tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-73755219926528205942024-02-07T12:43:33.162-05:00No Boxes AllowedPolitical and historical commentary for liberal conservatives and conservative liberalsJeff Coxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04896694141148386531noreply@blogger.comBlogger574125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7375521992652820594.post-51353861577053271702015-09-11T20:46:00.002-04:002015-09-11T20:46:38.594-04:00The New York Times may not remember, but we do.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />Jeff Coxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04896694141148386531noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7375521992652820594.post-1267780184291051692015-09-10T11:47:00.004-04:002015-09-10T11:47:37.902-04:00But how do Valerie Plame and Joe Wilson feel?<div class="tr_bq">
<a href="http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/09/09/exclusive-50-spies-say-isis-intelligence-was-cooked.html">Intelligence reports on ISIS were altered to minimize its threat and please Obama:</a></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
More than 50 intelligence analysts working out of the U.S. military's Central Command have formally complained that their reports on ISIS and al Qaeda’s branch in Syria were being inappropriately altered by senior officials, The Daily Beast has learned.<br />The complaints spurred the Pentagon’s inspector general to open an investigation into the alleged manipulation of intelligence. The fact that so many people complained suggests there are deep-rooted, systemic problems in how the U.S. military command charged with the war against the self-proclaimed Islamic State assesses intelligence.<br />“The cancer was within the senior level of the intelligence command,” one defense official said.<br />Two senior analysts at CENTCOM signed a written complaint sent to the Defense Department inspector general in July alleging that the reports, some of which were briefed to President Obama, portrayed the terror groups as weaker than the analysts believe they are. The reports were changed by CENTCOM higher-ups to adhere to the administration’s public line that the U.S. is winning the battle against ISIS and al Nusra, al Qaeda’s branch in Syria, the analysts claim.<br />That complaint was supported by 50 other analysts, some of whom have complained about politicizing of intelligence reports for months. That’s according to 11 individuals who are knowledgeable about the details of the report and who spoke to The Daily Beast on condition of anonymity.<br />The accusations suggest that a large number of people tracking the inner workings of the terror groups think that their reports are being manipulated to fit a public narrative. The allegations echoed charges that political appointees and senior officials cherry-picked intelligence about Iraq’s supposed weapons program in 2002 and 2003.<br />The two signatories to the complaint were described as the ones formally lodging it, and the additional analysts are willing and able to back up the substance of the allegations with concrete examples.<br />Some of those CENTCOM analysts described the sizeable cadre of protesting analysts as a “revolt” by intelligence professionals who are paid to give their honest assessment, based on facts, and not to be influenced by national-level policy. The analysts have accused senior-level leaders, including the director of intelligence and his deputy in CENTCOM, of changing their analyses to be more in line with the Obama administration’s public contention that the fight against ISIS and al Qaeda is making progress. The analysts take a more pessimistic view about how military efforts to destroy the groups are going.<br />The large number of analysts who complained to the Pentagon inspector general hasn’t been previously reported. Some of them are assigned to work at CENTCOM, the U.S. military’s command for the Middle East and Central Asia, but are officially employed by the Defense Intelligence Agency.<br />The complaints allege that in some cases key elements of intelligence reports were removed, resulting in a document that didn’t accurately capture the analysts’ conclusions, sources familiar with the protest said. But the complaint also goes beyond alleged altering of reports and accuses some senior leaders at CENTCOM of creating an unprofessional work environment. One person who knows the contents of the written complaint sent to the inspector general said it used the word “Stalinist” to describe the tone set by officials overseeing CENTCOM’s analysis.<br />Many described a climate in which analysts felt they could not give a candid assessment of the situation in Iraq and Syria. Some felt it was a product of commanders protecting their career advancement by putting the best spin on the war.<br />Some reports crafted by the analysts that were too negative in their assessment of the war were sent back the chain of the command or not shared up the chain, several analysts said. Still others, feeling the climate around them, self-censored so their reports affirmed already-held beliefs.</blockquote>
Yet another example of incredible stupidity by Barack Obama and his laughably named "national security" team. <a href="http://hotair.com/archives/2015/09/10/dozens-of-spies-insist-their-reports-on-jv-team-were-altered-to-please-president/">Jazz Shaw:</a><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
This will no doubt come as shocking news… to Barack Obama and his press secretary.<br />A new report claims that scores of intelligence analysts (read: spies) have begun talking out of school and are complaining that their reports on major terror groups have been “inappropriately altered” to paint a brighter picture before being passed on to the President and other leaders. Who could have possibly suspected that this was going on? (Well, aside from everyone else, I suppose.) Either way, the details are troubling.<br />[...]<br />Plenty of independent journalists on the international beat have been, shall we say, <i>a bit skeptical</i> about the sunny reports we were hearing in the fall and winter of 2014. Our airstrikes were definitely doing some damage and occasionally taking out some leaders, but without hard intel data it was tough to document. Still, how many hints did we really need? [...]<br />If we were anywhere near having ISIS under control the world wouldn’t be dealing with <i>the worst refugee crisis since World War 2</i> right now. That’s not to say the fight is over, but perhaps the Leader of the Free World should be getting some slightly less filtered information. Of course, that’s assuming that he really wants to hear it.</blockquote>
And he does not. Because he would then have to acknowledge that the crisis is <a href="http://pjmedia.com/ronradosh/2015/09/07/barack-obamas-refugee-crisis/?singlepage=true">his doing</a>:<br />
<br />
The worst European refugee crisis since the end of World War II is taking place before our eyes. The news on television is filled with horrible images, but the one most shocking and symbolic of what is going on is that of a three-year-old Syrian boy who washed up on a Turkish beach. Europe, with its fluid borders, is woefully unprepared to deal with the situation. In Germany, Angela Merkel has agreed to open the gates, and says that Germany will let in 800,000 asylum seekers this year alone. Austria says that it too will allow some in. Hungry tried refusing to allow refugees to board trains to reach these destinations, but had to reverse its policy.<br />
<br />
While many foreign leaders have spoken out, there is one who has said not a word. That leader, as you most probably can guess, is Barack Obama. And how could he? His policies, after all, have ended in this tragedy. It is, as <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/the-horrific-results-of-obamas-strategy-in-syria/2015/09/03/c16c117a-526c-11e5-933e-7d06c647a395_story.html">Michael Gerson</a> writes in a powerful <i>Washington Post</i> column, the result of his failure in Syria.<br />
<br />
Obama said a “red line” in Syria could not be crossed; then Bashar Al-Assad crossed it—and nothing happened except for temporarily harsher rhetoric from the president. Now, Assad drops barrel bombs on his own people, filled with supposedly outlawed chemical weapons. Obama, of course, had plenty of measures which he could have ordered that would have stopped or limited Assad’s war on his own people. Instead, he ignored the advice of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta and CIA chief Gen. David Petraeus, who favored using screened moderate forces of the Sunni majority willing to fight and supplying them with shoulder-to-air missiles that would have brought down the helicopters Assad uses to carry out the bombings. Instead, he did nothing.<br />
<br />
The reason is simple. Obama apparently believes that the way to achieve stability in the Middle East is to move towards an alliance with Iran. Achieving a nuclear deal with the terrorist state was paramount and the president did not want anything to interfere with it. Attacking Assad, who is backed by Iran, might upset Ayatollah Khamenei and hence kill the deal. So all we got from Obama were toothless statements that Assad had to go and that he should “step aside,” which Mr. Assad ignored without any consequences.<br />
<br />
Yet more people -- many, many more people -- sacrificed on the altar of this utterly stupid Iran Deal. As I said in <a href="http://no-boxes-allowed.blogspot.com/2015/08/obama-at-his-most-vile.html">an earlier post</a>:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
To get this deal -- easily the stupidest foreign policy initiative in my lifetime and the most disastrous Western initiative in Iran since at least Marcus Crassus' invasion of Parthia in 56 BC (in which he decided to invade a land famous for its horse archers with an immense army of little more than heavy infantry) -- Obama had to get Russia on board with sanctions. Vlad Putin's Russia -- the same people selling the mullahs SA-300 missile systems to defend their nuclear sites. So he had to do things to make nice to Vlad Putin -- like pull our missile defense out of Poland and not stand up for Ukraine. So now Putin has invaded Ukraine and is threatening to invade Poland, the Baltic republics, and Moldova to re-establish the Russian Empire. Lord knows what Obama promised to give China to get them on board.<br />So, to get this deal that screws the US and empowers the evil, barbaric Iranian mullahs who believe in imposing shari'a law, Obama was willing to sacrifice not just the people of the United States and Israel, but of Poland, Ukraine, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, and Moldova. Not to mention the Middle Eastern states the mullahs have in their sights: Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Kuwait, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, and Oman, countries that will now have to get nuclear weapons of their own to protect themselves against the Iranian mullahs.<br />All of these people sacrificed at the altar of Blame America First. All of it -- <i>all of it</i> -- just so Obama and Kerry could blame America first just one more time.</blockquote>
<a href="http://moelane.com/2015/09/09/news-not-flash-brass-altered-intelligence-reports-on-isis-to-appease-barack-obama/">Moe Lane</a> puts it more succinctly:<br />
<blockquote>
Although contra the Daily Beast, this situation is not particularly like what happened in 2003. What happened in 2003 was, essentially, that George W. Bush decided to take no chances in trusting the good intentions of an uncontrollable dictator. What’s happening now is that the military cadre that interacts with the Executive Branch is too ready to tell the Executive Branch what it wants to hear, and the Executive Branch is collectively too arrogant – or just too stupid – to realize that this is happening.<br />The cure? Go out and vote next year. And for the love of God, don’t vote in a way that elects another Democrat. There’s wet rot in that party’s support beams at this point**.<br />*Barack Obama is proving to be a quite useful baseline at what blithering incompetence at foreign affairs actually looks like. I mean. Slave markets. Sacrificial altars. We were supposed to be <b>past</b> that sort of thing.<br />**No, the Republicans are not as bad. <b>Slave markets. Sacrificial altars</b>. Take. This. Seriously.</blockquote>
<br />Jeff Coxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04896694141148386531noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7375521992652820594.post-39551191120132653662015-09-10T10:59:00.003-04:002015-09-10T10:59:42.489-04:00The sad truth about Obama's foreign policy<a href="http://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2015/09/10/obama-hillary-clinton-middle-east-debacles-column/71949834/">From Glenn Reynolds:</a><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
In the Middle East, everything Obama has touched has failed disastrously — and he’s had help in this failure from Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden. With 2016 coming, will that provide an opening for Democratic candidates — like Webb, perhaps, or Bernie Sanders — who are untouched by these failures? Maybe so. But a bigger question is what burdens will America, and the world, have to bear because of this awful record. I fear that they will be very heavy indeed.</blockquote>
Jeff Coxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04896694141148386531noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7375521992652820594.post-8265784342480845882015-09-10T10:57:00.001-04:002015-09-10T10:57:04.437-04:00He stole my Lando Calrissian meme!Stephen Green: <a href="http://pjmedia.com/vodkapundit/2015/09/09/this-deal-still-keeps-getting-worse-all-the-time-2/">This Iran Deal (still) keeps getting worse all the time.</a>Jeff Coxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04896694141148386531noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7375521992652820594.post-55532640065862451282015-09-02T16:15:00.001-04:002015-09-02T16:15:42.440-04:00Why is Donald Trump so popular?Because the leadership of the national Republican Party is worthless. Utterly worthless. Corrupt. Incompetent. Dishonest. Greedy. And above all stupid.<br />
<br />
When they <a href="http://hotair.com/archives/2015/09/02/endgame-mikulski-becomes-34th-senate-democrat-to-back-iran-deal-ensuring-gop-cant-stop-it/">can't even stop the disastrous, incredibly stupid Iran Deal</a> from going through ... heck, when they <i>enable</i> the Iran Deal to go through ...<br />
<br />
Never have so many been so stupid on so serious and so obvious an issue. I'm with AllahPundit on this one:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Thus ends a breathtaking performance of Republican failure theater. Once upon a time, knowing that your party controlled both chambers of Congress would have given you great comfort that a terrible treaty negotiated with a terrorist power could never become law in the United States.<br />I think this makes it official: I’m on the Trump bandwagon. Hail Caesar.</blockquote>
Trump certainly can't do any worse.Jeff Coxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04896694141148386531noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7375521992652820594.post-65506700966337905222015-08-07T12:26:00.002-04:002015-08-07T12:28:09.877-04:00Obama at his most vile<div class="tr_bq">
As IowaHawk says, <a href="https://twitter.com/iowahawkblog/status/628990566999719936">"Remember when dissent was the highest form of patriotism? Good times[.]"</a></div>
<br />
President Obama went to American University to deliver a defense of his proposed deal with the Iranian mullahs. Bridget Johnson at PJ Media gives the <a href="http://pjmedia.com/tatler/2015/08/05/obamas-attack-on-iran-deal-critics-compares-gop-caucus-to-death-to-america-chanters/?singlepage=true">highlights</a>. Or, more accurately, the lowlights. In a presidency filled with a preference for using American power against the American people rather than for them (see, eg, Lois Lerner, EPA, etc.), this was, as Hot Air's Allahpundit calls it, <a href="http://hotair.com/archives/2015/08/05/obamas-terrible-iran-speech-my-republican-critics-are-making-common-cause-with-iranian-hardliners/">"probably the lowest speech of his presidency -- so far,"</a> while Power Line's John Hinderaker wonders if it was <a href="http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2015/08/barack-obamas-lowest-moment-yet.php">"Barack Obama's lowest moment yet?"</a><br />
<br />
Hinderaker gives a <a href="http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2015/08/barack-obamas-lowest-moment-yet.php">devastating takedown</a> of the speech, which, as he notes, "was the usual exercise in deception and demagoguery, and (Obama) skated up to the edge of accusing opponents of the deal–a majority of Americans, apparently–of treason."<br />
<br />
Of course, the question becomes "Treason against whom?" Treason against the US doesn't matter to Obama. See, e.g. Bowe Bergdahl, Edward Snowden, or, for that matter, Bill Ayers.<br />
<br />
I can't do Hinderaker's piece justice. You'll have to read it all yourself. But I'll try to give a few of the best parts:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
After some initial reminiscence about the Cold War, Obama leaped right into misrepresenting the agreement’s terms:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
After two years of negotiations, we have achieved a detailed arrangement that permanently prohibits Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.</blockquote>
The “prohibition” consists of a pious declaration by Iran which it can repudiate at any time. The agreement contains no provisions that will permanently impede Iran’s ability to acquire nuclear weapons. The provisions that (if adhered to) would materially impede Iran’s nuclear weapons program expire in no more than 15 years.</blockquote>
Plenty more where that came from:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Obama recites Iraq’s recent history, but leaves out a key point:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Today, Iraq remains gripped by sectarian conflict, and the emergence of al Qaeda in Iraq has now evolved into ISIL. And ironically, the single greatest beneficiary in the region of that war was the Islamic Republic of Iran, which saw its strategic position strengthened by the removal of its long-standing enemy, Saddam Hussein.</blockquote>
Obama neglects to mention his own role: in 2011 he prematurely withdrew all American troops from Iraq, crowing that Iraq was then “sovereign, stable and self-reliant,” a fact that Vice-President Joe Biden hailed as one of Obama’s “great achievements.” Iraq was sovereign and stable but not, as military leaders warned, entirely self-reliant. It was Obama’s needless withdrawal of the last American troops that allowed Iraq to spiral toward chaos and permitted ISIS–the Islamic State in Syria–to move into Iraq. But Obama has never once in his life taken responsibility for anything.</blockquote>
The numbers don't lie:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Who is to blame for Iran’s nuclear program? Why, President Bush, of course!<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
When the Bush administration took office, Iran had no centrifuges — the machines necessary to produce material for a bomb — that were spinning to enrich uranium. But despite repeated warnings from the United States government, by the time I took office, Iran had installed several thousand centrifuges….</blockquote>
<a href="http://cnsnews.com/news/article/patrick-goodenough/19000-centrifuges-already-spinning-kerry-implies-irans-enrichment">IAEA reports</a> indicate that Iran’s Natanz facility had around 5,500 centrifuges when Obama took office, and over 15,000 by May 2015. With the Fordow facility, Iran now has around 19,000 centrifuges operating. But it’s all Bush’s fault!</blockquote>
And the kicker:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
No doubt the worst portion of Obama’s speech is the one that has gotten the most attention. Note how Obama walks right up to the line of accusing Republicans in Congress of treason:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Just because Iranian hardliners chant “Death to America” does not mean that that’s what all Iranians believe. (Applause.)</blockquote>
No, but it is what Iran’s rulers believe. Iran’s Supreme Leader frequently leads mobs in chants of “Death to America.” Does Obama think he is kidding?<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
In fact, it’s those hardliners who are most comfortable with the status quo. It’s those hardliners chanting “Death to America” who have been most opposed to the deal. They’re making common cause with the Republican caucus. (Laughter and applause.)</blockquote>
If Obama had said that the Republican caucus is making common cause with Iran’s hardliners, it would have been an unambiguous accusation of treason. By phrasing it the other way around–the hardliners are making common cause with Republicans–Obama gives himself a slight margin of deniability. But either way, it is a disgusting slander.<br />
It is also delusional. Iran’s hardliners are the regime in power. The mullahs are not aligning themselves with Republicans; on the contrary, they are trumpeting the fact that they got everything they wanted in their negotiations with John Kerry and Barack Obama. But Obama can’t, and won’t, confront that reality. He will just go on slandering his political opponents and lying to the American people.</blockquote>
Hinderaker's conclusion: "Barack Obama is a terrible president, but he is a worse man."<br />
<br />
Hinderaker's partner at Power Line, <a href="http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2015/08/the-obama-method.php">Scott Johnson</a>, torpedoes Obama's (possibly willful) misunderstanding of history:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Obama’s potted history of the Cold War includes this revealing nugget: “With Kennedy at the helm, the Cuban Missile Crisis was resolved peacefully.” The Cuban Missile Crisis was resolved, of course, by the American naval blockade of Cuba that brought us to the brink of war and led to the capitulation of the Soviet Union.<br />
The Soviet Union’s capitulation included the dismantling and removal of the nuclear facility that American intelligence had found under construction in Cuba. Surely there is a lesson here somewhere for our present predicament with Iran, though it runs counter to the one Obama draws. As always, when he is not ignorant of the relevant history himself, Obama prefers to exploit the ignorance of his audience.</blockquote>
Johnson then draws out the binding thread -- what he calls "The Obama Method":<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Obama does not seek to persuade the loyal opposition. He seeks to punish. He likens the opposition to the enemies of the United States in Iran. This isn’t much of an argument and it is implausible on its face.<br />
Obama’s discussion of Iraq is particularly painful in this context. He chose to throw away the precarious victory achieved at long last by President Bush by the time he left office. “And ironically,” Obama says, “the single greatest beneficiary in the region of that war was the Islamic Republic of Iran, which saw its strategic position strengthened by the removal of its long-standing enemy, Saddam Hussein.” Here there is a glimmer of truth, but it is Obama who has brought Iran’s goals to fulfillment in Iraq, first by withdrawing American troops and then by injecting Iranian forces directly into Iraq. Obama supports the strengthening of Iran’s strategic position.<br />
Referring to the imposition of sanctions on Iran, Obama states: “Winning this global buy-in was not easy — I know. I was there.” What was Obama’s position on the imposition of sanctions? He doesn’t say.</blockquote>
More on that in a minute. Johnson concludes:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
As with Israel, so with America. Obama always professes to understand the true interests of his opponents better than they do. He is a man for all reasons. The arrogance, dishonesty and hatred with which this speech is shot through are the hallmarks of the Obama method.</blockquote>
Professor Glenn Reynolds says it simply and succinctly with <a href="http://pjmedia.com/instapundit/211963/">"Worst President Ever."</a> Amy Miller at Legal Insurrection asks Obama, <a href="http://legalinsurrection.com/2015/08/obama-i-have-met-the-enemy-and-it-is-republican//#more">"What don’t you understand about 'Death to America?'"</a> Meanwhile, Professor Elizabeth Price Foley is on a roll. <a href="http://pjmedia.com/instapundit/211966/">First</a>, "In President Obama’s narcissistic quest to achieve a legacy of “diplomacy” with America’s enemies abroad, he is remarkably incapable of evincing any diplomacy at all domestically, with fellow Americans who dare to criticize him." That's just the appetizer. Here's the <a href="http://pjmedia.com/instapundit/212027/">meal</a>:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Lame duck Obama no longer cares about even the appearance of civility with Republicans, or any Democrat who dares to oppose him. His gloves are now off, it’s all personal to him (and his worshippers), and his radical ideological agenda is on full display. It’s full Orwell, replete with blatant lies, rewriting of history, and assault on the fabric of society itself. Obama is a bully, with a bully pulpit, and he doesn’t give a damn about the Constitution or its founding principles, which he thinks is deeply flawed. He has done more to damage the Constitution, the economy, and societal unity than all prior presidents combined.<br />
January 2017 cannot come fast enough.</blockquote>
But James Taranto has <a href="http://www.wsj.com/articles/full-orwell-1438882438">a full buffet</a>. It's behind a <i>Wall Street Journal</i> paywall, but Instapundit has a <a href="http://pjmedia.com/instapundit/212027/">nice excerpt</a>:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Rather than enumerate every flaw of Barack Obama’s defense of his Iran deal yesterday, we’d like to look deeply at the most glaring one, namely this passage:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Just because Iranian hard-liners chant “Death to America” does not mean that that’s what all Iranians believe. In fact, it’s those hard-liners who are most comfortable with the status quo. It’s those hard-liners chanting “Death to America” who have been most opposed to the deal. They’re making common cause with the Republican caucus. . . .</blockquote>
Obama’s “common cause” argument rests on several factual premises that seem to us obviously false, and that certainly are not obviously true—among them, that Republicans desire war, that there is a meaningful distinction between “Iranian hard-liners” and the Iranian regime, and that those hard-liners would prefer American military action to American appeasement.<br />
But there is an even more basic objection to Obama’s statement. Assume for the sake of argument that the “Iranian hard-liners” and the Republicans really do want an all-out military confrontation. Now, consider an example from history when such a result actually obtained. On Dec. 7, 1941, the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor. On Dec. 8, Congress declared war on Japan. Would it make any sense to say that the Japanese and the U.S. Congress had made “common cause”?<br />
Obama is equating mutual antagonism with its opposite, “common cause.” Again, Orwell put it more pithily: War is peace.<br />
If Republicans who oppose the deal are “making common cause” with “Iranian hard-liners,” does it not follow that so are the Israelis—as well as those Democratic lawmakers who’ve announced opposition to the deal (seven so far, all in the House, according to the Hill), and 57% of the American public (including 55% of independents and 32% of Democrats), according to the latest Quinnipiac poll?</blockquote>
Senator Bob "Treaty Clause? We don' need no stinkin' Treaty Clause" Corker (R-TN), whose stupidity helped put us in this mess with Obama not needing a supermajority to approve the deal, <a href="http://pjmedia.com/tatler/2015/08/06/corker-obama-trying-to-shut-down-debate-on-iran-deal-by-branding-skeptical-lawmakers-unpatriotic/">rightly took offense at Obama's remarks:</a><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
At the start of the hearing focusing on whether political favors bumped up the rankings of Cuba and Malaysia on the State Department’s human trafficking report, Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) quipped, “I wonder if we have questions about trafficking if it throws us into the category of bad people.”<br />
Corker noted that “up until an hour and a half before” the 19-0 committee vote passing the bill to require congressional approval of the Iran deal, the White House had a veto threat on the legislation “because they did not want the issue debated.”<br />
“We are being compared to the hardliners in Iran because we have concerns that we are trying to have answered,” he said. “Just a few months ago the president was talking about what a thoughtful, principled person I was.” And now, “he’s trying to shut down debate by saying those who have legitimate questions are somehow unpatriotic, are somehow compared to hardliners in Iran.”<br />
Corker added that, after a frustrating closed-door meeting yesterday with the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, he called Undersecretary of State Wendy Sherman this morning to ask for “at least” her notes from the meetings between the IAEA and Iran that forged the confidential agreements.<br />
But the chairman had a theory on why the IAEA is being so hush-hush about the inspections details.<br />
“I don’t think it would stand the test of late-night comedy, if people understood how the Parchin thing was being done,” Corker said.<br />
Ranking Member Ben Cardin (D-Md.), who was pulled into a meeting with Obama last night, said to Corker, “I think you are and continue to always be a thoughtful and principled person.”<br />
“Hopefully if I disagree with you once you won’t compare me to the hardliners in Iran,” Corker replied.</blockquote>
As IowaHawk says, <a href="https://twitter.com/iowahawkblog/status/628990566999719936">"Remember when dissent was the highest form of patriotism? Good times[.]"</a><br />
<br />
However bad this sounds, it just gets worse and worse. Remember when the question was asked <i>supra</i> about what Obama's position was in these negotiations? Especially concerning those "secret side deals" the mullahs have with the IAEA. <a href="http://pjmedia.com/tatler/2015/08/05/u-s-negotiators-never-asked-iran-explicitly-if-there-were-other-side-agreements/">Well ...</a><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Under questioning from a Senate Democrat today at a Banking Committee hearing on the Iran deal, the lead State Department negotiator said they never bothered to ask Iran if there are any other side deals floating around out there.<br />
Undersecretary of State Wendy Sherman came under intense bipartisan questioning about Iran’s agreement with the International Atomic Energy Agency. Last week, Secretary of State John Kerry told lawmakers that he thought the only administration official who might have seen the agreement was Sherman.<br />
Today, Sherman had a few explanations.<br />
“I did see the provisional documents, I didn’t see the final documents,” she told Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.).<br />
To Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.), Sherman said: “I have seen — I have — I have seen the document, as I said, as we were going through the technical discussions with the IAEA. But what is important here, Senator, ultimately what we are talking about here is the credibility of the International Atomic Energy Agency, whether, in fact, we believe that they are credible, independent verification organizations, which it is.”<br />
Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) asked, “In the final deal from the IAEA, have you seen it and read it?”<br />
“Let me be very clear. I have seen the documents that the IAEA and Iran discussed to create the final arrangements for the modalities that underpin the road map, the road map document being a public document that Congress has a copy of,” Sherman replied.<br />
“Can you assure us that this access will be physical access? IAEA inspectors will be physically walking into these sites and taking samples or installing equipment?” Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) asked of the deal.<br />
“I think that every situation is different, Senator, and that the IAEA has the capability, the expert knowledge to make sure that whatever they do can be technically authenticated,” Sherman replied.<br />
Sherman said a “handful” of U.S. experts — “I’d have to stop and think” — saw the documents are “very short” and defended the confidentiality agreement — if the U.S. gets confidential IAEA agreements, Iran should too.<br />
“Under the Comprehensive Safeguards Agreement, to which we are also a party, we have confidential safeguards, confidential documents and protocols with the IAEA between the United States and the IAEA, as does — do all of the countries that are under the CSA,” she said. “The IAEA has committed to keeping them confidential, and so, therefore, they are committed to keeping these protocols under CSA confidential as well.”<br />
“Is there reason to believe there’s any other documents out there?” Sen. Joe Donnelly (D-Ind.) asked.<br />
“No. If there are, I don’t know about them,” Sherman replied. “I have not asked them explicitly.”<br />
“Have you asked the Iranians who you’ve had these discussions with, do you have any other agreements with anybody else at this time that we don’t know about?” Donnelly asked.<br />
“I have not asked that question explicitly, but given the hours and hours we have spent together, I do not believe there are any other documents,” Sherman said.</blockquote>
Of course, Obama and John Kerry may not have cared about the lack of specificity. Or considered it not a bug but a feature. In a piece in <i>The Federalist</i>, Robert Tracinski exposes the real goal of the Iran Deal, and it is a familiar refrain espoused by both Democrats and Ronulans -- <a href="http://thefederalist.com/2015/08/06/blame-america-first-the-real-goal-of-the-kerry-obama-iran-deal/">Blame America First:</a><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
What is President Obama’s deal with Iran really, essentially about? I just realized that John Kerry has been trying to tell us all along, and it’s only yesterday that he finally said it clearly enough to make it register.<br />
In last week’s Senate testimony, he first established the theme, warning that if Congress doesn’t approve the deal, “we will have proven we’re not trustworthy.” Get that? We have a Secretary of State who conducted negotiations from the premise that we, not the Iranians, are the ones who have to prove we can be trusted.<br />
But that wasn’t just a gaffe or an isolated observation. Kerry expanded on it in an interview with Jeffrey Goldberg that was published yesterday:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
“The ayatollah constantly believed that we are untrustworthy, that you can’t negotiate with us, that we will screw them,” Kerry said. “This”—a congressional rejection—”will be the ultimate screwing.” He went on to argue that “the United States Congress will prove the ayatollah’s suspicion, and there’s no way he’s ever coming back. He will not come back to negotiate. Out of dignity, out of a suspicion that you can’t trust America. America is not going to negotiate in good faith. It didn’t negotiate in good faith now, would be his point.”</blockquote>
Have you ever seen a clearer case of Stockholm Syndrome, with Kerry so assiduously taking up the cause of his opponents in the negotiations?<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Kerry also said that his chief Iranian interlocutor, the foreign minister, Javad Zarif, and Zarif’s boss, the (relatively) reformist president, Hassan Rouhani, would be in “serious trouble” at home if the deal falls through. Zarif, Kerry told me, explicitly promised him that Iran will engage with the United States and its Arab allies on a range of regional issues, should Congress approve the deal. “Zarif specifically said to me in the last two weeks, ‘If we get this finished, I am now empowered to work with and talk to you about regional issues.'” Kerry went on, “This is in Congress’s hands. If Congress says no, Congress will shut that down, shut off that conversation, set this back, and set in motion a series of inevitables about what would happen with respect to Iranian behavior, and, by the way, the sanctions will be over.”</blockquote>
On top of the incredible naiveté of believing Zarif’s assurances that Iran will suddenly become much nicer after the deal is signed (and we have lost all leverage), notice how fully he has bought into a perspective that could only be found in Iranian propaganda: that anything bad the Iranians do from now on will be our fault because we alienated them and failed to negotiate in good faith. As if the Iranian regime has not spent the last 35 years gleefully fanning the flames of conflict across the Middle East.<br />
This warped, blame-America-first perspective is not just an argument Kerry is citing in support of the deal with Iran. It is the actual point of the whole deal.<br />
Every negotiation with Iran in the past, and every public debate out it, has proceeded from the assumption that the Iranians are dangerous fanatics who need to be reined in, that they can’t be trusted and will have to make big concessions and reforms and agree to a lot of scrutiny before we welcome them back to the ranks of civilized nations.<br />
But the idea behind this deal, and the theme of Kerry’s defense of it, is to get the United States to accept responsibility for causing conflict with Iran through our own belligerence and bad faith.<br />
There is a lot of talk about how Kerry and Obama want this deal as part of their “legacy,” and the usual assumption is that this is about wanting awards and peace prizes, that it’s about accolades and ego trips. But there is another kind of legacy leaders seek, a far more important kind: the legacy of changing a whole process, changing the terms of the debate, and doing so in a way that programs their preferred policies into the system, making any alternative impossible.</blockquote>
This is indeed consistent with the "America is Evil" worldview of both Obama and Kerry:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
From this perspective, we can see why John Kerry’s statement on Iran is so important. The point of the Iran deal is to put America in the position of being the bad guy who needs to be reined in, the rogue nation, the dishonest deal-breaker, the one who will be blamed if the deal falls apart and who will be responsible for every bad consequence that follows.<br />
We’re the ones who are assumed to “not negotiate in good faith,” and who will “set in motion a series of inevitables about what would happen with respect to Iranian behavior.” Isn’t that last part great? We will be responsible for “Iranian behavior.” This is a regime motivated by a fanatical, totalitarian ideology, for which they have imprisoned, tortured, and killed their own citizens; they’re one of the world’s leading state sponsors of terror, from Lebanon to Gaza to Iraq and even all the way to Argentina; they routinely issue genocidal threats against Israel, and they’re practically running Bashar Assad’s brutal war of extermination in Syria. But no, no, no. If Congress doesn’t vote for a deal that accomplishes nothing, then we will be responsible for everything that happens from here on out.<br />
It’s an insolent inversion of reality, of course, but it’s consistent with the worldview from which Kerry and President Obama emerged. </blockquote>
And, indeed, lately John Kerry has spent more time defending the Iranian mullahs than he has the United States, which is, you know, his <i>job</i>. Reacting to the same <a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2015/08/john-kerry-interview-iran-nuclear-deal/400457/">Jeffrey Goldberg interview</a>, Hot Air's Ed Morrissey explains <a href="http://hotair.com/archives/2015/08/05/kerry-warns-congress-dont-screw-the-ayatollah/">why we should have none of it</a>:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>Old and busted, nat-sec edition</i>: You don’t screw with America. <i>New hotness, smart-power edition:</i> Don’t screw the Ayatollah! The Atlantic’s Jeffrey Goldberg sat down with Secretary of State John Kerry to discuss the seven-nation nuclear deal with Iran, and Kerry warned Congress that a rejection of the deal would destroy the faith that Ayatollah Ali Khameini had put into negotiations with the United States.<br />
No, really, that’s his argument for approving the deal. If Congress blows up the deal, they will give Khameini “the ultimate screwing[.]”<br />
[...]<br />
Actually, the “ultimate screwing” will come when Iran conducts its first test of a nuclear device. Since when is the US’ trustworthiness on the line in this issue? Iran hid its pursuit of nuclear weapons for years from the IAEA, and only began negotiating on nuclear development after it got caught. It has routinely cheated on inspections, hid its military research, and continually refused to negotiate in good faith. For the past twelve years, whenever the P5+1 (or E3+3, whatever the Western formulation is at the moment) got close to an agreement with Iran, the Ayatollah and his henchmen would demand a significant concession on top of what had already been agreed, and the deal would fall apart.<br />
Let’s not forget that, on top of this track record of bad-faith diplomacy, Khameini runs the world’s biggest terror-supporting state. It sponsors, funds, and arms terror networks throughout the region, including those in Gaza, Lebanon, and Syria that are aimed in direct opposition to Western aims and key regional allies. Khameini and his mullahcracy have chanted “Death to America” for 36 years straight. And Congress is supposed to worry that Khameini may lose faith in American diplomacy?<br />
What color should we assume the sky is in Kerryworld, anyway?<br />
[...]<br />
If Kerry’s entire pitch to Congress is that they must keep faith with Ali Khameini or he might end up disliking and distrusting us, this deal might be even worse than we think. This is a sorry state of affairs, when America’s top diplomat ends up as an apologist for a dictator that routinely declares “Death to America,” and says our only hope is to trust in his good faith. It’s absurd on its face.</blockquote>
In a post titled <a href="http://legalinsurrection.com/2015/08/someone-is-getting-screwed-but-its-not-the-ayatollah/">"Someone is getting screwed, but it’s not the Ayatollah,"</a> Professor William Jacobson breaks down the mullahs' continuing crimes:<br />
<blockquote>
There John Kerry goes again.<br />
Jeffrey Goldberg, the go-to person when the Obama administration wants to get its position out because Goldberg is pro-Israel, landed an interview with John Kerry. The topline storyline is that Kerry is warning the U.S. Congress not to screw (with?) Ayatollah Ali Khamenei:<br />
[...]<br />
Seriously, we are afraid of ruining the expectations of an Ayatollah who defends calling for the death of America and Israel;<br />
And who just published a book on how to defeat the U.S. and destroy Israel?<br />
And who openly threatens Israel?<br />
Would this be the same Ayatollah who tweeted out an image of Obama holding a gun to his own head?<br />
Well, let’s be sure not to offend HIM. </blockquote>
<blockquote>
Don’t worry about what the Iranians say, says Kerry, they don’t really mean it: </blockquote>
<blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Though he says he is in tune with this set of Israeli fears, he does not endorse a view widely shared by Israelis—and by many Americans—that Iran’s leaders, who have often said that they seek the destruction of Israel, mean what they say. “I think they have a fundamental ideological confrontation with Israel at this particular moment. Whether or not that translates into active steps to, quote, ‘Wipe it,’ you know …” Here I interjected: “Wipe it off the map.” Kerry continued: “I don’t know the answer to that. I haven’t seen anything that says to me—they’ve got 80,000 rockets in Hezbollah pointed at Israel, and any number of choices could have been made. They didn’t make the bomb when they had enough material for 10 to 12. They’ve signed on to an agreement where they say they’ll never try and make one and we have a mechanism in place where we can prove that. So I don’t want to get locked into that debate. I think it’s a waste of time here.”</blockquote>
[...]<br />
We are now the weak horse, being trained by our masters.<br />
John Kerry is dangerously naive.</blockquote>
But ... well, remember the 2009 Green Revolution? When there was hope of removing these barbarians from power? Well ...<br />
<blockquote>
His boss isn’t naive, this is all part of the “Grand Bargain” strategy with Iran Obama has been pursuing since he took office, something we highlighted back in June 2009, when Obama abandoned the uprising against the Mullah regime:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
During the campaign and after assuming the presidency, Barack Obama repeatedly stated his willingness to engage in negotiations with Iran without any preconditions. But that was and is not true.<br />
The events of the past two weeks, including the revelation that Obama sent a letter in May to “Supreme Leader” Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, reveal that there is one precondition to negotiations which Obama willingly embraces: United States acceptance of Mullah rule in Iran in perpetuity.<br />
Acceptance of Mullah rule, notwithstanding what the people of Iran may want or basic human rights, is the key to the Grand Bargain the Obama administration seeks to strike with Iran. In fact, U.S. help to perpetuate the Mullahtocracy appears to be the ONLY precondition.</blockquote>
Someone is going to get screwed here, and it’s not the Ayatollah.</blockquote>
Indeed. But wait! That's not all. It just gets worse and worse. If you want a graphic representation of just who won and who lost in this deal, check out <a href="http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/images/Iran/irandealmf.pdf?utm_source=AICE+email+%23131+%28July+29%2C+2015%29&utm_campaign=AICE+e-newsletter+%23131%3A+7%2F29%2F15&utm_medium=email">the hand-dandy chart</a> prepared by the <a href="http://pjmedia.com/tatler/2015/08/05/chart-of-the-day-2/">American Friends of Ateret Cohanim,</a> a non-profit organization located in Jerusalem. Li'l hint: the US and Western Civilization are not among the winners. <br />
<br />
Now, when digesting all this sunshine and good cheer, keep one last thing in mind:<br />
<br />
To get this deal -- easily the stupidest foreign policy initiative in my lifetime and the most disastrous Western initiative in Iran since at least Marcus Crassus' invasion of Parthia in 56 BC (in which he decided to invade a land famous for its horse archers with an immense army of little more than heavy infantry) -- Obama had to get Russia on board with sanctions. Vlad Putin's Russia -- the same people selling the mullahs SA-300 missile systems to defend their nuclear sites. So he had to do things to make nice to Vlad Putin -- like pull our missile defense out of Poland and not stand up for Ukraine. So now Putin has invaded Ukraine and is threatening to invade Poland, the Baltic republics, and Moldova to re-establish the Russian Empire. Lord knows what Obama promised to give China to get them on board.<br />
<br />
So, to get this deal that screws the US and empowers the evil, barbaric Iranian mullahs who believe in imposing shari'a law, Obama was willing to sacrifice not just the people of the United States and Israel, but of Poland, Ukraine, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, and Moldova. Not to mention the Middle Eastern states the mullahs have in their sights: Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Kuwait, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, and Oman, countries that will now have to get nuclear weapons of their own to protect themselves against the Iranian mullahs.<br />
<br />
All of these people sacrificed at the altar of Blame America First. All of it -- <i>all of it</i> -- just so Obama and Kerry could blame America first just one more time.<br />
<br />
And Obama has the gall to accuse opponents of his Iran deal of treason.<br />
<br />
Of all the arrogant, stupid, incompetent, and downright evil policies and activities of Barack Obama, this is the most vile.<br />
<br />
Professor Foley just one more time:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Lame duck Obama no longer cares about even the appearance of civility with Republicans, or any Democrat who dares to oppose him. His gloves are now off, it’s all personal to him (and his worshippers), and his radical ideological agenda is on full display. It’s full Orwell, replete with blatant lies, rewriting of history, and assault on the fabric of society itself. Obama is a bully, with a bully pulpit, and he doesn’t give a damn about the Constitution or its founding principles, which he thinks is deeply flawed. He has done more to damage the Constitution, the economy, and societal unity than all prior presidents combined.<br />
January 2017 cannot come fast enough.</blockquote>
Jeff Coxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04896694141148386531noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7375521992652820594.post-19913357907350669272015-08-06T15:53:00.000-04:002015-08-06T15:55:00.374-04:00Archaeologists find the hometown of GoliathOne thing I keep telling people is that The Bible and other ancient works like <i>The Epic of Gilgamesh</i>, <i>The Iliad</i>, and <i>The Odyssey</i> may distort, they may omit, they may condense, they may misinterpret, they may twist, etc., but one thing they do <i>not</i> do is <i>lie</i>. Like Schliemann finding Troy, we have more confirmation of the ancient epics, in this case <a href="http://www.livescience.com/51737-goliath-city-gates-uncovered-israel.html">The Bible</a>:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
A massive gate unearthed in Israel may have marked the entrance to a biblical city that, at its heyday, was the biggest metropolis in the region.<br />
The town, called Gath, was occupied until the ninth century B.C. In biblical accounts, the Philistines — the mortal enemies of the Israelites — ruled the city. The Old Testament also describes Gath as the home of Goliath, the giant warrior whom the Israelite King David felled with a slingshot.<br />
The new findings reveal just how impressive the ancient Philistine city once was, said lead archaeologist of the current excavation, Aren Maeir, of Bar-Ilan University in Israel.<br />
"We knew that Philistine Gath in the 10th to ninth century [B.C.] was a large city, perhaps the largest in the land at that time," Maeir told Live Science in an email. "These monumental fortifications stress how large and mighty this city was."<br />
The gates were uncovered in Tell es-Safi, which was occupied almost continuously for nearly 5,000 years, until the Arab village at the site was left in 1948, Maeir said. Though archaeologists have been excavating at the site since 1899, it wasn't until the past few decades that they realized how massive the Iron Age remains really were.<br />
Both the impressive settlement size and mentions in biblical accounts suggest to scholars that the site is the historic city of Gath, which was ruled by the Philistines, who lived next to the Jewish kingdoms of Judah and Israel. Most scholars think that Gath was besieged and laid to waste by Hazael, King of Aram Damascus, in 830 B.C., Maeir said.</blockquote>
Gath (or Geth) was one of the five cities of the Philistine Pentapolis, the others being Ascalon (or Ascalan or Ashquelon), Azotus (or Ashdod), Accaron (or Akron or Ekron), and Gaza (or Gaza) From <a href="http://pjmedia.com/tatler/2015/08/06/archaeologists-unearth-another-impressive-biblical-find/">PJ Media</a>:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
The book of 1 Samuel describes Goliath this way:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
4 Then a champion stepped out from the camp of the Philistines, named Goliath, from Gath, whose height was six cubits and a span. [9 feet, 9 inches] 5 He had a bronze helmet on his head and a breastplate of scale armor; the weight of the bronze breastplate was 5,000 shekels. [125 pounds] 6 He also had bronze shin-guards on his legs and a bronze javelin slung between his shoulders. 7 The shaft of his spear was like a weaver’s beam, and the head of his spear weighed 600 shekels of iron,[15 pounds]; and his shield-bearer was marching ahead of him.</blockquote>
</blockquote>
Osmar Schindler portrayed Goliath this way:<br />
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHHnejEjwXUPDe5O_Ed62Zq6oDWv701NHawxobGtgYK-WYgkVmXteUaXnI-6lZ5A_v6D9wlGQAitcr9YQbcE73U3GKmSDFX2C8bfAiSWyS7mZFqf0ypGPjsX6hQf7bFVez9ihCEhaNGjY7/s1600/Osmar_Schindler_David_und_Goliath.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHHnejEjwXUPDe5O_Ed62Zq6oDWv701NHawxobGtgYK-WYgkVmXteUaXnI-6lZ5A_v6D9wlGQAitcr9YQbcE73U3GKmSDFX2C8bfAiSWyS7mZFqf0ypGPjsX6hQf7bFVez9ihCEhaNGjY7/s640/Osmar_Schindler_David_und_Goliath.jpg" width="462" /></a></div>
<br />
I'm curious, though, if Gath ever posted signs at the city limits reading "WELCOME TO GATH: THE PROUD HOME OF GOLIATH."Jeff Coxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04896694141148386531noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7375521992652820594.post-23813149052787876132015-08-04T21:12:00.002-04:002015-08-04T21:12:34.152-04:00The biggest (notice I did not say "only") flaws in the Iran dealToday the Senate Foreign Relations Committee heard <a href="http://www.foreign.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/080415_Joseph_Testimony.pdf">testimony on the Iran deal</a> from Dr. Robert G, Joseph. <i><a href="https://www.commentarymagazine.com/2015/08/04/iran-nuclear-deal-fatal-flaws/">Commentary Magazine</a></i> describes Dr. Joseph as currently Senior Scholar at the National Institute for Public Policy, and formerly Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security, and the person who in 2003 led the nuclear negotiations with the Gadhafi regime in Libya.<br />
<br />
What did Dr. Joseph say?<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
He testified the Iran deal is a “bad agreement” with “five fatal flaws”: (1) it does not effectively detect cheating unless Iran decides to do it openly, and Iran is more likely to cheat at military bases where it has cheated in the past and has ruled out inspections in the future; (2) it leaves a large‐scale nuclear infrastructure in place that could be used to break out, or more likely “sneak‐out,” and then permits a significantly expanded program with a “virtually zero” breakout time; (3) it has “snap‐back” provisions that are illusory; (4) the purported 12-month breakout time is ineffective, since, unless Iran breaks out openly, we will not even know when the clock begins,and months will go by while the U.S. debates internally what to do; and (5) Iran is permitted to continue work on long-range ballistic missiles that have no use other than eventual deployment of nuclear weapons.</blockquote>
Brutal. Absolutely brutal.Jeff Coxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04896694141148386531noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7375521992652820594.post-80490090866785561642015-07-27T22:11:00.002-04:002015-07-27T22:11:20.523-04:00In the words of Lando Calrissian"This deal is getting worse all the time." This Iran deal, that is. <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/obamas-secret-iran-deals-exposed/2015/07/27/26d14dbc-3460-11e5-8e66-07b4603ec92a_story.html">Marc Thiessen</a>:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
President Obama promised that his nuclear deal with Iran would not be “based on trust” but rather “unprecedented verification.” Now it turns out Obama’s verification regime is based on trust after all — trust in two secret side agreements negotiated exclusively between Iran and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) that apparently no one (including the Obama administration) has seen.<br />
Worse, Obama didn’t even reveal the existence of these secret side deals to Congress when he transmitted the nuclear accord to Capitol Hill. The agreements were uncovered, completely by chance, by two members of Congress — Rep. Mike Pompeo (R-Kan.) and Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) — who were in Vienna meeting with the U.N.-releated agency.<br />
In an interview, Pompeo told me that he and Cotton were meeting with the deputy director of the IAEA and the agency’s two top Iran negotiators just days after the nuclear accord was announced, when they asked how the agency will carry out verification at the Iranian military complex at Parchin. IAEA officials told them, quite casually, that the details were all covered in agreements negotiated between the IAEA and the Iranian government. It was the first they had heard of the side deals.<br />
Pompeo says they asked whether they could see those agreements. He says IAEA officials replied, “ ‘Oh no, of course not, no, you’re not going to get to see those.’ And so everybody on our side of the table asked, ‘Has Secretary Kerry seen these?’ ‘No, Secretary Kerry hasn’t seen them. No American is ever going to get to see them.’ ”<br />
It turns out that only the two parties — the IAEA and Iran — get to see the actual agreements (though you can see a picture of Iranian and IAEA officials holding up what appear to be the secret accords here).<br />
In other words, Obama is gambling our national security and handing over $150 billion in sanctions relief to Iran, based on secret agreements negotiated between the IAEA and Iran that no U.S. official has seen.<br />
“We need to see these documents in order to evaluate whether or not verification is ample to make such a big concession to the Iranians,” Pompeo says. “No member of Congress should be asked to vote on an agreement of this historic importance absent knowing what the terms of the verification process are.”<br />
In fact, the Obama administration’s failure to transmit these side deals to Congress is a violation of the law. The Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act, which Obama signed into law, explicitly states that the president must transmit the nuclear agreement along with “all related materials and annexes.” That clearly covers any side agreements covering the verification of Iran’s compliance.<br />
Susan Rice told reporters the administration “provided Congress with all of the documents that we drafted or were part of drafting and all documents shared with us by the IAEA.” Sorry, that’s not what the law requires.</blockquote>
Law, schmaw. Since when has Obama cared about obeying the law?<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
But the administration cannot hand over what it apparently does not have. For Pompeo, that raises even more troubling questions. “Why on earth is the president letting the negotiations [on verification] be negotiated by someone other than us?” he asks. How can it be that the administration would “do a deal with the world’s largest state sponsor of terror, that’s spent its entire existence cheating, and we would sign off on a deal with them whose core provisions are completely unknown to our side? It’s remarkable.”</blockquote>
Elizabeth Price Foley at Instapundit has <a href="http://pjmedia.com/instapundit/211401/">a word for it</a>:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Cutting a nuclear deal with <a href="http://www.voanews.com/content/iran_is_leading_state_sponsor_of_terrorism_again/1452064.html">Iran, the world’s largest state sponsor of terrorism</a>, without either realizing or revealing that there are “side deals” with the IAEA is <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/1861/01/25/news/treason-against-the-united-states.html">treasonous</a>. Members of Congress who now vote to support it without knowing the full terms of these side deals are likewise traitors.</blockquote>
Careful, Professor Foley. Talk like that might get you called "uncivil." Then again, what else could you call it?Jeff Coxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04896694141148386531noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7375521992652820594.post-62103966312024020792015-07-27T21:53:00.004-04:002015-07-27T21:53:42.359-04:00Stopping the Iran dealMichael Ledeen has an idea for <a href="http://pjmedia.com/michaelledeen/2015/07/27/how-to-defeat-the-grand-bargain/?singlepage=true">a PR campaign to stop this abomination</a> Obama and Kerry have negotiated with the Iranian mullahs:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
I think most of those trying to stop the approval of the Iran Deal are going about it wrong. I don’t believe you can stop this thing by going through the text and pointing out its myriad flaws, nor do I think it’s good enough to expose the many lies Obama, Kerry, Rhodes et. al. told us along the way, nor even to uncover secret deals. Kerry and Zarif spent 27 hours alone during the negotiations, and we’re not going to get a transcript of those conversations, nor will either of them tell us what they may have agreed. And even if they did, I don’t think it would produce enough public political rage to stiffen the wobbly spines of our elected leaders.<br />The critics are quite right for the most part: it’s an awful agreement, the administration has behaved abominably, and the deal should be rejected. I’m just talking about the best way to do it, the best tactics to use. Obama understands how to do it: reduce the issue to a simple choice. He does that when he says that Congress must either approve the Grand Bargain or plunge the Middle East–or is it the world?–into war.<br />We should answer it: Iran has been at war with us for 36 years, and this deal–the latest of its kind–gives Iran lots of money to kill even more Americans. Indeed, we’ve been doing it for quite a while.<br />In a single phrase: the war is already ON, and we’re paying the Iranians to kill us. You want to pay them even more? Apparently that’s what Obama wants.<br />That’s the essence of the matter, but we’re all wrapped up in on-site inspections, complicated annexes and a steady flow of information that’s been withheld from us. That won’t work. Just stick to the one-liner. Americans don’t like our guys getting murdered by Iranians and their proxies, and we don’t like being shaken down by our own killers.<br />Remember when comrade Lenin remarked that the capitalists would eventually buy the rope and supply it to their hangman? Well here we are.</blockquote>
Let's repeat the key phrase here:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Iran has been at war with us for 36 years, and this deal–the latest of its kind–gives Iran lots of money to kill even more Americans. Indeed, we’ve been doing it for quite a while.<br />In a single phrase: the war is already ON, and we’re paying the Iranians to kill us. You want to pay them even more? Apparently that’s what Obama wants.</blockquote>
Of course, those of us who have been paying attention are well aware Iran has been at war with us for 36 years. That's why we oppose this deal. Those who have not been paying attention tend to support this deal, and, in fact, negotiated it.<br />
<br />
Shout this loud and long, far and wide. This deal must be stopped.<br />
<br />Jeff Coxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04896694141148386531noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7375521992652820594.post-53049996578324349532015-07-27T21:34:00.003-04:002015-07-27T21:34:45.348-04:00Coming soon to AmericaThe Islamic Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice. It is in France already:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Social networks across France responded angrily to the news a 21-year-old woman was beaten up by a gang of girls and young women for the crime of wearing a bikini in a park. Authorities are yet to have identified the attackers but <i>The Independent</i> reports commentators assume they were Muslims.<br />According to police the young victim was sunbathing with two friends in the Parc Léo Lagrange in Reims, northern France, last Wednesday when one of her five female attackers verbally abused her for “immorally” exposing so much flesh in a public place. The sunbather shouted back at which point the other girls and young women moved in, slapping and punching her.<br />Passers-by intervened to protect the badly bruised victim.<br />The attackers, aged 16 to 24, were soon arrested. The three oldest were remanded to appear in court in September, the remaining two girls, aged 16 and 17, face further questioning.<br />Authorities have not named the assailants but have said they all come from housing estates with large Muslim populations. Although police told L’Union newspaper that the victim was unable to confirm her assailants were motivated by “religious opinions”, bloggers in France have cited the incident as the latest example of the radical Islamic threat to French values.</blockquote>
If my visit to France last month is any indication, the French are far from being the "rude, cheese-eating surrender monkeys" we Americans usually believe them to be. Far from it. The response to this incident gives us more evidence of French backbone. First we have the Mayor of Reims:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
The mayor of Reims, Arnaud Robinet, said: “We have to be very careful not to jump to conclusions. All the same, I can understand why people have assumed that this attack had religious motives. If that turns out to be the case, it is a very serious incident.</blockquote>
This is far more intelligent than what we usually get here in the US these days: remember that they still consider the motive for the attack at the Chattanooga recruiting office "unknown" and seem at great pains to avoid acknowledging even the possibility of an Islamist element. Remember, too, the "workplace violence" at Fort Hood.<br />
<br />
But there's more:<br />
<br />
In response to the attack a demonstration was organised. Wearing bikinis and other bathing costumes protesters rallied in the park where the beating took place.<br />
<br />
Faced with drizzle and cold winds only small number showed up, but across France hundreds responded to a Twitter appeal by the anti-racist organisation SOS Racisme to post images of themselves or others wearing skimpy bathing costumes in public places using the hashtag ‘#jeportemonmaillotauparcleo’ (I wear my swimsuit in Park Leo).<br />
<br />
One <a href="https://twitter.com/LorineTinti/status/625688375656345600/photo/1">Lorine</a> (@LorineTinti) has a particularly note-worthy tweet:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxrJD5tB3_vb38OQpQcEejYHOzguchyNYUt1c1aFeyWxYMon0eW9-OOCfPyJhDYsoBBhR5bp5lsPSNdhN92aQjxFKdcoXAbBLTm-u0RW2SdUVCLIRNPfS4jcYjvEgJb5AI3OBC9XS70112/s1600/Lorine.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxrJD5tB3_vb38OQpQcEejYHOzguchyNYUt1c1aFeyWxYMon0eW9-OOCfPyJhDYsoBBhR5bp5lsPSNdhN92aQjxFKdcoXAbBLTm-u0RW2SdUVCLIRNPfS4jcYjvEgJb5AI3OBC9XS70112/s640/Lorine.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
#jeportemonmaillotauParcLeo #peaceandlovelesgars #bisousbisous </blockquote>
Good for her.<br />
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Not to be outdone, <a href="https://twitter.com/GregoryHerpe69/status/625682894917357568/photo/1">Grégory Herpe Photo</a> (@GregoryHerpe69) comes back with a message of defiance:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
#jeportemonmaillotauParcLeo ! La France est un pays libre. Les femmes y sont libres. ça te gêne? Change de pays. </blockquote>
Which translates to:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
“France is a free country. Women there are free. It annoys you? Change country.” </blockquote>
<a href="http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2015/07/morality-police-come-to-france.php">John Hinderaker</a> at Power Line ominously adds: "She probably has no idea how out of fashion that sentiment is with opinion elites in her country, and ours."<br />
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This is how they will operate: Islamists seeking to impose their version of <i>shari'a</i> law on non-Muslims through fear. We have already seen efforts at doing so in places like Minneapolis. We will see more of it in the days ahead until we come to grips with our barbaric enemy.Jeff Coxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04896694141148386531noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7375521992652820594.post-8240596513068579272015-07-27T20:39:00.000-04:002015-07-27T20:39:07.388-04:00The rope with which to nuke usGerman business interests helped <a href="http://legalinsurrection.com/2015/07/german-business-goals-played-key-role-in-iran-nuclear-deal/">drive the Iran nuclear deal</a>:
<br />
<blockquote>
Before the ink could barely dry on the Iran Deal, Germany’s Economy Minister Sigmar Garbiel flew to Tehran, making him the first leading Western figure to do so after the nuclear agreement was reached Vienna earlier this month.<br />Gabriel who is also Germany’s Vice-Chancellor met with Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani and other top Iranian leaders described the moods of the visit as “being with old friends.”<br />[...]<br />The German weekly Die Welt reported [translation by Legal Insurrection]:
<blockquote>
[Not just in streets of Tehran] but also in German board rooms there was great elation over the [Iran] deal: The German economy is electrified at the prospect of again doing business with the Islamic country. German Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DIHK) (…) estimates that German exports to Iran could be doubled to €5 billion in coming two years.</blockquote>
Another leading trade body, the Federation of German Industry (BDI), is even more bullish on Iran and foresees the trade volume cross the €10 billion-mark in next few years. Eric Schweitzer, DIHK-President told Die Welt that as far as the German business goes, “the doors [in Tehran] are very, very wide open”. Industry players in Germany are counting on the great prestige attached to the “Made in Germany” label in Iran–which is synonymous with high-quality and reliability.<br />The clerics in Tehran could not agree more with German industry’s assessment.<br />Could we soon expect Iranian Regime using “reliable” German construction cranes to hang dissidents and homosexuals – having been forced to make do with other substandard options for far too long?</blockquote>Jeff Coxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04896694141148386531noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7375521992652820594.post-87929952824635279562015-07-24T22:41:00.002-04:002015-07-24T23:15:54.880-04:00Required reading but missing the point<a href="http://www.the-american-interest.com/2015/07/22/focusing-on-the-bigger-picture/">Paul Bracken</a> in <i>The American Interest</i>. Here's the intro:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Commentary on the agreement with Iran has focused too much on the “art of the deal” and how it was struck. The real focus should be on the long-term consequences for nuclear proliferation in the Middle East.</blockquote>
This is a great piece as far as it goes -- with one critical exception. I'll give you Bracken's take in this extended excerpt (emphasis mine):<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
The Iran agreement is one development in this long process. It’s like negotiating an end to a long war where each side gets to keep its forces intact. Here, the “war” is the American-led effort to prevent Iran’s atomic bomb. A “surrender” was never accepted by Iran, in the agreement itself or in the behavior that surrounds it. It wasn’t a strategic surrender of its bomb program in the sense that Iran has foresworn nuclear weapons. At best it was a tactical surrender of those parts of it, like old centrifuges, that leaders thought they could shed without too much political loss at home. In sum, Iran’s residual nuclear capability is largely untouched.<br />
Ending the Vietnam War was hardly settled once the United States signed an agreement in Paris with the government of North Vietnam. The agreement didn’t terminate the war—far from it. Rather, the Paris peace accord was an important development that shaped what followed. What was critical then is what’s critical now. North Vietnam wasn’t required to stand down any of its forces. They remained in place. This gave Hanoi freedom of action to exploit the post-Paris peace agreement situation. Hanoi never agreed to abandon its long-term goal of conquering South Vietnam, and that’s exactly what they did over the next two years.<br />
There’s a more general lesson here. Instead of focusing on what is agreed to in a document, we need to focus on the surviving capability that was central to the conflict in the first place. If that capability remains, the details over verification and implementation of any agreement are radically changed, because the side with it has the power to use its residual capability to wreck the deal, or dance around the edges to change it, alter its scope, or any of a number of other strategies.<br />
Iran has only accepted an armistice—a tactical, temporary suspension of some aspects of its nuclear program. It retains a capability to conduct other parts of its atomic program openly. Iran’s nuclear technology system has not been reduced, let alone dismantled. The knowhow, organizational structures, staffs, and systems (for example, advanced centrifuges and missiles) remain essentially intact.<br />
<span class="dropcap1">L</span>et’s put Iran’s residual nuclear program in the Middle East context. Iran’s Sunni rivals, such as Saudi Arabia and the UAE, are organizing against it. These rivals have a lot of money, and they’ve recently crossed a major escalation threshold, using military force in Bahrain and Yemen. Even Israel has joined this coalition in a <em>de facto</em> way.<br />
Nearby, a civil war in Syria has reached brutal levels of violence. Yet it goes on, putting paid to arguments that large-scale war is some kind of obsolete or improbable development. Some 300,000 people killed with all manner of outside states and subnational groups intervening for their own narrow purpose. That the result is apparent stalemate, or that many of the interventions look ill conceived, doesn’t change the fact that Iran can easily see something like this happening to them. Especially for Iran, this is an important fear; Iran suffered large-scale chemical warfare attack in its war with Iraq in the 1980s. I have yet to meet any Iranian who doesn’t believe that this was at least tacitly approved of by the United States and Israel.<br />
Finally, U.S. military capability is not appreciably any less than it was a few years ago. The United States is trying to get out of the area in terms of its deployed forces in theater. But the whole shift to maritime and cyber power in announced American plans points to exerting military force from a distance and from off shore.<br />
Absent some deterrent, the United States can destroy a large part of Iran’s military, opening it up to the kind of catastrophe Syria is now suffering. This really would shut down Iran’s nuclear program if it happened. The point here isn’t to make the case that the Middle East is a dangerous place. Everyone knows that. It’s to make the point that Iran’s residual nuclear program exists in this strategic environment.<br />
Two conclusions follow from this. First, no amount of negotiating skill on the West’s part was going to alter this strategic environment. No personal relations between negotiators could reverse the strategic realities that Iran faces. That members of the two teams went to MIT and swapped gifts for their grandchildren is all very nice. But it doesn’t come close to altering Iran’s dangerous situation.<br />
Second,<b><i> even if the mullahs were to pass from the scene, Iran’s strategic situation doesn’t change.</i></b> I would say that even the disestablishment of the Iranian Guards wouldn’t make a difference. The Iranian state needs something to keep the forces of chaos at bay. It has a nuclear capability because it did everything in its power to build it—in the face of an economic siege, cyber attack, targeted killing of its scientists, and the P5+1 negotiations.<br />
Iran isn’t going to give this capability up easily; moreover, no side promise from the United States or others that they will not strong arm Iran if they do give up their nuclear effort is likely to carry much weight in Tehran.</blockquote>
This is the big problem that advocates of negotiations with Iran, including those who somehow draw a moral equivalency between the US and Iran, fail to understand, perhaps willfully -- and Bracken, while not advocating the deal, makes the same mistake: the issue is not <i>Iran</i> having nuclear weapons so much as the Iranian <i>mullahs</i> having nuclear weapons.<br />
<br />
This is a huge distinction. You cannot treat the mullahcratic government the same way you would treat, say, a secular parliamentary government. This is not Austria getting nukes. The issue in the 1930s was not so much Germany getting the Wehrmacht but Hitler controlling that Wehrmacht.<br />
<br />
The mullahs want regional hegemony based on Shari'a law arising out of Shia Islam -- and an interpretation of Islam that has an apocalyptic element to it -- that is not in the interest of the US. The mullahs have acted in furtherance of that goal, including support for Hezbo'allah, Hamas, Shi'ite rebels in Iraq who fought US troops, and others. That hegemony includes removal of Israel. This is not a rational strategic goal, but a religious goal. Remember that historically the Persians and Jews have had good relations -- it was Cyrus the Great who ended the Babylonian Captivity, after all. Iran was not in the thrall of Arab Nationalism because Iran is not Arab; it is Persian.<br />
<br />
Note that Iran had good relations with Israel until 1979; when the mullahs took power Iran immediately became a sworn enemy of Israel intent on its destruction. Iran's strategic outlook ever since has driven largely by the interests of the mullahs, not the country as a whole.<br />
<br />
That means Iran is not the problem; the mullahs are. To solve the problem, one must remove the mullahs from the equation.The US could have argued that Iran can have nukes, but the mullahs cannot. But in yet another testament to the stupidity of the Obama administration and his laughably-named "national security" team, Obama refused to aid the 2009 Green Revolution in its goal of the removal of the mullahs.<br />
<br />
This agreement does nothing to advance peace in the Middle East because there can be no peace as long as the mullahs are in power. They will not allow it until they get what they want. In fact, it makes a nuclear attack by the mullahs more likely -- one to which the US would have difficulty responding.<br />
<br />
How? All the mullahs have to do is slip a nuke to one of their terrorist proxies like Hezbo'allah. Hezbo'allah already has agents in the US. Detonate the nuke. The mullahs celebrate it but do not accept responsibility. And idiots like John Kerry and Barbara Boxer will argue that without proof beyond a reasonable doubt, the US could not retaliate in kind.<br />
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That was the threat in Iraq with Saddam Hussein, a threat the leftists never acknowledged. And that is the threat from the Iranian mullahs, a threat they still do not acknowledge.<br />
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Because they trust pieces of paper.<br />
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This is what you get when you have idiots running your foreign policy establishment, like we do now.<br />
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And ultimately we will all pay the price for the stupidity of people who should have known better but willfully refused to learn.Jeff Coxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04896694141148386531noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7375521992652820594.post-67277192962968898422015-07-24T21:59:00.002-04:002015-07-24T21:59:51.580-04:00Intelligence is in short supply here.<a href="http://hotair.com/archives/2015/07/23/corker-to-kerry-dude-you-got-fleeced-by-the-mullahs/">Bob Corker tells John Kerry "You've been fleeced" by the Iranian mullahs</a>:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
It all started off so well for Secretary of State John Kerry. At the beginning of his testimony before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee about the deal he crafted with Iran, Kerry got a hero’s welcome from a group of observers to the hearing. Granted, it was from the deep thinkers of Code Pink, but you gotta take what you can get, amirite?<br />Kerry told the committee that he could guarantee this deal would prevent Iran from developing a nuclear weapon during the term of the agreement, which prompted chair Bob Corker (R-TN) to reply, "You’ve been fleeced[.]"</blockquote>
Corker was not the only one. Senator James Risch (R-ID) said "With all due respect, you guys have been bamboozled and the American people are going to pay."<br />
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DUH!</div>
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Kerry did have some defenders, though. <a href="http://pjmedia.com/tatler/2015/07/23/kerry-fleeced-and-bamboozled-senators-tell-him-boxer-calls-them-insulting/">Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA)</a>:</div>
<div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
“I support the right of my colleagues to say anything they want, but you’ve sat there and you’ve heard two of my colleagues go after you with words that I am going to repeat. You were fleeced, one said. The other said you have been bamboozled,” she said.<br />“So putting aside the fact that I think that’s disrespectful and insulting, it — that’s their right to do. There are other ways to express your disagreement, but that goes to the — your core as a human being and your intelligence, and I think you are highly intelligent.”<br />Boxer then added, “My colleagues think that you were fleeced, that you were bamboozled, that means everybody was fleeced and bamboozled, everybody, almost everybody in the world.”</blockquote>
</div>
<div>
That Barbara Boxer thinks you are "highly intelligent" is ... not much of an endorsement. When Kerry was in the Senate, Boxer might have been the only senator dumber than he was. Now that Kerry has become the Single Dumbest Senior Government Official since - at least - the horse the Emperor Caligula made Roman consul, Boxer now takes the top spot in the Senate.</div>
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<br /></div>
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Of course, Corker himself is a bit of <a href="http://ace.mu.nu/archives/358030.php">an expert in getting fleeced</a>:</div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Oh, <i>Kerry</i> got fleeced? Because I thought a bunch of dumbass, sell-out, go-along-to-get-along Republican Senators got fleeced by Obama and Kerry into approving this treaty before it was even finished.<br />So now we're in the "I just can't believe the outrageous things I already voted for" phase of the Failure Theater performance.</blockquote>
<i>This public service message has been brought to you by the makers of sodium pentothal, who remind you that "The truth hurts."</i>Jeff Coxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04896694141148386531noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7375521992652820594.post-22264942837443681962015-06-19T15:17:00.004-04:002015-06-19T15:17:44.659-04:00Did Ebola doom Periclean Athens?Unfortunately timed plagues can have a major effect on history. The so-called <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plague_of_Justinian">Plague of Justinian</a> in the 6th century -- now believed to have been bubonic plague -- killed some 40 percent of the population of Constantinople, a quarter of the population of the Eastern Mediterranean, and permanently crippled Roman military power, effectively ending Emperor Justinian's efforts to recapture the Western Roman Empire and leaving the Romans vulnerable to the Muslim invasions a century later. The catalyst for release of the plague is believed to have been the so-called <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extreme_weather_events_of_535%E2%80%93536">Climate Crisis of the 6th Century</a>, in which most of the earth suffered from unseasonable weather, causing crop failures and famines worldwide. The political effects were devastating, leading to the fall of Teotihuacan, Sassanid Persia, and the Gupta Empire, among others, and the rise of Islam. <div>
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Another plague that had a major effect on history was <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plague_of_Athens">The Plague of Athens in 430 BC</a>. Just as Athens was getting the upper hand in the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peloponnesian_War">Peloponnesian War</a>, Athens was crippled by this plague. The city was made more vulnerable by the overcrowding caused by refugees fleeing Spartan troops in the Attic countryside. Athens lost one-third to two-thirds of its population, including its best general <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pericles">Pericles</a> and both of his sons. Athens never fully recovered from this plague, and went on to lose the Peloponnesian War. </div>
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This plague has never been identified. Now, one researcher believes it was none other than the <a href="http://www.livescience.com/51236-ebola-strike-ancient-athens.html">Ebola virus</a>:</div>
<blockquote>
Could the first recorded Ebola outbreak have occurred not in Africa less than 40 years ago, but rather, more than 2,400 years ago, in ancient Greece? That's what one professor of infectious diseases and history now suggests.<br />[...]<br />In the new paper, (University of Michigan history and infectious diseases Professor Powel) Kazanjian suggests that an Ebola virus may have been the culprit in the infamous Plague of Athens, a five-year epidemic that began in 430 B.C., whose cause has long been a matter of conjecture among physicians and historians. The famed historian Thucydides, who chronicled the Peloponnesian War between the rival city-states of Athens and Sparta, was not only an eyewitness to the Athenian disease, but also contracted it himself and survived.<br />"The Athenian epidemic in 430 B.C. has had a fascinating attraction for researchers of communicable diseases for a long period of time," said William Schaffner, a professor of preventive medicine and infectious diseases at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Tennessee.<br />The Athenian illness, also called Thucydides syndrome, began with an abrupt onset of fever, headache, fatigue, and pain in the stomach and extremities, accompanied by furious vomiting. Those who survived after seven days of illness also experienced severe diarrhea. Additional symptoms included reddened eyes, hiccups and bleeding from the mouth. Stricken individuals also sometimes experienced cough, seizures, confusion, rashes, pustules, ulcers, and even loss of fingers and toes, possibly due to gangrene.<br />As the disease progressedin those afflicted, Thucydides noted that people became so dehydrated that some plunged themselves into wells in futile attempts to quench their unceasing thirst. The disease often ended in death, typically by day seven to nine of the illness. Medical treatment was useless against the disease's severity and bleak outcome.<br />"Thucydides' vivid description allows present-day historians and clinicians to speculate about the cause of prior epidemics and the historical roots of our epidemics we know about today," Kazanjian said.<br />The Athenian disease began south of Egypt in a region Thucydides called "Aethiopia," a term that ancient Greeks used to refer to regions in sub-Saharan Africa, where modern Ebola outbreaks have occurred, Kazanjian said. In the ancient world, sub-Saharan Africans migrated to Greece to work as farmers or servants, thereby providing a potential human vector for Ebola.<br />Kazanjian argued that the symptoms, mortality rate and origin in sub-Saharan Africa that characterize the Plague of Athens are consistent with what is known about Ebola. He added that physicians were among the first victims of the Athenian disease in Thucydides' account, just as modern health care workers have proven especially vulnerable to Ebola, with nearly 500 dying from the virus in the current outbreak as of January, according to the World Health Organization.<br />"Diseases like Ebola, which we sometimes lump into the category of a new or emerging disease, may actually be much older than we realize," Kazanjian said. His paper was published June 1 in the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases.<br />A number of other possible causes of Thucydides syndrome have been suggested over the years, including typhus, smallpox, measles, anthrax, the bubonic plague and toxic shock syndrome. Kazanjian argued that no other disease matches the features of the Athenian disease as well as Ebola does; however, he said, "my study does not answer this question definitively. …<br />The actual cause remains elusive, he said."<br />"We may never know what caused the Athenian epidemic," said Schaffner, who did not take part in Kazanjian's paper. "I think it's a bit far-fetched that the plague of Athens was Ebola, but I think it's great fun that new people have become engaged in what I call studious speculation of the subject."</blockquote>
Jeff Coxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04896694141148386531noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7375521992652820594.post-60512956588308712772015-06-15T14:09:00.004-04:002015-06-15T14:09:40.428-04:00Why are we losing to ISIS?As Ralph Peters explains, <a href="http://nypost.com/2015/06/14/were-losing-to-isis-because-we-have-no-strength-of-will-to-fight-it/">"We’re losing to ISIS because Obama has no will to fight."</a><br />
<br />
Of course not. Obama knows ISIS is the enemy of America and, indeed, all of Western Civilization. But they are not <i>his</i> enemy, and that's the only thing that matters to him.Jeff Coxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04896694141148386531noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7375521992652820594.post-6900306565318335092015-06-15T14:06:00.001-04:002015-06-15T14:06:10.085-04:00Still think Edward Snowden is a hero?Thanks to him, the US and British overseas spy network has been <a href="http://www.thesundaytimes.co.uk/sto/news/uk_news/National/article1568673.ece">effectively destroyed</a>:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Russia and China have cracked the top-secret cache of files stolen by the fugitive US whistleblower Edward Snowden, forcing MI6 to pull agents out of live operations in hostile countries, according to senior officials in Downing Street, the Home Office and the security services.<br />Western intelligence agencies say they have been forced into the rescue operations after Moscow gained access to more than 1m classified files held by the former American security contractor, who fled to seek protection from Vladimir Putin, the Russian president, after mounting one of the largest leaks in US history.<br />Senior government sources confirmed that China had also cracked the encrypted documents, which contain details of secret intelligence techniques and information that could allow British and American spies to be identified.</blockquote>
<a href="http://pjmedia.com/instapundit/208546/">Instapundit</a> quotes an earlier report from <i>The Guardian</i>:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
MI6, Britain’s Secret Intelligence Service, has withdrawn agents from overseas operations because Russian security services had broken into encrypted files held by American computer analyst Snowden. . . .<br />The files held by Snowden were encrypted, but now British officials believe both countries have hacked into the files, according to the report.<br />The newspaper quotes a series of anonymous sources from Downing Street, the Home Office and British intelligence saying that the documents contained intelligence techniques and information that would enable foreign powers to identify British and American spies. . . .<br />A “senior Home Office source” was also quoted by the newspaper, saying: “Putin didn’t give him asylum for nothing. His documents were encrypted but they weren’t completely secure and we have now seen our agents and assets being targeted.”<br />The Sunday Times also quoted a “British intelligence source” saying that Russian and Chinese officials would be examining Snowden’s material for “years to come”.<br />“Snowden has done incalculable damage,” the intelligence source reportedly said. “In some cases the agencies have been forced to intervene and lift their agents from operations to prevent them from being identified and killed.”</blockquote>
Yup. A real hero, that Snowden. Like John Walker. And Julius and Ethel Rosenberg. And Benedict Arnold.Jeff Coxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04896694141148386531noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7375521992652820594.post-20931458611548417722015-06-15T13:38:00.003-04:002015-06-15T13:38:23.094-04:00George Orwell's Junior Anti-Sex LeagueApparently has at least two members, law professors Stephen Schulhofer and Erin Murphy, who are unfortunately on the American Law Institute's team for drafting the Model Penal Code. <a href="http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/has-the-federal-govt-ever-had-sex/article/2565963">Ashe Schow:</a><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
The act of sex is not illegal. But if two members of the American Law Institute have their way, it will be — unless you follow their rules.<br />Law professors Stephen J. Schulhofer and Erin Murphy are trying to update the criminal code when it comes to sex offenses, believing current definitions of rape and sexual assault are antiquated. The focus of their draft is on what constitutes consent. It adopts the "yes means yes," or "affirmative consent" model that was passed in California last year.<br />The California law applies only to college campuses, however. Schulhofer and Murphy aim to take that definition of consent — which says that before every escalation of a sexual encounter, clear and convincing consent must be given — to the state or federal level. No one actually has sex this way, requesting permission and having it granted perhaps a dozen times in a single encounter.<br />But the theory that millions of Americans are having sex wrongly has gained currency among campus activists. This new attempt to alter the American Law Institute's Model Penal Code, a highly influential document that has been adopted in whole or in part by many states' legislatures, is part of a push to bring authoritarianism into the bedroom.<br />Schulhofer and Murphy do not intend to make sexual intercourse impossible to construe as an innocent act. But this would be the consequence of their draft. Any act of sex in which permission is not repeatedly requested and granted would put at least one of the parties, usually men, in legal jeopardy. Absent the repeated "May I…?" and affirmative responses, any woman could later have her partner locked up over unexpressed mental reservations. Men could make the same accusations.<br />No one who opposes this legal change argues that consent is unnecessary. But the "yes means yes" standard is so stringent that it would criminalize millions of Americans overnight unless no one reports them.</blockquote>
Think this could never happen? Think again.<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
The American Law Institute was founded in 1923 "to promote the clarification and simplification of the law and its better adaptation to social needs, to secure the better administration of justice, and to encourage and carry on scholarly and scientific legal work," according to its charter. It is a consequential organization. The Institute's Model Penal Code of 1962 was adopted almost entirely in New Jersey, New York and Oregon, with nearly two-thirds of the states using at least some portion of it.<br />So, Schulhofer and Murphy want to change an important document.<br />The two presented their first draft of a new model penal code for sexual offenses to the Institute's 2014 annual meeting. Members discussed the draft vigorously. Because the discussion ran out of time, the draft was referred back to Schulhofer and Murphy for reworking.<br />They presented a reworked draft at ALI's 2015 annual meeting in Washington, D.C. It was dated April 28, just three weeks before the meeting on May 19. Schulhofer and Murphy were criticized for providing the draft so close to the meeting, giving lawyers limited time to read and analyze its 250 pages. But the "reworked" draft is actually just a reorganized version of the 2014 draft, with hardly any changes.<br />This made it easy for opponents to produce an opposition letter with 22 co-signers to pick the document apart. It also showed that Schulhofer and Murphy did not allow the feedback received in 2014 to affect their views.</blockquote>
The reality of their proposal is right out of Oceania.<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Opponents say the draft would further burden an already over-criminalized and over-incarcerated American public.<br />The opponents' letter provides this common and hypothetical encounter: "Person A and Person B are on a date and walking down the street. Person A, feeling romantically and sexually attracted, timidly reaches out to hold B's hand and feels a thrill as their hands touch. Person B does nothing, but six months later files a criminal complaint."<br />Under Schulhofer and Murphy's new rules, according to the opposition letter, Person A is guilty of "criminal sexual contact." That's because Section 213.0(5) of the draft "defines 'sexual contact' expansively, to include any touching of any body part of another person, whether done by the actor or by the person touched. Any kind of contact may qualify; there are no limits on either the body part touched or the manner in which it is touched."<br />Person A would be guilty of the act only if Person B filed a complaint, but therein lies a profound problem with Schulhofer and Murphy's draft. Everything is potentially a sexual assault unless done strictly according to their rules about obtaining prior consent to every action, no matter how innocuous, of every sexual encounter. There is no need to say "no." Without the presence of a prior "yes," the act is already an assault.<br />By this definition, millions of Americans — perhaps almost all sexually active people — become offenders. Previously, it was not thought necessary to ask verbally, "May I hold your hand?" or "May I kiss you now?," if a couple had been together for a while, or for months or years. It was recognized that either previous requests or implicit indications had given permission for a touch or a kiss. Men and women can and often do misread signals coming from someone to whom they are attracted, but it has not been thought appropriate to criminalize a touch or a kiss attempted in light of what seemed to be implicit assent.<br />Proponents of "affirmative consent" rules might argue that an explicit question is not necessary if there are proper social cues. But given the scope of the proposed definitions, the only safe way to be sure a person is consenting is to ask explicitly at every step of the sexual process. Thinking that a person "seemed into you" during a date would not be a strong enough social cue to presume the person wanted his or her hand held.<br />The law wouldn't apply only to first dates or similar new encounters, but would apply even in committed relationships. This means affirmative consent would be mandated for every sexual encounter, even to married couples. Given that divorce and custody cases frequently produce false accusations of child abuse, it's easy to imagine false accusations of sexual abuse proliferating if Schulhofer and Murphy's rules aren't followed every time a couple has sex.<br />Schulhofer and Murphy's draft makes clear "that when a complainant's behavior has been passive — neither expressly inviting nor rebuking the defendant's sexual advances, that behavior cannot be considered sufficient to show affirmative permission."<br />Silence and passivity could automatically be construed as unwillingness, and would make a "guilty" verdict far more likely. Indeed, Schulhofer and Murphy say this is what they want, writing in their draft that "the appropriate default position clearly is to err in the direction of protecting individuals against unwanted sexual imposition."<br />In other words, when in doubt, convict.</blockquote>
This idea is by itself horrifying. That it has come to so many college campuses -- including Ohio State, thanks to Michael Drake -- is an affront to any reasonable notion of human nature, justice and fair play.<br />
<br />
That drafters of the ALI's Model Penal Code want to make this the law shows just how far the rot in the legal profession has spread.Jeff Coxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04896694141148386531noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7375521992652820594.post-33216106890518737642015-05-11T12:46:00.003-04:002015-05-11T12:46:56.299-04:00Beautiful Ballerina Pic of the DayThe position of My Favorite Ballerina On Earth is spoken for, but Jacky Sabrina Rouillon has certainly gotten my attention with this pic from her Facebook page. Incredible beauty and grace. Merde and best wishes to you, Mlle. Rouillon.<br />
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<br />Jeff Coxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04896694141148386531noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7375521992652820594.post-56198942801580416062015-05-11T12:36:00.001-04:002015-05-11T12:36:32.529-04:00If they build it, I will comeThe Egyptian government has approved a plan to <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/egypt-wants-to-rebuild-the-lighthouse-of-alexandria-10238506.html">rebuild Alexandria's Pharos Lighthouse</a>:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Egypt is planning to rebuild one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World – the Lighthouse of Alexandria.<br />Standing at 137 metres tall, the Lighthouse was built in 280 BC and collapsed after a series of earthquakes in 1323. Now, Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities is in the process of approving plans to rebuild it.<br />Only after an in-depth look into what reconstructing the giant tower would consist of, were plans submitted, Dr Mostafa Amin from the Council told Egyptian newspaper Youm7.<br />Alexandria’s governor is now going to assess the plans and decide whether to give them final approval.<br />Also known as the Pharos Lighthouse, the Lighthouse of Alexandria was one of the world’s tallest structures for hundreds of years.</blockquote>
The influence of the Pharos Lighthouse, the ruins of which were located in Alexandria's eastern harbor in 1994, <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/egypt/11593130/Egypt-to-rebuild-Lighthouse-of-Alexandria-once-one-of-the-Seven-Wonders-of-the-World.html">continues to be far and wide</a>:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Lying for centuries on the sea bed, ruins from the Lighthouse of Alexandria were discovered by French archaeologists in 1994.<br />Jean-Yves Empereur, lead archaeologist, wrote at the time that he had found "columns of all sizes, in their hundreds, column bases and capitals, sphinxes, statues, and some immense blocks of granite which, given where they lie, certainly came from the famous lighthouse."<br />Experts said the importance of Alexandria's lighthouse lies with the far-reaching influence of its innovative architecture. Its distinctive tapering tiers have been influential in both Islamic and western styles of architecture, according to Dr Judith McKenzie, an archaeology lecturer of the University of Oxford and the author of Architecture of Alexandria.<br />"You still see that structure on church spires now if you look at any churches in London designed by Christopher Wren, and even minarets on the mosques of Cairo," she said. The word 'minaret' is derives from the Arabic for lighthouse.</blockquote>
Not just Arabic. According to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lighthouse_of_Alexandria">Wikipedia</a>:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Pharos became the etymological origin of the word 'lighthouse' in Greek (φάρος), Persian (Fānūs – فانوس), many Romance languages such as French (phare), Italian and Spanish (faro), Romanian (far) and Portuguese (farol), and even some Slavic languages like Bulgarian (far). In Russian, a derived word means "headlight" (fara – фара).</blockquote>
While Alexandria was the capital of Ptolemaic Egypt, it was the Pharos Lighthouse that was the real source of Alexandria's fame, and it continues to be the symbol of the city.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHDsbeASrae6sg8om55b5SzUIwzFrnGIx5JL2XRyzLvDTURySN2pgAu2sZRtfoG_xAdqYbhaJmU_4_IqrUKYcchy8cDRHoKXPQ-L2r1WcA1kH02YNBV0NVFtGaAu18-PfWFFvKYxTEyWIi/s1600/PHAROS2006.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHDsbeASrae6sg8om55b5SzUIwzFrnGIx5JL2XRyzLvDTURySN2pgAu2sZRtfoG_xAdqYbhaJmU_4_IqrUKYcchy8cDRHoKXPQ-L2r1WcA1kH02YNBV0NVFtGaAu18-PfWFFvKYxTEyWIi/s640/PHAROS2006.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">2006 computer reconstruction of Alexandria's Pharos Lighthouse. From <a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:PHAROS2006.jpg">Wikimedia Commons</a>.</td></tr>
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It has always been a source of mild resentment for me that the ruins of the Pharos Lighthouse were used to build the stupid Qaitbey fort that no one cares about. The fort is crumbling, but its continuing presence on the original foundations of the Lighthouse means the rebuilt Lighthouse will have to be constructed next to it.<br />
<br />
This will be a huge deal. I love Egypt, especially its pyramids (which are threatened by idiot Islamists) but I <i>really </i>love Ptolemaic Egypt. If this gets done, I will have to find a way to visit. Obama has certainly done little to help the people of Egypt, so it is up to us to do so.Jeff Coxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04896694141148386531noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7375521992652820594.post-68362151848698027762015-03-26T12:55:00.002-04:002015-03-26T12:55:58.829-04:00Not one brain among themThat is the most charitable description of Obama's laughably-named "national security" team -- himself, Valerie Jarrett, John Kerry, Susan Rice, Jen Psaki, etc. That one cannot scrape enough brain matter out of their skulls to come up with one actual, normal-sized, fully-functional brain. Latest evidence: the case of Bowe Bergdahl, which just keeps getting <a href="http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/03/25/everything-the-white-house-told-you-about-bowe-bergdahl-was-wrong.html">worse and worse</a>:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
In the space of nine months, he went from being heralded at the White House to facing prison for life.<br />On Wednesday, the U.S. military charged Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl, the former Taliban captive who was freed in exchange for five Guantanamo Bay detainees, with desertion and misbehaving before the enemy.<br />His capture, release and now charge became a parable of how narratives about the war in Afghanistan did not pan out. The soldier whose service Susan Rice, U.S. national security adviser, once characterized as “honorable” and whose release came at the price of five prisoners could now himself end up in an American prison for life. The prison exchange that some political operatives thought would be heralded was instead widely condemned. And the war that was supposed to be ending with no soldier left behind has now been extended for five months.<br />Bergdahl’s case will now go before an Article 32 hearing, the equivalent of a grand jury in civilian court, to determine how the case should proceed. While many soldiers in the U.S. military’s history have served long sentences for such crimes, many are highly dubious he will serve a life sentence. There is a sense that there is no interest in handing out a long sentence to a soldier who may not have passed muster had the nation not been so desperate for troops when he joined in 2007—the height of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.<br />That said, there are many in the military who remain tremendously angry at Bergdahl. They believe he was a deserter and that the five-year search for him endangered other troops. <br />Army Colonel Daniel King announced at a nationally televised press conference out of Fort Bragg, North Carolina, that Bergdahl was charged with one count of desertion and one count of misbehavior before the enemy—“endangering the safety of a command, unit, or place.” The former carries a maximum five-year penalty, the reduction of rank down to private, the forfeiture of all military compensation, and a dishonorable discharge. The latter could result in the same punishment—plus a life-in-prison sentence.<br />Bergdahl, who turns 29 years-old Saturday, disappeared in June 2009 from Paktika province in eastern Afghanistan while serving as a private from the 25th Infantry Division. The U.S. military devoted an enormous amount of resources in the search for him, particularly after videos appeared showing in in custody. In addition, his family and their hometown of Hailey, Idaho, fought to keep attention on Bergdahl’s case. In May 2014, Bergdahl was released in exchange for five Taliban members held at Guantanamo Bay who were subsequently transferred to Qatari custody for a year.<br />President Obama made the announcement of Bergdahl’s release in a Rose Garden ceremony flanked by Bergdahl’s parents, even as the circumstances of his disappearance were shrouded in uncertainty and charges that he abandoned his post and troops. Politically, the administration celebrated negotiating his release after years of failed bids by both the current and former administration, at least one attempted escape by Bergdahl and countless patrols searching for him. Photos released by the White House showed the president walking arm-in-arm with Bergdahl’s parents. Many called the timing key as many hoped the U.S. was winding down its war in Afghanistan.<br />But the political benefits and the timing of the war both proved incorrect. The president faced immediate backlash for heralding a soldier suspected of abandoning his post. That was only further fueled when, in a June 2014 interview with CNN, Rice said Bergdahl served with “honor and distinction.”</blockquote>
But will Obama admit his mistake here? <a href="http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2015/03/26/bergdahl-to-be-charged-with-desertion-official-says/">Of course not:</a><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
The incoming White House communications director defended the decision to trade Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl for five Taliban leaders last year, even as newly announced desertion charges for Bergdahl renewed Republican criticism of the prisoner swap.<br />"Was it worth it? Absolutely," Jen Psaki told Megyn Kelly on Fox News' "The Kelly File." "We have a commitment to our men and women serving in the military, defending our national security every day, that we're going to do everything to bring them home if we can, and that's what we did in this case."<br />Psaki's comments were the first from a top administration official since the charges were announced earlier Wednesday. </blockquote>
Meanwhile, the five Taliban commanders released in exchange for Bergdahl have been <a href="http://www.newsweek.com/taliban-leaders-are-living-luxury-qatar-316122">living in luxury in Qatar </a>and even trying to make connections with the Taliban again.<br />
<br />
Not one brain among them. Patterico is <a href="http://patterico.com/2015/03/25/sgt-bowe-bergdahl-to-face-charges/">demanding an apology from the White House</a> for smearing Bergdahl's accusers as liars and psychopaths. Right. Like that's going to happen.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2015/03/the-bergdahl-deception.php">Scott Johnson:</a><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Obama secured Bergdahl’s release in exchange for five of the worst Taliban officials detained at Guantanamo. At least some of them will resume their sinister activities shortly if they have not done so already. Coming as they do in the context of the final stages of the deal in process with Iran, the charges cast a wider illumination.<br />Congress was cut out of the deal; Obama declined to provide Congress the legally required notification to which it was entitled in connection with the release of the detainees.<br />As a “deal,” the exchange was pathetic. We gave up five former Taliban commanders and officials for a deserter whose desertion aided the enemy. The trade served as a pretext for otherwise indefensible actions in furtherance of Obama’s misguided mission to close Gitmo.<br />The war was supposedly over, except it’s not, and we were obligated to do anything necessary to bring Bergdahl home, even if he deserted, except we weren’t. Is there any precedent vindicating the supposed principle cited for the Bergdahl deal? Neither Obama nor Rice cited one. It remains a bad deal wrapped in deceitful rhetoric and a complete humiliation of the United States<br />Recalling Obama’s and Rice’s praise of the deal, we see that they are willing to say anything in defense of a bad cause. We already knew that, but there is much more to come.</blockquote>
<a href="http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2015/03/26/obamas_bergdahl_fairytale_has_unhappy_ending_126054.html">Tom Bevan:</a><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Far from serving with honor and distinction, Bergdahl was charged with desertion and misbehavior before the enemy. The charges carry a maximum sentence of life in military prison.<br />Perhaps that’s what’s really going on here: The military brass wants to correct the record, at least the one created by Obama and Susan Rice. If that’s what is going on, the Army’s legal system will sort out the excesses, if there were any. But more is at stake than political reputations.<br />In the ensuing 10 months since their release, we’ve learned that at least one of the five prisoners remanded to Qatar from Guantanamo Bay as part of the original swap has been caught making phone calls to the Taliban.<br />Qatar’s “strict monitoring” of the Taliban 5—if it ever really existed—is set to expire this spring, effectively allowing them to roam free. Lt. Gen. Vincent Stewart, director of the Defense Intelligence Agency, told the House Armed Services Committee earlier this year that there is “very little” his agency can do to prevent them from returning to the battlefield and trying to kill American soldiers.<br />So, far from the fairy tale of a hero’s homecoming that President Obama tried to spin for the American people that Saturday morning 10 months ago, this story doesn’t have a happy ending for America. In his effort to empty the Gitmo detainee facility, the president traded five hard-core terrorists for a man who now stands officially accused of abandoning his fellow soldiers. He very may well be court-martialed and spend a good deal of his life behind bars. It’s the Taliban 5 who, beginning in just a few short weeks, get to live happily ever after. </blockquote>
<a href="http://www.redstate.com/2015/03/26/insane-defense-bergdahl-swap/">Leon Wolf:</a><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Psaki refuses to answer two critical questions that Kelly repeatedly posed to her – 1) did Obama know at the time of the swap that substantial questions existed about whether Bergdahl was a deserter, and 2) what alternate methods were considered to get Bergdahl back other than trading away five high value prisoners?<br />These questions go to the very heart of this particular controversy in terms of evaluating whether what the Obama administration did was wise or displayed good judgment – especially important questions given that the Bergdahl swap was unquestionably illegal. The facial bluster the Obama administration resorts to is that, as an American soldier, Bergdahl was entitled to have the United States do literally anything to get him back. However, when pressed on the point, even the perpetually clueless Psaki realizes that the American public has a concrete belief that Audie Murphy would have been entitled to a more strenuous effort at recover than, well.. than Bowe Bergdahl.<br />And second, it isn’t true that the government would have done literally anything to get Bergdahl back. Presumably, if his captors had demanded a nuclear weapon for his release, even the Obama administration would have demurred. So it follows that at some point, a cost-benefit analysis has to be engaged in during the course of these swaps that must of course include the possibility or probability that what we are trading away might ultimately be used against us in war in the future.<br />These are the sorts of factors any reasonable person would want to evaluate when determining the exact level of stupidity that infested the Obama administration’s decision-making process with respect to Bowe Bergdahl. And moreover, it is the kind of information to which Congress was legally entitled before the swap took place so that they could have conferred with the Administration to ensure that they knew about the concerns that Bergdahl was a deserter and evaluated whether the price given up for Bergdahl was too high.<br />The fact that the Obama administration continues to stonewall on these points, in addition to their illegal refusal to consult with Congress before the swap, lends credence to the theory set forth by Kelly which the Administration pretends to pooh pooh – that the Administration actually wanted these particular detainees set free, and viewed their release as a feature, not a bug. Because they have been essentially prevented from shutting down Gitmo by Congress, they saw an opportunity to release some of its prisoners and took it, using the trade for Bergdahl as a pretext.<br />It sounds insane, but no more insane than the actual terms of the Bergdahl swap itself.</blockquote>
Not one brain among them.<br />
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<br />Jeff Coxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04896694141148386531noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7375521992652820594.post-10497922427504316442015-03-26T00:23:00.002-04:002015-03-26T00:25:35.176-04:00Obama administration says he has "succeeded" in YemenWho couldn't see <a href="http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/white-house-u.s.-successful-in-yemen/article/2562026">this one</a> coming?<br />
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<blockquote class="tr_bq">
A White House spokesman said American efforts in Yemen are a "template that has succeeded," even as President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi was forced to flee the country by boat.<br />
White House press secretary Josh Earnest on Wednesday said that the U.S. still had Yemeni extremists in its crosshairs.<br />
According to media reports, Hadi fled the presidential palace in Yemen as rebels attempted an armed takeover of the city of Aden.</blockquote>
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Taken out of context, you say? <a href="http://hotair.com/archives/2015/03/25/video-white-house-still-claims-yemen-is-a-success-story-no-matter-what-the-reports-say/">Nope:</a></div>
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<blockquote class="tr_bq">
JONATHAN KARL, ABC NEWS: I know you’re asked this every time something terrible happens in Yemen, but now that we have essentially complete chaos in Yemen, does the White House still believe that Yemen is the model for a counter-terrorism strategy?<br />
JOSH EARNEST, WHITE HOUSE: Jon, the White House does continue to believe that a successful counter-terrorism strategy is one that will build up the capacity of the central government to have local fighters on the ground to take the fight to extremists in their own country…<br />
KARL: That’s astounding. You’re saying that you still see Yemen as the model, that building up the central government which has now collapsed, a president who has apparently fled the country, Saudi troops have amassed on one boarder, the Iranians supporting the rebels. You consider this as a model for counter-terrorism?<br />
EARNEST: Again, Jon, what the United States considers to be our strategy when confronting the effort to try to mitigate the threat that is posed by extremists is to prevent them from establishing a safe haven. And certainly in a chaotic, dangerous situation like in Yemen, what the United States will do and has done is work to try to support the central government, build up the capacity of local fighters, and use our own technological and military capabilities to apply pressure on the extremists there.</blockquote>
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OK, folks. Who called it? <a href="http://www.no-boxes-allowed.blogspot.com/2015/03/another-obama-foreign-policy-success.html">Who called it?</a></div>
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Hate to break it to Josh Earnest, but Muhammed Saeed al-Sahaf was funnier. And more believable.</div>
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Sigh! The Obama administration has indeed become a caricature of itself. Noah Rothman:</div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
As this administration has entered its waning days, it seems to have long ago gave up on appealing to the political sensibilities of average Americans. It is easy to let oneself believe that the White House has simply lost touch with reality. But there is a difference between being out of touch and simply exhibiting such childlike petulance that you refuse to accept unpleasant truths. Obama’s administration has adopted the latter approach to bad news.<br />
[...]<br />
On a day when what the White House calls the “legitimate government” of Yemen dissolves and its president flees the country out of fear for his personal safety, it takes a galling level of chutzpah to insist that the administration’s counterterror approach in Yemen – one centered on building up “the central government” – remains a noteworthy achievement. But they hope that you’ll believe them and not your lying eyes. And, you know what? Many of this president’s most blinkered supporters will do just that.</blockquote>
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Of course. That's how he was elected in the first place.</div>
Jeff Coxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04896694141148386531noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7375521992652820594.post-1865636329375006852015-03-24T10:00:00.000-04:002015-03-24T10:00:04.837-04:00Required reading<div class="tr_bq">
<a href="http://nypost.com/2015/03/22/israel-beware-of-obama/">Michael Goodwin</a> in the <i>New York Post</i>. A taste of the truth:</div>
<blockquote>
First he comes for the banks and health care, uses the IRS to go after critics, politicizes the Justice Department, spies on journalists, tries to curb religious freedom, slashes the military, throws open the borders, doubles the debt and nationalizes the Internet.<br />He lies to the public, ignores the Constitution, inflames race relations and urges Latinos to punish Republican “enemies.” He abandons our allies, appeases tyrants, coddles adversaries and uses the Crusades as an excuse for inaction as Islamist terrorists slaughter their way across the Mideast.<br />Now he’s coming for Israel.<br />Barack Obama’s promise to transform America was too modest. He is transforming the whole world before our eyes. Do you see it yet?<br />Against the backdrop of the tsunami of trouble he has unleashed, Obama’s pledge to “reassess” America’s relationship with Israel cannot be taken lightly. Already paving the way for an Iranian nuke, he is hinting he’ll also let the other anti-Semites at Turtle Bay have their way. That could mean American support for punitive Security Council resolutions or for Palestinian statehood initiatives. It could mean both, or something worse.<br />Whatever form the punishment takes, it will aim to teach Bibi Netanyahu never again to upstage him. And to teach Israeli voters never again to elect somebody Obama doesn’t like.<br />Apologists and wishful thinkers, including some Jews, insist Obama realizes that the special relationship between Israel and the United States must prevail and that allowing too much daylight between friends will encourage enemies.<br />Those people are slow learners, or, more dangerously, deny-ists.<br />If Obama’s six years in office teach us anything, it is that he is impervious to appeals to good sense. Quite the contrary. Even respectful suggestions from supporters that he behave in the traditions of American presidents fill him with angry determination to do it his way.<br />For Israel, the consequences will be intended. Those who make excuses for Obama’s policy failures — naive, bad advice, bad luck — have not come to grips with his dark impulses and deep-seated rage.</blockquote>
Read the whole thing.Jeff Coxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04896694141148386531noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7375521992652820594.post-45991964130792305882015-03-24T09:00:00.000-04:002015-03-24T09:00:02.096-04:00Toppling Mossadegh bad, toppling Netanyahu good.That seems to be the position of Barack Obama. Obama has blamed the lousy relationship between the US and the Iranian mullahs not on, say, the mullahs' support for terrorist groups and stated goals of the destruction of Israel and the US, but on the 1953 coup that toppled Iranian Prime Minister Muhammad Mossadegh. The CIA -- Obama's CIA, it should be noted -- <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2013/08/19/politics/cia-iran-1953-coup/">confirmed</a> it was behind the coup, but the latest scholarship from the Council on Foreign Relations indicates <a href="http://www.cfr.org/iran/myth-american-coup/p30900">the coup was mostly domestic in origin</a> and the US had very little to do with it. But Obama is never one to miss a chance to blame America first.<br />
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Yet, if attempting to topple Mossadegh was such an evil thing to do, why is attempting to topple Benjamin Netanyahu OK? Because <a href="http://thehill.com/policy/international/236565-netanyahu-pollster-obama-role-in-election-larger-than-reported">that is exactly what Barack Obama did</a>:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
President Obama's role during the Israeli elections was larger than reported, according to a pollster for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud party.<br />
"What was not well reported in the American media is that President Obama and his allies were playing in the election to defeat Prime Minister Netanyahu," John McLaughlin, a Republican strategist, said in an interview on John Catsimatidis's "The Cats Roundtable" radio show broadcast Sunday on AM 970 in New York.<br />
"There was money moving that included taxpayer U.S. dollars, through non-profit organizations. And there were various liberal groups in the United States that were raising millions to fund a campaign called V15 against Prime Minister Netanyahu," McLaughlin said.<br />
He noted an effort to oust Netanyahu was guided by former Obama political operative Jeremy Bird and that V15, or Victory 15, ads hurt Netanyahu in the polls. McLaughlin said the Israeli leader rebounded after delivering a speech to Congress early this month, prompting more critical ads.<br />
V15 was viewed as part of a broader campaign to oust Netanyahu. The group was linked to Washington-based nonprofit OneVoice Movement, which reportedly received $350,000 in State Department grants. Money to OneVoice stopped flowing in November, officials said, before the Israeli elections.<br />
After Netanyahu's win, V15 co-founder Nimrod Dweck said in an interview with Ronan Farrow aired on MSNBC's "Jose Diaz-Balart" that "not a single cent" of State Department or taxpayer money had gone to their campaign.<br />
"These are false allegations and they have nothing to do with reality," Dweck said.<br />
McLaughlin also cited an effort "to organize the [Israeli] Arabs into one party and teach them about voter turnout."<br />
"The State Department people in the end of January, early February, expedited visas for [Israeli] Arab leaders to come to the United States to learn how to vote," McLaughlin said.<br />
"There were people in the United States that were organizing them to vote in one party so they would help the left-of-center candidate, Herzog, that the Obama administration favored," he added.</blockquote>
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Ed Morrissey at Hot Air <a href="http://hotair.com/archives/2015/03/23/video-just-how-much-influence-did-obama-administration-exert-in-israels-election/">adds</a>:</div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
V15 founder Nimrod Dweck denies that any State Department funds went to his organization after November of last year, but McLaughlin alleges that more than money went into supporting Netanyahu’s opposition. He accused State of “expediting visas” to opposition leaders so that they could receive GOTV training in the US. Rep. Lee Zeldin, a member of the House Foreign Affairs committee, sent a demand to John Kerry about the involvement of V15 in the Israeli elections, and told Fox News yesterday that more than a dozen former Obama campaign advisers went to Israel to run “an ACORN, Obama Organizing for America-type campaign” against Netanyahu[.]</blockquote>
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And the Obama administration <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/volokh-conspiracy/wp/2015/03/23/dont-believe-obamas-faux-outrage-at-netanyahu/">resorted to underhanded tactics</a> to do so:</div>
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<blockquote class="tr_bq">
The administration did everything it could to undermine Netanyahu and help the center-left opposition, including sending State Department funds to an organization working to defeat Netanyahu.<br />
While trying to strengthen Israel’s left, the administration also apparently tried to undermine Netanyahu with Israel’s right. On March 6, less than two weeks before the election, a major Israeli newspaper published a document showing that Netanyahu’s envoy had agreed on his behalf to an American-proposed framework that offered substantial Israeli concessions that Netanyahu publicly opposed. Let’s put on our thinking caps. Where would this leak have come from? The most logical suspect is the American State Department.<br />
So here’s the dynamic: Netanyahu, while talking tough publicly about terms for an Israeli-Palestinian deal, was much more accommodating privately during actual negotiations. Just before Israeli elections, the U.S. government likely leaks evidence of his flexibility to harm Netanyahu. As a result, Netanyahu starts to lose right-wing voters to smaller parties, and the left-leaning major opposition party takes a lead in the polls, putting Netanyahu’s leadership in question, just as the U.S. wanted.<br />
Netanyahu responds by using increasingly right-wing rhetoric (including denying that he ever agreed to the framework in question), to win back the voters from smaller parties that the leak cost him. He wins, and almost immediately announces that his campaign rhetoric was misunderstood, and that he still supports a two-state solution when conditions allow. The Obama Administration then announces it nevertheless has to reassess relations with Israel, allegedly because Netanayahu is no longer committed to the two-state solution.<br />
So you get it? The Obama Administration, or someone with similar motivations, leaks a document showing that in practice, Netanyahu was surprisingly flexible in negotiations sponsored by the U.S. Netanyahu then tries to compensate by sounding tough in the closing days of his campaign. The administration then pretends that this is much more meaningful than its actual experience with Netanyahu, as indicated by the document it likely leaked, because it was out to punish Israel for electing Netanyahu regardless.<br />
Indeed, recent reports show that the administration was planning to retaliate against Israel diplomatically if it reelected Netanyahu months ago, not only before his controversial election remarks, but before his Iran speech to Congress was even planned. (In fact, it wouldn’t be surprising if Israeli intelligence had gotten wind of this, and thus Netanyahu thought he had little to lose by irritating Obama further with his speech).<br />
In short, the current crisis in U.S.-Israel relations has little if anything to do with what Netanyahu said at the end of his campaign, and a lot to do with the president’s longstanding hostility to the Likud Party in general and Netanyahu in particular, along with the president’s discomfort with the (positive) trajectory of U.S.-Israel relations (i.e., “no daylight”) in the Clinton and Bush years. Netanyahu’s fault lies not in creating that hostility, but in failing to manage or at least mitigate it, in particular by giving the Obama Administration sufficient ammunition that its supporters, at least those who aren’t paying sufficient attention, seem to believe that the animus, and the blame for the deteriorating relations, has primarily run in the opposite direction.</blockquote>
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The idea was to undercut Netanyahu with his supporters from the smaller right-wing parties. Like much of what Obama does in the realm of defense and foreign policy, it backfired: Netanyahu <a href="http://pjmedia.com/blog/obama-forced-bibi-to-the-right-and-bibi-won/">moved to the right</a> to counter it and he <a href="http://www.timesofisrael.com/netanyahus-gop-pollster-likud-knew-it-was-ahead-2-days-before-election/">surged in the polls</a>:</div>
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John McLaughlin, a pollster who worked with the Likud party’s election campaign, told “The Cats Roundtable” on AM 970 that despite the fact that “most Israeli media polls had Netanyahu and his Likud party losing to the left right up until the Friday… through the weekend, Netanyahu rose [in internal polls]. Our last poll [on Sunday night], we had Likud at 23% of the vote, and that’s what they got.”<br />
Netanyahu’s critics denounced the manner in which he drummed up support for his apparently flagging party on election day by calling on Likud supporters to vote because “Arab voters are flocking in huge quantities to the polling stations.”<br />
According to McLaughlin, however, there was no indication that Likud was trailing. And he ascribed the Zionist Union’s Monday night decision to drop No. 2 Tzipi Livni from a premiership-sharing agreement with party leader Isaac Herzog to the fact that “they got the same polls we did.”<br />
(Herzog said in an interview Saturday that his party’s own polls had shown him to be five seats ahead of Netanyahu’s Likud as late as noon on election day. Even when the TV exit polls as voting ended showed the two parties tied, he had expected that he would be able to form a coalition, and not Netanyahu, Herzog said.)<br />
Among the critics of Netanyahu’s election day “Arabs voting” remark was US President Barack Obama, who said that “that kind of rhetoric was contrary to what is the best of Israel’s traditions.”<br />
In a subsequent interview, Netanyahu claimed that he was not warning about Arab voters per se, but rather about the alleged efforts of foreign actors to sway the outcome to the election by rallying left-wing voters.<br />
The pollster also echoed Netanyahu’s claim of foreign influence, but fingered Obama himself, claiming that the president “and his allies were playing in the election to defeat” Netanyahu.</blockquote>
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The man who likes to think of himself as Dear Leader apparently ain't so dear in Israel:</div>
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“The Israelis don’t like the fact that the president’s become really partisan with them,” McLaughlin said. “They’re used to enjoying good relations with the United States, whether Republicans or Democrats.”<br />
“[Obama is] a big negative over there… (On security) they’re very concerned about what the president might do before he leaves office… The president really overplayed his hand,” he said.</blockquote>
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And why would Obama do this? Because he hates Netanyahu; according to <i>Politico</i>, a former senior Obama administration official described the feelings of the administration toward Netanyahu <a href="http://www.politico.com/story/2015/03/bibi-bounces-back-116167.html">this way</a>: “They hate him, they should, and they’re praying that he is out of power."</div>
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So, Obama spent more time, effort, and money trying to depose the government of an ally than he has the government of a self-described enemy responsible for the deaths of thousands of Americans -- an enemy that Obama insists on allowing to have nuclear weapons. </div>
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What a disgrace.</div>
Jeff Coxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04896694141148386531noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7375521992652820594.post-47551674329497443162015-03-22T20:49:00.001-04:002015-03-22T20:49:46.550-04:00Another Obama foreign policy successSay, didn't the Obama administration repeatedly cite Yemen as an example of how its policy of using air power alone to compliment local troops on the ground -- in the case of Yemen those troops are from a new government after we chased the old one from power -- was having success against Islamists like al Qaida? Why, <a href="http://hotair.com/archives/2014/09/27/us-embassy-in-yemen-hit-by-terrorist-rocket-attack/">yes, it did</a>. Now, <a href="http://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/u-s-forces-evacuate-yemen-after-al-qaeda-seizes-city-n327781">well ...</a><br />
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About 100 U.S. Special Operations Forces have been ordered to evacuate Yemen because of a dramatic increase in sectarian violence, sources told NBC News on Saturday.<br />
The U.S. commandos, including Green Berets and Navy Seals, have been training Yemeni military forces in counterterrorism operations, but the Americans have not been involved in direct ground combat maneuvers against militants. </blockquote>
<blockquote>
The move comes as al Qaeda fighters captured the capital of a southern Yemen province late Friday, leading to the deaths of about 20 soldiers, Reuters reported. Earlier, <a href="http://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/yemen-blasts-suicide-bombers-strike-sanaa-mosques-killing-dozens-n327136">four suicide bombers hit a pair of crowded mosques in the capital of Sanaa</a>, killing at least 137 people and injuring more than 300 others, officials said. </blockquote>
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The American forces in Yemen have also been gathering intelligence to target al Qaeda-linked terrorists and other militants for U.S. airstrikes in the region.
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Now we have the government making a <a href="http://hotair.com/archives/2015/03/21/smart-power-us-evacuating-100-commandos-from-yemen-air-base-after-aq-captures-nearby-town/">last stand</a> in what it has declared the provisional capital of Aden:
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The deposed president backed by the Obama administration and Saudi Arabia, Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi, has emerged in Aden. Hadi declared the port city in the west to be the temporary capital of Yemen, and told Yemenis that the Houthis were agents of Iran. With Hadi in the mix — although without any indications of military strength — that makes three separate groups vying for supremacy in a country that had been at least manageable until <a href="http://hotair.com/archives/2011/11/23/yemen-dictator-saleh-resigns-in-saudi-arabia/" target="_blank">Obama and the Saudis decided to push out Saleh</a>, <a href="http://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2015/01/22/shiite-rebels-remain-outside-yemen-president-house" target="_blank">who’s now backing the Houthis</a>.<br />
It’s a mess now, another failed state directly across the Gulf of Aden from Somalia, the White House’s other supposed success story for its counterterrorism efforts.</blockquote>
Max Boot <a href="https://twitter.com/MaxBoot/status/579315828480450560">tweets</a>: "All US SOF evacuating Yemen. Huge win for AQAP, huge defeat for US. How many foreign policy disasters can we handle?" Well, Barack Obama and his laughably-named "national security" team are determined that we should find out.<br />
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For this story just keeps getting worse: some $500 million dollars in American supplied weapons have been captured by “Iranian-backed rebels or al-Qaeda”. So, we are basically giving weapons to our enemies. <em>Brilliant!</em><br />
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The Obama administration, of course, <a href="http://www.cbsnews.com/news/obama-administration-surprised-by-collapse-of-yemen-government/">did not see this coming</a>:<br />
<blockquote>
The Obama administration's senior counterterrorism official acknowledged Thursday that the U.S. intelligence community was surprised by the collapse of the U.S.-backed government in Yemen.<br />
Nick Rasmussen, who directs the National Counterterrorism Center, told the Senate Intelligence Committee that Yemen's American-funded army failed to oppose advancing Houthi rebels in the same way the U.S.-supported Iraqi military refused to fight Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (<a data-vanity-rewritten="true" href="http://www.cbsnews.com/isis/" target="_blank">ISIS</a>) militants last year.<br />
What happened in Iraq with the onslaught of ISIS "happened in Yemen" on "a somewhat smaller scale," he said. "As the Houthi advances toward Sanaa took place... they weren't opposed in many places.... The situation deteriorated far more rapidly than we expected."<br />
Rasmussen made the admission under questioning by Sen. Roy Blunt, a Missouri Republican who noted that President Barack Obama recently touted Yemen as a success. Now, it's a "total disaster," Blunt said.</blockquote>
Of course Obama could not see this coming. How can you expect a CIA that actually employed the likes of Marie Harf as an analyst to be good or even semi-competent at its job?<br />
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So, for the geostrategically challenged, this means Islamists can now interdict the Red Sea from Somalia and from Yemen. <em>Brilliant!</em><br />
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Richard Fernandez tries to make sense of it all -- <a href="http://pjmedia.com/richardfernandez/2015/03/22/losing-yemen/">and can't</a>:<br />
<blockquote>
Trying to make sense of Barack Obama’s foreign policy has become something like a branch of Kremlinology. Opinions vary between whether the president has either cleverly set Iran against Riyadh or he has let loose all the devils in hell. [...]<br />
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There’s no score keeping system in which Obama is making points unless that scoring system is secret and we’re just too dumb to figure it out.<br />
Losing Iraq, Libya, Yemen; being humiliated by Assad; and having the Taliban call the tune seems to matter not a whit to the president. Like the Black Knight in the Monty Python movie who can endure having his limbs lopped off, these events are apparently costless to the president, who serenely proclaims himself as “winning” every round though nobody knows what the game is; nobody that is, except him.<br />
Did America just lose everything it gave Iraq? Everything it gave Yemen? Every effort it expended in Libya?<br />
One gets the sense that Aden could fall to the Houthi tomorrow or Damascus be overrun the week after without shaking his confidence in the least. Whatever happens, Obama is always only one step from some final, invisible victory. He is laboring toward some deal with Tehran, like a pilgrim stumbling toward the Throne of God yet which to unschooled eyes seems like a gewgaw in a box of Crackerjack for which he is being charged an arm and a leg by some canny ayatollahs.<br />
There must be something there and foreign policy gurus strain their eyes and cudgel their brains trying to figure out what it is. Yet if we cast our eyes forward, it would not be surprising if the day after his stupendous “deal” nothing whatsoever changes except that Tehran goes on cheating. The great roll of drum fanfare will have culminated a low whistle like air being let out of a balloon.<br />
Was that it? Yup. The one thing we can be certain of is that he would take that lack of evident benefit on the day after with total equanimity, as if surprised to think anyone but rubes should want a material outcome from his diplomacy.</blockquote>
Undoubtedly, the Obama administration will tell us the same thing it always tells us whenever Obama's foreign policy blows up in our faces -- again:<br />
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<br />Jeff Coxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04896694141148386531noreply@blogger.com0