tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post8719821608911232162..comments2024-03-29T06:35:11.321-04:00Comments on The Elephant Bar: NATO leadership is supporting a rebellion that includes Islamic terrorists...al-Qaeda-affiliated Libyan Islamic Fighting Group is the “main pillar of the Libyan armed insurrection.”Deuce ☂http://www.blogger.com/profile/13472858446242700869noreply@blogger.comBlogger29125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-28301353938752947432011-06-24T09:25:18.093-04:002011-06-24T09:25:18.093-04:00And I KNEW that McCain should not be.
That's ...And I KNEW that McCain should not be.<br /><br />That's why the Librarian got my vote.<br />The Presidency is not a binary choice.<br /><br />Lincoln won with 35% of the popular vote, in a four way race.<br /><br />It's the Republican Way.desert rathttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02369546288659566961noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-35253263497224187482011-06-24T08:29:00.659-04:002011-06-24T08:29:00.659-04:00And you all thought that "Maverick" McCa...<i>And you all thought that "Maverick" McCain should be President.</i><br /><br />No, I thought Obama should not.Deuce ☂https://www.blogger.com/profile/13472858446242700869noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-32422826880945786412011-06-24T07:02:16.620-04:002011-06-24T07:02:16.620-04:00cirlcle<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q_GkjymuQ9U" rel="nofollow">cirlcle</a>MeLoDyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04658982778792168451noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-88073063338699747372011-06-24T04:09:17.335-04:002011-06-24T04:09:17.335-04:00And you all thought that "Maverick" McCa...And you all thought that "Maverick" McCain should be President.<br /><br />That fella is nuttier than a fruit cake.desert rathttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02369546288659566961noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-74783018487679358022011-06-24T04:07:51.004-04:002011-06-24T04:07:51.004-04:00As I have told you fellas, before, the US is allie...As I have told you fellas, before, the US is allied with elements of Islam.<br /><br />For better or worse.<br />For a variety of reasons.<br /><br />But the US has NEVER been <br />"at war with Islam"<br />nor will it be.desert rathttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02369546288659566961noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-48613634697886975142011-06-24T03:10:58.917-04:002011-06-24T03:10:58.917-04:00Not bad work. We now have firmly established Shari...Not bad work. We now have firmly established Sharia law in Iraq and now in Egypt. Libya and Syria will be next. Turkey is leaning in that direction. It is a tide that we are incapable of stopping and need to quit waisting lives and assets pretending that we can. We need to get out and stay out.<br /><br />Israel is truly screwed. They will eventually face what the Serbs faced in Kosovo and the whites faced in South Africa. It is just a matter of time. <br /><br />Build a house along the Mississippi and enjoy it while you can. My fear is that we will be mindlessly swept into an impossible situation between Netanyahu and Iran. Let's hope not. The Middle East should no longer be our problem. Here we can learn from the Chinese. We had better.Deuce ☂https://www.blogger.com/profile/13472858446242700869noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-39572085412623347932011-06-24T03:03:45.804-04:002011-06-24T03:03:45.804-04:00US applications for unemployment compensation rose...<i>US applications for unemployment compensation rose by 9,000 to a seasonally adjusted 429,000 in the week ended June 18, the Labor Department said Thursday, pointing to persistent weakness in the jobs market.</i>samhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11856051164644278989noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-32612014418220098022011-06-24T03:03:33.096-04:002011-06-24T03:03:33.096-04:00.
What could possibly go wrong?
Well there is al....<br /><br />What could possibly go wrong?<br /><br />Well there is always:<br /><br />1. The dictator decided he didn't want to play by your rules.<br />2. The phony 'to save innocent lives' canard limited the actual damage you could do under the UN resolution.<br />3. In your frustration, you start killing as many 'innocent lives' as you are saving.<br />4. Since you have little knowledge of Libyan politics (and to this point hadn't really cared) or the people involved in the opposition there you side with the first one that seems the least bit organized. The fact that it is filled with terrorists and monarchists, well you have to break a few eggs to make an omelette.<br />5. The fact that if Ghadafi goes you may end up with a vacuum and a breeding ground for terrorists, but well, that's tomarrow's problem.<br />6. You 'turn the operation over to NATO' even though you still pretty much run all aspects of it.<br />7. It's reported your NATO allies are running out of ammo.<br />8. What was predicted to last for days is now in its fourth month with no end in site without a lucky hit that takes out the Big Mo.<br />9. Congress is getting antsy because you ignore the law and continue the operation without the proper authority.<br />10. You get some hired-gun lawyers to come up with a paper that says that despite daily pictures of bombed out homes and military targets that the US is not involved in hostilities.<br />11. You look like an idiot every time you come on TV and fail to explain what national interest we have in attacking Libya. Or that we are there to 'save innocent live'. Or that we are not really trying to assassinate Mo. Or that this is not really a war and there are no hostilities.<br />12. Hillary, who sees the way the wind is blowing, starts looking for job opertunities with the World Bank.<br />13. The action that was to be over in a couple days is now costing us $2 billion per year, money that could be spent here at home or given away in Africa on malaria control which would save a hundred times (in actual lives) the amount of (potential deaths) you predicted in Libya.<br />14. We don't have troops on the ground only advisors, you know, similar to what Kennedy did in Vietnam.<br />15. Worst of all, you can't back out without taking out Ghadafi; otherwise you will look like a bigger dick than you already do.<br />16. Luckily, you have deep thinkers like John McCain and Lindsay Graham on you side, and your party leadership is already trying to get legislation that will make your actions legal even if it is declared so retroactively.<br />17. Now commentators, liberal and conservative alike, are commenting on your Orwellian explanations and rationale for the war. The MSM is also starting to turn.<br /><br />What could go wrong?<br /><br />Hubris, Hutzpah, and Hypocrisy.<br /><br />.Quirkhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00272168240606512672noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-77774217218666980572011-06-24T02:59:29.670-04:002011-06-24T02:59:29.670-04:00Here is where our Egyptian policy has dumped us:
...Here is where our Egyptian policy has dumped us:<br /><br /><i>In an effort to secure a compromise, presidential hopeful Mohamed ElBaradei has proposed that elections precede the new constitution as originally planned, but that a new bill of rights should be drawn up beforehand that would supersede the constitution. This bill of rights would acknowledge the importance of Islamic sharia law in guiding legislation but also affirm Egypt's status as a civil state.<br /><br />ElBaradei's plan has won some support, though questions remain about how such a legal document would be formulated.</i>Deuce ☂https://www.blogger.com/profile/13472858446242700869noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-28091759382378413242011-06-24T02:57:19.504-04:002011-06-24T02:57:19.504-04:00Egyptian activists have threatened to bring mass p...<i><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/jun/23/egypt-activists-tahrir-square-elections" rel="nofollow">Egyptian activists have threatened to bring mass pro-democracy protests back to Cairo</a>, with a "million-strong" occupation of Tahrir Square planned for 8 July unless the ruling army generals abandon their current "roadmap" to democracy.<br /><br />In an increasingly rancorous debate, which has developed into a proxy war between the nation's fledgling Islamist and secular political forces, 40 different liberal and leftist movements have joined forces to demand that plans to hold elections in September are dropped.<br /><br />Campaigners fear the existing post-Mubarak transition programme – which would see September's ballot held under an amended version of Egypt's existing constitution and then allow members of parliament to oversee the writing of a new constitution – may cede permanent power to the Muslim Brotherhood and other religious groups, who are expected to dominate the poll.</i>Deuce ☂https://www.blogger.com/profile/13472858446242700869noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-30567470753914840202011-06-24T02:11:04.874-04:002011-06-24T02:11:04.874-04:00.
Who benefits from the US getting entwined in an....<br /><br /><i>Who benefits from the US getting entwined in another Middle Eastern maelstrom?</i><br /><br />Only our enemies; whoever they are these days.<br /><br />Libya was the result of the US attempting to regain the part of a player in the ME.<br /><br />Us diplomacy has been irratic there for years. It is ad hoc, paying off and supporting those we need something from (SA, Bahrain), pounding our chests and playing paper tiger to those we consider our enemies (Iran, Syria), and bribing the rest (Egypt, Yemen).<br /><br />We missed the Arab Spring entirely. In Egypt, when we finally saw which way the tide was running, we switched sides immediately. Not that it was necessarily the wrong thing to do but more that is was embarrassing in it's implementation.<br /><br />Obama and more importantly Hillary had to have been embarrassed by the turn of events. So what was their out? Hell lets invade Libya.<br /><br />You have a sparsely populated country run by a dictator most of the world hates. It's a tribal society. It has no modern army to speak of. Key allies want the action because of oil. Key players in the Arab league want the big MO taken out. (Him trying to have one of the rulers assassinated and insulting the ruler of another to his face in public doesn't really endear the guy to them). The UN, who has been a bystander in the ME and ignored for years will get on board to supply a token legitimacy. You own NATO. You have the most powerful army on earth. Your political opposition in the US is still filled with neocon hawks who will support the action. And you can claim you are doing it for humanitarian reasons. <br /><br />You can walk in and dump a dictator. And maybe gain some momentum as a player again. Try to get ahead of events. Hopefully you will get some attaboys from the Arab Spring movements. And maybe Hillary will be perceived as the man we always thought she was.<br /><br />What could possibly go wrong?<br /><br />.Quirkhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00272168240606512672noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-90001357301687593202011-06-24T02:08:40.792-04:002011-06-24T02:08:40.792-04:00The cellphone of Osama bin Laden’s trusted courier...<i>The cellphone of Osama bin Laden’s trusted courier, which was recovered in the raid that killed both men in Pakistan last month, contained contacts to a militant group that is a longtime asset of Pakistan’s intelligence agency, senior American officials who have been briefed on the findings say.<br /><br />...<br /><br />Harakat is one of a host of militant groups set up in the 1980s and early ’90s with the approval and assistance of Pakistan’s premier spy agency, the Directorate for Inter-Services Intelligence, or ISI, to fight as proxies in Afghanistan, initially against the Soviets, or against India in the disputed territory of Kashmir. Like many groups, it has splintered and renamed itself over the years, and because of their overlapping nature, other groups could have been involved in supporting Bin Laden, too, officials and analysts said.<br /><br />...<br /><br />In the spring of 2003, Bin Laden, accompanied by a personal guard unit of Arab and Chechen fighters, arrived unexpectedly at a gathering of 80 to 90 militants at a village in the Shawal mountain range of North Waziristan, in Pakistan’s tribal areas, the former commander said. He met Bin Laden briefly inside a house; he said he knew it was him because they had met before, in Afghanistan before the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.</i><br /><br /><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/24/world/asia/24pakistan.html?hp" rel="nofollow">Pakistani Links</a>samhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11856051164644278989noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-11877425263703097972011-06-24T01:53:49.704-04:002011-06-24T01:53:49.704-04:00The reports that a motorized Mexican army regiment...<i>The reports that a motorized Mexican army regiment took part in the firefight alongside Zetas gunmen are likely untrue. While there is a corrupt element within the military, the chance of an entire regiment operating with cartel gunmen is quite remote.<br /><br />It is not uncommon for individual soldiers and smaller military units to be found in the employ of cartels, and perhaps a small element was working with the Zetas, but it could not have been a Mexican army regiment, which would number some 1,000 to 3,000 troops.<br /><br />Whether the Zetas Matamoros raid was a deliberate strike against the Gulf cartel’s power base or an attempt to rescue a group of Zetas prisoners, we have been expecting to see this type of Zetas offensive for several months now. People and businesses should be aware of the probability of increasing violence in the coming months in Matamoros, Reynosa and Monterrey.</i><br /><br /><a href="http://app.response.stratfor.com/e/es.aspx?s=1483&e=311878&elq=cf2ad95c8f0b4ba687567520b414e97f" rel="nofollow">Battle In Matamoros</a>samhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11856051164644278989noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-68709200200947677852011-06-24T01:31:21.105-04:002011-06-24T01:31:21.105-04:00U.S. President Barack Obama announced June 22 that...<i>U.S. President Barack Obama announced June 22 that the long process of drawing down forces in Afghanistan would begin on schedule in July. Though the initial phase of the drawdown appears limited, minimizing the tactical and operational impact on the ground in the immediate future, the United States and its allies are now beginning the inevitable process of removing their forces from Afghanistan.<br /><br />...<br /><br />Afghanistan, a landlocked country in the heart of Central Asia, is one of the most isolated places on Earth. This isolation has posed huge logistical challenges for the United States.<br /><br />...<br /><br />More important than the fate of armored trucks and equipment will be the process of rebalancing forces across the country. This will involve handing over outposts and facilities to Afghan security forces, who continue to struggle to reach full capability, and scaling back the extent of the U.S. and allied presence in the country.</i><br /><br /><a href="http://www.stratfor.com/weekly/20110622-obamas-afghanistan-plan-realities-withdrawal" rel="nofollow">Realities Of Withdrawal</a>samhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11856051164644278989noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-71992267003160026042011-06-24T00:31:42.948-04:002011-06-24T00:31:42.948-04:00But, that's okay. Saudi Arabia's going to...But, that's okay. Saudi Arabia's going to jummp in and save us, <br /><br />Any. Time. Now.Rufus IIhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05297231055991566183noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-24190450880889309322011-06-24T00:30:10.349-04:002011-06-24T00:30:10.349-04:00BTW, Oil is back Up $1.20 in the overnight electro...BTW, Oil is back Up $1.20 in the overnight electronic market. Back up to $92 and change.Rufus IIhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05297231055991566183noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-16706369255924824012011-06-24T00:17:34.508-04:002011-06-24T00:17:34.508-04:00Thought this was funny.
Oil dives to 4-month low ...Thought this was funny.<br /><br /><a href="http://beta.news.yahoo.com/oil-falls-more-3-growth-worries-dollar-130019513.html" rel="nofollow">Oil dives to 4-month low as emergency stocks unleashed</a><br /><br /><i>"This supply disruption has been underway for some time and its effect has become more pronounced as it has continued," said the IEA. It said expectations were that Libyan production would remain off the market for the rest of 2011.<br /><br />"Greater tightness in the oil market threatens to undermine the fragile global economic recovery," it said.</i><br /><br />2m bpd being released to take up the slack for Libya's 1.2m bpd deficit.<br /><br />Guess the NATOcrats figure the war will be over soon, since Libya has oil in the ground and the west has oil in tanks that needs to be resupplied by Libya's oil in the ground.Brother D-Dayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11416004913872204554noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-80841408139477930202011-06-23T23:54:20.092-04:002011-06-23T23:54:20.092-04:00Or an Ad Hoc group of, oh I don't know, maybe ...Or an Ad Hoc group of, oh I don't know, maybe Russia, Iran, Venezuel, and a couple of others deciding to cut production by a couple of million bbl/day. Umh.<br /><br /><br />Wouldn't That be something to wake up to in the morning?Rufus IIhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05297231055991566183noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-57697488964995196842011-06-23T23:50:38.417-04:002011-06-23T23:50:38.417-04:00:):)Rufus IIhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05297231055991566183noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-90076708904795023832011-06-23T23:48:05.165-04:002011-06-23T23:48:05.165-04:00We're pretty much "equal opportunity deni...<i><br />We're pretty much "equal opportunity denigrators," here, anon. Everybody gets their turn in the barrel.</i><br /><br />Roger that. A sacred cow walks too close to the bar and it becomes the prime beef special.Deuce ☂https://www.blogger.com/profile/13472858446242700869noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-76162772409882524462011-06-23T23:46:09.046-04:002011-06-23T23:46:09.046-04:00McCain has lost his mind and Lindsey Graham, a clo...McCain has lost his mind and Lindsey Graham, a closet queen, are both Republicans as are Bumt and Kyl. There should be an up or down vote under the War Powers Act. I want to hear why we are engaged in another ME shithole.Deuce ☂https://www.blogger.com/profile/13472858446242700869noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-24696845590473233642011-06-23T23:41:27.561-04:002011-06-23T23:41:27.561-04:00At present, None of our political assholes deserve...At present, None of our political assholes deserve anything But denigration.Rufus IIhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05297231055991566183noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-90141978582282975932011-06-23T23:40:23.048-04:002011-06-23T23:40:23.048-04:00We're pretty much "equal opportunity deni...We're pretty much "equal opportunity denigrators," here, anon. Everybody gets their turn in the barrel.Rufus IIhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05297231055991566183noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-35979875524529774812011-06-23T23:37:59.560-04:002011-06-23T23:37:59.560-04:00What difference does it make? If Bush were doing t...What difference does it make? If Bush were doing the same thing, you don't think for one second that the Republicans would be after him to explain. The Democrats going after Obama are doing the Republicans dirty work to hurt Obama which is obvious. People like you help the Republicans.<br /><br />I don't understand why you support the denigration of Obama because he is not pure. No American president has ever been pure but with people like you abetting Republicans because some few things Obama doesn't do, which would have been done ten fold by a Republican, makes little sense.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-27838392607832119122011-06-23T23:34:16.730-04:002011-06-23T23:34:16.730-04:00The only thing I can possibly come up with is, may...The only thing I can possibly come up with is, maybe, Ghaddafi was starting to ship some of that light sweet to China, and the Euros took offense. If that ain't it I give up.Rufus IIhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05297231055991566183noreply@blogger.com