tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post285423810577466244..comments2024-03-28T06:32:24.557-04:00Comments on The Elephant Bar: The killing of a commander in the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps at the hands of ISIS and more Deuce ☂http://www.blogger.com/profile/13472858446242700869noreply@blogger.comBlogger18125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-5930752113885188002015-10-10T10:03:36.769-04:002015-10-10T10:03:36.769-04:00Jeez Louise it seems like my "disengage and l...Jeez Louise it seems like my "disengage and let them sort it out" meme is starting to take hold though Rufus mostly, and b00bie (of course) , still want to play in that awful sandbox, even if their playmates are Russian<br /> <br /><br />Russia ran their empire on the rocks in Afghanistan and now, after painful restructuring, seem intent on testing the depths of the ME sandbar. I wish them the best of luck in stopping all the killing but I don't believe that is their goal - black gold, bubbling crude, animates them just lije it does Galopn2. Greedy immoral fools that they are. <br /><br />I don't think they'll succeed in that sectarian killing stew any better than we did. Obama got it right - 'it's a mistake what Put in is doing'Ashhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16688752302081088907noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-59282058407701069712015-10-10T09:13:37.554-04:002015-10-10T09:13:37.554-04:00Agreed. We've done a good job up in the Kurdi...Agreed. We've done a good job up in the Kurdish areas; we should continue with that.<br /><br />Bombing the daesh in Iraq doesn't cost much, and has helped to keep their advance somewhat contained; we can continue with that.<br /><br />Otherwise, have a nice freakin' day, boys. Have fun.galopn2https://www.blogger.com/profile/10149969176825932175noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-69783106349125666642015-10-10T08:09:38.524-04:002015-10-10T08:09:38.524-04:00Let me help you here.
Science and progress means ...Let me help you here.<br /><br />Science and progress means change. I am typing on a computer that has more computing power than every computer in the US military of 1963 when I first engaged with them.<br /><br />My first computer was a wooden slide rule.<br /><br />You are fundamentally a rube that does not believe in progress. To progress, one must learn, change, alter one’s view, recalibrate, refresh, relearn, reevaluate, be skeptical, challenge, take risks, edit previous beliefs, and be part of the dynamic world.<br /><br />A dynamic world is part of a dynamic universe. That is my world. it is interesting, exciting and not dogmatic.<br /><br />Here is the difference in our lives. Mine is evolving. Yours is corroding. Keep your mental barnacles and atrophy. I’ll do things my way. Understand?Deuce ☂https://www.blogger.com/profile/13472858446242700869noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-82430421148202859502015-10-10T08:01:22.896-04:002015-10-10T08:01:22.896-04:00It is clear to me that Putin is pushing back at th...It is clear to me that Putin is pushing back at the West for the bitch-slapping given to Russia by the Neocon fueled policies of the US and UK after the Cold War ended. Putin wants respect. Russia wants respect. <br /><br />Russia has a monster problem at it's belly and right flank called China. China can take most of underpopulated and resource rich Russia at a time of it's choosing.<br /><br />Putin jumped the Shark in Syria. The best response is to do NOTHING in Syria. Tell the Neocons, The Pentagon and the GOP Likuds Force that fun and games is over. Let Russia and Syria sort it out. <br /><br />Tell Israel that is they fuck with Iran or Syria, they are alone. They have the bad ass IDF and they have their own arms industry. There is also the nascent Judaic fervor for the Saudis and the Egyptians. Excellent. They live there. Let them tend to their own business.<br /><br />The US has real interests in Europe. Europe needs to think about the baltic States and the Eastern European States and firm them up with some military steel teeth.<br /><br />Forget Ukraine. That is a legitimate traditional area of Russian interests. <br /><br />The Russians will be in Syrian for ten years cleaning up the mess and dealing with the Islamic crazies. If Iraq (likely) and Iran (unlikely) get tight with Russia. So what?<br /><br />Mind our own US business. Russia will wake up to the fact that Russia needs the West to rebuff future Chines aggression against Russia.<br /><br />P.S.<br /><br />A tripolar World will be preferable anyway and in case anyone has not noticed, we suck at Empire. <br /><br />Our military is much better at burning money by the bazillions than winning wars.<br /><br />The US middle and working class have been neglected long enough.Deuce ☂https://www.blogger.com/profile/13472858446242700869noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-18109410950769399472015-10-10T03:43:01.381-04:002015-10-10T03:43:01.381-04:00{...}
At the same time, Obama has ruled out engag...<br />{...}<br /><br /><i>At the same time, Obama has ruled out engaging in a proxy war with Putin's military, leaving few good options. One path, however, would mean finding ways to tamp down the fighting by negotiating small, local ceasefires with the Assad regime.<br /><br />“The White House somehow thinks we can de-escalate the conflict while keeping Assad in power,” one senior administration official told us.<br /><br />That view, being pushed by top White House National Security staffers, including senior coordinator for the Middle East Rob Malley, is not new. But it has received fresh emphasis given Russian intervention.<br /><br />If Assad is staying and there’s no political process in sight, this argument goes, the U.S. might as well focus on alleviating the suffering of the Syrian people and mitigate the growing refugee crisis.<br /><br />Local ceasefires have been struck sporadically throughout the war, mostly in areas under siege by the Assad regime. The United Nations special envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura, has been pushing this idea for over a year.<br /><br />“The current policy of the United States and its partners, to increase pressure on Assad so that he ‘comes to the table’ and negotiates his own departure, must be rethought,” Malley’s predecessor at the National Security Council, Philip Gordon, wrote at Politico as Russia was amassing its forces in Syria.<br /><br />The NSC view is opposed by top officials in other parts of the government, especially Secretary of State John Kerry and U.S. Ambassador to the UN Samantha Power. They are trying to persuade Obama that the only way to solve Syria is to increase the pressure on Assad in the hopes he will enter negotiations...</i><br /><br />To be continued...<br /><br />.<br />Quirkhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00272168240606512672noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-52445029401182119532015-10-10T03:40:02.480-04:002015-10-10T03:40:02.480-04:00.
BOTTOM LINE FOR US
Stay out of it.
Maybe that....<br /><br /><i>BOTTOM LINE FOR US<br /><br />Stay out of it.</i><br /><br />Maybe that is what we plan to do. Maybe not. Who the heck knows with this gang that couldn't shoot straight. At a minimum, the Russkies have the administration befuddled, arguing amongst themselves, pointing fingers, and trying to figure what to do next. Or so it seems.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.bloombergview.com/articles/2015-10-09/white-house-is-weighing-a-syria-retreat" rel="nofollow">White House is Weighing Syrian Retreat</a><br /><br /><i>A week into Russia's military intervention in Syria, some top White House advisers and National Security Council staffers are trying to persuade President Barack Obama to scale back U.S. engagement there, to focus on lessening the violence and, for now, to give up on toppling the Syrian regime.<br /><br />In addition, administration officials and Middle East experts on both sides of the debate tell us, Obama's foreign-policy team no longer doubts that Russian President Vladimir Putin intends to prop up President Bashar al-Assad and primarily target opposition groups other than the Islamic State, including those trained by the Central Intelligence Agency.<br /><br />The administration came to this conclusion late...</i><br /><br />Well, DUH.<br /><br /><i>These officials no longer believe Russia was telling the truth...</i><br /><br />Ya think?<br /><br />.Quirkhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00272168240606512672noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-59442117443666229052015-10-10T03:31:17.365-04:002015-10-10T03:31:17.365-04:00Perhaps the country ought to adopt a law making it...Perhaps the country ought to adopt a law making it a crime to reveal for whom one has voted.<br /><br />It might save us all from much discomfort down the line.Charltonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02337923317977922025noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-32688559836320609532015-10-10T03:29:41.766-04:002015-10-10T03:29:41.766-04:00I was just thinking of the past. You voted for McC...I was just thinking of the past. You voted for McCain, did you not ?<br /><br />I know Rufus did, and has changed his name to galopin2 to cover up this misdeed.<br /><br />You, and Rufus too, must have voted for George W. Bush as well.<br /><br />I wish you guys would knock it off with the Neo-Con stuff, and Bush's War and all.<br /><br />Quart can get away with it as he's always come across as a Democrat at heart.<br /><br />I voted for Bush both times, and McCain as well.<br /><br />Given what I knew then, I'd do it again.<br /><br />If back then I could have visualized everything getting pissed away by Obama I would have hesitated.<br /><br />Never having been an advertising executive, I like a little truth now and then in advertising.<br /><br />Of course Quart too, who I am guessing voted for Obama both times, unless he really did vote for the Buddhists, has all the current troubles and chaos on his plate, having voted for total incompetence, or, as some are arguing these days, and very seriously too, out and out treason.<br /><br />Let's all relax a bit with the name calling, and recognize <i>voting is tough</i>.<br /><br />Guten Nacht<br /><br />Cheers !<br /><br />Charltonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02337923317977922025noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-37273949862274399412015-10-10T02:04:36.464-04:002015-10-10T02:04:36.464-04:00That’s it, after 15 years of FUBARISTAN the Penta...That’s it, after 15 years of FUBARISTAN the Pentagon needs to give a course to killers and terrorists a crash course on human rights. Deuce ☂https://www.blogger.com/profile/13472858446242700869noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-17341426472994839072015-10-10T02:01:34.886-04:002015-10-10T02:01:34.886-04:00https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-secu...https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/pentagon-plans-sharp-scaledown-in-efforts-to-train-syrian-rebels/2015/10/09/78a2553c-6e80-11e5-9bfe-e59f5e244f92_story.htmlDeuce ☂https://www.blogger.com/profile/13472858446242700869noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-56518470954374362582015-10-10T02:00:44.100-04:002015-10-10T02:00:44.100-04:00A crash course in human rights ????A crash course in human rights ????Deuce ☂https://www.blogger.com/profile/13472858446242700869noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-12791143936460079572015-10-10T01:59:53.298-04:002015-10-10T01:59:53.298-04:00YOU CAN’T MAKE THIS STUFF UP>
...Under the ne...YOU CAN’T MAKE THIS STUFF UP> <br /><br />...<i>Under the new plan, leaders of groups already battling the Islamic State undergo vetting and receive a crash course in human rights and combat communications. Many of them have already received that training outside Syria, officials said.<br /><br />Eventually the Pentagon plans to provide ammunition and basic weapons to those leaders’ fighters and would carry out airstrikes on targets identified by those units. Most, if not all, of the rank and file would be neither vetted nor trained by the United States.</i>Deuce ☂https://www.blogger.com/profile/13472858446242700869noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-29017091918281300702015-10-10T01:58:17.827-04:002015-10-10T01:58:17.827-04:00Where did these $500 million worth of weapons end ...Where did these $500 million worth of weapons end up?Deuce ☂https://www.blogger.com/profile/13472858446242700869noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-18447048875612054562015-10-10T01:56:58.991-04:002015-10-10T01:56:58.991-04:00Anyone have any clue about what has worked for us ...Anyone have any clue about <i>what has worked for us </i>?Deuce ☂https://www.blogger.com/profile/13472858446242700869noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-47174509145471627952015-10-10T01:55:20.668-04:002015-10-10T01:55:20.668-04:00SAY WHAT?
“What we’re really trying to do here is...<i>SAY WHAT?</i><br /><br />“What we’re really trying to do here is build on what has worked for us and learn from some of the things that have been a lot more challenging,” Christine E. Wormuth, undersecretary of defense for policy, told reporters.<br /><br />15 years into the Neocon Crusades and we need to recalibrate? for what? 15 more?Deuce ☂https://www.blogger.com/profile/13472858446242700869noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-15524382836828732442015-10-10T01:47:32.734-04:002015-10-10T01:47:32.734-04:00THE PAUSE THAT REFRESHES
The Obama administration...THE PAUSE THAT REFRESHES<br /><br />The Obama administration backed away Friday from a blighted effort to train Syrian rebels to fight the Islamic State, as the Pentagon announced plans instead to provide direct aid to existing rebel units it believes have better odds of succeeding against the militants.<br /><br />The decision is a recognition of the repeated failures of a program begun early this year. Most recently, newly trained fighters were attacked by rival forces engaged in a largely separate fight against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. One U.S.-trained unit decided to hand over Washington-provided equipment to the local al-Qaeda affiliate.<br /><br />U.S. officials hope the revised plan will help Arab forces, allied with Syrian Kurdish fighters, replicate the success that the Kurds have had against the Islamic State in northeastern Syria and eventually isolate the group in Raqqa, its de facto Syrian capital.<br /><br />“What we’re really trying to do here is build on what has worked for us and learn from some of the things that have been a lot more challenging,” Christine E. Wormuth, undersecretary of defense for policy, told reporters.<br /><br /><i><b>Wormuth said the training program launched earlier this year has not been canceled but was put on “operational pause” and might be resumed in the future.</b></i>Deuce ☂https://www.blogger.com/profile/13472858446242700869noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-41706808988882716642015-10-10T01:28:31.255-04:002015-10-10T01:28:31.255-04:00THE PENTAGON 500 MILLION PISS-A-WAY
The US decisi...THE PENTAGON 500 MILLION PISS-A-WAY<br /><br /><b>The US decision to “pause” its troubled $500m (£326m) programme to train and equip moderate Syrian rebels to fight Islamic State (Isis) is yet another move highlighting western disarray and failure as Russia continues its airstrikes, which western governments say are supporting Bashar al-Assad.</b><br /><br />The Pentagon said on Friday it was changing its strategy in Syria. It would supply “equipment packages and weapons … to a select group of vetted leaders and their units so that over time they can make a concerted push into territory still controlled by Isil,” a spokesman said, using the US acronym for the jihadi group.<br /><br />The programme, the most visible element of US backing for Syrian opposition forces, has suffered embarrassing setbacks. Last month it transpired that it had trained only four or five fighters inside Syria, while others who underwent training in Turkey had surrendered to rival groups and handed over the their weapons when they crossed the border into Syria. Other covert programmes are run by the CIA.Deuce ☂https://www.blogger.com/profile/13472858446242700869noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-45927536434809240502015-10-10T01:20:24.096-04:002015-10-10T01:20:24.096-04:00BOTTOM LINE FOR US
Stay out of it.BOTTOM LINE FOR US<br /><br />Stay out of it.Deuce ☂https://www.blogger.com/profile/13472858446242700869noreply@blogger.com