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, April 26, 2013

Declare that diplomacy and war will be dictated by red lines and inevitably someone will pick up a red magic marker.


The Real Red Line?:
Foreign Policy:"Obama first said in August: 'We have been very clear to the Assad regime, but also to other players on the ground, that a red line for us is we start seeing a whole bunch of chemical weapons moving around or being utilized. That would change my calculus.' Many have interpreted this line to mean that if Assad moved or used chemical weapons, Obama would act. ...  But it seems ... that the key words in Obama's August statement were 'a whole bunch.' And if you read between the lines of the White House's letter to several senators today, that still seems to be the real red line, assuming it actually exists, because the letter stresses that the purported use in question was, or may have been, 'on a small scale.'"

151 comments:

  1. Really, Is there a more loathsome Republican than John McCain?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I tried to tell you about McCain, back in 2008

      But no ....

      You thought he'd be a grand President.

      Regarding Foreign policy, WAR, blood and treasure, Obama beats McCain every time.

      All Johnny Mac knows is that he is entitled to spending other peoples money.
      Both in his personal and public lives.

      Delete
    2. Such is the binary world of US politics. I never thought nor did I say he would be a great president. In retrospect, I would have voted for neither of the choices. But thanks for reminding me.

      Delete
  2. Lindsey Graham?

    Obama, in his joint press conference with Bibi Netanyahu shot his mouth off with the statement about a red line and wonder of wonders, central casting gets down to business with Mac the Crash heading the pack.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Mississippi’s are breathing easier since Harry Reid, US Senate Majority Leader, said that another ricin attack had been has targeted a US government facility. Good thing we didn’t red line that beauty.

    ReplyDelete
  4. "Authorities in Mississippi say they are searching for the chief person of interest in the investigation of poisoned letters sent to President Barack Obama and other officials. Itawamba County Sheriff Chris Dickinson says he is helping the FBI, which told him Everett Dutschke had been under surveillance but slipped away on Wednesday. Itawamba deputies searched a home in Ozark where Dickinson said Dutschke was believed to have been on Wednesday. They found no one. The sheriff says he believes a friend of Dutschke ‘may be helping him to lay low’.

    Can you picture the Dutscke home in Ozark?

    ReplyDelete
  5. Say what?

    Maine has one of the highest rates of gun ownership in the country and the lowest rate of violent crime.

    ReplyDelete
  6. What else do we have behind the red line?

    ReplyDelete
  7. Other than Obama having shot off his big mouth and now getting Hagel to help him down from the the high wire.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Assad’s opposition is loaded with assorted Islamic supremacists and jihadists. That is about as toxic as it gets with or without chemical weapons and Obama parroting the red line menace is going to war in Syria for that?

    He needs a few more rounds of golf.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Iran is always ready to cross the red line. Imagine the shit storm with a double red line. We could have the daily double and really set the ME on fire.

    ReplyDelete
  10. This paragraph from the Jerusalem Post says it all:

    Lebanese Sunni Muslim clerics called on April 23 for a holy war to defend co-religionists in Syria from Hezbollah, amid concern that Lebanon is being sucked into its neighbor’s increasingly sectarian conflict. Lebanon’s President Michel Suleiman dismissed the calls. The uprising against Assad began with peaceful protests in March 2011 that turned violent when the government forces turned their guns on demonstrators.

    “Hezbollah fighters have crossed the border and started to kill our people to support the murderer Bashar Assad,” Sabra said at a televised press conference. The group is “occupying Syrian villages, murdering civilians, preventing them from peacefully expressing their views.”

    Hezbollah has denied it is backing Assad in the fighting, saying it’s helping Lebanese Shi'ites living in Syrian border towns and villages to defend themselves against rebel assaults. It has remained largely silent amid a wave of recent accusations by Syrian opposition leaders and Lebanese groups about its involvement in Syria.


    Get it? Is there a more compelling reason to get involved in that?

    ReplyDelete
  11. Iran, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, The Kurds, Sunnis, Saudis, Gulf oil traffic, Turkey, Gaza, West Bank, Egypt, Jordan and Israel. Throw in some Alowites, John McCain, a few Mennonite missionaries and a few dozen pressure cookers. Outfuckingstanding.

    OOrah

    ReplyDelete
  12. Don't worry so much. Barky is moving the red line.


    a few Mennonite missionaries???????

    heh

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank the powers in the sky that the US has a President that is capable of "Walking Back" poorly chosen words and policy proposals.

      Delete
  13. You always need a few Mennonite missionaries to get slaughtered so we can rally around the flag. It is a morale domestic hearts and minds thing.

    ReplyDelete
  14. .

    Graham and McCain seems to be two dudes with definite anger management problems.


    The White House announced Thursday that intelligence officials have concluded that the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad has twice used sarin gas on its own people. But even though President Barack Obama has called that a "red line" for taking some kind of further action to assist the rebels, administration officials said Thursday the intelligence wasn't solid enough to warrant such a move.

    ----------

    Officials said the chemical weapons assessments were made with "varying degrees of confidence" given the difficulty of information gathering in Syria, though there appeared to be little question within the intelligence community.


    ---------

    On Tuesday, when an Israeli general added to the growing chorus that Assad had used chemical weapons, White House spokesman Jay Carney said the administration was continuing to monitor and investigate but had "not come to the conclusion that there has been that use."


    From The Detroit News: http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20130426/NATION/304260360#ixzz2RXxxNXW1



    Intelligence community. Kind of reminds me of 'giant shrimp'.

    Is it just a matter of time before the 'humanitarian' crisis gets to be too much for our conscience to bear?

    .

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I am certain your conscience can bear it.

      Delete
  15. Mennonite missionaries - their cousins the Amish have been convicted of domestic terrorism. And transporting weapons of mass hair care across state lines: scissors. They have been convicted, and sentenced. They may be in the max prison for terrorists in Colorado right now. The Mennonites are the good cops, like Abbas and PA, the Amish the bad cops like Hamas. Once a little indiscipline and insubordination was found out, the Amish were merciless with the wayward brethern, the floors were thick with whiskers. If the Mennonites and the Amish can't take care of themselves in the mid-east no one can.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It was a hate crime, not terrorism. Still, these people are capable of anything.

      http://www.goldismoney2.com/showthread.php?45613-Carrying-scissors-across-state-lines-HATE-CRIME!

      Amish prosecuted because scissors 'crossed state lines' (link)
      (Michael Savage audio at the link) ... Good on Savage for not letting this travesty go unnoticed.


      What does the federal hate crimes law inspired by the murders of Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. have to do with an internal dispute among the Amish in which the beards of men and the hair of women were forcibly sheared?

      “The scissors used to cut the hair were manufactured in one state and used in another,” explained Edward Bryan, defense lawyer for Amish bishop Samuel Mullet Sr., who was sentenced to 15 years in federal prison.

      Bryan, in an interview with radio host Michael Savage Thursday night, said the Commerce Clause is one of the federal government’s primary justifications for intervening in the dispute in eastern Ohio among members of the Christian sect.

      U.S. Attorney Steven M. Dettelbach, of the Northern District of Ohio, argued in the indictment that the “Wahl battery-operated hair clippers” used in the assaults “were purchased at Walmart and had travelled in and affected interstate commerce in that they were manufactured in Dover, Delaware.”


      A red line was definitely crossed here. But by whom?

      Delete
    2. That is a Standard Federal line.

      They regulate marijuana, grown in the back yard and smoked in the living room, never crossing the property line, under the Commerce Clause.

      They claim the power to regulate the air.
      They can certainly criminalize cutting hair.

      Delete
  16. Why would the Obama administration want to get entangled in Syria's civil war? The President was only very reluctantly dragged into Libya and relied on France and Britain to do most of the heavy lifting. From a purely realpolitik perspective, a secure Assad regime would benefit both America and Israel's strategic interests, because no matter how much of a bastard Assad may be, an authoritarian Baathist state is no breeding ground for terrorists, while whatever state emerges out of this war is likely to be much less stable.
    If Hagel says the Syrians used sarin, I believe him, because it would be much more convenient for America if Assad hadn't. The "red line" was an empty threat meant to ward off criticism by the likes of John McCain that Obama wasn't doing enough to help the rebels.
    Just watch: America is going to try to do as little as possible to intervene on the FSA's side.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Cause he is a sunni muslim and likes the Brotherhood? Because Assad benefits Israel?

      Delete
    2. What about the orphans?

      Delete
  17. When is a "Red Line" not a Red Line?

    When the observers are color blind.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Blinded by the "black light.

      That Israeli Generals glows, infra red.
      Nothing the Israeli report can be taken a truth.
      Recall they first told US that Jonathan Pollard was not an Israeli spy, before they said he was.

      Thei truth is subjugated by their National Interest.

      Delete
    2. Well, you were doing good when you were taking on Mohammad.

      Back to bashing Israel, first of the day.

      Can't believe a thing an Israeli ever says.....

      Delete
    3. That's correct.

      The religions of Abraham are equivalent, as are their adherents.

      All men are created equal, their religions, a well.
      The God of Abraham merely a reflection of his most fervent followers.

      All of whom believe that they can lie, cheat, steal and kill, to advance their commingled religious and secular works.

      Delete
    4. It's not even 7:30 am here yet.

      Delete
    5. A theologian has spoken, what can one say?

      Delete
    6. The Israeli are going public with the "intel"

      It is important to view the source in the light of history
      Pollard exemplifies that history, as regards "intelligence".

      For that matter the USS Liberty saga is another piece of US "intelligence" history, with regards Israel.

      Delete
    7. .

      All of whom believe that they can lie, cheat, steal and kill, to advance their commingled religious and secular works.

      Are you talking of the Obama administration and its dear leader?


      .

      Delete
    8. Amongst others, yea.
      Though I do not think they have much religion in their mingle mix.

      Delete
  18. NEW DELHI: The government on Friday told a parliamentary committee that Chinese troops have pitched tents 19km deep inside the Indian territory in Ladakh region of Jammu and Kashmir and that efforts are underway to ensure that the status quo is ...

    ReplyDelete
  19. Obama Is Looking for Reasons to Delay Response to Syria's Chemical-Weapons Use
    The White House is not eager to engage militarily in the Middle East again.

    http://www.nationaljournal.com/nationalsecurity/obama-is-looking-for-reasons-to-delay-response-to-syria-s-chemical-weapons-use-20130425

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Real Clear World

      If Syria Is Using Sarin, Obama Must Act - Jeffrey Goldberg, Bloomberg
      4 Bad Arguments Pushing the U.S. into Syria's War - Greg Scoblete, RCW
      Obama's Empty Threats on Syria - Danielle Pletka, Global Public Square

      Articles on today's subject at Real Clear World

      Delete
  20. Egyptian Muslims murdering Christians with impunity
    Apr 25, 2013 04:41 pm | Robert

    How's that interfaith dialogue working out for you, Bishop? "Egyptian Muslims murdering Christians with impunity," from Catholic Online, April 25 (thanks to Rene): CAIRO, EGYPT (Catholic Online) - Clashes between Muslims and Christians have claimed 10 live in Egypt where sectarian violence between the groups has been renewed in the...

    From JihadWatch today -

    http://www.jihadwatch.org/2013/04/egyptian-muslims-murdering-christians-with-impunity.html

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Those Christians merely need evacuate the country.
      (Egypt, Syria, Iraq, one or all)

      There could be an ...
      ... exodus.

      From Egypt they could march east along the coast, across the Sinai and then move on until they reach of a land of milk and honey, then steal it from the current inhabitants.
      Claim it in Jesus's name.

      Another option...
      If the Christians could get some passenger ships, I think Cyprus is for sale
      It's a bankruptcy deal, the Christians could get some good terms.

      Delete
    2. Of course those Christians could opt to stand their ground.

      Fight for right and freedom.

      Another sectarian civil war, greater instability in the Islamic Arc.

      That is the goal, of US policy.

      If we look to past results, post 11SEP01.

      Delete
    3. .

      Nitwiticus raticus, the common desert rat.

      Every foreign policy disaster in the ME has been assisted by an ad hoc U.S. foreign policy that shifts with the wind, perpetually changing so as to be on the 'winning' side whatever that is perceived to be and invariably failing. We don't make foreign policy we merely make more enemies.

      Only a naif would look at U.S. foreign policy over the past ten years and judge that we have met our 'goals'. That is unless one considers the U.S. to be a blinded and schizophrenic cyclops wandering around in the dark stepping on the occasional midget.

      .

      Delete
    4. No, Q, the US has instigated an era of political unrest across the Islamic Arc during the past decade. Directly in Iraq and Afpakistan. It has been an approving observer to the transition to chaos in Egypt and a minor participant in Libya and Yemen.

      Iran is an economic basket case, Syria and Lebanon are slipping ever deeper into anarchy. Our "best" ally in the region, Turkey the only Treaty ally we have in the Middle East, is ascendent.

      There have been no significant attacks in the US since the instigation of the policy in 2002.

      It is the US neo-con policy, writ large and in action.

      Delete
    5. .

      I assume you are being purposefully obtuse for conversation's sake.

      Only a fool or a blind man would assume that the fiascos resulting from our interventions in Iraq and Afghanistan were intentional. The neocons may have been fools but they weren't masochists. Iran is the one country where the U.S. has intentionally contributed to the chaos and it can be argued for legitimate purposes (although I doubt the sanctions ultimate effectiveness).

      Syria and Lebanon have the ability to slip into anarchy on their own although the U.S. has contributed. But to argue that the final result regardless of what it is will be in the U.S. interests is IMO unfounded. I believe the U.S. had very little to worry about from either Syria or Lebanon.

      Turkey, our best ally in the region? Possibly true, but admittedly small praise indeed. Turkey ascendent? Turkey made their push to become a regional hegemon and it has stalled. Under Erdogan, they play a dangerous game. He has abandoned Turkey's prior "Zero Problems" policy with its neighbors in hopes of building influence with the U.S., Saudi Arabia, and Qatar to assure that Turkey not Iran becomes a regional hegemon. He has welcomed terrorist groups and offered them sanctuary, He is actively working to remove Assad in Sysria.

      What he forgets is that his policies on human rights and political persecution have turned off the EU. Admission to the EU is questionable. In siding with the rebels in Syria, he has strained relations with two major players that were destined to play keys roles in the improvement of the Turkish economy, Russia and China. As relations with the EU have cooled, Turkey has turned its attention to getting into the SCO (Shanghai Cooperation Association). Since the SCO is dominated by Russia and China, it's unlikely they will look positively at a country they consider a NATO flunky.

      Internally, Turkey's biggest problem has been the PKK. If Assad falls, it is likely the Kurds will become more powerful and autonomous in Syrian Kurdistan, something that is not in Turkish interests.

      Even if Turkey wins, it likely loses.

      There have been no significant attacks in the US since the instigation of the policy in 2002.

      Right. Let's keep sending American cannon fodder over there so we have less casualties over here. Genius. But what really happened? As a result of our actions, we have twice as many American dead now as were killed on 9/11. We have 20 times as many casualties. We have spent in excess of a $ billion per person killed on 9/11. We have gutted the Constitution and personal liberties.

      I repeat, genius.

      .

      Delete
  21. Netanyahu will not get his red line wish here:

    I do not believe the limited, especially non-verifiable, use of chemical weapons by the Syrian army would cause Obama to initiate a military confrontation with Syria.

    I believe that one of the key reasons Obama was re-elected was that he helped keep American servicemen out of harms way during his first term in office – and he realizes this.

    I do not believe that Assad would want to employ chemical weapons against Israel, which would provoke a massive retaliation from the Israeli government at a time when the Assad regime is trying to militarily undertake a counter-offensive against the rebels.

    Not all Islamic fundamentalists are pro-al-Qaeda.

    Al-Qaeda is a Sunni Muslim extemist death cult. It engages in no known diplomatic contacts with the West.

    Hezbollah is a fundamentalist group that is Shi’ite in orientation that seeks to establish an Islamic state in Lebanon modeled after Iran; it enjoys not only popular support but has gained Islamic Jihad is a different Shi’ite group that is active in both Lebanon and Gaza that is extremist in orientation but has been known to involve itself in the political processes and is amenable to negotiation with Western interests.

    It is important to distinguish between moderate and extremist elements within the various fundamentalist movements in the Islamic world.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Turkey, our NATO ally, is sending its Prime Minister to Gaza in the near future.

      "Erdogan reportedly plans to visit Gaza on or around May 31, the three-year anniversary of the Mavi Marmara incident in which nine Turkish citizens were killed when Israeli naval commandos boarded the ship that was attempting to break Israel’s naval blockade of Gaza.

      Israeli negotiators met April 22 in Ankara with Turkish officials to discuss paying compensation to the families of the victims.

      http://www.jweekly.com/article/full/68416/turkeys-prime-minister-disregards-kerry-request-to-postpone-gaza-visit/

      Delete
    2. Israeli negotiators find equivalency between those killed in the raid on Turkish shipping and Turkish soldiers, not Jihadi terrorists or civilian tourists.


      According to Israeli news reports, Turkey demands that Israel pay $1 million to each family of the nine victims, but Israel is willing to pay only $100,000. Furthermore, Israel reportedly suggested paying the same amount the Turkish army pays to the families of its fallen soldiers -- TL 125,000, or around $70,000.

      According to the information obtained by Today's Zaman, the two countries will sign a possible agreement after the talks of the delegations. The Turkish government will assert the rights of its citizens according to the norms of international law.

      During the talks with the Israeli group, it was agreed to pay compensation not only to the families of the nine dead activists but also to the 70 passengers injured in the bloody ship raid. Israel will send the flotilla compensation to a specially designated fund controlled by Ankara, which will then distribute it to the families and the injured.

      Turkish official sources told Today's Zaman that when the two countries reach a consensus, the lawsuits are expected to be dropped.

      “The attitudes of the families will not cause a problem for a deal,” a Turkish official told.


      http://www.worldbulletin.net/?aType=haber&ArticleID=107473

      Delete
    3. You just love that word "equivalency" shame you really have no clue of what you speak.

      Delete
    4. Someone posted that they thought that Turkey was fading into insignificance on the regional stage. The reality seems to be anything but growing Turkish insignificance in the Islamic Arc.

      A Sunni majority nation not dependent upon the Saudi or internally generated oil revenues for their survival. A nation with a history of dominance in the region, far surpassing the Persians in that regard during the modern era.

      A US ally by treaty and one that has shown the whirled it is independent of US command and control, while being a NATO ally. Turkey is in a prime position to assume a greater regional role, the US should be supporting Turkish efforts in the Levant, rather than trying to postpone them.

      Delete
    5. Jenny: I believe that one of the key reasons Obama was re-elected was that he helped keep American servicemen out of harms way during his first term in office – and he realizes this.


      is that why he tripled the troops in afpak and changed the rules of engagement?

      Delete
    6. I know exactly what it means.

      Definition of EQUIVALENT
      1: equal in force, amount, or value


      That ... Israel reportedly suggested paying the same amount the Turkish army pays to the families of its fallen soldiers

      Expresses that the Israeli seek equivalency 'tween the soldiers and those killed or wounded on the boats. They see them as being of equal value. Financially, morally and politically.

      Delete
    7. is that why he tripled the troops in afpak and changed the rules of engagement?

      Yes.
      After the withdrawal from Iraq, there was pressure to increase the US footprint in Afpakistan.
      General P, and his entourage, to include that General that Trish was fond of, name started with an S, wanted an even bigger bump.

      So, Obama increased the footprint, but limited their activities, obtaining the "best" of both whirled views.

      Delete
    8. desert ratFri Apr 26, 10:46:00 AM EDT
      I know exactly what it means.

      Definition of EQUIVALENT
      1: equal in force, amount, or value

      That ... Israel reportedly suggested paying the same amount the Turkish army pays to the families of its fallen soldiers

      Expresses that the Israeli seek equivalency 'tween the soldiers and those killed or wounded on the boats. They see them as being of equal value. Financially, morally and politically.



      you really dont understand how the world works do you?

      but keep using terms that you attach yourself to to make you FEEL educated.

      Delete
    9. Explain it to US, then

      Educate US, that is if you have the ability to communicate an idea.

      Delete
    10. No rat I will continue to you watch you be the "archie bunker" of the EB.

      On a daily basis you speak to much and say nothing, thus allowing everyone to read your pearls of wisdom like the poop that comes out of the mule's ass...

      Delete
    11. Your reply is as expected, inane.

      Have a wonderful day.

      Delete
    12. this coming from the man that claims hitler was a jew, israel is a pirate nation and that murder aint murder if you aint charged and convicted in another nation.

      Inane?

      I think that defines you to a t....

      Delete
  22. The last time the CIA came bearing "soil samples" we bombed an aspirin factory, and a baby formula manufacturing facility.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sounds like you dont trust the American government security services.

      Delete
    2. The security ervices, here in the US, like those in Israel, have been politicized.

      So, as concerned citizens, we ...

      ... trust but verify

      Delete
    3. .

      :)

      You continue to amuse, rat.

      Trust and verify?

      When everything from our official policies as a nation to Obama's lunch menu are classified as 'top secret' on 'national security' grounds and anyone asking questions ends up on a terrorist list or prosecuted, it is a little difficult to verify.

      However, I've noted you are very big on that 'trust' part.

      Oorah.

      .

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

      Delete
    5. That's Entertainment, Q

      Wouldn't want to be considered anti-droll.

      Delete
  23. The C.I. fucking "slam dunk" A?

    ReplyDelete
  24. Reduced Government Spending subtracted 0.65% from GDP last qtr. Add that back in, and you're at the estimated 3.2%.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) came in at a surprisingly strong (to me) 3.2%.

      With falling gas prices, the 2nd. qtr. might surprise a bit to the upside.

      Delete
    2. Of course, GDP is a meaningless statistic to the average citizen. The Jobless Rate, and Median Income being far, far, and away the important metrics.

      Delete
    3. You can't "add it back in", rufus.

      That's fuzzier political math than is acceptable. To many "Unknowables" would have to be factored in.

      You gotta fight with the numbers you've got ...
      ... not the numbers you'd like to have.

      Delete
    4. Eh, maybe 'politically;' but, I think as an "economist" I can.

      :) Hell, as an "economist" I can do most anything.

      Delete
    5. Jes jiggle the ol' Excel a bit. :)

      Delete
    6. Having said all that, the 3.2% PCE was a bright spot.

      Delete
  25. More than 40 percent of U.S. residents went without health insurance or had coverage that didn't protect them against high medical costs last year, survey results released Friday reveal.

    Thirty percent of people in the U.S., or 55 million, were uninsured for at least part of the year prior to the survey, which was conducted from April to August 2012 for the Commonwealth Fund, a New York-based research organization. Another 30 million people, or 16 percent of the population, were "underinsured," meaning their health plans offered too little coverage and exposed them to high out-of-pocket costs, the survey found.

    Holy Moly, Batman

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. We must protect people from their stupidity:

      That will make them smarter.

      Honest.

      Delete
    2. You must have provided someone with full-time work.

      Delete
    3. More than once.
      Prior to that being punishable by the Federal Govt.

      Delete
  26. QuirkFri Apr 26, 10:55:00 AM EDT

    .

    "Nitwiticus raticus, the common desert rat.

    Every foreign policy disaster in the ME has been assisted by an ad hoc U.S. foreign policy that shifts with the wind, perpetually changing so as to be on the 'winning' side whatever that is perceived to be and invariably failing. We don't make foreign policy we merely make more enemies.

    Only a naif would look at U.S. foreign policy over the past ten years and judge that we have met our 'goals'. That is unless one considers the U.S. to be a blinded and schizophrenic cyclops wandering around in the dark stepping on the occasional midget."

    ---

    Leading from behinds:

    Whenever some malicious potentate passes gas, we shift and follow the winds.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Not quite, doug.

      The US has instigated an era of political unrest across the Islamic Arc during the past decade. Directly in Iraq and Afpakistan. It has been an approving observer of the transition to chaos in Egypt and a minor participant in Libya and Yemen.

      Iran is an economic basket case, Syria and Lebanon are slipping ever deeper into anarchy. Our "best" ally in the region, Turkey, the only Treaty ally we have in the Middle East, is ascendent.

      There have been no significant attacks in the US since the instigation of the policy in 2002.

      It is the US neo-con policy, writ large and in action.

      Delete
    2. Somewhere around the "bottom of the sixth" in the Great Game.

      Delete
    3. .

      Since you have here repeated your post from above, rat, I will likewise repeat my response.

      QuirkFri Apr 26, 12:39:00 PM EDT

      .

      I assume you are being purposefully obtuse for conversation's sake.

      Only a fool or a blind man would assume that the fiascos resulting from our interventions in Iraq and Afghanistan were intentional. The neocons may have been fools but they weren't masochists. Iran is the one country where the U.S. has intentionally contributed to the chaos and it can be argued for legitimate purposes (although I doubt the sanctions ultimate effectiveness).

      Syria and Lebanon have the ability to slip into anarchy on their own although the U.S. has contributed. But to argue that the final result regardless of what it is will be in the U.S. interests is IMO unfounded. I believe the U.S. had very little to worry about from either Syria or Lebanon.

      Turkey, our best ally in the region? Possibly true, but admittedly small praise indeed. Turkey ascendent? Turkey made their push to become a regional hegemon and it has stalled. Under Erdogan, they play a dangerous game. He has abandoned Turkey's prior "Zero Problems" policy with its neighbors in hopes of building influence with the U.S., Saudi Arabia, and Qatar to assure that Turkey not Iran becomes a regional hegemon. He has welcomed terrorist groups and offered them sanctuary, He is actively working to remove Assad in Sysria.

      What he forgets is that his policies on human rights and political persecution have turned off the EU. Admission to the EU is questionable. In siding with the rebels in Syria, he has strained relations with two major players that were destined to play keys roles in the improvement of the Turkish economy, Russia and China. As relations with the EU have cooled, Turkey has turned its attention to getting into the SCO (Shanghai Cooperation Association). Since the SCO is dominated by Russia and China, it's unlikely they will look positively at a country they consider a NATO flunky.

      Internally, Turkey's biggest problem has been the PKK. If Assad falls, it is likely the Kurds will become more powerful and autonomous in Syrian Kurdistan, something that is not in Turkish interests.

      Even if Turkey wins, it likely loses.

      There have been no significant attacks in the US since the instigation of the policy in 2002.

      Right. Let's keep sending American cannon fodder over there so we have less casualties over here. Genius. But what really happened? As a result of our actions, we have twice as many American dead now as were killed on 9/11. We have 20 times as many casualties. We have spent in excess of a $ billion per person killed on 9/11. We have gutted the Constitution and personal liberties.

      I repeat, genius.


      .

      Delete
    4. The entire focus of the Drone Campaign, is to alliviate the obvious...

      Let's keep sending American cannon fodder over there so we have less casualties over here.

      With drone technologies we will no longer have to commit troops, or as you refer to them "cannon fodder". We can prosecute the war, with strategies that are US casualty lite.

      Delete
    5. As to Turkey and the EU ...

      Posturing on Turkeys part, the continued desire to join the EU, the economic sick man of the whirled.
      It was a passe idea when GW Bush endorsed it.

      Turkey is looking to regain some of the influence wielded by the Ottomans, without the management responsibilities.

      Delete
    6. And whether or not the Turks lose by winning, their course is not hard to track.
      The civilian government of Turkey wants to expand their foreign influence and take a leadership role in the region. Something that the Generals abstained from, when they ruled the roost. They were more focused upon their claims to Cyprus.

      Delete
    7. Under the civilian government Turkey has changed the focus of its foreign policies.
      No longer Europeoncentric, they are focusing upon their own neighborhood.

      For better or worse, the French derailed Turkey's entry to the EU, in the good times. No way the Turks will get in, now, in the midst of a Europeon financial meltdown.

      The Turks are not deaf, dumb nor blind to reality.

      Delete
    8. .

      Once again, you change the subject and ignore the issue. It's not drones people like me complain about it the current policy that goes along with them.

      The WOT is a neologism, a brain fart dreamed up by some presidential speech writer. It's main purpose is to extend the federal bureaucracy, payoff the military/industrial complex, and limit the rights of the American citizen. Any good we have accomplished over the last ten years, could have been accomplished without the torture, without the lack of transparency, without the euphemisms, without the lies, without the 'signature' attacks, without the double-taps, without the curtailing of constitutional rights. In fact, had we chosen that alternate course, we would likely have fewer enemies today. Currently, they breed faster than we can kill them.

      WOT serves the historical purpose of any good war of choice, to take the minds of the sheeple off the domestic issues that have tanked. It plays to the fears of the masses. It is based on the governmental oxymoron, 'Trust us'. And as evidenced here, there are plenty who suck up the bullshit and shout, "Thank you, sir, may I have another".

      In the mean time we have surrendered any pretense of being a moral exemplar in the world, Reagans hyperbolic shining city on the hill, as we have devolved to the level of the enemy imploying the same tactics we hypocritically decry as barbaric and inhuman in others.

      Enough of your rationalizations and justifications of what is not justifiable, not justifiable either morally, practically, or on a cost benefit basis.

      .

      .

      Delete
    9. No, Q, you said US policy committed US troops, Libya illustrates that is no longer the case.

      As to neologism, so? The President is authorized to wage a global war, as he sees fit, against those he designates a threat. What one calls it a marketing ploy, equally unimportant. The President has the power. If you want to limit that authority campaign to rescind the 14SEP01 AUMF.

      Yea, we have surrendered the pretense of moral superiority. No doubt of that. I do think the only folks that thought we had a pretense of moral superiority was US. No foreigner I ever met anywhere on my whirled travels thought of the US as morally superior.

      I am not justifying anything. It is what is.

      You find US war strategies objectionable. I think those strategies have evolved to a point that US casualties will be greatly diminished, and until the Congress decides it has had enough of a President with the power of a war lord, it's legal.





      Delete
    10. As you told Deuce, Q, the responsibility for US policy is in Congress.

      Israel is not responsible for US policy, responsibility is not vested in the lobbyists, not with the talking heads on cable TV, nor with the neo-cons.

      Without doubt, you were correct, responsibility for US policies resides in Congress.

      Delete
    11. .

      Rat, you are merely an apologist for current U.S. policy. That policy asserts that on the initiative of the president, rendition, torture, double-taps, invasion of foreign territory, indiscriminate killing, the abrigation of civil rights, can all be justified on 'national security' grounds, the definition of which is fluid and determined by by who? The president.

      Also, that none of the decisions have to be explained to anyone. That anyone who objects and publically discusses or questions these matters can be prosecuted.

      What you are describing is not a president but a dictator.

      To argue the value of the current policy on the basis it saves lives is simplistic due to the fact that the same tools, the drones, could be effectively used without the 'signature' strikes, the double-taps, and the indiscriminate killing of civilians and innocents, and be just as effective while used in combination with more emphasis on humint.

      You look at the benefit side of the cost benefit analysis and ignore the costs resulting from the current policy.

      You also offer the additional excuse for supporting it the fact that Congress as is its wont in recent years has abrogated its responsibility under the Constitution to provide checks and balances to executive overreach. You also ignore the fact that as inhibitor to Congress doing their job, the president has refused to provide information on the details and specific justification for those policies. Stonewalling the Congress, the Courts, and the American people through the 'national security' canard. Pure bullshit.


      You argue that the president has the power and that's the end of it for you. You are of the sheeple, willing to accept the government policy when they say 'trust us' without a single question, a useful idiot, an enabler.

      It is what it is, not a single disclaimer, not a question broached, certainly no objections raised. Merely an insignificant cipher. At least, on this subject.

      .

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

      Delete
    13. .

      If you want to limit that authority campaign to rescind the 14SEP01 AUMF.

      Sadly, I am getting a little long in the tooth to be leading a protest march on D.C. Likewise, the country is full of sheeple; getting my peeps who agree together in a concentrated fashion might be beyond my capibilities. However, if younger more energized individuals or groups get something rolling, I would be glad to lend my moral support and perhaps take a road trip to attend the rally.

      Now, I have contacted both my senators, my congressman, as well as others including op-ed writers and such. And since tact is not one of my strong points, it wouldn't surprise me if I am not already on some sort of list somewhere. These days, it doesn't seem to take much.

      However, if you have others suggestions (short of something that will get me shot, of course) please pass them along.

      Even if it is merely an open renunciation of the policy, IMO is preferable to a shrug of the shoulders, and a perfunctory "Shit happens. It is what it is."

      .

      Delete
    14. Its not a "shit happens", but an acknowledgement that there has been incremental improvement in the tactical implementation of the war. The mass invasions and occupation phase seems to have passed into history.

      Now we seem to be implementing a much lighter touch. There will be fewer total casualties, when there are no regular US Army or Marines on the ground. Maverick missile strikes from drones, preferable to 500 lb bombs dropped from B52s.

      I do not see a complete US withdraw from the Middle east, no matter how advantageous it may seem.
      I do not see even a partial withdraw from the US attempting to influence events in the region.
      I do see that the US will Stay the Course, regardless of who is elected to the Presidency.

      And in that regard the new tactical policy is far superior to the old and much more preferable than a shrug of the shoulders and a perfunctory, "They're all dicks".



      Delete
    15. .

      You still miss the point. We could have all the advantages of a light footprint without all the extraneous bullshit, without the double-taps, the signature strikes, the renditions, etc. that provide no additional advantage. Without them, there is no loss of effectiveness. Those things do nothing to advance the cause and are more likely than not detrimental in the long run as they create more enemies than they kill.

      You settle for half a loaf.

      .

      Delete
    16. Now we've evolved the position, to where the weapons systems and targeting techniques are acceptable, but you want to change specific rules of engagement.

      That may be within the realm of political possibility.

      Delete
    17. .

      No rat, I have been telling you the same thing going backs weeks and it's failed to get through to you. I've said the same thing at least twice today. When I get time, I'll check, it might have been three.

      As George would say, "It's hard".

      .

      Delete
  27. As Q's link as to the nature of the neo-con explained, it is an amoral policy prescription.

    Exemplified by the US allying with the regimes that helped to finance and provide other support to the 11SEP01 raiders.

    Though it seems that both have moderated their positions on supporting attacks in the US.
    Evidenced by the lack of any large terrorist attacks of an international nature in the US emanating from Arabia or Afpakistan

    ReplyDelete
  28. the "archie bunker" of the EB

    Heh :)

    That is good.

    And now I'll never get it out of my mind.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. General Archie 'Rat' Bunker, Military Expert, Self Proclaimed.

      Also, theologian in spare time.

      Delete
    2. dont forget Rat's famous lines...

      Murder aint murder if you aint charged and you do the deed in another nation

      Hitler was a Jew

      Israel is a pirate nation....

      Yep the "archie bunker" of the EB fur sure...

      And he says to "discuss ideas"....

      too fuckin funny...

      Like arguing with a rock.

      Delete
    3. You've never had an idea, or presented an argument quot.

      You continue to play the Israeli.

      Delete
    4. wow, deep thoughts from one that argues that hitler was a jew, israel is a pirate nation and an european colony...

      to argue with a dense formed stonehead like you?

      waste of time.

      just like to watch you make a fool out yourself...

      Delete
    5. Now you discount DNA?
      Refuting science when it does not spin your way?

      Comical.

      You've been invited to explain your positions, quot, you always demur.

      I assume it is because you have no intellectual depth. Not even enough to cut a paste opinions of those that are sympathetic to your paranoia, if there were any.


      Delete
    6. perfect example of your typical argument.

      thanks but no thanks, but thanks for again showing what a nitwit you are...

      you just keep telling us what a jew IS and how hitler was one and we'll just understand that you must have been dropped on the head as a child one to many times.

      Delete

  29. Inhofe, Lucas Introduce Bill Limiting Federal Agencies From Stockpiling Ammunition
    Friday, April 26, 2013



    WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.) and Congressman Frank Lucas (R-OK-3) today introduced in their respective chambers the Ammunition Management for More Obtainability (AMMO) Act of 2013. The legislation would require the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to conduct a report on the purchasing of ammunition by federal agencies, except the Department of Defense, and its effect on the supply of ammunition available to the public. The AMMO Act would restrict agencies from obtaining additional ammunition for a six-month period if current agency stockpiles are higher than its monthly averages prior to the Obama Administration.

    "President Obama has been adamant about curbing law-abiding Americans’ access and opportunities to exercise their Second Amendment rights," said Inhofe. "One way the Obama Administration is able to do this is by limiting what’s available in the market with federal agencies purchasing unnecessary stockpiles of ammunition. As the public learned in a House committee hearing this week, the Department of Homeland Security has two years worth of ammo on hand and allots nearly 1,000 more rounds of ammunition for DHS officers than is used on average by our Army officers. The AMMO Act of 2013 will enforce transparency and accountability of federal agencies’ ammunition supply while also protecting law-abiding citizens access to these resources.”

    “After hearing from my constituents about the shortage of ammunition in Oklahoma and the Department of Homeland Security’s profligate purchases of ammunition,” said Lucas. “We have introduced the AMMO Act of 2013 to curtail these purchases so Americans can exercise their Second Amendment rights without being encumbered by the federal government. I was surprised to find out the DHS has the right to buy up to 750 million rounds of ammunition over the next five years, while it already has two years worth of ammo already. This is an issue that must be addressed, and I am pleased this legislation provides us the opportunity to do so.”

    ReplyDelete
  30. What is Little Kim up to these days? He seems to have disappeared.

    ReplyDelete
  31. A damned Judge read Bomber #2 his Miranda rights.

    http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2013/04/judge_made_decision_on_miranda_rights_for_tsarnaev_on_her_own.html

    Insanity.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. .

      Probably not.

      There is limited value in not reading the suspect his rights as time goes on. Initially, it makes sense as you are trying to investigate and assure there aren't more bombs planted somewhere or that there weren't more people involved in a conspiracy. However, when the subject turns to the guilt or innocence of the perp, it can become counter-productive as any information or even confession recieved prior to the rights being read will be challenged in court.

      .

      Delete
    2. From what I've read, it appears the suspect will be tried in civilian court, possibly right there in
      Boston. Though the defense may try for a change of venue.

      Just another criminal, charged with using a weapon of mass destruction.

      Amazing just what the qualifiers are for a WMD.

      Federal prosecutors charged suspected bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev on Monday with conspiring to use a weapon of mass destruction in the deadly attack on the Boston Marathon, as the Obama administration opted for a civilian court with a possible death sentence over dubbing him an “enemy combatant” for investigative reasons.

      Read more: http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/apr/22/boston-bombing-suspect-faces-civilian-court-not-en/#ixzz2RbwRfUYU

      Delete
  32. Egypt is restarting its nuclear program -

    http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2013/04/egypt_re-starting_nuclear_program.html

    But, of course. And we are giving advanced weapons to the Muslim Brotherhood there.

    Makes perfect sense, does it not?

    Today, or yesterday, Barky hobnobbed with Planned Parenthood, gave a speech there, the first President to ever do so. Good cheer all around.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Why would you expect the Egyptians to forgo the benefits of nuclear technology?
      One of our posters, boobie, extols the benefits of nuclear technologies, incessantly.

      What is good for the goose, good for the gander.

      Delete
    2. Female Gooses under Sharia get the short stick from Islamic Ganders, separate and deffinitely not equal.

      Delete
    3. If it were limited to that, it would be fine, but it won't be.

      One of your posters here, General Archie 'Rat' Bunker, Military Expert, can't see that far ahead.

      Have been reading on Drudge -

      $20 Billion project makes nuclear fusion breakthrough... -

      http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/one-giant-leap-for-mankind-13bn-iter-project-makes-breakthrough-in-quest-for-nuclear-fusion-a-solution-to-climate-change-and-an-age-of-clean-unlimited-energy-8590480.html

      Let us all hope it is true, and leads to something.

      Delete
    4. It is projects like this that show the way humanity should work together.

      Delete
  33. Every weekend i used to pay a quick visit this site,
    because i wish for enjoyment, since this this web site conations
    in fact good funny information too. were can i buy ageless male new vitahty - ageless male - ageless male

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    ReplyDelete
  34. "To argue the value of the current policy on the basis it saves lives is simplistic due to the fact that the same tools, the drones, could be effectively used without the 'signature' strikes, the double-taps, and the indiscriminate killing of civilians and innocents, and be just as effective while used in combination with more emphasis on humint."

    ---

    Bill Clinton discovered low casualty war made easy via Cruise Missiles.

    Tommy Frank declined to take out bin Laden at the outset via one of our earliest operational armed drones, but didn't, under Bush, then we had Fallujah Two after needlessly and recklessly aborting Fallujah One.

    We didn't destroy the downed Stealth in the land of the Caucasians, the 130 in the land of the Chinamen, nor the advanced Drone under Obama.

    Three different regiemes, endless boneheadedness made easy.

    Now BHO Drones Away with impunity, Humint and humanity be damned.

    Improved technology has enabled more convenient disasterous decision-making.

    ReplyDelete
  35. On this day in 1865, John Wilkes Booth – the man who assassinated President Abraham Lincoln – was killed by federal troops in Virginia.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Some must think, with their opinions of Lincoln, that John was a hero.

      Delete
  36. Bill was Obama's Benghazi Mentor:

    In his stunning 2003 book Dereliction of Duty, Air Force Lt. Col. Robert “Buzz” Patterson, a presidential aide and carrier of the “nuclear football,” describes President Clinton’s gross irresponsibility toward national security. Patterson tells how, in the fall of 1998, the watch officer in the White House Situation Room notified the president’s national security adviser, Sandy Berger, that they had located bin Laden and had “a two-hour window to strike.”

    Here is Patterson’s chilling account:


    Berger ambled down the stairwell and entered the Sit[uation] Room. He picked up the phone at one of the busy controller consoles and called the president. Amazingly, President Clinton was not available. Berger tried again and again. Bin Laden was within striking distance. The window of opportunity was closing fast. The plan of attack was set and the Tomahawk [missile] crews were ready. For about an hour Berger couldn’t get the commander in chief on the line. Though the president was always accompanied by military aides and the Secret Service, he was somehow unavailable. Berger stalked the Sit Room, anxious and impatient.

    Patterson continues:

    “Finally, the president accepted Berger’s call. There was discussion, there were pauses – and no decision. The president wanted to talk with his secretaries of Defense and State. He wanted to study the issue further. Berger was forced to wait. The clock was ticking. The president eventually called back. He was still indecisive. He wanted more discussion. Berger alternated between phone calls and watching the clock.

    The dithering continued until it was too late–and bin Laden lived to fight another day. And to plot the Sept. 11 attacks.

    That was not an isolated incident. On Sept. 13, 1996, while on the golf course with his lawyer friend Vernon Jordan, President Clinton had refused to take repeated urgent phone calls from Berger, who needed the president’s approval for air strikes on Iraq. Patterson wrote: “Pilots were in the cockpits, waiting to launch, targets were identified, everything was in place, all [Berger] needed was the go-ahead.”

    He never got it. The protective cover of night lifted, and the mission was aborted.

    There were other examples of gross and inexcusable incompetence. President Clinton twice managed to lose the nuclear codes that were necessary to activate the nation’s nuclear arsenal.

    There is yet another Clinton irony in view of the relentless tracking and eventual killing of bin Laden by the U.S. military and intelligence agencies in a brilliantly executed operation. Patterson relates an incident that occurred during the Clinton administration’s very first week that typified its view of the military. Army Lt. Gen. Barry McCaffrey, the assistant to the chairman of the Joint Chiefs, greeted a young aide in a White House hallway with a cheery, “Good Morning.”

    The young aide replied, “I don’t talk to the military.” I consider that to be a firing offense for a White House pipsqueak.

    Speaking of the military and also of Bill Clinton’s predilections, Patterson describes a sordid incident in which the president–the commander-in-chief–groped a female steward on Air Force One. As an enlisted member of the U.S. Air Force, she opted not to make an issue of it and settled for a personal apology from the president.

    This incident troubled Patterson: “I brooded over the fact that if our commander in chief had been actually serving in the armed services, he would have been jailed. His immunity struck me as completely unacceptable.”

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Not to worry, thanks to 41 and 43, Bill has been brought back into the Pantheon of The Greats.

      Delete
    2. Clinton was impeached and exonerated.

      A subordinate was displeased with the Boss's behavior, well doug, I'm sure we've all heard that story before. Many of US have even experienced it.

      Delete
  37. 通常、これらの価格
    帯の時計は、富裕層だけに与えて
    いる

    My blog chanel バッグ

    ReplyDelete
  38. Obama blesses Planned Parenthood -
    "Thank you, Planned Parenthood. God bless you."
    - and abortion providers everywhere.

    http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/obama-largest-abortion-provider-god-bless-you_719216.html

    video of the blessing

    ReplyDelete
  39. ISLAMABAD—Former Pakistani president was arrested on Friday over his alleged role in the 2007 assassination of Benazir Bhutto, an ex-prime minister of Pakistan, following a court appearance in Rawalpindi.

    ReplyDelete
  40. By Tabassum Zakaria

    HOLLOMAN AIR FORCE BASE, New Mexico (Reuters) - The tide of war may be receding, as President Barack Obama is fond of saying, but U.S. military demand for unmanned drones and their remote pilots is growing.

    Here in the New Mexico desert, the U.S. Air Force has ramped up training of drone operators - even as the nation increasingly debates their use and U.S. forces prepare to leave Afghanistan.

    "Every combatant commander in the world is asking for these things. Down in Southcom, Africom, Pacom, they're all asking for these assets, so it is in very high demand," said Lt. Col. Mike Weaver, 16th Training Squadron commander at Holloman Air Force Base, referring to the military's Southern, Africa and Pacific commands.

    Weaver is an example of a fighter jet pilot turned pilot of Remotely Piloted Aircraft, or RPA, as the Air Force insists on calling drones. He flew F-15 fighter jets over Iraq and, after those squadrons were drawn down, trained on drones and flew them over Afghanistan.

    "With the growth of the RPAs being what it is, a fast-growing industry in the Air Force really, you've got pilots coming from all different walks of life to fill the shoes," Weaver, clad in a green flight suit, said in his office here.

    ReplyDelete
  41. "Do you hate the Arabs, Nissim?"

    "No. Of course no."

    "Why not?"

    "What is the good of hate?"

    What indeed? Arabs gorge on hate, they roll in it, they breathe it. Jews top the hate list, but any foreigners are hateful enough. Arabs also hate each other, separately and, en masse. Their politicians change the direction of their hate as they would change their shirts. Their press is vulgarly base with hate-filled cartoons; their reporting describes whatever hate is now uppermost and convenient. Their radio is a long scream of hate, a call to hate. They teach their children hate in school. They must love the taste of hate; it is their daily bread. And what good has it done them?


    Martha Gellhorn

    ...

    1 Corinthians 13

    New King James Version (NKJV)
    The Greatest Gift

    13 Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal. 2 And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3 And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned,[a] but have not love, it profits me nothing.

    4 Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; 5 does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; 6 does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; 7 bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

    8 Love never fails. But whether there are prophecies, they will fail; whether there are tongues, they will cease; whether there is knowledge, it will vanish away. 9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part. 10 But when that which is perfect has come, then that which is in part will be done away.

    11 When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things. 12 For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known.

    13 And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.


    St. Paul

    ....

    quran Chapter:33 Verse:26
    Keywords: Jews,Christians,Fight & Kill,Steal and Plunder

    And He brought those of the People of the Scripture who supported them down from their strongholds, and cast panic into their hearts. Some ye slew, and ye made captive some.
    Comment: You can take whatever you want from non-muslims

    quran Chapter:5 Verse:51
    Keywords: Friends,Jews,Christians

    O believers, do not hold Jews and Christians as your allies. They are allies of one another; and anyone who makes them his friends is one of them.
    Comment: Make no friends with infidels

    sahih muslim Book:41 Number:6985
    Keywords: Jews,Fight & Kill
    Abu Huraira reported Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) as saying: The last hour would not come unless the Muslims will fight against the Jews and the Muslims would kill them until the Jews would hide themselves behind a stone or a tree and a stone or a tree would say: Muslim, or the servant of Allah, there is a Jew behind me; come and kill him; but the tree Gharqad would not say, for it is the tree of the Jews.
    Comment: Kill the Jews


    ReplyDelete
    Replies

    1. Our General Archie 'Rat' Bunker, Military Expert with an emphasis on the 'arc of instability' in the Mid-East thinks all Abrahamic religions are the same.


      Love and Brotherhood
      G'milut Chasadim (in Hebrew)

      Level: Basic

      • Kindness to others is an important commandment
      • Jewish Law spells out how to be kind to others
      • Kindness applies to people and animals, to Jews and gentiles

      Many people think of Judaism as the religion of cold, harsh laws, to be contrasted with Christianity, the religion of love and brotherhood. This is an unfair characterization of both Judaism and Jewish law. Love and kindness have been a part of Judaism from the very beginning. When Jesus said, "love thy neighbor as thyself," he was merely quoting Torah, and he was quoting the book that is most commonly dismissed as a source of harsh laws: Leviticus 19:18. The point is repeated in Leviticus 19:34: love [the stranger] as thyself.
      Love and Brotherhood in Jewish Sources


      http://www.jewfaq.org/brother.htm

      General Bunk, for short, is wrong.

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

      Delete
    3. I spoke of religious history and acts, not the rhetoric and propaganda they wrap themselves in.

      Delete
  42. You must understand, anon, that Joshua, the founder of mythical Israel showed no kindness to the Canaanites.

    So should his Kingdom be considered illegitimate and illegal in the light of your quoted Jewish Law and he and his people's violation of it?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Abrahamites: Bi-Polar Schizophrenics, hypocrits, and paranoids - the whole lot.

      Crazier than a barrel of bedbugs

      Delete
    2. Growing Up as Dirt Poor Fatherless White Trash in North Hollywood in the 70's Produced some pretty crazy shit.

      They used to fill their guts w/a garden hose and spew the effluvium in other folks houses.

      Ray shit in Chris's hand so Chris would have something to stuff in Adam's for entertainment in school.

      Peeing on someone in their car whilst under way a regular occurrence.

      Jumping off the third floor of the Mullholland Country Club at nite into a small pool.

      ...on and on, yet the gang is still alive and "well" and still buddies.

      Delete
    3. ..."Adam's EAR"

      Two weeks later, Ray pointed out that Adam still had some dried shit on his belt.

      Again, while school was in session.

      Delete
    4. Human sacrifice in Aztec culture

      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_sacrifice_in_Aztec_culture

      Should Spanish culture and conquest to the south of us be considered illigitimate because they showed little kindness to the Aztecs?

      We really don't know for sure what happened with Joshua. Theories abound that most of the entry into 'the promised land' was a slow process, much like farmers moving west in the United States, or farming moving north into Europe. Their may have been some battles, but where, when and to what extent is pretty much unknown.

      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Jericho
      ........

      If et-Tell is indeed Ai, this poses a problem for defenders of the literal historicity of the Biblical accounts concerning the origin of ancient Israel; the reason for this is that traditional dating schemes place the Exodus from Egypt in 1440 BC and Joshua's conquest of Canaan around 1400 BC, a time at which the archaeological evidence shows et-Tell to have been completely unoccupied, as it had been for almost 1000 years. The later Iron Age I village appeared with no evidence of initial conquest, and the Iron I settlers seem to have peacefully built their village on the forsaken mound, without meeting resistance.[1] In addition Ai, meaning Ruin is a particularly strange name for a city to have, while it is a quite ordinary name for a pile of rubble to have; Ai would only really be expected to become Ai after it had been destroyed not before[citation needed].

      It has been suggested that this battle may never have taken place, and that its narrative might have "preserved some remote echoes of wars conducted in these places in early Iron Age I." [2] Some archeologists and biblical scholars have suggested that the Biblical account of the conquest of Ai derives from an etiological myth [3] - a type of tale which "explains the origin of a custom, state of affairs, or natural feature in the human or divine world."[4]


      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ai_%28Bible%29

      General Archie 'Rat' Bunker, Military Expert and middle eastern historian, doesn't know religious history and acts, nor anything about the rhetoric and 'propaganda' they wrap themselves in, nor anything about the Bible at all, really.

      There is much propaganda in the Bible, Hebrew and Christian, he is correct about that. It is written, after all, from a definite point of view, in each case.

      He just doesn't really know anything about it. He has mostly been concerned with Military Studies.



      Delete
    5. What's with all the ricin flowing out of Northern Mississippi, Rufus?

      Castor beans a new alternative crop down that way?

      Used for ethanol perhaps, and for poisoning select deserving politicians?

      Delete
    6. Actually, Castor Beans would be a Great feedstock for BioDiesel (about 4 times more product per acre than soy beans.)

      Delete
    7. .

      Only in Mississippi can one run across a 'barrel of bed bugs'.

      .

      Delete
  43. Russia contacted the FBI MULTIPLE times about the elder Tsarnaeva, aka "speedbump" so concerned were they about his troublesome behavior.

    The FBI was not arroused.

    ...zzz

    ReplyDelete

  44. Opinions

    The danger of repeating the cycle of American isolationism


    By Joseph I. Lieberman and Jon Kyl, Published: April 25

    Joseph I. Lieberman, an independent Democrat, is a former senator from Connecticut. Jon Kyl, a Republican, is a former senator from Arizona. They co-chair the American Enterprise Institute’s American Internationalism Project.

    The case for American retrenchment has gained new traction in Washington. Much as in the past, economic problems and public war-weariness have spurred calls from Democrats and Republicans alike for neo-isolationist policies — demands for retreat from the world clothed in the language of fiscal prudence and disinterested realism. Although there may be short-term political benefits in calling for a diminished U.S. role in the world, history shows that retreat comes with substantial long-term costs for our country.


    http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/the-danger-of-repeating-the-cycle-of-american-isolationism/2013/04/25/16da45f8-a90c-11e2-a8e2-5b98cb59187f_story.html?wprss=rss_opinions

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  45. Retreat?

    No, not retreat, reassessment.

    We did not retreat against the Japanese, in China we sent Army Air Corps pilots to fight against the Japanese, in 1940. Which led directly to the Japanese raid at Pearl Harbor and the invasion of the Philippines.

    When in history has the US retreated ...
    ... with substantial long-term costs for our country.?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'd like to know just when and where the Senators think the US has retreated, let alone at substantial cost.

      Delete
    2. And here is your answer, in their own words -

      After World War I, disillusionment with war and then the Great Depression brought a widely popular U.S. retreat from internationalism, economic as well as political. But the attack on Pearl Harbor demonstrated that the United States could not avoid the responsibility of engagement with the world in the cause of freedom and democracy.

      After World War II, skepticism about the extent of the communist threat led to a sharp reduction in military spending and a willingness to ignore ominous developments along the Pacific Rim and in Eastern Europe. But when communist aggression reached a boiling point on the Korean Peninsula, moral duty and national interests again compelled the United States to lead. The cost of the war that followed certainly exceeded that of effective deterrence and of steadily maintaining U.S. armed forces.

      When the Soviet Union fell in 1991, some argued that the United States had fulfilled its obligation to lead the world and had defeated all plausible opponents; defense funding was slashed. Ten years later, the attacks of Sept. 11 reminded us of the risks of assuming that peace will always prevail.


      By the way, drones were not around at the time of the first Trade Center bombing, nor 9/11.

      So you can't blame those bombings on the use of drones.

      Delete
    3. Reading a little slower, concentrating, and taking notes helps.

      gnite

      Delete
    4. .

      When it comes to war, Lieberman was part of the unholy triumverate, the three stooges of shock and awe, three guys who have never seen a war they didn't like, McCain, Graham, and 'ol Joe. Of course, that was before Liebermun decided to retire. Now, it looks as if Kyl is auditioning for the job of the third stooge, a vastly inferior Shemp to Lieberman's Curly.

      .

      Delete
    5. The US was engaged against Japan, in China, in 1940.
      The Flying Tigers

      Well before 7DEC41.

      There had been no retreat.

      Delete
    6. Spending Slashed>
      1990 -0.3%%

      91 -6.34%

      92 +8.82%

      93 -1.3%

      94 -2.23%

      95 -2.94%

      If that is considered SLASHING, little wonder there is $16 trillion in Federal debt

      Delete
    7. http://www.scribd.com/doc/32645161/US-Defense-Spending-1970-2010

      Delete
    8. The U.S. accounted for 46.5 percent of global military spending in 2009, according to the CSIS report. China only accounted for 6.6 percent with France in third at 4.2 percent.

      http://www.politifact.com/virginia/statements/2011/aug/05/randy-forbes/forbes-says-us-defense-spending-measured-against-g/

      Delete
  46. We're doing a pretty good job in Iraq, although not AT substantial cost, but AFTER the substantial costs of being there.

    ReplyDelete
  47. .

    Saw a story on the F35 on the Canadian news program The Fifth Estate.

    If misery loves company, we've got a lot of it with the F-35; Britian, Canada, Norway, Israel (although the last I heard the U.S. was paying for Israel's initial 20). We have all heard of the delays, the cost overruns, the design flaws, the safety concerns, the excalating costs, real Fubar.

    However, the Canadian story really layed out the manipulation that went into getting this program started. It was fixed from the beginning. The military/industrial complex is alive and well. the current cost on the F-35 is about $137 million a plane, double what it started out with. However, there have been cutbacks on orders and some in Canada think their final cost might reach $200 million a plane. The program showed archived film of Canadian politicians as well as Lockheed executives lying through their teeth. Most who were asked refused to come on camera to discuss the current status and their previous statements.

    There is just too many things wrong with the program to go into detail so I'll just link a current article and a wiki post on it for anyone interested.

    Reuters: http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/03/15/us-usa-fighter-f35-insight-idUSBRE92E10R20130315

    Wiki: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lockheed_Martin_F-35_Lightning_II

    For any who might think the Pentagon doesn't need it budget cut and cost controls instituted as well as a new revamped procurement process, the F35 should be an eye opener. The Wiki article is quite long. It needs to be. It lists all the problems that continue to plague the program. However, I only post the following to show the different POVs of the pilots who will fly the plane and the bureaucrats running the program.

    USAF test pilots have noted a lack of visibility from the F-35 cockpit during evaluation flights and said that this will get them shot down in every combat. Defense spending analyst Winslow Wheeler concluded from the flight evaluation reports that the F-35A "is flawed beyond redemption",[182] while program manager Bogdan suggested that pilots worried about being shot down should fly cargo aircraft instead.

    .

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