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."

Monday, August 15, 2016

We will end up with a psychopath for President and it won’t be Trump

“Every Neocon Hates Trump and Loves Hillary, What More Do You Need to Know?"

Who Got Us Into These Endless Wars?

Patrick J. Buchanan | 

“Isolationists must not prevail in this new debate over foreign policy,” warns Richard Haass, president of the Council on Foreign Relations. “The consequences of a lasting American retreat from the world would be dire.”

To make his case against the “Isolationist Temptation,” Haass creates a caricature, a cartoon, of America First patriots, then thunders that we cannot become “a giant gated community.”

Understandably, Haass is upset. For the CFR has lost the country.
Why? It colluded in the blunders that have bled and near bankrupted America and that cost this country its unrivaled global preeminence at the end of the Cold War.

No, it was not “isolationists” who failed America. None came near to power. The guilty parties are the CFR crowd and their neocon collaborators, and liberal interventionists who set off to play empire after the Cold War and create a New World Order with themselves as Masters of the Universe.

Consider just a few of the decisions taken in those years that most Americans wish we could take back.

After the Soviet Union withdrew the Red Army from Europe and split into 15 nations, and Russia held out its hand to us, we slapped it away and rolled NATO right up onto her front porch.

Enraged Russians turned to a man who would restore respect for their country. Did we think they would just sit there and take it?

How did bringing Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia into NATO make America stronger, safer and more secure? For it has surely moved us closer to a military clash with a nuclear power.

In 2014, with John McCain and U.S. diplomats cheering them on, mobs in Independence Square overthrew a pro-Russian government in Kiev that had been democratically elected and installed a pro-NATO regime.

Putin’s response: Secure Russia’s naval base at Sevastopol by retaking Crimea, and support pro-Russian Ukrainians in Luhansk and Donetsk who preferred secession to submission to U.S. puppets.

Fortunately, our interventionists failed to bring Georgia and Ukraine into NATO. Had they succeeded, we almost surely would have been in a shooting war with Russia by now.

Would that have made us stronger, safer, more secure?
After the attack on 9/11, George W. Bush, with the nation and world behind him, took us into Afghanistan to eradicate the nest of al-Qaida killers.

After having annihilated some and scattered the rest, however, Bush decided to stick around and convert this wild land of Pashtuns, Hazaras, Tajiks and Uzbeks into another Iowa.

Fifteen years later, we are still there.

And the day we leave, the Taliban will return, undo all we have done, and butcher those who cooperated with the Americans.

If we had to do it over, would we have sent a U.S. army and civilian corps to make Afghanistan look more like us?

Bush then invaded Iraq, overthrew Saddam, purged the Baath Party, and disbanded the Iraqi army. Result: A ruined, sundered nation with a pro-Iranian regime in Baghdad, ISIS occupying Mosul, Kurds seceding, and endless U.S. involvement in this second-longest of American wars.

Most Americans now believe Iraq was a bloody trillion-dollar mistake, the consequences of which will be with us for decades.

With a rebel uprising against Syria’s Bashar al-Assad, the U.S. aided the rebels. Now, 400,000 Syrians are dead, half the country is uprooted, millions are in exile, and the Damascus regime, backed by Russia, Iran and Hezbollah, is holding on after five years.

Meanwhile, we cannot even decide whether we want Assad to survive or fall, since we do not know who rises when he falls.

Anyone still think it was a good idea to plunge into Syria in support of the rebels? Anyone still think it was a good idea to back Saudi Arabia in its war against the Houthi rebels in Yemen, which has decimated that country and threatens the survival of millions?

Anyone still think it was a good idea to attack Libya and take down Moammar Gadhafi, now that ISIS and other Islamists and rival regimes are fighting over the carcass of that tormented land?

“The Middle East is arguably the most salient example of what happens when the U.S. pulls back,” writes Haass.

To the CFR, the problem is not that we plunged headlong into this maelstrom of tyranny, tribalism and terrorism, but that we have tried to extricate ourselves.
Hints that America might leave the Middle East, says Haass, have “contributed greatly to instability in the region.”

So, must we stay indefinitely?

To the CFR, America’s role in the world is to corral Russia, defend Europe, contain China, isolate Iran, deter North Korea, and battle al-Qaida and ISIS wherever they may be, bleeding our country’s military.

Nor is that all. We are also to convert Syria, Iraq, Libya, Yemen and Afghanistan into pro-Western preferably democratic countries, and embrace “free trade,” accepting the imported merchandise of all mankind, even if that means endless $800 billion trade deficits, bleeding our country’s economy.
Otherwise, you are just an isolationist.

93 comments:

  1. I always knew SMIRK and Rufus, in supporting Hillary, were war mongers at heart.

    SMIRK is the worse of the two, sitting up there in Canada, drooling at the prospect of sitting back and watching Hillary launch attacks everywhere.

    SMIRK needs more than a good mugging, he needs to be drafted.

    By the way, that Abby has earrings that would make any Hindu woman proud.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. SMIRK'S only defense is that he is too dense and/or brainwashed to understand what is going on.

      This defense might fly.

      Delete

    2. Robert "Draft Dodger" Peterson never had to 'trust' in his own defense ...

      He institutionalized his Aunt, instead.

      She got a "Death Sentence", from her Boobie.

      They couldn't do a damn thing about it, I put her in the rest home, age 96. What you going to do, when she is institutionalized?


      heh, heh, heh.

      Delete
  2. Hillary is in the tank with all those who have given her such staggering sums of money over the years.

    Sharks and hawks, most of them.

    Trump doesn't owe anyone like that anything.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. No, Trump with banrupt four times, he doesn't pay off his debts, either.

      A lot like Robert "Draft Dodger" Peterson.

      Bob Thu May 27, 12:52:00 AM EDT

      But I did rip off the bank for $7500 hundred dollars, when I was on my knees, and fighting for my economic life, on my aunt's credit card. But that wasn't really stealing, just payback.


      It REALLY was stealing, Robert "Draft Dodger" Peterson.

      Delete

    2. No, Trump went bankrupt four times, he doesn't pay off his debts, either.

      Delete

    3. It would seem that Robert "Draft Dodger" Peterson is giving Hillary a backhanded compliment.

      He KNOWS that Hillary will pay her debts ...

      While he and his Donald, they flake out on theirs.
      The moral turpitude of Donald and Robert "Draft Dodger" Peterson, greater in Robert's view, than that of Mrs Clinton.

      Interesting, that he would articulate his view, in that back handed manner.
      As if it was his subconscious that was typing, his truth.


      Delete

  3. Trump is being stomped.
    It could well be the greatest electoral defeat for the GOP, since Goldwater.

    ReplyDelete
  4. On a lighter note ....

    Suspected shooter in Queens slaying of Imam and friend taken into police custody, may have been settling score in Muslim-Hispanic feud

    http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/queens/members-queens-mosque-demand-justice-shooting-imam-article-1.2750872

    ReplyDelete

  5. Clinton Surges Past 270 Electoral Votes in NBC News Battleground Map


    288 for Clinton
    76 Toss-up
    174 for Trump.

    Can you say "cratering", Robert "Draft Dodger" Peterson?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. http://www.nbcnews.com/politics/first-read/clinton-surges-past-270-electoral-votes-nbc-news-battleground-map-n630851

      Nifty graphic, there.
      Easily understood, even by someone as confused as Robert "Draft Dodger" Peterson.

      Delete

  6. Trump, who won the battle for the GOP, is losing the battle for the Presidency.
    Those members of the GOP that he beat, are not coming to his aid, no, not at all.

    "Mr. Trump is on the path to losing a winnable race," the members of the conservative editorial board wrote, condemning Trump's "lack of a field organization and digital turnout strategy" and his belief that the incendiary campaign rhetoric that enthralled GOP primary voters will work with the general electorate.

    If Trump continues on his present course, the Journal warned, Republicans could even cede once solidly GOP states like Arizona, Georgia and Utah to Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton — with potentially calamitous implications for down-ballot Republican candidates.

    "As for Mr. Trump, he needs to stop blaming everyone else and decide if he wants to behave like someone who wants to be president — or turn the nomination over to Mike Pence,"
    the editorial concluded.

    It isn't that Donald Trump particularly cares what the Wall Street Journal editorial board has to say about him — there's little hope that he'd heed its advice and drop out of a race that he's running on his terms. The Journal's editorial page, after all, is emblematic of the same conservative establishment that Trump has defied — and, at least in the primaries, defeated — with unmitigated glee.


    https://mic.com/articles/151529/the-latest-condemnation-of-donald-trump-could-spell-big-trouble-for-his-campaign#.jeBERsyej

    ReplyDelete
    Replies

    1. "Mr. Trump is on the path to losing a winnable race,"


      heh, heh, heh

      Delete
  7. .


    Consider just a few of the decisions taken in those years that most Americans wish we could take back.


    Buchanan speaks truth to the benighted.


    Anyone still think it was a good idea to plunge into Syria in support of the rebels?

    There's still plenty here who think so. Some call the US roll there extremely intelligent. Others brag about the fact that 5 years after we turned Libya into a failed state and helped facilitate the growth of ISIS in a dozen other countries we are now back in Libya bombing ISIS as if that is some kind of success. The resident god-squad member argues we have to continue doing the same things in Syria/Iraq we have been doing there for the past 15 years in order to correct the mistakes we have made there doing those same things over the past 15 years. Another mimics the Israeli view that argues we should continue doing the same things there only rather than concentrate on ISIS we should be focusing our attention on deposing Assad and neutering Hezbollah. And it appears pretty clear that our two GOP supporters are opposed to what's going on in Syria/Iraq simply because the war is being orchestrated by Obama at the moment. I suspect their views would change radically if it was someone from the GOP running the show.

    If we had to do it over, would we have sent a U.S. army and civilian corps to make Afghanistan look more like us?


    Well, despite the mess we have made of the country and the costs in blood and treasure we have spent over the last 15 years, one rural intellectual here argues that we must continue our presence there for as long as it takes 'for the women'.

    I could go on.

    Buchanan lays out a case for why American foreign policy since the end of the Cold War needs to change. Unfortunately, he won't find many approving nods here at the EB.

    .

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The entire nation - perhaps minus you ? - voted to go into Afghanistan, and still the women there will never catch a break....

      It makes easier jawing, and easier thinking, talking and thinking about the recent Mafia hits down at the Barber Shop....

      Some think our foreign policy seems so incoherent because we decide to do something then a few years later decide to do the opposite.

      And are surprised that it doesn't work out so well.

      Anybody know what Hillary's current ideas are about Afghanistan ? Because I don't. Or Iraq, for that matter.

      What does she propose to do ?

      Silly question - whatever is expedient, of course.


      It's best to sit in the Barber Shop and talk Mafia hits, and not think about the women.


      Delete
    2. " The resident god-squad member argues we have to continue doing the same things in Syria/Iraq we have been doing there for the past 15 years in order to correct the mistakes we have made there doing those same things over the past 15 years."

      You misunderstand the G_D squad mission and purpose of prophesy.
      Damascus will be laid to waste.
      Isaiah said so.

      Don't think that I'm in anyway happy about it.

      But you dismiss all religion at your own peril while the followers live out their passions.

      Delete
    3. .

      Some think our foreign policy seems so incoherent because we decide to do something then a few years later decide to do the opposite.

      A few years later?

      15 years and counting is a few years? Perhaps to one who doesn't think but merely emotes it is. Your quixotic musings ignore the realities of what we have wrought in that 15 years.

      What exactly has the US accomplished in Afghanistan in the last 15 years? Have any of your goals for Afghanistan been achieved by our presence there? Have they been materially advanced? And regardless of your answer, what have been the costs in lives, treasure, and other factors? Can you honestly say our efforts were worth it? Can you see any way that by keeping our troops in the country it will bring about some cultural or economic or even political flowering there?

      Look at not only the costs of the war itself in lives and treasure. Look at the reports we see on a regular basis of the $tens of billions wasted on roads to nowhere, on unused bases, on the untraceable $ billions lost. Look at the 'government' we installed that is considered among the most corrupt in the world. Look at the re-birth of the Taliban there, now stronger than ever. Look at our complicity in the growth of the heroin trade there now double what it was when we first went there and the deaths and pain it has engendered throughout the world. Look at the deaths and displacement we have created among the Afghan population.

      Churchill described US diplomacy as like a bull that carries its own china shop around with it.

      Try thinking for once.

      .

      Delete
    4. .

      You misunderstand the G_D squad mission and purpose of prophesy.
      Damascus will be laid to waste.
      Isaiah said so.


      Damn. What else can I say?

      Don't think that I'm in anyway happy about it.

      Yet, it is you who argues we continue the same insanity. It's you who says you don't feel any guilt for the death and destruction we have inflicted on the ME at the same time you argue that we must continue the slaughter until we get it right.

      .

      Delete

    5. Bob Oreille Thu Aug 07, 01:07:00 PM EDT

      If you can't see it any other way, think about all those clits, Quirk, think about all those coming clipped clits.

      Delete
    6. It is you, Quirk, that thinks Islamic nuts will leave us alone if we disengage. It's been decided on their end that death comes to us.

      Delete
    7. .

      Don't be silly, Dougo. I have no illusions about about our being attacked. It will happen again. I don't doubt it. My complaints are twofold.

      One, that we give way more credence and importance to ISIS than they deserve. And two, that we should worry about our own country and apply efforts (sensible efforts not something dreamed up by some crackpot) to insure our borders here rather than going overseas to engage them and in doing so create more of them.

      On the first point, I just saw a PEW Research poll that said a full 80% of Americans consider ISIS the biggest problem facing our country. Given all the bigger problems this country faces this tells me 80% of Americans are batshit crazy, either that or that the PEW survey is completely wrong.

      Hell, just look at the two people we have running for president if you want a bigger problem. Look at the economy. Look at wage growth. Look at what we now call a 'good' job these days. Look at the trends in income inequality that have been going on for the past 50 years. Look at the projections on productivity and growth that are projected for the next 25 years. Look at the amount of murders we have in this society each year and then look at the insignificant percentage terrorist attacks make up of that number. And then tell me ISIS is the biggest problem facing this country.

      On the second point, while I don't have a lot positive to say about Israel given the current trends in that country, I do agree with there approach to threat response. They are a small country completely surrounded by enemies unlike the US which is surrounded by friends. The Israeli strategy is generally one of deterrence where they first identify the threats to their country, then they prioritize them, and then devote the needed resources to addressing those threats according to the priorities set. Note: here you need to look at the military and intelligence analysis rather the political one.

      Compare this to the US. I won't go into the specific details of all of this, of the trillions of dollars wasted and opportunity costs lost, of the American lives lost, of the failed states we have left in our wake, of the millions dead and the tens of millions of refugees, of the wave of refugees now flooding Europe, of the police state that has been created here, of the civil rights we have willfully given up, and the fact that a few thousand nut jobs in jeeps are now considered the biggest problem facing this country. The specifics have all been posted here before.

      Syria/Iraq is just the latest example. After all the stuff that has been posted here in the last two years you ought to be able to noodle it out for yourself. If you can't, I can spell it out for you. Again.

      But the issue is simple, the fear that has been generated in this country is intentional. It is generated out of D.C. with the help of the MSM. It's intend is also obvious to anyone who has not become so paralyzed by fear of a motley crew of rag heads that they are able to crawl out from under their beds and look.

      The fear allows the government to grow and expand, it allows it to put in systems that track and monitor all aspects of Americans' lives and with that knowledge comes control. It is used to justify the numerous foreign misadventures this country has engaged in not out of need but out of choice. It suits the needs of the MIC who get rich off of every war we are involved in. And they in turn finance the neocon dolts and liberal democratic interventionists who seek to spread the American culture and/or democracy to the rest of the world whether they want it or not. And if they resist, we burn the village to save it. Pure genius.

      .

      Delete
    8. This comment has been removed by the author.

      Delete
    9. .

      You seem to be stuttering, Dougo.

      Or, perhaps you are just speaking in tongues?

      .

      Delete
    10. .

      I realize my initial answer to your statement was 7 or 8 times the length of the longest Bible verse so perhaps that is what confused you.

      .

      Delete
    11. That was a hiccup. refreshed the screen and it resubmitted the comment. Sorry about that.

      But the issue is simple, the fear that has been generated in this country is intentional. It is generated out of D.C. with the help of the MSM.

      Careful, people may conclude that you would be referencing the Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion with that kind of talk.




      Delete
    12. I agree that ISIS is not our biggest threat. Therefore I am not batshit crazy.

      But as to the US creating more of them,...?
      The individual creates themselves with what they have at hand. Would you agree?

      Delete
    13. .

      No. I don't.

      I believe a person (or a country) is ultimately responsible for his/its actions. However, a those actions can be influenced by circumstances. That's why courts allow for mitigating circumstances when handing out sentences.

      It is easy sitting here in the US to talk about morality since we are on a different level of the Maslow Hierarchy of Needs than tens of millions in the ME. While you and I sit here talking about philosophical ideals, they are at the base level of physiological needs. They are concerned about air, food, water, shelter, clothing, sleep. We can talk about how they should be turning the other cheek when the US bombs them purportedly to save them (and us) from ISIS, in other words, 'destroying the village to save it'; but they sit there among the dead and maimed, their home destroyed, no food, no water, no place to go, a refugee now, as they watch the US plane slowly disappear into the distance.

      You tell me, if it were you looking at that departing plane would you be remembering the New Testament injunction to 'turn the other cheek' or in those circumstances would you be looking at the Old Testament injunction of 'an eye for an eye' and frustrated and even enraged at your inability to do anything about it?

      Even if born as a clean slate, a person can be taught to hate.

      Of course the US bears responsibility for what's been happens in the ME (at least its fair share of it) and its likely the fruit of our actions will follow us here. Hell, we have been messing with the ME and the people there for the last 60 or 70 years.

      .

      Delete
    14. You make a good point.

      I usually turn the other cheek, just once though.

      Delete
  8. According to the USA/Today Ipsos Poll, Trump is getting 20% of the Millennial vote. Richard Nixon got 36%.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That's an amazing accomplishment by Tricky Dick, seeing that the Millennials hadn't been born at the time.

      Millennials (also known as the Millennial Generation[1] or Generation Y, abbreviated to Gen Y) are the demographic cohort between Generation X and Generation Z. There are no precise dates for when the generation starts and ends. Demographers and researchers typically use the early 1980s as starting birth years and use the mid-1990s to the early 2000s as final birth years for the Millennial Generation.

      Yours truly,

      wiki

      Delete
    2. What comes after Generation Z ?

      The Bots ?

      Delete
    3. Tricky Dick knew how to stuff a ballot box. He made today's dems look like pikers. They have never yet thought that the unborn can vote, just like the dead.

      Delete
  9. It’s a long way to Trumpperary
    it’s a long way to go

    ReplyDelete
  10. ...I wouldn’t count him out yet...there a lot of emails left to know

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. .

      Right, and according to the Trumpettes, Hillary could soon enter a catatonic state which will make her a pushover in the debates.

      Others, however, argue that would likely offer a big boost to Hillary's candidacy as we would be forced to listen to Trump speak uninterrupted for an hour and a half, a circumstance guaranteed to raise Clinton in the polls.

      .

      Delete
  11. If the 'Deluded One' thought he had a chance he would be spending some money right now.

    Piss on the fire, and call in the dogs, boys; it's over. :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It looks to me like the donald thinks he has a way of keeping (and using) that crazy campaign money. :)

      Delete
  12. After Hillary wins, I do hope the new Syrian immigrants end up right in Ruf's back yard.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Which reminds me to get back to my "Q"Nits on a more regular basis.

      Delete
    2. .

      Right. Otherwise, you will lose your reputation for being the head nit wit. You might drop down to the halfwit level.

      With any luck, you might be the first here to become considered completely witless.

      Go for it, bro.

      .

      Delete
    3. .

      Yo, bro, I'll gopher it.

      And if it would help drive you away, Your Ethical HighAss, I'd DOUBLE my efforts !

      :O)

      .

      Delete
    4. "Q"Nit of the Day: Twins Falls, Idaho -


      ANOTHER Muslim migrant sex assault in Twin Falls, Idaho; media touted perp as moderate 2 months ago

      ByPamela Geller on August 14, 2016
      Current Affairs Muslim Immigration

      twin falls

      This is what Obama is doing to American towns and communities with his Muslim migrant policies. I’ve written a great deal about the five-year-old who was raped by three Muslim migrant boys in Twin Falls. Now here is yet another case of sex assault by a Muslim migrant in the same small city.

      Mohammed-Hussein-Ibraheim-Eldai

      “Accused Twin Falls Muslim Was Used by Media as Example Two Months Ago,” by Lee Stranahan, Breitbart, August 10, 2016:



      A Muslim Twin Falls man arrested over the weekend and charged with sexually assaulting a mentally retarded woman was quoted by local media in June as representative of Muslims opposing “bad things” and bemoaning the fact that the “picture of Muslims is getting worse.”

      As reported by Breitbart News yesterday, Mohammed Hussein Ibraheim Eldai was arrested Saturday and charged Monday in an incident involving a mentally retarded woman.

      As local TV station KMVT reported:


      Police then made contact with Eldai who, according to court documents, admitted to touching and exposing himself to the victim with the intention of having intercourse with her.

      Officers placed him under arrest and transported him to the Twin Falls County Jail where he is being held on $10,000 bond. His preliminary hearing is set for August 19th.

      On June 14, in the wake of the Orlando Pulse nightclub shooting — the deadliest Islamist terrorist incident on US soil since 9/11 — the very same TV station KMVT did a piece aiming to put a good face on the local Muslim community.



      The TV segment and corresponding written piece titled “We do not agree with those people doing bad things” was an attempt to put a positive spin on the local Muslim community.

      The segment showed an on-air interview with now jailed Mohammed Hussein Ibraheim Eldai and quoted him as saying:


      “These bad people they do this stuff in the name of Islam, and Islam doesn’t say it like that,” said Mohammed Hussein Ibraheim Eldai. “Now the picture of Islam is getting worse because, I don’t know. I… hope these people are going to give up.”

      The positive June piece about Muslims that quoted the now arrested Eldai was hosted by reporter Amy Reid.

      Reid is the same reporter who was called out by Breitbart News for her dishonest reporting branding those questioning the Muslim refugee influx as racist….

      Tuesday, the mayor of Twin Falls turned down an interview request by this reporter, claiming that Breitbart News was “anti-Muslim.”

      - See more at: http://pamelageller.com/2016/08/another-muslim-migrant-sex-assault-in-twin-falls-idaho-media-touted-perp-as-moderate-2-months-ago.html/#sthash.dKlFPNBE.dpuf

      Delete
    5. $10,000 bond, Q-Nitter.

      Why don't you step up and bail him out ?

      Get some help from a bail bondsman, you might only be out $2500, AND you'd get your money back if he shows up for trial, and you can waltz around feeling great about your noble self.

      If he's put on probation, you might even offer to the Court that he can stay with you during probation....

      Delete
    6. And if he's jailed you can do visitation.

      And if he's sent back to where he came from, as he should be, you can see him off at the airport.

      Delete
    7. Lots of American girls are raped by non-Muslims.

      Delete
    8. .

      You aren't going to advance up to halfwit status with that, Bobbo. You are still at the nitwit stage trending towards witless.

      Rather than a case of a man being influenced to perversity by the Koran it appears to be a case of a raging id overcoming a controlling ego in one of your fellow Idahoans. Could be the water.

      .

      Delete

    9. True....

      You took the words right out of "Q"-Nitter's mouth.

      Delete
    10. Quirk Mon Aug 15, 07:11:00 PM EDT

      Hell, that's sick, Quirk.

      Delete
    11. I'll attempt to help you out, Quirk.

      JUST THINK ABOUT SWEDEN

      Delete
    12. That strategy seems to be working well for you.

      Delete
  13. Joe finally proves his worth as VP -

    Hillary Slips Stepping Away From Podium, Biden Catches....DRUDGE

    ReplyDelete
  14. WATCH THIS !!

    August 15, 2016

    Judge Jeanine’s epic rant on Hillary

    By Thomas Lifson


    When I heard Judge Jeanine Pirro’s first segment live on her Saturday night Fox News show, which she calls her “Opening Statement,” I got my wife to start listening, for it was truly memorable. Part of it is her words – blunt, colorful, and honest – but part of it is her delivery, laced with sarcasm and very, very New York in tone. It looks like Judge Pirro really believes what she is saying, and her emphatic voice conveys the outrage that so many of us feel at what passes for unremarkable when the media contemplate the Clinton crime family.

    Judge Jeanine did a new show Sunday night, but audience response to her Opening Statement was strong enough that she repeated it on tape for the Sunday audience.

    Here is the video, with a rush transcript below. But do yourself a favor when you have a few spare minutes and watch the video.

    Why would a woman, a lawyer no less, one experienced many times over in the ways of Washington, risk placing classified information, our live assets, the placement of satellites, drones and our most secret plans on an unprotected, non-government, non-capturable server? Why would she violate federal regulations upon which she was schooled just before she became secretary of state? Not to mention violate federal criminal laws that would put her in jail. She’s too smart to do that. Why would she take the time to make the effort to hide, destroy and delete 33,000 e-mails? Now we know.

    She did it for the most selfish of reasons. The oldest of motives. She did it for greed and for power and for the almighty dollar. She did it to hide her shady Clinton Foundation dealings. She did it in order to do favors for Clinton donors and to put a price tag on our state department. The same duo who came up with a scheme to rent out the Lincoln bedroom is back in business with a new and bigger scheme, one that is more far-reaching and worldwide, one that violates not only the law but all codes of moral and ethical conduct in government. A couple willing to sell anything to the highest bidder for money and power.


    http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2016/08/judge_jeanines_epic_rant_on_hillary.html#ixzz4HRfBx7cM

    Judge Jeanine Pirro - she is wonderful.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Book review: The War on Guns, by John Lott


    posted at 4:01 pm on August 15, 2016 by Jazz Shaw

    I’ve just finished reading one of the best books on gun control to come out in some time and wanted to share some of the experience with you. The timely and superbly written tome by John R. Lott Jr. is titled, “The War on Guns: Arming Yourself Against Gun Control Lies.”

    You may remember John Lott from our previous coverage here of both gun control and crime in the United States. Some of his previous work included an analysis of the different ways that economists and criminologists view gun ownership, which he revisits in this book. Long before that, John had done some groundbreaking research on crime statistics in America, much of which I drew on when I compiled, The truth about gun deaths: Numbers and actual solutions.

    This is a truly remarkable book which should be on everyone’s must read list. In his usual fashion, John goes past the usual talking points which infest cable television debates and takes on some of the most sacred cows of the gun control lobby, tossing their filleted remains straight onto the grill. One of these is the ongoing debate about expanded background checks and gun registration requirements. In chapter 4, Lott shoots straight past the “conventional wisdom” on the subject with the provocative title, Why licenses, regulations and background checks don’t help.

    John combines his personal experience in testifying before government committees with exhaustive research into crime statistics in various states as well as Canada (considered the Holy Grail of gun control for Second Amendment opponents). In Hawaii, for one example, the Honolulu Police Chief testified before the state senate that there wasn’t a single homicide he could identify where chasing down the registration of a weapon used in a homicide had helped solve the case. In Canada, over a six year period, there were only five dozen or so cases where a gun used in a murder had a valid registration which was used in the investigation, and even then the data provided was, at best, tangential in solving the crime. (Not surprising since the rare cases where a crime is committed with a legally purchased and registered firearm frequently take place in the home and the suspect still has the weapon and/or is severely wounded or dead when the cops get to them.)

    In a later chapter, Lott revisits Hillary Clinton’s famous quotes about how she admires the gun “buyback” program in Australia. He then reveals some things you’ll never hear on CNN about the Land Down Under. The buyback/purge of 96 and 97 didn’t actually wipe out gun ownership for the Aussies. The total number of guns dropped from 3.2 million to 2.2 million. Even less well known is the fact that gun ownership almost immediately began to rise again and by 2010 it was back to 1996 levels. He also provides graphs of crime statistics from before and after the buyback which blows apart the commonly repeated tropes you hear on cable news and in Democratic stump speeches.

    There’s plenty more and much of it will be eye opening even to avid consumers of Second Amendment news. There are tools aplenty in here for those fighting the good fight on gun rights heading into this election, so if you don’t have a copy of The War On Guns yet, you’ll be doing yourself a favor if you order one today. I seriously can’t recommend this book strongly enough.


    http://hotair.com/archives/2016/08/15/book-review-the-war-on-guns-by-john-lott/

    ReplyDelete
  16. Meanwhile,

    Strikes in Syria

    Attack, fighter and remotely piloted aircraft conducted seven strikes in Syria:

    -- Near Albu Kamal, a strike destroyed an ISIL oil wellhead and ISIL-used oil equipment.

    -- Near Ayn Isa, two strikes struck an ISIL staging area and an ISIL weapons storage facility.

    -- Near Mara, two strikes destroyed an ISIL fighting position and damaged four separate ISIL fighting positions.

    -- Near Tal Abyad, two strikes struck an ISIL tactical unit and destroyed four ISIL vehicles.

    Strikes in Iraq

    Fighter and remotely piloted aircraft conducted seven strikes in Iraq, coordinated with and in support of Iraq’s government:

    -- Near Mosul, three strikes struck two separate ISIL tactical units and an ISIL improvised explosive device assembly area; destroyed an ISIL vehicle, six ISIL assembly areas, two ISIL command and control nodes and one ISIL vehicle bomb; suppressed an ISIL heavy machine gun position; and denied ISIL access to terrain.

    -- Near Qayyarah, two strikes struck a large ISIL tactical unit; destroyed two ISIL vehicles, five ISIL fighting positions, an ISIL mortar system, an ISIL rocket rail, four ISIL rocket systems, three ISIL assembly areas, an ISIL command-and-control node and an ISIL heavy machine gun; disabled an ISIL vehicle bomb; and denied ISIL access to terrain.

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

    -- Near Sultan Abdallah, a strike destroyed an ISIL headquarters.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Biggest damn JV Team I ever seen.

      Dang!

      Delete
    2. Biggest damn JV Team I ever seen.

      Dang!

      Delete
    3. Biggest damn JV Team I ever seen.

      Dang!

      Delete
    4. Most intelligent military operation of my lifetime.

      Delete
  17. Kurdish Peshmerga forces in Iraq, backed by U.S.-led airstrikes, have captured a vast territory southeast of Mosul in recent days during an operation against the Islamic State (IS) militants.

    ...

    The U.S. Special Presidential Envoy for the Global Coalition to Counter IS, Brett McGurk, hailed the advances as a further tightening of the noose on the Islamists.

    ReplyDelete
  18. 'Tightening of the noose' has a nice ring to it.

    The Kurds should have a state.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. .

      Just don't let them into the US.

      :o)

      .

      Delete
    2. They don't want to come here. They want their own country.

      And they treat women much better....

      Delete
    3. Here's an article for you, Quirk -

      http://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2016/08/donald_trump_against_the_decline_and_fall.html

      Do you think those old Roman historical lessons still apply ? Even the economic ones ?

      Or did the Romans get too greedy, spread too thin....or did goings on far over the horizon come crashing in on them....or a combo of all of the above....

      Delete
  19. Trouble for Trump in Utah -

    Done deal: Evan McMullin qualifies for the ballot in Utah

    posted at 10:01 pm on August 15, 2016 by Allahpundit

    http://hotair.com/archives/2016/08/15/done-deal-evan-mcmullin-qualifies-for-the-ballot-in-utah/

    Talk about an egg head.....jeez

    ReplyDelete
  20. .

    No First Use No Go?

    The White House is considering declaring a “no first use” nuclear-weapons policy as one of several ways Obama can advance his non-proliferation agenda in his final months in office. Several options are under debate, and no final decisions have been made on “no first use.”

    The president wants to roll out announcements on nuclear policy in September to coincide with his final appearance at the U.N. General Assembly, officials said. One administration official told me that, in part because of allied concerns, the internal push on “no first use” was not gaining traction.

    National Security Council spokesman Ned Price told me that the administration is “always looking for additional ways to achieve progress” on Obama’s Prague agenda — named for the disarmament aspirations the president set out in his April 2009 speech in the Czech capital — “while maintaining a credible deterrent for the United States, our allies and partners.”

    Foreign officials from multiple allied countries said that their governments were upset about a lack of consultation on the possible declaration of a “no first use” policy, which would affect all allies who live under the U.S. nuclear umbrella. Many said that allied governments first learned about the policy debates in The Post.

    “While the goal of a ‘no first use’ policy is correct — to never be the first country to launch a cataclysmic nuclear strike — doing so unilaterally could run the risk of weakening our allies’ confidence in our security guarantees. This would not be in our interest,” said Joel Rubin, a former Obama administration State Department official.

    Diplomats from allied countries argued that if the United States takes a nuclear first strike off the table, the risk of a conventional conflict with countries such as North Korea, China and Russia could increase. Regimes that might refrain from a conventional attack in fear of nuclear retaliation would calculate the risks of such an attack differently...


    https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/global-opinions/allies-unite-to-block-an-obama-legacy/2016/08/14/cdb8d8e4-60b9-11e6-8e45-477372e89d78_story.html?utm_term=.58d18880dcc1


    IMO, to do this would simply be a way an ill-advised move by Obama to attempt to burnish his legacy as he prepares to leave office. I can't see any good that would come out of this action.

    .

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. !. The US has Zero credibility in any such a declaration. On what basis would any reasonable and sane sovereign country benefit from believing such a claim. The US presidency has an absurd amount of military power at his command. Whatever restraints were put on it by the archaic and joke of a constitution are long gone.

      Any declaration made with a pen can be erased by a pen. Congress is owned and leased by the lobbies.

      Strategic nuclear weapons are useless as offensive weapons. They are national suicide vests in that if used they kill the user and the survivors probably would come to wish they weren't. Tactical nuclear weapons are obsolete. They have been eclipsed by precision drones and electronic surveillance.

      An adversary with nuclear weapons is inoculated against a nuclear attack.

      Delete
  21. "Q"Nit: Oklahoma, Update

    Oklahoma: Ruling delayed on jihadi’s plea; admits to beheading co-worker for insulting Islam, Judge considering “mental illness”

    ByPamela Geller on August 15, 2016

    Beheading in Oklahoma

    This is where the suicidal misunderstanding of Islam is dangerous, supremely dangerous. If you recall, Jah’Keem Yisrael, a devout Muslim in Oklahoma, beheaded his co-worker, Colleen Hufford, and attempted to behead a second co-worker after they “offended Islam.” Prosecutors have said in court documents that Nolen “justified his actions based on his reading of the Quran and stated that he would do the same thing again to anyone who oppressed him.” He’s right.

    But now Judge Walkley is deciding whether Nolen is mentally competent to plead guilty and waive his right to a jury trial. Islam is now a mental illness. If Jah’Keem were in Gitmo, Obama would let him go....

    - See more at: http://pamelageller.com/2016/08/ohio-muslim-beheads-co-worker.html/#sthash.jmWn9Jg1.dpuf

    ReplyDelete
  22. Here' a gay man that has come to like The Donald -

    http://www.breitbart.com/milo/2016/08/15/republicans-just-overtook-dems-gay-rights/

    He likes Trump's proposed screening of immigrants to make certain they are not hostile to women, gays, minorities, other religions....

    He mentions the father of the Orlando killer sitting in the cat bird seats behind Hillary at that rally...."whose dad was invited to stand behind Hillary Clinton at a rally"....why in hell did she allow that ?

    Please don't say it was some mistake....you don't just stroll into that controlled seating section....

    ReplyDelete
  23. Kurdish Peshmerga forces fighting against Islamic State (Isis) in Iraq succeeded in taking control of a strategic river crossing point near the militant stronghold of Mosul on Monday (15 August). This will enable the anti-IS (Daesh) forces to open a new front against the terror group, Kurdish officials said.

    ...

    This successful operation -- clearing approx 150 sq km, including many villages -- will tighten the grip around ISIL's stronghold Mosul.

    ReplyDelete

  24. Manbij's liberation is a big step in the long war against Isil

    By
    Shashank Joshi
    Senior Research Fellow at the Royal United Services Institute
    13 August 2016 • 4:13pm

    Women carry newborn babies while reacting after they were evacuated by the Syria Democratic Forces (SDF) fighters from an Islamic State-controlled neighbourhood of Manbij, in Aleppo Governorate, Syria, August 12, 2016. Credit: RODI SAID

    It is hard to imagine that the destiny of Syria might be shaped by somewhere with half the population of Slough or Blackpool. But the liberation of Manbij from Islamic State occupation on Friday has significance out of proportion to the town’s small size. The most important consequence is that Isil have now lost one of their most important pathways for smuggling arms and fighters from over the Turkish border, just 25km away, into Syria and onward into the ever-smaller caliphate.

    But the rebel victory at Manbij, four months in the making, also has wider geopolitical ramifications. The fighters who vanquished Isil there were not the same rebels as those who broke the Assad regime’s siege in Aleppo a week earlier. The Aleppo rebels are mostly hardline Islamists backed by Turkey and Saudi Arabia. Those rebels, grouped under a coalition called Jaish al-Fatah, or the Army of Conquest, overwhelmingly focus on fighting the Assad regime.


    Syrian women burn burkas to celebrate liberation from Isil in Manbij Play! 01:04


    By contrast, the battle of Manbij, further to the east, was led by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). The SDF is an alliance of Arab and Kurdish militias that has been generously supported by arms, training, and airstrikes from the United States. American, British, and French special forces have undoubtedly been supporting them on the ground too....

    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/08/13/manbijs-liberation-is-a-big-step-in-the-long-war-against-isil/

    ReplyDelete
  25. .

    In first, Russian bombers fly from Iran to hit Syria

    MOSCOW, Russia — Russian warplanes on Tuesday flew out from an Iranian air base to conduct strikes against jihadist groups in war-torn Syria, the defense ministry in Moscow said.
    The raids are the first Russia has reported carrying out from a base in Iran since the Kremlin launched its Syrian bombing campaign in support of long-time ally Bashar Assad last September.

    “On August 16 Tu-22M3 long-range bombers and Su-34 frontline bombers, flying with a full bomb load from the Hamedan air base (Islamic Republic of Iran), conducted a group air strike against targets of the Islamic State and Jabhat al-Nusra terrorist groups in the provinces of Aleppo, Deir Ezzor and Idlib,” the ministry said in a statement.

    The strikes resulted in the destruction of “five large warehouses with weapons, ammunition and fuel” and jihadist training camps near Aleppo, Deir Ezzor, the village of Saraqeb in the Idlib region and Al-Bab, an IS-held town in Aleppo province, the statement said.

    .

    ReplyDelete
  26. .

    US Supported Ally Saudi Arabia Bombs Doctors Without Borders Hospital in Yemen Kills at Least 15


    SANA, Yemen — At least 15 people were killed on Monday in northern Yemen when warplanes bombed a hospital supported by Doctors Without Borders, according to hospital and local health ministry officials.

    The airstrike hit Abs Hospital in Yemen’s northern Hajjah Province, and three Yemeni staff members of Doctors Without Borders were among the dead, said the hospital director, Ibrahim Aram, who was reached by telephone. He said that three foreign doctors at the hospital were also wounded, and that three other staff members had limbs amputated.

    The bombing came two days after Saudi airstrikes killed at least 19 people, mostly children, in a residential area and a school in northern Yemen.

    The Saudi-led coalition fighting Houthi militias has stepped up its bombing campaign in recent weeks after peace talks collapsed between the rebels who control the capital, Sana, and the largely exiled government of President Abdu Rabbu Mansour Hadi, which is backed by the coalition and by Western powers.

    Ayman Ahmed Mathkoor, the health director for Hajjah Province, said the airstrike on Monday had destroyed the emergency department of Abs Hospital, killing 15 people and wounding 20...



    .

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Obamacare tipping point? Aetna to scale back coverage in most marketplaces - 8/16/16

      With Aetna abandoning all but four state exchanges, the entire program could melt down. More


      http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2016/08/obamacare_tipping_point_aetna_to_scale_back_coverages_in_most_marketplace.html

      Delete
  27. 4 L over R legs again today on Outnumbered.

    The trend continues.

    Rep. Peter King is the guest, talking about Gitmo.

    I like the idea of giving the detainees military trials.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. These ladies aren't all leftists so it can't be political.

      Delete
    2. They are talking of The Clinton Foundation and how the Press has given the Trump Tower Climber 10 x more coverage than it.

      So here's some coverage to make up for that lack -


      Clinton Foundation Investigation Could Spell Hillary's Doom

      A report that the FBI is investigating the Clinton Foundation could spell serious trouble for Hillary Clinton. (AP)


      8/15/2016


      Scandal: The Daily Caller reports that the FBI now has multiple investigations underway into the nefarious dealings of the Bill and Hillary's favor bank, also known as the Clinton Foundation. If true, this investigation could succeed where others have been stonewalled or blocked by the Clinton machine.

      Is Hillary Clinton going to be held to account for her corrupt dealings between the State Department and the Clinton Foundation? That question just became highly relevant again.

      According to the Daily Caller, this investigation — unlike the politically neutered FBI probe into Clinton's reckless use of a private email server while Secretary of State — is being headed by Preet Bharara, a U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York. Bharara, the story notes, has a well-deserved reputation as a nonpartisan who fearlessly takes on powerful political interests.

      If this is true, and the report is admittedly based on the word of an unnamed source, it could spell big trouble for Hillary.

      This latest report comes just days after Judicial Watch released a batch of emails that exposed a cozy relationship between the State Department and the Clinton Foundation — a relationship Clinton swore she would avoid when taking the job.

      As the Judicial Watch's Tom Fitton put it, the documents show that "the State Department and the Clinton Foundation worked hand in hand in terms of policy and donor effort."

      Even the mainstream press was forced to admit that the new emails "raised questions" about "whether the charitable foundation worked to reward its donors with access and influence at the State Department." On Sunday, the Washington Post editorialized that the emails reveal a "porous ethical wall" while Clinton was at State, and that the story would have been bigger news if so much attention weren't being devoted to the imploding Trump campaign.

      Delete
    3. Meanwhile, CNN is reporting that in 2012, Clinton's top State Department aide, Cheryl Mills, traveled to New York in 2012 to interview candidates to run the foundation. As CNN put it, this "raises new questions about the blurred lines that have dogged the Clintons in recent years."

      The Daily Caller report also comes amid news that three FBI field offices were pushing months ago to launch a public corruption investigation into the Clinton Foundation, but were rebuffed by the Justice Department.

      The FBI announced in May that it was investigating longtime Clinton crony and Virginia's ethically challenged Gov. Terry McAuliffe for possible illegal campaign contributions. The FBI said it was also looking into McAuliffe's time as a board member of the Foundation's Clinton Global Initiative.

      Before taking the job at State, Clinton agreed to avoid conflicts of interest between the Foundation and her role at State. It should be obvious to everyone that this promise wasn't worth the paper it was printed on.

      All of this supports the central contention of Peter Schweizer's 2015 book, "Clinton Cash," that detailed how the Clinton's used Hillary's position at State to trade massive donations to the Foundation for favors from the Obama administration. As Schweizer put it, "they have monetized public service in a massive way."

      We also learned Friday that the Clintons made $1 million in donations to their own foundation, which effectively amounts to recirculating the money back to themselves and their friends while taking a massive tax deduction.

      This sort of corruption would be intolerable to liberals and the mainstream media if a Republican were engaged in it. Yet these same liberals reflexively dismiss all such corruption claims against team Clinton as lacking "definitive proof" or as insignificant or immaterial.

      As a result, for too long, the Clintons have gotten away such scams. One can only hope that this time Bill and Hillary meet their match in U.S. attorney Bharara.

      RELATED:
      How Far Gone Is America? If Clinton Is Elected, We'll Find Out
      Hillary And Bill Siphoned $100 Mil From Mideast Leaders

      http://www.investors.com/politics/editorials/clinton-foundation-investigation-could-spell-hillarys-doom/

      Delete
    4. This election is a referendum on ourselves, by ourselves.

      If we allow The Clinton Crime Family back in our White House we deserve whatever we get.

      Delete
  28. Reagan's Sec. of State, George Schultz, on a Trump Presidency, "God help us."

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I always kinda liked George.

      He has a Princeton U. Tiger tattooed on his ass.

      Delete
  29. George Bush's Sec. of Commerce, "I Support Hillary."

    ReplyDelete
  30. New Dark Sector Fifth 'Quirk' Force of Nature May Have Been Found

    Protophobic Force

    'From The Dark Side'

    "This dark-sector force may manifest itself as this protophobic force we're seeing as a result of the Hungarian experiment. In a broader sense, it fits in with our original research to understand the nature of dark matter."

    http://www.livescience.com/55771-fifth-force-of-nature-possibly-found.html





    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. This comment has been removed by the author.

      Delete
  31. b00bie's man Trump:

    "On Monday, Donald Trump prepared to give a much-vaunted foreign policy speech as a foreign crisis surrounded his campaign. The night before, Mr. Trump’s adviser, Paul Manafort, was accused of taking millions of dollars from Russian backers in Ukraine. Mr. Trump’s former campaign manager and loyal supporter, Corey Lewandowski, tweeted The New York Times article about Mr. Manafort’s malfeasance, sending the Trump camp into internal disarray. Meanwhile, daughter Ivanka Trump was spotted on vacation with Wendy Deng, rumoured to be the girlfriend of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

    It was another night of the Trump Train going off the rails, which appear, these days, to lead through Siberia. As Mr. Trump took to the stage in Ohio, many wondered whether he would touch on Russia and the allegations of foreign interference surrounding his campaign, but no such inquiry was addressed.

    He had no intention of making an actual foreign policy speech. Instead, he made a domestic policy speech aimed at recasting innocent U.S. citizens as dangerous foreign infiltrators. There is no true foreign policy in his universe – only the singular threat of radical Islam, a concept without a country, easy to manipulate in order to smear perceived adversaries.

    According to Mr. Trump’s speech, the great enemy of the U.S. is “immigrants or the children of immigrants,” whom he claims are “the common thread linking the major Islamic terrorist attacks that have recently occurred on our soil.”

    http://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/trump-is-right-the-greatest-us-threat-is-indeed-from-within-its-him/article31427516/




    It'll be interesting to see what happens regarding Manafort's 12 million cash take....






    ...your fired?






    nah.

    ReplyDelete
  32. Florida - Hillary Clinton +9

    per Monmouth

    ReplyDelete
  33. Strikes in Syria

    Attack, bomber, fighter and ground attack aircraft conducted 14 strikes in Syria:

    -- Near Raqqah, a strike destroyed 10 ISIL oil tankers.

    -- Near Manbij, three strikes struck three separate ISIL tactical units and destroyed six ISIL fighting positions and an ISIL mortar system.

    -- Near Mara, 10 strikes struck seven separate ISIL tactical units and an ISIL headquarters and destroyed nine ISIL fighting positions, an ISIL heavy machine gun, an ISIL rocket-propelled grenade system and an ISIL weapons cache.

    Strikes in Iraq

    Fighter and remotely piloted aircraft and rocket artillery conducted seven strikes in Iraq, coordinated with and in support of Iraq’s government:

    -- Near Hit, two strikes struck an ISIL tactical unit and destroyed an ISIL fighting position, an ISIL weapons cache and an ISIL mortar system.

    -- Near Mosul, a strike produced inconclusive results.

    -- Near Qayyarah, two strikes struck an ISIL tactical unit, destroyed an ISIL mortar system and degraded an ISIL tunnel.

    -- Near Ramadi, a strike destroyed an ISIL mortar system and damaged an ISIL fighting position.

    -- Near Sultan Abdallah, a strike struck an ISIL tactical unit; destroyed four ISIL assembly areas, two ISIL heavy machine guns, five ISIL fighting positions, three ISIL mortar systems and an ISIL vehicle; and suppressed an ISIL tactical unit.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Local Forces Clear Manbij in Syria After Seizing Control From ISIL


      WASHINGTON, Aug. 16, 2016 — After seizing control on Friday of the Syrian city Manbij from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, the Syrian Arab Coalition element of the Syrian Democratic Forces are clearing the city to make it safe for returning civilians, the Operation Inherent Resolve spokesman said today

      Army Col. Christopher Garver, briefing the press on operations by videoconference from Baghdad, said the clearance process is slow, dangerous and difficult because the terrorist army always leaves homemade bombs hidden in cities that it flees.

      Yesterday in a statement Defense Secretary Ash Carter congratulated the people of Manbij, the Manbij Military Council, the Syrian-Arab Coalition and the Syrian Democratic Forces “for their success in liberating Manbij city from ISIL's hateful rule.”

      The push forward, enabled by coalition support, is a significant milestone in the campaign to deal ISIL a lasting defeat, he said, adding that Manbij was a key transit point for ISIL fighters going into Syria and Iraq, and for external operators plotting attacks against U.S. allies, partners and homeland.

      “The success in Manbij city will also help reinforce the growing isolation of Raqqa,” Garver said, “and enable us to achieve the next objective of our campaign in Syria, collapsing ISIL's control over that city.”

      Delete
    2. Operations in Iraq

      In Iraq, the colonel said, Iraqi forces led by counter terrorism service forces have launched operations near Qayyarah in the Tigris River Valley.

      Counter-ISIL forces are isolating the city of Qayarrah as they increase the pressure against the terrorists in the city, he added, noting that in the past seven days the coalition has conducted 22 strikes in support of operations in the Tigris River Valley.

      In northern Iraq, Garver said, several thousand Peshmerga forces began clearance operations near in Abzax, Shanaf and Kanhash -- villages located southeast of Mosul -- in an operation that seeks to secure more ground lines of communication to provide multiple routes for forces and logistics supporting eventual Mosul liberation operations.

      “The operations by the [Iraqi security forces] and the Peshmerga are complementary,” he said, “and support each other and the overall campaign against [ISIL] in Iraq.”

      Garver announced that this press conference is his last as the public affairs officer and acting spokesperson for CJTF-OIR.

      After the upcoming CJTF-OIR transfer of authority ceremony, he said, Army Col. Joseph E. Scrocca will take over as the task force public affairs officer and Air Force Col. John L. Dorrian will become the spokesperson.

      Follow Cheryl Pellerin on Twitter: @PellerinDoDNews

      DOD

      Delete