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."

Tuesday, September 03, 2013

Leon Panetta, very deliberately, announcing that the Syrian government moved some chemical weapons to keep them out of the hands of the rebels back in September of 2012.


Friday, September 28, 2012 - 11:44 AM 

The U.S. has lost track of some of Syria’s chemical weapons, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said Friday, and does not know if any potentially lethal chemicals have fallen into the hands of Syrian rebels or Iranian forces inside the country.

“There has been intelligence that there have been some moves that have taken place. Where exactly that’s taken place, we don’t know.” Panetta said, in a Pentagon press briefing.

Panetta said that the “main sites” in Syria storing chemical weapons with which the Pentagon is most concerned remain secured by the Syrian military. But there is “some intelligence” that “limited” movements of weapons from other sites have occurred, he said, “for the Syrians to better secure what they – the chemicals.”


“But with regards to the movement of some of this and whether or not they’ve been able to locate some of it,” he said of U.S. intelligence, “we just don’t know.”

Following the briefing, Pentagon officials sought to clarify the extent of their grasp on the status of Syria's stockpiles. "We've never had perfect visibility into the Syrian chemical weapons stockpile, but we have excellent information that accounts for most of it," said a senior defense offiical, speaking on background. "We've seen it move, and we've been able to make an assessment as to why it's been moved.  This is a highly distributed network of chemical weapons sites, and we have a good grasp of what's going on inside that network."

Syria’s chemical weapons are top concern for the U.S. and for regional allies worried that they could let be stolen by rebels or terrorists organizations, or given to Iran for safekeeping. Another fear is that President Bashar al-Assad also could use them against neighboring countries, including Israel, to defense against potential outside military intervention by NATO, the U.S., or other powers. Panetta's comments come as rebels say they've begun a major battle for Aleppo "on all fronts."

“I don’t have any specific information about the opposition and whether or not they’ve obtained some of this, or how much they’ve obtained and just exactly what has taken place,” Panetta said.

“As to the movement of some of these materials and whether or not they’ve been exposed to possession by the opposition or others,” he added, “that’s something I really don’t have any firm information to confirm that that’s taken place.”


HERE IS A REPORT FROM AN ISRAELI NEWS SOURCE OF A CLAIM BY SYRIAN REBELS THAT THEY CAPTURED CHEMICAL WEAPONS:


Syrian Rebels Claim to Take Over Chemical Weapons

A statement published by the Syrian rebels says that they have taken over a military base and found missiles with non-conventional warheads.


By Elad Benari
First Publish: 8/29/2012, 2:16 AM



The Supreme Military Council of the Syrian rebels released on a statement on Tuesday which said that the rebel forces took control of an army missile base in Damascus, in which ten ready-to-launch missiles were found. Some of the missiles, according to the statement, were converted to carry non-conventional warheads.
“During the successful operation, the operatives of the Free Syrian Army found a large number of rockets ready for launching, with enormous destructive capability, and they were very surprised to find missiles that were converted to carry non-conventional warheads and which can be equipped with chemical or biological warheads,” said the statement which was translated by Arab affairs expert Dalit Halevi.
The Supreme Military Council of the rebels went on to claim that it had confirmed the report by examining photographic documentation of the scene.
The Council warned that these facts indicate that the Assad regime is getting ready to bomb cities in Syria using these missiles, and the possibility that he will use missiles with unconventional warheads cannot be ruled out.
The Council called on Arab countries and the international community to immediately intervene in order to protect the lives of the Syrian people “before the regime moves to a new level of crimes, which will have tragic consequences for the entire region.”
On Monday, French President Francois Holllande warned that any use of chemical weapons by Syria would be sufficient reason for Western countries to intervene in Syria.
Hollande said that France was working along with several other countries to create a protective zone around Syria, to be in position to move in if necessary.
A similar warning was made last week by U.S. President Barack Obama, who said that President Bashar al-Assad should heed U.S. warnings to neither use nor move chemical or biological weapons.
“We cannot have a situation where chemical or biological weapons are falling into the hands of the wrong people,” Obama told reporters at the White House. "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.”
He added, “That would change my calculus; that would change my equation.”
Israel has expressed concerns that Assad’s chemical weapons will end up in the hands of the Hizbullah terror group if his regime falls.
Syria has admitted it has chemical weapons and has threatened to use them if attacked by external forces. It claimed it will not use these weapons on rebels fighting to oust Assad.
Recent reports from Syria indicated that Assad has transferred a battery of advanced missiles to the al-Masna border crossing, which is the central route used to transfer equipment and weapons to Hizbullah. Members of the Syrian opposition said that one of two major chemical arsenals of the Syrian regime is located near that border crossing.
This facility is located just 24 kilometers from a missile base belonging to Hizbullah and was first exposed by the London Times newspaper in May of 2010.

100 comments:

  1. IRAQIS UNCOVER SARIN GAS LAB WITH TIES TO U.S. ALLY IN SYRIA
    JUNE 15, 2013 AFP


    • Proves rebels, not Assad, using chemical weapons in civil war

    By Richard Walker

    A sustained campaign by Washington and its allies to hide the fact some Syrian rebel groups have been making and using chemical weapons could come back to haunt political leaders like Senator John McCain (R-Ariz.) and President Barack Obama.

    On June 2, Iraq announced it had captured a five-man cell operating two chemical weapons facilities in Baghdad for the manufacture of sarin and mustard gas. These men planned to use some of the gas in Syria and the rest in Europe and the United States.

    What made the capture of the cell significant was its links to Jabhat al-Nusra, one of the major militias fighting to overthrow the Syrian government.

    The Baghdad arrests came days after Turkish anti-terror police raided the homes of Jabhat al-Nusra members living in Adana in the southern part of the country. Immediate reports from a wide range of credible sources inside and beyond Turkey claimed a cylinder of sarin gas was found in one of the homes. Turkish authorities, who support Syrian rebels, tried to play down those reports.


    Both events appeared to support a controversial announcement made weeks earlier by Carla Del Ponte, a member of a United Nations (UN) commission investigating the use of chemical weapons in the Syrian conflict. She said interviews with victims appeared to show anti-Assad rebels had used sarin gas. The findings, she admitted, had surprised her. Famous as a renowned war-crimes prosecutor, she stunned Washington and its anti-Assad coalition, which had consistently claimed only the Assad regime possessed and used chemical weapons.

    Very quickly the UN, perhaps under pressure from Washington, London and Paris, tried to dial back her revelation. For example the UN international commission, of which she was a member, issued a statement saying it did not have “incontrovertible proof” to support her claim.

    For more than a year, Washington and its allies, including Israel, had been claiming, without proof, that only the government of Bashar al-Assad, and not the rebels supported by the West, had used chemical weapons. Israel, not surprisingly, had threatened to bomb Syria’s chemical weapons facilities. On December 5, 2012, Hillary Clinton had warned North Atlantic Treaty Organization foreign ministers Assad as a last resort might put chemical weapons on warheads to drop them on rebels.

    Efforts by Washington to imply only the Syrian regime could possibly have chemical weapons are deliberate lies. Sarin was used in 1995 by the Aum Shinrikyo, a Japanese religious cult, to kill people in the Tokyo subway. They had enough materials to make sufficient sarin to kill millions of people. Many of those materials can be easily acquired in Israel or in Sunni Arab states supporting the Syrian rebels.

    Moscow has consistently warned Washington and the EU their support for the rebels will embolden extreme elements among them. Such a policy, Moscow has argued, will come back to bite the West.

    - See more at: http://americanfreepress.net/?p=11173#sthash.UV1RF8s8.dpuf

    ReplyDelete
  2. U.N. has testimony that Syrian rebels used sarin gas: investigator

    GENEVA | Sun May 5, 2013 6:13pm EDT


    (Reuters) - U.N. human rights investigators have gathered testimony from casualties of Syria's civil war and medical staff indicating that rebel forces have used the nerve agent sarin, one of the lead investigators said on Sunday.

    The United Nations independent commission of inquiry on Syria has not yet seen evidence of government forces having used chemical weapons, which are banned under international law, said commission member Carla Del Ponte.

    "Our investigators have been in neighboring countries interviewing victims, doctors and field hospitals and, according to their report of last week which I have seen, there are strong, concrete suspicions but not yet incontrovertible proof of the use of sarin gas, from the way the victims were treated," Del Ponte said in an interview with Swiss-Italian television.

    "This was use on the part of the opposition, the rebels, not by the government authorities," she added, speaking in Italian.

    Del Ponte, a former Swiss attorney-general who also served as prosecutor of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, gave no details as to when or where sarin may have been used.

    The Geneva-based inquiry into war crimes and other human rights violations is separate from an investigation of the alleged use of chemical weapons in Syria instigated by U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, which has since stalled.

    President Bashar al-Assad's government and the rebels accuse each another of carrying out three chemical weapon attacks, one near Aleppo and another near Damascus, both in March, and another in Homs in December.

    The civil war began with anti-government protests in March 2011. The conflict has now claimed an estimated 70,000 lives and forced 1.2 million Syrian refugees to flee.

    The United States has said it has "varying degrees of confidence" that sarin has been used by Syria's government on its people.

    President Barack Obama last year declared that the use or deployment of chemical weapons by Assad would cross a "red line".

    (Reporting by Stephanie Nebehay; Editing by Tom Pfeiffer)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Iraq says Qaeda poison gas cell busted in Baghdad
    Saturday, 1 June 2013



    AFP, Baghdad

    Iraq’s defense ministry said on Saturday that it has broken up an Al-Qaeda cell that was working to produce poison gas at two locations in the capital for future attacks at home and abroad.

    The group of five people built two facilities to produce sarin and mustard gas, using instructions from another Al-Qaeda group, spokesman Mohammed al-Askari told a news conference.
    The members of the cell were prepared to launch attacks domestically, and also had a network to smuggle the toxins to neighboring countries, and also to Europe and North America, Askari said.

    The arrest of the cell members was possible because of cooperation between Iraqi and foreign intelligence services, he added.

    The United Nations said last month that sarin nerve gas may have been used by rebels fighting to overthrow President Bashar al-Assad in neighboring Syria.

    Saddam Hussein’s forces used poison gas to attack the Kurdish town of Halabja in 1988, killing an estimated 5,000 people.

    Al-Qaeda front group the Islamic State of Iraq is still active in the country, launching regular attacks against both the government and civilians.

    ReplyDelete
  4. MAY 17 2004 - REPEAT - MAY 17 2004


    A small amount of the nerve agent sarin was found in a shell that exploded in Iraq (news - web sites), the U.S. army said Monday in the first announcement of discovery of any of the weapons on which Washington made its case for war.

    Brigadier General Mark Kimmitt told a news conference the substance had been found in an artillery shell inside a bag discovered by a U.S. convoy a few days ago. The round had exploded, causing a small release of the substance, he said.


    "The Iraq Survey Group has confirmed today that a 155 (mm) artillery round containing sarin nerve agent had been found. The round had been rigged as an IED (improvised explosive device) that was discovered by a U.S. force convoy,” he said.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Sarin, Mustard Gas Discovered Separately in Iraq
    Published May 17, 2004


    FoxNews.com
    BAGHDAD, Iraq – A roadside bomb containing sarin nerve agent (search) recently exploded near a U.S. military convoy, the U.S. military said Monday.

    Bush administration officials told Fox News that mustard gas (search) was also recently discovered.

    Two people were treated for "minor exposure" after the sarin incident but no serious injuries were reported. Soldiers transporting the shell for inspection suffered symptoms consistent with low-level chemical exposure, which is what led to the discovery, a U.S. official told Fox News.
    "The Iraqi Survey Group confirmed today that a 155-millimeter artillery round containing sarin nerve agent had been found," Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmitt (search), the chief military spokesman in Iraq, told reporters in Baghdad. “The round had been rigged as an IED (improvised explosive device) which was discovered by a U.S. force convoy."

    The round detonated before it would be rendered inoperable, Kimmitt said, which caused a "very small dispersal of agent."
    However, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said the results were from a field test, which can be imperfect, and said more analysis was needed. If confirmed, it would be the first finding of a banned weapon upon which the United States based its case for war.


    A senior Bush administration official told Fox News that the sarin gas shell is the second chemical weapon discovered recently.
    Two weeks ago, U.S. military units discovered mustard gas that was used as part of an IED. Tests conducted by the Iraqi Survey Group (search) — a U.S. organization searching for weapons of mass destruction — and others concluded the mustard gas was “stored improperly," which made the gas "ineffective."

    They believe the mustard gas shell may have been one of 550 projectiles for which former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein failed to account when he made his weapons declaration shortly before Operation Iraqi Freedom began last year. Iraq also failed to then account for 450 aerial bombs with mustard gas. That, combined with the shells, totaled about 80 tons of unaccounted for mustard gas.
    It also appears some top Pentagon officials were surprised by the sarin news; they thought the matter was classified, administration officials told Fox News.

    An official at the U.N. Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission (UNMOVIC) headquarters in New York said the commission is surprised to hear news of the mustard gas.

    "If that's the case, why didn't they announce it earlier?" the official asked.

    The UNMOVIC official said the group needs to know more from the Bush administration before it's possible to determine if this is "old or new stuff. It is known that Iraq used sarin during the Iraq-Iran war, however.

    Kimmitt said the shell belonged to a class of ordnance that Saddam's government said was destroyed before the 1991 Gulf war (search). Experts believe both the sarin and mustard gas weapons date back to that time.

    “It was a weapon that we believe was stocked from the ex-regime time and it had been thought to be an ordinary artillery shell set up to explode like an ordinary IED and basically from the detection of that and when it exploded, it indicated that it actually had some sarin in it,” Kimmitt said.

    {…}

    ReplyDelete
  6. {…}

    The incident occurred "a couple of days ago," he added. The discovery reportedly occurred near Baghdad International Airport.
    Washington officials say the significance of the find is that some chemical shells do still exist in Iraq, and it’s thought that fighters there may be upping their attacks on U.S. forces by using such weapons.

    The round was an old "binary-type" shell in which two chemicals held in separate sections are mixed after firing to produce sarin, Kimmitt said.
    He said he believed that insurgents who rigged the artillery shell as a bomb didn’t know it contained the nerve agent, and that the dispersal of the nerve agent from such a rigged device was very limited.

    The shell had no markings. It appears the binary sarin agents didn't mix, which is why there weren't serious injuries from the initial explosion, a U.S. official told Fox News.
    "Everybody knew Saddam had chemical weapons, the question was, where did they go. Unfortunately, everybody jumped on the offramp and said 'well, because we didn't find them, he didn't have them,'" said Fox News military analyst Lt. Gen. Tom McInerney.

    "I doubt if it's the tip of the iceberg but it does confirm what we've known ... that he [Saddam] had weapons of mass destruction that he used on his own people," Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, told Fox News. "This does show that the fear we had is very real. Now whether there is much more of this we don’t know, Iraq is the size of the state of California."

    But there were more reasons than weapons to get rid of Saddam, he added. “We considered Saddam Hussein a threat not just because of weapons of mass destruction,” Grassley said.

    {…}

    ReplyDelete

  7. {…}

    Iraqi Scientist: You Will Find More

    Gazi George, a former Iraqi nuclear scientist under Saddam's regime, told Fox News he believes many similar weapons stockpiled by the former regime were either buried underground or transported to Syria. He noted that the airport where the device was detonated is on the way to Baghdad from the Syrian border.
    George said the finding likely will be the first in a series of discoveries of such weapons.
    "Saddam is the type who will not store those materials in a military warehouse. He's gonna store them either underground, or, as I said, lots of them have gone west to Syria and are being brought back with the insurgencies," George told Fox News. "It is difficult to look in areas that are not obvious to the military's eyes.
    "I'm sure they're going to find more once time passes," he continued, saying one year is not enough for the survey group or the military to find the weapons.
    Saddam, when he was in power, had declared that he did in fact possess mustard-gas filled artilleries but none that included sarin.
    "I think what we found today, the sarin in some ways, although it's a nerve gas, it's a lucky situation sarin detonated in the way it did ... it's not as dangerous as the cocktails Saddam used to make, mixing blister" agents with other gases and substances, George said.
    Officials: Discovery Is 'Significant'
    U.S. officials told Fox News that the shell discovery is a "significant" event.
    Artillery shells of the 155-mm size are as big as it gets when it comes to the ordnance lobbed by infantry-based artillery units. The 155 howitzer can launch high capacity shells over several miles; current models used by the United States can fire shells as far as 14 miles. One official told Fox News that a conventional 155-mm shell could hold as much as "two to five" liters of sarin, which is capable of killing thousands of people under the right conditions in highly populated areas.
    The Iraqis were very capable of producing such shells in the 1980s but it's not as clear that they continued after the first Gulf War.
    In 1995, Japan's Aum Shinrikyo (search) cult unleashed sarin gas in Tokyo's subways, killing 12 people and sickening thousands. In February of this year, Japanese courts convicted the cult's former leader, Shoko Asahara, and sentence him to be executed.
    Developed in the mid-1930s by Nazi scientists, a single drop of sarin can cause quick, agonizing choking death. There are no known instances of the Nazis actually using the gas.
    Nerve gases work by inhibiting key enzymes in the nervous system, blocking their transmission. Small exposures can be treated with antidotes, if administered quickly.
    Antidotes to nerve gases similar to sarin are so effective that top poison gas researchers predict they eventually will cease to be a war threat.
    Fox News' Wendell Goler, Steve Harrigan, Ian McCaleb, Liza Porteus, James Rosen and The Associated Press contributed to this report.


    Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/story/2004/05/17/sarin-mustard-gas-discovered-separately-in-iraq/#ixzz2drGwlRs7

    ReplyDelete
  8. Dead men tell no tales. What is the urgency to blame this on Assad and not consider al Qaeda?

    Could it have something to do with this?

    First Syria rebels armed and trained by CIA ‘on way to battlefield'

    The first cell of Syrian rebels trained and armed by the CIA is making its way to the battlefield, President Barack Obama has reportedly told senators.

    The US announced in June that it would send light arms to the rebels but refused to provide anti-aircraft missiles and other heavy weapons. Photo: JIM WATSON/AFP

    Raf Sanchez in Washington 3:15PM BST 03 Sep 2013

    During a meeting at the White House, the president assured Senator John McCain that after months of delay the US was meeting its commitment to back moderate elements of the opposition.

    Mr Obama said that a 50-man cell, believed to have been trained by US special forces in Jordan, was making its way across the border into Syria, according to the New York Times.

    The deployment of the rebel unit seems to be the first tangible measure of support since Mr Obama announced in June that the US would begin providing the opposition with small arms.

    ---------------------

    Now, why are not the dot connecting mutherfuckers making this obvious connection?

    ---------------------

    Gunmen in Afghan Police Uniforms Kill 2 NATO Soldiers - NYTimes ...
    www.nytimes.com/.../gunmen-in-afghan-police-uniforms-kill-2-nato-sol...‎
    May 12, 2012 - Gunmen in Afghan Police Uniforms Kill 2 NATO Soldiers … two insurgents dressed in Afghan police uniforms on Saturday shot and killed two ...

    Men in Afghan police uniforms kill 2 NATO troops - CBS News
    www.cbsnews.com/.../men-in-afghan-police-uniforms-kill-2-nato-troops/‎
    May 12, 2012 - (AP) KABUL, Afghanistan - NATO and Afghan officials say that two of … south were gunned down by men dressed in Afghan police uniforms.

    Man dressed in Afghan police uniform kills three NATO troops | The ...
    www.timesofisrael.com › Israel & the Region‎

    Men in Afghan police uniforms kill 2 NATO troops – USATODAY.com
    usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/world/.../afghan-police-uniforms.../1

    May 13, 2012 - Men wearing Afghan police uniforms shot dead two NATO service … dressed in police uniforms, not official members of the police force.

    U.S. soldier dies after men dressed in police uniform turn guns on ...
    www.dailymail.co.uk/.../U-S-soldier-dies-men-dressed-police-uniform-tu.
    ..‎
    Jun 19, 2012 - An American soldier was killed and several others injured on Monday when men dressed as Afghan policemen starting shooting in southern ...

    ReplyDelete
  9. Hopefully, the debate in Congress will bring some of this to light.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Do you think that al Qaeda would have discarded any purloined sarin gas?

    The CIA is running around handing out fat stacks of Ben Franklins and training “rebels”. Think AQ is too stupid on how to exploit that move?

    Why the big secrets in DC?

    ReplyDelete
  11. Four GOP gang members, all made men, McCain, Boehner, Cantor and Graham don’t need no facts.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. those Republican stalwarts have been briefed, they know secrets that are forbidded to mere citizens.

      Trust is the vital link 'tween them and the rest of US.

      Trust is the real issue ...
      Can the publictrust the intel ...

      Is General Clapper telling the truth, this time?

      Delete
  12. There is not a wall long enough.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Now, let’s talk about that fifty man crew. You and six AQ soul brothers made the cut. Do you think any one of those “rebels” even if they are straight, are going to turn your radical crazy ass over to the authorities let alone the stupid asshole American spies that are handing out the green?

    ReplyDelete
  14. Now, let's try to understand, exactly, what it is we're talking about.

    For the week ended Aug. 23, 2013, the U.S. Imported 10,405,000 bbl of crude + petroleum products, daily.

    The U.S. Exported 3,245,000 bbl of crude + petroleum products, daily.

    For a "Net" Import number of 7,160,000 bbl of crude and products, daily.

    EIA Data

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. 'Cause, this IS all about the oil.

      Delete
    2. O my God Rufus.

      Join Ash in the Dunce Chair.

      Delete
    3. Rufus, these morons were doing these things, killing one another with joyous abandon, long before there even was an Age of Oil, back in the Age of Camel Dung.

      Delete
    4. The only dunce is the fool that has no identity.

      Delete
  15. It's all about dicks.
    It's all about oil.
    It's all about Israel.
    It's all about Lester Crown.
    It's all about American Imperialism.
    It's all about about Neo-Cons.
    It's all about AIPAC.
    It's all about war mongering Republicans.
    It's all about a bunch of shit.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. What's it really 'all about'?

      It's all about culture, mostly.

      Islamic 'culture'.

      Delete
    2. OUR involvement is "all about the oil."

      Delete
    3. We would not be involved in the region, but for our commercial interests, the bulk of which is not dates, figs or even carpets.
      As most literate folks know ...
      ... the bulk of our commercial interests revolve around oil

      The Israeli and Saudi have dovetailed their interests.
      In Egypt, Syria and Iran.

      The primary motivator for the Saudi, oil revenues and security, for the Israeli security is paramount. Their 'spare' revenue comes from Washington.

      Delete
  16. I think the odds are moving toward a "No" vote in the House.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. "OUR involvement is "all about the oil.""

      Israel has had zero oil until the recent discovery of some natural gas in the Med.

      Billy Carter thought it was stupid to be involved with Israel: 'They is more A-rabs than they is Jews' he famously said.

      But his opinion was and is a minority opinion in the USA.

      I think the odds are moving to a 'No' vote too.

      Delete
    2. 'They is more A-rabs than they is Jews' -

      which is at least more eloquent than rat, and, I never did hear Billy hallucinate on about Lester Crown.

      Delete
    3. Israel still has "zero oil."

      Natural gas isn't oil.

      Delete
    4. Right you are.
      .....

      Here's why a 'no' vote may be coming -

      He gives Congress - that is the House and the Senate, like the Parliament is made of the Commons and the Lords - no reason to have any confidence in the talk about a limited action.

      John Kerry, just thinking out loud: I can’t rule out boots on the ground if Syria implodes
      POSTED AT 4:44 PM ON SEPTEMBER 3, 2013 BY ALLAHPUNDIT


      By “implodes,” he means a situation where Assad loses control of his WMD and we need to go in and grab them before some fanatic native outfit grabs them first. Which is funny because, right offhand, I can’t think of anything that’s more likely to increase the risk of that happening than bombing the hell out of Syrian military units who are in charge of those weapons.

      I think we’re about done here, guys.

      The administration has “no desire” to do that, Kerry said.

      But “In the event Syria imploded for instance or in the event there was a threat of a chemical weapons cache falling into the hands of al-Nusra or someone else and it was clearly in the interest of our allies — all of us, the British, the French, and others,” Kerry said, “I don’t want to take off the table an option that might or might not be available to the President of the United States to secure our country.”

      Delete
    5. continuing --

      When Bob Corker asked him to flesh out the scope of intervention he had in mind in the “implosion” scenario, Kerry retreated by saying — no joke — that he’d just been “thinking out loud” during his earlier answer......

      .......The fact that Waffles, of all people, has ended up in the Colin Powell role of war salesman here is so ironic that the whole thing seems a touch surreal to me, like a “Twilight Zone” twist to repay all the liberals who posed as anti-war circa 2004 but who were really just anti-Bush and anti-GOP. All we need now is Joe Wilson making the case for intervention on the Sunday shows and we’ll be set.


      http://hotair.com/archives/2013/09/03/john-kerry-just-thinking-out-loud-i-cant-rule-out-boots-on-the-ground-if-syria-implodes/

      Delete
    6. Crown Publishing signed the $3 million dollar advance payment with Mr Obama, community organizer.

      Mr Crown owns a substanial portion of General Dynamics and was the CEO.

      Mrs Obama and the girls normally spend summer vacation at the Crown estate in Aspen.

      None of those items are false.
      Connect the dots or be a gnat

      Does not mattter to me.

      Delete
    7. Probably voted for Obama too, aye.

      Romney was surrounded by money and influence too, aye.

      He lost.

      Bush was backed by the petroleum industry.

      He won.

      So with all of them. They all have big backers.

      But with rat it is always Lester pulling all the strings.

      That's the point, rat always talks about Lester.

      rat don't like Lester, aye.

      So what?

      Delete
    8. Those items, plus DoD purchases of M1A2 despite the Army having higher priorities, the cancellation of the F22 would indicate the high level of influence Mr Crown hsd on Mr Obama.

      Mr Crown 'Made' Mr Obama's career in Chi-town politics.
      He is Obama's 'Golden Chain'

      Follow the money, you will find the influence peddlers.
      Follow back to the source, in Obama's case ...
      You find Lester Crown of General Dynamics.

      Draw whatever conclusions you want
      But you can't deny the connections and some of the visible and verifiable impacts

      Delete
    9. Mr Crown does have strings on Mr Obama.llResearch the F2w story. How GD lost that production contract to McDonald Douglas.

      First EO issued by Obama cancelled procurment of the plane and any further R&D.

      Score one for Mr Crown.

      When Bush/Cheney were in the White House, it was Haliburton that profitted from the string. Now it is the interests of Mr Crown that are intertwined with Executive Branch decision making.

      GD continues with it's US funded contracts building M1 battle tanks in Egypt, that funding not cut, despite the coup de etat and the effects that should have thus resulted.

      Cutting that aid, eliminating funding of those GD projects in Egypt.
      Didn't happen, did it?

      Delete
    10. F2w should read ...

      F22mmmea culpa, small screen on this phone
      Does not avail itself to easy editing

      Delete
    11. When is a coup not a coup?

      When it effects General Dynamic's bottom line.

      Delete
    12. I have no feelings one way or the other, about the Crown family, Lester or his son.

      They merely personalize an institution.
      A culture of corruption that permeate US politics.

      There have been others in that role in the past, there will be others in that role in the future.

      Today though, with regards Barack Obama, the person is Lester Crown.
      That's the fella that personifies General Dynamics, Chase Bank and a myriad of other financial and industrial concerns.

      If what Mr Crown is doing bothers you, or does not, well that's on you, certainly not on me.

      His influence on Mr Obama is vividly visible and verifiable.

      Delete
  17. BUCHANAN TAKES NO PRISONERS

    NO SYRIAN WAR TO SAVE OBAMA’S FACE!

    Pat Buchanan: Why don’t Turkey and Israel man up and strike Assad?

    Published: 2 hours ago

    PATRICK J. BUCHANAN

    “Catastrophic!” said Sen. John McCain.

    If Congress votes no on a resolution calling for U.S. intervention in Syria’s civil war, says McCain, it would be “catastrophic” for U.S. credibility in the world.

    Consider what the senator is saying here.

    Because Barack Obama, two years ago, said “Assad must go,” and, one year ago, said any use of chemical weapons crosses his “red line,” Congress has no choice but to plunge America into yet another Mideast war.

    Can this be? Are we really, as a nation, required to go to war to make good the simple-minded statements of an untutored president who had no constitutional authority to issue his impulsive ultimata?

    Are we really required to go to war to get the egg off Obama’s face?

    Not since the War of Jenkins’ Ear has there been a dumber cause for a great country to go to war. Is there no way out?

    There is, and it’s right in front of us.

    The House, Senate or both can vote no on the war resolution, and Obama can then say, as did David Cameron, that, while he disagrees, he respects the decision of a Congress in which the Constitution placed sole authority to authorize America’s going to war.

    Are Brits now crying “catastrophe!”? Do the Spanish no longer think the Brits will defend Gibraltar? Is Britain now wholly non-credible to the world?

    For Obama, and for us, it is the other options that invite catastrophe.

    {…}


    ReplyDelete
  18. {…}

    If, for example, the House or Senate votes down the war resolution and Obama, without authorization from Congress, the Security Council, NATO or the Arab League plunges us into a new war this nation does not want to fight, he will be courting a geostrategic and political disaster.

    Even if Congress approves a war resolution, the president should think long and hard about diving into a war he sought to avoid and stayed out of for over two years. Make no mistake; if Obama attacks Syria, be it for hours or days, we are in that blood-soaked abattoir for the duration.

    In his dramatic statement Saturday, as politically astute as it was constitutionally correct, Obama called Syria “someone else’s war.”

    Whose war? It is Shia Alawite vs. Sunni, Muslim vs. Christian, Kurd vs. Arab, Islamist vs. secularist. Backing Bashar Assad are Iran, Hezbollah and Russia. Backing the rebels are Turkey, Saudi Arabia, the Gulf states, al-Qaida, foreign jihadists and the Muslim Brotherhood.



    Assad is accused of killing 100,00 people. But that is the total of the dead in a civil war Assad has as much right to fight as the rebels. While his army is accused of using gas on civilians, the Islamist rebels have murdered Christians, massacred captives and engaged in public acts of cannibalism on dead Syrian soldiers.

    Gas is a sickening weapon. Yet, there is no evidence thus far that Assad ordered its use. Rebel elements are said to have been found with sarin. As for Americans who tend to prefer white phosphorus, napalm and cluster bombs, upon what lofty moral ground do we stand?

    Have we forgotten that Churchill wanted to drop anthrax on Germany and settled for two days of firebombing the defenseless city of Dresden? Or that our great friend Anwar Sadat was the confidante of Gamal Abdel Nasser when Egypt was using poison gas on Yemeni tribesmen?

    The United States does not have any national security interest in Syria’s war. Why would we then launch missile attacks to “degrade” Assad’s military, when that army and air force are all that stands between us and a privileged sanctuary for al-Qaida in northern Syria, not unlike what al-Qaida had in Tora Bora and Waziristan.

    We are told that if we do not strike Syria – making good on Obama’s threats – Israel, Turkey and even Japan and South Korea will not be able to trust us ever again.

    What nonsense. We have treaties with Japan and South Korea. As for Turkey and Israel, if what is happening in Syria is outrageous and dangerous, why do they not act? Why do they keep tugging at our sleeve?

    The Israeli Air force is five minutes from Damascus, its army a two-day march. The Turks have three times Syria’s population and a 400,000-man army equipped with NATO weapons. Together, they could invade and turn the tide in a week. Why do they not man up?

    McCain and Sen. Lindsey Graham came out of the Oval Office saying Obama was open to wider strikes on Syria and more lethal support for the rebels. As Iran, Hezbollah and Russia would then upgrade their own weapons shipments to Damascus, this will mean more dead, more wounded, more tens of thousands fleeing into exile and a longer war.

    But what it will likely end with, after America is dragooned in, is a U.S. war with Iran; our allies, sitting in their box seats, cheering us on.

    And that is the dog you will not hear bark in the war-on-Syria debate.


    Read more at http://www.wnd.com/2013/09/no-syrian-war-to-save-obamas-face/#h3BusoXpALGLecmo.99

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. .

      As I recall, it's been estimated Turkey has the 6th most powerful military in the world and Israel the 10th.

      Syria? I don't remember but I will leave it to you to guess.

      .

      Delete
  19. Replies
    1. Take your complaints to Lester Crown.

      He is behind it ALL.

      Obama, McCain, all of them, are just Lester's puppets.

      Lester runs the show, no one else.

      Michele Obama took a vacation at Lester's estate. Lester used to be a CEO. Lester has some stock.

      That proves it.

      Delete
  20. That fifty man unit, doubt there are any aQ elements in it. Those are fifty well vetted individuals.

    But fifty is not much of a number.

    A platoon.
    Four, mybe five squad size teams.

    Even if the Green Beanies have trained the trainers ...
    Any real impact on the battlefield is going to be a while getting 'felt'

    ReplyDelete
  21. Gas is a sickening weapon. Yet, there is no evidence thus far that Assad ordered its use. Rebel elements are said to have been found with sarin. As for Americans who tend to prefer white phosphorus, napalm and cluster bombs, upon what lofty moral ground do we stand?…

    ReplyDelete
  22. The Israeli Air force is five minutes from Damascus, its army a two-day march. The Turks have three times Syria’s population and a 400,000-man army equipped with NATO weapons. Together, they could invade and turn the tide in a week. Why do they not man up?…

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Now you are blaming Israel for NOT invading a foreign country.

      Delete
    2. Uh, let me explain something: That is an outtake from Buchanan’s column, a direct quote.

      Delete
    3. .

      Why should it be only the US that is allowed to break international law and invade other countries which offer us no threat.

      Haven't you heard, we believe in democracy. Share the wealth. Let the games begin.

      .

      Delete
  23. Israel has kept Syria in check, it has taken out Syrian's nuke plant, and several advanced rocket transfers.

    The better question?

    Where are the arabs?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Funny you ask where are the Israelis?

      They have been on the knife's edge for 60 years against the assads and company.

      syria has supported, funded, trained, supplied and helped terror groups for all that time to murder Israelis and Americans. Not to mention Syria's rape of Lebanon.

      Maybe when America was in Iraq and syria was a way station for terrorists heading to murder Americans we should have taken out assad then?

      Delete
    2. Hold on. You can’t argue that Israel is the ancient land of the Jews and the Syrians have no claim to Lebanon.

      Delete
    3. Maybe when America was in Iraq and syria was a way station for terrorists heading to murder Americans we should have taken out assad then?

      Is Iraq a US State? The Americans invaded Iraq. We had no more business in Iraq or Syria than a Syrian or Iraqi army or air force would have in Idaho or New Jersey.

      Should that happen would Idahoan snipers shoot the invaders? Would Jersey guys attack Iraqi or Syrian vehicles, kill their officers and blow up their barracks? They damn well had better.

      Delete
    4. Would Pennsylvanians cross into New Jersey to kill Syrian invaders?

      Delete
    5. You keep bringing up the US marine barracks in Lebanon. That was the problem. Placing armed US marines in Lebanon is a problem to Lebanese.

      Delete
    6. When you send troops to foreign, hostile combat environments, when they become involved in combat, it is not the natives you are attempting to intimidate fault, when they fight back.

      The Somali were not "wrong" in downing the Blackhawk helicopter in Mogadishu. The US was wrong for trying to take down a local warlord, on the cheap. The US was wrong by not having a heavy enough presence to complete the ever expanding mission sets they were being tasked with.

      Expanding the mission from humanitarian relief to interference in local politics without upgrading the force doomed the expanded effort to failure.

      Just as in Syria, a punitive strike is an open invitation for Syrian retaliation against US interests, anywhere in the world, justified by the UN Charter which allows for self-defense.



      Delete
    7. Will the US be ready for bombings in Europe, as Colonel Q engineered, back in the day?

      Will the Iranians mobilize their "Sleepers", here in the US?

      Delete
    8. DeuceTue Sep 03, 08:52:00 PM EDT
      Hold on. You can’t argue that Israel is the ancient land of the Jews and the Syrians have no claim to Lebanon.

      Syrians have no claim to Lebanon.

      Nor do the Syrians have a claim to Kurdistan.

      Syria as it stands is a modern construct from the 1920's.

      Delete
    9. Israel as it stands is a construct of the British. Care to compare dates?

      Delete
    10. dates?

      wow that's some deep comparison

      Delete
  24. Israel can do a lot of things. It could wipe out the entire Arab world tomorrow.

    What it can't do is occupy a nation with millions and millions of people.

    It does not have the human resources to do that for any length of time. It couldn't occupy Egypt or Iran, or even Syria for any length of time.

    ReplyDelete
  25. O'Reilly is going to name names of conservatives against and liberals for this Syrian Adventure - coming right up - don't miss it!!

    ReplyDelete
  26. Confidence builder

    Top General can't day what we are seeking in Syria -

    BY: Washington Free Beacon Staff
    September 3, 2013 3:56 pm

    Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Martin Dempsey couldn’t answer what exactly the U.S. was seeking in Syria Tuesday during questioning from Sen. Bob Corker (R., Tenn.) about a resolution authorizing military action there:

    DEMPSEY: The answer to whether I support additional support for the moderate opposition is yes.

    CORKER: And this authorization will support those activities in addition to responding to the weapons of mass destruction.

    DEMPSEY: I don’t know how the resolution will evolve, but I support –

    CORKER: What you’re seeking. What is it you’re seeking?

    DEMPSEY: I can’t answer that, what we’re seeking.

    ReplyDelete
  27. The GOP stampede is about to begin, the WSJ reports ...

    House Speaker Boehner said he would support using force against Syria.

    The real Republicans ride to the rescue of the President and the honor of the United States of America, Pat Buchanan be damned!

    ReplyDelete
  28. As I said earlier, a couple of days ago, the Syrian Crisis is about domestic politics, not Syria or WMD proliferation.

    Two hawkish Republicans -- Sens. John McCain of Arizona and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina -- went to the White House on Monday to argue their call for a robust military campaign against Syria intended to significantly weaken the regime of President Bashar al-Assad.

    Implicit with such a campaign would be the needed restoration of military funding cut by austerity measures and transformation policies in recent years, including the forced spending cuts known as sequestration imposed by Congress for the current fiscal year.

    "We cannot keep asking the military to perform mission after mission with a sequestration and military cuts hanging over their heads," GOP Rep. Buck McKeon of California, the chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, told CNN on Monday. "We have to take care of our own people first."


    http://www.cnn.com/2013/09/02/politics/us-syria-defense/

    ReplyDelete
  29. The Republican leadership is falling in behind their "Maximum Leader", Barack Obama.

    Funny shit.

    Watch the GOP run to Obama's side.

    Despite the whimpers of the RINOs of the "Right", small government Republicans, Tea Partiers and Libertarians.

    9% public support, the GOP leadership and President Obama are comfortable with those numbers.

    They know what's best.
    General Clapper told them so.

    ReplyDelete
  30. The hypocrisy in this country is stunning. There is a civil war going on in Syria with 100,000 Killed. Assad is a butcher.

    There was a civil war in the US and Lincoln Killed 700,000. His statue, images and name is smeared all over the USA with an extravagance that would make an ancient Roman emperor jealous.

    We talk about the brutality of the Syrian security forces killing woman and children yet the US government under, Clinton, used the ATF, FBI, and Texas National Guard, to shoot, kill and burn to death David Koresh, and 82 Christian men, women, and children in Waco Texas.

    Barack Obama recently awarded Clinton, The Medal of Freedom.

    ReplyDelete
  31. The answer hardly satisfied Mr. Paul. “By doing so you announce in advance that your goal is not winning,” he told the secretary of state.

    ...

    After the heated exchange, Mr. Kerry turned Gen. Dempsey. “General, do you want to speak to that, alter that?” he asked.

    Gen. Dempsey quickly replied, “No, not really, secretary. Thank you for offering.”

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The Goal is not winning.
      The Goal is punishment.

      That is what punitive means.



      Delete
    2. .

      The goal is CYA.

      The goal is doing 'something'

      The goal is doing something symbolic.

      The goal is doing something without the loss of American lives.


      The $ billions spent? The Syrian lives lost? Who in Oz really gives a shit? Who in OZ would even ask a question about these things?

      .

      Delete
  32. We just have to tell Assad we are going to attack him for 90 days, and then be done with it.

    Surely that will seem reasonable to him.

    WASHINGTON – The Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Wednesday will consider a newly drafted resolution to authorize military force against the Syrian government that specifically rules out any commitment of ground forces and would narrow the time frame for action to no more than 90 days.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The new language calls for the use of force “in a limited and tailored manner” against military targets in Syria for the purpose of responding to the Syrian government’s use of “weapons of mass destruction,” to deter the future use of such weapons and to degrade the nation’s capacity to use them in the future.

      Congress’ authorization for the use of force would expire 60 days after it was approved, but the resolution would allow the president to extend the authorization by 30 days if he notified Congress that it was necessary and if Congress does not vote to forbid an extension.


      See, there is an exit strategy, we will just up and leave n day 91.

      Delete
    2. Obama said Tuesday that he would welcome changes to the initial resolution, “so long as we are accomplishing what needs to be accomplished, which is to send a clear message to Assad degrading his capabilities to use chemical weapons, not just now but also in the future.”

      The President is quite clear, victory is not the Goal, Regime Change is not the Goal, nor is Regime Change even expected, as the President foresees Mr Assad being in Syria in the future.

      Delete
    3. The Goal is to diminish the Republican leadership in the eyes of their base voters.

      Obama shoots ...

      ... the ball floats high ...

      ... he hits the Three from outside the arc!

      Delete
    4. You're so full of crap it comes out your ears.

      Delete
    5. .

      See, there is an exit strategy, we will just up and leave n day 91.


      I doubt it. My guess is, once in, we are in, in one form or another, until Assad is gone.

      Closed-end commitments can be easily opened and extended as circumstances, real or fabricated, evolve.

      Once in, I doubt we will be out until Assad falls.

      .

      Delete
    6. .


      As for the 'genius' of Obama, it's all in "The Plan".


      .

      Delete
  33. That was the Goddamdest Most Boringest Limbaugh show in history:

    THREE GD HOURS to discuss this GD Clusterfuck!!!

    ...and some football coach going to a college tailgater.

    At least he made reference to what a Wuss and Puss Boehner is.

    Should have spent the whole show on that.

    Boehner, Cantor, Ryan, Rubio and others should be primaried the fuck out.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. They are the Republican Party, doug.

      It is you who are out of step.
      Not the leadership of the GOP.

      You are just a RINO, might as well admit it to yourself.

      Delete
    2. Raucous primary fights in the Republican Party, just what Obama is looking for in 2014.

      Delete
  34. Show used to be funny and sometimes even entertaining and informative.

    His little head has taken over since he married that hot young chick.

    ...that and the cigars shrinking the stuff inside the big head.

    ReplyDelete
  35. Hey,

    .

    Quirk

    .

    Where can I find this great literature that Ashley Wilkes is talking about?

    ReplyDelete
  36. If Rand Paul filibusters This bill he will probably guarantee himself the Republican nomination.

    He's gotta be thinkin' about it. :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. And, Hillary might have just opened the door for a challenger of her own.

      Delete
    2. The Gene McCarthy of the 21st Century?

      Delete
    3. That's an idea Rufus. Good one.

      Delete
    4. I worked for Clean Gene.

      Went to see him in Sacramento.

      Julian Bond spoke, young, idealistic.

      Now he's a rigidified old fart.

      Then Bobby jumped in on Gene.

      Then Bobby got taken out.

      Delete
  37. Congressional aides say the top lawmakers on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee have reached agreement on a resolution on using military force against Syria.

    The aides said the panel planned to consider and vote on the measure Wednesday. The resolution would limit the duration of any U.S. military action in response to the Syrian government's suspected use of chemical weapons on its people.

    ReplyDelete
  38. On this day in 1929, the blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average finished at 381.17. The closing level proved to be the Dow’s peak before the Crash of 1929 and the subsequent Great Depression.

    ReplyDelete
  39. Be nice if some kind of a Kurdish state started to come out of all this.

    ReplyDelete
  40. "The Goal is to diminish the Republican leadership in the eyes of their base voters."

    rat's mind races, his computer purrs, ah, light bulb!....I've got it!

    All this fucking around by O'blunder is 'to diminish the Republican leadership in the eyes of their base voters'.


    bwahahahahaha

    All arranged by Lester Crown, no less.

    O'blunder willing to take the hit of losing all credibility, his poll numbers chilling as we head into winter.

    rat, Laughing Stock.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Just point and go ha-ha folks!

      Delete
    2. What's a little bit scary is rat seems to believe his own bull shit.

      Sometimes with Quirk for instance when he is spouting a line of bull shit, everyone knows he doesn't believe a word of it, he is just humorous.

      But Crazy Rat (named such by the Native Americans in the Phoenix area) seems serious.

      Delete
  41. I'm waiting for Mark Steyn to weigh in on all this, and I hope he includes a sentence or two about John McCain playing poker on his iphone during today's war hearing.

    g'nite, sleep tight, the world is in incompetent hands....

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. .

      After a photo was posted of McCain playing poker on his Iphone, McCain offered up the following post on tweet

      Scandal! Caught playing iPhone game at 3+ hour Senate hearing - worst of all I lost!

      Yuk. Yuk.

      But you forgot the smiley face or the lol, John.

      .

      Delete
  42. .

    We discussed "The Plan' the other day and outlined in great detail how vacuous the idea was.

    It's the usual drivel that is conjured up by apologists for this administration, you know Obama slappies like Reid, rat, and Nancy Pelosi, the last of which offers us this wisdom

    The minority leader explained that when she was home this past weekend, her five-year-old consigliere pressed her, “Are you ‘yes’ war with Syria, ‘no’ war with Syria?,” and said he opposed intervention. She took issue with his use of “war” to describe what she considers an “action,” but told him she generally agreed, but favored intervention because “they’ve killed hundreds of children there.”

    The youngster then asked her if the children were in the United States. Pelosi explained the victims were children abroad, but praised his “wisdom” in attending to American interests. She explained to reporters, however, that she found her grandson’s reasoning wanting because the use of chemical weapons “affects our interests because, again, it was outside of the circle of civilized behavior.”

    “It was humanity drew a line decades ago that I think if we ignore, we do so to the peril of many other people who can suffer,” she said. She didn’t reveal whether she had convinced her youthful counselor to change his mind..."


    http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/357462/pelosi-huddles-5-year-old-grandson-syria-andrew-johnson


    One has to ask, who is the child Nancy or her grandson? Or does she merely consider all Americans children that need to be talk down to? Or perhaps, she has merely attended too many cocktail parties and the resultant brain cell loss is catching up to her. Or perhaps, we are merely witness to another example of the relentless march of time.

    .




    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. .

      She took issue with his use of “war” to describe what she considers an “action...

      Not a war, an action.

      Is that different from a kinetic action?

      It sometimes gets difficult for us common folk to decipher the language of the political elites. We have to wonder how many new non-martial words and phrases will be added to our lexicon during this latest adventure.

      However, we are certain of one thing. John Kerry has assured us that "The president is not asking you to go to war."

      (One can only assume he means, "We have a military for that action".)

      .

      Delete
    2. Quite rude of you to ignore my question, Mr. Quirk, Sir!

      DougTue Sep 03, 10:28:00 PM EDT
      Hey,

      .

      Quirk

      .

      Where can I find this great literature that Ashley Wilkes is talking about?

      Delete
    3. .

      Just, a little blurb from a few days back describing Ash's shame with Canada's crapping out on O's call for another 'coalition of the willing' and the beginning of his great adventure to join the al Nusra organization in Syria and bring it down from the inside thus restoring the good name of his adopted country. It was kind of a preamble really. I wouldn't worry about it. The intent is to have further chapters follow, blood and guts, perhaps a taboo love interest, you know, that kind of stuff.

      Besides, you never did comment on your part in that other classic from a year or so back,

      TALES FROM THE ELDER SCROLLS: The Great Council

      .

      Delete
  43. .

    Unfortunately, you don't have the context which is necessary to appreciate the following but this is the section I was referring to.

    Just as things were getting back to normal, the side entrance was thrust open and in strode Lord Dougo, dour and truculent. In one hand he carried a tin of Macadamia nuts and in the other a half melted bag of ice. It was obvious he was incensed if not livid.

    “You bastards. Couldn’t save me a damn parking space could you? Do you know how big that wedding is next door? I had to park a half mile down the road at Pig-in-a-Poke and then hoof it.”

    WiO sneered, “Don’t get your panties in a twist, Dougo. They didn’t save my people any spaces either. We are parked out on the lawn beyond the far parking lot. Join the club. I expected nothing less from this bunch.”

    It was difficult for Dougo to contain himself but he moved silently to the table. It was there where his anger flared again.

    He now noticed the circular configuration of the table which prevented him from taking his usual spot on the ‘right’ side; and worse, most of the seats were taken and he was forced to sit next to Ononymi. The king noticed that same look of recognition (guilt?) in Lord Dougo’s eyes as he looked down upon The Thing; but then reflected the king, perhaps it was merely due to the competitive factor. Lord Dougo was usually the second to last person picked in the softball games.

    Turning to the king and gesturing to the table, Dougo asked, “What is this?”

    The high king smiled, “Because of the continuing strife on the Council, I thought the round table might make things appear a little more democratic around here.”

    Dougo merely groaned.

    “And what is this. You didn’t save me one frog leg?”

    “As usual, my people didn’t get any either,” said WiO.

    “Hell, nobody did. I didn’t’ even get any. The Thing ate them all,” complained The Ranger.

    It was then that Dougo noticed the NOW patch on Lord Ash’s parka. With disdain he said, “You friggin PC pansy.”

    Lord Ash merely smiled.

    Lord Dougo tugged at his shirt. He was wearing a Tori Richard aloha shirt of soft cotton with oyster shell buttons on a black base with a breadfruit design pattern. He wore light khaki pleated slacks over Salvador beach sandals. It appeared as if he had recently had his hair trimmed. He picked up his fork and glanced across the table. He saw Lord Samuel and what he was wearing and blanched. Sam was smiling. Dougo exploded.

    “You dirty SOB. Do you know how long it took me to pick out this outfit?”

    The main table exploded in laughter and Lord Dougo’s humiliation was complete.



    The entire epic poem was classic.

    .

    ReplyDelete