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 07, 2017

Was Trump Played? Like a fiddle?

We’re Asking the Wrong Questions About Syria by -- Antiwar.com

As I write this, two key questions remain unanswered, and a third mostly unasked, about a deadly daybreak attack on Khan Sheikhoun, a northwest Syrian city of (pre-war) 50,000. Hundreds were wounded and as many as 100 killed, apparently chemical weaponry (Turkey’s health ministry believes the agent in question was the nerve gas sarin), on the morning of April 4.

The two most obvious questions are who did this, and why?

The US government (and unfortunately most American media, acting as stenographers rather than journalists as is too often the case in matters of war and foreign policy) have settled on the regime of Syrian president Bashar al-Assad as the culprit. That claim seems very questionable, if for no other reason than that there’s no plausible “why” attached to it.

After more than six years of civil war, the Syrian government has (with Russian assistance) turned the tide. Assad is well on his way to defeating both the Islamic State and the “moderate rebels” (read: al Qaeda) backed by the US, restoring his control over the country.

A chemical attack on Khan Sheikhoun doesn’t seem to fit into that scenario. Not only does it serve no obvious military objective, but it’s precisely the kind of atrocity that American hawks will latch onto and use as an excuse to continue and escalate the US military intervention in Syria at Assad’s expense.

Cui bono (“who benefits?”) doesn’t always point to the true answer to a question, but in this case it’s reasonable to ask. The Khan Sheikhoun attack may very well have been carried out by the rebels themselves, in an attempt to keep the US further in the war, on their side.

Another plausible explanation is that Syrian regime aircraft bombed a rebel facility where the chemical weapons were manufactured or stored, accidentally releasing them. It’s happened before. It’s how a number of American troops, possibly including me, were exposed to sarin during Operation Desert Storm in 1991.

DECEMBER 2015:

Or maybe it was Assad behind the attack, for some reason beyond the ken of distant observers.

But who and why are the wrong questions. The third question – the right question – is: Why is the US involved in this war?

The Assad regime has not attacked the US, nor has Congress declared war on Syria. There’s simply no defensive – or for that matter even legal – rationale for a US military presence in Syria. Whatever horrors the civil war there may entail, American military adventurism makes them worse, not better. It perpetuates instability rather than bringing peace.

Donald Trump ran for president on a platform of reducing US military meddling in other countries’ affairs. It’s time for him to follow through and order a US withdrawal from Syria.

Thomas L. Knapp is director and senior news analyst at the William Lloyd Garrison Center for Libertarian Advocacy Journalism. He lives and works in north central Florida. This article is reprinted with permission from William Lloyd Garrison Center for Libertarian Advocacy Journalism.

Read more by Thomas Knapp

74 comments:

  1. ERIC ZUESSE | 28.04.2016 | WORLD
    Seymour Hersh Says Hillary Approved Sending Libya’s Sarin to Syrian Rebels

    The great investigative journalist Seymour Hersh, in two previous articles in the London Review of Books («Whose Sarin?» and «The Red Line and the Rat Line») has reported that the Obama Administration falsely blamed the government of Syria’s Bashar al-Assad for the sarin gas attack that Obama was trying to use as an excuse to invade Syria; and Hersh pointed to a report from British intelligence saying that the sarin that was used didn’t come from Assad’s stockpiles.

    Hersh also said that a secret agreement in 2012 was reached between the Obama Administration and the leaders of Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar, to set up a sarin gas attack and blame it on Assad so that the US could invade and overthrow Assad. «By the terms of the agreement, funding came from Turkey, as well as Saudi Arabia and Qatar; the CIA, with the support of MI6, was responsible for getting arms from Gaddafi’s arsenals into Syria». Hersh didn’t say whether these «arms» included the precursor chemicals for making sarin which were stockpiled in Libya, but there have been multiple independent reports that Libya’s Gaddafi possessed such stockpiles, and also that the US Consulate in Benghazi Libya was operating a «rat line» for Gaddafi’s captured weapons into Syria through Turkey.

    So, Hersh isn’t the only reporter who has been covering this. Indeed, the investigative journalist Christoph Lehmann headlined on 7 October 2013, «Top US and Saudi Officials responsible for Chemical Weapons in Syria» and reported, on the basis of very different sources than Hersh used, that «Evidence leads directly to the White House, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Martin Dempsey, CIA Director John Brennan, Saudi Intelligence Chief Prince Bandar, and Saudi Arabia´s Interior Ministry». And, as if that weren’t enough, even the definitive analysis of the evidence that was performed by two leading US analysts, the Lloyd-Postal report, concluded that, «The US Government’s Interpretation of the Technical Intelligence It Gathered Prior to and After the August 21 Attack CANNOT POSSIBLY BE CORRECT». Obama has clearly been lying.

    {...}

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    1. {...}

      However, now, for the first time, Hersh has implicated Hillary Clinton directly in this «rat line». In an interview with Alternet.org, Hersh was asked about the then-US-Secretary-of-State’s role in the Benghazi Libya US consulate’s operation to collect weapons from Libyan stockpiles and send them through Turkey into Syria for a set-up sarin-gas attack, to be blamed on Assad in order to ‘justify’ the US invading Syria, as the US had invaded Libya to eliminate Gaddafi. Hersh said: «That ambassador who was killed, he was known as a guy, from what I understand, as somebody, who would not get in the way of the CIA. As I wrote, on the day of the mission he was meeting with the CIA base chief and the shipping company. He was certainly involved, aware and witting of everything that was going on. And there’s no way somebody in that sensitive of a position is not talking to the boss, by some channel».

      This was, in fact, the Syrian part of the State Department’s Libyan operation, Obama’s operation to set up an excuse for the US doing in Syria what they had already done in Libya.

      The interviewer then asked: «In the book [Hersh’s The Killing of Osama bin Laden, just out] you quote a former intelligence official as saying that the White House rejected 35 target sets [for the planned US invasion of Syria] provided by the Joint Chiefs as being insufficiently painful to the Assad regime. (You note that the original targets included military sites only – nothing by way of civilian infrastructure.) Later the White House proposed a target list that included civilian infrastructure. What would the toll to civilians have been if the White House’s proposed strike had been carried out?»

      {...}

      Delete
    2. {...}

      Hersh responded by saying that the US tradition in that regard has long been to ignore civilian casualties; i.e., collateral damage of US attacks is okay or even desired (so as to terrorize the population into surrender) – not an ‘issue’, except, perhaps, for the PR people.

      The interviewer asked why Obama is so obsessed to replace Assad in Syria, since «The power vacuum that would ensue would open Syria up to all kinds of jihadi groups»; and Hersh replied that not only he, but the Joint Chiefs of Staff, «nobody could figure out why». He said, «Our policy has always been against him [Assad]. Period». This has actually been the case not only since the Party that Assad leads, the Ba’ath Party, was the subject of a shelved CIA coup-plot in 1957 to overthrow and replace it; but, actually, the CIA’s first coup had been not just planned but was carried out in 1949 in Syria, overthrowing there a democratically elected leader, in order to enable a pipeline for the Sauds’ oil to become built through Syria into the largest oil market, Europe; and, construction of the pipeline started the following year. {...}

      http://www.strategic-culture.org/news/2016/04/28/seymour-hersh-hillary-approved-sending-libya-sarin-syrian-rebels.html

      Delete
  2. PUBLISHED: 18:32 EDT, 21 February 2015

    Islamic State has acquired a cache of deadly chemical weapons in Libya which pose a significant threat to European security, a British expert has warned.

    According to Middle East reports, the terror group has unconfirmed quantities of sarin and mustard gas after defeating government forces in southern and central Libya.

    Former British Army officer Hamish de Bretton-Gordon told The Mail on Sunday that the weapons remain dangerous, even though they are likely to be ten years old, and in a degraded state.

    Mr de Bretton-Gordon based his warning on President Assad’s use of one tonne of sarin in Ghouta, Syria, in August 2013, which killed as many as 1,000 people.

    Islamic State has acquired a cache of deadly chemical weapons in Libya, an expert warned. Pictured, shells contained mustard gas near the southern Libyan town of Waddan in 2011

    Speaking from the Gulf, where he advises the Iraqi government on chemical weapons, he said: ‘We saw what a single ton of not very good quality sarin did in Ghouta.

    ‘While we don’t know how much IS has acquired, and though the Libyan sarin dates back to the Gaddafi era, it would still have a toxicity and pose a danger.


    Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2963349/Do-terrorist-cells-chemical-weapons-Expert-warns-ISIS-stash-sarin-mustard-gas-poses-threat-European-security.html#ixzz4dcNuOyYN
    Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook

    ReplyDelete
  3. http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/207166

    Contact Editor Ben Ariel, 28/01/16 06:14 Arutz Sheva


    MainAll NewsMiddle EastFormer Libyan official: ISIS got Qaddafi's chemical weapons

    Former Libyan official: ISIS got Qaddafi's chemical weapons

    Libyan former intelligence official Ahmad Qadhaf Al-Dam recently said that the Islamic State (ISIS) and other terrorist groups had gotten hold of the chemical weapons that had remained in Libya from the regime of former dictator Muammar Qaddafi.

    The comments by Al-Dam, who is a cousin of Qaddafi, were made in an interview with the Egyptian Dream TV network on January 18. They were translated by the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI).


    “You said that ISIS has gained control of poisonous gases, such as the lethal sarin gas. Where did you get that information from?” the interviewer asked.

    Al-Dam replied, “It is no secret that these gases exist in Libya. To be fair, ISIS is not the only one. Everyone has poisonous gases. It's not only in Libya. Everybody knows this. The Western countries know this. They have spies [in Libya]. They are the ones who attacked Libya, and then left these dangerous weapons there.”

    Asked about Western countries’ claims that they had forced Qaddafi to get rid of his arsenal of chemical weapons, Al-Dam replied, They didn't force him. It was part of a deal. There was no longer any justification for building a [nuclear] bomb. For whom would we build it? The Arabs had recognized Israel and had begun to collaborate with it. We in Libya didn't have an enemy for which to build a nuclear bomb. This enterprise began in the early 1970s, when the Arab nation wanted to produce a weapon that would deter the Zionist enemy. But today, we have become on the best terms with the Zionists, so why would we want such a weapon?”

    The poisonous gases which are allegedly in the hands of ISIS now, said Al-Dam, “were held by the armed forces, and were hidden in bases with which nobody was familiar, deep in the desert.”

    He also said he believed that the weapons that fell into the hands of ISIS “were smuggled out of Libya, as the world knows. I believe that the weapons that reached Syria originated in Libya.”

    “The weapons that Bashar Al-Assad was falsely accused of using came from Libya. This is well known,” he claimed. “A Turkish opposition member talked about this in detail, giving names and presenting data. Western sources know the names of those who transferred the weapons from Libya, and know where the weapons went, how they entered [Syria], and what use they were put to. It was a big scandal.”

    ReplyDelete
  4. NOW USE YOUR NOODLE:

    Between October 2013 and June 2014, some 1,300 metric tons of deadly weaponized poison gas were removed from the battlefield under international supervision.

    REPEAT: Syria gave up 1,300 metric tons of poison gas. That was under international supervision.

    THIS WEEK:

    The Syrian government, which gave up its chemical weapons, used chemical weapons against a non-strategic target

    Syria did this at a time when it is winning the war.

    Syria did this when it is the one thing that could provoke the US into intervening and overthrow Assad.

    This was Assad's plan to overthrow himself?

    ...and Trump fell for this bullshit?

    ReplyDelete
  5. Well, Trump can keep all his new best buddies, McCain, Hillary, Lindsey. He will need them as he loses the support that got him into the White House.

    ReplyDelete
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    1. .

      Mere anecdotal info but I was watching local news here today and they were running man on the street interviews asking people how they felt about the attack by Trump. Saw 5 or 6 people interviewed. One woman said she approved of the attack because 'someone had to do something' echoing the sentiments of other girls here. The rest of them were against it. A couple mentioned we should be sending humanitarian aid (I don't believe that included sarin) but not military aid. Of the others opposed, one mentioned he feared getting drug further into the war. The rest simply said we shouldn't be involved militarily in the ME.

      .

      Delete
    2. Drugs have no place in war.

      Delete
  6. You've certainly gone out on a many limbed climb there.

    If Quirk hadn't recently retreated from shame and mockery into a temporary (we all hope) Occultation we could explore the similarities between your theories, and his....

    By the way, that lorry in Sweden was determined not to have driven itself into a crowd but was indeed driven by yet another jihadi and there are at least four people dead.





    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. ...and a dog.

      http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/stockholm-terror-attack-heartbreaking-picture-10179607

      Delete
    2. Please read and report back to me:
      I think I can rehabilitate her.

      Heartless woman who dumped paraplegic boyfriend in woods to freeze to death charged with murder

      http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/heartless-woman-who-dumped-paraplegic-10181653

      Delete
    3. Even if things don't go well, I'll be able to say I got fucked by a heartless woman.

      Delete
  7. I call them like I see them. The underlying case makes no sense. This will end in another disaster.

    ReplyDelete
  8. .

    Was Trump played?

    It's possible.

    Like most things, despite Trump's assurances that he knows more than...we'll you name it, but in this case the generals, Trump knows jack shit about anything but real estate development. We saw it in the way (despite assuring us that he had a great, the best ever plan for healthcare) once inaugurated the first thing he did was turn to Ryan and say come up with a plan. We saw it with the way he depended upon Giuliani and others to design his Muslim ban. There is little doubt he depended on the advise of the generals, McMaster and Mattis on what to do in Syria. Trump has already said that Mattis' views would over ride his own.

    Likewise, it's interesting that Bannon the guy who convinced Trump on the 'America First' meme which included keeping the US out of further involvement in the ME, is now reportedly on the outs.

    Likewise, neither McMaster nor Mattis are dummies. They know their man and the simplest way to play him giving his psychological issues. You simply present him with an argument along the lines of, "Mr. President, you have to do something about the chemical attack in Syria otherwise everyone, in this country and around the world, will view you as a pussy so big you would be grabbing yourself."

    That would be all that it would take. After the first time, it would just keep getting easier.

    .

    ReplyDelete
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    1. .

      Admittedly, Bannon was probably due to be sidelined a bit anyway. In Trump-world, the surest way to be disappeared is to have people calling you 'Trump's Brain' or 'President Bannon'.

      Also, it doesn't help to be on the outs with the Trump family, in this case his son-in-law.

      Come to think of it, with the press Erik is getting these days, he might want to hire someone to watch his back.

      .

      Delete
    2. Jared Kushner's brain:

      https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2017/03/15/trump-expands-counselor-dina-powells-role-to-include-national-security/?utm_term=.e1282c06088a

      Cleaning the swamp with Goldman Sachs and W Bush schools.

      "4. She Is Well Liked Among Democrats & Republicans"

      Delete
    3. According to Politico, two Obama officials who Powell has a strong relationship with are Valerie Jarrett, White House senior adviser, and Gene Sperling, a former economic adviser. In addition, Republicans who have worked with Powell before have offered nothing but praise for her, including former secretary of state Condoleezza Rice.

      http://heavy.com/news/2017/01/dina-powell-donald-ivanka-trump-administration-jared-kushner-goldman-sachs-bio-george-w-bush-arab-egypt/

      Delete
  9. Donald Rodham Trump

    Hillary Clinton called for the United States to "take out" Syrian government-controlled airfields just hours before Donald Trump launched air strikes against Bashar Assad's regime.

    Speaking in her first public interview since losing the US election in November last year, Mrs Clinton said Mr Assad's aerial power had been the key component behind widespread civilian deaths since the start of the civil war in 2011.

    President Trump launched a barrage of cruise missiles in the early hours of Friday morning on a Syrian air base thought to be behind this week's chemical weapons attack.

    Speaking to the New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof, Mrs Clinton said she believed the US had been wrong not to have previously launched such an offensive.

    She said: "Assad had an air force, and that air force is the cause of most of the civilian deaths, as we have seen over the years and as we saw again in the last few days.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Here is all you need to know:

    Assad had nothing to gain by launching a chemical attack when he was on the verge of winning.

    Assad had everything to lose by launching a chemical attack when he was on the verge of winning.

    ISIS and Assad's opposition had nothing to lose, and everything to gain, from launching a chemical attack in Syria.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Trump got played. Trump's loyalty to his word and to his supporters is as thick as his thin skin.

    ReplyDelete
  12. So, tell us exactly, Quirk, what are vital Russian national interests in Syria ?

    And in Georgia, Ukraine, and Crimea as well.

    Come on, you old dog, roll over and bark for us, wave your paws in the air, show us your stuff.

    You said they existed.

    Now, what are they ?


    ReplyDelete
  13. Anyone have any idea, which affiliate of al Qaeda or ISIS is our new ally in Syria?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Not me.

      I'm still trying to figure out the Russian national interest in Syria.

      And In Ukraine, Georgia and Crimea, too.

      One question at a time type of guy here.

      Delete
    2. Allow me to help you. Ukraine, Georgia and Crimea were part of the Soviet Union. More than 50% of all Russian heavy arms were made in Ukraine.

      Crimea was part of Russia longer than Delaware and all 49 other states were part of the US.

      In the 1950s Khrushchev merged Crimea and Ukraine. The Russian Black Sea Fleet was stationed there. After the devolution the Black Sea Fleet was shared by Ukraine and Russia. The ties there are no more complicated than the ties between the US, Texas, California, Hawaii and Mexico.

      Consider Hawaii wanting to cosy up to China and want to re- negotiate Pearl Harbor with Washington.

      To assist and guarantee a peaceful transition and devolution of The Soviet Union and The Warsaw Pact, The US and NATO gave assurances to the Russians that were broken by the US and NATO by the attempt to bring Ukraine into NATO.

      Consider California wanting independence, closer ties with China and Mexico, and renegotiating all US military basis in New California.

      We forced Russia to want relations and military bases in Syria. Russia has one military base in the ME, Syria. I could not guess on how many US military bases are in proximity to Russian borders. There are over 800 overseas bases. The US still has 100 of them in Germany.

      Delete
    3. Allow me to help you. Ukraine, Georgia and Crimea were part of the Soviet Union.

      That doesn't help much.

      Under this reasoning the Ruskie should have the right to be back in Poland, East Germany, etc etc....you name them all...

      I judge the help less than helpful.

      Delete
    4. I'll have to help you again:

      Poland and East Germany were occupied By the Soviets. They were never part of the Soviet Union. Russia had no business being in Poland but justification in East Germany. If you need help with any of the others, I'm at your service.

      Delete
  14. New information has been revealed regarding the situation in Syria.

    A doctor associated with the recent alleged chemical attack in Syria was tried in the U.K. as a jihadist. The jihadist doctor was tried for kidnapping journalists as a part of a jihadist group.


    Breitbart London reports:

    Described in his Twitter profile as a “Medical doctor trained in the UK” and “Humanitarian aid worker”, Shajul Islam was a key eyewitness on the ground during the attack, offering himself for media video calls and uploading mobile phone footage of victims which was shared thousands of times.

    Islam, from Stratford, East London, was interviewed by a number of mainstream broadcasters, including NBC News, but none notified viewers that he had previously been tried in the UK for terrorism offences and struck off the medical register by the General Medical Council after a confidential tribunal.

    Islam, described as a “committed jihadist” by foreign intelligence agency MI6, was tried for kidnapping John Cantlie and Jeroen Oerlemans, journalists from the UK and the Netherlands, while fighting with an Islamist group in northern Syria.

    The case against Islam was dropped, however, when the prosecution was unable to call Cantlie or Oerlemans to testify against him.

    http://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2017/04/doctor-syrian-chemical-attack-jihadist-u-k-video/

    ReplyDelete
  15. By the way, Ash, along with the long ago Authorization to Use Force, the President can rely on the War Powers Resolution, which gives him 90 days or something to report to Congress.

    With Nancy Pelosi and Schumer, among so many others, supporting the raid it's unlikely The Donald faces any serious opposition, except perhaps, from Rand Paul, who OKed the used of lethal drone attacks against domestic Liqour Store robbers here in USA but seems to have some problem with this latest event.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Pamela Geller WND: Muslim migrant rapists PLEAD GUILTY, but will 5-year-old victim get justice in Idaho?
    By Pamela Geller - on April 7, 2017
    MUSLIM IMMIGRATION


    Read the latest in the horrific migrant rape in Idaho.

    INVASION USA
    WILL VICTIM OF ‘REFUGEE’ RAPISTS EVER GET REAL JUSTICE?
    EXCLUSIVE: PAMELA GELLER TALKS TO MOM OF 5-YEAR-OLD ASSAULTED IN IDAHO TOWN
    WND, April 7, 2017:
    In the summer of 2016, a 5-year-old girl was raped and urinated upon by three Muslim refugee boys in Twin Falls, Idaho. Since then, instead of getting justice, the victim’s family has been abused by law enforcement and governing authorities as if they were the criminals – because what happened to their little girl contradicts the politically correct narrative about Muslim migrants. On Tuesday, it got even worse.

    Idaho’s KMVT reported Wednesday that “the case has been resolved” as the three juvenile perpetrators “pleaded guilty in the sexually [sic] assault case of a 5-year-old Twin Falls girl.” The article says that “the family and attorney of the family of the 5-year-old victim approved the settlements reached in each of the three cases.” It quotes prosecuting attorney Grant Loebs: “I am pleased we resolved this case and received a result which was approved and agreed upon by the victim’s family and attorney. This continues to be a serious and sad case, but this is a proper resolution.”


    Reality is different. Lacy Peterson, the victim’s mother, told me: “It isn’t a done deal. They’re trying to play it out to be, but it’s not over at all. When we go to sentencing they can get more charges. And we are allowed to speak as victims, and so I am praying that they get a huge sentencing.” That will be in about three weeks.
    Lacy continued: “Our lawyer talked to the prosecutor, and we did not say that we were OK with it. … We will be able to speak at the next hearing, and they will be showing the video to the judge.” One of the perpetrators filmed the rape and gleefully showed part of the video to Levi, the poor girl’s father.

    In the courtroom on Tuesday, however, one of the perpetrators’ fathers was energetically claiming victim status. Lacy told me: “What happened today was a huge mess. The father fainted, and we had to stop court for a bit so the ambulance can come get him. It was so crazy and hectic.” He should have fainted when he heard what his son did. Instead, he gave him a high five. Tuesday, however, his attempt to garner pity failed. Said Lacy: “But we continued on without him. Supposedly he has medical problems.”

    All this happened against the backdrop of still more favoritism toward the perpetrators. Lacy stated: “It makes me so angry because my mom and Levi’s mom aren’t even allowed in the courtroom, but they can have family and friends there. That is so unjust. I still can’t believe there were so many different women at every hearing who claimed to be the mom one time, and then she’s a family friend the next time.”

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. At the hearing, the three older rapists were charged with double felonies, and the youngest boy with one felony. They were charged with “sexual lewd conduct” (SLC), which is essentially the same as rape. Loebs explained that this newly invented charge “fits better than rape.” They didn’t want to call what the boys did rape, even though it was according to Idaho law. Why not? Did someone tell them not to allow these Muslim migrants to be guilty of rape? Who is protecting them, and why?



      The KMVT article quotes the family’s attorney, Mark Guerry: “For the record we did in fact approve the resolution of the criminal juvenile plea agreements. That should not be construed to mean the parents of the little 5-year-old victim are completely and fully satisfied with the outcome of the cases. The parents did, however, wish to finally see some kind of resolution of these cases, which have languished in the courts since June 2016. Furthermore, the truth of the matter is nothing will ever restore the lost innocence and vanished happiness of this little 5-year-old girl who was viciously sexually assaulted.”

      Several weeks ago, Guerry told me: “As you know, Levi and Lacy’s supporters, and Levi and Lacy by association, have been treated like the wrongdoers and liars, having been repeatedly been referred to as ‘not constrained by the truth’ by Grant Loebs.”

      At the beginning of this case, prosecutor Loebs lied outright when he said, “There was no knife involved; there was no gang rape.” In fact, there was a knife involved, and there was gang rape. Why are Loebs and other law enforcement and government officials so desperate to cover up the facts of this case?

      Guerry went on to explain how the victim’s family and their supporters are being pressured in part because the Chobani yogurt company operates locally:

      In January, a former Idaho Supreme Court justice, Jim Jones, yet another mainstream Idaho Republican, browbeat the locals who have stood up to the officials at the Crime Scene Investigation (CSI) bureau, Grant Loebs, Twin Falls Police Chief Craig Kingsbury, etc., for hurting businesses like Chobani with their activism. The Twin Falls Times-News gleefully reported that Jones’ remarks at the Rotary Club meeting where this happened “were met with nods of approval from club members.”

      Delete
    2. There was not one single word in the story about the little girl, or the horrific sexual assault she endured. Absolutely disgusting. These people are proving the suspicions of many Democrats and Independents around here, that is, that Republicans don’t seem to care about anything but business profits, i.e., money.
      Lacy commented: “We have been treated horribly. The way I feel, our case has been pushed under the rug and soon to be forgotten about. Since June we moved into a house that we can hardly even afford. We were totally fine in the apartments until now.”

      They had to move because of ongoing harassment from the perpetrators’ families. In July 2016, according to a family member of the victim, at 11:30 at night, the mother of the Iraqi attacker was outside her house, in earnest conversation with an unidentified man. The attacker’s mother frequently pointed to the victim’s house. Thoroughly unnerved, the victim’s family fled to a hotel to sleep.

      Lacy added: “I don’t think it’s fair that us Americans get to struggle and work hard and live paycheck-to-paycheck and pray to make bills. And the refugees get to have everything handed to them.”

      That’s what this is all about: making sure that Americans don’t start to realize what is happening and oppose the refugee influx. Idaho officials seem willing to sacrifice this girl’s well-being for that goal – to their everlasting shame.

      Their GoFund me page is here.

      https://www.gofundme.com/2a6rst6g

      Help for a young family recover from a traumatic violation of an innocent family member. This little girl was 5 years old and was playing outside while her mother ran inside to use the restroom, when her mother came back outside after going to the restroom, she was gone and taken by 3 refudgee kids youngest was 7 and the oldest is in his teens, they video taped her and forced her oral and anal sex, and also urinated on her and in her mouth. The children have not yet been sentenced but the family is still fighting for justice for there daughter. The family had moved into a hotel for about a month until they could find a forever home so they can be safe and away from the perpetrators of this most, horrific violence. They need your help to be able to obtain a lawyer to help fight for justice and see those involved in committing the crime, judged to the full Extent of the law. Without your support, this family can not afford the house they have now and be able to afford a lawyer so they can fight for liberty and Justice.

      http://pamelageller.com/2017/04/pamela-geller-wnd-muslim-migrant-rapists-plead-guilty-will-5-year-old-victim-get-justice-idaho.html/

      Delete
    3. Make a donation, Quirk.

      You're the bright boy that supports bringing the 'refugees' to the USA.

      You should feel a duty to make a donation.

      Delete
    4. So you won't forget:


      Their GoFund me page is here.

      https://www.gofundme.com/2a6rst6g

      Delete
  17. 4 OUT OF 5


    APR. 7, 2017 AT 3:27 PM
    Most Senators Support Trump’s Syria Airstrike
    But many have reservations about what comes next.

    By Perry Bacon Jr.

    Filed under The Trump Administration


    The guided-missile destroyer USS Porter participated in the U.S. missile strike on Syria this week. U.S. NAVY / AP
    UPDATE (April 7, 6:29 p.m.): We’ve added Sen. Cochran! Seventy-nine senators support the strike in Syria, and all 100 are on the record.

    UPDATE (April 7, 6 p.m.): The article below has been updated with positions for 12 senators previously recorded as “no clear public statement.” According to our latest count, only Sen. Thad Cochran of Mississippi has yet to take a position; 78 senators support the strike in Syria (48 Republicans and 30 Democrats).

    More than three-fourths of U.S. senators, including more than two dozen Democrats, have said that they support President Trump’s decision to strike an air base in Syria in retaliation for the use of chemical weapons by the regime of Bashar al-Assad. Much of that support came with concern about what comes next, but this is one of the first times in Trump’s presidency that a major policy decision has received more than token support from Senate Democrats....

    https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/a-clear-majority-of-senators-support-trumps-syria-airstrike/

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Most Senators Support Trump’s Syria Airstrike

      Of course they do. They are swamp creatures , frogs chirping in unison. (remember the swamp?) The same swamp that Donald Rodham Clinton was going to drain.

      Delete
    2. Sorry, did I mix up his name?

      Delete
    3. All the chirping frogs begin to sound the same.

      Delete
    4. Not Rand !

      He chirps his own tune.

      Delete
  18. Senator Rand Paul supports drone strikes on Liquor Store robbers, but holds that this action by The Donald is 'unconstitutional'.

    Read about it here:

    Rand Paul: Let’s face it, this Syria strike is unconstitutional
    POSTED AT 6:01 PM ON APRIL 7, 2017 BY ALLAHPUNDIT

    http://hotair.com/archives/2017/04/07/rand-paul-lets-face-it-this-syria-strike-is-unconstitutional/

    Rand, actually, is as crazy as, or crazier than, his old man.

    He just hides it well.

    See Rand on using drones to kill USA Liquor Store robbers here:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZvuwlDQRCYQ

    ReplyDelete
  19. PLAIN ans SIMPLE

    Despite all the talk about cooperating to get rid of ISIS, the US attacked a Syrian government airport, a base necessary for the war against ISIS and other Islamic terrorist organizations. ISIS and al-Qaeda have figured a method to call down US airstrikes on Syrian government targets.

    It worked like a charm. President Trump was elevated to President Chump by ISIS and al Qaeda. They succeeded in getting Chump to severely damage the main support base for Syria's fight against the Islamic State in eastern Syria.

    You think this will be one and done?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. In the first round, the Chump went from being a counter-puncher to leading with his chin.

      Delete
  20. .


    Less that 24 hours after the US attack, the Syrian air base is up and running again.

    Likely, $100 million spent on the strike.

    It might be a Trump tweet would have been a cheaper way to send a warning.

    .

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. So you won't forget, My Liege:


      Their GoFund me page is here.

      https://www.gofundme.com/2a6rst6g


      Time to get out the old wallet, Quirk-O, and show you're more than just another Tweetster.

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

      Delete
    3. .

      Go away, Bob. (You'll notice I am not using profanity or vulgarity. I don't want you to think I am not serious.)

      I told you the same thing yesterday. As usual, you are too...you don't get the message.

      I gave you an answer to your Russian question the first time you asked it yesterday. You ignored it. When you brought it up again, I pointed that out to you and told you where you could find my answer. You ignored that too. Now, you bring the bullshit questions to a new stream. This isn't the first time you've pulled this crap. You do it all the time. I don't know if you think you are being funny or you are just that painfully stupid. Either way, I don't want to be bothered with it.

      Go bother someone else. For me, there is no value in talking to you.

      .

      Delete
  21. .

    Rufus won. I've given up worrying about deficits and debt. Too bad the guy's not here to enjoy his victory. Soon we will owe more than we can ever hope of paying back anyway.

    What I will keep complaining about are the priorities being set by our Chump-in-Chief that negatively impact health and safety issues and the rights of ordinary Americans in favor of an unnecessary military build-up that supports his vainglorious attempt to convince the he is 'strong' and the baddest dude in the valley.

    .

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Rufus definitely never worried about debts.

      He never paid me the $100 dollars he owed me over our bet about the date of the fall of ISIS in Iraq.

      You got one right.

      Delete
    2. * the ratcrapper never paid me either, though he owed me a lesser amount, $10 I think it was....

      Delete
  22. NEWLY FOUND LOVE

    Former Secretary of State John Kerry insisted he was “gratified” that Trump had attacked Syria, adding that he believes more military action would be a way for the US to produce a peace deal in Syria after years of civil war. Kerry was a leading proponent of the 2013 US invasion of Syria, which was scrapped because of Congressional opposition.

    It doesn’t appear that Trump will be facing any such opposition, with Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D – CA) urging a quick Authorization of the Use of Military Force (AUMF) against Syria for Trump, while Congressional leaders cheered the attack as “appropriate and just” and appeared in no hurry to even debate the AUMF, content to leave the attack just another unauthorized war.

    Even Hillary Clinton seems to be on the same page with Trump at this point, as she issued a public statement calling on the US to attack Syrian airfields just hours before the Trump Administration actually started firing the missiles.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. .

      The fact that Hillary supports Trump's move should comfort you a little Deuce by providing additional justification in your decision to criticize Trump on this issue.

      I still hold out hope that at some point you will even come to agree with my assessment that 'they are all dicks.'

      .

      Delete
    2. 'they are all dicks'

      Let this refusal to think be known hereafter as THE DEEP COMA COP OUT

      Delete
  23. QuirkSat Apr 08, 10:55:00 AM EDT
    .


    Less that 24 hours after the US attack, the Syrian air base is up and running again.

    Likely, $100 million spent on the strike.

    It might be a Trump tweet would have been a cheaper way to send a warning.



    The strike in no way was supposed to destroy the Syrian Airforce, but it did rattle Iran, North Korea, Hamas, Hezbollah and Syria,

    Where were the much touted S400's that the Russians said they had there?

    Notice not ONE of the Tomahawks were stopped by the superior Russian Military.


    No Quirk, the strike was fine, it said to the "axis of shit" we are not scared to use muscle on you.

    It will be interesting to see the ramifications from the strike in the upcoming weeks. Be they by the IDF, the Egyptians and others.


    Ripples in a pond...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. .

      The strike in no way was supposed to destroy the Syrian Airforce, but it did rattle Iran, North Korea, Hamas, Hezbollah and Syria,

      Today, planes from the same airfield the US tomahawks hit were bombing the same town that was hit by the chemical attack.

      .

      Delete
  24. Russia's 'national interest' in Syria explained so even DEEP COMA might catch a clue:

    http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2017/04/when_obama_turned_tail_in_syria_putin_moved_in_.html

    Ciao, the world calls....

    ReplyDelete
  25. .

    Why?

    The US government (and unfortunately most American media, acting as stenographers rather than journalists as is too often the case in matters of war and foreign policy) have settled on the regime of Syrian president Bashar al-Assad as the culprit. That claim seems very questionable, if for no other reason than that there’s no plausible “why” attached to it.

    The only 'plausible' or at least possible explanation I have seen came from an article in the Moscow Times. It suggested this might have been an attempt by Assad and Iran to sideline the ongoing 'Astana Peace Plan' being discussed between Russia and Turkey. That plan which includes a negotiated solution of the war involving a power sharing agreement at the end is opposed by both Syria and Iran.

    If this is the case, Assad is taking a big risk in embarrassing Putin. From what we've seen, that type of thing can often prove fatal.

    .

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. .

      The Fog of War (Who did what?)

      Deuce ☂Sat Apr 08, 06:58:00 AM EDT

      New information has been revealed regarding the situation in Syria.

      A doctor associated with the recent alleged chemical attack in Syria was tried in the U.K. as a jihadist. The jihadist doctor was tried for kidnapping journalists as a part of a jihadist group.

      Breitbart London reports:

      Described in his Twitter profile as a “Medical doctor trained in the UK” and “Humanitarian aid worker”, Shajul Islam was a key eyewitness on the ground during the attack, offering himself for media video calls and uploading mobile phone footage of victims which was shared thousands of times...


      DFRLab has put out the following article indicating how the story originated and was spread...

      How the alt-right brought #SyriaHoax to America

      Tracing the “false flag” claim back to a pro-Assad website

      The DFRLab story is rather long and detailed and shows how the 'Syria Hoax' story began at a pro-Assad website, Al-Masdar News, in Syria shortly after the attack and was quickly picked up, quoted, and disseminated by numerous Alt-Right websites.

      The story provides no counter to the 'False Flag' claim, other than indirect ad hominems of certain sites for stories like 'pizzagate', but it's interesting in showing how quickly a story can spread once it hits the internet.

      .

      Delete
  26. The Roossians and The Trump have been colluding all along, from the beginning of The Trump political campaign, through the USA election, and now on to the attack by The Trump on the Roosian/Assad poison gas facilities in Syria.

    Anyone can see this if they wish to do so.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It's all part of Collude and Conquer.

      Delete
    2. Poison gas facilities that didn't exist, by the way, as O'bozo had gotten an agreement for their removal years earlier.

      Delete
    3. One must know how to read the internet.....

      Delete
  27. In happier news, with Gorsuch now on the Court, the Poor Nuns will be allowed to go back to doing good works as they see fit, and not as O'bozo sees fit.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Also Trinity Lutheran Church in Missouri will be allowed to use shredded tires donated by non profits as surface for its playgrounds without further interference from the government.

      Delete
  28. And in great news out this way it is looking as if with The Trump now downsizing and taming the EPA, the EPA will no longer control my homestead farm due to its having a very tiny seasonal creek flowing through it.

    I think I may finally be able to dam the sucker too to provide some habitat for ducks and such, and water for the deer and elk to drink, all without worrying about O'bozos EPA fining me $100,000 a day.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Things are looking better all around.

      Delete
    2. Only a fascist would want to control one's seasonal creek.

      I know this from reading that great work by Umberto Eco 'Characteristics of Fascists'.

      Delete


  29. A Modest Proposal:

    A Nationwide Petition of Trump Voters Crying:

    "We Didn't Elect Ivanka and Jared"

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. "Mr. Bannon, a hard-charging, fast-talking confidant of the president’s whose roving job in the White House has given him influence over policy and hiring decisions, now finds himself in the undesirable position of being caught between the president and his family. That is a position that others have not survived, most notably Corey Lewandowski, the first of the president’s three campaign managers."

      https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/07/us/white-house-kushner-bannon-military-strike.html

      Delete
  30. Food for Quirk -

    MSNBC: What if Putin planned chemical attack to help Trump?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. BobSat Apr 08, 02:29:00 PM EDT
      The Roossians and The Trump have been colluding all along, from the beginning of The Trump political campaign, through the USA election, and now on to the attack by The Trump on the Roosian/Assad poison gas facilities in Syria.

      Anyone can see this if they wish to do so.

      Delete
    2. (I am trying to explode Q's Magic 8 Ball so we never hear from it again)

      Delete