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."

Sunday, May 01, 2016

Iraq is a Failed State, a Failed Government, a Failed Nation: Mission Accomplished

CHAOS:



BIDEN ON THE SCENE:



1991, CORRECT 1991- THE LIES:



FINAL WORD:



Spotlight: Outcome in Iraq would have been different had Hillary Clinton, others voted against war: UK expert

by Larry Neild
LONDON, April 26 (Xinhua) -- A leading British academic has said that the outcome may have been different if Democrat Senator Hillary Clinton and other U.S. politicians had voted against an invasion of Iraq.

“Things would have turned out differently in the Middle East if the decision to go into Iraq had not been made," Paul Rogers, professor of Peace Studies at the University of Bradford in Northern England, said in a recent interview with Xinhua.

Rogers, who is also a global security consultant to the Oxford Research Group, was referring to the U.S. presidential hopeful's remarks last Thursday saying that voting for U.S. troops to go into Iraq was the biggest mistake she has made.
All started with former U.S. President George W. Bush’s "Axis of Evil" speech in 2002, which pointed a finger of blame at former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein for the 9/11 attacks, Rogers said.

The overthrow of Saddam may have seemed a good idea at the time, but it also unleashed a new reign of terror, he added.

The Islamic State (IS) extremist group, now one of the biggest threats to world peace, may never had emerged at all, Rogers said.

"Once there was the occupation of Iraq, it made it easier for Islamic extremists. To them it was proof that Islam itself was under attack," he said. “If we had not had that, we would not have had the development of IS, which arose because of the occupation of the country."

There had been, he said, a lot of support for action in Afghanistan, but when this was extended to Iraq things were different, even though Italy backed the campaign along with Britain’s Tony Blair.

Although the losses among the U.S. military in Iraq were less than those in Vietnam, it did not sit comfortably with a lot of Americans, said Rogers. “It became a running sore in the States."

In the campaign that led to the election of President Barack Obama, Clinton was his main rival for the Democratic candidacy. Obama and his team, said Rogers, recognized the mood of the people.

However, despite Clinton’s original support for the Iraq invasion, Rogers does not think the issue will harm her chances of winning the Democratic nomination and possibly the presidency.

Things have moved on and Clinton, as a seasoned politician, is aware of what the future may have in store, he said.

Another British expert echoed Rogers' words. Dr. Michael Hopkins, a senior lecturer in American Foreign Policy at the University of Liverpool, believes that Clinton’s past vote for the Iraq invasion will not return to haunt her during the 2016 presidential campaign.

Clinton was seen as one of the hawks at the time, said Hopkins. She was one of the 29 Democrat senators voting with the Republicans to sanction the invasion. While only one Republican senator voted no, a total of 21 Democrats voiced their opposition. The vote gave President Bush the authorization he needed to use military force against Iraq.

Five years later Clinton stuck to her guns, refusing to admit that her October 2002 Iraq War Resolution vote was a mistake, or to apologize for it, as anti-war Democrats had demanded.

Nine years on, Clinton told Good Morning America of the ABC News in an interview that her support for the invasion was her “greatest regret," admitting that it was a mistake.

Her change of stance, said Hopkins, shows how opinions change.
“She is a politician and it's highly unlikely she will lose the nomination," he said, adding that he doubted her support for the 2003 invasion did not cost her the presidency in 2008.

"I am not sure it was a decisive factor at all. Obama was idealistic and presented new hope to Democratic Americans. He presented a more exciting prospect to the American people, and he opposed the Iraq war,” he said.

In 2016, the Iraq war has disappeared into the background, he said, replaced by a lot of dissatisfied blue collar-type workers. Support for Republican front-runner Donald Trump is almost a vote of anger, possibly attracting some traditional Democrats, he added.

On Clinton's regret, Hopkins said "She would not be much of a politician if she didn't allow herself to change her views. She read the signs and she’s a highly organized politician."

Meanwhile professor Rogers this week gave his update on the current situation in Iraq and Syria.

His latest Monthly Global Security Briefing, published in the Oxford Research Group website, says IS is in retreat, but the campaign against them is far from over.

"While IS is under substantial pressure in Syria and Iraq, primarily because of an intense if largely unreported air war, it has retained considerable resilience and competence. What is more significant, though, is that the conflict is extending outwards, not just with developments in North Africa but, even more significantly, towards Western Europe."

139 comments:

  1. Good! to see Joe on the scene.

    Nothing will change, but it's good to see him out and about.

    Joe had it right from the beginning.

    He was in agreement with Terrorista and I - place ought to be divided up into three parts - Kurdish State, Sunni State, Shia State....

    Terrorista got the idea from me, and Joe must have gotten it from her.

    On the other hand, if one wants to be Machiavellian about it, let the Shia and Sunni fight forever - they probably will no matter what we wish - we can still support a Kurdish State.

    Ever since O'bozo f..ked the idea of one Iraq all up by taking the troops out way too soon the writing has been on the wall.

    Good! to see Joe out and about. He needs the exercise, and it's unlikely he'll be able to drink as much as he normally does, so that will be good for his health, too.

    Joe really knows how to drink himself into a stupor.

    Have you seen some of the videos ?

    Good Grief !

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Robert "Draft Dodger" Peterson, th Kurds are Muslims, mostly Sunni, in Iraq and Syria.
      They are also 'clit clippers'.

      Why do you support such an abominable practice?

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

      Why should a single US soldier die to protect this horrid cultural practice,

      Answer US that Robert "Draft Dodger" Peterson

      Delete
  2. *Note to Quirk*

    I have tried to explain to you, wood chips for brains, that time and space don't really exist, that they are modes of human perception, categories of human understanding.

    One day you will be in THE BOX yourself, as old Ruf gets pissed at everyone, sooner or later, save Deuce and rat's ass, and I want you to be prepared so that you may understand what is happening to yourself.

    It's really quit relaxing once one catches on.

    Remember this:

    Relax, and let be....

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Meditate on this, O Nobly Born Q:

      There is no spooky action at a distance.

      Delete
    2. .

      Time and perception are distorted in the box.

      .

      Delete
  3. Question of the Day:

    Was Tantaros canned because she boldly supports Trump ?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. .

      Is she canned. I thought she was still under contract?

      As for Trump, I doubt it. That would be the least controversial thing about her, though it would be enough to question her judgement. It would be nice to think she was put in the penalty box just because she is a loose cannon. As I recall, even Bill O'Reilly once had to pull her mic.

      Maybe, like her ex-husbands, FOX just needed to put some distance between them.

      .

      .

      Delete
  4. Wait !

    Joe has already been to Baghdad, and left chaos in his wake -

    The chaos in Baghdad comes just after a visit by Vice President Biden that was intended to help calm the political unrest and keep the battle against the Islamic State on track.

    Protests in Baghdad throw administration’s Iraq plan into doubt

    https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/protests-in-baghdad-throw-administrations-iraq-plan-into-doubt/2016/04/30/759fadd4-0f03-11e6-bfa1-4efa856caf2a_story.html

    Joe may have fallen off his temporary wagon, got dead drunk, told them all to fuck off, to take up drinking and to join the Catholic Church, then high tailed it outta there...

    ReplyDelete
  5. The problem I have with The Donald's 'secret plan' to defeat ISIS is that, whatever it is, it is unlikely to work unless we go back to occupying the godforsaken place.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies

    1. Occupying the place did not work before, Robert "Draft Dodger" Peterson, why in the world would you think it work now?

      Delete

    2. The US occupation of Iraq led to the formation of the Islamic State, to occupy Iraq, again, would not lead to the demise of the Islamic State, but the fulfillment of one of the goals of the Islamic State.

      Your line of thinking, Robert "Draft Dodger" Peterson is flawed.
      In the extreme.

      Delete
    3. Occupying the place worked until we didn't occupy it any more.

      It was taking the troops out that allowed the rise of ISIS.

      You are an idiot.

      There was no ISIS when we were there.

      Go back to your mom's basement, your box.

      Since you obviously aren't working on the super secret project off the shores of Central American with the CIA, NSA and Defense you told us about.

      Get psychological help.

      Nearly everyone here has urged you to do so, and we were all very sincere about that.

      You are crazy. You hallucinate, and expect others to share in your hallucinations with you.

      Delete


  6. Pew Research Center published a striking new report yesterday:

    The Republican Party’s image, already quite negative, has slipped since last fall. Currently 33% of the public has a favorable impression of the Republican Party, while 62% have an unfavorable view. Unfavorable opinions of the GOP are now as high as at any point since 1992.

    In October, 37% viewed the Republican Party favorably and 58% viewed it unfavorably. The decline in favorability since then has largely come among Republicans themselves: In the current survey, 68% of Republicans view their party positively, down from 79% last fall.
    ...
    Republicans, on the other hand, have seen their support deteriorate in recent years, reaching their lowest point in nearly a quarter-century. Making matters worse, the GOP is underwater with women and men; whites, blacks, and Latinos; Americans of every age group; and voters of every level of education.


    http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/republican-partys-popularity-drops-24-year-low

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Both the Republicans and Democrats are as corrupt as the other. Thus, Sanders and Trump.

      Delete
  7. As regards the title of the thread

    Iraq is a Failed State, a Failed Government, a Failed Nation: Mission Accomplished

    We should bold Mission Accomplished

    Because it has been ...

    Harking back to Israel’s Yinon Plan, it states:
    «The dissolution of Syria and Iraq later on into ethnically or religiously unqiue areas such as in Lebanon,
    is Israel’s primary target on the Eastern front in the long run,
    while the dissolution of the military power of those states serves as the primary short term target.

    Syria will fall apart, in accordance with its ethnic and religious structure, into several states such as in present day Lebanon, so that there will be a Shiite Alawi state along its coast, a Sunni state in the Aleppo area, another Sunni state in Damascus hostile to its northern neighbor, and the Druzes who will set up a state, maybe even in our Golan, and certainly in the Hauran and in northern Jordan»
    .


    http://beforeitsnews.com/international/2013/08/the-yinon-plan-2466788.html

    Success is in the eye of the beholder ....


    ReplyDelete
  8. "Muqtada al-Sadr"

    What about me?

    http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2016/05/01/world/muqtada-al-sadr-iraqs-powerful-and-unpredictable-shiite-cleric-reinvents-himself-as-a-reform-champion/#.VyX7HfkrKpd

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. He has joined the Team, Doug.

      He flaunts the power of the "Purple Fingers of Freedom".
      If he were to run for Prime Minister, he'd be analogous to Pat Robertson, here in the US

      Delete
    2. The Bush/Obama - US Team, Q.

      Those that respect the
      "Purple Fingers of Freedom".

      Delete
    3. Jack hallucinates. He has claimed he is working on a super secret USA defense project off the coasts of Central America with the CIA, NSA and Defense, and expects us to believe him and share in his hallucinations.

      Delete
    4. Robert "Draft Dodger" Peterson, you are the only one who has ever made that claim.
      You're projecting the attribution of your imaginative stories, again.

      Of course if you have a quote, a date stamped data point, it'd be a first.

      Delete
  9. America's Finest:

    http://www.infowars.com/anti-trump-rioters-gone-wild-uncensored/

    ReplyDelete
  10. YOU WILL NOT FIND THIS IN THE NEW YORK TIMES OR WASHINGTON POST

    The End of American Iraq: Poor Shiites invade Parliament over corrupt Spoils System

    By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – –

    Baghdad is under a state of emergency on Sunday a day after members of the Sadr Trend stormed the Green Zone and invaded the parliament building, briefly imprisoning parliamentarians in the chamber (and some in a basement) before letting them go. Some apparently were beaten as they left. Most of the protesters, though, were relatively peaceful and had been ordered to avoid violence by their leader, Muqtada al-Sadr. As at Tahrir Square in Cairo in 2011, of which the invasion of the Green Zone was a distant echo, they chanted “peacefully, peacefully” ( silmiyyah, silmiyyah).

    When George W. Bush invaded Iraq in 2003 he established blast walls around central government offices, establishing a four square mile Green Zone (i.e. one that was safe and which the US controlled, with the rest of the country being a Red Zone; more or less, that situation never changed). The parliament building and Western embassies were in the Green Zone. I visited it in 2013. You enter through a narrow entranceway and can only really go in by foot (this measure stops car bombs from getting in). The security people who checked us in were international– Ghana and Peru or something. I doubt they would die for the cause. There were Iraqi troops on the outside of the blast walls. Apparently some of them sympathized with the Sadr Trend and let the crowd pull down a couple pylons of the blast wall, after which they streamed in.

    {...}

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. {...}

      Who were the protesters?

      The Sadr Movement is particularly popular in East Baghdad or Sadr City, a dense slum where a plurality of Baghdadis live. The father of cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, Muhammad Muhammad Sadiq al-Sadr, was assassinated by Saddam Hussein’s secret police in 1998. Young Muqtada survived underground. He reemerged in 2003 to oppose the US military occupation of his country, forming the Mahdi Army, which more than once fought US troops. His was a movement of the poor and the street. After the US withdrew, al-Sadr adopted a lower profile. But now that President Obama has reestablished a US military command in the country, al-Sadr has come back out to protest the renewed US presence and the al-Abadi government, which the US props up.

      WHAT WERE THEY PROTESTING?

      The spoils system.

      Now that Andrew Jackson is being taken off the $20 bill and his demerits and virtues are being debated, the spoils system is back in the news. He made enormous numbers of promises to his supporters about the goodies they would get if he won the 1828 election. He came in firing an unprecedented number of people from government jobs and filling those positions with member of his party. Win the election, you get the spoils.

      A sitting President, James A Garfield, was assassinated in 1881 over the spoils system (his assassin had supported the party but wasn’t rewarded as he thought he should have been).

      Not until the Pendleton Act of 1883 was a nonpartisan civil service commission created, and the spoils system began to decline at least a bit. (In today’s US government, sometimes the SES positions above GS-15 are given to political appointees, and of course the cabinet and sub-cabinet slots are all filled by political appointees; but this is a thin sliver of the upper bureaucracy, whereas most people who work in government offices have a career unaffected by the party in office).

      So how is all this relevant to the storming of the Iraqi parliament?

      The Bush administration in its years of military occupation of Iraq presided over the installation of an Iraqi spoils system more rowdy and rapacious than anything Andrew Jackson ever imagined. The Bushies and the UN put a parliamentary system in place, so that the parties that form the biggest coalition in the national legislature get to put forward a prime minister, who is appointed by the president. That prime minister then appoints a cabinet, with most cabinet ministers overseeing a ministry. The cabinet appointees came from the parties supporting the prime minister in parliament. Thus, the minister of housing might be from the Da`wa Islamic Party (the Islamic Call or Mission Party), a Shiite fundamentalist group drawn from what’s left of the Iraqi middle class and typically led by laymen rather than clergy. The Ministry of Labor would then be packed with members of the Da’wa Party.

      Some of this spoils system is rooted in the Debaathification drive of Ahmad Chalabi, Nouri al-Maliki and other Shiite political entrepreneurs who wanted to fire Sunni Arabs from the Iraqi bureaucracy after the fall of Saddam Hussein. They tagged anyone who belonged to the Baath Party as unsuitable for government service, even down to school teachers. And, it wasn’t just members of the party but people who had relatives who were members of the party. Most Baath Party members committed no greater crime than conformism (or maybe they wanted to travel; you had to be a member to get a passport). So Chalabi et al. got rid of some 100,000 Sunnis from their government jobs at a time when the Bushies ran the Iraqi state factories and other state-owned companies into the ground because they didn’t believe in “socialism.” So the Sunnis were just made unemployed.

      Delete
    2. {...}

      When Nouri al-Maliki reigned as Prime Minister 2006-2014, his spoils system became ever more corrupt and exclusive. The Sunni Arabs of Iraq were almost entirely excluded from spoils. Members of al-Maliki’s Da’wa Party got fabulously rich off the country’s oil income. The corruption of his officer corps led directly to the collapse of the Iraqi army at Mosul in 2014, allowing Daesh (ISIS, ISIL) to take over 40% of the country.

      The sense of deprivation of the Iraqi Sunni Arabs who cooperated with Daesh also drove these events. You couldn’t say he was a successful prime minister.

      Iraq is what is called by political scientists a “rentier state.” That just means that the government gets an income (or “rent”) from external payments (in this case foreign purchases of its petroleum). Rentier states famously don’t really need their people so much. In ordinary states like the US, a lot of politics is about how much the government will tax the people, and who will get the benefit of government services. In a Rentier state, there are no taxes. Politics is about how much the state officers have to share their bonanza with the people. Wise rentier states share liberally. Iraq’s elite is not wise.

      Al-Maliki’s successor, Haydar al-Abadi, was, like al-Maliki, a leader of the Da’wa Party and continued the spoils system. Other parties complained that Da’wa got the lion’s share of lucrative ministerial appointments (and therefore that the party’s members got the good government jobs).

      Muqtada al-Sadr’s al-Ahrar Party (Party of the Free Ones; people complained when I called it the Liberty Party but that is what it amounts to) gained 36 seats in the 2014 parliamentary election and was given 3 cabinet seats. These appointments did not give the Sadrists much patronage.

      But al-Sadr has only a tenuous relationship to the party, anyway. His power base is the poor Shiites of the slums, in East Baghdad, Amara, Basra and elsewhere in the Shiite south. Although Iraq is an oil country, you couldn’t tell it by looking. I was there in 2013 and was shocked by how decrepit everything was. It was like a third world country, not like Dubai or Doha. I wondered where all that oil money could be going. If I wondered that, imagine what the slum dwellers think.

      So beginning last summer the Sadrists began saying they were mad as hell and weren’t going to take it any more. They accused the party officials heading the ministries, along with many of the parliamentarians of essentially embezzling the country’s vast oil wealth.

      {...}

      Delete
    3. THE INEVITABLE

      By February al-Sadr had presented an ultimatum to al-Abadi to abolish the spoils system by appointing a technocratic cabinet. That is, the minister of health would be a high powered physician or hospital administrator, not a Da’wa Party hack. Sadr brought 200,000 people into the streets of downtown Baghdad demanding this outcome. It wasn’t only al-Sadr making this demand–many members of the smaller parties who felt that al-Da’wa had gotten greedy joined in.

      Al-Abadi at length acquiesced and presented a list of technocrats to head ministries. But cabinets have to be approved by parliament. When the speaker of parliament looked like he would go along with al-Abadi and al-Sadr, the parties that dominate parliament voted to remove him and replace him. They weren’t giving up their spoils so easily. But others in parliament did not accept this parliamentary coup, so there are now two speakers of parliament.

      The members of parliament are so busy with other things (including international travel and residences abroad) that they can’t easily get a quorum together to vote on al-Abadi’s technocratic cabinet, and it is not clear he could muster a majority for the measure. Parliament was trying to meet on Saturday when the angry people of the slums and run-down middle class neighborhoods made a breach in the blast walls around the Green Zone, which surround the parliament building and Western embassies, keeping them safe.

      {...}

      Delete
    4. AND SO IT GOES

      The Sadrists among them accused the parliamentarians of being thieves and of neglecting services for the poor. They also resent Iran’s influence with the al-Abadi government, and some chanted against Tehran from the floor of parliament.

      Al-Abadi is trying to reestablish order and has declared a state of emergency.

      But you can’t imagine parliament forgiving him for presiding over this attack on their security, and some doubt he can remain prime minister. More important, the conflict brings into question the whole architecture of Iraqi governance put into place under American rule in 2003-11.

      While this uprising of poor Shiites may seem a distraction to Americans of the fight against Daesh in the Sunni north, both situations derive from similar inequities. The spoils system deprived the Sunnis of a fair share in the oil wealth, just as it deprived the Shiite slum dwellers. The Sadr Trend’s relatively peaceful but dramatic breach of the Green Zone and the surrender of the Mosulis two years ago to Daesh are both protests of the deprived against the fat cats.

      THE BIG LIES WILL COME FROM US MEDIA

      American pundits will find a way to make all this about sectarianism or Shiism or Islam. It isn’t. Much of what is going on in Iraq is a form of class struggle. It turns out that Neoliberalism and the Rentier State haven’t, as some imagined, made Marx irrelevant. But it is also true that some of the work the Communist and Baath Parties used to do in Iraq back in the 1960s is now being done by al-Sadr’s brand of puritanical slum Shiism.

      Delete
    5. http://www.juancole.com/2016/05/the-end-of-american-iraq-poor-shiites-invade-parliament-over-corrupt-spoils-system.html

      Delete
    6. THE WASHINGTON POST (TODAY)

      ...Because Iraqi society is so fractured along ethnic and sectarian lines, Khedery said the U.S. administration should adopt a more decentralized approach, working directly with individual Sunni, Shiite and Kurdish leaders. “What you have is a society that is deeply polarized between communities and even polarized within those communities,” Khedery said. “We need a radical new formula.”

      There is no indication at the moment that the White House is considering such a radical change in approach. For now, the hope is that the current unrest in Baghdad is just a blip. The protests were sparked by Shiite cleric ­Moqtada al-Sadr, who is now under pressure from Iran and his fellow Shiites to rein in the demonstrations, said a senior U.S. official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal Iraqi politics.

      “Maybe [Sadr] will realize he took a step too far and will dial it back,” the official said. “That could give Abadi more space.”

      It is also possible that the protests, spurred by the Iraqi government’s failure to provide basic services such as clean water and electricity, could grow worse. This time, demonstrators broke chairs and smashed windows in the parliament building. They berated lawmakers and chanted slogans for TV cameras.

      “Iraq is becoming increasingly ungovernable,” said Emma Sky, who served as a senior political adviser to the U.S. military prior to the withdrawal of U.S. troops in 2011. “Non-state actors are stronger than the state. The government is paralyzed and corrupt.”

      Delete
  11. THE WASHINGTON POST (TODAY) ON BIDEN’S TRIP THIS WEEK:

    President Obama’s plan for fighting the Islamic State is predicated on having a credible and effective Iraqi ally on the ground in Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi.

    And in recent days, the administration had been optimistic, despite the growing political unrest in Baghdad, about that critical partnership.

    But that optimism — along with the administration’s strategy for battling the Islamic State in Iraq — was thrown into severe doubt after protesters stormed Iraq’s parliament on Saturday and a state of emergency was declared in Baghdad. The big question for White House officials is what happens if Abadi — a critical linchpin in the fight against the Islamic State — does not survive the turmoil that has swept over the Iraqi capital.

    The chaos in Baghdad comes just after a visit by Vice President Biden that was intended to help calm the political unrest and keep the battle against the Islamic State on track.

    As Biden’s plane was approaching Baghdad on Thursday, a senior administration official described the vice president’s visit — which was shrouded in secrecy prior to his arrival — as a “symbol of how much faith we have in Prime Minister Abadi.”

    After 10 hours on the ground in Baghdad and Irbil, Biden was hurtling toward his next stop in Rome. The feeling among the vice president and his advisers was that Iraqi politics were on a trajectory to greater calm and that the battle against the Islamic State would continue to accelerate. Some hopeful advisers on Biden’s plane even suggested that Abadi might emerge from the political crisis stronger for having survived it.

    No one is talking that way now.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm gonna quit reading you and start reading Rufus again!

      I need some GOOD NEWS!

      Delete
  12. After spending hundreds of billions, killing hundreds of thousands, ruining our credibility and military, we are still stuck with The Middle East being a no-win situation.

    We are stuck with so-called allies, The Gulf States, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Israel. US policy in the ME has been toxic for decades. Bush and the Neocons made it worse and there is the obvious more of the same and worse in the future.

    Dump them. All of them.

    ReplyDelete
  13. I am sure this will work:

    Latest update : 2016-05-01
    Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi on Sunday ordered police to arrest protesters who broke into Baghdad’s fortified Green Zone and attacked security forces and lawmakers as they stormed the country’s parliament.

    The prime minister’s statement comes a day after hundreds of angry anti-government followers of influential Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr tore down blast walls and poured into the parliament building when MPs once again failed to approve new cabinet ministers to replace the current party-affiliated cabinet.

    According to the statement, Abadi had “directed the interior minister to pursue the elements who attacked the security forces and citizens and members of parliament and vandalised state properties and to refer them to the judiciary to receive their just punishment".

    ReplyDelete
  14. Eh, people protest in democracies, but I didn't see anyone getting shot, or hacked to death.

    Lord knows, that government is a kleptocracy.

    Oh well, maybe it'll all work out. :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hasn't worked out so well so far, after O'bozo took all the troops out.

      There is no Iraq any longer, much less a functioning democracy.

      There is an Iranian dominated zone, a Sunni/ISIS zone and a Kurdish zone.

      You need to put yourself away in your BOX so you won't be able to further make a fool our of yourself, General 'Memorial Day'.

      Delete
  15. .

    And maybe the sun will set in the east.

    Retaking Mosul may be a long way off.

    .

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. .

      I posted a week ago that the real fun will start in Iraq when ISIS is pushed back as competing groups fight to gain influence in the country.. However, the recent discord there isn't going to help in the fight with ISIS, not when al Abadi's first priority for the security forces is protecting his ass rather than fighting ISIS.

      .

      Delete
    2. Iraq for Irais, Q.

      If the government of Iraq cannot govern, expanding their territorial expanse may not be appropriate until they can govern effectively.

      The success of the "Purple Fingers of Freedom" project hangs in the balance...
      No need to rush, to impose 'artificial' or political deadlines on the sovereign people of Iraq.

      Delete
    3. Not 'may be a long way off'.

      The earliest date from O'bozo is 'eventually'.

      Translated that means it's not even on the drawing boards right now.

      If Ruf were religious he'd stick to his faith with the very best of them.

      Once Ruf 'gets a notion' in his mind it becomes an idee fixe, impossible to shake.

      Kinda noble, in its odd way, and also lends some welcome humor to the discussions.

      Delete
    4. I'm going back to bed.

      Listen to the blather of rat's ass above if you wish.

      Snoring in the morning is a much more profitable use of time.

      Jack said Iraq would be ISIS free by last Memorial Day.

      Bwobwobwo hahaha

      And, the 'rat doctrine' has been a total failure.

      Bwabwabwa hahaha

      out till later

      Cheers ! to all except rat's arse.

      Delete
    5. (Indiana (NBC/WSJ): Trump +15)

      Delete
    6. .

      The coming battle pits more than just Sunni against Shia. There are a whole range of competing interests.

      Al Sadr, as well as other powerful militias, are Islamist and nationalistic. Al Sadr rejected American occupation and influence in 2006 and he rejects Iranian influence today. Al Sadr has other allies or at least those with the same goals including the Sunni militias with which he has worked before. Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, the guy who mobilized the militias against ISIS in 2014, supports the same things as al Sadr.

      Al Sadr supports al Abadi's call for a technocratic government but rejects the sectarianism. His main complaint is that al Abadi is ineffective.

      On the other hand, you have the majority of the Shia militias, bought and paid for by Iran who have laid the groundwork for the security forces' recent gains who are looking for their share of the pie to compensate for their service. Meanwhile these militias have been clashing with the Kurds in the north.

      As for the Kurds, their leader al Barzani said of their 2014 agreement to stay within the government that that decision temporarily delayed their goal of reaching independence and was not permanent. They want to be allowed to hold onto the land they captured when Iraq's security forces fled before ISIS. They want to keep Kirkuk and the oil there. They want to be allowed to sell oil freely to whomever they want. they want more representation in the parliament.

      The Sunni's have been being shafted since 2003 and feel the recent moves by al Abadi are merely driving the knife in a little deeper. They are losing representative in parliament and they want Osama al-Nujaifi, former vice-president reinstated. They also want to make sure that they start getting a fair share of ill revenues, arms, and other perks for the Sunni areas.

      You have Iran stirring the pot and there is also Turkey supporting the Iraqi Kurds in the north. Erdogan is on friendly terms with al Barzani and seems to be courting influence with the Iraqi Kurds in order not only to gain leverage against Iran but also against the PKK.

      And then you have al Abadi, America's boy, trying to wind his way within the region without upsetting either Iran or Saudi Arabia, but seemingly well intentioned though weak and ineffective and unable to bring about the changes that are necessary.

      ISIS is almost an after thought at the moment.

      It's a fine soup and the only thing we can be assured of is its likely to get worse before it gets better.

      Well, I shouldn't say the only thing. We can also be assured that when the US leaves (if we leave), things will be in worse than when we arrived.

      .

      Delete
    7. "Al Sadr supports al Abadi's call for a technocratic government"

      What in hell is a 'technocratic government' in the Iraqi context ?



      " We can also be assured that when the US leaves (if we leave), things will be in worse (shape...Edited) than when we arrived."

      You give away your military inexperience.

      Obviously, the US Government hasn't recruited YOU to bolster our defenses off the coasts of Central American, working with the CIA, NSA, and Defense.

      And YOU don't seem to even realize the coming miracles that will soon be brought to Iraq by the 'rat doctrine'.

      All that's needed is a little more time, the passing of five or six more Memorial Days, perhaps.

      Anyway, rest assured the 'rat doctrine' will wipe out ISIS in Iraq......eventually.

      Do not allow yourself to give in to pessimism.

      Besides, even if the 'rat doctrine' continues to be a farcical failure that it truly is, we will soon have The Donald in command, and he has a secret plan.

      I have been with 'those in the know' and heard them speculate that this 'secret plan' to 'bomb the hell out of them' might involve giving up on the 'rat doctrine' and the Rufian pin pricks, and 'bomb the hell out of them' by turning the big bombers really loose....the Buffs are over there even now, engine oil all nice and warm, just waiting, can't you feel it, the coming of The Donald and the playing of that trump card.

      Cheer up, damn you !

      Delete
    8. By the way, since the Jews, according to the hallucinations of rat's ass, have controlled all USA moves in the middle east, it might be speculated that the Jews are behind the 'rat doctrine' too.

      In fact, I suspect rat's ass stole his 'doctrine' from the IDF, out of context of course, and very poorly implemented in Iraq, since it has accomplished, exactly, zero.

      Delete
    9. .

      What in hell is a 'technocratic government' in the Iraqi context ?

      It means hiring a doctor or someone else familiar with medicine to run the Health Ministry rather than your wife's cousin.

      ref: the Spoils System

      .

      Delete
    10. Some see only problems, I see opportunities:

      If the sun sets in the East, I can retake every damn sunset picture I ever took.

      Delete
  16. Strikes in Syria

    Attack and remotely piloted aircraft conducted two strikes in Syria:

    -- Near Mar’a, two strikes struck an ISIL tactical unit and destroyed two ISIL fighting positions.

    Strikes in Iraq

    Rocket artillery, bomber and fighter aircraft conducted 26 strikes in Iraq, coordinated with and in support of Iraq’s government:

    -- Near Al Baghdadi, two strikes destroyed an ISIL mortar system and five ISIL bed down locations.

    -- Near Al Qaim, a strike struck an ISIL vehicle bomb facility.

    -- Near Albu Hayat, two strikes struck two separate ISIL tactical units and destroyed two ISIL fighting positions.

    -- Near Bayji, two strikes struck an ISIL tactical unit and destroyed three ISIL fighting positions and suppressed an ISIL tactical unit.

    -- Near Fallujah, three strikes struck three separate ISIL tactical units and destroyed an ISIL fighting position, an ISIL supply cache, and an ISIL frontend loader.

    -- Near Hit, four strikes struck three separate ISIL tactical units and destroyed two ISIL fighting positions, two ISIL heavy machine guns, an ISIL anti-air artillery system, an ISIL vehicle, an ISIL unmanned aircraft site, an ISIL bunker, an ISIL tunnel entrance, and an ISIL vehicle bomb storage facility and denied ISIL access to terrain.

    -- Near Kirkuk, two strikes struck two separate large ISIL tactical units and destroyed an ISIL fighting position, four ISIL assembly areas, five ISIL vehicles, two ISIL vehicle bombs, two ISIL mortar positions, an ISIL mortar system, an ISIL bunker, and an ISIL supply cache.

    -- Near Kisik, a strike suppressed an ISIL tactical unit.

    -- Near Mosul, six strikes struck three separate ISIL tactical units and destroyed three ISIL fighting positions, two ISIL heavy machine guns, two ISIL mortar systems, two ISIL vehicles, and an ISIL weapons cache.

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

    -- Near Sultan Abdallah, a strike struck an ISIL tactical unit and destroyed an ISIL fighting position, five ISIL heavy machine guns, four ISIL mortar systems, and an ISIL assembly area.

    -- Near Tal Afar, a strike immobilized two ISIL excavators.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. FIVE ! Bed Down Locations turned to dusty debris !

      That's a record for a single day, by my count.

      Soon, any day now, they will be having bad dreams.

      Some compassionate humanitarian organization should send them a big supply of My Pillow.

      Delete
    2. Okay, it's May 1st, and I'll make my call:

      Hillary Clinton by 6%

      347 Electoral Votes to 191

      Basically, she wins the Obama (2012) states + North Carolina (barely.)

      Delete
    3. .

      Obama

      52% Approve

      45% Disapprove



      As comedian? I hear he knocked 'em dead at the corespondent's dinner last night.

      .

      Delete
  17. .

    The Bush/Obama - US Team, Q.

    Those that respect the
    "Purple Fingers of Freedom".



    I find that hard to believe, rat. We can say that al Sadr's political views are somewhat 'flexible', however, there are a couple of things that are certain and he has been consistent on them. He is nationalistic and opposes ALL outside influence in Iraq's affairs. And he is an Islamist and prefers a revised constitution that is not secularly orientated and does away with the idea of federalism. If there is any team he is on it might be that of al Sistani who appears to share many of these same views.

    Team al Sadr really seems to consist of al Sadr though he will take help where he can get it.

    .

    .

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. He's also cute as a bug's ear, and is familiar to all of us that followed events in Sadr City.

      Delete
  18. WHO WOULD HAVE THOUGHT...

    Let’s face it, young Americans are fed up with the economic status quo. If this fact is not evident enough from the groundswell of millennial support for Bernie Sanders, perhaps a Harvard University poll released Monday will do the trick.

    According to the results, 51 percent of young adults aged 18-29 oppose capitalism in its current form. By contrast, only 42 percent of people drawn from a pool of 3,183 individuals—selected by KnowledgePanel, a probability-based database designed to be representative of the U.S. population—opted in favor of the global economic order.

    Unfortunately however, like a broken-down car without an auto repair shop in sight, the results showed no consensus regarding an alternative solution. As George Monbiot pointed out recently in his attack on neoliberalism, neither do any of the world’s economists.

    “Neoliberalism’s triumph reflects ... the failure of the left,” Monbiot wrote, explaining how the current system was already set in place when the previous Keynesian economic model collapsed in the 1970s. By contrast Monbiot pointed out, “when neoliberalism fell apart in 2008 there was nothing … The left and center have produced no new general framework of economic thought for 80 years.”

    In light of this, it makes sense that the only candidate with a vision that holds a remote bit of optimism for the majority of American youth would be Bernie Sanders (Sanders being the most favorable candidate with a rating of 54 percent). But even in that case, as the Harvard poll showed, not everyone is in agreement. With only 33 percent of young respondents saying they supported socialism, the poll’s most evident result was that young people remain undecided when it comes to an optimal path forward.

    http://www.alternet.org/economy/new-poll-shows-majority-young-americans-oppose-capitalism

    ReplyDelete
  19. Today, if what we have is capitalism, it isn’t working for the vast majority of people in the US. If it doesn’t work in the US, where will it work?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It works fine for the 1% but quickly becomes a sham to those under the top ten percent and a disaster for the majority.

      When did it go wrong? It seems to me, sometime in the mid seventies, probably after the results of Johnson’s guns and butter.

      Trump is mostly right about US trade policies. The deregulation of banks didn’t help and the insanity of a US global military structure made it worse as it was at the expense of domestic infrastructure.

      Delete
    2. The good thing about the banks is that they are TBTF, so we don't lose sleep over failed banks.

      Delete
  20. Secrets Of The Easter Island Heads Revealed!

    The heads, or moai, are immediately recognized as a trademark of the islands.

    Latreen Johnson
    was they a same-sex peoples or a hetero-type peoples???...

    Doug:
    Who the F... knows, Latreen, but they sure gave good head.

    http://www.answers.com/article/30943869/secrets-of-the-easter-island-heads-revealed?param4=ysa-us-de-lifestyle&param1=348145679#slide=11

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Jonny O

      I have long wondered about the guy who cut down the last tree on Easter Island. What was he thinking? Also, are there trees that can be planted and grow on the island? Or is that a no-no like introducing invasive species?

      Delete
    2. "It's said that the tallest moai ever constructed, called Paro, measured 33 feet high and weighed about 82 tons."

      Delete
    3. ...but it was never completed.

      They bit off more than they could chew, Elon Musk style.

      Delete
  21. Out of Control Mongolian

    "The Mongolian, who has won a record 35 career grand tournament titles, appeared to get carried away after a hard-hitting, raging encounter ended with him forcing bloodied sekiwake Yoshikaze from the ring on Sunday at the ongoing Spring Grand Sumo tournament.



    The yokozuna applied a final shove at the end that sent Yoshikaze flying into sumo elder Izutsu. The 54-year-old former sekiwake, who was taken from Edion Arena Osaka in an ambulance, suffered a fracture in his left femur that will put the stablemaster out of action for three months..."

    Photo:
    http://www.japantimes.co.jp/sports/2016/03/21/sumo/basho-reports/yokozuna-hakuho-apologizes-for-reckless-act-after-warning/#.VyZyK_krKpd

    ReplyDelete
  22. We (the country) probably ought to figure out a way to help the young people a little more with the cost of college. That would go a long way toward assuaging the poor dears' concerns about "capitalism."

    ReplyDelete
  23. I have captured and stored Rug's electoral prediction above.

    That guy will never learn......

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ruf's, not Rug's, Ruf's

      Delete
    2. He's even got it right down to the exact electoral count - six months out !

      She might be in handcuffs by then....

      I find this more audacious - or fool hardy, take your pick - than his infamous 4th of July prediction.....

      Delete
    3. You are not entitled to interact with The Rufus.

      Delete
    4. Back when I used to be entitled, I did take note of the fact that he predicted that the great real estate meltdown would not amount to a piddle in a pond.

      Delete
    5. oops, forgot, sorry....

      Delete
    6. Big big piddle in a small Polish pond, as an old Polish saying has it.....

      My old girl friend in Vegas and her husband nearly got wiped out by the meltdown.

      She deserved it, he didn't.

      Delete
    7. (she could easily walk down through the walled neighborhood and find a suitable 5th husband, he's not getting his business back, not at his age....he sold plumbing supplies imported from LA to the Vegas home builders...last I heard they had downsized the home, which was underwater, and he's taken to drinking and playing video poker beginning in the mornings....he's actually a good guy, just got caught in an impossible situation....)

      Delete
    8. All the way from Poland to Vegas, that was one Hell of a Tsunami.

      ...like Rufusses Hillary prediction.

      Delete
    9. 4 Husbands, 400 Lovers - Tales of Frank Sinatra's Personal Sands' Concierge

      by Vegas Free Wheeling Press

      Due out soon


      I have a lot of sympathy for #4....decent guy, was in the Marines in Vietnam, worked hard all his life, made a couple of disastrous mistakes towards the end though....

      Delete
    10. .

      Or, Rugfusses prediction.


      Time and perception are distorted in the box.

      .

      Delete
    11. Reality distortion field

      Steve Jobs / Rugfess:
      Samo Samo

      Delete
  24. Latest inside info on the FBI investigation of Hillary is that they've got so much stuff they are dividing it into two broad categories.....

    1) The emails crimes
    2) The corruption crimes......and Chelsea might be in the dock too

    Word is a report on the email crimes will come out first, then, later, the second half of the double whammy......

    Maybe the entire family will sit in the can at the same time !

    Heaven will have arrived on earth....the Lord's will being finally done on earth, as it is in heaven....

    ReplyDelete
  25. Why oh why can't you accept the existence of Obama's Justice Dept. and move on?
    .org

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm praying it's before a Grand Jury as I type.

      Even Judge Napolitano doesn't know the answer to this question.

      An indictment from a Grand Jury would be hard for Justice to ignore, and would put a hell of a barrier in her drive to become President.

      Delete
    2. If I was The Power That Be, and Hillary was headed to a trial, I'd slap an ankle bracelet on her for fear of her being a flight risk.

      Think of the funds they got stashed overseas....

      Delete
    3. The cops used their handcuffs to chain the doors shut at the Trump Shindig in Costa Mesa.

      Delete
    4. Unfortunately, you be the power that doesn't be.

      Delete
    5. doesn't, and never will, be

      Delete
    6. Be chill.

      1. Avoid drama. Do your own thing, and let others do theirs. If they're not hurting anyone, what's the problem? Chill people don't look for reasons or opportunities to hate on others just for being different. There's no reason to bully or tread on other people's territory. Try to be happy with yourself and encourage self-love in others, too and remember be yourself.

      Delete
    7. If Hillary had hopped on Orville and Wilbur's machine, she definitely would not have been a flight risk.

      Delete
    8. Dude, will do Dude, even from THE BOX.

      Delete
    9. Hillary would have stolen Orville and Wilbur's neat new machine.

      Delete
    10. The MSM would say she invented it and was entitled to it.

      ...they probly stole her plans.

      Delete
    11. .

      Try to be happy with yourself and encourage self-love in others, too and remember be yourself.


      The statement is self-contradictory for most here.

      .

      Delete
    12. .

      An indictment from a Grand Jury would be hard for Justice to ignore, and would put a hell of a barrier in her drive to become President.

      True enough since in this case it would be DOJ who referred the case to the grand jury in the first place.


      Lingering (continuing?)effects of the box or perhaps a pre-box condition? Hard to tell. perhaps we should send it to the grand jury for determination.

      .

      .

      Delete
  26. My latest project:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i6Hu9cKRrOA

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Neat !

      Has a kind of Israeli look to it.

      I fear though our school kids today would turn it into a marijuana grow operation.

      Delete
  27. Sadr's followers hold a sit-in at Grand Festivities Square in Baghdad [Wissm al-Okili/Reuters]

    That place is worse than Berkeley.

    http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2016/04/protesters-storm-baghdad-green-zone-parliament-160430120004964.html

    ReplyDelete
  28. Goodnight, and good luck

    A valedictory note from Al Jazeera America on what we tried to bring to the online news landscape

    http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2016/2/26/goodnight-and-good-luck.html

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. AJAM online’s legacy, some of it captured on these pages, is a journalism of value and of values not tied to any ideology or political entity but morally committed when confronted by racism and bigotry, violence against the innocent, injustice and inequality, sexism and homophobia.

      We tried in our brief tenure to uphold the fine tradition of an American journalism that comforts the afflicted and afflicts the comfortable. Tradition long predates AJAM and will hopefully long outlive it. But AJAM offered us a brief, inspirational taste of a world where talented journalists are unleashed to pursue the profession’s best traditions without commercial pressure.

      Delete
    2. They left out Climate Change!

      No wonder they failed.

      Delete
    3. Left out micro-aggressions, too.

      I think they failed cause they couldn't score any decent advertisers.

      Delete
    4. Why oh why do I keep getting further behind.

      Maybe I should try.

      For a change.

      Bye.

      Delete
  29. I have created a new folder on my computer:

    "Predictions By Rufus"

    This joins my:

    "Q Quotes On The Good Life"

    ReplyDelete
  30. Replies
    1. He's a charmer that's for certain.

      I've seen him charm the panties right off women jurors....

      He's always able to get at least a hung jury, if not an outright 'not guilty'.

      Never seen anything quite like it.

      Delete
    2. All I ever was was well hung.

      Delete
  31. Why oh why do I lie?

    360 view of Falcon 9 landing:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KDK5TF2BOhQ

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. (you can drag it and watch it come in)

      40 tons, 22 stories high!

      Delete
  32. Harking back to Israel’s Yinon Plan, it states:
    «The dissolution of Syria and Iraq later on into ethnically or religiously unqiue areas such as in Lebanon,
    is Israel’s primary target on the Eastern front in the long run,
    while the dissolution of the military power of those states serves as the primary short term target.

    Syria will fall apart, in accordance with its ethnic and religious structure, into several states such as in present day Lebanon, so that there will be a Shiite Alawi state along its coast, a Sunni state in the Aleppo area, another Sunni state in Damascus hostile to its northern neighbor, and the Druzes who will set up a state, maybe even in our Golan, and certainly in the Hauran and in northern Jordan».

    http://beforeitsnews.com/international/2013/08/the-yinon-plan-2466788.html

    Success is in the eye of the beholder ....



    But Jack, we will not have true success until they put you on trial in the Hague...

    So when that day comes, and when you are executed for war crimes?

    then we can celebrate...

    :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. But Iran needs to be brought to their knees...

      As well as Pakistan too..

      :)

      Delete
    2. Crapper's only legal way out may well be to plead 'not guilty by reason of insanity'.

      Perhaps Crapper can get his long fled wife to testify to the truth of this defense on crap's behalf.

      She knows.

      I doubt it would work though.

      It's not a much used defense in war crimes trials.

      And she would probably decline the request, feeling he deserves what he gets.

      Delete
  33. 'Caitlyn' Jenner Takes On Ted Cruz Over Transgender Bathroom Issue


    Washington (CNN) — Texas Sen. Ted Cruz is standing his ground in his belief that allowing transgender people to use the bathroom of their choice "opens the door for predators," dismissing criticism from Caitlyn Jenner, who mocked him over the issue last week.

    "This is not a matter of right or left, or Democrat or Republican. This is common sense. It doesn't make sense for grown adult men, strangers, to be alone in a restroom with a little girl," Cruz told CNN's Jake Tapper on "State of the Union."


    "This is the height of political correctness," Cruz continued. "And frankly, the concern is not of the Caitlyn Jenners of the world, but if the law is such that any man, if he feels like it, can go in a woman's restroom and you can't ask him to leave, that opens the door for predators.

    Jenner, Cruz, Trump and the transgender bathroom debate


    Jenner, Cruz, Trump and the transgender bathroom debate

    Watch this video

    Related Video: Jenner, Cruz, Trump and the transgender bathroom debate 02:52

    Jenner, a reality TV star and activist for transgender causes, posted a video to Facebook on Wednesday knocking Cruz for his support of a controversial North Carolina law that requires people to use the bathroom that corresponds with their "biological sex" stated on their birth certificate, rather than how they self-identify.

    RELATED: Caitlyn Jenner: I did not endorse Ted Cruz or Donald Trump

    After using a women's bathroom in the Trump International Hotel and Tower in New York City -- following a recent comment by Trump in which he said Jenner could use whichever bathroom she wanted at the tower -- Jenner, a Republican, quipped: "By the way, Ted, nobody got molested."

    "I've spent a lot of years in law enforcement dealing with child predators that are sick individuals," Cruz told Tapper. "That doesn't mean that that is the people who are transgendered. But there are predators in the world, and just saying that you're a man, you can go in the girls' restroom if you feel like it, opens the door for criminals."

    Cruz didn't spare Trump in his criticism.

    "This is the height of political correctness for Donald Trump to say yes, let grown men in the bathroom with little girls," he said.

    http://www.cnn.com/2016/05/01/politics/ted-cruz-carly-fiorina-john-boehner/index.html

    I don't care what Caitlyn says or does just don't want him sitting next to me on the two holer out at the farm.

    ReplyDelete
  34. Iraq has a population of 35 million.

    Government employment under Saddam was 1 million employees.

    Government employment in Iraq today is 7 million.

    ReplyDelete
  35. Saddam wasn't into employing the Shia.

    ReplyDelete
  36. .

    From David Stockman's Corner

    While I disagree with Stockman's claim that even Donald Trump would be better than Hillary Clinton (if true, the difference would be so small as to be difficult to be seen with the naked eye), he still does a very nice job in eviscerating the woman.

    Anything Trumps Hillary

    Some highlights...


    This will surely be the most entertaining election in US history, and probably the most pointless, too. After all, Hillary wants to use government to make Government Great Again. And Trump promises to use government to make America Great Again.

    But government doesn’t make anything great, including itself. It is a necessary evil that always and everywhere is driven toward self-aggrandizement and mission creep by the politicians and special interest lobbies which control its operations.

    What government actually does is thwart the capacity of the people to pursue their own vision of greatness by encumbering their economic lives with burdensome taxation, regulation, roadblocks to opportunity and monetary fraud while saddling their public lives with endless Nanny State impositions and encroachments upon their personal liberty.

    And, most especially, what the central state does in its current incarnation as Imperial Washington is to sabotage national greatness, not foster it, and saddle the economically listing American nation with a debilitating $800 billion national security apparatus that is wholly unnecessary...



    {...}

    ReplyDelete
    Replies

    1. {...}


      From the pointless, bloody “surge” in Afghanistan to the destructive intervention in Libya to the arming and aiding of jihadist radicals in Syria, Hillary has proved herself to be a shrill harpy of military mayhem. Indeed, she brought a fillip to the neocon playbook that has made Imperial Washington even more trigger happy.

      To wit, Clinton has been a tireless proponent of the insidious doctrine of R2P or “responsibility to protect”. No one in their right mind could have concluded that the aging, pacified, tent-bound Moammar Khadafy was a threat to the safety and security of the American people. Even the community organizer from South Chicago wanted to keep the American bombers parked on their runways.

      But Hillary’s infamous emails leave no doubt that it was she who induced Obama to embrace the folly that quickly created yet another failed state, hotbed of jihadism and barbaric hellhole in the middle east. Indeed, her hands are doubly bloody.

      When Hillary bragged that “We came, we saw, he died”, it turns out that not just Khadafy but thousands of innocents have died, and not just from the chaos unleashed in Libya itself. The former dictator’s arsenals and mercenaries have now been dispersed all over North Africa and the middle east, spreading desolation in their wake.

      Indeed, the CIA annex in Benghazi was actually in the business of recycling Libyan weapons to the jihadists in Syria through the ratline to Turkey. Is there any possibility at all that this would have happened, and that Ambassador Stevens would have been murdered, had Hillary not put the shive to Khadafy’s backside?...




      {...}


      Delete


    2. {...}


      Until the constitutionally elected government of Ukraine was overthrown by a Washington funded mob of economically deprived citizens, disgruntled nationalists and crypto-Nazi agitators in February 2014, Putin was basking in the glory of the Sochi Olympics and having petty quarrels with the crook who took-over the tiny state of Georgia after the Soviet Union disappeared. The world disdained his oafish character, but no one claimed that he was fixing to invade Europe.

      At the same time, any one who knew the slightest thing about Ukraine’s history and its long co-existence in the shadow of Mother Russia understood that bringing it into NATO was a decidedly stupid idea, and that threatening Russia’s rented naval homeport in Sevastopol, Crimea was sheer folly.

      Not Hillary. She was soon at the barricades justifying the folly of the NATO confrontation with Russia and the self-defeating economic sanctions against Putin.


      ----------------------------------


      Hillary keeps advocating a “no-fly” zone in Syria, but the Islamic State butchers don’t even have an air force. So her so-called “humanitarian” no fly zone is just another way to confront Putin.

      Indeed, it’s designed to stop him from aiding the constitutionally sanctioned and secular government of Syria that has invited Russian help. Yet Hillary is so besotted by the beltway fatwa against Bashar al-Assad that she is oblivious to the fact that the Russian/Iranian/Syrian alliance has done more in a few months to weaken ISIS and its jihadist confederates than has Washington’s feckless bombing campaigns and futile attempts to arm “moderates” and organize a coalition of the region’s unwillings during the last two years...


      {...}


      Delete

    3. {...}


      And when it comes to the most destructive “free stuff” of all, Hillary will surely be all-in. That is, she will not lift a finger to stop the Fed’s 88 month running gift of free money to the Wall Street casino.

      Yes, she apparently did “Feel The Bern” and has a deck full of empty talking points about how a Clinton Administration will be there for main street, not Wall Street.

      No it won’t. Hillary Clinton has spent a lifetime milking and promoting the state.

      She has no clue that it is the state itself in the form of the rogue central bankers now ensconced in the Eccles Building that is creating the wealth and income mal-distribution and rampant unfairness which she denounces; and which is strangling American capitalism and the opportunities to advance for the traditionally left behind and the recently fallen behind that she so stridently voices from the podium.


      --------------------------------


      If Hillary really wanted to stop Wall Street’s unspeakable windfalls and bring a modicum of economic hope back to main street, of course, she would demand Janet Yellen’s resignation and promise to clean house among the enablers of casino capitalism at the Fed...


      .

      Delete
    4. I was just reading that and almost put it up myself.

      What the heck happened to my Australian river carp eradication post ?

      Delete
    5. Has anyone else noticed that things seem to go missing when Quirk shows up ?

      Delete
    6. It happened again.

      One more try, o well just read this...

      https://www.rt.com/news/341556-australia-carps-herpes-virus/

      The Aussies are going to dump loads of some virus in their rivers to get rid of the carp.

      This virus seems to attack only carp, not other fish, not humans, not kangaroos, etc.....

      Interesting.

      Delete
    7. .

      It only works through sexual contact.

      .

      Delete
    8. You're beastly and pornographic.

      Delete
    9. I agree with Stockman down to the last comma.

      Delete
  37. .

    Sunday was the last scheduled appearance for the Barnum & Baily circus elephants. they are all being moved down to a 200 acre reserve in Florida.

    Hooray.

    .

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. .

      Retired to the 200 acre reservation lest there be any msunderstanding.

      .

      Delete
  38. .

    From the Guardian...

    Social media exercise giving blow-by-blow account of operation that led to death of al-Qaida chief criticised as ‘distasteful’


    CIA 'live tweets' Osama bin Laden raid to mark five-year anniversary


    Call me cynical but I doubt the CIA made the decision to put out these tweets. It doesn't really seem like something an intelligence agency would do on their own. I suspect the orders came from on high either so Obama could take a victory lap or more likely to help Hillary's oresidential bid.

    Just saying.

    .

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You don't say !

      And what's wrong with elephants working for their living like everyone else ?

      Especially since they were being protected from the ivory poachers in Kenya ?

      Said poachers ought to be, by the way, shot on sight.

      In India elephants working is normal.

      I'd almost say it's the Republican Way, working for a living....

      Delete
    2. You want to treat the elephants like college students, even though they are more intelligent than college students and are capable of working for a living like most anyone else.

      Delete
  39. Trump will win the Indiana primary by at least 5%.

    ReplyDelete
  40. Puerto Rico has adopted the classic solution to a debt crisis.....just don't pay and pass the debt on to Congress....

    ReplyDelete
  41. Arnold Palmer was born in 1929 (age 86)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Arnold and Ike:
      http://kingdom.golf/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/Palmer-and-Eisenhower.jpg

      Delete
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    ReplyDelete
  43. This seems to be some sick shit:
    Despite Protections, Miami Port Project Smothers Coral Reef in Silt

    We don't take kindly to reef killers in Hawaii.

    http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/08/us/despite-protections-miami-port-project-smothers-coral-reef-in-silt.html

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The Corps, who else?

      "Crucial to the plan was safeguarding the staghorn coral, a variety listed under the federal Endangered Species Act. But the vast majority of staghorn in the area was never relocated: Either it was missed during the initial 2010 survey by contractors for the Army Corps of Engineers, or it had spawned just as work began in 2013.

      The corps, the agency in charge of the project, did relocate 924 other, nonendangered corals.

      Florida and the Caribbean are rapidly losing their coral reefs, some of the most diverse ecosystems in the world, and the damage has raised intense criticism of how the Army Corps of Engineers has managed the project."

      Delete