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."

Friday, January 06, 2012

Scaling Down the US Military Machine







Obama: the US can no longer fight the world's battles

President plans to cut half a million troops and says US can't afford to wage two wars at once


WASHINGTON
 



The mighty American military machine that has for so long secured the country's status as the world's only superpower will have to be drastically reduced, Barack Obama warned yesterday as he set out a radical but more modest new set of priorities for the Pentagon over the next decade.


Click HERE to view 'America's shrinking military' graphic


After the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan that defined the first decade of the 21st century, Mr Obama's blueprint for the military's future acknowledged that America will no longer have the resources to conduct two such major operations simultaneously.


Instead, the US military will lose up to half a million troops and will focus on countering terrorism and meeting the new challenges of an emergent Asia dominated by China. America, the President said, was "turning the page on a decade of war" and now faced "a moment of transition". The country's armed forces would in future be leaner but, Mr Obama pointedly warned both friends and foes, sufficient to preserve US military superiority over any rival – "agile, flexible and ready for the full range of contingencies and threats".


The wider significance of America's landmark strategic change was underlined by British Defence Secretary Philip Hammond, who used a visit to Washington to warn that America must not delay the production of US warplanes bound for British aircraft carriers. The US strategy is expected to make a drawdown of some of the 80,000 troops based in Europe.


"We have to look at the relationship with Americans in a slightly different light," Mr Hammond told Channel 4 News. "Europeans have to respond to this change in American focus, not with a fit of pique but by pragmatic engagement, recognising that we have to work with Americans to get better value for money."


But there is little doubt that Europe will be a much-reduced priority under the new scheme. The blueprint's status as the president's own property, after a first three years in office dominated by wars he had inherited from his predecessor, was underlined by his rare personal appearance at the Pentagon flanked by Defence Secretary Leon Panetta and other top uniformed officials.


Henceforth, Mr Obama underlined, the priorities would be maintaining a robust nuclear deterrent, confronting terrorism and protecting the US homeland, and deterring and defeating any potential adversary. To these ends, the US will also boost its cyberwarfare and missile defence capabilities.


At the same time, iIf all goes to plan, the centre of gravity of the US defence effort will shift eastwards, away from Europe and the Middle East. The focus will be on Asia and – both he and Mr Panetta made abundantly clear without specifically saying so – in particular on an increasingly assertive China, already an economic superpower and well on the way to becoming a military one as well.


The specifics of the new proposals, set out in a document entitled "Sustaining US Global Leadership: Priorities for 21st Century Defense", have yet to be fleshed out. But they are likely to entail a reduction of up to 490,000 in a total military personnel now standing at some 1.6 million worldwide, as well as cuts in costly procurement programmes – some originally designed for a Cold War environment.


The "Obama Doctrine" reflects three basic realities. First, the long post-9/11 wars are finally drawing to a close. The last US troops have already left Iraq, while American combat forces are due to be out of Afghanistan by the end of 2014 (though a limited number may stay on as trainers and advisers).


Second, and as the President stressed in a major speech during his recent visit to Australia, America's national interest is increasingly bound up with Asia, the world's economic powerhouse, and where many countries are keen for a greater US commitment as a counterweight to China.


Third, and most important, are the domestic financial facts of life, at a moment when government spending on every front is under pressure. For years the Pentagon has been exempt - but no longer, as efforts multiply to rein in soaring federal budget deficits.


At $662bn, Pentagon spending for fiscal 2013 will exceed the next 10 largest national defence budgets on the planet combined. Even so, that sum is $27bn less than what President Obama wanted, and $43bn less than the 2012 budget.

161 comments:

  1. He's "out-Ron Pauling" Ron Paul.

    ReplyDelete
  2. What is the point to a $7 billion aircraft carrier when it can be killed for a few million? The US needs a stronger economy and not a bigger aircraft carrier.

    Col. MacGregor’s view is interesting, especially on Iran and Israel at the 9 minute mark.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Japan in Contraction

    First Europe, then Japan.

    The weakest economies go first.

    ReplyDelete
  4. A paper tiger
    An empty ammo can
    A joke told in oriental bars
    A glove without a fist
    A paltry thing
    A tattered coat upon a stick

    b

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  5. It is amazing to me that if you want predictable propaganda, go to MSNBC and the NY Times but if you prefer more balanced and skeptical reporting, go to RT and The Independent.

    ReplyDelete
  6. It would be wise to focus on using single serviceman without children as was the case at the beginning of the Viet Nam War where married men with children were deferred. When we fought WWII, before we got into the empire business, guess the percentage of married men took their families with them overseas.

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  7. I posted on the previous thread that we're deploying THAAD (Theater High Altitude Anti-Missile Defence) Batteries to Israel.

    I don't think it's going to be a boring summer.

    ReplyDelete
  8. The best way to keep down the cost burden of military dependents is to encourage single terms of enlistment for as many positions as possible and very selective screening NCOs and officers.

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  9. This bullshit needs to stop

    The Pentagon is undergoing the largest military transformation in the Pacific since World War II. Changes in Korea, Japan and Guam will affect thousands of military personnel and their families, and require major construction of new facilities and housing units. But the Pentagon has yet to figure out a total price tag for the venture or consider more cost-effective alternatives.

    “DOD has embarked on complex initiatives to transform U.S. military posture, and these initiatives involve major construction programs and the movement of tens of thousands of DOD civilian and military personnel, and dependents—at an undetermined total cost to the United States and host nations. Although we have identified potential costs that range as high as $46.7 billion through 2020, and $63.9 billion through 2050, these estimates are volatile and not comprehensive,” the Government Accountability Office said.

    According to the GAO, the DOD has not performed a comprehensive cost evaluation or an analysis of alternatives. Changes are already taking place in South Korea, with cost estimates totaling $17.6 billion through 2020, but DOD lacks complete cost estimates.

    The lack of cost analysis raises concerns about investments that have already begun, like the $13 billion construction project at Camp Humphreys, South Korea. In addition to moving family members to the country, the initiative also involves constructing schools, medical facilities and other infrastructure. In total, officials estimate the total DOD population in South Korea could increase from approximately 54,000 to 84,000.

    DOD is also reconfiguring its operations in Japan, Okinawa and Guam but yet to estimate the total cost of these projects. GAO identified approximately $29.1 billion that would be shared by the U.S. and Japan to fund these projects. The Pentagon declined to share its cost estimates for the projects.

    One initiative, called “tour normalization”, would extend the tour length of military service members and move thousands of their dependents to South Korea, which could cost $5 billion by 2020 and $22 billion or more through 2050. The Pentagon did not perform a cost alternative analysis for tour normalization.

    “DOD is unable to demonstrate that tour normalization is the most cost-effective approach to meeting its strategic objectives,” the GAO said in its report.


    The Center for Public Integrity

    Investigation. Impact. Integrity

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  10. Empire is the mother of all government spending.

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  11. The Euro wide Iranian oil ban, crude at an eight month high at circa $113.7, hardly ever discussed how damaging the impact when/if oil stays above $100 for a prolonged period...

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  12. OT, does anyone think Americans are ready and/or willing to elect another big government religious fanatic, like a Rick Santorum? A strict Roman Catholic, Rick Santorum takes a hard-line view on issues like gay marriage and abortion and has frequently made controversy with the level of extremism he is willing to vocally express but listening to talk radio it seems as if he is the only acceptable candidate for the right wing of the GOP. He is a born again Christian, a strong military advocate,and a fiscal conservative. He isn't electable but the right wing is more interested in their narrow prejudice than in electing a president.

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  13. All comparisons between America's current place in the world and anything legitimately called an empire in the past reveal ignorance and confusion about any reasonable meaning of the concept empire, especially the comparison with the Roman Empire.
    Donald Kagan

    America is a Nation with a mission - and that mission comes from our most basic beliefs. We have no desire to dominate, no ambitions of empire. Our aim is a democratic peace - a peace founded upon the dignity and rights of every man and woman.
    George W. Bush

    Eddie Fisher married to Elizabeth Taylor is like me trying to wash the Empire State Building with a bar of soap.
    Don Rickles

    In every island of the Aegean Sea are found abundant traces of a vast prehistoric empire.
    James Theodore Bent

    Quotes About Empire

    If we were an empire of the good old sort we'd be receiving tribute from Japan.


    b

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  14. Clause 5 Issue

    One of my favorite issues.

    Fucking courts.

    b

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  15. We did receive tribute from Japan.

    Not in direct payment, but through our economic dominance and subsequent exploitation of them and their low wage population.

    Until it was no longer "low wage" and the US moved on, their economy stagnating since.

    Now, all their major car auto manufacturers have cut back production in Japan and set up shop, in the US.

    Another tribute payment.

    Management of Empire has evolved from the 18th century techniques of the Brits and the Roman looting of Carthage.

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  16. When 3% of the whirled population has 25% of the whirled's economic production, that's the tribute being paid to Empire.

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  17. While the GOP "forced" another $500 bn reduction in the baseline budget, with their hard stand on the debt ceiling, last August.

    While John "Maverick" McCain has promised those "cuts" will not stand, I think time has passed "Maverick>" by.

    Saw him say he thought AZ may be in play, for the Democrats.

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  18. When you use military power for the purpose of rebuilding societies, you are in the empire business.

    ReplyDelete
  19. More troops in Korea. Jeez Louise.

    ReplyDelete
  20. Obama is spending 1.5 trillion a year more than the government takes in...

    the fed has printed TRILLIONS in cash....

    with those numbers in mind?

    read the military cut numbers...

    ReplyDelete
  21. Deuce said...
    When you use military power for the purpose of rebuilding societies, you are in the empire business.


    SInce when did Afghanistan have a "society" to rebuild?

    ReplyDelete
  22. $11 Billion for an aircraft carrier that isn't a bit better than the one we have.

    For $11 Billion we could build refineries to produce 3 Billion Gallons of Cellulosic Ethanol, year after year.

    They're playing us like idiot stepchildren.

    ReplyDelete
  23. desert rat said...
    When 3% of the whirled population has 25% of the whirled's economic production, that's the tribute being paid to Empire.



    great point, maybe 3% of the whirled population should stop exporting it's inventions, innovations and such.

    maybe the rest of the world would do better without American quality of life improvements.

    ReplyDelete
  24. Rufus II said...
    $11 Billion for an aircraft carrier that isn't a bit better than the one we have.

    For $11 Billion we could build refineries to produce 3 Billion Gallons of Cellulosic Ethanol, year after year.

    They're playing us like idiot stepchildren.



    That's the amount we forgave Egypt in the Gulf War 1 for not doing anything.

    How's that investment working out for ya fellow?

    ReplyDelete
  25. The amount we spent on Gulf War I, invested in ethanol would make us "Independent" of foreign Oil.


    Gasoline, nationally, is $3.35 this morning.

    ReplyDelete
  26. Up $0.27 from this date a year ago.

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  27. Rufus II said...
    The amount we spent on Gulf War I, invested in ethanol would make us "Independent" of foreign Oil.


    Gasoline, nationally, is $3.35 this morning.



    the amount we spent on nato for 1/4th of a year in 1960 would have done the same.

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  28. obama is spending TRILLIONS more than we take in...

    TRILLIONS...

    what part of trillions do you not get..

    that's 1000 billion.

    he wastes 1,500 BILLON a year....

    ReplyDelete
  29. And, we'll pay landowners NOT to Plant 30 Million acres, this year.

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  30. The only Ag. subsidy that McCain, and the oil lobby never object to is the one that pays farmers NOT to Plant.

    What does That tell you.

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  31. A strict Roman Catholic, Rick Santorum ....He is a born again Christian

    That does not compute.

    Catholics are "born from above" Christians. Born again Christians are Evangelical Protestants. Jimmy Carter was the first born again Christian President. Not to be outdone, Reagan said he was too. Ever since then, it has become a prerequisite for the White House position.

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  32. Why are there no Lesbian Priests in the Catholic Church?

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  33. Rufus: The only Ag. subsidy that McCain, and the oil lobby never object to is the one that pays farmers NOT to Plant

    ...of the $2.89 Billion received by Idahoans in farm subsidies, most of it went to the same farm operators who received an average of $31,000 over the fifteen year period; while the remaining eighty per cent of farmers received $946. As family farms and ranches disappear, this money is increasingly being paid to agribusinesses, corporations and investors who have no ties to Idaho whatsoever...

    ReplyDelete
  34. Why does the Pope get to wear a robe and not pants?

    ReplyDelete
  35. While we are on the subject?

    How come there are no Gay Mullahs?

    ReplyDelete
  36. Anonymous said... Why are there no Lesbian Priests in the Catholic Church?

    Because they refuse to wear a dress and they prefer white-chick-with-guitar music to Gregorian Chant.

    ReplyDelete
  37. I love this story of our ally...

    A senior Egyptian general admits that "virginity checks" were performed on women arrested at a demonstration this spring, the first such admission after previous denials by military authorities.

    The allegations arose in an Amnesty International report, published weeks after the March 9 protest. It claimed female demonstrators were beaten, given electric shocks, strip-searched, threatened with prostitution charges and forced to submit to virginity checks.

    At that time, Maj. Amr Imam said 17 women had been arrested but denied allegations of torture or "virginity tests."


    I just wonder, after women are raped in Egypt do they still have to have a virginity test?

    Can we ask Laura Logan?

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  38. How come there are no Gay Mullahs?

    Fish swimming in a sea of water don't realize they're wet. Mullahs swimming in a sea of boys don't realize they're gay.

    ReplyDelete
  39. The problem is "receipts." You have to go back to 2005 to find smaller receipts than we're receiving presently.

    Treasury Statements

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  40. 28,000 men in Arabia fired from jobs and no longer will be able to fondle women's panties and get paid for it...


    Saudi Arabia bans men from selling lingerie
    By ARIEH O’SULLIVAN / THE MEDIA LINE
    01/04/2012 15:36

    New rules saying only women can sell lingerie ends male monopoly and creates employment opportunities for Saudi women.

    As of Wednesday, decades of embarrassing sales pitches from men over panties, bras and negligees officially come to an end in Saudi Arabia as a government decree that salesmen must be replaced by saleswomen comes into effect.

    The kingdom’s lingerie shops are expected to hire some 28,000 women to take over jobs from men in over 7,300 shops. The move is expected to boost employment for the country’s women, even if they still have to be driven to their place of work because the country still bans female drivers.

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  41. I said that badly. In fact, I didn't say at all what I meant. Obviously, 2009, and 2010 had smaller receipts than 2011.

    What I meant was: we're still below the 2006 level when it comes to receipts.

    ReplyDelete
  42. Interesting Jobs number coming up in a couple of minutes.

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  43. No matter how you spin the jobs number?

    3.1 million few jobs exist today than when Obama to the nation over...

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  44. Good Jobs number. UP 200,000.

    Unemployment Rate: 8.5%

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  45. 200,000 jobs created, how many were seasonal?

    How many people left the workforce?

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  46. When Obama cuts the military by 500,000 and cuts the budget how many jobs will that lose?

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  47. Not that many. Those are young guys/and gals; they'll get back to work, or in school, pretty quickly.

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  48. They adjust for seasonality. The Baby Boomers are starting to take early retirement. The number of "discouraged" workers is falling.

    It was a good number.

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  49. Not "earthshakingly great," but good.

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  50. lipstick on a pig...

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  51. Classic Economics, regardless of the "school," is that a contracting Europe, and Japan will "bring down" the U.S.

    This may not be the way it works "this time."

    Classic economics has never had to deal with "peak oil." If Europe, and Japan "go down, first," the U.S., while losing some customers, will benefit from the lower oil prices that might result from this slowdown in the second, and third largest economies.

    Whether the effect of these lower oil prices is enough to override the drag caused by slowing of demand from these two economies . . . .

    We'll see.

    ReplyDelete
  52. Two things Economic Theories can't Model:

    1) Time

    2) Declining "Finite" Resources

    ReplyDelete
  53. Rufus II said...

    Two things Economic Theories can't Model:

    1) Time

    2) Declining "Finite" Resources


    Natural gas output in the US has risen 40%. What the frack?

    ReplyDelete
  54. Internal combustion engine has not improved on efficiency to any great degree since it's inventionn.

    Most of the fuel is not used, it is expelled.

    Want to screw the oil companies, opec and bad guys?

    Figure a way to use petro better... Supply aint the issue

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  55. Natural Gas is, definitely, a Positive story, T. It's giving a decided boost to U.S. manufacturing (The Global Price for nat gas is around $10.00, compared to $3.00 in the U.S.)

    The only fly in the ointment is that the drillers are "losing" money at $3.00 nat gas. They need at least $6.00, or so.

    Even still, nat gas is a "good" story.

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  56. It that our job and mission to create societies where we see none?

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  57. Rufus,

    We will see how good the numbers are in a couple months, following revision.

    At this point, I believe nothing on face value. Why should I? As a REALTOR, I learned two weeks ago that the NAR has been cooking sales figures to the tune of about 20% over the past five years. Looked at another way, the charts reflect about 1million more sales than happened. G-d did not make possible "errors" of that magnitude. Someone was cheating and I have no reason to believe it has stopped.

    ReplyDelete
  58. Deuce said...
    It that our job and mission to create societies where we see none?


    Not at all.

    Afghanistan was a set up by Obama to fail.

    A way to bleed us, change the rules so our people would suffer mental and physical injury.

    We were supposed to LEARN a lesson, that America cannot "win" a war ever again.

    We were to arrogant, time for America to bow down and accept it's diminished role and it's dhimmihood.

    Time for America to be cuckholded by the brown skin peoples of the world.

    Congrats to America, you got what you voted for - Obama.

    ReplyDelete
  59. Obama killed OBL. Bush didn't. Clinton didn't.

    Our mission is accomplished. Time to come home.

    ReplyDelete
  60. These politicians and military planners just are not thinking. Suppose we get into a conflict and someone sinks a carrier, what is the response? How do you resist a much greater and dangerous war than you counted on fighting? The psychological consequences of seeing one of the large carriers going down would be the equivalent at watching the twin towers fall. What can a carrier do that cannot be done by drones and cruise missiles?

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  61. I take ALL numbers, from all sources, with a grain of salt. That's why I'm constantly looking for cross-references.

    That's why I don't drink anyone's koolaid, exclusively.

    ReplyDelete
  62. anoni is lost, comparing apples to oranges, then declaring that limes are not lemons.

    Making for poor fig newtons.

    ReplyDelete
  63. Then "o" begins rambling on about the "browns".

    ReplyDelete
  64. All comparisons between America's current place in the world and anything legitimately called an empire in the past reveal ignorance and confusion about any reasonable meaning of the concept empire, especially the comparison with the Roman Empire.
    Donald Kagan


    Nice quote. Tending to insist on a tight use of words and language as it does.

    Instead of the usual anti-US propaganda efforts in evidence around here.

    b

    ReplyDelete
  65. A Carrier goes down in the Gulf, and we'll spend another 10 years occupying a Mideast country 5 times the size of Iraq.

    ReplyDelete
  66. Wonder if these will be described as "virginity checks", by the defense?

    (CBS/AP)

    AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. — The Air Force Academy says three cadets have been charged with unrelated sexual assaults over the past 15 months, just weeks after the Colorado institution released a report showing a rise in such cases from the previous year.

    ReplyDelete
  67. I don't recall reading any anti-U.S. propaganda from any of the "Sane" posters, here.

    ReplyDelete
  68. Obama killed OBL.

    Damn, Obama didn't kill OBL, anymore than Hitler built roads in Germany or Musslini made the trains run on time.

    I hate the royal metaphor.

    b

    ReplyDelete
  69. What sane posters?


    Calling the USA an empire strikes me as propaganda.

    b

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  70. A Carrier goes down in the Gulf, and we'll spend another 10 years occupying a Mideast country 5 times the size of Iraq.

    Naw, that's so Naughties, boots on the ground. In the Teens we're all about shock and awe.

    ReplyDelete
  71. The biggest problem I'm having, right now, is reconciling a growing economy (and falling unemployment) with steadily declining "vehicle miles traveled."

    ReplyDelete
  72. desert rat said...
    Then "o" begins rambling on about the "browns".




    This comes from someone who thinks Gaza is a part of the state of israel..

    talk about ramblings....

    ReplyDelete
  73. You just hate Obama, Bob.

    You're the only one that started yelling "Nigger, Nigger, Nigger" when he was elected.

    ReplyDelete
  74. Air craft carriers do seem vulnerable, especially in certain areas.

    Maybe they'd be useful though in taking out Iranian missile launch facilities in Venezuela that are aiming missiles at Phoenix, Arizona.


    O, wait, Iran can't project force beyond its own borders.

    I forgot.

    b

    ReplyDelete
  75. desert rat said...
    Wonder if these will be described as "virginity checks", by the defense?

    (CBS/AP)

    AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. — The Air Force Academy says three cadets have been charged with unrelated sexual assaults over the past 15 months, just weeks after the Colorado institution released a report showing a rise in such cases from the previous year.



    Question Rat, when you were doing your black ops in Central America (not in any uniform) was rape one of your most or least used tools?

    ReplyDelete
  76. Rufus II said...
    You just hate Obama, Bob.

    You're the only one that started yelling "Nigger, Nigger, Nigger" when he was elected.



    I would never insult the "N" word by elevating Obama to one.....

    "N" word people are heads and shoulders over Obama who is not what he is because of his skin color, he is what he is because of his black heart (black not in a racial way, but rather a dark evil way)

    ReplyDelete
  77. Why would we take out any missiles in Venezuela? They've had short-range nukes, capable of taking out Miami, and Mobile, in Cuba since 1962.

    ReplyDelete
  78. That's pro US propaganda, boobie.

    Certainly not anti-US, to say that the continental power that is the US is an empire.

    Not in the Roman model, but that has been consigned to the ash heap of history.

    No, the US model of empire is different than the Roman. Different than the British model, as well.

    Our model of empire raises all boats. Look to China and see our success. Look to South Korea and see our success. Look to either Germany or Japan to see our success.

    Look to the Soviet Union, on the ash heap of history, to see our success.

    Success so complete, we can bring our troops home.

    ReplyDelete
  79. But Rufus, you said I wasnt an American and Rat called me a "hyphenated scum"

    I guess bob calling the Dear Leader the "n" word is no better or worse...

    Sounds like there is a tad bit of racism in you and Rat as well... (no matter your "cherekee roots"

    ReplyDelete
  80. I did not start yelling nigger, nigger, nigger.

    Stop saying that rufus.

    And I wasn't the real Obama hater here, in those days.

    That would have been deuce, with whom Trish pleaded, "Try to keep the racism down, deuce."

    Remember how we had post after post of Obama getting blow jobs from whatshisname? Then the guy failed the lie detector test and that was the end of that.

    I posted a lot about him not being a natural born citizen. I still think I'm right, about that.

    b

    ReplyDelete
  81. Success so complete, the greatest "threat" to US hegemony, in all the whirled, is now Iran.

    Where they live in mud huts.

    ReplyDelete
  82. desert rat said...
    That's pro US propaganda, boobie.

    Certainly not anti-US, to say that the continental power that is the US is an empire.

    Not in the Roman model, but that has been consigned to the ash heap of history.

    No, the US model of empire is different than the Roman. Different than the British model, as well.

    Our model of empire raises all boats. Look to China and see our success. Look to South Korea and see our success. Look to either Germany or Japan to see our success.

    Look to the Soviet Union, on the ash heap of history, to see our success.

    Success so complete, we can bring our troops home.





    When Rat gets corned on something stupid he says?

    Time to change the definitions...

    or as the Bar is used to seeing...

    Wiggle Wiggle Wiggle...

    Rat (the bar's cliff claven) is incapable of being wrong. It all part of his narcissistic personality disorder, notice how on any given thread he posts 50% of the posts?

    Even after he was tossed of the bartender roll for threats and bad behavior he continues...

    The good news? the more time he spends playing with himself HERE at the bar? The less time actual human beings have to deal with him.

    Maybe the Bar should get an award for keeping the Rodent off the streets....

    ReplyDelete
  83. We need "more evil," then. He saved us from a Bush-induced Depression, killed Osama Bin Laden, passed healthcare reform for poor people, ended the stupid occupation of Iraq, increased supply of Domestic oil and gas, and strongly supported Clean, Renewable Energy.

    That's the kind of "Evil" I can get behind.

    ReplyDelete
  84. I used the n word twice both times in frustration of and reference to inner city black behavior.


    I am a culturist, rufus.

    But, you actually already know that.


    b

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  85. Gaza certainly is part of Israel.

    The electrical power, is Israeli
    The water, is Israeli
    The coast patrolled, by the Israeli
    The air space controlled by Israeli

    Policing is done, by Israeli, though poorly.

    Imports are controlled by Israeli

    Gaza has been Israeli, since 1967.

    Undeniable facts that present only one conclusion.

    Gaza is part of Israel, as are the residents living there.

    ReplyDelete
  86. You did too, you lying sonofabitch. You think we all have alzeimers?

    Deuce had to take down all of your posts for the first 12 hrs or so.

    You're just making yourself look silly by denying it.

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  87. You should vote for him then, rufus, if you really think he is that good.

    b

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  88. bah, I'm going back to bed.

    b

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  89. The odds are very, very good that I will vote for him.

    unless he totally screws the pooch on Iran.

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  90. Back to the "One State" solution?

    Letting all those living insided the defense perimeter of the Israeli military vote in Israeli elections.

    The actions of the IDF in the raid on Turkish shipping proves that Israel claims that it has moved beyond occupation, to annexation.

    Same with regards Jerusalem.

    There can only "One State" in such a limited geographic area.

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  91. boobie called for selective abortions, of black babies.

    In November of 2008, right after the election results were made available.

    He is, undeniably, a eugenicist.

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  92. To claim that Gaza is not part of Israel is a disingenuous as telling the whirled that ...

    Lebowa (North Sotho, also referred to as Pedi), QwaQwa (South Sotho), Bophuthatswana (Tswana), KwaZulu (Zulu), KaNgwane (Swazi), Transkei and Ciskei (Xhosa), Gazankulu (Tsonga), Venda (Venda) and KwaNdebele

    The Bantustans of South Africa were not integral parts of South Africa.

    That the Bantustans were part of an attempt at apartheid fraud, without doubt.

    ReplyDelete
  93. Instead of the usual anti-US propaganda efforts in evidence around here.

    With Ron Paul getting more US military contributions than all the other candidates combined, we must have a real fifth column in our active duty military, a notoriously anti-US group of propagandists.

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  94. It's like saying the Muckleshoot Reservation is not part of the United States.

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  95. ...we must have a real fifth column in our active duty military, a notoriously anti-US group of propagandists....

    Who are tired of stop-loss and deploying every other year to some shithole to get their ass shot off.

    ReplyDelete
  96. The idea that a geographic space, the size of Maricopa County, AZ could be a country, is comical.

    Almost every US politico that travels to Israel and is given the helicopter tour, remarks upon how "small" the place is.

    The idea that two non-contiguous towns in that small geographic space are going to become "another" country, beyond hilarity.

    Beyond the fraud that the South Africans attempted with their system of Bantustan "States".

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  97. Gaza is the size of Scottsdale, AZ, one of the towns that makes up Maricopa County, AZ.

    The idea that Scottsdale could be a "country", nonsensical.

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  98. Almost every US politico that travels to Israel and is given the helicopter tour, remarks upon how "small" the place is.

    Hey, maybe Vatican City (109 acres) could create a Protestant enclave and have a Two State Solution.

    ReplyDelete
  99. .

    The number of "discouraged" workers is falling.


    I haven't seen any reporting on this.

    .

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  100. I wonder if Hu Dat hung out with the Obamas in Hawaii. Perhaps he can log on and give us some scoop.

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  101. The various assessments of Colonel Douglas Macgregor, including that concerning the possibility of war with Iran, were rational and thought provoking. Needless to say, there are some disagreements with his analysis, but not as many or of a substantial degree as some would think.

    Col. Macgregor and others assume that the American and Israeli build-up in the ME is in preparation for direct confrontation with Iran. It has been my opinion for years that the best approach to crippling Iran is to hit them where they ain’t. Syria is that place and now is the time. However, Syria’s disintegration will almost certainly lead to a regional conflict with the use of ballistic and other missile technology. Indeed, there is the fear that weapons of mass destruction may come into the play. The anticipation of such events explains the deployment of defensive missile shields.

    Israel wants Iran declawed. But it is not necessary to take the road to Teheran to accomplish that end. You see, Iran cannot now project itself militarily outside it boarders, conventionally, as both the Colonel and I agree. We may also agree that taking down its proxies in Syria and Lebanon may be the best possible option. Without Iran’s demented vassals available to do its dirty work, some order and stability may take hold in the region.

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  102. There is no hard data on discouraged workers, that's the point.

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  103. There you go, "o" and anoni, even allen agrees that Iran cannot project military power beyond its frontiers.

    Syria, slowly stewing, is better than a conclusion to the sectarian strife, there.

    Things are going well, reasonably well, anyway.

    Elections in Iran, in two months time, will be a pivot point.

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  104. Iran will need a stable Iraq, in order to smuggle its oil to market.

    Another plus, for US.

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  105. The problem is discouraged employers.

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  106. Gaza was an Egyptian foothold near Israel from which Egypt repeatedly launched "strategic" forays against Israel. When it became obvious that this was delusional and that no one could govern Gaza or use the land as a jump-off point into Israel, the Egyptians made Gaza a free state.

    Israel had nothing to do with this decision, which elated the Gazans by the way. Why, some may remember how the Palestinians wanted all Israelis removed from the Gaza homeland. Israel obliged under the direction of Ariel Sharon.

    Whether Gaza can successfully run itself as a country is not Israel's problem, DR. If you have a problem with Palestinian patriots having land of their own, take it up with the UN. But leave Israel alone. We have no more interest in governing the Palestinians than do the Egyptians, Jordanians, Lebanese, or Syrians. Maybe your bud "The Won" can get the Senate to permit Gaza's inclusion as the 51st state.

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  107. Exemplified in this report fom the AP wire


    An Iranian-backed Shiite militia that carried out deadly attacks on U.S. troops has agreed to lay down its arms and join the political process, the Iraqi official in charge of reconciling with the country's armed groups said Friday.

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  108. Elections in Iran, in two months time, will be a pivot point.

    Elections in Iran decide only whether Asshole A or Asshole B is the front for the Ayatollahs.

    ReplyDelete
  109. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  110. Israel commencing the blockade, immediately upon the election of Hamas, not in response to military aggression, from Gaza.

    Chickens and eggs, I guess.

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  111. If Gaza is a independent country, then the Israeli embargo is an act of war and the bottle rockets a legitimate response to the Israeli aggression against Gaza, on the high seas.

    Which may be the case.

    Do you claim the same for occupied Jerusalem?

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  112. But I would submit, that until Israel acknowledges the State of Gaza, at the UN, Gaza is still a de facto part of Israel.

    Facts of life that cannot be disputed. Our boy"o" even providig the litany of products allowed to the Gazans, by their Israeli gate keepers.

    ReplyDelete
  113. Y tu mamá también. ;-) Not today, my brain hurts.

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  114. (Reuters) - A member of the same U.S. aircraft carrier group that Iran has warned not to return to the Strait of Hormuz has rescued 13 Iranians held hostage by pirates in the Arabian Sea, the Pentagon said on Friday.

    "The Iranians and the dhow (a traditional vessel) have been released and they're on their way back home," said Captain John Kirby, a Pentagon spokesman.

    He said the U.S. Navy had captured 15 pirates, all believed to be Somali born. They were being held on board the aircraft carrier USS John C. Stennis.

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  115. (CNN) -- A Dallas teen mistakenly deported to Colombia was on her way back to the United States Friday, with her family planning to file lawsuits against the agencies involved in her removal from the country, their attorney said.

    Jakadrien Turner, 15, wound up being deported to Colombia after U.S. authorities mistook the girl, who lacked identification, for a Colombian national.

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  116. (CNN) -- A Dallas teen mistakenly deported to Colombia was on her way back to the United States Friday, with her family planning to file lawsuits against the agencies involved in her removal from the country, their attorney said.

    Obama can avoid the lawsuits if he just puts the girl in indefinite detention.

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  117. desert rat said...
    If Gaza is a independent country, then the Israeli embargo is an act of war and the bottle rockets a legitimate response to the Israeli aggression against Gaza, on the high seas.

    Which may be the case.



    wiggle rat wiggle...

    I said Gaza wasnt a PART of Israel

    You call it an independent nation?

    try staying on the target...

    Egypt controls the Gaza strip's egress. look at a map

    it's called a shared border with their brothers, or should we say YOUR brothers.

    I love the way you wiggle and twist when confronted with facts that dont fit your fiction...

    ReplyDelete
  118. No wiggle required, by me.

    The Israeli control Gaza, you, "o", provided the proof of that, with the litany of items the Israeli allowed to enter Gaza.

    You are the wiggler, now.

    ReplyDelete
  119. Especially now that your compatriot, allen, has admitted the Iranians cannot project military power beyond their own frontiers.

    ReplyDelete
  120. .

    Obama can avoid the lawsuits if he just puts the girl in indefinite detention.


    What a joke.

    The girl commits a crime. Doesn't want to give the police her own name so she makes one up. Unfortunately, it was the name of someone on the terrorist list. When they go to deport her does she admit she lied? No.

    Bad on her.

    Hard to feel sorry for her.

    .

    .

    ReplyDelete
  121. The story about the girl deported to Colombia does illustrate how the Obama Administration has increased deportations and border related security.

    While at the same time allowing weapons to be smuggled into Mexico.

    Mixed messaging, to be sure.

    ReplyDelete
  122. .

    Saw something interesting.

    I guy says he found a mouse in a can of Mountain Dew so he is suing Pepsi.

    Pepsi says that is impossible because if a mouse had gotten into the can, the Mountain Dew would have dissolved it.

    No shit, that is their defense. The Mountain Dew would have dissolved it.

    On first blush, I would think it would be in Pepesi's interest to just pay the guy and keep the dissolving part quiet.

    .

    ReplyDelete
  123. Obama can avoid the lawsuits if he just puts the girl in indefinite detention.



    Because that's the right thing to do. Ugh...

    ReplyDelete
  124. For when rufus goes to the big city


    REDMOND, Wash. (CBS Seattle) – Microsoft has been granted a patent for its “avoid ghetto” feature for GPS devices.

    A GPS device is used to find shortcuts and avoid traffic, but Microsoft’s patent states that a route can be plotted for pedestrians to avoid an “unsafe neighborhood or being in an open area that is subject to harsh temperatures.”

    Created for mobile phones, the technology uses the latest crime statistics and weather data and includes them when calculating a route.

    The patent, written in a combination of tech-speak and legalese, was awarded to Microsoft earlier this week. It also described other uses for the new GPS technology.

    One section of the patent mentioned that advertisers can use the technology to navigate a user through a newly set up ad campaign.

    Microsoft declined to comment to CBS Seattle.



    b

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  125. it's called a shared border with their brothers, or should we say YOUR brothers.

    Actually, your brothers.

    GEN 46:40 And unto Joseph in the land of Egypt were born Manasseh and Ephraim, which Asenath the daughter of Poti-pherah priest of On bare unto him.

    Following Passover a great multitude went into the desert on foot, six hundred thousand adults, and all their children, and their animals. This crowd was not pure Hebrew, but included those of mixed ancestry, half-Hebrew and half-Egyptian.

    Your DNA is so mixed up with Egyptian DNA it's not funny.

    ReplyDelete
  126. Melody: Because that's the right thing to do. Ugh...

    You failed to discern the snark.

    ReplyDelete
  127. .

    From the WAPO,


    The current Iranian sanctions seem to be having the desired effect.

    Ahmadinejad has allowed domestic energy prices to rise and ended massive state subsidies. But, at the same time, he has sought to ease the pain through direct state aid, paying 60 million Iranians nearly $40 a month.

    The moves have spurred inflation over the past year, raising the prices of food, rent, utilities and highway tolls, squeezing the average urban family’s monthly income of about $550...



    The rial has lost a third of its value in the last year. Iran can't get dollars to pay for imports.

    Most telling of all, the cost of an iPod has jumped up 35% recently. A real killer.

    .

    ReplyDelete
  128. Sanctions and Sabotage, Sufficient.

    ReplyDelete
  129. Sanctions and Sabotage, Sufficient.

    Bibi Banging Bongos Bleating for Bloodshed Bullshit.

    ReplyDelete
  130. You failed to discern the snark.


    I did. My bad.

    I'll consider the source next time.

    ; )

    ReplyDelete
  131. While there is a border between Gaza and Eygpt, the Israeli control transit, there.

    With bombs from the air.
    Any claim to the contrary, a lie.

    YNet News
    04.07.11

    The IDF Spokesperson's Unit confirmed the report and said that aircraft bombed three smuggling tunnels and a tunnel supporting terrorist activity in the northern Strip. It was also stated that all the aircrafts returned safely to their bases.


    Whether or not the Egyptians were to open the border to free traffic, the Israeli will close it, at their whim, with military force.

    As they have in the past.

    JERUSALEM, May 1 (Xinhua) -- Israeli defense officials said that Israel could not countenance Egypt's announced plan to open the Rafah crossing with Gaza to two-way traffic, local media reported Sunday.

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  132. desert rat said...
    Especially now that your compatriot, allen, has admitted the Iranians cannot project military power beyond their own frontiers.

    Fri Jan 06, 01:12:00 PM EST



    Uhh...No! Both the Colonel and allen used the modifier "conventional". A paper-pusher like yourself might be excused for missing that very salient point.

    What it means DR is this: As soon as the Iranians fire up their armor and/or aircraft, they are dead. As soon as light measurements via satellite show troop concentrations, they are dead.

    DR, you are shameless. That said, your screw-ups often are put to good use by others.

    ReplyDelete
  133. The Israeli managing land use, in Gaza, with military intervention.

    GAZA, April 21 (Xinhua) -- The Israeli army destroyed several warehouses and installations during an operation in eastern Gaza City Thursday, witnesses and sources said.

    The military operation took place in an industrial zone that has not been functioning since Israel imposed a blockade on Gaza in 2007 which mainly blocked export.

    The zone is located near Karni, the largest commercial crossing which has been permanently closed by Israel earlier this year ...

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  134. Or as some Israeli tell the tale ...

    "We're concerned that despite promises last summer to open additional crossings, Israel is actually closing crossings, further limiting the movement of goods into and out of Gaza,"
    said Sari Bashi, executive director of Gisha, an Israeli group opposed to the restrictions.


    Promises made ...
    Promises broken.

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  135. Esactly, allen.

    The Iranians cannot project a military threat.

    They are operating with antique equipment, or with newly manufactured reverse engineered 1960s technologies.

    They do not represent a military threat.

    As I have often stated and now you concur.

    You and the "o", the brothers wiggly.

    ReplyDelete
  136. The Iranians do not have a nuclear capability, according to the Mossad Chiefs, both current and retired.

    The retired Chief, puts the Iranians three to five years away from that capacity.

    Same as Bibi said was the state of Iranian nuclear development, in 1992.

    The only military capability the Iranians have is conventional.

    ReplyDelete
  137. And we all agree that the Iranians cannot project their conventional military force beyond their frontiers.

    ReplyDelete
  138. The terrorist threat, is not a military one. Not by US or Whirled standards.

    Terrorists not accorded Geneva protections, as they are not involved in military operations nor are they military personnel.

    So, while the Iranians may pose a terrorist threat, through proxies, that is not an Iranian military force projection beyond their frontiers.

    ReplyDelete
  139. desert rat said...
    The terrorist threat, is not a military one. Not by US or Whirled standards.

    Terrorists not accorded Geneva protections, as they are not involved in military operations nor are they military personnel.

    So, while the Iranians may pose a terrorist threat, through proxies, that is not an Iranian military force projection beyond their frontiers.




    wiggle wiggle wiggle.....

    ReplyDelete
  140. desert rat said...
    And we all agree that the Iranians cannot project their conventional military force beyond their frontiers.



    wiggle wiggle wiggle...

    notice now he adds "conventional"

    Rodent's just a wiggler....

    (we used to call people like that a pompous asshole)

    ReplyDelete
  141. desert rat said...
    The Iranians do not have a nuclear capability, according to the Mossad Chiefs, both current and retired.



    Did they brief you?

    Do you know top secret information?

    Do you really think that the PUBLIC disclosure is what it's all about?

    Talk about stupid...

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  142. Teresita said...
    it's called a shared border with their brothers, or should we say YOUR brothers.

    Actually, your brothers.

    GEN 46:40 And unto Joseph in the land of Egypt were born Manasseh and Ephraim, which Asenath the daughter of Poti-pherah priest of On bare unto him.

    Following Passover a great multitude went into the desert on foot, six hundred thousand adults, and all their children, and their animals. This crowd was not pure Hebrew, but included those of mixed ancestry, half-Hebrew and half-Egyptian.

    Your DNA is so mixed up with Egyptian DNA it's not funny.





    Then the Torah is true...

    G-d promised the Jews from the River to the sea a homeland...

    thanks for the proof...

    ReplyDelete
  143. From Haaretz:


    Meir Dagan tells Knesset committee that Iran's nuclear program has been set back several years after a series of malfunctions.

    He puts them at being incapable until at least 2015.

    Dagan concluded his term saying Iran was still far from being capable of producing nuclear weapons and that a series of malfunctions had put off its nuclear goal for several years. Therefore, he said, Iran will not get hold of the bomb before 2015 approximately.

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  144. Anyone with a more credible witness, well, you are free to bring their statements forward.

    But, rest assured, Meir Dagan will be hard to trump. He has both knowledge and credibility.

    ReplyDelete
  145. Wow! That's great news, Rat.

    You can stand down now.

    ReplyDelete
  146. If you wish to claim that Meir Dagan was not truthful, in his testimony before the Knesset, prove it.

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  147. Based on information we have from the very best authorities, everyone at the EB can calm down.

    The US will not become involved in another land war.

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  148. I do not wish to claim any such thing. My intention is calm the frayed nerves hereabouts.

    ReplyDelete
  149. While the current head of Mossad ...

    Tamir Pardo, the head of Israel's Mossad spy agency, told a meeting of Israeli ambassadors yesterday that a nuclear Iran might not pose an "existential threat" to Israel.

    "Does Iran pose a threat to Israel? Absolutely. But if one said a nuclear bomb in Iranian hands was an existential threat, that would mean that we would have to close up shop and go home. That's not the situation. The term 'existential threat' is used too freely," he said.

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  150. Marking the third anniversary of Operation Cast Lead, which began with a surprise Israeli air strike on Gaza on December 27, 2008, the Israeli military chief Benny Gantz said a new offensive would be launched "sooner or later" and would be "swift and painful".

    The chief of the IDF general staff said there were signs the deterrence that Israel achieved in 2008 was wearing off. "Sooner or later, there will be no escape from conducting a significant operation," he said.

    Meanwhile Tal Hermoni, an Israeli army commander in the Gaza Division, said: "We are preparing and in fact are ready for another campaign … to renew our deterrence, if we are called on to restore full quiet to the communities [in the south]."

    The military chief's plan calls for the next Gaza operation to be shorter than Cast Lead but to employ far greater firepower, according to Israel's Haaretz newspaper.

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  151. Israel's threats of a second major operation in Gaza may indicate that the country's security establishment is shifting more military focus towards groups such as Hamas that are closer to its borders, and away from Iran ...


    As seen by the Wahhabi in Abu Dhabi

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  152. Brother wiggly, I have always referred to the lack of need of a war wih Iran, referencing a MILITARY threat. A threat they still do not present. Especially to the US, which is the country I am concerned with.

    Nothing has changed.

    No reason to spend US blood or treasure on an adventure, there.

    Agreeing, as I do, with Mr Dagan...

    ... Dagan told a senior American official that it would take a series of coordinated moves to stop the Iranian nuclear program. He reportedly suggested increasing the economic sanctions against Iran, preventing the export of products required for the nuclear project to Iran, covert warfare, and encouraging minority and opposition groups to topple the Iranian regime.

    All of which we seem to be fully engaged in, today.

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  153. G-d promised the Jews from the River to the sea a homeland...

    He promised the twelve tribes of Hebrews that. Now that you're down to Levi, Benjamin, and Judah, you get 25% of the original deed.

    ReplyDelete
  154. Now we have to listen to the "Ancient Aliens", to find our way forward?

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  155. Allen: We will see how good the numbers are in a couple months, following revision.

    Three statisticians went duck hunting. The first one took a shot and was six inches over the duck. The second one took a shot and was six inches below the duck. The third one said, "We got him!"

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  156. Honk if you love Jesus.... TEXT if you want to meet him

    ReplyDelete