The president wants congress to authorize $500 million to arm and train the Syrian opposition forces.
I thought we were broke!
$23 trillion in debt!
Who is going to pay for this?
Why us?
Where are the Brits…the French…the Germans…the Canadians?
If this is such an important region where are the Saudis…the Jordanians…the Qataris?
Where is Israel?
If this doesn’t work out…then what?
What’s the exit strategy?
We spent $25 billion…that’s billion with a “B”…to train and arm the Iraqi army and police force.
How did that work out?
They threw down their arms and ran at the first sign of trouble.
Now ISIS is rolling through Iraq armed to the teeth with US made arms and material…occupying territory that 4,500 Americans died for…for no apparent reason.
Vietnam…Afghanistan…Iraq…and now Syria…
What’s next…the Ukraine…North Korea…Iran?
The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result.
This is madness!
Friday, June 27, 2014
Thursday, June 26, 2014
Political Tactics
BOEHNER SUES THE PRESIDENT – Speaker Boehner announced that he intends to sue President Obama over his use of executive authority. The Speaker believes that the president overstepped his constitutional authority in delaying certain provisions of the Affordable Care Act, halting the deportation of illegal immigrants who were brought to this country as minors by their parents, raising the minimum wage for federal contractors and expanding gay rights. Boehner argues that the president’s actions constitute an abuse of power for the express purpose of circumventing congress and as such violate the checks and balances intended by the founders in writing the constitution.
It is true that the president has used his authority to amend certain provisions of the aforementioned laws. The White House argues that such amendments are within the scope of his authority to faithfully execute the laws enacted by congress.
The constitutional balance between the executive and legislative branches of the government has been a source of debate and discord since the founders put pen to paper. Lawsuits are often filed by one branch versus the other over contentious matters. There is currently pending a lawsuit against the administration over its implementation of the Affordable Care act.
Given the current toxic partisan atmosphere in Washington, Boehner’s grandstanding ploy comes as no surprise. And that is what this is…political grandstanding to appease the base during an election year.
President Obama has used his executive authority on far fewer occasions than any of his predecessors save one…Bush 41. The suit is baseless. And even if it does manage to go to trail it won’t see the light of a courtroom until well after President Obama has left office.
This is nothing more than a face saving ploy on the part of a do nothing congress during an election year…a multi-million dollar political scam that will be paid for by the taxpayers.
SORE LOSERS – The right wing media has its hair on fire over incumbent Senator Thad Cochran’s runoff victory over Tea Party challenger Chris McDaniel in their run for the Mississippi GOP nomination. Neither candidate garnered 50% of the vote in the primary which forced a runoff.
Cochran shifted gears in the runoff and targeted black voters who typically vote Democrat, touting his 42 years of bringing millions of federal dollars into the state. The Mississippi GOP runs an open primary meaning that you do not have to be a registered Republican to vote. Cochran’s strategy paid off. The African American vote in the runoff was 40% higher than the primary with most of those votes going to Cochran. Cochran won the nomination. McDaniel has yet to concede, questioning the legitimacy of the votes.
Sarah Palin, Rush Limbaugh and all the folks at FOXNEWS are incensed over Cochran’s tactics. Palin wants to start a third political party. They can’t rap their heads around the fact that a Republican nominee was swept to victory by Democrat votes.
Here’s the deal. Mississippi is an open primary state. Cochran played by the rules. Cochran was smart enough to understand that appealing to ALL races, colors and creeds was the path to victory. He was smart enough to understand that the face of this country is no longer that of an old white man.
Cochran embraced diversity. McDaniel turned his back to it. The sooner the GOP comes to grips with the changing demographics of today’s voters the sooner they will return to relevance on the national stage.
It is true that the president has used his authority to amend certain provisions of the aforementioned laws. The White House argues that such amendments are within the scope of his authority to faithfully execute the laws enacted by congress.
The constitutional balance between the executive and legislative branches of the government has been a source of debate and discord since the founders put pen to paper. Lawsuits are often filed by one branch versus the other over contentious matters. There is currently pending a lawsuit against the administration over its implementation of the Affordable Care act.
Given the current toxic partisan atmosphere in Washington, Boehner’s grandstanding ploy comes as no surprise. And that is what this is…political grandstanding to appease the base during an election year.
President Obama has used his executive authority on far fewer occasions than any of his predecessors save one…Bush 41. The suit is baseless. And even if it does manage to go to trail it won’t see the light of a courtroom until well after President Obama has left office.
This is nothing more than a face saving ploy on the part of a do nothing congress during an election year…a multi-million dollar political scam that will be paid for by the taxpayers.
SORE LOSERS – The right wing media has its hair on fire over incumbent Senator Thad Cochran’s runoff victory over Tea Party challenger Chris McDaniel in their run for the Mississippi GOP nomination. Neither candidate garnered 50% of the vote in the primary which forced a runoff.
Cochran shifted gears in the runoff and targeted black voters who typically vote Democrat, touting his 42 years of bringing millions of federal dollars into the state. The Mississippi GOP runs an open primary meaning that you do not have to be a registered Republican to vote. Cochran’s strategy paid off. The African American vote in the runoff was 40% higher than the primary with most of those votes going to Cochran. Cochran won the nomination. McDaniel has yet to concede, questioning the legitimacy of the votes.
Sarah Palin, Rush Limbaugh and all the folks at FOXNEWS are incensed over Cochran’s tactics. Palin wants to start a third political party. They can’t rap their heads around the fact that a Republican nominee was swept to victory by Democrat votes.
Here’s the deal. Mississippi is an open primary state. Cochran played by the rules. Cochran was smart enough to understand that appealing to ALL races, colors and creeds was the path to victory. He was smart enough to understand that the face of this country is no longer that of an old white man.
Cochran embraced diversity. McDaniel turned his back to it. The sooner the GOP comes to grips with the changing demographics of today’s voters the sooner they will return to relevance on the national stage.
Wednesday, June 25, 2014
ISIS Can Thank McCain And Graham
Before Iraq went to hell in a hand basket our focus was on the blood bath in Syria.
Rebel factions had taken up arms in an effort to over through the Syrian government. The Assad regime responded with brutal force, including the use of chemical weapons; slaughtering well over 100,000 of its citizens.
Lawmakers here in the states demanded that the president send arms and material to the rebels who were no match for Assad’s tanks and air power. The administration refused, fearing that factions aligned with al Qaeda were operating within the rebel forces. To arm the rebels could be sending arms to those who would harm American interests. Instead the administration sought economic sanctions and worked toward persuading the regime to surrender its arsenal of chemical weapons.
John McCain, Lindsey Graham and the neo-conservatives were incensed. “How can this administration stand by while tens of thousands of innocents are being slaughtered?” “Once again” they said, “we see this feckless president leading from behind.”
Lindsey Graham traveled to the region and encouraged the Saudis and Qataris to arm the rebels. Chief among those sympathetic to Graham’s appeal was the then head of Saudi Arabia’s powerful intelligence services, Prince Bandar bin Sultan. Graham made his case and tens of millions in weaponry and cash began flowing from these Persian Gulf countries to the rebel forces. “Thank God for the Saudis and Prince Bandar, and for our Qatari friends” said Senator McCain while attending Munich Security Conference where he was leveling another round of criticism at the Obama administration.
Yesterday we learned that the administration’s use of diplomacy and economic sanctions were effective as Syria turned over what is believed to be the last of their chemical weapon stockpiles. However Senators McCain and Graham’s plan to arm and fund the rebel factions has come back to bite them in the ass.
The Qatari funds and munitions have found their way to a Jabat al-Nusra, an Islamic extremist group that has vowed to wage jihad against American interests. The Saudi’s military and economic largesse is now in the hands of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria; better known as ISIS. Thanks in no small part to Senator’s McCain and Graham, a well provisioned ISIS is now rolling down the road toward Baghdad in American made humvees, brandishing American made weapons, leaving a path of death, destruction and terror in its wake.
“Thank God for the Saudis and Prince Bandar, and for our Qatari friends.”
Rebel factions had taken up arms in an effort to over through the Syrian government. The Assad regime responded with brutal force, including the use of chemical weapons; slaughtering well over 100,000 of its citizens.
Lawmakers here in the states demanded that the president send arms and material to the rebels who were no match for Assad’s tanks and air power. The administration refused, fearing that factions aligned with al Qaeda were operating within the rebel forces. To arm the rebels could be sending arms to those who would harm American interests. Instead the administration sought economic sanctions and worked toward persuading the regime to surrender its arsenal of chemical weapons.
John McCain, Lindsey Graham and the neo-conservatives were incensed. “How can this administration stand by while tens of thousands of innocents are being slaughtered?” “Once again” they said, “we see this feckless president leading from behind.”
Lindsey Graham traveled to the region and encouraged the Saudis and Qataris to arm the rebels. Chief among those sympathetic to Graham’s appeal was the then head of Saudi Arabia’s powerful intelligence services, Prince Bandar bin Sultan. Graham made his case and tens of millions in weaponry and cash began flowing from these Persian Gulf countries to the rebel forces. “Thank God for the Saudis and Prince Bandar, and for our Qatari friends” said Senator McCain while attending Munich Security Conference where he was leveling another round of criticism at the Obama administration.
Yesterday we learned that the administration’s use of diplomacy and economic sanctions were effective as Syria turned over what is believed to be the last of their chemical weapon stockpiles. However Senators McCain and Graham’s plan to arm and fund the rebel factions has come back to bite them in the ass.
The Qatari funds and munitions have found their way to a Jabat al-Nusra, an Islamic extremist group that has vowed to wage jihad against American interests. The Saudi’s military and economic largesse is now in the hands of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria; better known as ISIS. Thanks in no small part to Senator’s McCain and Graham, a well provisioned ISIS is now rolling down the road toward Baghdad in American made humvees, brandishing American made weapons, leaving a path of death, destruction and terror in its wake.
“Thank God for the Saudis and Prince Bandar, and for our Qatari friends.”
Monday, June 23, 2014
Lessons To Be Learned
As a product of the 60”s the Vietnam War was very much a part of my life. Though I was not called into service I felt its affects; losing three of my closest friends in the bloody conflict. I mourned with their parents and siblings after learning the news that their loved ones would not be returning home. The sorrow of those days came flooding back to me when I learned that the president had sent 300 US military “advisors” into Iraq to assess the country’s rapid disintegration into an all out civil war.
In 1955 Communism was spreading throughout Asia. The US government was gravely concerned that if one nation in the region fell under Communist control the rest would follow. The belief was that a Communist presence in the region would present a serious threat to national security. The Southeast Asia Treaty Organization was formed in 1955 to prevent such expansion. The US supported South Vietnamese government was being threatened by attacks by pro-Communist insurgents from the North Vietnam. Eisenhower had authorized the insertion of 700 military and economic advisors to aid the weakened South Vietnamese government.
When Kennedy took office in 1960 all of our efforts to stabilize the region were failing. The South Vietnam government was on the verge of collapse. Corruption, greed, religious differences, public protests and the surge of successful Vietcong attacks were having a disastrous affect. Kennedy increased economic aid to the region and the number of advisors now topped 16,000; all to no avail. Kennedy wrestled with sending in combat troops to aid the South Vietnamese government. At the time of his death he still believed that it was up to the Vietnamese people to decide their own destiny: “In the final analysis it is their war. They are the ones that have to win it or lose it. We can help them, we can give them equipment, we can send our men out there as advisors, but they have to win it, the people of Vietnam against the Communists.”
You all know the rest. Days after making this statement Kennedy was felled by an assassin’s bullet. Lyndon Johnson assumed the presidency and authorized the use of military force in the region. By 1968 over 500,000 US military personnel were fighting in Vietnam. In January of 1975 the North Vietnamese initiated a massive offensive against the South. Saigon fell in short order. A police action that began with the insertion of 700 US military “advisors” ended with the deaths of 58,000 Americans.
Go back and read the last three paragraphs but this time instead of Communist/Communism/Vietnam insert Terrorism/Terrorist/Iraq. The similarities are striking.
This is the Iraqis war. It is up to them to win it or lose it. The American people have invested 4,500 hundred lives and trillions of dollars into the Iraq government and military complex only to watch the Iraqis shed their uniforms and run at the first sight of conflict. If the Iraqis don’t feel that Mosul, or Tikrit or Baghdad are worth fighting for why should we?
The world calls on the president to resolve the conflict. There are no good options here. The president can enter into talks with the ISIS rebels who vow destruction on American interests, or the Maliki government that is cozy with Iran.
Critics like Dick Cheney call him a fool for allowing the the violence to flair and for even considering discussions with Iran. They conveniently ignore the fact that the invasion they so passionately supported created the power vacuum that ISIS and Iran are only too happy to fill. They tell us that relitigating history will only distract us from moving forward.
The truth is that there are lessons to be learned from history.
I’ve learned that anything that starts with the insertion of military advisors often ends badly.
In 1955 Communism was spreading throughout Asia. The US government was gravely concerned that if one nation in the region fell under Communist control the rest would follow. The belief was that a Communist presence in the region would present a serious threat to national security. The Southeast Asia Treaty Organization was formed in 1955 to prevent such expansion. The US supported South Vietnamese government was being threatened by attacks by pro-Communist insurgents from the North Vietnam. Eisenhower had authorized the insertion of 700 military and economic advisors to aid the weakened South Vietnamese government.
When Kennedy took office in 1960 all of our efforts to stabilize the region were failing. The South Vietnam government was on the verge of collapse. Corruption, greed, religious differences, public protests and the surge of successful Vietcong attacks were having a disastrous affect. Kennedy increased economic aid to the region and the number of advisors now topped 16,000; all to no avail. Kennedy wrestled with sending in combat troops to aid the South Vietnamese government. At the time of his death he still believed that it was up to the Vietnamese people to decide their own destiny: “In the final analysis it is their war. They are the ones that have to win it or lose it. We can help them, we can give them equipment, we can send our men out there as advisors, but they have to win it, the people of Vietnam against the Communists.”
You all know the rest. Days after making this statement Kennedy was felled by an assassin’s bullet. Lyndon Johnson assumed the presidency and authorized the use of military force in the region. By 1968 over 500,000 US military personnel were fighting in Vietnam. In January of 1975 the North Vietnamese initiated a massive offensive against the South. Saigon fell in short order. A police action that began with the insertion of 700 US military “advisors” ended with the deaths of 58,000 Americans.
Go back and read the last three paragraphs but this time instead of Communist/Communism/Vietnam insert Terrorism/Terrorist/Iraq. The similarities are striking.
This is the Iraqis war. It is up to them to win it or lose it. The American people have invested 4,500 hundred lives and trillions of dollars into the Iraq government and military complex only to watch the Iraqis shed their uniforms and run at the first sight of conflict. If the Iraqis don’t feel that Mosul, or Tikrit or Baghdad are worth fighting for why should we?
The world calls on the president to resolve the conflict. There are no good options here. The president can enter into talks with the ISIS rebels who vow destruction on American interests, or the Maliki government that is cozy with Iran.
Critics like Dick Cheney call him a fool for allowing the the violence to flair and for even considering discussions with Iran. They conveniently ignore the fact that the invasion they so passionately supported created the power vacuum that ISIS and Iran are only too happy to fill. They tell us that relitigating history will only distract us from moving forward.
The truth is that there are lessons to be learned from history.
I’ve learned that anything that starts with the insertion of military advisors often ends badly.
Thursday, June 12, 2014
All for Nothing
In case you missed it…Iraq has returned to an all out war zone as Sunni and Shia resume centuries of bloody civil war.
Anti-government militants led by the Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISIL), an Al Qaeda splinter group, have swiftly taken control of large swaths of the country including the key cities of Mosul and Tikrit. Iraqi military and police forces, trained by the US to protect the government from just such an uprising, have fled en mass; throwing down their weapons and stripping off their uniforms to more easily blend into the crowds.
Why is this happening?
Sunni and Shia sects have been in one form of civil war or another for centuries. They hate each other. Sunni’s controlled Iraq and terrorized Shiites for thirteen centuries until the US toppled Saddam and installed the current Shia government. Under the watchful eye of Paul Bremer and his band of US overseers, the US backed Shia government placed their boot on the throat of the Sunni’s. Sunni’s were removed from positions of power and authority and replaced by Shiites. Without a US military presence to keep the lid on, the bad blood that had been boiling under the surface has boiled over once again. The resulting bloodshed is part of an attempt by ISIL to
create a large Islamic territory that includes Iraq and Syria.
Critics are naturally blaming this situation on the president. This would not be happening they say, had the president left US military forces in place in Iraq. They say his wrongheaded decision has undone all that we had accomplished in the region.
To lay the current uprising at the feet of this president is nothing more than disingenuous partisan political nonsense.
The bloody unrest in Iraq was as predictable as it was inevitable. The civil war in Iraq was going to resume whenever we pulled out our forces. Whether that day was 5, 10, or 20 years from now the civil war would have begun anew. The only way to prevent that from happening would be for the US to occupy the country in perpetuity. 1300 years of history made the obvious case. The only surprise here is that the geniuses that took us into this war failed to understand the obvious.
4,500 US troops were killed in the Iraq war. 32,000 wounded. $3 trillion borrowed American dollars spent.
Was it all for nothing?
Yes!
PS: In a few short years we’ll be writing the exact same story about Afghanistan.
Anti-government militants led by the Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISIL), an Al Qaeda splinter group, have swiftly taken control of large swaths of the country including the key cities of Mosul and Tikrit. Iraqi military and police forces, trained by the US to protect the government from just such an uprising, have fled en mass; throwing down their weapons and stripping off their uniforms to more easily blend into the crowds.
Why is this happening?
Sunni and Shia sects have been in one form of civil war or another for centuries. They hate each other. Sunni’s controlled Iraq and terrorized Shiites for thirteen centuries until the US toppled Saddam and installed the current Shia government. Under the watchful eye of Paul Bremer and his band of US overseers, the US backed Shia government placed their boot on the throat of the Sunni’s. Sunni’s were removed from positions of power and authority and replaced by Shiites. Without a US military presence to keep the lid on, the bad blood that had been boiling under the surface has boiled over once again. The resulting bloodshed is part of an attempt by ISIL to
create a large Islamic territory that includes Iraq and Syria.
Critics are naturally blaming this situation on the president. This would not be happening they say, had the president left US military forces in place in Iraq. They say his wrongheaded decision has undone all that we had accomplished in the region.
To lay the current uprising at the feet of this president is nothing more than disingenuous partisan political nonsense.
The bloody unrest in Iraq was as predictable as it was inevitable. The civil war in Iraq was going to resume whenever we pulled out our forces. Whether that day was 5, 10, or 20 years from now the civil war would have begun anew. The only way to prevent that from happening would be for the US to occupy the country in perpetuity. 1300 years of history made the obvious case. The only surprise here is that the geniuses that took us into this war failed to understand the obvious.
4,500 US troops were killed in the Iraq war. 32,000 wounded. $3 trillion borrowed American dollars spent.
Was it all for nothing?
Yes!
PS: In a few short years we’ll be writing the exact same story about Afghanistan.
Wednesday, June 11, 2014
Distracted Once More
USA Today “House GOP leader Eric Cantor defeated by Tea Party rival”
Washington Post “GOP in Chaos after Cantor Loss”
CNN “Election Earthquake”
New York Times “House’s Center of Gravity Shifts Right After Cantor’s Loss”
Wall Street Journal “Cantor’s Swift rise in GOP Ends in Stunning Defeat”
These are just some of the headlines that greeted me this morning when I turned on my computer. I could show you more but you get the drift. Shock & Awe! Eric Cantor lost his House seat.
It was 5AM when I pulled up these headlines. Less than 24 hours since a gunman had perpetrated the country’s 74th school related shooting in the last 18 months.
Emilio Hoffman is his name.
He is the latest child to lose his life in yet another senseless shooting in our nation’s schools.
Less than 24 hours had passed since his death and you would be hard pressed to find his name amidst all the “Shocked” “Stunned” reactions to Cantor’s loss.
This is what we do!
Eric Cantor’s story is but the latest shiny object to distract us from a culture of violence that permeates the very fiber of our society; a culture of violence that has become some commonplace that we have become numb to it.
This is unacceptable!
Eric Cantor suffered a major loss Tuesday.
So did Emilio Hoffman.
Washington Post “GOP in Chaos after Cantor Loss”
CNN “Election Earthquake”
New York Times “House’s Center of Gravity Shifts Right After Cantor’s Loss”
Wall Street Journal “Cantor’s Swift rise in GOP Ends in Stunning Defeat”
These are just some of the headlines that greeted me this morning when I turned on my computer. I could show you more but you get the drift. Shock & Awe! Eric Cantor lost his House seat.
It was 5AM when I pulled up these headlines. Less than 24 hours since a gunman had perpetrated the country’s 74th school related shooting in the last 18 months.
Emilio Hoffman is his name.
He is the latest child to lose his life in yet another senseless shooting in our nation’s schools.
Less than 24 hours had passed since his death and you would be hard pressed to find his name amidst all the “Shocked” “Stunned” reactions to Cantor’s loss.
This is what we do!
Eric Cantor’s story is but the latest shiny object to distract us from a culture of violence that permeates the very fiber of our society; a culture of violence that has become some commonplace that we have become numb to it.
This is unacceptable!
Eric Cantor suffered a major loss Tuesday.
So did Emilio Hoffman.
Tuesday, June 10, 2014
Another School Shooting! Do We Really Care?
Another school shooting!
This time it’s at a high school outside Portland, Oregon.
One student is dead. One teacher wounded.
Prepare yourself for the all too familiar media blitz.
Prepare yourself for the faux Washington outrage.
Today’s shooting is the 74th school related shooting since Adam Lanza slaughtered twenty 6 and 7 year olds at Sandy Hook Elementary.
That’s one school related shooting per week since that fateful December day in 2012.
We must not give a damn...because we do nothing to stop it.
This time it’s at a high school outside Portland, Oregon.
One student is dead. One teacher wounded.
Prepare yourself for the all too familiar media blitz.
Prepare yourself for the faux Washington outrage.
Today’s shooting is the 74th school related shooting since Adam Lanza slaughtered twenty 6 and 7 year olds at Sandy Hook Elementary.
That’s one school related shooting per week since that fateful December day in 2012.
We must not give a damn...because we do nothing to stop it.
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