Sic Semper Tyrannis

The Islamists control the Egyptian parliament.

"The People’s Assembly speaker Mohamed Saad El-Katatni has declared the results of the internal elections for the parliamentary committees on Tuesday, in the eighth session of the new parliament. So far, the results for 10 parliamentary committees have been announced, dominated by the Freedom and Justice Party (FJP), the political arm of the Muslim Brotherhood"  Ahram

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

The MB party will run the new parliament.  "Nur," the slafist party will run the education committee.  Is there any real doubt as to where this is headed? 

What sort of constitutution do you thiunk these "squirrels" are going to write?

The president to come had better have a very big ego and want this a lot.  They need someone like Romney.  Ah!  Amre Moussa.  pl

http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/1/64/33333/Egypt/Politics-/Freedom-and-Justice-Party-heads-most-of-Egypts-par.aspx

Iraqi VP sees chaos ahead, or...

 "... he said he did not understand how U.S. President Barack Obama is able to characterize Iraq as a free, stable and democratic country.

"What sort of Iraq we are talking about?" he asked. "How the Americans will feel proud? How the American administration is going to justify to the taxpayer the billion of dollars that has been spent and at the end of the day the American saying, 'Sorry, we have no leverage even to put things in order in Iraq'?"

Though Iraq's instability may not affect this year's election campaign in the United States, "it is going to affect the American interest in the region, and they should be very much concern about that," al-Hashimi said. "The future of Iraq is grim."" CNN

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The neocons seek to spin this mess that they created into victory in Egypt, etc.  Spin away.  Spin away!  pl

http://www.cnn.com/2012/01/30/world/meast/iraq-al-hashimi/index.html?eref=igoogledmn_topstories

Try to send the right people.

"Then, in October 2010, the CIA released results of the agency’s internal investigation into the Khost attack, fueling another round of stories that Matthews was partially responsible. Matthews and her team, the report concluded, failed to follow the agency’s procedures for vetting informants. One of Matthews’s severest critics was her uncle, Dave Matthews, a retired CIA official who had helped inspire his niece to join the agency."  Washpost

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Evidently this woman was not qualified by training to deal with clandestine espionage operations in the field.   She was also not qualified by experience.  She was an analyst.  That means that she was a kind of research scholar.  She was evidently selected for this extremely dangerous post in the field because she was a woman and because she wanted the job for the purpose of advancing her career in CIA.  The career had shown signs of slowing up in its progress toward "nirvana" on the top floor at Langley.  Four year tours of duty in London as a liaison are not career builders, however pleasant they may be.  There are analysts who are also good field HUMINT people, but not many.

She was a "church lady," whose husband seems to say that he and she believed that the US Army and God would protect her from the heathen.  The Army could prevent Taliban or AQ capture of the outpost within which her "base" (a term of art) was sheltered but it could not keep her from trusting this recruited asset so much that she lined her staff up to welcome  him as a "colleague."  As for God, he appears to have been playing on a different team that day.

Some of the best and most tough minded field operatives I have known were women.  I did my best to foster their careers.  They contrasted starkly with the kind of staff "princesses" who generally get ahead fast in such organizations.

CIA sent a person who seems to have been ill suited by temperament, talent or experience for this important job.  Men and women died for that error.  One of them is reported to have counseled her to be less trusting.

What sort of persons are needed for this kind of work?

"Hard hearted empaths"  pl

http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/for-cia-family-a-deadly-suicide-bombing-leads-to-painful-divisions/2012/01/20/gIQAyJGVYQ_story.html?hpid=z6

Canada is not Afghanistan

"A Canadian jury Sunday convicted three members of a family of Afghan immigrants of the "honor" murders of four female relatives whose bodies were found in an Ontario canal.

Mohammed Shafia, 58; his wife, Tooba Mohammad Yahya, 42; and their son, Hamed, 21, were found guilty of first-degree murder in the deaths of Shafia's three teenage daughters and his first wife in his polygamous marriage. Sunday's verdicts followed a three-month trial, in which jurors heard wiretaps of Shafia referring to his daughters as "whores" and ranting about their behavior."  CNN

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

Canadians should be proud of this defense of human rights and particularly those of women.  Did this man (the father) really think that he could behave this way in Canada?

Honor killings are an abomination, and not accepted by most Muslims.   The vast majority of Muslim jurisprudents would say that to do such a thing is to place oneself outside Islam.  This is tribal law behavior.  This should be a warning for those who think their familial honor demands such barbarity.  pl

http://www.cnn.com/2012/01/29/world/americas/canada-honor-murder/index.html

An Excellent Idea

Forward basing to support particular operations is always a problem.  The farther you are from home, the biggerthe problem.  They should do a few more of these so that land basing for small ops and heaquarters is not so needed in littoral operations.  pl

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Ponce_(LPD-15)

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/pentagon-wants-commando-mother-ship/2012/01/27/gIQA66rGWQ_story.html

 

New Archaeology Post on TA

Maureen has put up a new science post on The Athenaeum. pl

http://turcopolier.typepad.com/the_athenaeum/2012/01/archaeology-news-january-2012-.html

"The Girl with the Hornet’s Nest on Fire Tattoo" a review by Alan Farrell

The Girl with the Hornet’s Nest on Fire Tattoo.  Directed by:  David Fincher.  Starring:  Daniel Craig, Rooney Mara, Robin Wright, Christopher Plummer, Stellaan Skaarsgaard (onliest practicing Squareh that is Scandinavian ac-toor in the business and go-to guy for Norsitude… also evilosity so be warned), cameo by Barbra Streisand (as the fjord).

So… this is what comes of Socialism!  The Swedes call their particular brand  “erection to resurrection”:  cradle to grave.  The State assures you a good life by denying you the opportunity for any other kind… and assigns you a name at birth by the way ( it’s “Lars” if you’re a male) or cheekbones that’ll stop a clock (if you’re fee-male).  Howsomever, it does lead in the end to fat cat corporate Trimalchios who fancy themselves privileged, ill-bred young women insistent upon illicit sex and pierced flesh, sanctimonious journalists with the time on their hands to poke into other people’s affairs… oh… oh… we already gots that right here in the U.S. and A.?  Well, okay.  Looks as if the trains run on time, though, so there’s evidently an upside (and we ain’t not got that).  Snow-swaddled landscapes, sunless vistas, faceless urbanity, soulless shadows prowling the oh-so-clean streets, industrial detritus testimony to… oh… oh… we gots that, too?  Well, hell.  How about islands where purring, gouty, avuncular plutocrats keep family secrets locked up along with generations of folly and fascism and intemperate dreams?  Manhattan, you say?  Well, jeeez, then… why don’t we just go ahead, make our own depressing and tedious chiaroscuro (variously pronounced and just as variously spelt) flicks instead of steal them from the Squareheads?  Might check out the remake of Insomnia with Al Pacino (attached, maybe) or the remake of Ingmar Bergman’s Seventh Seal with Steven Segal [S(t)even Se(g)al… think about it!] as Death Walking on the Beach, Angelina Jolie (in leather catsuit unzipped down to here) as the Crusader, and Barbra Streisand as the plague  for a better shot at this kind of cinéma dérivé (French for “piracy”).

Fred Kagan's desired foreign policy

"Advocates of the president’s strategy say that we do not need that human capital or expertise in ground operations because we will never again fight wars that put large numbers of our soldiers at risk. Technology, they say, will make future wars precise, rapid and decisive. We have heard this argument many times since the Cold War ended, from George W. Bush as enthusiastically as Bill Clinton. Yet every U.S. president since Ronald Reagan has ordered tens of thousands of troops into ground combat. Obama himself sent 70,000 additional troops to Afghanistan. Tens of thousands of U.S. troops have been deployed abroad to wars or peacekeeping operations for 38 of the past 70 years — and nearly continuously since 1989. The argument that next time will be different is unpersuasive."  Fred Kagan

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

Fred Kagan wants a foreign policy of aggressive overseas deployments and COIN wars like the ones he favored in Iraq and Afghanistan. 

In his oped piece cited here he uses absurd terms like "never again."  No one makes that claim.  The ral question has to do with "when" and "how big."  As for Obama's decision to send a lot more troops to Afghanistan, Kagan was a direct influence in that mistaken decision.

National strategy dictates foreign policy which dictates military strategy which dictates programming and budgeting.  Obama's newly announced military strategy is reflective of a new foreign policy, one that implictly rejects massive pacification projects (COIN wars) involving the large ground forces needed to hold the subject population down while COIN works its magic over some decades.

In the new strategy COIN is not dicarded.  It is merely reduced to a technique useful in small conflicts at reduced cost.

The other large purpose for big ground forces would be the prospect of conventional ground wars against big, capable armies.  Where are the enemies of this type that are likely to be adversaries for the United States.  Where?  Europe?  Asia? Africa?  This seems implausible.

Kagan says he wants us to have large ground forces that will serve as "incubators" for leadership for the big ground wars that we are unlikely to have.  His paradigm implies a continuing commitment to large scale combat situations.  His own logic rejects the idea that peacetime experience "grows" the kind of leadership that he wants to see.

Small ground acions are likely to continue around the peripheries of the oceans or in SOF situations but big ground wars are, for the US, a matter of choice, not necessity.

Kagan and his neocon "brothers" and their familiars are unhappy with the new strategy because it represent a foreign policy that rejects the neocon vision.  pl 

http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/obamas-military-strategy-should-focus-on-troops-not-technology/2012/01/13/gIQAYTXfTQ_story.html

"Insomnia" a review by Alan Farrell

Insomnia. Directed by Christopher Nolan. Starring Al Pacino, Hilary Swank, Martin Donovan.

We'd be tempted to call this flick "film noir" if it weren't for the waves of light that flood both landscape and dreamscape in the Land of Midnight Sun where hotshot Los Angeles detective Will Dormer (Al Pacino, looking like death on a soda cracker, world-weary and saggy-jowled) washes up pending an investigation of his irregular investigative procedures. Dormer, renowned for sniffing out killers and miscreants, appears to have cut corners to put the bad guys away, a dereliction for which he may have to pay not only by watching his career and reputation dissolve in disgrace but also by watching those very truants walk since his methods will have compromised their convictions. All this ferment weighs on Dormer as he and his low key dumbo of a partner (Martin Donovan) disembark in Nowhere, Alaska, visiting specialists called in to help a retired buddy take on the grizzly murder of a young woman. Sharp local cop Ellie Burr (Hilary Swank, trying to hold in her elegant cheekbones and look appropriately mousy for the role) worships the famous Dormer, has followed all his cases, cites him from his own voluminous writings, and tails him--a little too near--as he shambles halfheartedly through this investigation, his mind clearly on his own troubles back home.

"What the Adelsons will want for their money" Salon

"The latest $5 million to the pro-Newt super PAC was donated by Miriam Adelson, who is reportedly a dual citizen of the United States and Israel. And here, as reported in the New Yorker, is a small but telling example of how Miriam previously interacted with the recipients of the Adelsons’ largesse:  The Adelsons seem not to take their power for granted. Recently, Miriam told an associate, “I had a CD on Islamic jihad. I brought it to the [Bush] White House and told the chief of staff, ‘I would like the President to see this.’ It really is amazing that we have this influence.”"  Salon

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

Adelson says that those who are not rich are not worth listening to.  Adelson is reported to have said that he regrets that he served in the US Army rather than the IDF.  He hates unions because they cut into his"meager" profits in the casino business.  He seems to be against prevention of illegal immigration.  He is one of Bibi's principal backers.  He wants the US Embassy moved to Jerusalem to signal total unity with Israel.  IMO he wants to use his money to arrange for a US Administration that will do whatever Israeli nationalists like him desire. 

Gingrich used to be pro-Palestinian.  That was before he found Adelson.  Well, if he is a whore, at least he is an expensive whore.

And then there is Romney.  As Newt says, what kind of man thinks that he can invest his money in the Cayman Islands and other convenient places and then convince us all that he is for us "dumb people,"   I'm using Adelson's definition. 

I hope Gingrich gets the nomination.  That would be "fun."   pl

http://www.salon.com/2012/01/25/what_the_adelsons_get_for_their_money/

Ron Paul marches toward?

"The 76-year-old U.S. representative from Texas has energized — and gained —young voters at a time many people under 30 are turned off to politics.

Paul's reputation for attracting young voters is so pronounced that supporters say it's sometimes rare to see older adults at his rallies. Many times, the folks in the loud cheering sections at his events are called simply "the kids."

"I'm 36 and I'm considered an old guy," says Patrick Hussey of Parkville, who participated in a Paul rally on a recent Saturday in Towson. "It's very unusual that there's this resurgence in the old right. He's a 76-year-old man and he's got the under-30 crowd for him. It's very unique."

Motivated by Paul's purist libertarian ideology — he opposes most foreign wars, advocates for severe cuts to federal budgets and believes drugs should be decriminalized federally — supporters say they're drawn to a movement that is consistent, fair and free. And while the 12-time congressman has failed to win any of the first three voting states, he's captured the youth vote every time, sometimes dominantly."  Baltimore Sun

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

The political class will continue to ignore this man until they can no longer do it.  pl

http://www.baltimoresun.com/entertainment/bthesite/bs-b-youth-voters-ron-paul-sidebar-20120123,0,7453668.story

National Journal Blog - 25 January, 2012

Col. W. Patrick Lang Responds to What is the State of the Union??.

pl

Dempsey's Sinatra concert

"Recently, Obama called Netanyahu asking for clarifications regarding [a possible] attack [against Iran]. According to the Sunday Times report, the conversation was strained, and the Prime Minister explained his position, insisting that he would refuse to share details with the White House, should such an attack be launched. According to the report, the differences between the two sides increased further in the wake of Dempsey's meeting with Defence Minister Ehud Barak at the weekend."  Maariv

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

I am told that the discussions were unpleasant except for the IDF Orchestra and Chorus performing at the garden party.  Been there, done that.  In the case of my delegation the performance was not Sinatra show tunes.  It was "Eine Kleine Nachtmusik" and a selection of German Romantic Period "tunes."  I guess they got the "Lang" thing wrong.

Dempsey told them again that if they "go" without our agreement, they are on their own.  pl

http://mondoweiss.net/2012/01/report-israel-to-give-us-only-12-hour-warning-before-attacking-iran-because-netanyahu-doesnt-trust-obama.html

 close

Dr. Paul and Foreign Policy

Among the enthusiasms of South Carolinians for their primary there recurred a consistent theme of support for much of Ron Paul's intellectual baggage but also a recurring doubt about his beliefs concerning America's place in the world.

It was unclear if those who were worried about that were merely voicing a reflexive support for Israel or if they had actually thought about what the good doctor calls his "non-interventionism."  The Israel thing is usually the result of exposure to "Exodus," or a belief that Jesus loves Israeli Jews but thinks of Palestinian Arabs as squatters.

I, too, am curious about Paul's actual opinions about foreign policy.  It is one thing to advocate withdrawal of troops now in Germany and Korea, withdrawal after negotiations from Afghanistan and a cessation of foreign aid by the US.  It is another to advocate a pacificim and isolationism that will not respond forcefully to ACTUAL aggression against American territory, territory of actual treaty allies or our essential economic interests.

It is not clear to me what Ron Paul's actual position is.  Someone should ask him what he would do if the Iranians actually attempted to close the Strait of Hormuz to international maritime traffic.  What would he do as president and commander-in-chief of the armed forces?  pl

Abraham Lincoln strike group enters the Gulf

"The Navy’s 5th Fleet said in a statement that the carrier Abraham Lincoln passed through the narrow waterway into the Persian Gulf “without incident.”

The ship was accompanied by British and French naval vessels, a move that officials said was intended to show international support for keeping open the strait, a choke point through which 20% of the world’s oil passes.

Tensions with Iran have intensified in recent months as the U.S. and its allies have imposed new sanctions aimed at forcing Tehran to abandon its nuclear program. Iran has responded by conducting naval maneuvers and threatening to close the strait."  LA Times

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

What a surprise!  You mean the Iranians can't close the strait by talking about it?  pl

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/world_now/2012/01/strait-hormuz-persian-gulf-us-navy-iran.html

More "Good News" from the ME

"Iraq “cracked down harshly” on freedom of expression and assembly in 2011 by intimidating, beating and detaining activists and journalists, Human Rights Watch said Sunday in its World Report 2012.

“Iraq is quickly slipping back into authoritarianism as its security forces abuse protesters, harass journalists and torture detainees,” said Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East director at Human Rights Watch. “Despite U.S. government assurances that it helped create a stable democracy, the reality is that it left behind a budding police state.”"  washpost

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/new-human-rights-report-details-crackdowns-in-iraq/2012/01/22/gIQAfjD6HQ_story.html

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"The political wing of Egypt’s most historic Islamist party won by far the largest number of seats in the first post-revolutionary parliament, final results confirmed Saturday, and is now poised to play a dominant role in the drafting of a new constitution.

The Muslim Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice Party took 47 percent of seats in the lower house of parliament, and the ultraconservative Salafist Nour Party won 25 percent of the elected seats."  Leila Fadel

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/final-results-confirms-islamists-winners-in-egypts-elections/2012/01/21/gIQAXpwbGQ_story.html?sub=AR

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

 "Followers of a puritanical form of Islam will fill about a quarter of the seats in the lower house of the new Egyptian parliament on Monday, underscoring the political power being wielded by Islamists in the wake of the Arab spring.

Finding themselves badly outnumbered, some Egyptian liberals are weighing whether to align themselves with the moderate Muslim Brotherhood in hopes of preventing an all-Islamist alliance between the Brotherhood, whose Freedom and Justice Party will be the largest in the new parliament, and the ultraconservative Salafist Nour party, the second-largest."  Leila Fadel

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/salafists-to-take-a-quarter-of-egypts-lower-house/2012/01/20/gIQAcgZKGQ_story.html

 

South Carolina Primary Thread

 

We will have a thread on this subject in all its aspects beginning today.  pl

 

Etta James RIP

My sister, Maureen, has posted a requiem for Etta James on TA. pl

http://turcopolier.typepad.com/the_athenaeum/2012/01/etta-james-1938-2012.html

The "gelding" of CAP

"Among the points of contention are Twitter posts by one CAP writer on his personal account referring to “Israel-firsters.” Some experts say the phrase has roots in the anti-Semitic charge that American Jews are more loyal to a foreign country, Israel, than to the United States. In another case, a staffer described a U.S. senator as showing more fealty to the prime U.S. pro-Israel lobby, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, than to his own constituents. The first writer has since left the staff.

But the critics also point to writings on the CAP Web site, where staffers have suggested that AIPAC was pushing the United States toward war with Iran and likened Israel’s treatment of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip to the policies of the segregated American South."  Washpost

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

",,,the policies of the segregated American South?"  Really?  I am pretty old and lived in the South in the bad old days.   I don't remember white phosphorus, mortar fire, air strikes, selective assasination, etc.  What I remember are stupid private people who decided to bomb Black churches, county sheriffs and local police who used firehoses, dogs, etc.  Maybe there is an equivalence between "Cast Lead" and the Selma Bridge incident but I don't see it.  Thank God that we have been saved from all that.

Never mind, the interesting thing here is a demonstration of the determination of SOME Jewish organizations to suppress free speech and drive people from the "public square."  Why do they do that?  That's easy to answer. The Shoah and a wealth of previous historical experience hangs over them.  Sad.   We Gentiles are obviously unworthy of trust.  pl

http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/center-for-america-progress-group-tied-to-obama-accused-of-anti-semitic-language/2012/01/17/gIQAcrHXAQ_story.html

National Journal Blog - 19 January

Col. W. Patrick Lang Responds to Is War Brewing Between Iran and the West??.

SOPA and PIPA Blackout

SST and TA Will be "down" today in sympathy.  pl

Israel might be deterred by Iran - J Post/Reuters

"OC Planning Directorate Maj.-Gen. Eshel says Hamas, Hezbollah will be more aggressive and daring with a nuclear-armed Iran standing behind them, Israel may find itself more restrained.

A nuclear-armed Iran could deter Israel from going to war in Lebanon and the Gaza Strip against Tehran's terrorist allies, an IDF officer said on Tuesday.

OC Planning Directorate Maj.-Gen. Amir Eshel echoed leaders in Jerusalem who argue that a nuclear-armed Iran could create a "global nuclear jungle" and fuel arms races in an already volatile Middle East."  JPost/Reuters

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

The real Israeli concern over future Iranian nuclear capabilities is a reluctance to see a time when Israel would not have a free hand to do whatever it likes to other countries and peoples in the region.

They know very well that the Iranian government is not going to invite the destruction of their country by attacking Israel with nuclear weapons.  The whole "mad mullah" meme is just another not so clever propaganda ploy.  pl

 

http://www.jpost.com/IranianThreat/News/Article.aspx?id=253998

"In Bruges" A Review by Alan Farrell

In Bruges. Directed by Martin McDonough (who also wrote it). Starring Colin Farrell, Brendan Gleeson, Ralph Fiennes, Jordan Prentice, Clémence Poésy (who?) and Thekla Reuten (see if can you figure out who she plays and oh, yeah… name two Belgian actresses: ready, go!).

"The Guard." A Review by Alan Farrell

The Guard. Directed by John McDonough (Written by him, too. See also In Bruges, review attached… maybe). Starring: Brendan Gleeson (who’s pretty much established himself as the only Irish actor these days and go-to guy for Irishitude), Don Cheadle, Liam Cunningham (Guess where he’s from?), Rory Keenan (Same), Fionnula Flannagan (C’mon!), Dominique McElligott (Well, hell… Mom was French), Katarina Cas (Can you figure out who plays the Romanian visa-vixen or maybe Croatian… oh, sure, like there’s a difference).
Oirish as Paddy’s pig.

NIE on Afghanistan

"The U.S. intelligence community says in a secret new assessment that the war in Afghanistan is mired in stalemate, and warns that security gains from an increase in American troops have been undercut by pervasive corruption, incompetent governance and Taliban fighters operating from neighboring Pakistan, according to U.S. officials.

The sobering judgments, laid out in a classified National Intelligence Estimate completed last month and delivered to the White House, appeared at odds with recent optimistic statements by Pentagon officials and have deepened divisions between U.S. intelligence agencies and American military commanders about progress in the decade-old war.

The detailed document, known as an NIE, runs more than 100 pages and represents the consensus view of the CIA and 15 other U.S. intelligence agencies. Similar in tone to an NIE prepared a year ago, it challenges the Pentagon's claim to have achieved lasting security gains in Taliban strongholds in southern Afghanistan, according to U.S. officials who have read or been briefed on its contents."  LA Times

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The US armed forces and CIA's Directorate of Operations are "interested parties" in progress toward pacification and success at the benighted adventure of COIN warfare there.  This is true even thought the assumption in Washington is that COIN is finished for a while as a srtategic doctrine rather than as a technique of some limited utility.

Their "interested party" status make the statements and forcasts of these two groups suspect,  National Intelligence Estimates (NIE) are NOW produced by the National Intelligence Council (NIC) which works for the Director of National Intelligence (DNI)  The NIC used to effectively bye under CIA.  This made these estimates hostages to CIA DO's particiapation in execution of national policy rather objective analysis.

That is no longer the case.  pl

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-intel-afghan-20120112,0,3639052.story

Still Compiling Readers' Recipes on The Athenaeum...

FYI: "A Virtual Feast" over on The Athenaeum is still soliciting SST/TA readers' favorite recipes.  Any & all food prep comments welcome!  

BTW, I've already tried three of these recipes out- Yellow Dog's Pecan Pie, B.D. Warbucks' Red Pepper Soup, & Medicine Man's Peanut Soup.  All were excellent.  http://turcopolier.typepad.com/the_athenaeum/2011/12/a-virtual-feast.html

-Maureen Lang

The "forgotten" fatwa

"Here are two good links.  First one reports it appears to have been issued sometime in 2004 in response to something from the IAEA

http://www.fas.org/sgp/news/secrecy/2005/08/081105.html

This one from 2005 includes the text of the fatwa (got the link from the online fatwa wiki), which appears to have been restated for some sort of international commemoration of the Hiroshima bombing held in 2005:

http://mathaba.net/news/pda.shtml?x=302258  "

Silverman

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

    I suppose the reason this fatwa is not mentioned more is that the war party propagandists and the Zionists don't want it mentioned.  The Israeli/Cheney 1% solution requires a belief that Iran is hell bent for development and probable use of nuclear weapons.  The anti-Muslim crowd of whom the medival fanatic, Santorum, is the present exemplar, would never accept the idea that such a fatwa could be anything but a satanic deception. All these forces are converging to cooperate with the nuts on the Iranian side to drive the USA toward war with Iran.  This has been coming for nearly a decade.  Why is CJCS going to Israel now?  Is he going to try to persuade the Bibi/Barak faction not to attack or is he going to coordinate our actions?  I know not.  pl

Egypt marches on toward holiness or something

"Nobel peace prize winner Mohamed ElBaradei's decision to quit the race for the presidency was seen in Egypt as a slap in the face for military rulers and one depriving liberals of a key force.

The ex-UN nuclear watchdog chief made the surprise announcement on Saturday, days before Egypt is set to celebrate the first anniversary of the January 25 revolution that ousted president Hosni Mubarak.

"My conscience does not allow me to run for the presidency or any other official position unless there is real democracy," ElBaradei said in a statement.

He charged that old regime figures still ruled the country, accused them of repressive tactics and criticised what he said were "botched" moves to draw up a constitution after the election later this year of a new president."  AFP

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

Well, well.  The man seated above contemplating the universe is Amre Mousa.  He is a former foreign minister and head of the Arab League.  He is altogether a Mubarak era politician, but with his usual skill has managed to position himself as the possible president most acceptable to both the MB party and SCAF.  Bravo!  He will be a figurehead compromise figure whose presence will screen the continuing struggle for supremacy between the Islamists and the generals.

Baradei was never going to be president, not in this world, maybe in the other world of ideas, the world in which scholars write papers about what might have been.

In the long run either the generals or the Islamistswill run Egypt.  A long term accomodation between or among these groups will not hold.  I would bet on the generals.  pl

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5gjQokx7uqOhP8u-WneIduqiAK1Lg?docId=CNG.2413163943498a313d9d0bab9035d953.7b1

The president is not CEO of the USA

"Austan Goolsbee, CEA chair under Obama, tried to lay out a four-part test: “Everyone kind of knows they need to ask what conditions was the person handed, what did they do, what was happening elsewhere, and what would have happened if he wasn’t there?”

But those questions, Goolsbee admitted, are tough to answer. Whatever the answer is, however, it needs to take into account that the president’s control of the economy is at best incomplete. “Despite continued scrounging around in the basement,” Goolsbee said of his time in the White House, “I was never able to find the lever you flip that lets the economy grow and create jobs.”"  Ezra Klein

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

There are a number of false ideas around that are widely accepted in the public mind.  These ideas are present because the largely uneducated media people put them there.  Examples:

- Politics in a democracy is a form of marketing.

- The "surge" defeated the Sunni insurgency in Iraq.

- Petraeus is a great general.

- The president of the US  is commander  in chief of the US.

- Government is like business and therefore a businessman is well suited to bring good government.

- The president of the US has virtually unlimited power and should be punished or rewarded for everything that happens during his/her term of office.

- The president can create jobs in the private sector, as opposed to creating them by providing money for salaries.

- Ron Paul is a racist loser who should be ignored,

pl

 

http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/2012/01/13/gIQAvsjQxP_story.html

Europe credit rating downgrade

I would like to see a European here write something on the implications of this to start a thread.  send it to me and I will put it up as a post and comments.  pl

The 2003 Iranian Overture

Adam L. Silverman, PhD*

This morning I tried to put most of this material up as a comment reply to Pirouz's remarks/question but Typepad ate it.  So I apologize for the delay.  The links to the actual Iranian fax are below the post.

In 2003 the Iranians, through Swiss diplomatic channels, made an offer to largely cooperate with the US in exchange for normalization of relations.  While there is no way to know if they were offering in good faith, or if the offer had been accepted if they would have then acted in good faith going forward, the major issue is that the Bush (43) Administration mishandled the offer.  In fact the offer only came to light after Flynt Leverett, a senior director on the National Security Staff at the time, wrote a NY Times' op-ed about it and Trita Parsi, who had been a staffer for Congressman Ney (of Abromoff scandal fame), who had been one of the pass throughs for the offer as he both spoke Farsi and was highly interested and involved in matters pertaining to the Middle East, went public with the story as well.  Secretary Rice denied ever having knowledge of Iran's offer, which is (partially) what led to Leverett's coming forward and a somewhat public spat between them.

"Mitt Romney and Bain Capital: Understanding the Reality" By: Robert K. Lifton

In support of his run for the Republican nomination, Mitt Romney has cited his experience at Bain Capital, the private equity firm he founded and led for many years. He has argued that that experience in which he “created 100,000 jobs” demonstrates his capabilities at job creation for the nation and is a qualification for the position of President.  Some Romney supporters have gone further. Thus, Utah Governor Gary Herbert, appearing on CNBC’s Squawk Box, argued that Romney’s experience at Bain in “turning around” companies demonstrates that he can “turn around” the United States. Romney’s claims of job creation opened the door to attacks from other Republican candidates. Newt Gingrich and a “super PAC” supporting him, financed by Las Vegas mogul Sheldon Adelson, are claiming in emotion laden ads that Romney’s activities at Bain actually reduced jobs and harmed employees.  And Texas Governor RIck Perry  has characterized private equity companies like Bain as “vultures” that destroy worker’s lives. 

Now, Republican leaders of all stripes, including former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee and New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani are rushing to the defense of Romney, arguing that attacks on his business record are antithetical to the Republican Party’s support of business and free market capitalism.

P-----g on the enemy's dead.

The Union Army did not p--s on these dead.  US soldiers don't p--s on their dead enemies.  US Marines in spite of their breast beating denials of common identity with other US soldiers are US soldiers.  This is a shameful thing.  The culprits and those who trained them in such a way that these simpletons thought this was acceptable should be punished to set an example for other simpletons.

I heard Secretary Clinton say today that this behavior is unacceptable but then she stupidly said that the marines "particularly" should know better.  Why is that?  Does she imagine that there are different rules for this self described "elite?"  pl

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/01/12/us-afghanistan-usa-urination-idUSTRE80A2D720120112

Scott Pelley said what?

""Are they trying to develop a nuclear weapon? No. But we know that they're trying to develop a nuclear capability. And that's what concerns us," Panetta told "Face the Nation" host Bob Schieffer. "And our red line to Iran is to not develop a nuclear weapon. That's a red line for us." 

Panetta also said that the U.S. would "not tolerate" the blocking of the Strait of Hormuz. 

"That's another red line for us and that we will respond to them," he added. 

General Martin Dempsey, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, added that while the Iranians have the capability to block the strait for a time, the U.S. would also be able to "defeat" them if it happened."  CBS News

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

What part of this is hard to understand? Panetta may think that the Iranians could detonate something out in the desert in a year or so.  I don't know if he thinks that.  If he does, so what?  Something the size of a boxcar set off in experimental conditions is a bit hard to deliver.  Our red line to Iran should be clear.  We (the US) do not want further nuclear proliferation and if we find that you have a DELIVERABLE weapon we will destroy it and along the way do untold damage.  This does not necessarily have anything to do with Israel.  At the same time it is clear that every Zionist in the world and all the contemptible flacks in th MSM are doing everythinhg they can to drag the US into war with Iran and the Iranians in their egregious actions are helping them.  pl

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-3460_162-57354645/panetta-iran-cannot-develop-nukes-block-strait/?tag=contentMain;contentBody

Face the Nation Transcript: All of Secretary Panetta's Remarks

Adam L. Silverman, PhD*

BillH, in the comments to the Secretary Panetta's Comments thread indicated that Scott Pelley reported that the SecDef indicated a time frame for Iran's acquisition of a nuclear weapon.  The transcript of his Face the Nation interview can be found here.  I don't see any reference like that, but click over and see for yourselves.

* Adam L. Silverman is the Culture and Foreign Language Advisor at the US Army War College (USAWC).  The views expressed here are his own and do not necessarily reflect those of USAWC and/or the US Army.

PPBS for "Dummies"

"Planning, Programming, and Budgeting System (PPBS) is in effect an integration of a number of techniques in a planning and budgeting process for identifying, costing and assigning a complexity of resources for establishing priorities and strategies in a major program and for forecasting costs, expenditure and achievements within the immediate financial year or over a longer period.

United States Department of Defense leaders use their Planning, Programming, and Budgeting System to link operational requirements with financial obligations. Department of Defense branches typically divide the process into plans, programs and budgets. While planning, programming, and budgeting continues throughout the year, PPBS dictates a sequential and annual process culminating with annual Defense Plan, followed by a Defense Program, then a Defense Budget.

PPBS requires Planners focus on operational requirements, programmers link the plans to a six year financial plan (known as a Future Years Defense Plan (FYDP)), and budgeters prepare a two year Congressional budget. While each step contains more detailed financial data, the two year Congressional budget stems from the six year Future Years Defense Plan, which is based on the even longer term Defense Plan."       WIKI on PPBS

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A number of people have expressed the opinion that the recently released strategy document is a meaningless publicity ploy by the Obama Administration.  Those who think that do not understand the PPBS process.  In that process the later programming and budget phases are driven by agreed upon strategy.  The strategy is the basis for all else.   The future proposed budgets are implied by the strategy.  The recent released budget guidance was the product of previous cycles of the PPBS "machine."  If this recent strategy document remains in force, the "out year" cycles of PPBS will produce smaller and smaller ground forces.  IMO, not a bad thing.  pl

 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PPBS

 

Secretary Panetta's Remarks on Iran

Adam L. Silverman, PhD*

This past Sunday morning, on CBS's Face the Nation, Secretary of Defense Panetta made some very interesting comments regarding Iran's nuclear aspirations (video at the link):

    “To make them understand that they cannot continue to do what they’re doing. Are     they trying to develop a nuclear weapon? No. But we know that they’re trying to     develop a nuclear capability, and that’s what concerns us. And our red line to Iran is,     do not develop a nuclear weapon. That’s a red line for us.”

This seems to be a very public reiteration of the findings of the 2007 National Intelligence Estimate on Iran's nuclear intentions.  It is also a very welcome public admission given all the recent sabre rattling in the early GOP primaries and debates, as well as among members of Congress.  The only real question now is how much will Secretary Panetta's remarks offend the tender sensibilities of the Iran hawks?

(hat tip to Zandar - I don't watch the Sunday shows, they give me a headache..., which is why I didn't know about this till today)

* Adam L. Silverman, PhD is the Culture and Foreign Language Advisor at the US Army War College (USAWC).  The views expressed here are his own and do not necessarily reflect those of USAWC and/or the US Army.

National Security Blog 9 January 2012 #2

What Do You Think of Obama's New Defense Strategy? - National Security Experts.

pl

National Journal Blog 9 January 2012

What Do You Think of Obama's New Defense Strategy? - National Security Experts.

pl

A Sorry Lot

I watched the debate last night from St. Anselm's College, the debate among the Iowa survivors.  A few notes:

Romney - His utterances appear to be a mish-mash of well rehearsed and vetted responses that political consultants (the best that money can buy) have provided him.  It doesn't really seem that Romney believes a lot of his own  "pablum."  His bleating about "America the Beautiful" rings hollow in the face of the bald fact that neither he nor any of his richboy sons ever chose to spend some of their oh so valuable time in the US military.  Better things to do?  The military is something for the lower classes to do?  His responses to questions over his leadership of a largely destructive Wall Street M&A company that specialized in wrecking distressed companies to profit from sale of pieces of the wrecks are always to claim that he knows how to "run" the US because he was so good at the wrecking.  Among other things this ignores the very different nature of business and government.  At the most elemental level business exists to make money by selling things and minimizing costs while government exists to spend money it collects in taxes or creates and provide services otherwise unavailable.  Perhaps the nost enjoyable of his bleatings was the moment in which he referred Diane Sawyer to Ron Paul on a point of information concerning the US Constitution.

Gingrich - Ron Paul has called him a "chickenhawk."  In other words, that would be someone who thinks other people should fight.  The basis for this is Gingrich's failure to serve during the draft and the VN War.  He appears to love wars in which he, personally, will not fight.  When confronted by this "awkwardness" he goes on about his father's 26 years of service in the US Army as though it were his own.  He also goes on to cite his "experience" as a child in seeing his father go to war as though that is somehow ennobling.  This is rubbish and someone should "call" him on it.  Been there, done that, and it is not an informative experience.

Perry - Sad.  The fool actually said that he would send US forces back into Iraq by force so that the Iranians would "stop taking over the country."  Even Sawyer managed to stop contemplating her own beauty long enough to express surprise.  "Well, these Iraqi individuals" as he referrred to the government that we "mid-wifed" into being "should be talked to..."  Perhaps a constitutional amendment barring presidents from Texas might be contemplated.  Paul could be excepted by name.

Santorum.  Last night's SNL sketch on him should be savored.  Santorum, aside from the Google joke, still seems to justify my earlier comment that he must have been some Sister Mary Margaret's favorite little boy student.  So far as I know he is not an Opus Dei type but he surely looks like one, sounds like one, and walks like one.  He really seems to be running for Holy Roman Emporer.  His world view seems medieval.  His obsession with what he calls "radical Islam" is transparently a call to arms against the Islamic World.  He clearly believes that "radical Islam" is a threat to.... What?  The USA? Or is it really Israel?  His attitude ignores the simple truth that Islam is not one thing.  It is many, many things as is Christianity.  As I recall, there are a lot of widely differing Jewish sects as well.  The number of Muslims who are real threats to the USA is minuscule.  Those people are being well "dealt with" by SOF, clandestine intelligence and alliances with foreign police.  The COIN wars have been nothing but welfare for generals and  self-serving theorists.  If Santorum is president look for an official renewal of the crusades.

Paul- He is running to change peoples' minds about the role of government.  He knows very well that he is unelectable.  The "we are all 'Austrians'" outburst is indicative of that intent.

Huntsman- Out after NH.

Except for Paul, a sorry lot.

On the other hand we have the incumbent, a disguised Rockefeller Republican who opted for black identity because he didn't think he could be "white."  Colin Powell made the same decision years ago under the influence of his wife.  Obama is a man who wrings his hands and then signs laws like the Defense Authorization bill that authorizes the armed forces to arrest and hold American citizens on American soil and to hold them indefinitely without benefit of habeas corpus.  In apology for this outrage he says that he will not arrest Americans in his time in power.  Apres lui, quoi, le deluge?  Did he put a "frowny face" after his signature?  pl

 

The Washington Post's defense obsession in the ME

"A more dubious, and risky, assumption of Mr. Obama’s plan is that the United States will no longer conduct operations like those of the last decade: “long-term nation-building with large military footprints.” Though counterinsurgency has produced results in both Iraq and Afghanistan, it — and the troop levels required for it — will be retired; the size of the Army and Marines will be returned to prewar levels. This, too, is not a new concept: After Vietnam, the Pentagon abandoned counterinsurgency and planning for troop-intensive operations."  Washpost Editorial Board

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It is to be expected that the neocon editorial page board and staff of the Washington Post would be upset with the newly announced national defense strategy.  This strategy will inevitably result in two things these people do not like: 1- Fewer conventional ground troop will be available for "reforming" foreign countries in COIN campaigns like Iraq and Afghanistan and 2- The strategy will begin a dilution of our decades long obsession with the Middle East and Europe.

As I say, this was to be expected.  pl

http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/president-obamas-defense-strategy/2012/01/06/gIQAKm5pfP_story.html

Arab Winter

"Hosni Mubarak and a former minister should be executed for their roles in the killing of protesters who joined the rallies that led to the Egyptian ex-president's ouster in February, the prosecution in their trial said."  SF Gate

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The minister mentioned here is the former head of the Egyptian INTERNAL security service,  not Umar Suleiman the former head of Egypt's external intelligence serve.  The revolutionary court has been content to let him go home.  Some idiot here will say that this is because he is still "running' Egypt for the USA.  Be patient.  As the revolution runs its fever course, he, too, is likely to sit in the tumbrils on the way to Tahrir Square.  pl

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2012/01/06/bloomberg_articlesLXDBHF0D9L35.DTL#ixzz1ihTRGuFx

 

 

Cordesman on the New Defense Strategy

Download The New US Strategy Asking the Right Questions

 

 The data in this piece is at a link called"Download the full report."  pl

A Brave New World for the armed forces

"... administration officials speaking before the roll-out of the strategy on Thursday said Army and Marine Corps personnel numbers would be cut by 10 percent to 15 percent in the next decade, a figure that translates into tens of thousands of troops.

The strategy underscores the United States' "enduring interests" in Europe and the importance of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization but says the force posture in Europe must "evolve" with the changing times.

Administration officials have said the United States is likely to further reduce the number of ground forces in Europe by another combat brigade, a unit of 3,000 to 4,000 people depending on its composition.

The strategy document underscores a U.S. interest in maintaining stability in the Middle East while responding to the aspirations of the people as expressed in the Arab Awakening last year. It also says the United States will continue working to halt nuclear programs in Iran and North Korea.

"U.S. policy will emphasize Gulf security, in collaboration with the Gulf Cooperation Council countries when appropriate, to prevent Iran's development of a nuclear weapon capability and counter its destabilizing policies," the strategy document says."  Reuters

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It is always pleasant to hear confirmation of policy change that one has favored.   This is just the beginning.  We will have much smaller conventional ground forces.  This refelcts a decision to accept the notion that we will not fight land wars overseas that involve massive numbers of grounf troops.  IMO, the US Army will take the biggest "hit" in this since it is far easier in such a national strategy to justify marine forces that will operate as part of naval task forces.  The USAF is an obvious beneficiary of such strategy alhough the future for human pilots is beginning to dim.  SOF forces for Libya type involvement and CT work will clearly be maintained or reinforced.

Those who seek to advance Israel's interests through America's strength should take little comfort from this announcement.  The shift in attention to the Pacific cannot be viewed favorably in those quarters.

We will have a lot to say about these changes as developements and documents appear.  pl

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/01/05/us-usa-military-obama-idUSTRE8031Z020120105

A move in the right direction - DOL by TTG

Came across an interesting article in my local newspaper. Not sure why the Fredericksburg Free Lance-Star picked up this AP piece, but I'm glad it did. Kimberly Dozier describes how MG Bennet Sacolick, the current commandant of the JFK Special Warfare Center, is bringing HUMINT and tradecraft training to Special Forces training. This is not a new concept. The Center has been training SF soldiers in conducting low level source operations (LLSO) for at least a decade. MG Sacolick served as an SFODA commander and has commanded Delta before serving a tour with the CIA in their Counterterrorism Center (CTC). In spite of his long association with the special operators of Delta and the "capture, kill" operators of CTC, he seems to have retained his SF character. 

 

HUMINT and clandestine tradecraft are natural extensions of Special Forces capabilities. These skills apply not just to intelligence operations, but also to insurgencies. How do you think the rebels in Tripoli prepared fro Operation Mermaid Dawn? In the early 80s, my ODA taught a one week course in guerrilla operations in urbanized terrain to other ODAs in 10th Group. We touched upon the use of clandestine tradecraft, cover, cellular operations, sabotage and other dark arts. 10th Group ODAs would conduct advanced training in Berlin in these subjects. I hope MG Sacolick includes all this and more in future Special Forces training.  TTG

 

"The Goodbye Kiss" by Basilisk

A Saturday night in January 1991: my colleague sat morosely, looking at the muted TV. Some vaguely international jazz—chewing gum for the ears–played in the background. The fog had rolled in around four p.m. and the temperature was hovering around twenty-five.  We were ensconced in a glitzy hotel on the Kärntner Ring in Vienna, but it might have been anywhere in the world. They had CNN International running nonstop.

“You could drop one of those things right through a silo door.” He was watching perhaps the fiftieth repeat of video clip showing the display of laser-guided bomb guiding unerringly into the top of a multistory building in downtown Baghdad.

“That’s not what they’re for,” I said.

“Sure, but we trade everything away, and you still have those.”

It was the second or third night of the air offensive for DESERT STORM. The fireworks were impressive. My colleague was a Soviet diplomat attached to the Arms Control delegation negotiating the treaty we called Conventional Forces in Europe.

“Those are tactical aircraft,” I said, “they would have to penetrate a thousand miles of air defenses to get to your ICBM’s. It would be impossible.”

“The Iraqis have our air defenses and they don’t seem to be stopping anything there.” His face was glum as he watched the sequence run again.

1856 Again?

"Paul claimed a ticket out of Iowa, vowing to continue his fight, even as his GOP rivals have dismissed him as a fringe candidate and as party leaders have flatly declared him unelectable.

Iowa voters thought otherwise, taking to Paul’s strident antiwar and small-government message in enough numbers to lift him into a finish just a few percentage points behind Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum. Evangelicals, home-schoolers, young people, moderates, libertarians and disaffected Democrats formed an unlikely coalition that led to Paul’s strong showing, and at his Tuesday evening rally he predicted Iowa would be a launching pad to bigger things.

“We have tremendous opportunity to continue this momentum, it won’t be long that there’s going to be an election up in New Hampshire, and believe me, this momentum is going to continue and this movement is going to continue and we are going to keep scoring,” Paul said to his supporters. “So tonight, we have come out of an election where there were essentially three winners, three top vote-getters and we will go on, we will raise the money, I have no doubt about the volunteers.”"  Washpost

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In 2008 Paul took 10% of the vote in the Republican caucuses in Iowa.  Last night he took 21%.  That fact is being deliberately ignored in the MSM.  Romney had the same percentage of the vote yesterday that he did in 2008.  Who was the winner?  Santorum?  I doubt that Santorum will find a great deal of support outside of areas of elevated religiosity and Israelism.  IMO Paul is too old to be president.  I am nearly as old.  His lack of long term political intent led him to the idiocy of the" oh so useful" newsletters.  He is wise to not believe that he will be president.

Nevertheless, there is something in his message that has a powerful appeal to many.   This is a message that carries the meaning that much of the federal government centered establishment exists to serve its own interests.  Paul's message threatens the entire population of what Mr. Jefferson would have called "centralizers."  This includes the mass of media persons, federal civil servants below the politically appointed level,  most senior military and naval offciers and the professoriat in the satellite fields of international relations and political "science."

IMO what you are seeing in the highly disciplined mass of young people who support Paul is the commencement of a powerful movement that will result in a political party.

In 1856 the Republican Party ran its first presidential candidate.  Paul should run as a representative of a new party.  pl  

http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/ron-paul-looks-to-capitalize-on-top-tier-iowa-finish/2012/01/02/gIQAcxIUZP_story.html#

"Iran threatens US aircraft carrier" CSM

"Army chief Ataollah Salehi said the United States had moved an aircraft carrier out of the Gulf from because of Iran's naval exercises, and Iran would take action if the ship returned.

It did not name the carrier, but the USS John C Stennis leads a task force in the region, and the U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet website pictured it in the Arabian Sea last week.

"Iran will not repeat its warning ... the enemy's carrier has been moved to the Sea of Oman because of our drill. I recommend and emphasise to the American carrier not to return to the Persian Gulf," army chief Salehi said.

"I advise, recommend and warn them over the return of this carrier to the Persian Gulf because we are not in the habit of warning more than once.""  CS Monitor

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

It is difficult to imagine a challenge that the US would be more likely to meet than this one.   The Freedom of the Seas is a principle embedded in every administration's foreign policy from the beginning of the republic.

I guess the Iranians have been reading too much of the oh so clever chatter about the economic crisis limiting US freedom of action.  There is more than enough "on the shelf" to crush Iran.

One can only hope that cooler heads will prevail in Teheran because I will b e astonished if that carrier battle group (or some other) does not go back into the international waters of the Gulf.

Steve King may have his hearts deire fulfilled.  In this case the Jingoists seem well spread around.  pl

http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Latest-News-Wires/2012/0103/As-sanctions-bite-Iran-threatens-US-aircraft-carrier

http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/agency/navy/cargru7.htm

 

Steve King and Foreign Policy

Congressman Steve King (R) of Iowa's 5th District generally holds opinions that I would agree with, not all, but mostly. That being said, I was interested to hear his critique of Dr. Paul's military and foreign policy positions.

His district is all of western Iowa. It is 95.5% white, .8 % black and 3.5 % Hispanic, some of whom are white. This district is farm country and appropriately King is on committees of the House that deal with agriculture and the judiciary. He does not have a college degree. Like the United States, Iowa is bounded on the east and west by water. In Iowa's case these bodies of water are the Mississippi and Missouri rivers. King's District is bordered on the west by the Missouri. You can't get more firmly placed in "flyover" America.

He has no apparent background in foreign or military affairs, but favors large and still expanding military forces for what appears to be a national strategy of forward basing overseas and at least a declaratory stance of belligerence against anything that threatens what he thinks of as US interests. What those ineterests or threats would be is unclear to me.

One of his more entertaining statements was that Dr. Paul would "turn his back on 114 years of American foreign policy." The reference seems to be to the Spanish American War and the emergence of a short lived American imperial colonialism under the sponsorship of King's party. (See RTuchman's "The Proud Tower") Ah! I forgot. The neocons have revived the imperialist wing of the Republican Party.

His most striking pronouncement is his statement that US military withdrawal from the 3rd World would open those areas to Chinese penetration. What does that mean? Does it mean that he thinks that if we do not have military forces in overseas regions then those regions will be militarily invaded by the Chinese, the Russians or Qur'an brandishing Islamists? Does it mean that he thinks our withdrawal from overseas would lead to Chinese (for example) business and trade penetration of those regions? If the latter is the case, then how does he think that the presence of our forces in a region prevents the expansion of Chinese economic activity in that area? Does he think that we can forbid business contracts with the Chinese? Does he think the locals are intimidated by our regional presence and for that reason will not grant mineral extraction concessions to the Chinese? That does not seem to have been the case in either Iraq or Afghanistan.

What is he talking about and does he have any real thought process in such matters other than a mindless jingoism? pl

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1211/70949.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King,_Steve

 

Problems

Anyone having trouble getting onto SST?  If so, what sort of problem?  pl