Why does Donald Trump say the things he does about Syria and its government?
He insists that the SAG attacks its people with chemical weapons when such attacks have never been proven. They have only been asserted by opponents of the government and in fact there exists a lot of evidence that these attacks have been staged by information operations projects like the White Helmets film production group with the surreptitious backing of a network of covert action people within the the UK government and money from USAID.
He insists that the jihadi defenders of their lodgement in Idlib Province are somehow worthy of American protection when in fact they are the same breed of salafi takfiri fanatics that he boasts of having defeated in the "caliphate."
He insists that the SAA and its allies are in the process of massacring the civilian population of Idlib Province when in fact the opposite is true. Is it not clear that the usual blizzard of anti-government propaganda has been generated solely because the SAA is winning the day in Idlib Province?
He seems oblivious or indifferent to the fact that the Syrian Government are the protectors of the Christian and other minorities in the country. Is he not a Christian?
His positions seem to imitate precisely the attitude of the the Israeli Likud run government and its closest US supporters like Sheldon Adelson, the casino man. These forces have made it clear that they prefer that Syria be made into a Hobbesian maelstrom in which many small groups fight among themselves forever rather than that the present multi-confessional government should survive.
Where does Trump get such ideas? Is it from his addiction to Fox News personalities like Jack Keane, Lou Dobbs, Brian Kilmeade and Sean Hannity? These are people who collectively have no real understanding of the realities of the Middle East but they all have a lot of opinions seemingly based on free floating hostility toward anything in the world that does not serve their hyper-nationalism.
Is it the Turks who tell him such self serving untruths? Is it not clear that Erdogan and company are intent on splitting off parts of Syria for future annexation?
Do CIA, DIA, State INR and the rest of the IC also feed him such nonsense? The analysts must know the truth if they are not swept up in massive group think. Perhaps their leaders are simply afraid to tell him the truth in the face of the opposition of people like Jared Kushner and his allies in Bolton's NSC staff.
I support many of Trump's positions with regard to the economy, immigration and his trade struggle with China. I may even vote for him considering the choices likely to be advanced by the Democrats but I am at a loss to understand why he claims to believe his own foolish statements about Syria. pl
Very Good!
Posted by: jd hawkins | 08 September 2019 at 05:56 AM
When I left my office after viewing the forecasters path of Dorian recently it was heading up the Mona Pass between the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico which allowed some entities to direct their Tugs Towing barges out of San Juan to head North East. On viewing the forecasters path the next morning it was now heading up the east coast of Puerto Rico and it went east of St Croix to the lament of some young men on tugboats. Now if the forecasters 12 hour difference in forecasts can err 120+ miles the NOAA forecasters got no reason to complain about Donald’s Alabama 5 Day forecast. Dorian had a mind of its own.
As to the 90 days in Jail that would be easy for them forecasters as them Boys on the tugboats have other ideas.
Posted by: Bobo | 08 September 2019 at 08:50 AM
Interesting theory, but I'd have thought the 25A division of the Army of the Resistance would include enough Alzheimer's experts to be the first to trumpet loudly such a diagnostic victory. Surely by now the internet would be full of montages of Trump-has-PPA smoking guns (i.e. not just examples of his trademark and probably quite deliberate manglings of the English language). As it is, it is poor Joe Biden who is the star of such schadenfreude in respect of his faculties.
Posted by: Barbara Ann | 08 September 2019 at 10:20 AM
Tidewater to Tidewater,
Of course, something can be done in the hustings about keeping an Alzheimer's afflicted leader in office at election time.
Information about this topic can be found at the National Aphasia Association.org. PPA is explained at Primary Progressive Aphasia--National Aphasia Association. https://www.aphasia.org>aphasia-resources>primary-progressive-aphasia
Posted by: Tidewater | 08 September 2019 at 11:24 AM
So, a schismatic Christian is being touted as a new Great King, Cyrus? Cyrus who has been mentioned both in the Old Testament as well as in the Quran - the Owner of Two Horns?
Truly, we are living a historical farce! Where is Mel Brooks when we need him?
Posted by: Babak Makkinejad | 08 September 2019 at 11:44 AM
Regarding Iran and the JCPOA, Lula has some very interesting commentary regarding the negotiations in his recent prison interview with Pepe Escobar. The anti- sentiment was very much a Borg affair, so Trump would be bucking the deep state to do this.
https://www.asiatimes.com/2019/09/article/inside-story-of-the-first-iran-nuclear-deal/
Btw, I highly suggest reading all three articles. In case anybody has missed it, leaked information showed the prosecutor and judge in Lula’s case were conspiring behind the scenes to bring down Lula and his party. Essentially a soft coup to pry Brazil out of BRICS and into the Borgosphere.
Posted by: Roy G | 08 September 2019 at 12:26 PM
That’s how you guys got into the mess you’re in, with “heroes” like Olie, I respect very much your opinions in spite of your rabid anti socialist views, and it is clear your’re experienced and knowledgeable, including foreign languages, so, how come the guys that make decisions that matter, and not only for the USA but for the whole world are such a bunch of ignoramuses? There is something wrong with a system that is incapable of filtering them out.
Posted by: Paco | 08 September 2019 at 01:50 PM
Paco
In a democracy the fools often rule. Have you not noticed that? Ollie North is one such oaf. socialism inevitably leads to tyranny. where do you live?
Posted by: turcopolier | 08 September 2019 at 04:31 PM
paco
You are yet another of the Spanish anarcho-syndicalist types who yearn for communism. Move to China! or Oakland, California!
Posted by: turcopolier | 08 September 2019 at 04:45 PM
The mistake is consistent with Tidewater's observation in a comment above.
Posted by: Babak Makkinejad | 08 September 2019 at 04:46 PM
The problem is . . . is that if the Rapturanian Armageddonites can achieve the war they want, the way they want it, there may well be nobody left to laugh.
Posted by: different clue | 08 September 2019 at 05:04 PM
Does PPA indicate such plaque-forming in other parts of the brain?
Or does PPA happen in isolation from the rest of the brain . . . where there may well be no plaques forming at all?
Posted by: different clue | 08 September 2019 at 05:08 PM
I have read an alternate hypothesis of the "map thing". I don't know where to go find it now.
It goes like this: Trump knows very well his own self-customized map is purely fake. But he is testing his base to see how loyal it is and how totally it will be there for him no matter how outrageously he fakes something.
The reason he is doing that is so that in-the-event that he loses the next election, he would like to know or at least have a sense of whether The Base will support him if he decides to call the next election ( should he lose) a rigged fraudulent fake. He would like to know whether The Base will answer his call for as-violent-as-necessary Insurrection to prevent the Democratic winner ( if such there be) from entering the White House and taking up the office.
It is a very conditional if-this then-that hypothesis, to be sure.
Posted by: different clue | 08 September 2019 at 05:13 PM
Interesting. I will read those articles.
And is Bolsonario the el Presidente the Borgospherians wanted? Or is Bolsonario the el Trumpo that the Borgospherians never expected?
Posted by: different clue | 08 September 2019 at 05:21 PM
Well, as Mahatma Gandhi once said . . . " we will have to become the Mel Brooks we wish to see in the world".
Posted by: different clue | 08 September 2019 at 05:22 PM
Eastern Orthodoxy is not the kind of Christianity which interests the Rapturanian Armageddonites.
Posted by: different clue | 08 September 2019 at 05:24 PM
It looks like an early NOAA forecast did show a possible route into Alabama.
In this Tim Pool video explains. FYI, Time describes himself as moderate center left. Not a Trump fan but doesn't have TDS either. He often points out how effective Trump's trolls are. Trump purposefully has gone on and on about the Alabama sharpie fiasco. Meanwhile, back at the ranch...
Trump Hilariously Trolls Press With CAT MEME, And Yes, They Are Outraged https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1KOQyN7d5o0 (11 min)
Posted by: Valissa | 08 September 2019 at 07:14 PM
Thanks for your comment. I am going to have to beg off on any attempt to discuss PPA, simply because I am not qualified to do so. Also, a lot of this is news to me. There seems to be a remarkable amount of information and a lot of support groups on this topic on the net. I intend to look further, and would recommend, to start with, the Northwestern Medical link or google it. Also, I would google Primary Progressive Aphasia--National Aphasia Association.
The Science Daily article I quoted is basically good news as far as progress made against the disease. Quoting the article: "This new technology is very exciting for Alzheimer's research," said Adam Martersteck, the first author and a graduate student in Northwestern's neuroscience program. "Not only can we tell if a person is likely or unlikely to have Alzheimer's, we hope to be able to diagnose people earlier and with better accuracy."
Posted by: Tidewater | 08 September 2019 at 07:20 PM
Reading your link, it kinda sounds like me. I won't mind losing speech if I do, but would hate to lose the ability to read, that has been a consolation in my old age.
Posted by: JP Billen | 08 September 2019 at 10:42 PM
I know how explosive this is. With Trump, it's hiding in plain sight and it's all just beginning. It could end up a great national nightmare. With Biden, I was startled by his medical history as is known. In fact, he must have a lot of courage to have carried on, given some of the things that have happened to him. I guess they had better provide some sort of reassurance about his medical history. That eye pix on the Drudge Report was startling. I've been a very lucky guy. Got pistol whipped once. A little dab will do ya. Take you to your knees. My eye was a good deal worse off than that and it and some inspired non-comprehension saved my mein well-beloved ass.
Posted by: Tidewater | 09 September 2019 at 01:39 AM
tidewater
Only post a comment once.
Posted by: turcopolier | 09 September 2019 at 09:36 AM
Same here, actually. But I have a horrid idea that it's a package deal. Recently one of my cats has been insistent that I pay more attention to him and to them. He hops down and sits on my lap. I drink a cup of coffee slowly. I don't want to make him move when I get a second cup. He's OK with that. I find it's surprisingly pleasant just to sit comfortably and quietly...and just exist.
Posted by: Tidewater | 09 September 2019 at 02:49 PM
True, The approach let Obama off the hook by allowing him claim he took action while not bombing.
Early on in the quest for a coalition to bring about a settlement, the US went to everyone in Europe, save for Russia. One prescient journalist at the time stated that what the US did not understand was that there would be no peace settlement unless it was signed in Moscow!
Posted by: Jane | 09 September 2019 at 04:53 PM
Indeed, and moreover, Orthodox, Apostolic and Eastern Rite Catholics, like mainstream churches in general, do not really fit their description of "Christian" because they do NOT believe in the Rapture and other ideas that are required to be "saved."
Posted by: Jane | 09 September 2019 at 04:59 PM
Although, if I were under it, I'd be all there, too.
sic semper tyrannis? And freedom? And ideally vantages?
My hero your foe?
Posted by: vig | 10 September 2019 at 07:23 AM