstrike on an apparent Islamic State (IS) training camp near Sabratha isn’t the precursor to a sustained American air campaign in Libya, US officials have made clear.

      Instead, the pre-dawn bombing that killed some 40 suspected terrorists near the border with Tunisia appears to be better understood as a one-off operation aimed at protecting that fledgling democracy from militants who would plunge it into chaos. Pentagon spokesman Peter Cook said the strike aimed to take out Tunisian national Noureddine Chouchane, a prime suspect in the 2015 attacks that killed 60 people in Tunis and Sousse, along with a camp where foreign fighters were training for possible “external attacks on US interests in the region.”

      “I think this [attack] should be treated separately than the Libya issue,” said Christopher Chivvis, the associate director of the International Security and Defense Policy Center at the Rand Corporation. “I think this has much more to do with Tunisia than it does with Libya.”

      The “isolated compound” that was destroyed by F-15 jets and unmanned aircraft, he said, is “nothing like going after the thousands of [IS] fighters” present in their Libyan stronghold of Sirte, hundreds of miles to the east.

      “Obviously the United States is concerned about the stability of Tunisia and the impact that the terrorist attacks that took place last year can have on the Tunisia political system, which still remains the one shining light from the 2011 Arab uprisings,” Chivvis told Al-Monitor. “There are certainly a lot of countries that are interested in doing what we can to strengthen security in Tunisia, and this was an obvious attempt to step in that direction...”


      Read more: http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2016/02/us-bomb-libya-tunisia-isis-arab-spring.html#ixzz40s9iUxuH

      .

      Delete
    4. .

      The story is compelling. Obama washed his hands of Libya 4 years ago. I can't see him getting involved again in the time he has left.

      .

      Delete
  60. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry urged calm in talks on Sunday with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on tensions between Israelis and Palestinians in the West Bank and Jerusalem, and reaffirmed the U.S. commitment to a two-state solution to the conflict.

    ...

    Palestinian leaders say many Palestinian attackers have acted out of desperation in the absence of movement toward creation of an independent state. Israel says they are being incited to violence by their leaders and on social media.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Watch the Palestinians TV, it glorifies the dead, it spreads false libelous claims that the Jews are destroying the Dome of the Rock...

      The Palestinians are whipping up a frenzy, like they have done over and over...

      In the end?

      They will lose. Jews will die, Arabs will die.

      And israel will continue to move more to the right. And can you blame them?

      The palestinians are a death cult.

      Delete
    2. Martha Gellhorn had them figured out 50 years ago.

      "Their media is one long scream of hate"

      Delete
    3. The Palestinians have de-evolved into what they are...

      FAKISTINIANS.

      They are NOT a real nationalistic peoples.

      They never have been. They are a false construct, created to take down the Jewish state when armed conflict between national state actors on the arab side failed.

      But now?

      Hamas & Fatah are showing their true colors.

      Fatah murders Hamas, Hamas murders Fatah.

      And the Arabs being held hostage under their terror lose.

      Maybe the best solution is Israel taking over the whole place. Give gaza and the arab controlled areas of the West bank "Confederation", Israel will have to oversea it all. Of course, Jordan will have to remove it's Monarchy as well as 90% of Jordan was part of the original mandate for Palestine.

      Autonomy.

      Just like Jimmy Carter sought in the Camp David accords.

      Not an independent arab state, but autonomy...

      of course, the hamas and fatah leaders and soldiers? They will have to be deported to Sweden....

      Delete
    4. Deportation to Greenland would be better.

      It's colder.

      And, as we've learned from O'bozo, climate change - global warming - causes terrorism.

      Greenland, for hibernation and peace.

      Delete
  61. ISIS Spreads


    The Senegalese authorities recently reported that 30 men had gone to Libya to fight with the Islamic State there, trends that officials in Niger, Nigeria and Mali have also noticed.

    As the Islamic State pushes closer to some of the poorer countries of the Sahel region, like Niger and Mauritania, the authorities here believe there will be no shortage of unemployed young men who are eager to join the fight.

    To help fight that trend, Special Forces from 30 African and Western countries are participating in a three-week counterterrorism training exercise here on this sprawling army encampment 35 miles outside Dakar that is also home to Senegal’s military academy.

    On several shooting ranges, dotted with massive baobab trees, American, Canadian, Dutch and Belgian trainers worked with soldiers from Niger and Nigeria.

    Some troops were practicing first aid; others were shooting at close-range targets. The Belgians were leading a more difficult training exercise in which the African soldiers approached fortified targets from afar, and then assaulted the targets from several different directions — as they would in an actual raid.

    With help from Dutch Marines and American Special Forces, Senegal is also training a new force to patrol its watery northern border with Mauritania, and it is deploying troops to neighboring Mali to help a United Nations force stymie Qaeda and other militant fighters there.

    “ISIS is spreading even to here,” said Col. Guirane Ndiaye, a Senegalese zone commander. “If we do not have a multinational effort, ISIS will spread even more.”


    U.S. Scrambles to Contain Growing ISIS Threat in Libya

    By ERIC SCHMITTFEB. 21, 2016

    http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/22/world/africa/us-scrambles-to-contain-growing-isis-threat-in-libya.html?_r=0

    ReplyDelete