Sic Semper Tyrannis

Open Thread 31 January 2019

pl

Trump and the Spookery.

"Trump and his top aides have taken a hard line on Iran, implying that the Islamist-led country still poses a nuclear threat despite its adherence to a 2015 accord that put curbs on its nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief. Trump withdrew the U.S. from that nuclear deal, and has reimposed sanctions, although other international allies have stayed committed to the pact.

During the hearing, Coats said Iran isn't taking any steps to make a nuclear weapon. “We do not believe Iran is currently undertaking the key activities we judge necessary to produce a nuclear device," he said.

CIA Director Gina Haspel, who also spoke at the hearing, said Tehran, "at the moment, technically they're in compliance" with the deal.

But Coats also noted that Iranian officials have “publicly threatened to push the boundaries” of the nuclear deal if it did not see any benefits from it."  politico

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Well, pilgrims, I have resolutely maintained on SST that Iran has not had a nuclear WEAPONS program since 2003, having cancelled their research program then with the disappearance of the Iraqi threat.  The 2007 NIE on Iran stated that explicitly but the Zionist lobby has blocked publication of an unclassified summary of subsequent judgments on this subject.  Why?  It is Israel's policy that Iran must be prevented from becoming strong enough to become the major hegemonic power in the ME. Trump's ignorance of realities in the region has enabled The Lobby to distort US policy to serve its purposes.  To my surprise the IC chiefs had the guts to tell the world what is true about Iran and to point out other areas in which their agencies differ in judgment from the administration, but the Iran judgement is IMO the most important.  Neocons like Pompeo, Bolton and E. Abrams do not reason from evidence.  They reason from ideology and their shared hostility to anyone who does not bow down to the US.  They and The Lobby currently control Trump's foreign policy especially in the ME.

At the same time we must remember that these agencies are "mature bureaucracies."  That means they have existed long enough to have become "self licking ice cream cones."  These are organizations for which institutional survival and the welfare of the all important leader of each agency are primary interests.  You don't think so?  Just remember that the grandees at the top of these agencies are totally dependent on their directors for success in the their careers.

That is what makes the performance of Coats and Haspel so impressive.  Bravo!  pl

See my essay linked below on "Artists and Bureaucrats."

https://www.politico.com/story/2019/01/29/dan-coats-north-korea-nuclear-weapons-1133969

https://turcopolier.typepad.com/files/artists-versus-bureaucrats...-1.pdf

A fearless forecast - 29 January, 2019

1.  The Democrats are looking for an "off-ramp" in their conflict with DJT over southern border defense.  They are now saying that they must hear the opinion of "experts" before deciding what would constitute adequate border defense.  This is of course political theater.  Every CBP agent worth listening to has already said that hard barriers must be part of comprehensive border defense.  But, if this fig leaf enables a deal over the issue, so be it.  I am not sure this will suffice for the hard left in the Democratic Party coalition.  They do not want anything other than an open border and an effective end to US sovereignty.  Pelosi is a vindictive old woman and Schumer, well, he is Schumer so I am not sure that a compromise is possible.  If that doesn't happen, then IMO Trump will declare a National Emergency and use monies available to him under several laws to build out more border barrier.  He would probably put Northcom in charge of the project with the Army Corps of Engineers supervising the work, design, contracts, etc.  Judge Napolitano, the Foxnews legal guru says that Trump could not do this because the courts blocked Harry Truman's seizure of the steel companies during the Korean War in 1952 (?).  What he never mentions is that the National Emergencies Act was passed after that incident to correct the problem

2.  The minor gods of the Neocon faith are now seething with desire over the prospect of intervention in Venezuela.  All, I can say is DON'T DO IT!!  I paraphrase someone who commented on SST saying that this would be "a jungle war against a leader figure viewed by some locally as legitimate who is supported by Russia and China."  Does this sound familiar?  And, don't kid yourself, there would be plenty of Venezuelans who would fight us, plenty.  pl

22 million lifetime page views now

pl

The Daydreams of Dilbert Dogbert - TTG

This comment was posted earlier today by our friend, dilbertdogbert, at the behest of Colonel Lang. The sentiment expressed by both these gentlemen is one with which I heartedly agree. We can only take so much politics, anger and stupidity before we give the whole thing up.

*********************

“Completely off topic but the good Col Lang asked me to put the link on the blog. It is about small boat adventures. The Col. has linked to the one in Florida. This one is on the Left Coast - Puget Sound. Now the Salish Sea. A place where I have many memories of and many friendships. It is good to get something to think about than the current state of politics and the world in turmoil.”

https://www.facebook.com/groups/285180382147515/

“Here is a google link to more information on the area.”

https://www.google.com/search?salish+sea+100

*********************

The Sailish Sea 100 is a known as a raid, a sail and oar adventure done with small boats as a leisurely pace rather than as a race. There often are some competitive elements involved in a raid. After all, anytime two boats get together there is a race of some kind. But the goal of a raid is comradeship, fun and adventure. This particular raid will take place in a magical location, perhaps literally. I envy dilbertdogbert’s memories of Puget Sound. I’ve never been there. The closest I’ve been was kayaking among the whales, walruses, bald eagles and calving glaciers in Alaska. A magical place all of its own.

I’ve taken up a new nautical interest after my visit to the Draken Harald Harfagre when she paid a port call in Washington DC this October. I was wondering how she was steered without any real keel or centerboard and a comparatively small rudder. A lot of this task is done by sail positioning as with a windsurfer. I started studying the shunting proas of the Pacific. In short, they’re amazing and downright ingenious. This is what I've been day dreaming about lately. But more on that later when I do my annual post on the Everglades 300.

TTG 

Bishop Foys says he was "bullied."

"The bishop of the Covington Diocese in Kentucky claimed that he and Covington Catholic High School were “bullied” into condemning the behavior of students engaged in a controversial encounter with a Native American elder.

In a letter to parents, the Most Reverend Roger Foys said that he apologized to high school junior Nick Sandmann, who was filmed in a face-to-face-encounter with Native American elder Nathan Phillips near the Lincoln Memorial.

"We should not have allowed ourselves to be bullied and pressured into making a statement prematurely, and we take full responsibility for it," Foys wrote in the letter cited by news outlets. "I especially apologize to Nicholas Sandmann and his family, as well as to all CovCath families who have felt abandoned during this ordeal."  Newsweek

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I had a friend once who in spite of being an Opus Dei type still had his head screwed on right most of the time.  I remember him saying that "when they send the trucks to take people to the camps for being Catholic, you should hope that your name is on the list ..."  It doesn't appear from his behavior that Foys is someone who would seek martyrdom for the faith and/or his integrity.

There are, unfortunately, far too many Catholic clergy and bishops in the US who are mere careerists, sure that THEY are the church rather than The People of God whom they seem to think of as an enormous cash cow there to be milked regularly in service of the clergy's protected lifestyle.

Foys was not alone in condemning Sandmann and the other Covington Catholic High School Students.  It seems that several other Kentucky bishops joined early in excoriating members of their flocks apparently inspired by media attacks by enemies of the Catholic Church.  For shame!

The Catholic Church in America suffers from an infestation of men who should never have been priests.  Foys seems to be an example.  pl

https://www.newsweek.com/bishop-claims-he-was-bullied-apologising-maga-teens-involved-encounter-native-1306516

Is Pentagon Planning To Stay in Syria Despite Trump?

by Willy B

Trump may have vacillated on the time line for the US military withdrawal from Syria but the available evidence suggests that he is determined that it will happen. At the same time, elements of the US national security establishment seem equally determined that it not happen. The latest example of this is an article in Foreign Policy claiming that the Pentagon is planning to stay in Al Tanf despite Trump's order. "Al-Tanf is a critical element in the effort to prevent Iran from establishing a ground line of communications from Iran through Iraq through Syria to southern Lebanon in support of Lebanese Hezbollah," one former senior U.S. military commander told FP.

But it isn't just the base at Tanf, but also the 55 km exclusion zone around it which gives the US military, there, the color of self defense, should Syrian or other hostile forces enter it. FP doesn't explain how illegally occupying territory in another country gives the U.S. military the right to self defense. Nonetheless, FP does note, at least, that there are legal problems with the continued U.S. military presence there. Experts have argued that the administration would be on shaky ground in using the 2001 Authorization for Use of Military Force—which authorizes the fight against nonstate militant groups such as the Islamic State or al Qaeda in Afghanistan—to justify maintaining a presence in Syria for any reason other than to fight the Islamic State. The only "logical purpose" al-Tanf serves is to allow the United States to "monitor and disrupt the flow of Iranian-backed militias," one source said. "Honestly, you could not contrive a different military mission," the source said.

And here's the other problem: "Has the president actually approved that? All of his statements are to the contrary," the U.S. government source said.

Mueller's Desperate Roger Stone Gambit by Larry Johnson

I have had to shut off all of the media. The media/establishment hatred of Trump and their desire to force him from office is palpable and on near continuous display on every cable channel, including Fox. These pundits remind me of the drowning  passengers from the Titanic, flailing frantically while immersed in freezing water but going no where but down. They are keen on avoiding facts. Let's be clear what the facts are about Roger Stone.

FACT ONE--Roger Stone had an extremely short tenure with the Trump campaign. He served in an undefined position as a "campaign advisor" and either quit or was fired on 8 August 2015. Politico's account of the incident attributed Stone's departure to Trump's comments regarding former Fox star, Megyn Kelly:

Regardless of who resigned or was fired first, the campaign shakeup was the first sign that Trump’s election effort was seriously damaged from within after his Thursday night debate performance and his subsequent comments in which he attacked one of the Fox debate moderators, Megyn Kelly.

Stone was never a critical component or the Trump campaign. He was not an insider and he was not a "go to guy" for Trump's inner circle. The indictment smears Stone by an unsupported claim that Stone had regular, continuing contact with unnamed persons affiliated with the Trump campaign even after his August 2015 departure. Having conversations is not illegal. Moreover, Stone was never a go to guy for the campaign. 

FACT TWO--Roger Stone does have a history with Paul Manafort, who served a brief tenure as Trump's campaign manager. They formed a political consulting firm in 1980--Black, Manafort, Stone and Kelly--and became known as bare knuckle brawlers in the world of electoral politics. They worked for Reagan and for George H.W. Bush. Worth noting that Manafort's time with the Trump campaign started off in March 2016--seven months after Stone's departure--as an advisor on going after delegates. He was promoted to campaign manager on May 19, 2016 and resigned from the campaign on August 19, 2016 under the cloud of being cozy with Putin:

The Trump campaign provided no reason for Manafort’s resignation. But in the days immediately leading up to the announcement, the New York Times reported investigators were looking into $12.7 million in undisclosed cash payments to Manafort from former Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych, and the Associated Press reported he helped a pro-Russian party in Ukraine funnel money to lobbying firms in Washington, D.C.

Roger Stone is charged with crimes about his appearance before the House Intelligence Committee

By Robert Willmann

Now more than ever, it is obvious that the federal criminal justice system (with help from within the intelligence community) is being corruptly used to try to remove the president of the United States, who was nominated through the Republican Party to be on the general election ballot, and who after the election and confirmation by the Electoral College, was sworn into office.  Roger Stone, a long-time acquaintance of Donald Trump, was arrested on criminal charges filed by "special counsel" Robert Mueller.

What matters in the 24-page indictment are pages 21-23 (page 24 has yesterday's date).  The Mueller group bootstrapped Stone's appearance on 26 September 2017 before the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (HPSCI) into seven charges:  five for making false statements under the proverbial Title 18, U.S. Code, section 1001; one charge for obstructing a "proceeding", which was the HPSCI event; and one for attempting to persuade and persuading "Person 2" (probably Randy Credico) from testifying in the HPSCI event.  The charge of obstructing the HPSCI (count 1) is alleged to be:  testifying falsely and misleadingly at a HPSCI hearing in or around September 2017; failing to turn over and lying about the existence of responsive records to HPSCI’s requests about documents; submitting a letter to HPSCI falsely and misleadingly describing communications with Person 2; and attempting to have Person 2 testify falsely before HPSCI or prevent him from testifying.  The sections of Title 18 of the U.S. Code used in the indictment are in the notes below [1].

It would be interesting to know when and under what circumstances the transcript of Stone's testimony to the HPSCI was given to the Mueller group.  The whole thing involves who may or may not have talked to whom at Wikileaks, called "Organization 1" in the indictment--

https://turcopolier.typepad.com/files/rogerstone_indictment.pdf

The e-mails released by Wikileaks revealed shenanigans at and by the Democratic National Committee (DNC) and the Hillary Clinton campaign.

Stone was arrested at his Florida residence at 6:00 a.m. today by gun-toting FBI agents, with the whole thing being filmed by -- surprise, surprise! -- the CNN television network, which perhaps knew to be there after consulting a Ouija Board [2].

After appearing before a federal magistrate in Florida, Stone was released on his own recognizance by a signature bond, so he did not have to deposit any bail money or get a bail bond.

He talked outside after he was released, asserting that he will have a trial--

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nDrulTuG50U

The case is filed in a federal district court in Washington D.C., and the presiding judge is Amy Berman Jackson, who is the judge in Paul Manafort's case that is in the D.C. federal courthouse.  Cases are normally assigned to a court randomly when they are filed, and it is not known if that procedure was followed in this instance. 

" for whatever they eat, I eat" Washpost

" ... ibn Said soon fled and made his way to North Carolina, where he was captured around Fayetteville. He was jailed, then handed over to plantation owner and future congressman James Owen, the brother of John Owen, a future governor of North Carolina.

One old account states that authorities took notice when ibn Said scrawled “piteous petitions” in Arabic on the walls of the jail.

Ibn Said then spent the rest of his life with the Owen family in Bladen County, N.C., at their plantations on the Cape Fear River.

He soon became a celebrity.

People were struck by his dignity and bearing, Deeb said. He was the subject of newspaper articles and visits by “scholars.” Some were eager to claim that he was an Arab, whose people were “not Negroes,” according to historian Ala Alryyes, an expert on ibn Said’s life.

“Let not the humanizing influence of the Koran upon ... pagan, homicidal Africa be depreciated,” one Southern diplomat wrote.

Ibn Said embraced Christianity to a degree, and reportedly read an Arabic version of the Bible his owner acquired for him.

He praised James Owen, his owner, and Owen’s bother, John, as “good men, for whatever they eat, I eat, and whatever they wear they give me to wear.”   Washpost

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This doesn't seem to fit the present general narrative which envisions the antebellum South as a vast Gulag in which Black and semi-Black people were beaten daily, or at least regularly, for minor infractions of plantation discipline or ... just for the fun of it.  pl

https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2019/01/20/when-few-enslaved-people-could-write-one-man-wrote-his-memoirs-arabic/?utm_term=.0b5311a3df53

In praise of "popular" books

In response to K. Harbaugh's inquiry I re-state my opinion that old, readable books written for us average folk can often be more valuable than books written for specialists in a given field:

Some books:

"The Story of Civilization" by Will and Ariel Durant (eight volumes)

All the books on Arab and Islamic history by Sir John Bagot Glubb

"The Crusades" by Sir Steven Runciman

"Caravan, the Story of the Middle East" by Carlton Coon

"Captain Sam Grant." (Loyd Lewis) "Grant tales Command." and "Grant Moves South" (Bruce Catton)

"The Second World War" by Winston Churchill

"A History of the English Speaking Peoples" by Winston Churchill

"The Civil War, a Narrative" by Shelby Foote

Suggestions and comments are welcome.  pl

Give the SOU speech in Covington, Kentucky.

Pelosi's studied insults to the president extend to refusing him access to the House of Representative.  In this she reflects the attitude of the Marxist mess that has become the Democratic Party.  John Kerry, the scumbag who lied about American conduct in Vietnam, now says on British TV that he would tell the president to resign.  What a joke!  This is like having the traitor Jane Fonda tell Trump to resign. 

Go to Covington to give the speech.  pl

 

Michelle Alexander on Israel and the Palestinians

"Our elected representatives, who operate in a political environment where Israel's political lobby holds well-documented power, have consistently minimized and deflected criticism of the State of Israel, even as it has grown more emboldened in its occupation of Palestinian territory and adopted some practices reminiscent of apartheid in South Africa and Jim Crow segregation in the United States.

Many civil rights activists and organizations have remained silent as well, not because they lack concern or sympathy for the Palestinian people, but because they fear loss of funding from foundations, and false charges of anti-Semitism. They worry, as I once did, that their important social justice work will be compromised or discredited by smear campaigns.

Similarly, many students are fearful of expressing support for Palestinian rights because of the McCarthyite tactics of secret organizations like Canary Mission, which blacklists those who publicly dare to support boycotts against Israel, jeopardizing their employment prospects and future careers."  Michelle Alexander

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What on earth is happening at the New York Times?  The intimidation of critics of Israel that Alexander writes of has had a bastion of support at the Times for a long time. 

I don't write much about the plight of the Palestinians.  I gave up on that a long time ago.  I have other concerns.  The murderous hatred of the Israeli Jews toward the Palestinians is acted out just about every day.  Actual violence, demeaning insult, seizure of private property are all the lot of the Palestinians both in the occupied territories and also in Israel proper.  "Arab Israelis?  Don't make me laugh!  No one in Israel believes that Arab citizens of Israel are anything like first class citizens.

Are the Palestinians born without Original Sin?  Not at all, not at all, they fight back with knives, stones and in the past with large scale and terrible attacks on Jewish civilians.  Before Israeli independence they repeatedly attacked Jewish settlements and fought a three year rebellion in Palestine in attempting to roll back the Jewish tide of immigration.  Did the Mufti of Jerusalem side with the Nazis in the hope of exterminating the Jews in Palestine if Germany won the world war.  Yes!  He did!

I stopped going to Israel some time ago because I was beginning to dislike both groups.  The Jews treat the Palestinians like pariah dogs, and the Palestinians are not capable of dealing with their situation at any level beyond whining menace.

A pox on both their houses, but something very odd is happening at the New York Times.  pl

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/19/opinion/sunday/martin-luther-king-palestine-israel.html

Concerning the partial shutdown and and the border barriers

1 - The banks, credit unions and any other financial institutions that can lend money are missing a chance to build a lot of good will in this situation.  Good will is an item that any good business plan must take into account even of it is impossible to quantify on paper.  Good will leads to more customers.  Businesses want to acquire more customers.  The 800k federal employees now on furlough have legislated assurance that their back pay will be quickly forthcoming when the pause ends.  Sooo!  Make them no interest loans in the amount of their postponed pay.  You will not be sorry if you do that.  I don't know if that could be extended to contract employees since the contract that includes their services may not insure back pay.

2 - The wall, barrier system or whatever you want to call it presently exists on a number of sections of the border.  Pelosi, Schumer and the other Democrats who prattle about the "immorality" and uselessness of physical border defenses should be asked each and every day if they want the present border barriers demolished so that anyone can cross the border whenever they want and anywhere they want.  California is the destination of choice of these economic migrants.   If the border barriers are taken down, there will be IMO a mass migration into what is now the United States and especially into California from Latin American and then inevitably from all over the world.  Ask the Democrats, every day if they want the existing border barriers taken down,  Ask them!  pl

Open Thread 21 January 2019

pl

The H-4 airbase in Jordan

"This airfield was built to support the H4 oil pumping station of the Mosul–Haifa oil pipeline built by the Iraq Petroleum Company between 1932 and 1934 in the Emirate of Transjordan at that time a protectorate of the British Empire. The airfield was used by the RAF during World War Two as the Advanced Headquarters for operations against the rebels in Iraq during the Anglo-Iraqi War. The Airbase is now operated by the Royal Jordanian Air Force.^[1]

Between November 2014 and January 2015, the United States began positioning MQ-9 Reaper UAVs at the base.^[1]

The base also houses AH-1F Cobras, believed to be from the 10th and 12th Squadrons of the Royal Jordanian Air Force, and a Cessna 208B Caravan from the 15th Squadron.  wiki

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As air bases go in the ME this is an old one.  It was probably originally a highway landing strip built by the RAF during the British mandates in Palestine, Transjordan and Iraq.  It was built along the line of the Iraq Petroleum Company pipeline and road from Kirkuk to Haifa.  The town is a few kilometers south of the air base.  It has an official name but in my time out there the Jordanian beduin just called it "ashfour,"  (H4). 

This base has been much improved and expanded since 9/11 with American money.  IMO this is probably the base that Trump referred to last week when he said he would move a lot of the SOF people to an airbase outside Syria.  It is a good operating location, protected by the excellent Jordanian military and within easy operating range of Syria 80 kilometers away.

Combined with the US forces at al-asad airbase in Iraq (where Trump visited) and the artillery and road blocking positions that I posted on as linked,  this would IMO constitute a viable base situation in that part of the ME for continued CT operations rather than the Neo-imperialism of the neocons both in and out of uniform.

I took a delegation of West Point cadets to Jordan during the time I taught there.  We visited Qasr Burqa , a Roman Army auxiliary cohort fort about 20 kilometers NW of "ashfour."  We had a Jordanian Badia (desert) policeman with us and a sergeant from the USDAO in Amman.  It is a lovely place with a little lake that is a stop on the Russia to Africa flyway for migratory birds.  They come there in millions, ducks, ducks everywhere.  Sir John Bagot Glubb told me (RIP) that he spent many happy times at Qasr Burqa.  pl

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H-4_Air_Base

https://turcopolier.typepad.com/sic_semper_tyrannis/2018/12/httpswwwalmasdarnewscomarticleus-builds-two-military-bases-along-syrian-border-map.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kirkuk%E2%80%93Haifa_oil_pipeline

Buzzfeed's Dan Rather Moment by Larry Johnson

Remember when Dan Rather self-immolated his credibility in a desperate attempt to take out George W. Bush?

The Killian documents controversy (also referred to as Memogate or Rathergate) involved six purported documents critical of U.S. President George W. Bush's service in the Texas Air National Guard in 1972–73. Four of these documents[1] were presented as authentic in a 60 Minutes II broadcast aired by CBS on September 8, 2004, less than two months before the 2004 presidential election, but it was later found that CBS had failed to authenticate the documents.[2][3][4] Subsequently, several typewriter and typography experts concluded the documents were forgeries.[5][6]

Well, looks like Buzzfeed did not learn from history. Buzzfeed set the media world on fire on Friday with a story that appeared well sourced that claimed Donald Trump had directed his lawyer, Michael Cohen, to lie to Congress about a Moscow real estate deal that never came to fruition. The mainstream media went into hyper impeachment drive. This was the nail in the Trump coffin as far as they were concerned. Trump was as good as dead.

Then a funny thing happened. Robert Mueller's press guy issued an unprecedented statement calling the Buzzfeed story pure, unadulterated bullshit. Whoops!! The Trump is dead meme quickly evaporated. 

SDF proposal to Damascus

"The Hawar News Agency released a detailed report that highlighted all of the topics that are going to be discussed with the Syrian government.

According to the report, the following is the Syrian Democratic Council’s (SDF) roadmap to peace:

1.Unity of the Syrian land

2 The system in Syria is a democratic republic, and Autonomous Administration is part of this system.

3 Autonomous Administrations have representatives in parliament in the center of Damascus, through their representatives.

4 Along with the Syrian flag, there should be flags representing Autonomous Administrations.

5. Diplomacy in the areas of Autonomous Administrations does not go contrary to the interests of the Syrian people and constitution.

6 Syrian Democratic Forces are part of the Syrian army, which is responsible for protecting the Syrian border.

7. The Internal Security Forces in the areas of Autonomous Administration operate according to the local councils in a manner that does not contradict with the Syrian constitution.

8. Learning in the mother tongue is the basis of education in the areas of Autonomous Administration, and Arabic is the official language throughout Syria.

9. In Autonomous Administration areas, education in local languages is taught in faculties of history, culture, languages, literature and the like.

10. Distributing the Syrian wealth to the Syrian regions in a fair manner.

Earlier this week, Al-Masdar reported that the Syrian Kurds and Damascus have restarted peace talks in order to achieve a peaceful settlement before the Turkish regime attempts to implement their safe zone."  AMN

https://www.almasdarnews.com/article/breaking-kurdish-roadmap-to-peace-presented-to-damascus-sdf-to-become-border-guards/

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Arabs and indeed Muslims generally have an aversion to federal or confederated systems of governmental organization.  They have an instinctive desire to see unitary states, rather than these other systems which they see as disunity leading to weakness.

There have been attempts to create such federated governments; the Federation of South Arabia, the United Arab Republic (variously configured over time), a union of Iraq and Jordan was attempted, etc.  The only country so organized that has succeeded is The United Arab Emirates (UAE) in the Gulf.  IMO that works because it is a VERY loose association of princely states, each of which runs its own affairs to a large extent.  The UAE is a very unusual place.  In Dubai where I resided for a while, the police stop people driving under the influence, and drive them home with the patrol car following along behind.  And, I remember a hotel where I sometimes ate brunch including Smithfield ham cut from a ham in a brace on the buffet and a pint of bitter.  Different, the ME as it should be, something like the American Colony Hotel in Jerusalem.

Well, pilgrims, based on long and often unhappy experience I think that the Kurds will not get anything from the SAG that looks or smells like federalism but they might get a lot of this if they get a move on and submit to the national government before the Turks start to move south.  pl

BTW, the DIA civilian killed in Manbij was a member of a unit I created.  TTG may know him.

Show Me the Money! The SOTU Shutdown Showdown. .... by Fred

As Michael “I haven’t had a hit in years” Moore said, “Democrats need to Embrace Hollywood" to learn how to tell a story. Which is just what that Republican, Donald J. Trump has done. I think he’s  been hanging around with a different part of Hollywood though, the one Democrats can’t keep up with. Here he is channeling his inner Kanye American

As he’ll be the first to say, it’s just a little $5.something billion. Speaker of the House Pelosi did offer 20% of that, for NOT a wall, insisting we better call it somehting different. You read about that Pelosi offer back in December: WAPO  Since we can't call it a Wall, here are a  few naming ideas: a Barack Barrier, a Pelosi Partition, a Schumer Separator. Maybe we can rig up a poll, if you know what I mean, to settle on a label.  

Then things closed up for Christmas. Speaker Pelosi vacationed in Hawaii. President Trump addressed the nation on January the 8th.

The BFR?

"SpaceX’s second Falcon Heavy side booster has made its way from Texas to Florida after completing a successful static fire acceptance test at the company’s McGregor complex, paving the way for the third and final booster – currently vertical on McGregor’s test stand – to complete its own round of tests and head East.

Once the third and most important booster – known as the center core – arrives at SpaceX’s Florida launch facilities, all three of the next Falcon Heavy’s boosters will be ready to head into the integration stage, culminating in an integrated static fire prior to the second launch ever of SpaceX’s flagship super-heavy-lift rocket."  teslarati

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Anybody working on the Alderson Drive or the flaws in the General Theory of Relativity? No?  How about something interesting in String or Membrane Theory relating to wormholes?  No?  Well, get busy.  I can't wait around forever.  pl

https://www.teslarati.com/spacex-falcon-heavy-second-launch-second-booster-florida-arrival/

The Fortunes of War - four killed in Manbij

(a Templar - We had ours too)

"Two U.S. service members, one Department of Defense (DoD) civilian and one contractor supporting DoD were killed and three service members were injured in the recent attack in the northern Syrian city of Manbij, the U.S. Army Central Command (CENTCOM) announced at the late hours of January 16.

“Initial reports indicate an explosion caused the casualties, and the incident is under investigation,” CENCTOM said in a short press release.

Earlier, ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack and revealed that it was carried out by a suicide bomber named “Abu Yasin al-Shami.” According to local sources, al-Shami blew himself up in a patrol of the US-led coalition in front of the Prince Restaurant in the center of Manbij.

Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned that the attack could be meant to dissuade the U.S. from leaving Syria. However, he stressed that he believes in President Donald Trump’s determination to withdraw troops from Syria.

This was the bloodiest attack against US-led coalition troops in Syria since the beginning of the war on ISIS in 2014. Prior to it, the terrorist group’s cells targeted Kurdish fighters and prominent local figures mostly."  SF

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Sometimes you eat the bear and sometimes the bear eats you.

Senator Rand Paul tried to explain to the Fox and Friends people today that, as George Carlin used to say, "These are ancient feuds, now fought with better weapons."  Well, maybe a suicide belt is not all that much better a weapon but you get the idea.  Senator Paul attempted to make the point that the peoples of the region however divided tribally, religiously, politically, have a strong inclination to fight each other on a zero sum game basis.  Where this is not true that change is usually the result of foreign influences that have altered the pattern.  Brian Kilmeade the loudest and most simian of the morning crew on Fox attempted to shout down the senator with the usual hyper-aggressive drivel about fighting in Manbij rather than Bayonne, but Paul persisted and Kilmeade finally shut up, probably after a producer spoke to him.  Some of these men on Fox need a white plastic pocket protector to complete their costuming as tribunes of the Deplorables.

Paul's essential point was correct.  This was the simple fact that there will always be Islamic extremists of various sectarian allegiance in the ME.  Should we be surprised that there are IS stay behinds in northern Syria?  We should not be. 

Trump is correct.  Get the hell out and let the Russians try to make peace in Syria.  pl

https://southfront.org/u-s-army-central-command-reveals-details-of-manbij-attack/

It is worse than a crime. It is a blunder."

"On January 16, Turkey’s Anadolu Agency released a map of the alleged safe zone in the area east of the Euphrates in northern Syria, which had been recently discussed between the US and Turkey. According to the Turkish side, this zone would include the entire area from  the town of Jarabulus to the town of al-Malikiyah.

Ankara has been for a long time demanding to force Kurdish armed groups [YPG and Kurdish SDF units] out of the border area with Turkey. However, Washington, which uses these groups as its main proxy force, has been against this plan.

It seems that this situation may have changed."  SF

-----------

If this "deal" is really the product of a "gut" level conversation between Trump and Erdogan (presumably through translators?), then it is an argument against the personal conduct of diplomacy by heads of state.  There is no doubt that the president of the United States has the power and right to conduct such diplomacy.  That being the case, the results of such personal effort must be examined.

I, personally, share the view of William Barr that Article 2 of the US Constitution establishes that the President of the US IS the Executive Branch and that all authority within the Executive Branch derives from that of the president.  His or her power is limited by the requirement in Article 2 that he or she should cause the laws to be faithfully be executed.  The president cannot make law.  Only the Congress can legislate.

In this case what was evidently agreed to by the duopoly of Trump/Erdogan was the effective extension of Turkish authority into a wide band of Syrian sovereign territory.  Turkey has sought this as a minimum requirement for its security for a long time.  IMO Turkey has even greater actual ambitions in Syria than this, but Trump's simplistic understanding of the ME, dividing the players up into good guys and bad guys, supporters and non-supporters has, IMO, led him to think that there are certain good guys; Israel-Turkey-Saudi Arabia-Egypt-Jordan-Iraq- the Kurds and then there are bad guys; ISIS-AQ-the SAG-Iran, etc.  In that context, anything that favors the good guys must be good and vice versa.

To give Turkey a license to take Syria one bite a time based on a lack of sophistication in understanding the true nature of the countries and peoples of the region is a terrible mistake.

"C'est pire qu'un crime, c'est une faute."  pl

https://southfront.org/map-turkish-proposed-safe-zone-east-of-euphrates-in-northern-syria/

Alms?

The last request for crowd funding did not yield much.  Rattle.  Rattle.  That's my bowl rattling.

I think that is Belisarius begging for alms after being blinded by his government.  Talk about an ego! (me)  pl

Apparently, the FBI, and not the CIA, are the real government.

Just to review the situation:

1.  The president of the US was made head of the Executive Branch (EC) of the federal government by Article 2 of the present constitution of the US.  He is also Commander in Chief of the armed forces of the federal government.  As head of the EC, he is head of all the parts of the government excepting the Congress and the Federal courts which are co-equal branches of the federal government.  The Department of Justice is just another Executive Branch Department subordinate in all things to the president.  The FBI is a federal police force and counter-intelligence agency subordinate to the Department of Justice and DNI and therefore to the president in all things.  The FBI actually IMO has no legal right whatever to investigate the president.  He is the constitutionally elected commander of the FBI.  Does one investigate one's commander?  No.  The procedures for legally and constitutionally removing a president from office for malfeasance are clear.  He must be impeached by the House of Representatives for "High Crimes and Misdemeanors" and then tried by the US Senate on the charges.  Conviction results in removal from office. 

2.  According to these transcripts of congressional testimony by some of the participants, the FBI decided all by itself after Comey was fired to consider acting against Trump by pursuing him for suspicion of conspiracy with Russia to give the Russians the president of the US that they supposedly wanted.  Part of the discussions among senior FBI people had to do with whether or not the president had the legal authority to remove from office an FBI Director.  Say what?  Where have these dummies been all their careers? Do they not teach anything about this at the FBI Academy?  The US Army lectures its officers at every level of schooling on the subject of the constitutional and legal basis and limits of their authority.

3.  Following these seditious and IMO illegal discussions the FBI and Sessions/Rosenstein's Justice Department sought FISA Court warrants for surveillance against associates of Trump and members of his campaign for president.  Their application for warrants were largely based on unsubstantiated "opposition research" funded by the Democratic Party and the Clinton campaign.  The judge who approved the warrants was not informed of the nature of the evidence.  These warrants provided an authority for surveillance of the Trump campaign.

4.  IMO this collection of actions when added to whatever Clapper, Brennan and "the lads" of the Deep State were doing with the British intelligence services amount to an attempted "soft coup" against the constitution and from the continued stonewalling of the FBI and DoJ the coup is ongoing.  pl

https://www.cnn.com/2019/01/14/politics/trump-fbi-debate-investigation/index.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Article_Two_of_the_United_States_Constitution#Clause_4:_Receiving_foreign_representatives

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_Bureau_of_Investigation#Organization

"We have rejected false overtures from our enemies." Pompeo in Cairo

"Today it felt that the US is bent on empowering tyrants in pursuit of its animosity towards Iran, no matter what the cost. Sadly, the cost we pay here is US sanctioned injustice and loss of our freedom."  cnn

-----------

His speech at AUC (a community college level school in Cairo) was unimpressive.  Pilgrims, a background in Mechanical Engineering at a military school and Harvard Law School (Law Review, etc.) may not have created a mind accessible to open ended questions with many facets, most of which are shrouded in esoteric knowledge.  The big wide world is sooo much easier to deal with if you just agree with your audience (Orange County, WP, Kansas, the Borg, Trump - another ignoramus) rather than than thinking through the complexities present everywhere in the ME

So now, The Pomp has read his 15 minutes speech in various places in the ME.  It is a pastiche of Borgist memes informed throughout by the wisdom of advice from Bolton and his NSC staff.   "We have rejected false overtures from our enemies."  We have enemies?  I would accept that concerning the jihadis.  They really are committed enemies, but, who else?  Russia, Hamas, Iran, the Syrian government?  Who?  If parties like these are thought of in advance as "enemies" then how can statecraft improve the international situation?  Is the opposite thought true?  Are Saudi Arabia, Israel, Turkey, Egypt and AIPAC thought automatically to be friends who must be believed?  It seems that the answer is yes.

We are informed by the NY Times and CNN, (friends of Trump?) that in November parties unknown fired three mortar rounds into a parking lot in the former Green Zone in Baghdad.  There was some scorched pavement, three small holes in the surface, perhaps some tail fins sticking up like flowers and NO casualties.  Pilgrims, the soldiers here will tell you that this is a "what was that?" nothingburger.  The US Embassy occupies a portion of the Green Zone.  This parking lot was not in the embassy. Nevertheless, Bolton's hypertensive staff asked DoD to write some retaliatory options against Iran professing to believe that a.  the identity of the shooters was known (not true) b.  that Iran was obviously the controlling force in this bad deed.  Neither thing was true.  Understand.  The "options" asked for were alternative attack plans for retaliation against Iran.  The Pentagon/Joint Staff does not generate option papers for the use of "soft power."  They generate attack options to be presented to the president/commander in chief once the NSC staff has mulled them over.   They would be presented for a possible presidential decision on an Execute Order for one of them.  Understand?

Someone in the Pentagon (perhaps Mattis?) was understandably horrified at the "cavalier manner" in which the Boltonistas made such a request .  That is why this was leaked.  pl

https://www.cnn.com/2019/01/10/politics/pompeo-speech-cairo-intl/index.html

What is wrong with Trump?

"The U.S. is trying to sabotage the ongoing talks between Kurdish-forces and the Damascus government, Rezan Hido, a Kurdish politician and a former media consult of the People’s Protection Units (YPG) revealed in an interview with RIA Novosti on January 12.

According to Hido, Washington’s Special Representative for Syria, James Jeffrey, delivered several messages to the leadership of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) demanding them to slow down the negotiations with Damascus and promising to discuss the idea of establishing a no-fly zone over northeastern Syria.

The Kurdish political described Jeffery’s messages as “disturbing” and called on the Kurdish leadership to deal with them in careful manner.

Furthermore, Hido stressed that the SDF should take a decision on the talks with the Damascus government as soon as possible and regretted that some Kurdish officials are still pinning their hopes on a possible change in the U.S. decision to withdraw from Syria.

“Talks with the Syrian government are still ongoing in a positive atmosphere,” RT quoted Hido as saying.

Jeffrey made a visit to Turkey recently, where he tried to strike a deal with Ankara over northeastern Syria. However, Turkey’s plans to attack US-backed Kurdish forces and invade the region hindered his efforts.

It appears to be that the SDF’s only real option is the deal with Damascus as any U.S. solution would likely involve Turkey, which has demonstrated its agressive attitude towards Syrian Kurdish groups during its operation in Afrin in 2018."  SF

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

The struggle between the neocons and Trump over control of foreign policy has become ridiculous.  One must remember that he can dismiss them all with the stroke of a pen, just he can dismiss his non civil service tormentors in the justice department and the FBI.  Bolton has tried to countermand Trump's decision in Syria.  His attempt and that of Jeffrey were rebuked in Ankara and DoD then announced an immediate commencement of the withdrawal.  What could that have been other than a renewed presidential order to the Defense Department?  And yet the unholy trio of Pompeo (first in the hearts of his USMA class), Jeffrey, a career neocon hack at State, and Bolton (the mustachioed menace) are still in their jobs?  Say what?

And then there is the Great Southern Border Crisis.  The Democrats have repeatedly voted for a great deal of money for barrier systems on the border.  Chancy (Chuck and Nancy) were in the lead in such votes over the years.  Now Nancy (who may not remember her votes) is denying Trump "a single dollar" for border barriers.  BTW, any soldier will tell you that the purpose of barriers IS NOT to stop all movement.  No, it is to slow up movement and canalize it so that Quick Reaction Forces (QRF) can get there first with the most.  To say that barriers are ineffective is dishonest.  By now Trump knows that he can declare a national emergency and fund the barriers after however much litigation the Dems can arrange.  There is ample money available for the purpose.  So, why does he not do it?

On Smerconish's show today, Bob Baer, spy extraordinaire, (read his books) asserted that the various bits and pieces of circumstantial "evidence" about Trump's contacts with and attitude toward Russia, as well as those of his flunkies and relatives amount to a "good enough" case for Trump being a Russian agent of influence.  That is how a HUMINT spook judges such things.  It is a matter of probabilities, not hard evidence.  Assets of an alien government are not always witting (understanding) of their status from the POV of the foreign government, but that does not necessarily make other than agents.  Sometimes they think they are merely cooperating in a good and normal way when, in fact, the relationship is much deeper.  Jane Fonda in North Vietnam would be an example. 

OTOH the president is responsible for the conduct of US foreign policy and is not under an obligation to accept the perhaps hackneyed views of his subordinates.  Perhaps his world view is quite different and he is not mesmerized by the group think of the Borg.  If that is so ...

But, how does one explain his lack of action on the border?  Does someone or some thing in Russia, Israel, the UK, his former business associates, have something really juicy on Trump, something that he fears to unleash through decisive action?  pl

https://southfront.org/kurdish-politician-washington-trying-to-sabotage-talks-between-sdf-and-damascus/

Tulsi Gabbard's running in 2020 - TTG

Aloha,

Earlier tonight I spoke with my friend Van Jones about the challenges we face and the future of our country.

He asked me bluntly whether I'll run for president, and I told him straight: I've decided to run and will make a formal announcement next week.

There are many reasons I'm offering to serve you as President — to ensure every American gets the healthcare they need, to bring about comprehensive immigration reform, to make sure we have clean water and clean air for generations to come, to fix our broken criminal justice system, to end the corrupt influence of special interests in Washington, and so much more.

But the main reason I'm running has to do with an issue that is central to the rest — war and peace. I look forward to talking with you more about this in the coming days.

When we stand together, united by our love for each other and for our country, there is no challenge we cannot overcome.

Aloha,

Tulsi

************************

I received this email from Tulsi Gabbard’s office tonight. No, we don’t know each other. I signed up for her updates over two years ago because of my interest in her. We’ve talked about her over the years within this committee of correspondence, always on a positive note as I recall. 

As I’m sure you remember, she left the DNC leadership in 2016 because of their high-handed treatment of Bernie Sanders. She caused quite a stir for meeting with Bashar Assad when she visited Syria in early 2017. She is still an Army major in the Hawaiian National Guard and advocates for a strong defense, including a robust ballistic missile defense. Not unusual considering she represents Hawaii’s 2nd Congressional District. As a Progressive, she calls for an end to all our overseas wars including Syria and Yemen. But I think she’s more of a Teddy Roosevelt Progressive

Before delving into her politics, I recommend an article Tulsi wrote back in October 2017 entitled “My Spiritual Journey.” I think it says a lot about her and her upbringing. She is definitely a committed member of the Hawaiian ohana. In my few short years there, I was most impressed by this spirit. I saw it in my neighbors in Mililani Town, my friends and counterparts in Company C, 1/299 Infantry (HI ARNG) on Maui and in the pig hunters/pakalolo growers of the Koolau Mountains. I think the DC swamp can use a little more aloha spirit. Shaka, brah! 

TTG

https://medium.com/personal-growth/my-spiritual-journey-3762df64ee51

https://gabbard.house.gov

It appears that Trump has rejected neocon opinion on Syria

"The U.S. military began the process of withdrawing its troops from Syria following a drawdown ordered by President Donald Trump, a military official said Friday.

Col. Sean Ryan, a spokesman for the U.S.-coalition fighting the Islamic State group in Syria and Iraq, declined to discuss specific operational details of the pullout such as timings and troop movements, but said in an email the withdrawal was underway. 

About 2,000 U.S. troops are in Syria. 

The development comes as White House national security adviser John Bolton appeared to contradict Trump's order when he said the withdrawal would not be immediate, it would not happen before ISIS is fully defeated and it would be contingent on a pledge by Turkey not to attack the U.S.'s Kurdish military allies in Syria.

None of Bolton's conditions have been met."     usatoday

-----------

My guess is that Erdogan called Trump and asked him if he or Bolton is running US foreign policy.

Bolton, Pompeo (first in his class), and Jeffrey are still running around sounding off in pursuit of their neocon dream of a world run by the US, but it seems likely that Trump has abandoned them.  Pompeo said in Cairo that the US is a force for good in the ME?  How?  Where?  I have dealt with the ME in government and business for 45 years and I have to delve deeply in my memories to find instance in which our well-meaning but clumsy efforts have not damaged the ME and the people who live there.  USAID comes to mind.  I remember the great re-build of the Alexandria, Egypt sewer and water system.  That was a very good thing.  On the other hand, think of the damage caused endlessly by the US's unquestioning support for Israel's aggressive policies and unwillingness to make any deal that is not completely weighted in their favor.  Think of the death and destruction we have wrought in Iraq.

Trump is busy just now with the questions of the the US southern border and his political survival.  The neocons may have thought that in this circumstance  he would not interfere with their attempt to thwart his policy in Syria.

I wonder how he will deal with Kushner over this.  pl

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2019/01/11/u-s-syria-troop-withdrawal/2545735002/

Chickens coming home to roost for Trump

Foreign Affairs.  

Middle East.  Bolton had his ass kicked on this trip.  The Turks made it clear that my view of them as neo-Ottomans unwilling to kow-tow to the US or anyone else is correct.  The manner of Turkish dismissal of Bolton's neocon decrees was wonderfully reminiscent of an Ottoman sultan leaving envoys waiting for weeks for an audience.  Now Dunford has run off to Ankara to try his luck.  IMO he will not do much better.  The Turks have rejected US pressure to cancel the S-400 deal with Russia and make it clear that they are going to butcher the SDF people as soon as we get out of the way.  At the same time Bolton, Pompeo and Jeffrey are telling the SDF that they better not make a deal with Damascus!  They better not!  This behavior is like children forming cliques in a school yard.  The mere fact that only the Syrian government and its allies can save the SDF from the Turks evidently means nothing to the neocons.  And, the Jordanian foreign minister made an unequivocal statement, presumably on behalf of his sovereign that under no circumstance would Jordan accept Israeli annexation of the Golan Heights, a territory undoubtedly a de jure territory of Syria.  Iraq and Egypt have made similar statements.  The neocons have always made a great show of respect for a world order based on post Westphalia conceptions of state sovereignty.  Their willingness to accept Israeli piracy and theft of other peoples'  territory makes a mockery of that.  IMO neocon policy in the ME is collapsing under its own weight of delusion.  That Trump allows this indicates to me that he is compromised to some special interest and that the depth of his ignorance of the region remains appalling.

China.  It is said that progress is being made in the trade talks, but thus far it is invisible.  On the other hand the Chinese Navy is becoming more and more belligerent in challenging what they see as intrusions into their zone of influence in the South China Sea.  A senior Chinese naval personage last week made a statement to the effect that what China needs to do is sink two US aircraft carriers and kill 10,000 sailors to confirm to the US that this sea is closed to us.  Adversaries have repeatedly made the mistake of thinking that because a lot of Americans are sybarites who care for nothing but themselves, that this degenerated stock determines what the "Great Republic" will do in a clash.  What they miss in this thinking is that there is a separate "nation" within the US made up of the Deplorables and the children of the Deplorables and these will always fight.  I know Muslims who thought after 9/11  that the US had been taught a lesson and would henceforth be humbled and passive.  How many Muslims died for that mistake?

The internal political war.

Chancy (Chuck and Nancy) as well as the idiots in the senate from New Jersey are having a great time mocking Trump.  They are gambling all on their ability to use their servant media to depict everything he does as evil and stupid.  They are hoping to force him to accept their will and thus castrate himself politically.  If he does that, IMO he a will be mere figurehead for the rest of his term.  I continue to think that when he has sufficiently positioned the Democrats, he will declare a national emergency, put Northcom in charge of the barriers project in order to fulfill the terms of the Emergencies Act and then have the Army Corps of Engineers let a lot of contracts to build out what the Border Patrol recommends.  pl

https://www.cnbc.com/2019/01/08/turkeys-erdogan-shuts-down-white-houses-bolton-on-syria.html

IMO Senate anti-BDS bill is an Israeli effort to kill free speech in the US

"Pro-Israel lawmakers in Washington, undeterred by the partial shutdown of the United States government, are pursuing their agenda full speed with the introduction of the first piece of legislation before the 116th Senate — a bill that aims to stifle the free-speech rights of American critics of apartheid Israel.

The Republican-controlled Senate’s first bill (S.1) would enact penalties on entities that engage in boycotts of Israel — one of many measures in the United States intended to push back on the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement.

BDS seeks to place economic pressure on companies and institutions that support Israeli ones operating in illegally occupied areas in Palestine, in order to pressure the Israeli government into compliance with international law and to cease its practices of apartheid, ethnic cleansing, and the ongoing encroachment of Israeli settlements."  Alexander Rubenstein

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

Even as this travesty of law is driven forward in the senate, US senators Cruz and Cotton are in Israel supporting Israeli annexation of the Syrian Golan Heights and official American recognition of the annexation.  These Syrian lands were seized in war by Israel in 1967 and occupied ever since.

IMO this bill, if it became law, would be struck down by the courts as unconstitutional.

 pl

https://www.mintpressnews.com/new-senate-anti-bds-bill-unconstitutional-and-ineffective-at-curbing-israel-boycotts/253598/

AOC and the Donald - New Yorkers

"Although it is usually just conservatives getting in on the fun of correcting Ocasio-Cortez, the Washington Post fact-checkers also issued a blistering review of her comments, calling it a “swing and a miss.”

In its fact check, the Post noted that the very article Ocasio-Cortez used to slam those opposed to “Medicare-for-all” explained the accounting.

“This key distinction was duly noted in the Nation article that Ocasio-Cortez referenced on Twitter,” it stated.

Although the Post admitted that factual inaccuracies are common on Twitter, it also expressed frustration with Ocasio-Cortez because she made no effort to correct her misleading statements.

The Post wrote:

Ocasio-Cortez is not the first Twitter user to mangle information from a news report. But it’s unconvincing to try to pass this off as a rhetorical point being misread. She cited the $21 trillion figure and said “66% of Medicare for All could have been funded already by the Pentagon.”

That’s a direct comparison. It’s badly flawed. The same article she referenced on Twitter would have set her straight. The tweet is still up, probably causing confusion. So we will award Four Pinocchios to Ocasio-Cortez.

Although this fact check of Ocasio-Cortez was brutal, it likely won’t impact anything she does or says.

If joining a protest in the office of House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) on her first day at the Capitol didn’t make it clear that Ocasio-Cortez doesn’t care about criticism, then her Twitter feed certainly will.

Please note: This is a commentary piece. The views and opinions expressed within it are those of the author only and do not necessarily reflect the editorial opinion of IJR."  Washpost

-----------

Is there something in the water in New York City?  Is there a fault in the earth's crust that leaks noxious gases that stunt brain maturation? 

Neither of these people seem capable of objective thought.

This woman was raised in prosperous circumstance, went to college and then was a waitress in the Bronx.  She is now a member of Congress from a district that IMO  would have elected Fidel Castro or Karl Marx if it had the chance.  She seems incapable of speaking truth.  Cillizza, the leftist columnist at Bezos blog (washpost) agrees and the left is dumbfounded at this momentary defection.

Trump, as I have often written is a pitchman and bully negotiator.  He will say anything necessary to make a deal that he likes.  IMO he is completely in thrall to various Zionist interests but much of the rest of his policies I favor.

pl

https://ijr.com/washington-post-ocasio-cotez/

Syrian Kurds close to making deal with Damascus - TTG

BEIRUT, LEBANON (9:30 P.M.) – A deal with the Syrian government is ‘inevitable’ at this juncture in the Syrian crisis, a Kurdish official told the AFP News Agency on Saturday. Redur Khalil, a commander in the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces alliance, told AFP that Kurdish authorities and Damascus were bound to reach a deal. “Reaching a solution between the autonomous administration and the Syrian government is inevitable because our areas are part of Syria,” said Khalil.

According to Redur, negotiations are ongoing between the government and Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Council (SDC) for a final deal on the key city of Manbij in northeast Aleppo. “Negotiations are ongoing with the government to reach a final formulation for administering the city of Manbij,” Khalil told AFP, adding that talks had shown “positive signs”.

If that leads to a solution that “protects the rights” of Manbij residents, a similar arrangement could be applied to SDF-controlled areas of Deir Ezzor province, east of the Euphrates river, he said.

The deployment of government forces along the Turkish border could not be ruled out, he added. “The tasks of these forces could change, but we will not withdraw from our territory,” Khalil said, adding Kurdish fighters could be integrated into the Syrian army.  (Al Masdar News)

***************************

Redur Khalil is the second highest ranking official within the YPG and PYD, not some talking head. He’s been fighting IS jihadis since before the siege of Kobani. He is well a respected  leader of the Rojava Kurds. His words matter. His call for Russia to act as the guarantor of any agreement between the YPG/PYD and Damascus is significant. Integrating Kurdish fighters into the SAA is a wise and necessary move. The SAA has welcomed far more wayward sons back into the fold than the YPG. Syria, all of Syria, is headed for better times.

One of the biggest threats to this better future is the desperate wish of the neocons that US forces remain in Syria. These people, like that son of a bitch Bolton, need to be resisted. I fervently wish Trump would fire this insolent ass. I also hope my GB brethren embedded among the YPG fighters follow the advice given by my first team sergeant: “Well goddam sir, the first thing we gotta do once we hit the goddam DZ is put a goddam round through that goddam radio.” My team sergeant’s name was Ricochet Roy Bishop and he lived up to his name. No matter what the politicians and generals say, the best possible course of action for those SF teams is to prepare their Kurdish counterparts for a smooth demobilization.

This is what the 1990 version of FM 31-20 “Doctrine for Special Forces Operations” says about the final phase of a US sponsored unconventional war.

“Demobilization is an important and difficult phase of UW, yet is often neglected in initial UW planning. Demobilization planning should begin as soon as the US government decides to sponsor a resistance organization. Once the resistance organization accomplishes its objectives, it should demobilize. Its shadow government may become the newly established government of the country. Resistance forces should be integrated into the reconstituted national army, even if this integration is only a transition stage toward their eventual return to civilian life. The manner in which the demobilization occurs will affect the postwar attitudes of the people and the government towards the United States.“

“Because of their knowledge of resistance organization and history, SF teams initially remain in their operational areas to assist in demobilization. The SF team commanders and their supporting CA and PSYOP elements ensure transfer of US responsibility without loss of control, influence, or property accountability. The key to long-term strategic success in UW is the planning and execution of SF post-conflict responsibilities. “

It surely won’t go totally by the manual. It never does, but this is an opportunity for SF to successfully complete a demobilization phase leaving the Syrians and especially the Rojava Kurds to find their own better future.

TTG, DOL

https://www.almasdarnews.com/article/syrian-kurds-close-to-making-deal-with-govt-report/

The Myth of the Russian Crime Boss, Semion Mogilevich, He's Israeli by Larry Johnson

One of the cornerstones of the meme that Donald Trump is beholden to the Russians--i.e. a Putin puppet--is his alleged ties to Semion Mogilevich, who is described in Wikipedia and other publications as the Godfather of all Russian mobsters. Only one tiny problem with the Mogilevich description--it is devoid of any actual evidence and ignores the simple facts that he was born in Ukraine and is a citizen of Israel. Not a Russian.

One of the best recent examples of building the Mogilevich myth is Craig Unger's 2017 article in the New Republic, Trump's Russian Laundromat. Unger wrote:

In 1984, a Russian émigré named David Bogatin went shopping for apartments in New York City. . . . he was fixated on the glitziest apartment building on Fifth Avenue, a gaudy, 58-story edifice with gold-plated fixtures and a pink-marble atrium: Trump Tower. . . .

The Russian plunked down $6 million to buy not one or two, but five luxury condos. The big check apparently caught the attention of the owner. According to Wayne Barrett, who investigated the deal for the Village Voice, Trump personally attended the closing, along with Bogatin. . . .

 

We haven't shot anyone lately for treason ...

"Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) personnel captured five foreign fighters of ISIS who were trying to target the civilians fleeing the terrorist group’s territory in the Middle Euphrates River Valley, the US-backed group announced in an official statement on January 6.

The foreign terrorists were identified as:

-34-year old Warren Christopher Clark, known as Abu Mohammad al-Ameriki, from Houston, U.S.;
-35-year old Zaid Abed al-Hamid, known as Abu Zaid al-Ameriki, from the U.S."  SF

https://southfront.org/syrian-democratic-forces-captures-five-foreign-terrorist-including-two-americans-in-euphrates-valley/

**********

"Definition: In Article III, Section 3 of the United States Constitution, treason is specifically limited to levying war against the US, or adhering to their enemies, giving them aid and comfort. Conviction requires two witnesses or a confession in open court.

Penalty: U.S. Code Title 18: Death, or not less than 5 years' imprisonment and not more than life imprisonment without the possibility of parole (minimum fine of $10,000, if not sentenced to death). Any person convicted of treason against the United States will permanently lose the right to ever hold or run for public office anywhere in any capacity within the United States."   wiki

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treason_laws_in_the_United_States

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

These two men should be made an example of.

They should be transferred to US custody AFTER BEING MIRANDIZED.   Do not interrogate them for intelligence in the field.  If you do, you will risk invalidating evidence that can be admitted in an Article 3 US court.  In the early post 9/11 confusion John Lindh was captured while incapacitated at mazar-i-sharif .  He was eventually charged with a mish-mash of offenses and tried with evidence that had been contaminated by non judicial system contact with him when first captured.  He is presently in federal prison but declares that he will return to the fight when released.

Let us not make the mistake again of making that possible.  pl

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Walker_Lindh#Trial

Underwater Currents of Naval Strategy - by Andrei Martyanov

Late Admiral of the Fleet of the Soviet Union, Sergei Gorshkov at the peak of the Soviet naval development in late 1970s to mid-1980s continued to stress his seemingly simple idea, first officially articulated in his 1976 treatise The Sea Power of the State, that modern (Soviet) navy must be balanced.[1] Gorshkov's idea of balanced fleet was that of a navalist, who envisioned modern navy capable to conduct global operations ranging from amphibious landings, to global anti-submarine warfare (ASW) operations, to nuclear deterrent. Yet, throughout Gorshkov's long tenure as Commander-in-Chief of the Soviet Navy one platform above everything else remained dominant in his thinking—a submarine. Unsurprisingly, 1968 Time magazine cover featured image of Admiral Gorshkov superimposed on the background with a submarine at the periscope depth. With all the Soviet Navy's impressive development of its surface fleet at that time, these were primarily submarines which USSR developed at a break-neck speed and eventually equaled or surpassed US Navy's submarine forces not only in quantity but in quality too, with even US Navy grudgingly admitting in 1988 that project 971 (NATO Akula-class) nuclear submarine being the best in the world.[2]  

Gorshkov knew, as well as contemporary Russian naval commanders know that no balanced fleet is possible without powerful submarine component. Even in the worst times of post-Soviet collapse, with what became Russian Navy's surface component rusting away and disintegrating in 1990s, submarine development never stopped in Russia because submarine forces were and are viewed still as one of the major elements of national security. Submarines, apart from strategic missile submarines serving as a crucial pillar of the national nuclear deterrent, are indispensable in ASW role, they are also a major factor in operations, both as a defender and otherwise, on the Shipping Lanes of Communications (SLOC). This fact is important when considering what is emerging as a flash point, one of many, between China and the United States in the oceans, Indian and Pacific Oceans to be precise. There is very little doubt that any American Administration, as recent experience with Donald Trump's affection for the most extreme neoconservatives, such as John Bolton or Mike Pompeo, demonstrated, will pursue the most aggressive policies both in relation to Russia and China. This is today the nature of the American state, driven by crusading spirit of exceptionalism and desperate vain desire to not allow emergence of economic and military peers. China long ago surpassed the US economically. In terms of naval development, however, some questions still remain as of today. 

 

Elon Musk and Isaac Asimov

"Last year, Elon Musk's personal Tesla might have gotten all the headlines during SpaceX's historic rocket launch back back in February, but the Falcon Heavy also carried a second, secret payload almost nobody knew about.

Stashed inside the midnight-cherry Roadster was a mysterious, small object designed to last for millions (perhaps billions) of years – even in extreme environments like space, or on the distant surfaces of far-flung planetary bodies.

Called an Arch (pronounced 'Ark'), this tiny storage device is built for long-term data archiving, holding libraries of information encoded on a small disc of quartz crystal, not much larger than a coin."  sciencealert

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So, this particular pilgrim is in solar orbit carrying with him a tiny device that contains the entire text of Isaac Asimov's great science fiction trilogy - "Foundation," "Foundation and Empire" and "Second Foundation."  This is a wonderful, thought provoking work that I relished as a teenager.  Asimov was a polymath genius; biologist, man of letters and theater critic among other things.  I have a copy of his commentary on the entire oeuvre of Gilbert and Sullivan.

Musk is a man like unto him.  pl

https://www.sciencealert.com/spacex-hid-a-second-hidden-payload-aboard-falcon-heavy-and-it-sounds-amazing

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foundation_series

Iraq is proposing Re-admittance of Syria to the Arab League

"Iraqi top diplomat Mohamed Alhakim has confirmed the country’s support for Syria’s return to the Arab League, in a statement quoted by the Foreign Ministry.

“Iraq supports the unity of Syria and its return to its normal position in the Arab world and the region and the restoration of its position in the Arab League,” the Twitter post read.

The Iraqi foreign minister added that Baghdad wanted to see border crossings reopened between the two neighbors to stimulate trade.

The statement comes after Saudi Arabia, seen as Syria’s rival in the group, said last week it did not mind the Middle-Eastern state’s return." AMN

 

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You may be of the opinion that the the Arab League, now headquartered in Cairo, is among the more useless organizations in the world.  If that is your view, you are also among the more perceptive observers of the ME.  The organization is the product of the insatiable Arab desire for meetings, endless speeches and inability to agree on anything that could actually be accomplished.  

 

On the other hand, re-admission of Syria to the Arab League is a mighty symbol for the collective political mind of the Arab World.  This factoid plus resumption of scheduled air transport from Arab countries and the likelihood of the re-opening of Arab embassies in Damascus all point to the simple truth that the Syrian Arab Government has won the civil war.  Even the UK government is now admitting that "Assad will be around for a while."

 

The Turks appear to be transfixed by the prospect of Russian favor and are less likely with every day that passes to try to gobble up northern Syria.

 

A new day, the SDF will make its peace with Damascus.  pl

https://www.almasdarnews.com/article/iraq-backs-syrias-return-to-the-arab-league/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arab_League

RUSSIAN FEDERATION SITREP 3 JANUARY 2019 BY PATRICK ARMSTRONG

BALANCE. The first successful test of the Avangard hypersonic vehicle is announced. Super fast (Mach 27 they say) and highly manoeuvrable, development began when Washington withdrew from the ABM Treaty. Putin promised that Russia would "act independently", it did and here we are today. Avangard nullifies the entire US ballistic missile defence effort: "We don’t have any defense". Impossible to shoot down: there's only about 20 minutes from launch to anywhere and it can be coming in from any direction. Putin, in his presser, said Avangard "maintains the balance". It's important to understand Moscow's point of view and not respond with petulance. Because, here as elsewhere, Moscow has got it right: the danger of ballistic missile defence development is that one side might come to believe that its defence is good enough to save it from a response and might be tempted to do a first strike. (Who's stupid enough? Well, that's what all this stuff is about: removing the possibilities). The ABM Treaty preserved the crazy, but stable, balance of mutual assured destruction. It was stable because, each side knew that, whatever the start state, whatever happened in between, the end state would always be the same: destruction of both. But Washington, convinced it would be supreme forever, tossed the Treaty in 2001. Russia now has a weapon that cannot be stopped; therefore there is no possible way to stop a retaliatory strike and so no first strike is conceivable. We're back to the crazy stability of mutual assured destruction. This is rebalancing. But it would have been much easier, cheaper and safer to have kept the original Treaty.

RUSSIA INC. From Putin's presser. 2018 numbers so far. GDP up 1.7%, industrial output up 2.9%; fixed capital investment up 1.4%; real incomes showing small growth of 0.5%; expect to hit inflation estimate of 4%; unemployment down to just under 5%; trade surplus on track to be about $190 billion; gold and foreign currency reserves $464 billion. There will be a small budget surplus (first since 2011) and the National Welfare Fund has grown about 22%. Life expectancy up a bit to 72.9 years. The Energy Minister estimates Russia earned an extra $120 billion in two years of oil production cuts. Russia is surviving the West's sanctions. Putin later added that Russia produces about 80% of "vital medications".

PUTIN ON SOCIALISM. See this. Still a тупик (Russian slang for dead end).

THE COUNTRY THAT MAKES NOTHING. Moscow opens the 17th Metro station built this year. A 60-kilometre fence along the Crimea-Ukraine border is completed. The modernised Tu-22M3M has taken its first flight. 3 1/2 million cars have travelled the Crimea Bridge. (Winter bonus picture: Russia's, and the world's, second largest icebreaker at the North Pole).

RECIPROCITY? The FSB has arrested an American on espionage charges. It is possible that this is retaliation for the disgusting treatment of the wretched Maria Butina but if so, we may be sure that Moscow will be scrupulous in playing by the rules. If for no other reason than to make the point.

SYRIA. Predictable results from Trump's withdrawal decision. Ankara holds back on its attack on the Kurds but continues threatening. Syrian Army took over a key town with Kurdish agreement. Moscow is the place to be: Kurds are there and so are Turks. The likely result will be Kurds and Damascus making an agreement that allows Damascus to control the territory and Ankara's concerns taken into account. Recognising reality, Arab states re-establish relations with Damascus. The soldiers of Washington and its minions were the obstacle to peace. More to come apparently: Trump has ordered a big withdrawal from Afghanistan and that plans for full withdrawal be drawn up. Pat Buchanan sums up the complete failure of Washington's wars in the MENA. Good analysis by Elijah Magnier.

SKRIPALMANIA. Putin: "Without the Skripal case, they would have come up with something else. This is quite obvious to me. Their only goal is to contain Russia and prevent it from emerging as a potential competitor." Sochi toilets; MH17; doping; "invasion of Crimea"; election whatever-the-story-is-now; Masha and the Bear and on and on. Always something. (But I don't think Russia is losing this, do you?)

AMERICA-HYSTERICA. This headline sums up the latest stage of nonsense: "Firm Who Warned America of ‘Russian Meddling’ Caught Running Fake Russia Bot Campaign. And yet the idiocy continues and can only get worse when this guy, who thinks Putin has a man follow Medvedev around threatening to smother him, is in charge of investigations. We're finding out how stupid stupid can become. It would be funny if there was anything to laugh about taunting a nuclear superpower.

UKRAINE. Informative exchange between Putin and a Ukrainian reporter. To read it, search here for Roman Tsymbalyuk.

© Patrick Armstrong Analysis, Canada Russia Observer

Chinese naval rail guns.

"A railgun is a device that uses electromagnetic force to launch high velocity projectiles, by means of a sliding armature that is accelerated along a pair of conductive rails.^[2] It is typically constructed as a weapon, and the projectile normally does not contain explosives, relying on the projectile's high speed to inflict damage. The railgun uses a pair of parallel conductors, or rails, along which a sliding armature is accelerated by the electromagnetic effects of a current that flows down one rail, into the armature and then back along the other rail. It is based on principles similar to those of the homopolar motor."  SF

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Now this has little to do with Mu Gu Gai Pan. 

I have long been interested in these gadgets.  I remember a NOVA feature that looked at what they called "mass drivers."  This is the same thing I suppose.  The device was also featured in Heinlein's novel "The Moon is a Harsh Mistress" in which big ones were used to fire loads of rare earths and the like at target ocean areas on the earth for retrieval.  How well that would work is beyond my ability to judge.

These things typically will fire metal bolts at hyper-velocities at maritime targets.  Cool.  pl

https://southfront.org/chinese-ship-with-electromagnetic-railgun-starts-sea-trials-reports/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Railgun

China successfully lands on the far side of the Moon - TTG

At 10:26 Beijing time (02:26 GMT), the unmanned Chang'e-4 probe touched down in the South Pole-Aitken Basin, state media said. It is carrying instruments to characterize the region's geology, as well as a biological experiment. State media called the landing "a major milestone in space exploration".

While past missions have been to the Earth-facing side, this is the first time a craft has landed on the unexplored far side. The probe has sent some first pictures from the surface. With no direct communications link possible, all pictures and data are first sent to a separate satellite and then relayed from there to earth.  (BBC)

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It wasn’t like Walter Cronkite narrating the Apollo 11 landing. Space watchers were desperately searching for evidence of the landing (or crash) from Chinese sources. Finally it was announced from CCTV along with a short video of mission control and a few seconds of the actual landing. Looking forward to seeing Jade Rabbit roaming around the “dark” side of the moon. I was always partial to all the Moon rabbit legends. I think the Moon will see a lot of activity in the next few years. 

TTG

https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-46724727

https://krcom.cn/2656274875/episodes/1042194:4324354331200641

https://turcopolier.typepad.com/sic_semper_tyrannis/2018/12/china-journeys-to-the-dark-side-of-the-moon-ttg.html

 

150 Central Americans tried by force this week to enter the US illegally en masse

"US agents have fired tear gas over the border into Mexico at migrants trying to enter the country illegally.

Around 150 Central Americans tried to make the crossing near the town of Tijuana to the south of California on New Year's Day.

One US official described the migrants as a "violent mob".

It comes as the US federal government remains shut down as President Donald Trump and Congress argue over funding for his proposed border wall."  BBC

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The BBC does not seem to know that the US voluntarily admits over one million legal IMMIGRANTS per year.  These people are automatically on a track to full citizenship after five years residence if they behave themselves, pay their taxes, do not commit criminal acts, etc.  They can accelerate that process if they join the US armed forces and serve honorably. 

The people now seeking to force their way across the border seem to think that they are justified in crashing across the US border with Mexico without regard to US law.  To willingly cross the US border illegally is a misdemeanor crime.  The US government has a duty under the constitution to defend the borders of the US against foreign invasion.  How are foreign people trying to crash through the border not an invasion?  Tear gas?  Yes, it makes you cry and choke.  The alternative is force escalating to deadly force. 

The US listens to petitions for asylum from conditions that threaten life.  The US does not recognize petitions for asylum based on poor conditions of local economy or crime in countries of origin.  If the US did accept such petitions, most of the population of the planet would be eligible for asylum in the US.

The argument is raised that the US should make Central America an earthly paradise, a veritable Nebraska in which Hondurans, Guatemalans and Salvadorans would be content to abide.  Well, pilgrims, as I have explained here several times, the US has been trying to do that in Latin America ever since the Kennedy Administration with minimal success.  Do these little countries wish to surrender their sovereignty to the US so that we might perform our magic of enrichment and creation of actual democracy upon them?  I think they do not.  They approach our borders waving the various flags of their wretched countries even while asking for ASYLUM from those countries, countries that cannot run their own affairs well enough to make people want to stay home and live the good life Latino style.

Make no mistake.  If these migrants, who think nothing of using little children as human shields, force surrender of control of immigration, there will be a tidal wave coming behind them.  pl

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-46739126

Comments

If you want your comments posted on SST they have to be more than :( or :) or "Already." or some such brief message.  pl

Happy New Year - 2019

And now- an Old Army party.

https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=utube+Ft+Apache+grand+march&qpvt=utube+Ft+Apache+grand+march&view=detail&mid=72279436875C47E8D2BC72279436875C47E8D2BC&&FORM=VRDGAR

And now the US Army has returned to wearing its traditional dark blue when not in the field.  Thank God!  The Grand March was always a feature of unit balls until "modernity" killed it off.

A New Year's Day reception in quarters given by commanders of battalions and regiments was a feature of regimental life until well into my time as a subaltern.  Attendance was not compulsory but expected.  My first assignment was to the Second Battalion, Second Infantry Regiment then stationed at Ft. Devens, Massachusetts, coincidentally the post at which I had been born.  One Year a few bachelor lieutenants preferred to go skiing and agreed that one of their number would attend the CO's reception and leave all their calling cards in the silver tray on a table near the front door to show they had been there.  Unfortunately the designated deliverer had a few two many eggnogs and dropped the cards in the tray with a rubber band still around them.  When asked to explain, they sensibly threw themselves on the mercy of the CO's wife, a lovely Puerto Rican lady who graciously forgave them all.  pl