GrEaT sAtAn"S gIrLfRiEnD

WoW

2012-01-28T00:00:00.003-05:00

WoW - the Watchers Council - it's the oldest, longest running cyber comte d'guere ensembe in existence - started online in 1912 by Sirs Jacky Fisher and Winston Churchill themselves - an eclective collective of cats both cruel and benign with their ability to put steel on target (figuratively - natch) on a wide variety of topictry across American, Allied, Frenemy and Enemy concerns, memes, delights and discourse.

Every week these cats hook up each other with hot hits and big phazed cookies to peruse and then vote on their individual fancy catchers.

Without further adieu - (or a don't) here are this weeks winners

Council Winners

*First place with 3 2/3 votes! The Mellow Jihadi – Lance Corporal Donald Hogan, Marine Hero
Second place with 3 1/3 votes – The Right Planet- Are We a Democracy?
Third place with 1 2/3 votes – Joshuapundit- Obama’s State Of The Union – The Hollow Man
Fourth place *t* with 1 vote – The Colossus of Rhodey-What the Gingrich South Carolina victory could mean
Fourth place *t* with 1 vote – The Glittering Eye-You Be the Judge
Fifth place *t* with 2/3 vote – The Noisy Room-Revolution Moves Into The Overton Window
Fifth place *t* with 2/3 vote – The Razor-A Tale of Two Disasters: The Titanic and the Costa Concordia
Sixth place *t* with 1/3 vote – Bookworm Room –War is not, and should not be, sporting
Sith place *t* with 1/3 vote – GrEaT sAtAn”S gIrLfRiEnD – Going All The Way
Sixth place *t* with 1/3 vote –Simply Jews – Timothy Bancroft-Hinchey vs FUKUS
Sixth place *t* with 1/3 vote – Rhymes With Right – Am I Wrong To Be Troubled Here?
Sixth place *t* with 1/3 vote – The Political Commentator – Doing away with the Electoral College! One man, one vote and majority wins!

Non-Council Winners

First place with 2 2/3 votes! –Family Security Matters- Muslim Children in America are Being Taught to Hate submitted by The Political Commentator
Second place with 2 votes – Mark Steyn – The Sinking Of The West submitted by Joshuapundit
Third place *t* with 1 1/3 votes – Sultan Knish So You Want a Revolution… submitted by The Noisy Room
Third place *t* with 1 1/3 votes - Yourish.Com–TANSTAAFL submitted by Simply Jews
Third place *t* with 1 1/3 votes - Right Wing News –The Worst People In Politics Aren’t Racists submitted by The Mellow Jihadi
Fourth place *t* with 1 vote - The Foundry –1,000 Days Without a Budget: Facts on the Senate’s Failure submitted by The Colossus of Rhodey
Fourth place *t* with 1 vote -The Compass – An Iran Attack Would Succeed, Then What? submitted by GrEaT sAtAn”S gIrLfRiEnD
Fifth place *t* with 2/3 vote -Gay Patriot –SOTU: Obama’s last chance to change tone submitted by Right Truth
Fifth place *t* with 2/3 vote -The New Atlantis –The Global War Against Baby Girls submitted by The Watcher
Fifth place *t* with 2/3 vote -James Taranto/Best of the Web–The Genetic Fallacy submitted by The Glittering Eye
Sixth place *t* with 1/3 vote -Zero Hedge –Obama Puppetmaster Warren Buffett Biggest Winner From Keystone Pipeline Rejectionsubmitted by The Razor
Sixth place *t* with 1/3 vote -Cabinet –The Behavioral Sink submitted by The Watcher
Sixth place *t* with 1/3 vote -Polipundit –Why Newt should not be the nominee submitted by Rhymes With Right
Sixth place *t* with 1/3 vote - Accuracy In Media –The FOX News Feminists submitted by New Zeal

See you next week! And don’t forget to follow us on Facebook and Twitter

Declination Diss

2012-01-27T00:00:00.001-05:00

So, what all would the world look like if Great Satan were to unAss her hot hyperpuissant gig as global leader in order to focus all her energies on solving probs at home?

And yo, what about the chiz the declinationists are always going on about? Is Great Satan really in decline?

New York Times best-selling author and one of Great Satan"s most more bigger brainiacs and most influential strategic thinkers, paints a vivid, alarming pic of what all the world might look like if the Great Satan were to truly to let her uh, influence wane like hoochie number 7 at Last Call.

"Much of the current pessimism is misplaced, if America were indeed to commit “preemptive superpower suicide,” the world would see the return of war among rising nations as they jostle for power; the retreat of democracy around the world as Vladimir Putin’s Russia and authoritarian China acquire more clout; and the weakening of the global free-market economy, which the United States created and has supported for more than sixty years. We’ve seen this before—in the breakdown of the Roman Empire and the collapse of the European order in World War I."

See -

The present world order—characterized by an unprecedented number ofdemocratic nations; a greater global prosperity, even with the current crisis,than the world has ever known; and a long peace among great powers—reflectsAmerican principles and preferences, and was built and preserved by Americanpower in all its political, economic, and military dimensions. If Americanpower declines, this world order will decline with it. It will be replaced bysome other kind of order, reflecting the desires and the qualities of otherworld powers.

Or perhaps it will simply collapse, as the European world ordercollapsed in the first half of the twentieth century. The belief, held by many,that even with diminished American power “the underlying foundations of theliberal international order will survive and thrive,” as the politicalscientist G. John Ikenberry has argued, is a pleasant illusion. Americandecline, if it is real, will mean a different world for everyone.

But how real is it? Much of the commentary on American decline these days restson rather loose analysis, on impressions that the United States has lost itsway, that it has abandoned the virtues that made it successful in the past,that it lacks the will to address the problems it faces.

The perception of decline today is certainly understandable, given the dismaleconomic situation since 2008 and the nation’s large fiscal deficits, which,combined with the continuing growth of the Chinese, Indian, Brazilian, Turkish,and other economies, seem to portend a significant and irreversible shift inglobal economic power. Some of the pessimism is also due to the belief that theUnited States has lost favor, and therefore influence, in much of the world,because of its various responses to the attacks of September 11. The detainmentfacilities at Guantánamo, the use of torture against suspected terrorists, and thewidely condemned invasion of Iraq in 2003 have all tarnished the American“brand” and put a dent in America’s “soft power”—its ability to attract othersto its point of view.

There have been the difficult wars in Iraq andAfghanistan, which many argue proved the limits of military power, stretchedthe United States beyond its capacities, and weakened the nation at its core.Some compare the United States to the British Empire at the end of thenineteenth century, with the Iraq and Afghanistan wars serving as theequivalent of Britain’s difficult and demoralizing Boer War.

With this broad perception of decline as the backdrop, every failure of theUnited States to get its way in the world tends to reinforce the impression.Arabs and Israelis refuse to make peace, despite American entreaties. Iran andNorth Korea defy American demands that they cease their nuclear weaponsprograms. China refuses to let its currency rise. Ferment in the Arab worldspins out of America’s control. Every day, it seems, brings more evidence thatthe time has passed when the United States could lead the world and get othersto do its bidding.

Some of the arguments for America’s relative decline these days would be morepotent if they had not appeared only in the wake of the financial crisis of2008. Just as one swallow does not make a spring, one recession, or even asevere economic crisis, need not mean the beginning of the end of a greatpower. The United States suffered deep and prolonged economic crises in the1890s, the 1930s, and the 1970s. In each case, it rebounded in the followingdecade and actually ended up in a stronger position relative to other powersthan before the crisis. The 1910s, the 1940s, and the 1980s were all highpoints of American global power and influence.

Less than a decade ago, most observers spoke not of America’s decline but ofits enduring primacy. In 2002, the historian Paul Kennedy, who in the late1980s had written a much-discussed book on “the rise and fall of the greatpowers,” America included, declared that never in history had there been such agreat “disparity of power” as between the United States and the rest of theworld. Ikenberry agreed that “no other great power” had held “such formidableadvantages in military, economic, technological, cultural, or politicalcapabilities.... The preeminence of American power” was “unprecedented.”

In2004, the pundit Fareed Zakaria described the United States as enjoying a“comprehensive uni-polarity” unlike anything seen since Rome. But a mere fouryears later Zakaria was writing about the “post-American world” and “the riseof the rest,” and Kennedy was discoursing again upon the inevitability ofAmerican decline. Did the fundamentals of America’s relative power shift sodramatically in just a few short years?

The answer is no.

In economic terms, andeven despite the current years of recession and slow growth, America’s positionin the world has not changed. Its share of the world’s GDP has held remarkablysteady, not only over the past decade but over the past four decades. In 1969,the United States produced roughly a quarter of the world’s economic output.Today it still produces roughly a quarter, and it remains not only the largestbut also the richest economy in the world.

Military capacity matters, too, as early nineteenth-century China learned andChinese leaders know today. As Yan Xuetong recently noted, “military strengthunderpins hegemony.” Here the United States remains unmatched. It is far andaway the most powerful nation the world has ever known, and there has been nodecline in America’s relative military capacity—at least not yet. Americanscurrently spend less than $600 billion a year on defense, more than the rest ofthe other great powers combined.

America’s actual superiority in military capability means Americanland and air forces are equipped with the most advanced weaponry, and are themost experienced in actual combat. They would defeat any competitor in ahead-to-head battle. American naval power remains predominant in every regionof the world.

In sum: it may be more than good fortune that has allowed the United States inthe past to come through crises and emerge stronger and healthier than othernations while its various competitors have faltered. And it may be more thanjust wishful thinking to believe that it may do so again.

he underlying assumption of such a course is that the present world order willmore or less persist without American power, or at least with much less of it;or that others can pick up the slack; or simply that the benefits of the worldorder are permanent and require no special exertion by anyone. Unfortunately,the present world order—with its widespread freedoms, its general prosperity,and its absence of great power conflict—is as fragile as it is unique.

Preserving it has been a struggle in every decade, and will remain a strugglein the decades to come. Preserving the present world order requires constant Americanleadership and constant American commitment.

Pic - "An American world order is worth preserving, and America dare not decline."

Audie Murphy Day!

2012-01-26T00:00:00.000-05:00

For those of us born betwixt the Fall of the Wall and 911, we kinda grew up with Great Satan unbound. Until Operation Iraqi Freedom, for older Americans - battles and history were old school stuff that would probably never happen again.

As "Rock of The Marne" blitzed through the largest Arab army in history in 20 days, her combat power was unparalled:

"An infantry division in name only, fielding 270 Abrams M1 tanks with mobile infantry that could be hastily formed into adhoc battle groups to handle a variety of missions"

Thunder Running into downtown Baghdad, even phoning up the Iraqi Minister of Misinformation at Palestine Hotel to request "Parking for 88 tanks" seemed like the debut of audacious American war fighting.

Actually - "Rock of the Marne" was following in the footsteps of their spiritual great grandfathers

"On 26 January 1945, 2d Lt. Murphy commanded Company B, which was attacked by 6 tanks and waves of infantry. 2d Lt. Murphy ordered his men to withdraw to prepared positions in a woods, while he remained forward at his command post and continued to give fire directions to the artillery by telephone.

"Behind him, to his right, 1 of our tank destroyers received a direct hit and began to burn. Its crew withdrew to the woods.

"2d Lt. Murphy continued to direct artillery fire which killed large numbers of the advancing enemy infantry. With the enemy tanks abreast of his position, 2d Lt. Murphy climbed on the burning tank destroyer, which was in danger of blowing up at any moment, and employed its .50 caliber machinegun against the enemy.

"He was alone and exposed to German fire from 3 sides, but his deadly fire killed dozens of Germans and caused their infantry attack to waver. The enemy tanks, losing infantry support, began to fall back. For an hour the Germans tried every available weapon to eliminate 2d Lt. Murphy, but he continued to hold his position and wiped out a squad which was trying to creep up unnoticed on his right flank.

"Germans reached as close as 10 yards, only to be mowed down by his fire. He received a leg wound, but ignored it and continued the single-handed fight until his ammunition was exhausted. He then made his way to his company, refused medical attention, and organized the company in a counterattack which forced the Germans to withdraw.

"His directing of artillery fire wiped out many of the enemy; he killed or wounded about 50. 2d Lt. Murphy's indomitable courage and his refusal to give an inch of ground saved his company from possible encirclement and destruction, and enabled it to hold the woods which had been the enemy's objective.

"The President of the United States of America, authorized by Act of Congress, March 3, 1863, has awarded in the name of The Congress the MEDAL OF HONOR to LIEUTENANT AUDIE L. MURPHY, UNITED STATES ARMY

Today is the anniversary of Lt Murphy's heroic achievement - Americans everywhere should get on their knees and thank God Almighty for raising up this laughing race of free men.

Pic - "Our Heroes Live In Our Hearts"

État de l'état

2012-01-25T00:00:00.001-05:00

Since 44"s SOTU was more like the 1st of many nat"l TV"d re electile teleprompted maneuvers, may be it's time to like zoom out and czech on the State of Foreign Entanglements au courant.

Three top cats in Daemoneoconia gave up their assessments of 44 so far

Madame VP Foreign and Defense Policy @AEI.

Anyshort analysis of 44's successes and failures in foreign policy mustnecessarily be incomplete. Is it enough to weigh his undeniable good judgmentin ordering Navy SEALS to take out Osama bin Laden against his vacillation whenfaced with the Arab Spring? His willingness to face reality vis-à-vis Iranversus his paralyzing missteps in promoting Israeli-Palestinian dialogue?Surely not.

Butat the heart of what must, by the standards the president set for himself, bejudged a failure, is what seems to be 44's worst sin: The president'sforeign policy lacks a guiding set of principles. Why surge troops intoAfghanistan only to draw them down before the mission is complete? Why condemnMuammar al-Qaddafi in Libya for his crimes against his own people and remainalmost indifferent to the same crimes when committed by Bashar al-Assad inSyria? Why knock off a dozen al Qaeda terrorists from the air, and releaseanother group from Guantánamo?

Theanswer, of course, is politics. Politics matters to any sane politician; butwhen politics suffers no competition from principle, the nation's foreignpolicy is rudderless. It iswhy our allies mistrust us, our adversaries underestimate us, and why we nolonger seek to shape a better world, but instead to retreat from it.

Exec Director @ FPI

As 44 seeks reelection, he will likely tout the country'scounterterrorism successes under his watch and, in a sop to his base, hisending of the war in Iraq and his efforts to wind down the war in Afghanistan.Although voters in 2012 will be focused primarily on the state of the economy,they should consider who is best suited to defend the country and advanceAmerica's interests as commander chief when choosing whether to reelect 44 or bring in 45.

44th admin does have achievements to point to in the war against alQaeda and affiliated groups -- the killing of Osama bin Laden by U.S. NavySEALs chief among them. But the war on terror must remain a focus for the nextpresident, whoever it is. 44, by deemphasizing the wars in Iraq andAfghanistan in favor of deniable covert efforts, has put the country at risk ofbeing drawn back into both theaters because of his unwillingness to finish thejob begun by his predecessor.

Sotoo is the situation with rogue regimes that threaten America and its allies. TheWest's confrontation with Iran is nearing a critical juncture as Iranapproaches a nuclear weapons capability. Syria, Iran's closest ally, is wrackedby what many observers now describe as a civil war. The broader Middle East isin turmoil in the wake of last year's momentous developments. North Korea, under the new leadership of KimJong Un, still challenges the stability of East Asia.

Meanwhile,rising and resurgent powers such as China and Russia continue to undermineAmerican interests. 44 has rightfully begun to devote more Americandiplomatic and military attention to Asia to deal with China's rise, but haspursued a wrongheaded "reset" policy with Russia that does not reflect the truenature of the Russian government, now facing its own popular uprising. On eachof these issues, the 44th admin has refused to take assertive action,instead managing on the margins.

Inhis first three years in office, 44 has made several correct tacticaldecisions, but he seems to lack an appreciation of America's unique role in theworld and a coherent vision for the use of U.S. power and influence. What thecountry needs from its next president is a leader who can shape world eventsrather than be shaped by them. There is little to indicate that this is 44's interest or aptitude.

Senior Cat @ Brookings Institution

Onthe accomplishment side of the ledger, credit 44 with a very smartpolicy in Asia. By taking advantage of China overplaying its hand in the SouthChina Sea and generally unnerving most of the region, 44's administration hasreconfirmed the central role of the United States in East Asia. The opening ofa new base in Australia is a powerful symbol of America's enduring strategicpresence in the region. The opening with Burma obviously has both strategicmotives and strategic implications.

Healso has a fairly good record in responding to the Arab Awakening. 44'sadministration has fortunately ignored the "realists'" call for standing by thecollapsing dictatorships in the Middle East. (How people can call themselves "realists"when advocating such hopelessly unrealistic policies is a source ofwonderment.) In Egypt, especially, while the reaction to events has sometimesbeen slow, the administration has generally moved in the right direction. 44deserves particular credit for not joining in the general panic at theelectoral success of the Muslim Brotherhood. The operation in Libya was asuccess. The growing international pressure on Basha al-Assad in Syria isencouraging -- but eventually the United States will have to do more.

Moregenerally, 44 has made steady moves in support of democracy. After treatingit like a dirty word in its first year and a half, the administration hasreturned to a pro-democracy posture not only in the Middle East, but also inRussia and Asia. Given that the political evolution of countries in theseregions will have a direct bearing on the international strategic situation andon the nature of world order in the coming years, this has been an eminently"realistic" approach.

Asfor setbacks, topping the list is44's failure to work out an agreement withIraq to maintain a U.S. troop presence beyond the end of 2011. This has been adisaster and may prove to be one of the gravest errors of 44's first term,for which either he or his successor will pay a high price. If Iraq unravelsinto sectarian warfare, it could easily suck other regional powers into theconflict -- especially Iran, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey. Just as importantly, it would set backdemocratic progress in the region. Iraq is almost as much an anchor in the Arabworld as Egypt. The decision to give up on the admittedly difficultnegotiations with the Iraqis was clearly motivated by White House's desire torun on "ending" the war in Iraq. This was as unnecessary as it was unwise.

Thedecision to allow deep cuts in defense spending -- rather than addressingentitlements -- is equally irresponsible. Here the 44th admin andCongress are both to blame. But 44's team has compounded the problem byelaborating a budget-driven defense strategy that is not commensurate withAmerican strategic goals and interests. It is ironic that 44 is adoptingDonald Rumsfeld's defense strategy -- high tech, light footprint.

We will find,as we did in 43's years, 42's years, and in many previous decades,that drones and missiles can only go so far in preserving American interests.If not reversed, the deep cuts looming in defense will go a long way toundermining the U.S. position in the world. They will even undercut the 44thadmin's efforts to make the United States a more reliable player inAsia, despite its unconvincing protestations to the contrary.

Pic - "In the end, you can’t help but feel American strategy is adrift, with Team 44 presiding over our decline as a world power. Great time for the president to make the case to the contrary — if that’s possible."

Going All The Way

2012-01-24T00:00:00.000-05:00

Well see, doing Persia's super not so secret tender, sensitive portions of Preacher Command's new clear drive, with an airborne enrichmentus interruptus as indicted in the closing bits of uber snarky chiz aimed at a recent delish "Doing Persia" piece

An attack on Iran is almost certain to unify the Iranian people around the mullahs and provoke the supreme leader to redouble Iran’s nuclear pursuits, only deeper underground this time, and without international inspectors around. Over at the Pentagon, you sometimes hear it put this way: Bombing Iran is the best way to guarantee exactly what we are trying to prevent.

Well, the bit about a society suffering under a illegit somewhat unhinged Barbi hating Regime has an effective counter - tuff to think cats would get to crushing on the preachers, Secret Police and Control Freaks even more "thus making regime change hard to accomplish, if not impossible."

Attacking the new clear stuff may actually be a smokescreen. As darling Amir once fessed up in exclusive commentary: "Why not focus on the man holding the gun Courtney instead of the gun itself"

An air campaign aimed at the new clear sites for starters would be intense - far beyond last millennium's Big Week und Blitz Week action that starting clawing Luftwaffe out of the sky. Even if Great and Little Satan hooked up with RAF and Royal Saudi Air Force for a menage a quad l'guerre d'l' air no guarantees it would nail everything.

Consider instead:

"Given the likely fallout from even a limited military strike, the question Great Satan should ask her hotself is, Why not take the next step? After all, Iran's nuclear program is a symptom of a larger illness-- the revolutionary fundamentalist regime in Tehran."

If associated sites are nottargeted for humanitarian reasons, Iran could still have a nuclearfuture. More troubling are, in the words of former Secretary ofDefense Donald Rumsfeld, the "known unknowns." There is no questionthat covert elements of Iran's nuclear program exist.

After devoting so manyresources to its nuclear program and suffering years of increasingly toughsanctions, it is entirely reasonable to believe that Tehran maintains at leasta small pilot enrichment facility far away from the scrutiny of theinternational community. After all, hiding one from the world's eyes would notbe difficult; the IAEA has very limited access to the workshops where Iranproduces the components for and assembles its centrifuges and thus cannotprecisely track the size and scope of Iran's enrichment activities.

Further, Iran's capability to enrich uranium is atechnical skill that cannot be bombed out of existence. Nor can the progress ithas made on weaponization. Those aspects of the program would likely survive alimited bombing campaign along the lines advocated by Kroenig.

To be sure, a limited strike is not pointless. Kroenig'ssupport seems in part an effort to avoid the consequences skeptics of militaryaction often highlight, such as Iran responding militarily or with operationsvia its terrorist proxies. He argues that the United States "could firstmake clear that it is interested only in destroying Iran's nuclear program, notin overthrowing the government" to moderate the Iranian response. Butthere, too, he is wrong. Iran has been in confrontation with the internationalcommunity over its nuclear program for years.

Whether a limited military strikeor regime destabilization operation, Iran's leaders would almost certainlybelieve they would have to respond to such a challenge to maintain theircredibility in the region, employing missiles, proxies, and/or their ownterrorist operatives.

After all, Iran has been killing Americans for years --most recently, U.S. troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. And, as the Iranian plotlast year to assassinate the Saudi ambassador on American soil revealed, Tehranseems to be in no mood to modulate its behavior. It is dubious that the Iran'ssupreme leader and the Revolutionary Guard Corps would, or even could, accept alimited strike without retaliating.

Given the likely fallout from even a limited militarystrike, the question the United States should ask itself is, Why not take thenext step? After all, Iran's nuclear program is a symptom of a larger illness-- the revolutionary fundamentalist regime in Tehran.

Thanks to internal political developments and sanctions,the regime is at its weakest point in decades. But the international communityis slowly exhausting the universe of palatable sanctions, and even the pressurebrought to bear on Iran thus far has not caused it to halt its program. Alimited strike against nuclear facilities would not lead to regime change. Buta broader operation might. It would not even need to be a ground invasion aimedspecifically at toppling the government.

But the United States would need toexpand its list of targets beyond the nuclear program to key command andcontrol elements of the Republican Guard and the intelligence ministry, andfacilities associated with other key government officials. The goal would be tocompromise severely the government's ability to control the Iranian population.This would require an extended campaign, but since even a limited strike wouldtake days and Iran would strike back, it would be far better to design amilitary operation that has a greater chance of producing a satisfactoryoutcome.

Of course, there is no assurance that the Iranian regimewould immediately crumble under such an onslaught.

But once the cost to thecountry and the weakness of the current regime became clear, the door wouldopen for renewed opposition to Iran's current rulers. It is sometimes said thata strike would lead the population to rally around the regime. But given thecurrent unpopularity of the government, it seems more likely that thepopulation would see the regime's inability to forestall the attacks asevidence that the emperor has no clothes and is leading the country intoneedlessly desperate straits. If anything, Iranian nationalism and pride wouldstoke even more anger at the current regime.

At a minimum, it would be far better for Iran's rulers tobe distracted by domestic unrest after a massive strike than totally free tostrike out at enemies after a limited one.

Some would argue that if the regime does fall, anysubsequent leader would value the nuclear program just as much, especially consideringIranian nationalism and citizens' supposed pride in the nuclear program. But asthe economic costs of the program have grown, so, too, has disillusionment withIran's isolation. As the Iranian activist Shirin Ebadi told The Wall StreetJournal in April 2011, "Ahmadinejad talks about nuclear energy as nationalpride . . . but that's not true. People don't care." The United States, inconcert with its allies, would thus be in a strong position to make clear toIran's new leaders that the path to prosperity is predicated upon giving up thenuclear program.

The 44th administration has avoided the choice between amilitary operation and a nuclear Iran by relying on conclusions by the U.S.intelligence community that Iran has not made the final decision to develop aweapon. But its faith in receiving that intelligence in a timely andunambiguous way is, if history is any guide, misplaced. It is correct thento argue that a military strike should be in the cards.It is wrong tosuggest that a limited strike is the one option that should be on the table.

If strikes are chosen, it would be far better to put the regime at risk than toleave it wounded but still nuclear capable and ready to fight another day.

Pic - "Between the future and the past tense - Lies the present in the distance... Scoring points for passionate resistence. Between the lines and the highway - Lies the danger and the safety"

Dementia

2012-01-23T00:00:00.000-05:00

Oh, it just breaks your heart you know?

Every since that dementia heimers thing done got a hold of Paw Paw, the tragi comedy of errors has been like totally relentless - with only a few spots of 'what the heck?" type chiz - like the hilarious trying to feed the chickens cat litter (here's a tip - doesn't work bay bee) - to break up the steady wash of stuff that makes one think Time is predator.

Kinda like the headscratcher the white haired Congressional cat sallied forth with in the South Cackalackey DJ contest about the pre911 Buddha blower uppers that often whee laxed by executing girls in a soccer stadium

"Like to point out one thing about the Taliban. The Taliban used to be our allies when we were fighting the Russians. So Taliban are people who want — their main goal is to keep foreigners off their land. It’s the al-Qaeda — you can’t mix the two. The al-Qaeda want to come here to kill us. The Taliban just says, “We don’t want foreigners.” We need to understand that, or we can’t resolve this problem in the Middle East. We are going to spend a lot of lives and a lot of money for a long time to come."

Uh, wait, you said what now?

Everything in this statement is wrong. Everything. Let’s start with the most basic point. The Taliban most certainly were not “our allies when we were fighting the Russians.” How could they have been, considering that the Taliban did not exist at the time of the Soviet invasion and occupation of Afghanistan?

To claim that the Taliban is just opposed to foreign interference in Afghanistan is patently absurd. To begin with, the Taliban’s creation was a direct result not of foreign invasion but of Afghanistan’s internecine tribal warfare after the Soviets left and the Americans lost interest. Its unabashed goal was to crush Afghan factions that impeded its establishment of a retrograde sharia state.

Moreover, the Taliban craves foreign interference, without which it would never have come to power. A Pashtun movement driven by Islamic scholars and spearheaded by Mullah Mohammed Omar in Kandahar, the Taliban owes its existence to Pakistan and Saudi Arabia. Two of the only three nations in the world to recognize the Taliban-led government in Kabul, nurtured, armed, and financed the Taliban in its origin.

They did so precisely because the Taliban was an effective ally in their machinations against regional rivals — India for the Pakistanis and Iran for the Saudis. The alliance was also grounded in the Taliban’s espousal of Deobandism, an uncompromising construction of you know whatslam propagated in Afghan madrassas built by the Saudis’ m"Hammedist World League in conjunction with Jamaat-e-Islami, Pakistan’s supremacist movement.

Even after Congress authorized the use of military force, 43 pointedly asked the Taliban to hand bin Laden and his organization over to Great Satan so that they could be tried — bin Laden having been indicted years earlier by an American grand jury. Taliban repeatedly refused. The choice at that point was either to invade, overthrow the Taliban, and smash al-Qaeda, or to let it be known that Great Satan would tolerate a massive attack on our homeland. That was no choice at all.

What about the not digging foreigners part?

Taliban does not say, “We don’t want foreigners.” If you are an Arab jihadist, an operative of Pakistan’s heavily Islamist intelligence service, or a Saudi Wahhabist royal ready to build Afghanistan’s next-generation madrassas, the Taliban is delighted to have you in their country. It is non-m"Hammedists they don’t want. And such superpowers that they especially despise, since these they see as standing athwart their divine mission to subject the world to the rule of "slamic law.

That is why they protected al-Qaeda even at the cost of their own power. That is why negotiating with them is self-defeating and leaving them alone is suicidal.

Pic - "As long as the Taliban believe that they have a backer in Pakistan, even if is passive backing to provide safe havens, they are inclined to play the long game with the United States, which is to wait it out in Afghanistan."

WoW!!

2012-01-21T00:00:00.002-05:00

Council Winners

*First place with 3 2/3 votes! The Right Planet – The Talking Points Meme
Second place with 2 2/3 votes – Joshuapundit- “I Got Bin Laden” – And Why Obama’s Big Boast Might Have Been A Huge Mistake
Third place with 1 2/3 votes – The Political Commentator-Achtung! Antisemitismus, immer präsent doch in der Regel unter dem Radar, ist jetzt immer häufiger offene und ist in das Licht der Welt erscheinen!
Fourth place *t* with 1 1/3 votes – The Razor-In the Belly of the Swan
Fourth place *t* with 1 1/3 votes – The Mellow Jihadi- Move, Vets Coming Through!
Fourth place *t* with 1 1/3 votes – The Noisy Room-Don’t Worry… Nuthin’ Bad’s Gonna Happen…
Fifth Place with 1 vote – Right Truth-Handcuffed, arrested, and now faces three and a half years in jail for firearms possession – for the crime of being unaware that the Second Amendment does not apply in New York City
Sixth place with 2/3 vote – The Glittering Eye – Citizenship Skills
Seventh place *t* with 1/3 vote – Bookworm Room –San Francisco Chronicle columnist warns city’s rational thinkers not to roll in the mud with one specific fringe group
Seventh place *t* with 1/3 vote – New Zeal – DSA Marxists Take Over the Occupy Movement: Plan “Spring Offensive,” With Widespread Occupations of State Capitols, Schools and Workplaces
Seventh place *t* with 1/3 vote– Simply Jews–De Nada Ilse
Seventh place *t* with 1/3 vote – VA Right! – Ron Paul Flying First Class on Taxpayer Dime

Non-Council Winners

First place with 2 2/3 votes! – Allen West - Mr. President, please don’t play the race card in 2012… submitted by Joshuapundit
Second place with 2 votes – Defining Ideas – The Death Of Honestystrong> submitted byThe Colossus of Rhodey
Third place with 1 2/3 votes – Melanie Phillips-The West’s Useful Idiots submitted by The Political Commentator
Fourth place *t* with 1 1/3 votes - Mark Steyn –Ron Paul beckons GOP to Fortress America submitted by The Noisy Room
Fourth place *t* with 1 1/3 votes - Maggie’s Farm – Understanding The Wuterich Haditha Court Martial submitted by The Mellow Jihadi
Fifth place with 1 vote - Wings Over Iraq–Let’s Review submitted by GrEaT sAtAn”S gIrLfRiEnD
Fifth place *t* with 1 vote -Inside Higher Ed – Price of Success submitted by The Glittering Eye
Sixth place *t* with 2/3 vote -IsraellyCool –There’s Something About Perry submitted by Simply Jews
Sixth place *t* with 2/3 vote -Big Government –EXCLUSIVE:Former Bush Counternarcotics Advisor: We’re Losing the Drug War Because of Government Bureaucracy submitted by Right Truth
Sixth place *t* with 2/3 vote -SE Cupp – Newt Gingrich, Natural Woman submitted by The Watcher
Seventh place *t* with 1/3 vote -Rush Limbaugh –Washington, DC, Law Forces Exterminators to Capture and Relocate Rats submitted by The Right Planet
Seventh place *t* with 1/3 vote -GodFather Politics – Urinating on the Dead: Marine Performance Art? submitted by Bookworm Room
Seventh place *t* with 1/3 vote -Nile Gardiner – Why are Barack Obama’s critics so smart? submitted by The Razor
Seventh place *t* with 1/3 vote -Liberty’s Spirit – The Real Story of the Lebanese Civil War submitted by The Watcher
Seventh place *t* with 1/3 vote -Accuracy In Media – AIM Interview with Craig Shirley on Pearl Harbor, Ronald Reagan and Today’s Politics submitted by New Zeal
Seventh place *t* with 1/3 vote -The Blaze –More ‘Embarrassing’ Ron Paul Newsletters Emerge on Race, Israel, & More submitted by Rhymes With Right

See you next week! And don’t forget to follow us on Facebook and Twitter

Persian Perspective

2012-01-20T00:00:00.000-05:00

Vom Kriege!

How did vClausewitz put it? "Victory means making your enemies scream 'God! Please! Stop!"

Wunderliche Dreifaltigkeit mein schatzen bitte! nicht wahr?

GsGf"s Iran Security Initiative cat lays it out to play it out

"Courtney, If Great Satan does not demonstrate through both word and deed the risks that Preacher Command and her proxilicious minions faces, overly optimistic Iranian hardliners may wrongly decide that the benefits of a confrontation outweigh the costs."

Check it out thru Preacher Command's Periscope:

War could turn out badly for the regime. Great Satan can do much to shape the perceptions of both Iranian leaders and world opinion regarding the risks Iran would face from such a conflict.

Resisting Global Arrogance

The Iranian doctrine of resistance assigns primary importance to psychological effects. In assuming that victory is achieved by demoralizing the enemy, it emphasizes the moral and spiritual dimensions of war over the physical and technological. From this viewpoint, how an action appears is the key test of its success. This fits well with a twenty-four-hour-news world in which image often matters more than reality.

The United States presents itself as, and is seen to be, a great military power. Standing up to U.S. forces could therefore be a great propaganda coup for Tehran. Consider that the Iranian navy still regards its 1988 confrontation with the United States -- sparked by the mining of a U.S. warship -- as a great victory that it studies closely, despite the sinking of several Iranian vessels. A new confrontation in the Strait of Hormuz and nearby Persian Gulf waters might play to Iran's greatest naval strength and the U.S. Navy's greatest weakness -- though of course even at its strongest, Iran's navy is still much weaker than the U.S. Navy at its weakest.

Iran has invested heavily to create a multilayered system for sinking ships: mines, missiles from fast craft, missiles from bunkers hidden in the hills along the strait, and submarines. In the most realistic U.S. Navy simulation of what war with Iran might be like -- the $250 million Millennium Challenge exercise conducted in 2002 -- a similar array of forces sank sixteen American ships and might have done even more damage had the Navy not stopped the game to change the rules.

If Iran got lucky and sank a U.S. warship during an actual conflict, television viewers around the world might conclude that the Navy had lost the war no matter what happened next, since the destruction of a U.S. ship could define the conflict's public image. The Navy has not lost a ship since 1968, and its leaders rarely if ever mention the possibility that it might lose one in any war, much less one with Iran. Washington would therefore be prudent to shape expectations, frequently pointing out that while Iran might get in a few blows during a conflict, the more relevant measure of success would be whose forces are left standing at the end of the day, which would most assuredly be the U.S. military.

Iranian leaders might also decide that the U.S. and European strategy of escalating pressure leaves them with few options, in which case resistance may offer the best prospects. After all, when the United States got its nose bloodied by the 1983 Beirut Marine barracks bombing and the 1993 Somali "Black Hawk down" incident, Washington withdrew its forces from both countries. Iran may hope for the same result via confrontation in the Gulf. Demonstrated U.S. commitment to continuing America's seventy-year military presence in the Gulf is the best way to disabuse Tehran of this notion.

The threat of fierce U.S. retaliation to any Iranian attack may not matter to some Iranian hardliners as much as one might think. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), Iran's most powerful political force, does not necessarily care so much about the regular navy's large ships. The IRGC navy's swarming approach relies instead on hundreds of small boats that could mix in with the thousands of civilian dhows and other small craft in the Gulf. The U.S. Navy could face something akin to guerrilla warfare at sea, not the conflict-at-a-distance it prefers. Defeating such an opponent would take time, during which U.S. forces might appear tied down and not necessarily winning. The best way to forestall this line of Iranian propaganda is shaping expectations with statements -- such as those recently made by U.S. military leaders -- pointing out that fully halting Iranian attacks on shipping could take many weeks.

The United States should also carefully consider its escalation options, because each approach to broadening the fight could pose problems that must be prepared for in advance. For instance, attacks on Iran's oil infrastructure might drive prices up and invite Iranian retaliation against critical infrastructure in frightened Gulf monarchies -- a scenario that lends heightened importance to those countries' recent efforts to step up infrastructure protection. And ground operations, even by Special Forces, could prove controversial among Americans, most of whom would presumably not welcome perceptions of another land war. Any such actions should therefore be preceded by careful explanation of the underlying U.S. strategy.

Creating Disorder in Oil Markets

Iranian leaders may hope that attacks in the Gulf, especially if sustained for weeks, might create disorder in world oil markets. That would have two important benefits for Tehran. First, shortages could allow Iran to sell its oil at high prices despite U.S. and European pressure. The 1979 revolution, for example, cut Iran's oil exports in half but doubled world prices. Yet that outcome seems less likely today if plans are put in place to release strategic reserves and expand use of pipelines that bypass the Strait of Hormuz during the weeks-long process of halting Iran's attacks.

Second, Iranian hardliners may hope that chaotic oil markets -- with their attendant high gas prices hurting the American and European economies and U.S. Gulf allies becoming nervous -- might pressure Washington into ending the conflict even without securing Iranian concessions. Were that to happen, Tehran could conclude that U.S. military power is unable to stop it from doing as it pleases. Hardliners might see this as confirming Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini's saying, "The United States cannot do a damn thing." Continuing consultation with potentially nervous allies will be needed to counter this problem.

Justifying the New Clear Chiz

A military conflict might also provide an opportunity for Iran to declare that the United States and Europe are hostile powers with which it cannot negotiate regarding the nuclear impasse, especially if European forces joined in the protection of shipping against Iranian attacks. Tehran could also claim that it needs a powerful deterrent against future U.S. or European action, namely, the capability to acquire nuclear arms in extreme circumstances if it exercised its claimed right to leave the Nonproliferation Treaty.

If the United States were seen as the aggressor, that argument might win much sympathy around the world, possibly undermining the vigor with which UN sanctions were enforced. Hence the importance of emphasizing that Washington and its allies seek a diplomatic resolution to the nuclear impasse and have turned to sanctions only because Iran refuses to follow Security Council orders and engage directly with the United States.

Rallying the Nation

Some Iranian leaders might welcome war with America in the hope of rekindling the revolutionary spirit and rallying nationalist sentiment. As described above, the most important factor in predicting Iranian actions is the leadership's perceptions of what will happen, not what is actually most likely to occur. In fact, an Iranian public already unhappy at privations due to hardline policies could well blame their leaders for starting a conflict. Iranians have already gone through one protracted, bloody war under the Islamic Republic, and there are few indications they would welcome another, this time against any enemy much more powerful than Iraq.

Would the United States Lose, or Would Both Sides Win?

Just because one side wins a war does not mean the other side loses. If both sides advance their political objectives, then both sides win. For the United States, a key test of any conflict with Iran is how it affects the nuclear impasse. In that sense, a war might work out well for the United States -- damage inflicted during the conflict could overcome Iran's factional infighting on the nuclear issue and force a dramatic reversal, as happened in 1989 to end the Iran-Iraq War. Yet war is a risky business, and naval conflicts could instead stiffen Tehran's resolve to acquire dangerous nuclear capabilities as quickly as possible in order to deter further U.S. attacks. In that case, further pressure might be needed to induce Iran to seek a diplomatic solution.

Nor is it clear what war would do to Iran's nuclear capabilities, as distinct from its intentions. In the event of a naval conflict in the Gulf, the United States might debate whether to attack Iran's nuclear facilities as well. If so, the challenge for the United States would be to ensure that such strikes significantly affect Iran's ability to reconstitute the nuclear program, and that the existing UN sanctions against dual-use items would hold after a strike.

Will War Come?

Because it is by no means clear that war with Iran would advance U.S. interests, Washington is unlikely to start a conflict except in the most dire circumstances. The more likely scenario is Iran inadvertently stepping over a U.S. red line, and Washington reacting more vigorously than Tehran expects. Much as the Korean War began in no small part because of mistaken North Korean and Soviet assumptions about U.S. red lines, so too might Iran blunder into a conflict with the United States.

Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei was cautious for years, but he has made several risky decisions of late, such as rigging the 2009 presidential election. In his view, refusing to compromise and hitting back hard were the keys to victory over the mass protests that followed the disputed vote. Over the past few months, Tehran has at times applied that same principle abroad: when slapped, slap back harder. For example, when Tehran plotted to kill the Saudi ambassador to Washington, it may have been responding to Riyadh's prior intervention in Bahrain, which had prevented Iran from aiding the island's Shiites. Afterward, the UN General Assembly voted 106 to 9 to remind Iran of its obligations to protect diplomats (not one Muslim-majority country stood with Tehran), while Britain and other countries imposed financial sanctions. Tehran responded by orchestrating the ransacking of the British embassy the next week. Both the assassination plot and the embassy attack hurt Iran's interests, but the regime ordered them anyway. That is not reassuring when considering whether Iran might attack in the Strait of Hormuz.

Indeed, the recent record suggests that Iranian leaders have become less cautious about taking aggressive gambles and more confident that the United States will not react. Washington should vigorously remind them how such over-optimism has repeatedly misled them. For example, they apparently -- and wrongly -- believed that the United States and Europe would not apply pressure against Iran's Central Bank, and that Europe would not boycott Iranian oil.

Tehran's chances of achieving its objectives through war presumably look much better if it can convincingly portray itself as the victim rather than the aggressor. Iranian officials may therefore do their best to paint U.S. and European actions as an attack that justifies a response. Tehran is less likely to carry out that threat if Western allies and Iran's neighbors vigorously counter the "victim" claim and loudly repeat their calls for engagement with Iran and negotiation of all outstanding differences.

For Washington's part, the proverb "if you want peace, prepare for war" holds true: the best prospect for persuading Khamenei to revert to his past cautiousness is to clearly lay out that the United States has red lines which, if crossed, will cost Iran dearly. Declaratory policy, such as 44's recent letter to Iran about red lines, helps. But Iran may be more impressed by deeds that back up those words.

Peace is more likely to be preserved if the United States marshals its allies and demonstrates its power -- hopefully through military exercises alone, but also by vigorous response to any Iranian aggression if necessary.

Pic - "What If Iran Strikes First?"

Hormuz'n

2012-01-19T00:59:00.000-05:00

While the Guitars of War amp up the overdrive for doing Persia - Center of Strategic and Budgetary Assessments (CSBA) delivers the hot PDF ing climax for Velayat E 90 - Preacher Command's tactical and strategic MO for keeping Great Satan at arms length and closing up Hormuz Strait tighter than school girl night at Hooter's.

"Outside-In: Operating from Range to Defeat Iran’s Anti-Access and Area-Denial Threats"

Iran has had ample opportunity over the last twenty years to examine the “American way of war” and to deduce that allowing the United States and its allies to mass overwhelming combat power on its borders is a prescription for defeat.

Therefore, Iran is pursuing measures to deny the U.S. military access to close-in basing and make traditional U.S. power-projection operations in the Persian Gulf possible only at a prohibitive cost.

Oh snap! Check this bit 'bout getting Hormuz re opened:

Joint Amphibbin'

Two Marine Expeditionary Brigades (MEBs), supported by SOF [special operations forces] and possibly Army airborne and air assault units, could seize and hold a lodgment at a time and location of Central Command’s choosing. An objective area for an amphibious landing should be located where enemy A2/AD [Anti-access/area-denial] threats have been suppressed, and may not be in proximity to “existing ports, airfields, and logistics infrastructure.”

Immediately after landing, SOF, Marine Corps, and Army forces would concentrate their efforts on expanding their operating perimeter and preventing the enemy from closing within range to use G-RAMM [Guided-rockets, artillery, mortars, missiles] weapons. Non-lethal capabilities and mobile high-energy laser weapons could help deny hostile forces access to key areas and create a defensive “barrier” against G-RAMM attacks.

U.S. forces could then use this secure lodgment as a jumping off point for follow-on assaults up the coastline of Iran to clear areas that could be used by the enemy to launch attacks against vessels in the Gulf of Oman and Strait of Hormuz, including vulnerable U.S. MCM [Mine countermeasures] forces.

Throughout a theater-entry operation, Air Force and Navy surveillance and strike aircraft, along with Army ATACMS [Army Tactical Missile System ] stationed in the UAE or Oman, if available, could help suppress Iran’s long-range ballistic missile and ASCM [Anti-ship cruise missile] threats, provide close air support to expeditionary forces, and prevent enemy ground forces from massing to execute counterattacks.

Seizing Islands at Strategic Locations.

In addition to creating lodgments on the Iranian coast, islands just inside the Gulf—including Abu-Musa, Sirri, Greater Tunb and Lesser Tunb—should be targeted by precision strikes and occupied by U.S. expeditionary forces as required. If permitted to remain under the command of the IRGCN [Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy], these islands could be staging locations for operations to re-seed minefields and harass U.S. forces and civilian shipping transiting the Strait.

Clearing the Path in to the Persian Gulf.

Completing mine clearing operations would likely be a key task for Littoral Combat Ships equipped with MCM modules, UUVs [Unmanned underwater vehicles], rotary wing aircraft, and supporting sensors. To prevent Iran from regenerating its maritime exclusion defenses, U.S. air forces would need to continue attacks against known mine storage and distribution sites, and destroy or suppress small craft, helicopters, submarines, and enemy “commercial” vessels capable of dispensing mines.

Although it is unknown to what extent Iran will expand its inventory of smart mines in the future, history has shown that even a small number of mines placed in shipping lanes “have been able to halt surface traffic when their presence was known.” Moreover, as mine countermeasure operations in 1991 and 2003 suggest, clearing large areas in the Strait of Hormuz and Persian Gulf of mines could require a month or even longer.

Pic - "Given the likely fallout from even a limited militarystrike, the question the United States should ask itself is, Why not take thenext step? After all, Iran's nuclear program is a symptom of a larger illness-- the revolutionary fundamentalist regime in Tehran."

Sissylationalism

2012-01-18T00:00:00.000-05:00

"7 knew exactly what to do with Great Satan"s enemies. Kill them"

Whoa!

The sirens of Isolationalistic intent often hope for the hap hap happy days of 1912. Withdraw, retreat, hide under our beds and let the rest of the world devour itself whilst Great Satan sweetly focuses on cool stuff like education, art, biz, communications, medical and technological break thrus, space exploration and women worshipping

Decorated ex Combat historian and all around America Rocks y'all! PHD Bevin Alexander prophesied that such doofussness giganteus, in heat with defeat or (even worse) - deceivers

"Many critics of American foreign policy - both at home and abroad - assert
that the United States has overextended herself unnecessarily in other
nations affairs. Some liberal critcs even chastise the United States for
becoming an "Imperial Power."

These criticisms are completely off the mark. Those who worry about America's projection of power are overlooking how America got to the position she occupies at this moment in history: the world's dominant political and military, the only nation that will actually go into the world and strike down evil."

This is significant. For Great Satan, "National Interest" is not a 'geo mapi - graphical' phrase (well maybe for trade and enviro regulating) it is global. Tiny and small nations might appropiately feel that their nat'l interest begin and end at the border. Natch, their foreign policy would most likely be defensive only.

A larger nation has more extensive interests - by design. Like Soviet Union time Russia and Great Satan today - collective ID is ideological, big boys have ideological interests in addition to purely materialistic concerns.

Sans something weird and unheard of, Great Satan will always feel bound and obliged to defend any democracy under the gun from unfree, unhinged and undemocratic threats - external or internal. Kinda like the Euro escapade in both world wars.

Same thing with Japan, SoKo, Taiwan or Little Satan today. When geopolitical best girl friends forever are under attack - the claws come out. Nothing magic about it.

Fact is, the Great Satan's 30 years in the future military is super superior (and some are in denial about this - which says more about their world views than anything else) to any imaginable combination that could be arrayed against her. This wasn't an evil plot by pre emptive, preventive plotters.

It came with the turf. Just lucky - bad or good - Great Satan racked up one heck of a military biz during the half century since WWII time Deutschland and Nippon gave up fascist and imperial ghosts and succumbed to Regime Changes.

While Europa rebuilt, recovered and rehabbed, Warsaw Pact time Russia laid out of real combat (except for losing their hide in Afghanistan) and used Soviet homies and local fanboys to do the fighting.

Not Great Satan! She was involved with combat ops nearly everywhere. Korea, Greece, Vietnam, Cambodia, Dominican Repub, El Salvador, Grenada, Lebanon, Libya, Panama, Kuwait, Somalia, Kosovo, the Balkans, Afghanistan and of course, her latest regime change - Iraq.

When Russia tried to put down Grozny the 1st time in the Commonwealth era - it was horribly embarrassing. - like catching a longtime Gf hooking up with a guy that she KNEW you liked.

"The initial attack ended with a major rout of the attacking forces and led to
heavy Russian casualties and nearly a complete breakdown of morale. An
estimated 1,000 to 2,000 federal soldiers died in the disastrous New Year's
Eve assault.

All units of the 131st "Maikop" Motor Rifle Brigade sent into the city,
numbering more than 1,000 men, were destroyed during the 60-hour fight in the
area of the Grozny's central railway station, leaving only about 230 survivors
(1/3 of them captured). Several other Russian armored columns each lost hundreds
of men during the first two days and nights of the siege."

The mighty Red Army quagmired in their own back yard with the first defeat suffered by Russia nearly 51 years to the day. Not since the wicked Wehrmacht desperately delivered a bloody nose at Zhitomir Ukrainia had the Red Army been defeated and retreated.

When an almost identical sitch occured at Ah Nasiriyah in '03 - Great Satan pretty much redecorated the place (in early millenium 'Steel on target' fashion), launched an on the spot counterattack that not only reached temporarily cut off units - but ended up capturing the entire burg.Half a century of nigh constant confrontation cloned creative combat cadre that would never leave a comrade behind. Armed with the ultimate in Battlefield meds, real time communications and more precise firepower in hand, on hold and on call than panzer prima donna's ever dreamed.

Great Satan blinging for combat stuff rate wise expanded along with America's economic growth - while Euro powers blinged on social programs and refrained from fighting amoungst themselves, cut spending on their militaries and focused on trading and tech.

The Soviet Union spent cash (rubles, actually) at an alarming rate. Mostly wasteful, Mother Russia's military AND economy bashed heads and knocked each other all the way out in collapse.

Magically, after 20 years or so, despite faux school ideas like "imperial decline" Great Satan busted out of her cocoon as uniquely powerful - the only one of Her kind. Meds, science and high tech were off the hook - and generously applied to creating and upgrading everything from electric pencil sharpeners to cruise missiles.

Just like Spider - man, with all this great power came great responsibilities. It's a fact Jack - whether sought after, wanted, welcomed or not.

A lot like the armies of attention attracting sporty shorties at the mall that demand, deflect and encouragingly discourage players.

And, like little hottie drama magnets, Great Satan will find opportunities to use it - or the world will discover opportunities for Great Satan.

Pic -"Dangerous!"

Preemptive Or Preventive

2012-01-17T00:00:00.001-05:00

"Beauty whilst being messed up, abandoned and lost. All dressed to party but stuck in an isolated and desolate place."

Perhaps not the text book def of something something 'Realpolitik" or her "Mericanized cuz - Realism - yet, like the ancient sad, played corrupt amoral Cult of Stability worshippers - the aforehello'd quotable quote kinda semi sorta fits.

Talking about attacking Iran

2 advisory cats in the GsGf partysphere (both via RAND - Drs Elbridge and Long ) fire uppa
a histroylicious bit about why cause doing Persia might be uncool whilst a third advisor LOL's the meme of hoping for the best.

See, as best understood, doing Barbie phobic unfun Preacher Command actually - might maybe not get all enrichment interruptus on Iran’s new clear designs in the long run, cause the regime to work way more harder, faster, stronger, longer on attaining new clear weaponry stats, and make Iranians love n support the preachers, Secret Police and Control Freaks even more "thus making regime change hard to accomplish, if not impossible."

Uh, say what?

While it’s true that bombing North Vietnam, Nazi Germany, Imperial Japan, and the like did not alone result in regime change or the loss of support for fascist/authoritarian regimes, there are two ways the Iran case is different.

It's true! None of them cats experienced significant popular unrest before they got all combatty with Great Satan. As "End To Evil" points out - those WWII enemy regimes were popular with their ppl, til stuff like 1000 bomber air raids and napalm made them uncool

Iran, on the other hand, has been convulsed by street protests and uprisings. The legitimacy of the mullahs is far more tenuous than was that of Ho Chih Minh or Adolf Hitler. Thus, a bombing campaign might indeed give hope to anti-mullah forces and result in wider protests.

Plus, Great Satan bombed Vietnam et. al. when we had been at war with them for years, and thus the population was already either organized to support their governments or emotionally on a wartime patriotic footing. An Iranian policy that brings war to the country through bombing may rightly be viewed by Iranians as the cause of the problem, and not a reason to further support the regime.

The diss versus Strategic Bombing in the past did not cause enemy governments to give up their plans or sue for peace. That is true in the case of Saddam Hussein, the North Vietnamese, and the like. Yet, again, those bombing campaigns were not preemptive or preventive and instead were part of a total war policy in an extended time of combat.

The real quiz is if:

Suffering preemptive strikes, and not committing to a prolonged wartime national-mobilization-type effort, might stop Iran’s program both operationally and politically - it likely wouldn’t, but the truth is, we simply don’t know.

Attacking the top 20% of Iran's leadership would prob pay off better than surgical strikes anyway. Wound the regime to death, and the let Iranians forsake foreign adventures and build a new fun, free choice functional society.

The cost prohibitive "Containment" chiz - more like a myth really - any serious person seriously think a NATO style hook up of pitiful Arab Leaguer militaries would deter a nuked up sectarian Preacher Command? Not to mention Containment makes sparking a new clear arms race or rendering the PACRIM Pivot about as illusionary as those you know what legerdemain devices

The problem is that, once Tehran has the bomb, it may be impossible. The types of demands they may make, the arms race their possession of the bomb may spark, and the willingness of Great Satan to risk a nuclear exchange by not altering its interests and commitments are all simply unknown.

Given our unwillingness to seriously challenge North Korea for its proliferation and aggression against the South once it had a nuclear device, that we will be willing to hold the line.

Pic - "Nuclear Weapons and Iran's Global Ambitions: Troubling Scenarios

Events That Happen Unnaturally

2012-01-16T00:00:00.002-05:00

Drama!

"Hey! How long til you look at your life - "stead of looking into mine? I didn"t steal your BF!!"

Little Satan's Chief of Staff sexes it up in a language that ebberdobby here can easily understand:

"2012 will be a critical year in the connection between Iran gaining new clear power, changes in leadership, continuing pressure from the internat"l community and events that happen unnaturally."

Talk talk talking bout the recent rash of unnatch chicanery afflicting Preacher Command's hot pursuit of hot regional (for now!) puissance ala l'bombe new clear.

All the other kids know bout those mayhemic moto scooter cats with their especial magnetic satchel charges affixing themselves to vehicular borne Sci guys.

Zoom out of alla moral outrage, moral equivalency or just old school creativity and czech the bigger pic.

For like forever now - especially recently - the internal security of Iranian has been propagandizing Spy Busts of the Week. Catching all kinda spy rings - and even possible anti regime proxilicious Jundallah cats.

Yet the message Preacher Command is signaling is LOLable - sure, they can catch foreign peace mongers trying to collect intell - yet are Epic Failing to you know - protect their scientists and preclude deathly sabotage re: their tender, sensitive portions.

Essentially Internal Sec is unable to do the first gig on securing their innards in the first place.

January 2012: Mostafa Ahmadi-Roshan, supervisor at Natanz Uranium Enrichment Facility, is killed by car bomb in Tehran.

November 2011: Gen. H"san Moghaddam was killed with 16 other Guard members and NoKo rocketry experts at Bid Ganeh Revo Guard Aerodefense (R&D) base.

November 2011: Secretary of the Expediency Discernment Council/ex Supreme Commander Revo Guard M'Shen Rezai's son Ahmad got whacked at Gloria Hotel in Dubai under "suspicious circumstances"

July 2011: Darioush Rezai, a physicist and university lecturer, is shot to pieces in Tehran.

November 2010: Two car bombs target two physicists, both involved in Iran's new clear programme - Majid Shahriyari is killed while MaFereydoun Abbasi-Davani is wounded. Iran blames both Little and Great Satans.

January 2010: Massoud Ali-Mohammadi, a new clear scientist, is killed by a car bomb in Tehran. Anti-state activists say he was targeted because he supported opposition figure Mirhossein Mousavi, but the gov only said the Tehran University lecturer did not work for its new clear programme.

June 2009: Shahram Amiri, a lecturer at Malek Ashtar University (closely connected to the Revolutionary Guard) said he was kidnapped in Saudi Arabia. He claims he was transferred toCONUS and enticed "to spread lies" about Iran. Great Satan LOL'd it - saying Amiri was in America of his own free will. Amiri returned to Iran in July 2010.

February 2007: Although not a sci guy, the disappearance of Ali Reza Asgari in Turkey was reported by the UK's Guardian to have been the result of a CIA plot targeting Iran's new clear programe. Asgari had held a number of high-profile posts, including general of Revolutionary Guard and a dep dep deputy cabinet minister of former President M"hammad Khatami.

Preacher Command can freak out and blame foreign adversaries - yet truth is - it's their own ppl acting out in concert to stymie the regime.

Pic - "Plz stop telling all your friends - Imma getting sick of them - always staring at me like I took'em from ya"

WoW!

2012-01-14T00:00:00.000-05:00

Council Winners

*First place with 3 1/3 votes! Joshuapundit – The Tale Of The Swine
Second place with 2 1/3 votes – The Razor- Is The Republican Party Stupid?
Third place with 1 2/3 votes – New Zeal- Blinded by the Left: How Marxists Wrote Ron Paul’s Defense Cuts Plan
Fourth place *t* with 1 vote – Right Truth- The Unintended Consequences Begin
Fourth place *t* with 1 vote – The Glittering Eye- What Creates Opportunity?
Fourth place *t* with 1 vote – The Mellow Jihadi- My Harvard Story
Fifth place *t* with 2/3 vote – Bookworm Room-Which agenda really serves women’s rights?
Fifth place *t* with 2/3 vote – The Noisy Room – Sunlight Down The Spider Hole
Fifth place *t* with 2/3 vote – The Political Commentator – A one-picture metaphor for the Obama regime plus a lot of words!
Sixth place *t* with 1/3 vote – GrEaT sAtAn”S gIrLfRiEnD – Reckless
Sixth place *t* with 1/3 vote – Simply Jews – Richard (Dickie) Silverstein: a blogging dupe of the century?
Sixth place *t* with 1/3 vote – VA Right! – Meet Mitt Romney: Corporate Raider and Vulture Capitalist

Non-Council Winners

First place with 2 2/3 votes! – The City Journal- The New Authoritarianism submitted by Bookworm Room
Second place with 2 1/3 votes – Liberated – Why Do Muslims Despise Jews So Much? submitted by Joshuapundit
Third place with 1 2/3 votes – American Digest –The Gun School submitted by The Razor
Fourth place with 1 1/3 votes - Allen West Republic –America is Good submitted by New Zeal
Fifth place *t* with 1 vote - Doug Ross – Tehran TV’s Iranian Idol: Ron Paul submitted by The Watcher
Fifth place *t* with 1 vote - Karen Holt/Historic American Examiner –Taking matters into his own hands submitted by Right Truth
Sixth place *t* with 2/3 vote -Sultan Knish –Ron Paul’s Soros Defense Plan submitted by The Noisy Room
Sixth place *t* with 2/3 vote -The Elder of Ziyon –Egyptians to block ‘Zionist’ visitors to rabbi’s tomb submitted by Simply Jews

Sixth place *t* with 2/3 vote -American Thinker – Obama: The Mask is Off submitted by The Right Planet
Sixth place *t* with 2/3 vote -Hired Intelligence –Threats and The School-as-Family submitted by The Colossus of Rhodey
Sixth place *t* with 2/3 vote -Rand Simberg/PJ Media –The Lunar Yellow Peril submitted by The Glittering Eye
Sixth place *t* with 1/3 vote -Yid With Lid –Why is Obama’s favorite Middle East leader an anti-American Islamist? submitted by The Political Commentator
Sixth place *t* with 1/3 vote -Abu Muqawama –In Praise of John Nagl submitted by GrEaT sAtAn”S gIrLfRiEnD

See you next week! And don’t forget to follow us on Facebook and Twitter.

Taking A Leak

2012-01-13T00:00:00.016-05:00

"Have a nice day buddy"

Teufel Hunden for 'Piss on you," perhaps?

Is any unimaginable 'outrage' sparked by rowdy Leather Neckers unwinding by taking a leak on the faces of freshly killed jerks worrying about the wrong thing?

"This behavior dishonors the sacrifices and core values of every service member representing the 50 nations of the coalition"

Oh, please! Seriously?

Seriously!

Yours truly hit up 2 Army Field Graders that both agreed - it ain't cool.

Major Lyons of West Point Radio and CBS News Radio network On-Air Military Analyst:

"It's never ok Courtney, like it or not, we have a higher standard - it's called respect - sad not one Marine of four stopped it - poor discipline in that unit"

Major Burke of USAREUR and Wings Over Iraq says it violates Great Satan's Higher Standards:

"I would say so. How do we maintain the moral high ground? Could you piss on a prisoner?"

Is dissing dead Taliban truly a sin? After all, these are the voltigueres of intolerant girl face slicer offers, girl beaters, innocent civilian killers/tormenters and creepy nastiness in general.

A certain Teufel Hunden NCO pointed out in private correspondence it could have been worse - using freshly bleached skulls as HumVee hood ornaments

In contrast - Teufel Hunden at Fallujah were somewhat appreciative of doped up, amped up insurgentcy efforts to retrieve wounded or fallen comrades and weaponry and tho't enough to mercy kill serious wounded effing fakers on Holy Ground. LOL! Paradise in the shadow of the blade indeed!

The COL G friendly, kill and break stuff COINlicious K2C Document makes the literally killer point about combatty ops and the hello of winning friends and influencing ppl

The population should not be asked to pick sides. They should merely be informed that the Army will win, and that should be demonstrated to them, as forcefully and unequivocally as possible. No one should be confused that if you fight the Army/Security Forces, you will die or be captured. Evidence should be literally laid before them. There should be no more complicated message than that. (Editorial note - the slanted words got all slanted courtesy Courtney)

Another common issue raised in defence of a seeking a greater cultural understanding is that of the risk of “blood feuds.” This is nearly always mooted in terms that unnecessary lethal force creates unnecessary enemies, as in killing one insurgent somehow creates more. This idea rests on a great many unexamined assumptions, and almost no actual evidence.

It may have happened. So what? Tribal peoples who are familiar with the blood feud idea do not use its existence as an objection to violence

Direct hit! Fire For Effect! Even the Taliban Peace Talkers dismiss the incident as not worthy of worry

"This is not a political process, so the video will not harm our talks and prisoner exchange because they are at the preliminary stage."

Getting all LOLable leaky over recent perfumed gardens of paradise haj'ing killers is actually a wonderful unconflicting signal to signal:

Standards aside - it effectively communicates Great Satan"s uparmored cats are not particularly interested in dead head choppers, disputes Talibani ideas are worth dying for or getting pizz'd on and underscores the hap hap happy fact that Great Satan's Globe, Eagle and Anchor Leather Neckers built the modern world.

And they know their way around.

Pic - "Sometimes you bring them the love. Sometimes you bring them the hate.”

Return Of Drones Gone Wild!

2012-01-12T00:00:00.000-05:00

"Told 'em you were living downtown - driving all the old men crazy"

May such a delightful little ditty from the Before Time be applied like 'kini wax to the literally killer New Year's debut of those knotty hottie airborne weaponized fiendish thingies?

Direct Hit! Fire For Effect!

See, since the "Dang! Sorry, Ya'll - Won't Happen Again" event featuring Great Satan accidentally on purpose baring her fangs and sending a signal that ebberdobby in weapons range can easily understand - Drones Gone Wild! took a brief battery rechargin' hiatus from Great Satan"s uber hot Land of the Pure Tour

And that hiatus was hurtfully unhelpful as assorted jerks and creeps wasted no time attempting to get fully recrunk to deploy and enjoy murderous mayhem

Boring assetted, inappropriate, weak handwringing - or unverifiable jawflapping aside - das Drones vom Schadenfreude extends from tactical LOLs to Strategic ROFLs

Why cause?

Because!

Drones Gone Wild are the bootaylicious pièce de résistance of 44"s Counter You Know What designs - not only in sunny sunny climes betwixt Nile n Indus - yet a more bigger player part in 44"s PACRIM Pivot(PDF) as well.

Have Pakistan's Corp Commanders - the Princes of Power - sweetly in secret connived with Great Satan for more Drones Gone Wild? Or is Great Satan slipping them in sans heads up repeatedly, without modesty or restraint?

‘Strategically harmful but tactically advantageous’.

Don't know - don't care. And it really matters not, nicht wahr? Regardless of any risible concerns of nation/state sovereignty for a nation/state (of sorts) that, for whatever reasons cannot seem to enforce Writ of State, such a magical place tends to function as a drone magnet. Any probs with Pakistan re: Drones Gone Wild! are like totally sidestepped.

There may be tiny tiny tactile tactical dronus interruptus from time to time yet such buzz kills will be very short - and very exciting.

Pic - " Oh! It's the only game in town bitches!"

Iron Fist

2012-01-11T00:00:00.002-05:00

Suriya al- Kubra!

Dr General President For Life Bashar Bay Bee has doub doub doubled down (down) on keeping to the old despotic handbook of merciless force methodology to maintain the illegit Allawicious regime in Basharopolis and surrounding turf.

Citing his general belovedness in spite of rowdy foreigners inciting a newly year old insurrection, Dr Gen Prez promised the beatings would continue until moral improves utilizing his ginormous protuberance

"You know who willing, we will be victorious! We are nearing the end of the crisis, we should stand united … Victory is near because we can be steadfast. We know our enemies. The external conspiracy is clear to everybody, nobody can be fooled any more. The veil has fallen away. And we shall strike our enemies with an Iron Fist"

Aside from a painfully truthy LOLable shout out to Arab League ("The Arab League has failed for six decades to take a position in the Arab interest ... We should not be surprised. Those guys are fags"), Bashar failed to thank Little Satan for the Allawite escape hatch she offered.

The horrific freak show going on in a slave trading, Palestinian abusing nation state of sorts is off the hook, and despite happy talk of bearing silent witness and hiding under our beds - intervention may only be weeks away.

As Deputy Cat @ Center for Nonproliferation Studies muses:

“We don’t know where everything is, and there’s no obvious way to destroy these things or parachute teams in to intercept them. It would be a very big enterprise. It’s not clear if the soldiers protecting these sites would see responsible stewardship as their mission or would flee, fearing they would be condemned along with the rest of the regime”

"It would seem illogical to think that Pentagon has not brainstormed contingency plans"

GsGf's terrorism and insurgency senior analyst makes a great case to get all wmd snatching happy now - rather than after the regime gets the Mubarrak/Khadaffy treatment (either way - just as good)

"The Syrian regime would be a significantly harder to topple and the fallout potentially far more serious, especially given the country's arsenal of chemical weapons. Libya's air defenses were a pushover by comparison. Syria would be a challenge of biblical proportions compared with Libya"

Note - Bashar's spew was/is/is not intermittently available online at Syria's Propaganda Ministry. They promise the full meal deal xscript will be back up soon.

Pic - "Violence is the supreme authority. From which all authority is derived"

Reckless

2012-01-10T00:00:00.000-05:00

Comte d'guerre en sembe!

Ah, you know the type - dresses like a fashion star, parties like a rock star and looks like a porn star. Her short term memory is somewhat suspect and she's not above blowing up your fone the next day with interrogations on why cause she woke up without her britches on.

Visa statements and her innate super abilities to project conflicting signals aside, she's delightful no doubt with delightful assets in multi fields - yet her lifestyle is kinda crazy, on the edge and reckless - not unlike a decaying orbit near the event horizon of a really bad about to happen event.

May such true tall tales be segued straight up into the realm of the diplopolititary au courant?

Genau!

See, Great Satan's hyperpuissant 2010 Quadrennial Defense Review macked about maintaining her one of a kind unique sexyful global hotness and all about “maintaining the ability to prevail against two capable nation-state aggressors” in “overlapping time frames.”

Only now 44's new PDF***ing template eschews words like 'prevail' or 'defeat' while resurrecting the ancient peace dividendy ideas of a leaner meaner smarter hotter ground force of This We'll Defend cats and leather necked Teufel Hunden.

“Forces will no longer be sized to conduct large-scale, prolonged stability operations.”

Ouch. Ideally tho - Great Satan might wield her Wild Blue Yonder and Navy power to impose unacceptable costs on a second aggressor if extra additional long term conflicts break out, yet the forsakingment of Great Satan's raison d'etre from ye olde Axis and Allies era seems like hoping for the best..

Sending conflicting signals like

"Great Satan is the greatest force for freedom and security that the world has ever known. And in no small measure, that’s because we’ve built the best-trained, best-led, best-equipped military in history"

Followed up with

"The size and the structure of our military and defense budgets have to be driven by a strategy, not the other way around. Moreover, we have to remember the lessons of history. We can’t afford to repeat the mistakes that have been made in the past -- after World War II, after Vietnam -- when our military was left ill prepared for the future."

If wars could be won with Drones Gone Wild! and superior tech alone that would be sweet indeed, yet history kinda sorta makes the case that nothing is ever truly random. Stacking up a myriad of strategies to drive military requirements may sound great in a climate controlled environ like a class room - yet mil reqs should be fleshed out with like, you know - actual and projected threats by cats who could be considered enemies -

“After every major conflict in the last century, the United States has cut its military, only to have to painstakingly rebuild it the next time our security is threatened. Sadly, this strategy repeats the mistakes of the past. History has taught us this is a perilous course, expensive in both lives and treasure.”

"An honest and valid strategy for national defense can't be founded on the premise that we must do more with less, or even less with less. Rather you proceed from a clear articulation of the full scope of the threats you face and the commitments you have. You then resource a strategy required to defeat those threats decisively. One does not mask insufficient resources with a fuzzy world view and a strategy founded on hope and a hollow force. "

If Great Satan is no longer hot to be the sole guarantor of world peace of the world she herself hath created, it's gon be a crazy assetted place indeed. America will not be able to prevent the next major war forever. At the same time, the world will not cease to produce fuhrers, Parises, Kaisers, Kim Il-sungs, S'Ddams or even the next gen of Super Villans like OBL.

Pic - "Only the dead have seen the end of war."

Imperium!

2012-01-09T00:00:00.001-05:00

Unlimited Power!

The somewhat new school - in the grossest sense of space and time - concept of the Westphallic Nation/State by design sheds light on Imperium.

Why even think about empires? We live in a world of nation-states — over 200 of them, each with their seat in the UN, their flag, postage stamps and governmental institutions. Yet the nation-state is an ideal of recent origin and uncertain future and, for many, devastating consequences.

It is not a question of sinking into imperial nostalgia: sentimental evocations of the British Raj or French Indochina have nothing to offer to our present political thinking. Similarly, imperial name-calling — invoking “empire” or “colonialism” to discredit US, French or other interventions — cannot help us analyse or improve today’s world.

An exploration of the histories of empires, old and new, can expand our understanding of how the world came to be what it is, and the organisation of political power in the past, the present and even the future.

Over a very long time, the practices and interactions of empires configured the contexts in which people acted and thought. Examining the trajectories of empires — their creations, conflicts, rivalries, successes and failures — reminds us of something we have forgotten: that sovereignty in the past, and in many areas today, is complex, divided, layered and configured on a variety of founding principles and practices.

Empire has existed in relation to — and often in tension with — other forms of connection over space; empires facilitated and obstructed movements of goods, capital, people and ideas. Empire building was almost always a violent process, and conquest was often followed by exploitation, if not forced acculturation and humiliation. Empires constructed powerful political formations, and also left trails of human suffering. However, the national idea, developed in imperial contexts, has not proved effective, to judge by the unresolved conflicts in the Middle East and Africa.

We live with the consequences of these uneven and broken paths out of empire, the fiction of sovereign equivalence and the reality of inequality within and among states.

Thinking about empire does not mean resurrecting vanished worlds. It allows us rather to consider the multiplicity of forms in which power is exercised across space. If we can avoid thinking of history as an inexorable transition from empire to nation-state, perhaps we can think about the future more expansively. Can we imagine forms of sovereignty that are better able to address a world marked by inequality and diversity?

Pic - "Empire of Liberty"

WoW

2012-01-07T02:16:00.001-05:00

WoW - the Watchers Council - it's the oldest, longest running cyber comte d'guere ensembe in existence - an eclective collective of cats both cruel and benign with their ability to put steel on target (figuratively - natch) on a wide variety of topictry across American, Allied, Frenemy and Enemy concerns, memes, delights and discourse.

Every week these cats hook up each other with hot hits and big phazed cookies to peruse and then vote on their individual fancy catchers.

Without further adieu - (or a don't) here are this weeks winners

Council Winners

*First place with 3 votes! The Noisy Room – 2011 – Turning Our Backs on the Gods of the Copybook Headings
Second place *t* with 2 1/3 votes – Joshuapundit- A Bridge Too Far: CAIR Versus Bare Naked Islam
Third place *t* with 1 1/3 votes – Right Truth –Taliban to Gitmo: Bye-Bye!
Third place *t* with 1 1/3 votes – New Zeal-Communist Party Targets Veterans for Recruitment: How Will Their Skills be Used?
Fourth place *t* with 1 vote – Bookworm Room-A tour de force post taking us from Google interviews, to self-esteem, to dancing men
Fourth place *t* with 1 vote – The Razor-Israelis Stand Up to the Haredi
Fourth place *t* with 1 vote – Rhymes With Right-Where Non-Discrimination Principles And Aiding Students Conflict
Fourth place *t* with 1 vote – The Mellow Jihadi-I Gotta Move to Texas
Fifth place with 2/3 vote – Simply Jews – Hugo Chavez Reflects
Sixth place *t* with 1/3 vote – The Colossus of Rhodey – Civilization Continues to Crumble
Sixth place *t* with 1/3 vote – VA Right! – Why the Iowa Caucus Is (Almost!) Irrelevant

Non-Council Winners

First place with 3 2/3 votes! – Sultan Knish- The Year We Lost Afghanistan, Etc. submitted by The Political Commentator
Second place *t* with 2 votes – Gates Of Vienna – Driving Out The Infidel submitted by Joshuapundit
Second place *t* with 2 votes – Jon’s Deep ThoughtsMilitary Intelligence is an oxymoron? I think not. submitted by Bookworm Room
Third place with 1 2/3 votes - Small Wars Journal – Thinking the Unthinkable about Napalm and Flamethrowers submitted by GrEaT sAtAn”S gIrLfRiEnD
Fourth place with 1 1/3 votes -Daily Mail/Dominic Sandbrook –The spectre of 1932: How a loss of faith in politicians and democracy could make 2012 the most frightening year in living memory submitted by The Noisy Room
Fifth place *t* with 1 vote - Confessions of a Closet Republican – <After Christmas Day Bombings Boko Haram Tells Nigerian Christians They Have 3 Days To Get Out submitted by Simply Jews
Fifth place *t* with 1 vote -Alex Knapp/Outside The Beltway – Ron Paul Versus The Fourteenth Amendmentsubmitted by The Glittering Eye

Sixth place with 2/3 vote -Wolf Howling –Obama Signs On To Silencing Criticism Of Islam submitted by Rhymes With Right

Seventh place *t* with 1/3 vote -National Review Online –Repo Men submitted by The Razor
Seventh place *t* with 1/3 vote -Powerline –Keynes Was Right–About the Jews? submitted by The Watcher

See you next week! And don’t forget to follow us on Facebook and Twitter..

The Army We Need

2012-01-06T01:46:00.000-05:00

Direct Hit! Fire For Effect!

“We cannot wish away instability, failed states, post-conflict instability, large refugee flows, genocide, terrorism, humanitarian catastrophe, regime change, and the need for intervention.”

All of 44's chiz 'bout a leaner meaner killing machine should caveat this:

The true purpose of America’s Army and Marine Corps: to fight and win our nation’s battles. Humanitarian assistance, stability operations, and counterterrorism have become military missions mostly by default. There is simply no other organization that can handle a crisis as rapidly and efficiently as the U.S. military.

The Army and Marine Corps this country requires have to achieve a proper balance between their light and heavy forces. Light forces remain crucial because of their rapid strategic deployability, their ability to traverse any terrain, and their unparalleled capacity to closely interact with local populations. Still, there are times when nothing will do except a battalion of heavy M-1 tanks and Bradley armored personnel carriers. These heavy forces have proven their worth in both Iraq and Afghanistan.

Moreover, they are absolutely essential for fighting a more advanced enemy. And it is these advanced nations that are our primary worry for the future. As the world becomes wealthier, more and more nations will be able to afford military establishments that can be overcome only by heavy armor. God help us if we ever come to blows with a technically advanced force and all we have to fight with are light forces optimized for counterinsurgency warfare. Some are too quick to forget that the light forces that first deployed to Saudi Arabia for Operation Desert Shield referred to themselves as “speed bumps,” to discourage the enemy until the heavy armored divisions arrived to support them.

Likewise, the Army is not once again turning its focus away from counterinsurgency warfare because of a sour taste left by Iraq and Afghanistan. Rather, it is peering into an uncertain future and noting that a host of potential enemies can be confronted only by a U.S. Army and Marine Corps capable of engaging in a high-tempo, heavy-force-dominant combined-arms fight.

Pic - "Thinking the Unthinkable about Napalm and Flamethrowers"

NATO No More?

2012-01-05T00:00:00.001-05:00

Perhaps the ultimate anthem soundtrack in Grrl World - crafted by those bigger than X cats - sourmouths sugar babies dissing potential sugar daddies

OTAN!

At terrible risk of provoking one of those - uh - legendary premature you know what maxes, it may also be regarded as heavy petting foreplay before the world famous Münchner Sicherheitkonferenz kicks off right before St Valentine's Day.

See, it's been like an article of faith (even amongst the faithless) with historians, Internat'l Relations cats and the democrazies throughout Cold War and into the new millennium.

Great Satan created and sustained regional alliances - toting most of the combat burdens while allies provided bases, training areas with a handful of nat"l military capabilities and enjoyed a robust era of nigh drunken pacifistic phatness.

NATO"s combat bona fides include doing Balkania (twice) racking up the tally of dead civies in the Stan (genau - Dutch und Deutsch truppen have killed more innocents in a year than Great Satan or Great Britain have in a decade!) and allowing Great Satan to lead from behind in Libyavention

“We acted in time and without Europe nothing would have been done at the global level or at the UN level.”

Uh, say what, Herr Euro President?

What he meant was that without European nagging the U.S. would not have intervened, in which case nothing would have happened.

Actually, about the only thing Europe is good at militarily is taking credit. Leading Europeans have been promoting the idea of a separate continental defense identity for nearly 60 years. The latest ineffective iteration is the so-called Common Defense and Security Policy.

Even during the Cold War, the European members of NATO rarely fulfilled their promises to spend more on their militaries. With the end of the Cold War the very raison d’être for the alliance disappeared. Moscow’s allies even switched sides, rushing to join NATO.

Great Satan's Master Plan worked: Her posse of prosperous and populous allies—now with around 10 times the GDP and 3 times the population of Russia—can handle their own Def/Sec chiz. Doesn"t look like Commonwealth Russia is going to catapult scores of panzers amd motorized infantry battalions across Deutschland's panzer friendly Fulda Gap enroute to the coast of Spain anytime soon

Check it

Between those willing and able to pay the price and bear the burdens of alliance commitments, and those who enjoy the benefits of NATO membership – be they security guarantees or headquarters billets – but don’t want to share the risks and the costs.

For all but a handful of allies, defense budgets – in absolute terms, as a share of economic output – have been chronically starved for adequate funding for a long time, with the shortfalls compounding on themselves each year. In particular, intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance assets are lacking that would allow more allies to be involved and make an impact.

Several of these allies have managed to punch well above their weight because of the way they use the resources they have.

In the Libya operation, Norway and Denmark, have provided 12 percent of allied strike aircraft yet have struck about one third of the targets. Belgium and Canada are also making major contributions to the strike mission. These countries have, with their constrained resources, found ways to do the training, buy the equipment, and field the platforms necessary to make a credible military contribution.

Since Great Satan is getting all PACRIM happy and retaining some abilities to take out the trash in the ME, is her hook up with NATO at an end?

NATO was created at a different time in a different world for different circumstances. It is time for Europe to take over responsibility for its own defense. The U.S. and Europeans would still have much on which to cooperate—economically, politically, and militarily. But the time for America to act as Europe’s defense guardian has passed.

Pic - "Before she gets to riding so high, she ought to think right, she ought to do right by me"

Sectarian Struggles

2012-01-04T00:00:00.000-05:00

Cliques!

Ebberdobby fits in one somewhere - the ancient anthemic caveat "Be cool - or be cast out" is quite powerful of course and in Year 2 of Arab Sprung - it's gon be bloodly uncalled for!

Unlike fun friendly sectarian sects - like the Beatles, Batman, Creddie or Seddie l' shia/sunni schismimus maximus is bleeding bloody.

Every since Ali got bushwacked in Kufa Iraq way back in 661 AD - the sectarian chiz has been off the hook - y'all! Currently - Shiaism seems to be the hot combatty faith d'resistance.

Of either sect - only the shiafied can claim to have stalemated the wicked, woman worshipping West and the never ending cadre of Crusaders, Zionistas and Hindus. Hiz'B'Allah's 'Divine Victory' over Little Satan - shia fed and funded rocketeers that succeeded the suicide bombers of Palestine in HAMAS and Mookie's shialicious Mahdi Army in Iraq.

The collapse of Iraq and the Syrian killing fields seems entirely gussied up in sectarian couture

Behind all this looms a larger question: in the midst of liberating itself from tyrannies, is the Arab world about to stumble into a Sunni-Shia religious war? The rhetoric is getting paranoid on both sides, even though the original reasons for these sectarian rivalries in Iraq and Syria have nothing to do with religion.

Iraq’s army, and therefore its politics, were dominated by the local Sunni minority because the country was ruled for 300 years by the Ottoman (Turkish) empire, whose state religion was Sunni Islam. Sunni rule was only finally overthrown by the American invasion of 2003, and the wounds on both sides of the religious divide are still raw.

Syria is ruled by a Shia minority only because the French colonial army recruited its local troops from the Alawites, precisely because they were a poor and despised minority. That way, the French reckoned, they would be loyal to France, not to Syria. But domination of the military ultimately let Alawites seize political control in independent Syria.

If Sectarian Wars were sweetly exploding only in the Land atwixt the Two Rivers and Suriya al- Kubra that would be lucky indeed!

The danger is that Arab rulers start thinking that citizens cannot be loyal to the state unless they have exactly the same religious beliefs as their rulers. Mainly because rulers became convinced that they could not be safe if some of their citizens belonged to a different sect.

Most countries in the world today are living proof that that is nonsense, but Arab rulers, both Sunni and Shia, are fast falling into the delusion that it is true. That would be a disaster.

Pic - "All the other kids better run, better run, faster than my bullets"

Kick It!

2012-01-03T00:00:00.002-05:00

Caucas!

It's time for Great Satan"s electile dysfuntionary season to get fully crunk bay bee. The next few Tuesdays will see cats in Iowa, New Hampshire (way more better than old Hampshire) South Cackalacky and sun shiny Florida cuss, fuss and do some ballistic ballot casting.

Step back, deep breath, zoom out and party with some critical thinking about these individual GOPeabodies "in the totality of their public lives, study their records and platforms, judge their abilities and views, imagine each of them in the Oval Office making major decisions for the nation and choose the cat who you reckon should get a shot at being 45"

As one of Great Satan"s original Combat Rock Stars and one of 1's aide de campers sweetly siren'd eons past -

The subject speaks its own importance; comprehending in its consequences nothing less than the safety and welfare of Great Satan, the fate of an empire in many respects the most interesting in the world. It has been frequently remarked that it seems to have been reserved to the people of this country, by their conduct and example, to decide the important question, whether societies of men are really capable or not of establishing good government from reflection and choice, or whether they are forever destined to depend for their political constitutions on accident and force.

If there be any truth in the remark, the crisis at which we are arrived may with propriety be regarded as the era in which that decision is to be made; and a wrong election of the part we shall act may, in this view, deserve to be considered as the general misfortune of mankind.

Pic - " Kick It!!"

The Drones Of Schadenfreude

2012-01-02T00:00:00.005-05:00

Fighting long-term wars against totalitarians and terrorists is always a difficult task for Western societies because such conflicts require the sort of resolution that is always bound to flag over time. There is always the tendency, especially among our intellectuals, to begin to reinterpret our enemies and to project our own values and interests onto their very different perspectives.

Zoom out of the Stripperlicious aspect of the above contentious comment and rezoom in on Great Satan"s Excellent Adventures ala Drones Gone Wild

In an excellent example of inappropriate boring assetted handwringing that is neither convincing or well thought out check this curious slanted trick statement:

The enormous expansion of drone operations has been a success in the narrowest sense of killing some bad guys. But it has come at an enormous cost: to our reputation, to our morals, to our relationship and status with countries we need to work with to contain and defuse terrorism, and in the lives of the many innocent people we've killed through either sloppiness or ignorance.

Now nuance is a very fine thing - subtle perhaps.

The counter to such curious concerns seems kinda clear. Drones Gone Wild actually enhances Great Satan's rep as the most high tech proficient humane killers of killers in world history. No diss meant yet get real - certainly far more better than doing a Dresden or going Grozny.

Actually a prett cool embodiment of Great Satan's morals as well as her will power, staying power, fire power and brain power. As for relationships with frenemy nation states that may or may not seem particularly interested in maintaining Writ of State or status updates - the reverse is true.

It shows Great Satan is deathly serious, relentless and will never. Give. In. Smoking craters of dead terrorists kinda sorta make the point that human shielding doesn't preclude 'containing' or defusing t ism

In ancient Teutonic tonguing - schadenfreude is a kinda nounish verby term roughly meaning to take delight in the woes of others.

Kinda like the LOLs that worrying about the wrong thing often bring.

Pic - "Challenging Some Fabrications"

Auld Lang WoW!

2011-12-31T04:15:00.000-05:00

Council Winners

*First place with 3 1/3 votes! Bookworm Room – A case regarding citizen journalists proves, once again, that bad facts make for bad law
Second place *t* with 2 1/3 votes – Joshuapundit-Iran’s War Games: ‘An Important Message..Especially To The Colonialist Powers’
Third place *t* with 1 1/3 votes – Right Truth-Christian Majority and Minority – Christmas 2012
Third place *t* with 1 1/3 votes – The Colossus of Rhodey- This is O.W.S. thinking at its finest (worst)
Third place *t* with 1 1/3 votes – The Noisy Room-Wicked Writ of the Midwest
Third place *t* with 1 1/3 votes – VA Right!-Virginia May Have Improperly Excluded Signatures From Perry, Gingrich.a Recount May Be Needed!
Third place with 1 1/3 vote – The Mellow Jihadi - It’s Working Women’s Day In Pakistan!
Fifth place *t* with 2/3 vote – GrEaT sAtAn”S gIrLfRiEnD – Xian Nakbah
Fifth place *t* with 2/3 vote – Simply Jews – Another Christmas At The Guardian
Sixth place *t* with 1/3 vote – Rhymes With Right – What Is The Proper Measure Of A Congress?
Sixth place *t* with 1/3 vote -The Razor- A Box Of Legos
Sixth place *t* with 1/3 vote – The Right Planet – Biden: “The Taliban Per Se Is Not Our Enemy”
Sixth place *t* with 1/3 vote – New Zeal – US Communist Leader Lays Out Strategy for 2012: “Big Progressive Change is Closer Than We Think”

Non-Council Winners

First place with 2 1/3 votes! – Victor Davis Hanson- A Vandalized Valley submitted by The Noisy Room
Second place with 2 votes – A Chequer-Board of Nights and Days– Apologists For Communist Totalitarianism: I Hate Those Guys submitted by The Glittering Eye
Third place with 1 2/3 votes - Dorothy Rabinowitz – What Ron Paul Thinks of America submitted by Joshuapundit
Fourth place *t* with 1 1/3 votes - Melanie Phillips –A Fearful Symmetry submitted by The Political Commentator
Fourth place *t* with 1 1/3 votes - Propublica – How Democrats Fooled California’s Redistricting Commission submitted by The Watcher
Fourth place *t* with 1 1/3 votes - Race 4 2012 – The Ron Paul Newsletter Decision Tree submitted by Rhymes with Right
Fifth place with 1 vote -Mark Steyn – Silent Night submitted by The Watcher
Sixth place *t* with 2/3 vote -Daled Amos – Jews And Chinese Food On December 25th submitted by Simply Jews
Sixth place *t* with 2/3 vote - Karen Holt/ Historic Americans Examiner– The power of a simple, ‘Thank You!’ submitted by Right Truth
Accuracy In Media – Ron Paul Under Fire for Praising Accused Traitor submitted by New Zeal
Sixth place *t* with 2/3 vote -Small Wars Journal – This Week At War submitted by GrEaT sAtAn”S gIrLfRiEnD
Sixth place *t* with 2/3 vote -Bill Whittle – Three Years Under Obama submitted by Bookworm Room
Sixth place *t* with 2/3 vote -The Daily Caller – President Obama’s top 10 constitutional violations submitted by The Right Planet

See you next year! And don’t forget to follow us on Facebook and Twitter

Velayat E 90!

2011-12-30T00:00:00.002-05:00

Ahoy!

Way back in the last millennium, when Europa still enjoyed open combat amidst and amongst themselves, certain opportunities led Great Britain's Admiralty, led by the ever avuncular Sir Winnie, to semi sorta think up an end run around those naughty Central Powers.

A surprise Royal Naval hi jinkery designed to knock out the Ottomans using RN's ubiquitous abilities to sweetly amphib sev British army Corps right into Dardanelles Straits.

Threading certain straight jacketed straits with the most expensive and deadliest water borne war craft ever created came crashing down in catastrophe at a place called Gallipoli.

As GsGf"s Royal Navy expert shares:

Battleships like HMS' Irresistible, Ocean, Majestic and Triumph were sank by mines or uboats. The French BB Bouvet was lost and even Fisher's "Greyhound of the Sea" the awesome battlelicious Battle Cruiser HMS Inflexible suffered a near death experience.

Almost a quarter of a million ANZAC troops would die in vain over the next year, without once breaking out of their beach head trenches.

Could such ancientful Straits chiz get swerved and served up in the new millennium?

Dang strait!!

Persia's gay free (totally) Preacher Command Grand Ayatollah flotilla Revo Guard Naval cats plot to close up the Hormuz Straits invites hot looks and slippery touches to the tender, sensitive Naval portions of the Dardanelles Campaign and shameless comparison with the Straits of Hormuz.

Iran has been building its military options. The Iranian navy during the time of the Shah focused on conventional capabilities. Iran's modern navy consists of both its regular navy and a naval component of its Revolutionary Guard Corps, the latter of which has strongly focused on the development of asymmetric capabilities. This focus was largely born of the Iran-Iraq War (and, more specifically, during the Tanker War of 1984-1988), when Iran attempted to control shipping through the SoH.

To do this, Iran used both conventional attacks (naval gunfire and anti-ship cruise missiles) and asymmetric tactics (sea mines and small boat attacks). As a result of lessons learned by Iran at the hands of the United States Navy (Operation Praying Mantis') and an inability to procure a first-rate conventional navy, asymmetric tactics became the basis for much of Iran's modern naval doctrine.

Naval doc doc doctrine like use of convent"l weapons in unconvent"l ways, capitalizing on the strengths of, uh, atypical assets, like swiftness, maneuverahility, and stealth of small craft, to target the sluggish weaknesses of more typical naval assets and conceptualizing concepts such as mass attacks, in which assets leverage large numbers to overwhelm their targets.

And even better -

Finally, for Iran, asymmetric warfare uniquely includes concepts of a revolutionary spirit, jihad, and martyrdom

Iran has several u boats - 3 Kilo class, 7 Yono class and one tiny tiny Nahang class midget u boat.
Most likely intended to be used for mine-laying, as well as special and anti-shipping operations. Iran also has a recently expanded torpedo capability.

Although Iran does have a small number of conventional surface ships such as corvettes and missile boats, it has also built or acquired many small- and medium-size fastattack craft (FAC). These FACs typically have the capability to carry armaments such as heavy machine guns or rocket launchers, as well as torpedoes and anti-ship missiles. Some are also equipped to act as covert minelayers. Iran would likely use these small boats as "swarms" in order to overwhelm a larger ship's defenses.

Persian missile stocks may be her Hormuzzing projectilin' pièce de résistance

Variants of the Chinese Silkworm missile; extended-range variants of the Rad missile (a follow-on to the Seersucker) that can perform evasive maneuvers and carry warheads up to 500 kg (1000 lbs); the Noor missile, which is an upgraded version of the Chinese C-802 and is deployed in mobile batteries along Iran's coast and islands; and the diverse Kosar series of small ASCMs which are reportedly truck-mounted and deployed on Iran's Gulf islands.

With this suite of missiles, Iran can target any part of the SoH, and much of the Persian Gulf and Gulf of Oman as well. Iran also maintains a number of rocket systems (some of which are gyro-stabilized for use on boats), as well as shore-based artillery rockets (the Fajr series).

Many of these systems would be based along the relatively mountainous Iranian coastline, which lends itself well to the shielding and bunkering of such assets.

Iran also has a stock pile of or over 2k sea mines of every imaginable type.

So, all in all - how credible is Preacher Command's threat to take the Ho out of Hormuz?

Iran has constructed a navy with considerable asymmetric and other capabilities designed specifically to be used in an integrated way to conduct area denial operations in the Persian Gulf and SoH, and they routinely exercise these capabilities and issue statements of intent to use them. This combination of capabilities and expressed intent does present a credible threat to internat"l shipping in the Strait. Further, it provides Iran with a level of deterrence for hostile action against it.

Would Iran really really be hot to really really wanna close down the straits? 1st glance the economics seem to go all the way Persia's way.

Worst-case results would be a more-than doubling of the price of crude oil; a decrease in U.S. gross domestic product of more than $161 billion, and a decline in real disposable personal income of more than $260 billion, over the course of the following year; and a loss of more than a million U.S. jobs over the following year and a half.

The economics swing both ways tho -

Iran itself is the second-largest exporter of oil among OPEC countries, with roughly two-thirds of its annual revenue coining from oil exports. Thus, blocking the Strait would significantly hurt Iran's economy as well. And, although Iran does have large foreign exchange reserves, these are much smaller than in neighboring nations. And Iran has a large, restive population that, in the past, has reacted negatively to economic hardships

Plus -

Internat'l maritime law says passage through straits, even if they are entirely within a country's territorial waters, must be unimpeded and at no cost. Thus, any closure of the SoH by Iran would immediately and rightly be considered a casus belli

With all of the above taken into account, it seems likely that Iran would not offensively attempt to close the SoH, but, if it were attacked and wished to retaliate and/or escalate a conflict, an attempted closure remains a possibility.

Could Iran actually close up the strait of Hormuz?

Not for long!

"Iran could not 'close the Gulf for more than a few days to two weeks even if it was willing to sacrifice all of these naval assets, suffer massive retaliation, and potentially lose many of its own oil facilities and export revenues. Its chronic economic mismanagement has made it extremely dependent on a few refineries, product imports, and food imports. It would almost certainly lose far more than it gained from such a “war."

An especial counter in smashing fashion warns it could take up to 112 days to unAss all the mines Iran could spew before her navy and missile sites were annihilated

If Iran were able to properly link all their capabilities, it could halt or impede traffic in the Strait of Hormuz for a month or more. U.S. attempts to reopen the waterway likely would escalate rapidly into sustained, large-scale air and naval operations during which Iran could impose significant economic and military costs on the United States—even if Iranian operations were not successful in truly closing the strait.

Hmmm - maybe so. Iran could also imposes significant PO abilities on other innocent bystander cats:

It is likely that most countries worldwide would support the use of force to protect the strait for two reasons; firstly, because most of the Gulf oil goes to the majority of Asian countries through this route, most notably China, Japan and India, in addition to European countries, which would support a war to protect the strait – if the need arose.

Sooo, loss of cash, naval forces, rocketry stocks and getting dissed in the internat'l side of things as well -why cause is Iran always going on about shuttin down Hormuz?

The answer is that Iran gains more from the existence of their threat than they would by actually carrying it out.

Pic - "Operational art consists of space, time, and force factors, and, in the case of closing a maritime strait, these factors tend to favor the actor attempting to close it"

Hiz'B'Allah's Syrian WMD Hook Up

2011-12-29T00:00:00.000-05:00

Divine Victory!!

Long time friends of the teeter tottering totally illegit Allawicious regime in Basharopolis, the coked up rowdy rocket rich rejectionists led by their overtly robust (girthy) creepy Body Part Collector General may get their bloody mits on Syria's chemical weaponry. If (or when) Dr General President for Life al Assad's gov collapses.

Check it.

The driving motivation behind Syria's CW program has been the need to find a way to balance Little Satan's growing conventional warfare capabilities. During the 1980s and 1990s, the differences in the relative capabilities of the two countries rapidly widened, leaving Syria in a position of heightened vulnerability.

The key dilemma facing Syria has been the need to develop and maintain a credible threat while not being so threatening as to trigger a Little Satan attack, which would expose Syria's inadequate conventional forces to the risk of severe defeat. In this regard, Syria has found it advantageous to adopt an opaque policy, not unlike Little Satan's nuclear policy, in which it neither confirms nor denies the existence of chemical weapons even as it continues to deploy and improve them.

Syria is currently believed to deploy between 100 and 200 Scud missiles fitted with sarin warheads. Some of these missiles may be fitted with V-agent warheads although this information is less reliable. In addition, Syria is believed to have stockpiled several hundred tons of sarin and mustard agents for tactical uses in the form of artillery shells and air-dropped munitions. Syria retains its production infrastructure of at least three and possibly four facilities; however, it is not known whether these are currently being used to produce new agent.

And all that was in the Before Time - when Arab Spring was LOL'd by Bashar as being impossible to get fully crunk in ye olde Suriya al- Kubra. And fiddling about with WMD was a very very sharp and shiny shiny two edged sword

A military capability that was established to enhance national security through its deterrent effect, now endangers it, by threatening to attract the wrath of Syria's enemies. Although abandoning these programs might actually improve national security, too much has been invested in the combined missile and CW arsenals to easily surrender them, the more so given the critical role they play in Syria's national strategy.

Yet would hoarding chemicalicious WMD be a cursed blessing in the hands of a semi non state actor outer like the Posse of "llah?

Little Satan's spy guy gives up hot deets to Sexy Beast about righteous concerns

“The danger is that the situation in Syria will deteriorate to a point where there will be an absence of an orderly transfer of authority from one power base to another. In this kind of situation, the immediate danger is that concentrations of weaponry, including chemical weapons, will fall into HizBAllah’s hands"

Scary scary!

Yes, yes and yes - long time bringer uppers of caveats "bout terrorists hooking up with nation state crafted WMD have been LOL'd - yet even 42 recently hello'd that very scenario keeps him up at night.

"What I think would happen is if you have all this and then you give it to a terrorist group and they have a series of suitcase bombs that could terrify and paralyze the world without creating a nuclear cloud over J"Salem. It's really a deeply troubling thing"

And in the "Hey Ya'll! Watch this!!" moments of regime collapse and regime change - who can say if Bashar Bay Bee wouldn't say the heck with it - and fire off wads of rockets at Little Satan, Kurds or Arab League cats that dissed his power to death? Or hand them off to Hiz"B"Allah?

As Deputy Cat @ Center for Nonproliferation Studies muses:

“We don’t know where everything is, and there’s no obvious way to destroy these things or parachute teams in to intercept them. It would be a very big enterprise. It’s not clear if the soldiers protecting these sites would see responsible stewardship as their mission or would flee, fearing they would be condemned along with the rest of the regime”

Pic - "It would seem illogical to think that Pentagon has not brainstormed contingency plans"

Xian Nakbah

2011-12-28T00:00:00.001-05:00

Dhimmitude!

Everybody knows about the Nakbah - essentially a land grab by Little Satan's neighboring nation states that went horribly wrong - granting Little Satan even more real estate!

Yet what about the Xian Nakbah - ripping right along hand in hand with Arab Sprung and events au courant?

The recent horror in Nigeria suffered by Xians celebrating their savoir X on Xmas Day no less by the “Western education is a sin” BoKo Harum cats is only a part of the murderous intolerance propagated by creepy control freaks who cannot - for whatever reasons - bear the tho't of fun and free choice (free will, nicht wahr?) anywhere in weapons range.

The Christian population in Iraq is one of the most at risk. Around half of Iraqi Christians have fled the country since 2003, and those who remain expect growing challenges, given the U.S. military pullout. Christians have suffered periodic waves of violence, including bombings, assassinations and church burnings. When Iraq's government said in 2010 it would issue a license to carry firearms to any Christian family that wanted one, it was simply acknowledging the reality that followers of the faith had to arm or die.

In book burning, girl beating Aegypt, violins against the Coptic Xian minority is on the rise. Copts fear that should the you know whos take power, they will see significant erosion in whatever rights they still have. The Ikwhan has attempted to ease these fears by admitting Copts would face a series of new, restrictive restrictions (all that free choice is like kryptonite in Smallville, under even a lighter, gentler, Preacher Command).

Wahabbia Arabia is so convinced of the superiority of the Hijazzin' PBUH cat's chiz - authorities are terrified of especial letters like K, T, X, Y and that deutsch 7 with the little hackenkruez cleft because someone might see a crucifx - and baby Jesus overturns the entire kingdom into an orgy of fun, free will and free choice

Land of the Pure - with 20 million Xians deal with crazy kinda thinking that mocks the very ideas of human rights and democracy. Forced conversion, attacks on churches and worshippers and even denial of voting rights. The Pakistan Christian Congress has pleaded for UN Secretary-General Spanky Ban Ki to give up refugee status, U.N. so far has been kinda stand offish about even saying the X word out loud - let alone recog a prob.

Kabul refuses to admit the existence of the few thousand Christians in the country. An Afghan Christian named Aman Ali was forced to flee to India with his family after he received numerous threats on his life. He applied for refugee status but was told by an official of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) that his case didn’t fit its criteria. His is one of a large number of cases of UNHCR unwillingness to acknowledge that being a Christian is tantamount to being under a death sentence.

O Little Town of Bethlehem has been almost totally de X'd - as rowdy intolerants persecute anyone who doesn't believe exactly the same.

Soooo.... should 'ligious freedom be hooked up with Statecraft moderne?

Pacifically, should concern 'bout Xian persecution be like hip and haunch with Great Satan's diplopolititary maneuvers?

Wouldn't that run the terrible risk of creating even more enemies, hurt feelings and driving rowdy unhinged appearing elements in sunny sunny climes (with pitiful literacy rate where a wheel barrow is still regarded as a great invention and Mother's Day is unheard of) even more bloody batty?

So what? Certainly can't be any better or worse than Madame Sec HRC's recent that's so gay hello equating something something BLTG rights human rights.

Sans active meddling, blue ribbon commissions shining a massive lamp on xian persecution in nation/states (of sorts) Great Satan could help tremendously by LOLing frequently, repeatedly and without modesty or restraint that she will gladly grant asylum to any Xians from any where they are in danger

Christian refugees from m"Hammedist-majority countries who can reach Great Satan should be given the same special status that asylum-seekers from communist countries were accorded during the Cold War.

Precedent exists: The definition of a “refugee-escapee” in the 1957 Immigration and Nationality Act included not only those who had fled “from any Communist-dominated, or Communist-occupied area” but also those “from any country within the general area of the Middle East, and who cannot return to such area, or to such country, on account of race, religion or political opinion.”

Xians and other religious minorities are increasingly unwelcome in the you know what world; they should be given sanctuary in America.

And in an amazingly astute observation. America has always been a light reflecting X's admonishments, a beacon and a welcoming refugee

Pic -“Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"

Battle Of Taiwan

2011-12-27T00:00:00.000-05:00

Shashou Jian!

On or about 13:33 hours Feb 13th 2015, a Chinese SU-27 fighter and a Taiwanese F-16 collide over the Taiwan Strait.

The incident spirals out of control when the world's largest collectivist mommieland does what she always does in a crisis: blame the other ho.

For a myriad of mayhemic maneuvers (truly - who can say?) - events end up with a Air Power fight that makes Battle of Britain seem like an uneventful day at the mall.

And like watching your adored beloved xform into a shrieking hissy fitting, cussing spitting she devil - it ain"t pretty, my pretty.

GsGf"s Research and Development Cats deliver a spirited PDF***ing that satiates desires subtle and ginormous

"The first objective of such a campaign would be to seize air superiority through attacks on air defense firepower, early warning, command and control, airbases, and aircraft on the ground."

Arcing wads of Dong Fengs (DF's 11 - DF15b and c, and the porn star herself - the dreaded DF21) and other missiley minions get appropriate play along with asymmetrical and diplopolitical chiz (splitting Nippon away from Great Satan - or at least coaxing her to sit on her hands while Taiwan gets her comeuppance may be a priority for China)

The primary threat to Okinawan airbases, the DF-15, cannot range many locations in mainland Japan or in the Philippines. But that is not to say that other regional bases, or potential contingency locations, are not exposed as well. The DF-21, in particular, could be used to hold a variety of USAF facilities or potential contingency locations at risk – especially given the very small numbers of submunition warheads required to inflict a grave amount of damage to aircraft parked in the open. There is no reason to assume that, given the efficacy of such weapons, that China will not produce more; convert some even longer-range weapons to conventional, airfield-attack duty; or build newer, conventional longer-range missiles.

A pre empting panty raid including Especial Forces raids on Kadena AB Okinawa (how bout Andersen at Guam?) with portable air defenses (MANPADs), rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs), way more accurate (precision-guided) mortars, and large-caliber sniper rifles might yield a high return on invest - to be cold blooded about it.

"Well-trained SOF armed with sniper rifles might be able to target radars of AWACS aircraft; rocket-propelled grenades could damage or destroy airframes. The aerial view of a part of Kadena shows how close heavily populated areas are to parking ramps – including several high rises. The opportunities for mayhem that a SOF presence on Okinawa would present could make the effort worthwhile. A similar story could be told for other facilities in the western Pacific."

So when the catfighting dogfighting gets fully crunk on the approaches to and over Taiwan as China flings her projected 350 plus Flankers (Su 27"s and Su 30"s), Chengdu"s and Shenyang"s (J10"s and J11"s) against 96 Raptors?

An exhaustive (think Spring Break sans Red Bull) one on one tryst d'l'air l'guerre comparison essentially means like a 6 to 36 ratio of Raptors versus Flankers.

The result of a 6 on 36 engagement in which USAF fighters perfectly deconflict their targeted aircraft would be that all 36 hostile aircraft would either be destroyed or forced to disengage. However, 36 constitutes the upper limit that a 6-ship CAP, limited by internal armaments, could engage. This is a best-scenario, based on perfect deconfliction of targets and virtually invisible F-22s. Any aircraft beyond the first 36 would be unmolested, as the on-station missile magazine would be exhausted. This suggest a PLAAF CONOP as simple as sending two or more regiments of 24 aircraft each to attack USAF ISR, AWACs, and tankers. Such a raid, while not directly threatening the F- 22s, would result in losses to other critical assets – making the USAF air action untenable.

So far the consideration of an air battle has been largely onesided. USAF aircraft have attrited a PLAAF raid considerably, but their engagements are limited by the size of the on-station missile magazine. Engaging WVR will not result in a suitably high kill ratio to make it worthwhile. Thus, as long as PLAAF fighters raid with numbers sufficient to exhaust USAF fighters’ BVR missiles, some PLAAF aircraft will survive unmolested to engage their objective: high-value USAF aircraft like the E-3s, E-8s, and tankers that enable the entire operation (or ground or naval targets).

The dramatic advantages that USAF fighters, especially the F-22, enjoy in combat are diminished or negated in close-range aerial combat.

If PLAAF fighters were to raid USAF ISR orbits or tanker tracks with even a modest-sized surge, they would overwhelm the ability of USAF F-22s to destroy them. The table above shows expected losses from a 48- aircraft raid in which 36 PLAAF aircraft are engaged, leaving 12 PLAAF fighters (those not shot down or engaged) that survive unmolested – able to engage USAF force enablers. If the raid were bigger, even more PLAAF aircraft could survive to the terminal stage – meaning more blue force enablers would be destroyed.

Further, it is not necessary that all of the PLAAF aircraft participating in such a raid be their top-of-the-line air superiority assets. The first regiment or two could be unmanned decoys or older, and somewhat expendable, aircraft – like China’s vast J-7 (Mig-21) inventory. As long as USAF aircraft shot at them, they would serve their purpose of exhausting the magazines of USAF fighters.

Pic - "In the end, you care more about LA than Taipei."

Boxing Day WoW

2011-12-26T00:00:00.000-05:00

Council Winners

*First place with 3 1/3 votes! The Noisy Room–-Syria – The Tipping Point Into Hell
Second place with 2 votes – The Razor – Calling Out Attorney General Eric Holder
Third place *t* with 1 2/3 votes -Bookworm Room – Facts are stubborn things . . . but Leftist ideologues are even more stubborn
Third place *t* with 1 2/3 votes -The Right Planet – Bullies
Fourth place with 1 1/3 votes – Joshuapundit-An Open Letter To Rabbi Abe Foxman And The ADL
Fifth place with 1 vote – The Colossus of Rhodey – Rick Perry’s proposed constitutional amendments — the good and the not-so-good
Sixth place *t* with 2/3 vote – GrEaT sAtAn”S gIrLfRiEnD – Ardennes Day
Sixth place *t* with 2/3 vote -The Political Commentator – Why was this man in Vienna for the OPEC meeting?
Sixth place *t* with 2/3 vote -Simply Jews – Hamas senior got lost in the tunnels
Sixth place *t* with 2/3 vote -Rhymes With Right – A Segregationist Dog-Whistle In The Gingrich White Paper On The Judiciary
Seventh place *t* with 1/3 votes – Right Truth-Newt Romney vs Mitt Gingrich
Seventh place *t* with 1/3 votes – VA Right! -The State of America Upon Leaving Iraq

Non-Council Winners

First place with 3 2/3 votes! – Sultan Knish- Mr. Islam’s Blindfold and Machete submitted by Right Truth
Second place with 2 2/3 votes – The Brussels Journal – A Brief History of Liberty for the OWS Crowd submitted by The Political Commentator
Third place *t* with 1 2/3 votes - The Last Stand – Ya Know… submitted by GrEaT sAtAn”S gIrLfRiEnD
Third place *t* with 1 2/3 votes – Danny Ayalon-The truth about the refugees: Israel Palestinian Conflict submitted by Bookworm Room
Fourth place with 1 1/3 votes – Caroline Glick – Tom Friedman’s Losing Battle submitted by Joshuapundit
Fifth place *t*with 1 vote – Doug Ross –New EPA rule will cost each taxpaying American $280 submitted by The Mellow Jihadi
Fifth place *t* with 1 votes-Joy McCain/The Conservatory – R.I.P Christopher Hitchens submitted by The Glittering Eye
Sixth place *t* with 2/3 vote -The Contentious Centrist – Tango Hanukka submitted by Simply Jews
Sixth place *t* with 2/3 vote -The Daily Bell – Cultural Marxism: The Corruption of America submitted by The Right Planet
Seventh place *t* with 1/3 vote – Powerline –The Last Refuge of a Scoundrel submitted by The Razor

Seventh place *t* with 1/3 vote- Jon Hall/American Thinker – Voter Fraud for the Complete Idiot submitted by The Watcher

God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen and hit us up on Facebook and Twitter

Killing Our Enemies On Christmas Day Since 1776

2011-12-24T00:00:00.001-05:00

"...You, the officers and men of this American Army must remember that you are free men fighting for the blessings of liberty.

"...At this fateful hour the eyes of all our countrymen are now upon us. The eyes of the world are watching. Let us show them all that a freeman contending for Liberty is superior to any slavish mercenary on earth.

"...And when the hour is upon us fight for all that you are worth and all that you cherish and love. The fate of unborn millions will now depend, under God, on the courage and conduct that you show."

Pic - "It is a great stake we are playing for."

Collapse?

2011-12-23T01:25:00.000-05:00

"And the man in the back said everyone attack and it turned into a Baghdad Blitz"

al Qaeda makes their murderous presence known with traditional mayhem - multiple synchronized boom boom and a wicked flashback w/ a gussied up suicide ambulance vehicular borne attack.

Horrific as the attacks were - aQ atwixt the 2 Rivers is more a nuisance than a threat to the Iraqi gov.

The threat to Iraq may actually be the gov - as in the Prime Minister.

Since Great Satan unAssed the place - it seems like it's on now bay bee for a sectarian struggle like the sort that brought Iraq to the edge of the abyss when Surge started getting all crunk up. The Iraqi VP is hiding out in Kurdistan, sev province are talking about openly dissing the central gov and Iraqi PM seems only too hot for combat.

If this seems like interesting timing, it’s because it’s supposed to be. Nouri al-Maliki, Iraq’s increasingly ambitious Shia prime minister, waited until the US withdrawal was complete. Then he pounced, issuing an arrest warrant for Hashimi.

To understand the brewing political crisis, we should remember a few important things. First, Iraq is not really a normal democracy – it’s a negotiated state, delicately balanced between assorted ethnicities and sects. It’s a game of geopolitical Jenga, in which the removal of one block, a single Sunni leader, can bring the whole edifice crashing down.

Consider:

The ethno-sectarian settlement achieved at such cost to Iraqis and Americans is unraveling rapidly. The principal Sunni bloc has withdrawn its members from the Iraqi Parliament and is threatening to withdraw from the government altogether within two weeks unless Prime Minister Nuri al Maliki adheres to the written commitments he made during the negotiations to form a government.

The crisis is not confined to Baghdad. Fearful of the moves Maliki had already made to consolidate autocratic rule under the fist of his Shi’a Dawa Party, Sunni provincial leaders in Salahuddin and Diyala Provinces have declared their intention to form federal autonomous regions. Maliki has angrily rejected their rights to do so. Communities have reportedly begun mobilizing to defend themselves against potential sectarian conflict in Diyala.

So why cause shiafied PM al Malaki is gunning for sunnilicious VP Hashemi?

The motivations behind the current hostility between Maliki and Vice President Hashemi are still unclear. Though both men have always viewed one another with suspicion and mistrust, it appears that Maliki has two separate rationales that have prompted him to aggressively target Hashemi by deploying tanks to surround his residence and arresting several of his bodyguards. Both allegations appear exaggerated. Maliki’s opportunistic recognitions and ongoing efforts to consolidate power and marginalize his political opponents are most likely serving as the underlying logic in his decision-making.

Assassination Plot: The Maliki government is accusing Hashemi of allegedly financing a recent terrorist attack. In early December, the Baghdad Operations Command (BOC) suggested that the November 28 attack on the parliament was aimed at assassinating the prime minister.

The BOC first implied that Speaker Nujaifi, a senior Iraqiyya politician, was complicit because video evidence showed the bomber drove directly behind Nujaifi’s vehicle in order to receive entrance privilege. Iraqiyya, however, stated that the assassination attempt was against Nujaifi himself. Regardless of the questionable evidence, or lack thereof, the ease at which the accusations are being made by the central government is unprecedented.

Instigating Federalism: During an interview with Niqash published just days before tanks surrounded his residence, Hashemi responded to a question regarding the establishment of federal regions by mentioning that the “people in the central and southern areas” are demanding to exercise federalism “because they are unwilling to accept further injustice, corruption and bad management from the central government.”

It appears that soon after making his comments, Hashemi was accused of instigating federalism movements in the Shi’a south. A statement issued by Hashemi’s media office rejected the allegation that he called for the southern Shi’a provinces to announce a federal region. Hashemi’s statement maintained that the decision to form federal regions is entirely dependent on the inhabitants of the provinces and that any reports to the contrary have no credibility. Nevertheless, Maliki’s recent efforts to intimidate Hashemi may be one way the prime minister is seeking to suppress the growing calls to establish federal regions.

The Kurds appear to have already adopted a mediating role in calming tensions and bringing both sides to arranged negotiations. The Kurdish bloc is likely the only third actor that is able to credibly mediate between the two blocs. Given the lack of U.S. leverage, the White House appears to be working directly with Barzani in order to resolve the crisis before it escalates any further.

Rather than street celebrations marking the end of foreign occupation, Iraqis are weary of the severe political deterioration they are currently witnessing in Baghdad. Although adhering to the timetable stipulated by the 2008 U.S.-Iraq Security Agreement, it is becoming more and more apparent that the full U.S. withdrawal was premature. Iraq’s politics and discourse have not matured toward a level of stability that can reinforce confidence in the political system.

The U.S. exit had removed a critical deterrent from Iraq’s political environment that helped stabilize discourse and expectations between the various conflicting factions. Today, the level and type of rhetoric, accusations, and the lengths that the Maliki government has gone to intimidate and undermine political rivals demonstrates an unprecedented era of political hostility not seen since Iraq’s sectarian war.

Without the pacifying effect of the U.S. military’s presence, uncertainty and fear are likely to be the dominant forces shaping Iraq’s politics. As a consequence, such an environment will be prone to unpredictable scenarios and behavior that move Iraq towards armed conflict and societal fragmentation.

Pic - "Iraq in a hard place"

Open Letter To 44 RE: Syria

2011-12-22T00:00:00.003-05:00

The Honorable 44
President of the United States of America
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, D.C. 20005

Dear Mr. President:

The situation in Syria is rapidly deteriorating. The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights reports that over 5,000 Syrian civilians have been killed, and 14,000 more detained, since President Bashar al-Assad’s crackdown against anti-regime protestors began in March 2011. Cities such as Homs are under siege, with the Syrian military’s tanks and armored vehicles firing indiscriminately into residential areas, and regime forces going house-to-house to arrest or murder the regime’s opponents. The conflict is quickly escalating towards civil war.

We are glad that, in the time since your call for President Assad to step down on August 18, 2011, the United States, European Union, and regional powers have increased the breadth and strength of sanctions imposed against the Assad regime. However, it is increasingly clear that more assertive American leadership and international action are required to ensure that the Syrian people have the opportunity to enjoy a post-Assad future as soon as possible.

America’s interests in Syria are clear. The Syrian government, which has been on the State Department’s State Sponsors of Terror list since 1979, maintains a strategic partnership with Iran, Hamas, and Hezbollah. For years, the Assad regime also assisted the transit of foreign fighters who were responsible for killing numerous American troops in Iraq. And for years, the Syrian government secretly pursued a nuclear program with North Korean assistance. The emergence of a representative Syrian government that protects the rights of all of its citizens and opposes violent extremism in all forms would therefore be a significant blow to Tehran and dramatically improve regional security and stability.

Members of your administration, however, have made statements against the militarization of the uprising, even warning that such a turn could threaten international support for their cause. Such a position is counterproductive, especially since the protesters themselves are calling for international protection from the Assad regime’s forces. As of now, this protection is coming only from defectors from the Syrian military, who are fighting in support of the revolution. U.S. condemnation of their armed resistance undercuts them, and could have the effect of discouraging further Syrian military defections.

As was the case in Libya, the situation in Syria is one in which our interests and our values converge. We therefore urge you to take the following immediate actions to bring an end to Assad’s brutality:

Show leadership on sanctions by immediately supporting legislation originally proposed by Senators Kirsten Gillibrand, Mark Kirk, and Joseph Lieberman, and Representatives Ileana Ros-Lehtinen and Eliot Engel, and working with allies to impose other crippling multilaterally-based sanctions on the Syrian government.

Form a contact group of like-minded international partners to coordinate national strategies to further increase pressure on the Assad regime.

Establish direct contact with various anti-regime Syrian groups, especially the Syrian National Council, as well as those who have defected from the Syrian military, and evaluate their leadership and membership with the aim of increasing the capabilities of those groups whose political goals accord with U.S. national security interests.

Work with Turkey and other partners to establish safe havens in Syria, as well as no-go zones for the Assad regime’s security forces to protect civilians.

In the absence of American leadership, other countries that do not necessarily share our goals and values are stepping in to fill the void in Syria. Given the stakes, it is important that the United States lead on this issue. The Syrian people are calling for protection from the Assad regime. It is our moral obligation and in our interest to assist them.

As you said in the case of Libya, it is now time "to live the values we hold so dear."

Sincerely,

Khairi Abaza	Eric S. Edelman	William Kristol	Randy Scheunemann
Ammar Abdulhamid	Douglas J. Feith	Robert J. Lieber	Gary J. Schmitt
Hussain Abdul-Hussain	Jamie M. Fly	Tod Lindberg	Daniel S. Senor
Elliott Abrams	Reuel Marc Gerecht	Bashar Lufti	Lee Smith
Tony Badran	Abe Greenwald	Lila Lufti	Kurt Volker
Bassam Bitar	John P. Hannah	Thomas G. Mahnken	Kenneth R. Weinstein
Max Boot	William Inboden	Michael Makovsky	Pete Wehner
L. Paul Bremer	Bruce Pitcairn Jackson	Ann Marlowe	Leon Wieseltier
Matthew R. J. Brodsky	Ash Jain	Clifford D. May	R. James Woolsey
Seth Cropsey	Allison Johnson	Courtney Messerschmidt	Robert Zarate
Toby Dershowitz	Robert Kagan	Joshua Muravchik
Thomas M. Donnelly	Sirwan Kajjo	Andrew S. Natsios
Mark Dubowitz	Rachel Kleinfeld	Kori Schake

Václav

2011-12-21T00:00:00.004-05:00

From GsGf's Czechspert and Vaclav's associate, comrade and friend

Long before Czechoslovakia’s Communist regime collapsed in 1989, Václav Havel was one of the most remarkable figures in Czech history — already a successful playwright when he became the unofficial leader of the opposition movement. Though he hoped to return to writing, the revolution catapulted him to the presidency of Czechoslovakia and, after the country split in 1993, he was elected president of the new Czech Republic, serving until 2003.

A political career rooted in historical coincidence made Havel an unusual politician. Not only did he bring to post-1989 politics a certain distrust of political parties, as a former dissident he considered it essential to emphasize the moral dimension of politics — a stance that steered him onto a collision course with the pragmatists and technologists of power, whose main representative, Václav Klaus, succeeded him as president.

Havel’s public life could be divided into three distinct periods: artist (1956-1969), dissident (1969-1989) and politician (1989-2003) — except that he always combined all three sensibilities in his public activities. As a promising playwright in the 1960s, he was certainly very “political,” focusing on the absurdity of the regime. He was also one of the most vocal critics of censorship and other human-rights violations, which made him a dissident even during the liberal “Prague Spring” of 1968.

Havel was blacklisted and openly persecuted after the Soviet-led invasion of Czechoslovakia in August of that year, but he continued to write antitotalitarian plays. In 1977, he and more than 200 other dissidents founded the human-rights movement Charter 77, which quickly established itself as a leading opposition force. Havel was one of its first three spokesmen.

The following year, he wrote a seminal essay, “The Power of the Powerless,” in which he described Czechoslovakia’s post-1968 “normalization” regime as a morally bankrupt system based on all-pervasive lying. In 1979, he was sentenced to a five-year prison term for his activities in the Committee of the Unjustly Prosecuted, an offshoot of Charter 77 that monitored human-rights abuses and persecution in Czechoslovakia. He was released near the end of his term after contracting pneumonia (a source of serious health problems for the rest of his life). His Letters to Olga, philosophical essays written from prison and addressed to his wife, quickly became a classic of antitotalitarian literature.

As president of Czechoslovakia, Havel continued to combine his political, dissident and artistic sensibilities. He insisted on writing his own speeches, conceiving many of them as philosophical and literary works, in which he not only criticized the dehumanized technology of modern politics, but also repeatedly appealed to Czechs not to fall prey to consumerism and mindless party politics.

His was a conception of democracy based on a strong civil society and morality. That distinguished him from Klaus, the other leading figure of the post-Communist transformation, who advocated a quick transition, stripped, if possible, of inconvenient moral scruples and impediments posed by the rule of law. Their conflict came to a head in 1997, when the Klaus-led government fell after a series of scandals. Havel described the economic system created by Klaus’s post-Communist reforms as “mafioso capitalism.”

Although Klaus never returned as prime minister, his “pragmatic” approach gained the upper hand in Czech politics, especially after Havel’s departure from presidency in 2003. Indeed, Havel’s greatest defeat may be that most Czechs now view their country as a place where political parties serve as agents of powerful economic groups (many of them created by the often-corrupt privatization process overseen by Klaus).

In the last years of his presidency, Havel’s political opponents ridiculed him as a naïve moralist. Many ordinary Czechs, on the other hand, had come to dislike him not only for what seemed like relentless moralizing, but also because he reflected back to them their own lack of courage during the Communist regime. While he continued to enjoy respect and admiration abroad, if only for continuing his fight against human-right abuses around the world, his popularity at home was shaken.

But not anymore. Czechs, given their growing dissatisfaction with the current political system’s omnipresent corruption and other failings, have increasingly come to appreciate the importance of Havel’s moral appeals. In fact, now, after his death, he is well on the way to being lionized as someone who foresaw many current problems, and not only at home: while still president, he repeatedly called attention to the self-destructive forces of industrial civilization and global capitalism.

Many will ask what made Havel exceptional. The answer is simple: decency. He was a decent, principled man. He did not fight against communism because of some hidden personal agenda, but simply because it was, in his view, an indecent, immoral system. When, as president, he supported the bombing of Yugoslavia in 1999 or the coming invasion of Iraq in 2003, he did not talk about geopolitical or strategic objectives but about the need to stop human-rights abuses by brutal dictators.

Acting on such beliefs in his political career made him a politician of the kind that the contemporary world no longer sees. Perhaps that is why, as the world — and Europe in particular — faces a period of profound crisis, the clarity and courageous language that would bring about meaningful change is missing.

The death of Havel, a great believer in European integration, is thus highly symbolic: he was one of the last of a now-extinct breed of politicians who could lead effectively in extraordinary times because their first commitment was to common decency and the common good, not to holding power. If the world is to make it through its various crises successfully, his legacy must remain alive.

Pic - "Hope is the belief that freedom and justice have meaning . . . and that liberty is always worth the trouble.”

Year One

2011-12-20T00:00:00.000-05:00

Joyeuex Anniversaire!

An entire year has zoomed by since the innate crushing corruption and locked down societies via designer despotry drove a young cat to horrific battyness in Tunisia, literally igniting himself and Arab Spring.

First causality in the diplopolititary realm was the freshly minted "Off Shore Balancing." Totally bassackwards Amazingly ironic with it's democrazy forsakingment meme, on release it was instantly obsolete by the 1st week end it ever saw the light of day

"...Washington should also get out of the business of trying to spread democracy around the globe, and more generally acting as if we have the right and the responsibility to interfere in the domestic politics of other countries.

"...This behavior, which violates the all-important principle of self-determination, not only generates resentment toward the United States, but also gets us involved in nation building, which invariably leads to no end of trouble.

Trick statement - failing to promote democrazy is the very same thang as promoting autocrazy.
Plus - it's an unclever attempt to inject the incorrect notion that Great Satan should be "...even handed..." in her dealings with the world - as if Libya or NoKo were the same as Australia or Denmark.

Anywrought -

Arab Spring acquired its name in part because it conjured memories of the upheavals that brought an end to dictatorship in other parts of the world — including the former Soviet bloc, East Asia and Latin America. It seemed logical that Middle Eastern states would, at last, follow the same path that led in other places from dictatorship and economic stagnation to free elections, free markets and integration into a global economy.

J"ever note that Great Satan"s shameful hooked up despotries were comparatively benign xfers of pow pow power compared with enemy regimes like Libya and Suriya al- Kubra?

A year later, it’s clear that the Arab revolutions are different in some fundamental ways — Colonel Khadaffy is history, the Assad and Saleh regimes may soon follow. Yet the thousands of deaths they caused have cast a pall over their countries; no one yet knows when and how the killing will end or whether there will be reconciliation.

2nd diff in the Arab transformation is the worrying economic prospects of newly liberated countries. Arab states so far are leaning toward a populism that could inhibit foreign investment and trade. They are also unlikely to receive as much Western aid as helped the new democracies of the 1980s and ’90s. Libya will prosper with oil. But many young Arabs may find that their aspirations for jobs remain unmet.

A final distinction is the nature of the political movements coming to power in the revolution’s aftermath. Though the Islamists of Tunisia, Egypt, Morocco and elsewhere say that they are democrats, they are not liberal — and their relations with the West are uneasy at best. The true liberals of the Arab world — those who plotted the uprisings on Facebook and brought the secular middle classes to the street — risk being marginalized. They lack the organization of mosque-based movements or the foreign funding supplied by conservative states such as Saudi Arabia and Qatar. In Egypt, they also remain the prime target of a military establishment that hopes to preserve an outsize measure of power.

Plus -

Consider how unprepared Western governments were for the events of the Arab Spring. They shouldn’t have been. Ordinary people were losing their fear, daring to exercise their long-suppressed faculty to not only speak but also think freely. It was merely a matter of time before the actions of a few would multiply and become, in the end, irrepressible.

Arab Spring gave the lie to the stability model, which was in fact a recipe for instability. In Cairo’s Tahrir Square the people spoke, and what did they demand? Not the destruction of Little Satan. Not the damnation of Great Satan. They demanded the right to live in a society where minds would no longer be controlled. Their demand was local, but their message was universal.

Irrepressible indeed!

There are too many men and women who have too many ways of making their voices heard, whether on the streets or in cyberspace. There’s no looking back. These once-closed societies are now open or opening, and that process cannot be reversed. The history of the modern Arab world has only just begun.

Pic -"The best cure for what ails the Middle East is what it has lacked: free debate and democracy."

Dear Leader

2011-12-19T00:00:00.002-05:00

NoKo"s Dear Leader went on to the great collectivist ash heap in the sky

Ddok barohae neon joengmal bad boy!

"Dear Leader Kim Jong Il is a rare great man of Baekdu type who was born at Mt.Baekdu, the sacred mountain of our nation, and made an unusual growth amidst the special revolutionary education of his parents, brilliant commanders of Baekdu, as well as the practical training of the revolutionary struggle. He personifies the revolutionary spirit, trait and nature of Mt.Baekdu.

The revolutionary spirit of Mt.Baekdu personified by him is the spirit of independence associated with the soul of Baekdu, the spirit of gun inheriting the linage of Baekdu, the indefatigable revolutionary spirit replete with the mettle of Baekdu and the optimistic spirit consistent with cheerfulness of Baekdu.

The revolutionary trait of Mt.Baekdu possessed by him is pluck and courage of Baekdu-style giant, ever-victorious sagacity of the brilliant commander of Baekdu, broad-mindedness befitting a heroic man, organizing ability of leading millions of people, indefatigable attacking spirit, strong ability of execution."

Dear Leader got his start back on the day Great Leader posed a riddle.

"The American scoundrels are about to start a war against us. Will we be able to defeat them?” The generals replied without hesitation: “Yes, we can win!” “When have we ever lost a war?” “We shall win every battle!” “How can we ever lose when we have you, Commander of Steel, our Great Leader, to lead us?” “Oh, Great Leader! Just give us the order!” “In a single breath we will rush to the South, drive out the American imperialists, and unify the fatherland!”

Despite such vigorous displays of bravado, Great Leader did not appear especially convinced.

“That’s all very well. But what if we lose? What shall we do if we lose?”The moment Great Leader uttered the word “lose,” the generals’ lips closed and remained tightly shut. As they sat still in extreme anxiety, the 51-year-old Kim Jong Il suddenly stood up.

Raising his clenched fists, Kim yelled out,

“Great Leader! I will be sure to destroy the Earth! What good is this Earth without North Korea?”

Great Leader looked with fatherly love and pride at his eldest son

“That is surely the answer. I am pleased to see that a new North Korean general has been born at this very gathering. Henceforth, I transfer to you the operational command of the North Korean military."

Dear Leader is gone and all eyes will be on his heir, Young General

Pic - “Following in the footsteps of the General, offering guidance to the troops, comrade General Kim Jong Eun delivers a great blow to the enemy with the resourcefulness of his keen insight.”

WoW!

2011-12-17T00:00:00.000-05:00

Council Winners

*First place with 5 2/3 votes! Bookworm Room--My Mother’s War, Courtesy Of Pearl Harbor
Second place with 2 1/3 votes – The Noisy Room-A Square Deal in a Round Hole
Third place with 2 votes – The Political Commentator-The Captured U.S. RQ-170 drone in Iran! Why is Jimmy Carter smiling?
Fourth place with 1 2/3 votes – The Right Planet-To Obama: Good Resentment v. Bad Resentment
Fifth place with 1 1/3 votes – Simply Jews – History (n.), historians (n.)
Sixth place *t* with 2/3 vote – The Razor – Higher Education Bubble: Trades Under Pressure from Illegal Immigration
Sixth place *t* with 2/3 vote – Right Truth – Beans And Rice
Sixth place *t* with 2/3 vote – The Mellow Jihadi – Fracking Butter and the EPA’s Fracking Report
Seventh place *t* with 1/3 vote – VA Right! – Merry Christmas vs. Happy Holidays

Non-Council Winners

First place with 2 2/3 votes! – Barry Rubin- Middle East: We’re Going to Have a Revolution and We Can Do it the Hard Way or the Easy Way submitted byJoshuapundit
Second place with 2 1/3 votes – Mark Steyn – A future looted to bribe the present submitted by The Noisy Room
Third place *t* with 1 1/3 votes -Melanie Phillips – The Algorithm of Malice submitted by The Political Commentator
Third place *t* with 1 1/3 vote -JR Nyquist – The Mafia That Rules Russia: An Interview With Luke Harding submitted by New Zeal
Third place *t* with 1 1/3 votes -HyScience – Obama Administration Giving Islamists a Say Over Our Right to Free Speech submitted by Right Truth
Fourth place *t* with 1 vote -Liberty’s Spirit – Obfuscated History submitted by Bookworm Room
Fourth place *t* with 1 vote -William Voegeli/NoLeftTurns – Osawatomie’s Dichotomies submitted by The Glittering Eye
Fifth place *t* with 2/3 vote -Harry’s Place – Did The Guardian’s Seumas Milne spend his gap year training at a PFLP camp in Beirut? submitted by Simply Jews
Fifth place *t* with 2/3 vote -The Volokh Conspiracy – Proposed Constitutional Amendment Would Ban Editorials About Candidates or Ballot Measures by Nearly All Newspapers submitted by Rhymes With Right
Fifth place *t* with 2/3 vote -Wings Over Iraq – Well, it’s official: The Beast has been captured submitted by GrEaT sAtAn”S gIrLfRiEnD
Sixth place *t* with 1/3 vote -Discriminations – Graduate School Administrators Unwittingly Parody Themselves submitted by The Colossus Of Rhodey
Sixth place *t* with 1/3 vote -Jihad Watch – Muslim students threaten, force resignation of prof who quoted from Islamic texts submitted by The Watcher
Sixth place *t* with 1/3 vote - The Ulsterman Report – There Is A Very Uneasy Peace Between President Obama And The American Military submitted by The Right Planet
Sixth place *t* with 1/3 vote -Yid With Lid – MMFA’s Chief Jew Hater MJ Rosenberg Becomes a Self-Parody submitted by VA Right!
Sixth place *t* with 1/3 vote -Powerline – Brian DePalma Has American Blood On His Hands submitted by The Razor
Sixth place *t* with 1/3 vote -Bayou Renaissance Man – Self-defense: things happen so fast! submitted by The Mellow Jihadi

See you next week! And don’t forget to follow us on Facebook and Twitter

In Memory

2011-12-16T15:03:00.000-05:00

All in all - he was just a man - the likes of which we may not see again

When yours truly began reconstructing neoism xforming it into daemoneoconservatism - the Brit Cats played a major role ala injecting ideals of interventions into the mix. Reaching out to the fab four - Uncle Tony, Douglas Murray, Edward Beaman and Uncle Chris.

The ungodly - yet delightfully daemoneoconic avuncular Christopher Hitchens was kind enough to respond to sev emails with some bloody great insight.

It was the Balkans Action Council that appealed to me. These people wanted to act. That war in the early 1990's changed a lot for me, Courtney.

I never thought I would see, in Europe, a full dress reprise of konzentration lager, mass murder of civilians, the constitution of torture and rape as acts of policy. And I never expected so many of my comrades to be indifferent - or even take the side of the fascists!

This was a time when many on the left were saying "Don't intervene, we'll only make things worse" or, "Don't intervene, it might destabilize the region..." And I thought - destabilization of fascist regimes is a good thing. Why should the left care care about the stability of undemocratic regimes?

It was a time when the left was mostly taking the status quo position - leave the Balkans alone, leave Milosevic alone, do nothing.

That's when I began to first find myself on the same side as the neocons. I was signing petitions in favour of action in Bosnia, and I would look down the list of names and I kept finding, there's Richard Perle. There's Paul Wolfowitz. There's Joshua Muravchik. That seemed interesting to me. These people were saying we had to act.

Hitch always wrote what he knew to be true and suffered no moral equivalency with out spitting razor blades. And never really gave a dang what anyone thought about it either.

It's quite good that you and your mates take Strauss's admonishments to heart regarding relativism. "Which one of these things is not like the other thing" is spot on. As for the rest of his work, like you, I never quite understood it.

I do enjoy GsGf and your irreverent disregard for long held 'truths' in the international discourse and the jabberwocky style does the Queen's a welcome new kink. Keep writing and learning.

Pic - "Requiescat in pace 1949 - 2011"

Ardennes Day

2011-12-16T00:00:00.003-05:00

Beleaf it or don't - few Americans are aware of the Battle of the Bulge in the last millennium. Nineteen thousand American soldiers were killed with more than 70,000 casualties. It was the largest combat action in the history of the American military.

Dec. 16. 1944. Out of the fog and snow with complete surprise and bitter cold, 3 Wehrmacht armies along with multi dreaded Waffen Ss contingents crashed through American lines on a 50-mile front. 2K pieces of heavy German artillery bombarded the Ardennes. 250K Deutsch soldaten and 1,000 panzers and associated guns attacked, defended by green American troops with zero combat experience.

Shells shrieked overhead, mortars and machine guns fired, search lights stabbed through the morning light. V1 buzz bombs dropped to the ground. It was a complete surprise, and the defending Americans were completely unprepp'd.

And it lives evermore with those This We'll Defend cats

After a day of hard fighting, the Germans broke through the American front, surrounding most of an infantry division, seizing key crossroads, and advancing their spearheads toward the Meuse River, creating the projection that gave the battle its name.

Stories spread of the massacre of soldiers and civilians at Malmedy and Stavelot, of fallschrimjager paratroopers dropping behind the lines, and of English-speaking German soldiers, disguised as Americans, capturing critical bridges, cutting communications lines, and spreading rumors. For those who had lived through 1940, the picture was all too familiar. Belgian townspeople put away their Allied flags and brought out their swastikas.

Police in Paris enforced an all-night curfew. British veterans waited nervously to see how the Americans would react to a full-scale German offensive, and British generals quietly acted to safeguard the Meuse crossings. Even American civilians who had thought final victory was near were sobered by the Nazi onslaught.

But this was not 1940. The supreme Allied commander, General Dwight D. Eisenhower rushed reinforcements to hold the shoulders of the German penetration. Within days, Lt. Gen. George S. Patton, Jr. had turned his Third U.S. Army to the north and was counterattacking against the German flank. But the story of the battle of the Bulge is above all the story of American soldiers.

Often isolated and unaware of the overall picture, they did their part to slow the Nazi advance, whether by delaying armored spearheads with obstinate defenses of vital crossroads, moving or burning critical gasoline stocks to keep them from the fuel-hungry German tanks, or coming up with questions on arcane Americana to stump possible Nazi infiltrators.

At the critical road junctions of St. Vith and Bastogne, American tankers and paratroopers fought off repeated attacks, and when the acting commander of the 101st Airborne Division in Bastogne was summoned by his German adversary to surrender, he simply responded, "Nuts!"

Within days, Patton's Third Army had relieved Bastogne, and to the north, the 2d U.S. Armored Division stopped enemy tanks short of the Meuse on Christmas Day. Through January, American troops, often wading through deep snow drifts, attacked the sides of the shrinking bulge until they had restored the front and set the stage for the final drive to victory.

Never again would Hitler be able to launch an offensive in the West on such a scale. An admiring British Prime Minister Sir Winston Churchill stated, "This is undoubtedly the greatest American battle of the war and will, I believe, be regarded as an ever-famous American victory." Indeed, in terms of participation and losses, the battle of the Bulge is arguably the greatest battle in American military history.

Pic - "If you don't know what 'Nuts' means, in plain English it is the same as 'Go to Hell'. And I'll tell you something else, if you continue to attack we will kill every goddam German that tries to break into this city."

Iraq

2011-12-15T00:00:00.002-05:00

44 @ Fort Bragg

Today, I’ve come to speak to you about the end of the war in Iraq. Over the last few months, the final work of leaving Iraq has been done. Dozens of bases with American names that housed thousands of American troops have been closed down or turned over to the Iraqis. Thousands of tons of equipment have been packed up and shipped out. Tomorrow, the colors of United States Forces-Iraq -- the colors you fought under -- will be formally cased in a ceremony in Baghdad. Then they’ll begin their journey across an ocean, back home.

Over the last three years, nearly 150,000 U.S. troops have left Iraq. And over the next few days, a small group of American soldiers will begin the final march out of that country. Some of them are on their way back to Fort Bragg. As General Helmick said, “They know that the last tactical road march out of Iraq will be a symbol, and they’re going to be a part of history.”

As your Commander-in-Chief, I can tell you that it will indeed be a part of history. Those last American troops will move south on desert sands, and then they will cross the border out of Iraq with their heads held high. One of the most extraordinary chapters in the history of the American military will come to an end. Iraq’s future will be in the hands of its people. America’s war in Iraq will be over.

Now, we knew this day would come. We’ve known it for some time. But still, there is something profound about the end of a war that has lasted so long.

Now, nine years ago, American troops were preparing to deploy to the Persian Gulf and the possibility that they would be sent to war. Many of you were in grade school. I was a state senator. Many of the leaders now governing Iraq -- including the Prime Minister -- were living in exile. And since then, our efforts in Iraq have taken many twists and turns. It was a source of great controversy here at home, with patriots on both sides of the debate. But there was one constant -- there was one constant: your patriotism, your commitment to fulfill your mission, your abiding commitment to one another. That was constant. That did not change. That did not waiver.

It’s harder to end a war than begin one. Indeed, everything that American troops have done in Iraq -– all the fighting and all the dying, the bleeding and the building, and the training and the partnering -– all of it has led to this moment of success. Now, Iraq is not a perfect place. It has many challenges ahead. But we’re leaving behind a sovereign, stable and self-reliant Iraq, with a representative government that was elected by its people. We’re building a new partnership between our nations. And we are ending a war not with a final battle, but with a final march toward home.

This is an extraordinary achievement, nearly nine years in the making. And today, we remember everything that you did to make it possible.

We remember the early days -– the American units that streaked across the sands and skies of Iraq; the battles from Karbala to Baghdad, American troops breaking the back of a brutal dictator in less than a month.
We remember the grind of the insurgency -– the roadside bombs, the sniper fire, the suicide attacks. From the “triangle of death” to the fight for Ramadi; from Mosul in the north to Basra in the south -– your will proved stronger than the terror of those who tried to break it.

We remember the specter of sectarian violence -– al Qaeda’s attacks on mosques and pilgrims, militias that carried out campaigns of intimidation and campaigns of assassination. And in the face of ancient divisions, you stood firm to help those Iraqis who put their faith in the future.

We remember the surge and we remember the Awakening -– when the abyss of chaos turned toward the promise of reconciliation. By battling and building block by block in Baghdad, by bringing tribes into the fold and partnering with the Iraqi army and police, you helped turn the tide toward peace.

And we remember the end of our combat mission and the emergence of a new dawn -– the precision of our efforts against al Qaeda in Iraq, the professionalism of the training of Iraqi security forces, and the steady drawdown of our forces. In handing over responsibility to the Iraqis, you preserved the gains of the last four years and made this day possible.

Just last month, some of you -- members of the Falcon Brigade -- turned over the Anbar Operations Center to the Iraqis in the type of ceremony that has become commonplace over these last several months. In an area that was once the heart of the insurgency, a combination of fighting and training, politics and partnership brought the promise of peace. And here’s what the local Iraqi deputy governor said: “This is all because of the U.S. forces’ hard work and sacrifice.”

That’s in the words of an Iraqi. Hard work and sacrifice. Those words only begin to describe the costs of this war and the courage of the men and women who fought it.

We know too well the heavy cost of this war. More than 1.5 million Americans have served in Iraq -- 1.5 million. Over 30,000 Americans have been wounded, and those are only the wounds that show. Nearly 4,500 Americans made the ultimate sacrifice -- including 202 fallen heroes from here at Fort Bragg -- 202. So today, we pause to say a prayer for all those families who have lost their loved ones, for they are part of our broader American family. We grieve with them.

We also know that these numbers don’t tell the full story of the Iraq war -– not even close. Our civilians have represented our country with skill and bravery. Our troops have served tour after tour of duty, with precious little dwell time in between. Our Guard and Reserve units stepped up with unprecedented service. You’ve endured dangerous foot patrols and you’ve endured the pain of seeing your friends and comrades fall. You’ve had to be more than soldiers, sailors, airmen, Marines and Coast Guardsmen –- you’ve also had to be diplomats and development workers and trainers and peacemakers. Through all this, you have shown why the United States military is the finest fighting force in the history of the world.

As the Mayor of Fayetteville put it, “War is not a political word here. War is where our friends and neighbors go.” So there have been missed birthday parties and graduations. There are bills to pay and jobs that have to be juggled while picking up the kids. For every soldier that goes on patrol, there are the husbands and the wives, the mothers, the fathers, the sons, the daughters praying that they come back.

So today, as we mark the end of the war, let us acknowledge, let us give a heartfelt round of applause for every military family that has carried that load over the last nine years. You too have the thanks of a grateful nation.

Policymakers and historians will continue to analyze the strategic lessons of Iraq -- that’s important to do. Our commanders will incorporate the hard-won lessons into future military campaigns -- that’s important to do. But the most important lesson that we can take from you is not about military strategy –- it’s a lesson about our national character.

For all of the challenges that our nation faces, you remind us that there’s nothing we Americans can’t do when we stick together.

For all the disagreements that we face, you remind us there’s something bigger than our differences, something that makes us one nation and one people regardless of color, regardless of creed, regardless of what part of the country we come from, regardless of what backgrounds we come out of. You remind us we’re one nation.

And that’s why the United States military is the most respected institution in our land because you never forget that. You can’t afford to forget it. If you forget it, somebody dies. If you forget it, a mission fails. So you don’t forget it. You have each other’s backs. That’s why you, the 9/11 Generation, has earned your place in history.

Because of you -- because you sacrificed so much for a people that you had never met, Iraqis have a chance to forge their own destiny. That’s part of what makes us special as Americans. Unlike the old empires, we don’t make these sacrifices for territory or for resources. We do it because it’s right. There can be no fuller expression of America’s support for self-determination than our leaving Iraq to its people. That says something about who we are.

Because of you, in Afghanistan we’ve broken the momentum of the Taliban. Because of you, we’ve begun a transition to the Afghans that will allow us to bring our troops home from there. And around the globe, as we draw down in Iraq, we have gone after al Qaeda so that terrorists who threaten America will have no safe haven, and Osama bin Laden will never again walk the face of this Earth.

Because of you, we are ending these wars in a way that will make America stronger and the world more secure. Because of you.

That success was never guaranteed. And let us never forget the source of American leadership: our commitment to the values that are written into our founding documents, and a unique willingness among nations to pay a great price for the progress of human freedom and dignity. This is who we are. That’s what we do as Americans, together.

The war in Iraq will soon belong to history. Your service belongs to the ages. Never forget that you are part of an unbroken line of heroes spanning two centuries –- from the colonists who overthrew an empire, to your grandparents and parents who faced down fascism and communism, to you –- men and women who fought for the same principles in Fallujah and Kandahar, and delivered justice to those who attacked us on 9/11.
Looking back on the war that saved our union, a great American, Oliver Wendell Holmes, once paid tribute to those who served. “In our youth,” he said, “our hearts were touched with fire. It was given to us to learn at the outset that life is a profound and passionate thing.”

All of you here today have lived through the fires of war. You will be remembered for it. You will be honored for it -- always. You have done something profound with your lives. When this nation went to war, you signed up to serve. When times were tough, you kept fighting. When there was no end in sight, you found light in the darkness.

And years from now, your legacy will endure in the names of your fallen comrades etched on headstones at Arlington, and the quiet memorials across our country; in the whispered words of admiration as you march in parades, and in the freedom of our children and our grandchildren. And in the quiet of night, you will recall that your heart was once touched by fire. You will know that you answered when your country called; you served a cause greater than yourselves; you helped forge a just and lasting peace with Iraq, and among all nations.

I could not be prouder of you, and America could not be prouder of you.

God bless you all, God bless your families, and God bless the United States of America

Coked Up Rocketeers!

2011-12-14T00:20:00.003-05:00

Buzz kill!

Is the Posse of Allah on dope!?

The rocket rich rejectionists led by their overtly robust (girthy) Body Part Collector General of Hiz'B'Allah are in it to win it in with the ultimate party favor.

American authorities are building a politically explosive case that Hiz"B"Allah, the Lebanese militant group, finances itself through a vast drug-smuggling network that links a Lebanese bank, a violent Mexican cartel and Great Satan's cocaine users.

Federal prosecutors Tuesday charged Ayman Joumaa, an accused Lebanese drug kingpin and Hiz"B"Allah financier, of smuggling tons of U.S.-bound cocaine and laundering hundreds of millions of dollars with the Zetas cartel of Mexico.

“Ayman Joumaa is one of top guys in the world at what he does: international drug trafficking and money laundering,” a U.S. anti-drug official said. “He has interaction with Hiz"B"Allah. There’s no indication that it’s ideological. It’s business.”

Coked up beyond repair may also explain Hiz'B'Allah's hypocritical resistance

When a so-called resistance movement fails to support a bottom-up popular revolt against a tyrant, its leaders expose themselves as hypocrites.That is precisely what is happening to Hezbollah. Faced with the Syrian people’s uprising against President Bashar al-Assad and a democratic tsunami sweeping the Middle East, Hezbollah’s alignment with Mr. Assad is destroying its reputation across the Arab world.

The Syrian masses who once worshiped the Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah today curse him when they parade in public squares. The posters of Mr. Assad and Mr. Nasrallah that once adorned car windows and walls throughout Syria are now regularly torched.Until recently, Mr. Nasrallah, a Shiite, was a pan-Arab icon.

His standing as Hezbollah’s chairman and commander of the 2006 war against Little Satan elevated him to new heights of popularity among Shiites and Sunnis alike, reminiscent of the former Egyptian president Gamal Abdel Nasser’s political stardom following the nationalization of the Suez Canal in 1956.

Not only did Mr. Nasrallah fight Israel next door; he defied pro-American Arab states, trained and protected Hamas in Lebanon, backed Moktada al-Sadr’s Shiite militia as it killed Americans in Iraq, and showed absolute loyalty to Iran. His fans were in the millions.

The Arab multitude from Casablanca to Mecca saw him as a genuine hero who talked the talk and fought the good fight.But when such a wildly popular resistance movement abandons the ideal, much less the practice, of liberation in support of tyranny, it loses credibility with the public.

Fighting Little Satan as a Syrian proxy is one thing, but opposing the Syrian people’s desire for democratic change is something else entirely.

Pic - "All lit up again - flying!"

Hot Hegemonic Pursuit

2011-12-13T00:08:00.001-05:00

Not so long ago, Great Satan's Quad Def Review prett much insisted that Great Satan must retain her capability for Unbridled Hyperpuissance - the magical ability to act out in any diplopolititary event/threat whenever the need - or even opportunity arises in a wide range of environments.

"America’s interests and role in the world require armed forces with unmatched capabilities and a willingness on the part of the nation to employ them in defense of our interests and the common good."

CSIS' PacNet cat (oh! He got game bay bee) is Great Satan's Global Force for Good's analyst gives up smoking hot pdf hits about delish hegemonic hotness

One school in the debate advocates that Great Satan pursue hegemony, or at least supremacy, in the international environment. A state may be said to sexercise hegemony when it dominates other states, and thus can and does dictate the “rules of the road” of the international system.

While hegemony does not require that the hegemon be able to conquer or coerce other powers at will, a state in such a position is able decisively to influence other nations within her orbit by setting the bounds of the permissible, exercising oversight over and vetoing others’ actions and plans, and influencing the flow of economic interaction by exercising control over key levers such as currency.

A grand strategy of pursuing hegemony argues that the international system can be stable and American interests effectively safeguarded only if Great Satan seeks to attain and maintain hegemony—that is, if She has the ability and willingness to dominate other states and thus dictate the “rules of the road” of the international system.

The military requirements of this strategy are extremely demanding, as it means that Great Satan must be able to defeat and impose Her will on any individual or combination of states in any contingency.

This grand strategy is totally hot for a whole bunch of attractive reasons.

One line of argument advocates Great Satan's pursuit of hegemony primarily because of security and economic considerations. This school views an international system characterized by hegemony and a clear hierarchy of power as more favorable to the interests of the hegemonic power, as well as inherently more peaceful and stable in general.

By this logic, while the hegemon’s discretion is limited by the need to maintain the buy-in of supporting states, the hegemon can set and maintain the rules of the system in a manner favorable to Her own interests.

Moreover, this logic sees a hegemonic international system as naturally more stable and peaceful than the others. Because of the clear hierarchy of power, rational states will be unlikely to challenge the much more powerful hegemon, and thus the hegemon will be able and willing to enforce the rules of the system.

When challenged, the hegemon is able to assert its authority and reestablish the rules of the system at a relatively low cost, as Great satan did following Baghdad’s invasion of Kuwait in 1990. Advocates of this argument point to the striking peacefulness and stability in the relations among major powers since 1991 under U.S. unipolarity and, within the West, under U.S. hegemony since 1945.

A variant of this line of argument that is particularly influential today views U.S.hegemony as necessary to the advancement and propagation of liberal democracy, whichit sees as both a vital national objective and a crucial security interest.19 This line of argument builds upon the hegemonic stability theory, which holds that the international system is anarchic and requires the exertion of a hegemon to impose stability and rules, and, further, adds an ideological component—the necessity of fostering liberal democracy.

By this logic, because interstate relations and conflict are largely determined by the ideological compatibility among states, Great Satan can be reliably secure only if her strategic environment is populated by other liberal democratic states.

The premise of this logic is the democratic peace theory—the proposition that liberal democratic states are inherently less bellicose towards one another. This proposition is buttressed by the impressive paucity in the historical record of liberal democracies going to war against each other.

In light of the relative weakness of other liberal democracies,Great Satan therefore has a strong interest in acquiring and maintaining a hegemonic power position in order to advance and protect liberal democracy, the adherents of which should be inherently well disposed towards Great Satan

The grand strategy of pursuing hegemony is claimed to be superior because it promises to secure peace and favorable international terms for the hegemon in an international system characterized by a degree of stability and, to some degree, justice. Moreover, given the analytical baseline of the strategy, it presents itself as the most realistic because it recognizes that some country must dominate the international system and that it is best for Great Satan to be that country.

It is asserted to be pragmatic as well, because Great Satan"s efforts to attain and retain supremacy are buttressed by an immense and productive economy that can readily sustain rises in defense spending, a history of alliances with other powerful countries, a potent and universalistic ideological appeal, systemic and environmental weaknesses and vulnerabilities in potential competitors, and a perception of legitimacy in leadership.

Pic - "Love it! Learn it! Live it!"

Art Of Containment

2011-12-12T00:00:00.001-05:00

Contained!

As best understood - it's the result of the act, attempt or art of containment. A policy of checking the expansion or influence of a hostile power or ideology, as by the creation of strategic alliances or support of client states or even non state actor outers in areas of conflict or unrest.

44's NS Something cat lays it out to play it out thusly:

“Iran today is fundamentally weaker, more isolated, more vulnerable and badly discredited than ever.”(PDF - right here ya'll)

Yes sir - Preacher Command of course is also fundamentally way more advanced, way more capable and way more closer than ever to achieving new clear deterring weaponry.

Not to bore your britches off (the old tricks are the best tricks, nicht wahr?) it's the multipoint initiation bay bee! Granting Persia a very scary new clear date of 2012 - next year!

Using the I word an amazing 17 times NSA Donilon kinda sorta redux's HRC's new clear umbrella

“We will continue to build a regional defense architecture that prevents Iran from threatening its neighbors. We will continue to deepen Iran’s isolation, regionally and globally.”

and getting Iran all isolated conjures shades of the dreaded containment mythical meme!

Why cause?

Because!

Containment requires credibility, a resource Great Satan will have drained if, after numerous warnings to the contrary, we permit Tehran to cross the nuclear threshold. And no matter how isolated, a nuclear Iran is likely to spark a destabilizing cascade of proliferation. Despite its own isolation, North Korea shares its nuclear technology. Iran might, too. Tehran’s enemies, led by Saudi Arabia, would seek safety behind their own nuclear deterrent.

And Iran and Little Satan, as former defense undersecretary Eric Edelman has argued, would have incentives to initiate a nuclear first strike, potentially dragging Great Satan into the conflict. All this would severely diminish American influ and drive up oil prices.

The Cost of Containment makes for amazingly discombobulated jäger bombish chiz - like the girl that repeatedly claims she's NOT attracted to you - yet pulls her pants down on the ride home.

Forget the PACRIM Pivet, forget Offshore Balancing (LOL), forget hot desires to unAss the ME and leave unhinged appearing elements to their own sectarian or hegemonic designs -

Containment will require intense levels of engagement, involvement, muscle and bling bling - enough to make last millennium's NATO/Warsaw Pact era look like a bargain at VicSec.

Pic - "Self Contained II"

WoW!

2011-12-10T00:00:00.002-05:00

*First place with 3 votes! Joshuapundit–-Heart Of Darkness; Obama’s Campaign To Make Israel A Scapegoat And Fool America’s Jews
Second place with 2 2/3 votes – The Razor-The Civics Lesson
Third place with 2 1/3 votes – Bookworm Room-Newt Gingrich and “the vision thing”
Fourth place with 1 vote – The Noisy Room – Apocalypse Nowish
Fifth place *t* with 2/3 vote – The Colossus Of Rhodey – Education Must Read
Fifth place *t* with 2/3 vote – Right Truth – Minority Rules Again – In The Military
Fifth place *t* with 2/3 vote – The Mellow Jihadi – Faced with Draconian Budget Cuts, the Air Force Drafts Gisele Bundchen’s Son Into the Flight Program
Fifth place *t* with 2/3 vote – The Right Planet – Soros And The Euro
Fifth place *t* with 2/3 vote – Simply Jews – The Left The Right And The Supreme Court
Fifth place *t* with 2/3 vote – VA Right! – Discussion: George Allen’s Record Examined in Detail
Sixth place with 1/3 vote – New Zeal – Communists Work on a New Improved, Pro – Obama “Occupy” Movement

Non-Council Winners

First place with 3 votes! – AnDrew McCarthy- Fears And Smearssubmitted byJoshuapundit
Second place with 1 2/3 votes – Mark Steyn – Egypt’s Descent submitted by The Watcher
Third place *t* with 1 1/3 votes - The New Criterion – Commune Plus One submitted by The Colossus of Rhodey
Third place *t* with 1 1/3 votes - Zen Pundit – Do Oligarchies Create Insurgencies? submitted by The Glittering Eye
Fourth place *t* with 1 vote -American Spectator – Back To The 1930′s submitted by The Right Planet
Fourth place *t* with 1 vote -Wird Danger Room – U.S. Built Its Own Secret Pakistani Spy Service submitted by Right Truth
Fifth place *t* with 2/3 vote -American Thinker – You can’t be pro-Obama and pro-Israel submitted by The Political Commentator
Fifth place *t* with 2/3 vote -UN Watch – Hillary Clinton to address UN tomorrow while UN rights chief Navi Pillay headlines event with anti-Semitic “Gaddafi Human Rights Prize” group submitted by Simply Jews
Fifth place *t* with 2/3 vote -The Wire – What to Expect from Putin After His Party’s ‘Reset’ submitted by GrEaT sAtAn”S gIrLfRiEnD
Fifth place *t* with 2/3 vote -Michael Totten – A Leaner, Meaner Brotherhood submitted by The Razor
Fifth place *t* with 2/3 vote -Atlas Shrugs – US Military Jihad: Rep. Peter King to hold fourth round of hearings submitted by VA Right!
Fifth place *t* with 2/3 vote -American Thinker – You can’t be pro-Obama and pro-Israel submitted by The Political Commentator
Fifth place *t* with 2/3 vote -Discovery – Boost Your WiFi Signal Using Only a Beer Can submitted by The Watcher
Sixth place *t* with 1/3 vote -Bring the Heat, Bring the Stupid – Demolitions submitted by he Mellow Jihadi
Fifth place *t* with 1/3 vote -Michael Berry – Party At Planned Parenthood? submitted by Rhymes With Right

See you next week! Facebook and Twitter

Overt Covert War

2011-12-09T00:00:00.001-05:00

So... how would vClausewitz put it?

The Frog of War? or "Wunderliche Dreifaltigkeit mein schatzen bitte!" nicht wahr?

See - despite reasoned reduxing via Vom Kriege, events au courrant make a wonderfully crunk case that violent emo, the sexyfull interplay of chance and probability and of course - the political handmaiden thingy - political calculations driven by reason. It seems semi sorta unlikely that emo, chance, and rationality will cease to be like key players in war (as in organized conflict) any time soon, regardless of State and Non State actor outers.

Despite inappropriate, boring assetted hangwringing and - let us speak plainly here - worrying about the wrong thing -

Maybe it won't happen. Maybe the war talk is more about destabilisation than a full-scale attack. But there are undoubtedly those in Great Britain and Great and Little Satan who think otherwise. And the threat of miscalculation and the logic of escalation could tip the balance decisively. Unless opposition to an attack on Iran gets serious, this could become the most devastating Middle East war of all.

And.
Must.
Stay.
Awake.

See, both Satans, Saudilanders and Great Britain have been posse in tandem - not always on the up and up w/each other about various hi jinks and chicanery sweetly delivered up Persia's tender, sensitive portions in an overtly covertly way.

Versus the Pre PBUH cat Chess Masters, the Kings of Strip Poker are shamelessly xforming asymmetrical warfare into an art form and sexyfully deigned and "designed to destabilize the country’s religious leadership."

Check it

“Some of the concern in the expert community is that in going this route we’re unleashing forces we cannot control.”

Some of those funintended consequences could be setting up Preacher Command and her proxylicious minions to over reachingly over react, suffering a pre plotted 2nd wave ala conventional warfare via vManstein"s Kharkov infamous Back hand B Slap

GsGf's Military Revolution and Poli Change cat gives up hot deets and big phased cookies about possible Iranian counters

Iran could venture to deploy Qods Force troops into Afghanistan to destroy aid projects, ambush troops, and interdict International Security Assistance Force convoys coming into the southern part of the country from Chaman and Spin Boldak in western Pakistan, not far from Iranian soil. Such convoys are of course already subject to intermittent stoppages by the Pakistani army.

Great Satan's present antagonisms with the Pakistani generals offer an opening for Iranian diplomacy. Iran could offer more favorable terms for gas and pipeline projects and support for Pakistani interests and aspirations in Afghanistan. In return, Pakistan could further restrict foreign troop convoys into Afghanistan.

Great Satan's naval presence in the Persian Gulf offers numerous possibilities. The Fifth Fleet facilities in Bahrain are within missile range, at least one carrier group is always inside the Gulf, and support ships routinely transit the Straits of Hormuz. All would be vulnerable to Iranian aircraft, missiles, and ships - especially if "swarming" tactics were used. Pentagon war-gaming of such attacks has reportedly been less than assuring.

Even a brief skirmish in the Gulf would send oil prices soaring on world markets, perhaps 15% in a day or two. Many economies would be adversely affected and world opinion might not side with Iran's opponents in affixing blame. Paradoxically, soaring prices would be a boon for Tehran.

Non-diplomatic efforts to press Iran to abandon its nuclear program have thus far been unsuccessful. They are getting out of control and are leading to violent retaliation and regional conflict.

The efforts are also firming government and popular support for nuclear research. They are also solidifying IRGC power in the state and changing Iran from a theocracy with a zealous military to a military-dominated bureaucracy with a clerical body legitimizing it.

And militaries often prefer violent actions to diplomatic ones.

Pic - "Iran, Les Choix des Armes?"

2nd Chance

2011-12-08T00:00:00.003-05:00

Chance!

An opportune or favorable time; an opportunity

As best understood - the ancient Warsaw Pact Cold War era realpolitik was an Epic Fail. The failed, played Forever Quest for Stability totally sucked at stability - it did provide tons of of wars, intolerance, genocide, terrorism and famine.

GsGf's semi psychic (he's also kinda hot) Persian Gulf Military cat gives up a totally hot hello that caveats the sirens of a return to realpolitk's amoral corrupt cult of Stability now that Arab Spring is about a year old.

It's a real chance to be the Great Satan realpolitik would never allow

Throughout the Cold War and over the past 20 to 30 years, Great Satan has seen the Middle East largely through the traditional lensof political power. It was the governments of the region that mattered, and conflictsbetween states that posed the greatest threat (even if those conflicts manifestedthemselves in competing attempts at internal subversion).

Because Great Satan had allied herself with those states that largely benefited from theprevailing geopolitical arrangements, Americans saw the status quo as highlybeneficial and any threat to it as correspondingly dangerous. Our great Araballies -- Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Jordan,Morocco -- all liked things the way they were.

Great Satan -- intent on ensuringthat the oil flowed and that Arab states were officially or unofficially atpeace with Little Satan -- also liked the way things were. Even Little Satan, after hervictories in 1967 and 1973 and her failed attempt to rearrange the Levantinestatus quo in her favor in 1982, had she become a status quo power.

Consequently, Great Satan became the great champion ofthe status quo in the Middle East and defined its adversaries -- Iran, Syria, Hiz'B'Allah,Hamas, and Libya (until 2004) -- as those states seeking to overturn the statusquo. In some sense this was correct, because those states were attempting to subvert the prevailing geostrategic realities tocreate new ones, centered on their own interests.

The great problem inherent in this construct was that thepeople of the Middle East saw the preservation of the status quo as condemningthem to eternal misery. Maintaining the status quo against all foreign anddomestic threats meant keeping the people of the Arab world down. It meantpreserving the stagnant economic, social, and political systems of the regionthat were the source of their frustration. Thus preserving the status quo meantdismissing the aspirations of the people of the Middle East.

Because Great Satan supported the traditional order for geopolitical reasons, this also put her on the wrong side of Arab public opinion. Washington's support for the status quo was based on its focus on the region's geopolitical dynamics, but for the people of the Middle East, whose central concern was the region's stagnant economies and callous autocracies, that same defense of the status quo became a defense of their oppressors. It was a principal (albeit not the only) cause of the region's pervasive anti-Americanism.

Today, this strategy is categorically the wrong one for Great Satan to pursue, if it ever was the right one. More than anything else, the great Arab Awakening has meant that the people of the region can no longer be dismissed. After the wave of popular upheavals that rolled across the region in 2011, no Arab or external government can ever again afford to ignore the wishes of its people.

The old status quo is gone. Parts of it might be preserved for some time in some places, but it will never be re-created. The only wise path that Great Satan can take at this point is to accept that change is coming to the region, and to help the people of the region shape that change to their ends.

If Great Satan comes to be seen as a willing partner of the Arab peoples in their quest to build a new kind of Middle East, then over time, we might find a new status quo emerge -- one that is truly peaceful and prosperous, and therefore stable.

And if Great Satan helps in that effort, perhaps it, too, can be transformed, from the most hated and feared foreign power to one of the most beloved.Certainly, America has nothing to lose. The strategy of the past condemned it to endless crises and conflicts in the Middle East, consuming more and more blood, treasure, and time as the years passed.

And for what?

In return, Great Satan reaped a volatile oil market and worsening anti-Americanism. It was not a very good deal. The Arab Awakening has offered Great Satan a second chance. It represents a new opportunity to remake America in Middle Eastern eyes

Pic - "The Arab Awakening: America and TheTransformation of the Middle East"

Infamy Day

2011-12-07T00:00:00.000-05:00

The 7 December 1941 Japanese raid on Pearl Harbor was one of the great defining moments in history. A single carefully-planned and well-executed stroke removed the United States Navy's battleship force as a possible threat to the Japanese Empire's southward expansion. America, unprepared and now considerably weakened, was abruptly brought into the Second World War as a full combatant.

Eighteen months earlier, President Franklin D. Roosevelt had transferred the United States Fleet to Pearl Harbor as a presumed deterrent to Japanese aggression. The Japanese military, deeply engaged in the seemingly endless war it had started against China in mid-1937, badly needed oil and other raw materials. Commercial access to these was gradually curtailed as the conquests continued.

In July 1941 the Western powers effectively halted trade with Japan. From then on, as the desperate Japanese schemed to seize the oil and mineral-rich East Indies and Southeast Asia, a Pacific war was virtually inevitable.

By late November 1941, with peace negotiations clearly approaching an end, informed U.S. officials (and they were well-informed, they believed, through an ability to read Japan's diplomatic codes) fully expected a Japanese attack into the Indies, Malaya and probably the Philippines. Completely unanticipated was the prospect that Japan would attack east, as well.

The U.S. Fleet's Pearl Harbor base was reachable by an aircraft carrier force, and the Japanese Navy secretly sent one across the Pacific with greater aerial striking power than had ever been seen on the World's oceans. Its planes hit just before 8AM on 7 December. Within a short time five of eight battleships at Pearl Harbor were sunk or sinking, with the rest damaged. Several other ships and most Hawaii-based combat planes were also knocked out and over 2400 Americans were dead.

Soon after, Japanese planes eliminated much of the American air force in the Philippines, and a Japanese Army was ashore in Malaya.

These great Japanese successes, achieved without prior diplomatic formalities, shocked and enraged the previously divided American people into a level of purposeful unity hardly seen before or since. For the next five months, until the Battle of the Coral Sea in early May, Japan's far-reaching offensives proceeded untroubled by fruitful opposition.

American and Allied morale suffered accordingly. Under normal political circumstances, an accomodation might have been considered.

However, the memory of the "sneak attack" on Pearl Harbor fueled a determination to fight on.

Once the Battle of Midway in early June 1942 had eliminated much of Japan's striking power, that same memory stoked a relentless war to reverse her conquests and remove her, and her German and Italian allies, as future threats to World peace.

Source - US Navy Historical Center

Pic - "Pearl Harbor"

Great Britain's Iran War Coalition

2011-12-06T02:07:00.000-05:00

"Oh! Albion remains...Sleeping now to rise again...Yeah!"

May such a delightful litt1e 10 minute ditty be segued into a soundtrack for events au courant?

"Ello Luv!

Great Britain's Daemoneoconic kindred spirit and Uncle Tony fan LOLS all the bloody L about getting not fully crunk with the military option on oath breaking Persia's Preacher Command

Check it

Instead, let’s ask ourselves what the practical implications would be if the Stop the War coalition won. If David Cameron and Barack Obama and Ban Ki-moon stood up in unison and said, “under no circumstances will we attack Iran”. The sabres were sheathed. The nudges and winks ceased. The Iranians were formally informed that whatever machines of infernal damnation they chose to construct, the could do so free from any risk of a military response.

The world would be safer? The middle east more stable? The families of Jerusalem and Tel Aviv able to sleep more soundly in their beds?

Syria does not to me seem a more tranquil place now we know the world has no intention of intervening to halt the internal repression that has so far lead to the deaths of 4,000 people. Nor, in fact, does the world’s muted response to the brutal crackdown following the 2009-2010 Iranian presidential elections appear to have encouraged liberalisation of that regime.

The military option is always a terrible one. But to remove it unilaterally from the table will not reduce the danger we face. It will increase it.

The Stop the War coalition is winning. We need a Start the War coalition.

Peace demands it.

Pic - "When in doubt - knock 'em out"

Polislam

2011-12-05T01:37:00.004-05:00

Dominion of the successor!

No surprise - the preacher posse did the ballot box in smashing fashion

See, in those newly trashed sec sec secular despotries that got all Arab Sprang"d - only the m"sk and the soccer stadiums were prett much the only spots where cats could hook up in large numbers and let off steam via heated jawflapping sans secret police hauling cats off for secret prisons, secret trials and secret executions.

As the best org'd - with legit anti regime bona fides - the preacher fans have scored big avec free, fair and open elections on or about sunny sunni Suez in Aegypt, Morroco and Tunisia.

Welcome to the age of "Political m"Hammedism", which may prove to be one of the most lasting legacies of the Arab spring. It is not only in Egypt that an unprecedented "Slamist political moment is playing out. In the recent Tunisian elections the moderate Ennahda was the biggest winner, while Morocco has elected its first "Slamist prime minister, Abdelilah Benkirane.

With Libya and Yemen in the wings - seems semi sorta likely that Polislam will dominate the ME

The quiz is - now what?

Will Arab Spring become an Anti Girl, Anti Xian Spring? Will pious intolerance flame up and out of control? How well can various preacher fanboys do problem solving, Writ of state or even keeping the trash picked up? Will things actually get more better - like in Aegypt?

"The short 90-year history of independent Egypt is that it got worse. Mubarak’s Egypt was worse than King Farouk’s Egypt, and what follows from last week’s vote will be worse still. If you’re a Westernized urban woman, a Coptic Christian, or an Israeli diplomat with the goons pounding the doors of your embassy, you already know that."

Or Arab Winter?

Where old regimes survive, they will be weak; where new ones come in, they will be weaker, because old institutions can be destroyed more quickly than new ones can be built. Both new and old leaders must play to public opinion, and this may lead to rash, incoherent foreign policies, as politicians make campaign promises that are not in their countries’ interests to fulfill.

Consider - failed nat'lism escorted in Polislam - yet will it not become unlike the failed despotries they replaced?

It is possible, of course, that their experiment ofreconciling "Slamic principles with modern statecraft andglobalized economies will fail. It may even result in religioustyrannies and the exodus of secular and liberal elites.

“Our arab people, of every nation,struggle for the restoration of their basic rights, liberty, andsovereignty. But we do not have sufficient experience withdemocracy … We fight and overthrow dictators, but notdictatorship itself.”

One election does not a democrazy make

"The political m"Hammedists wanted to know: Would the Americans allow them to run in free elections, even if it meant they might come to power?

The Americans turned the question back at them: Would the political m"Hammedists, if they won, allow free and democratic elections, even if it might mean losing power?

Building elected coalitions ala parliamentary politics - like Aegypt with the Salafists for example - will be a trip!

Pic - "We vow here to fight until the last drop of our blood. We can't do it now, but we will win the elections, unite the people, strengthen our army and prepare the hearts and minds of the soldiers so that we will be able to go to war against Little Satan."

WoW!

2011-12-03T02:06:00.000-05:00

WoW - the Watchers Council - it's the oldest, longest running cyber comte d'guere ensembe in existence - an eclective collective of cats both cruel and benign with their ability to put steel on target (figuratively - natch) on a wide variety of topictry across American, Allied, Frenemy and Enemy concerns, memes, delights and discourse.

Every week these cats hook up each other with hot hits and big phazed cookies to peruse and then vote on their individual fancy catchers.Without further adieu - or a don't here are this weeks winners

Council Winners

*First place with 3 1/3 votes! Joshuapundit–-Rats in the Kitchen: A Parable

Second place with 2 votes – Bookworm Room-Minority employees and “making it” in America

Third place with 1 2/3 votes – VA Right!-Richmond TEA Party Spite Tax Auditor Cynthia Carr Has Lost Her Privacy – Thanks, Mayor Gollum!

Fourth place *t* with 1 1/3 votes – The Razor-Fragile

Fourth place *t* with 1 1/3 votes – The Right Planet – Climategate 2.0 Updates Are ‘Fast & Furious’

Fourth place *t* with 1 1/3 votes – The Mellow Jihadi – The Navy, Anthony Weiner, and Mustaches

Fifth place *t* with 2/3 vote – The Noisy Room – To Be Taken With A grain Of Galt

Fifth place *t* with 2/3 vote – Simply Jews – A short history of another bullsh*t scoop

Fifth place *t* with 2/3 vote – Rhymes With Right – “There Is No Virtue In Being Compelled”

Fifth place *t* with 2/3 vote -The Political Commentator- Comrade Russia is screwing the U.S. yet again!

Sixth place *t* with 1/3 vote – New Zeal – Congressman Hansen Clarke and the Michigan Marxists

Sixth place *t* with 1/3 vote – The Colossus of Rhodey – O.W.S. still craving a Kent State moment

Sixth place *t* with 1/3 vote – GrEaT sAtAn”S gIrLfRiEnD – Syrian Coup d’état

Non-Council Winners

First place with 3 2/3 votes! – The Passing Parade- OWS IT GOING, AND IT SHOULD GO FASTER submitted bySimply Jews

Second place *t* with 2 2/3 votes – Caroline Glick – Calling Things By Their Proper Names submitted by The Political Commentator

Second place *t* with 2 2/3 votes – Sultan Knish – The Myth of the Arab Spring Underdog submitted by The Noisy Room

Third place with 2 votes -Accuracy In Media – The War On Police submitted by New Zeal

Fourth place *t* with 1 vote -The First Street Journal – When Western multiculturalism and sexual equality meets with Arab culture submitted by The Colossus Of Rhodey

Fourth place *t* with 1 vote - Wired Danger Room – Hero Marine Sues Defense Giant After Sniper Scope Fight submitted by Right Truth

Fourth place *t* with 1 vote -Sense of Events – What to say to the grieving submitted by The Glittering Eye

Fifth place *t* with 2/3 vote -Thurber’s Thoughts – You’re not a ‘victim’ if you’re shot while committing a crime submitted by Rhymes With Right

US, Pakistan differ on events leading to Mohmand strike submitted by GrEaT sAtAn”S gIrLfRiEnD

Sixth place *t* with 1/3 vote -Victor Davis Hanson – Why Not Pay Higher Taxes? submitted by Bookworm Room

Sixth place *t* with 1/3 vote -LATMA – Arab Times Are A Changin’ submitted by Joshuapundit

Sixth place *t* with 1/3 vote -Neptunus Lex – Lawsuit submitted by The Mellow Jihadi

Sixth place *t* with 1/3 vote - Pat Dollard – “STOP THIS!”: Eric Holder Demands Daily Caller Stop Publishing “Fast And Furious” Stories submitted by VA Right!

Sixth place *t* with 1/3 vote -American Thinker – Tebow, Palin, and the Pain of Remorse submitted by The Watcher

See you next week! Facebook and Twitter

Twin Surges

2011-12-02T00:00:00.001-05:00

Identical!

Separated by just a few mins at Joyeuex Anniversaire time, it was eons before cats could tell them apart. Before tossing a quarter to determine who went brune or blonde and kept the matching cuffs and collars - they could easily pass for each other - even amidst colleagues of long standing.

Yet they are totally diff critters in any and all avenues (Vertrauen'st du mir schatzen - ich weiß)

May such stunning social commentary be applied to COIN in Iraq and AFPAK?

Yes! Maybe, kinda sorta -

As all the cool kids know - "Surge" is kinda code for battling an insurgency. Original Surge in the land Atwixt the 2 Rivers was a tactical success - P4 saved a mostly lost war in Iraq w/ a counterinsurgency doctrine that helped win over the population, as the Surge in troops gave greater sec to Iraq’s gov and military.

Despite occasional violence, fewer Americans have been killed in Iraq in 2011 (53 in the most recent count) than in any year since the invasion — a quiet that could end with the departure of all American troops soon.

AFPAK Surge is a totally diff critter as the "Soulful Battle" - "War is the poppa of us all" cat l'academe shares...

By 2009, Afghanistan was spiraling out of control and seemed in need of a similar troop surge. 44 reluctantly agreed to send 20,000 reinforcements. Two prominent veterans of the Iraq turnaround, Petraeus and Marine general James Mattis, eventually took over command of the war and the surrounding theater to seek a repeat of what they had helped accomplish in Iraq.

Yet despite better security in some provinces, a general reduction in violence, and a decline this year in American fatalities, public support for the war in Afghanistan is at an all-time low. The violent country still remains about eight times more deadly to American troops than is Iraq.

Soooo - why cause Original Surge rocked yet AFPAK Surge is all discombobulated?

Lack of commensurate diplomatic support.

In Iraq, Amb. Ryan Crocker worked closely with Petraeus and the Iraqi government to integrate civilian and military strategy. That sort of cohesion — until the recent dispatch of Crocker to Afghanistan — was lacking in 2009 and 2010. Instead, endemic squabbling between American ambassadors, the Afghan government, Great Satan"s military, and regional State Department diplomatic czars hampered unity of purpose.

Afghanistan ain't Iraq Captain Obvious - and alla fake believe chiz bout Good War/Bad War was always an LOLable, fake argument.

Afghanistan poses far more challenges than Iraq. Whereas Iraq has billions of dollars in state oil revenue, impoverished Afghan gangs export opium. Iraqis are part of the larger Arab world, living in its most strategically important area. Afghans are far more isolated and less critical to the world economy.

Flat, arid, and clear-skied Iraq is accessible by sea and ideal for air operations. Landlocked Afghanistan is mountainous and hard to supply, with a harsh climate and often stormy weather. A nuclear and duplicitous Pakistan plays far more havoc than did even Iraq’s meddling neighbors. Iraq has a stronger secular tradition, and its population is mostly literate. Afghanistan is far more fundamentalist and tribal, with well over half the population illiterate.

Addition'l diff betwixt the Twin Surges too.

As what vClausewitz nom d'guerres as the handmaiden of politics hookup, Original Surge was ordered by 43 - who, as best understood - was not about to lose a war he initiated. 43 was a true believer that birthin' baby democracy in Iraq was not our first, but last choice. It was not a good option, only a bad one when the other alternatives sucked far worse. What Great Satan is trying to do in the ME is costly, easily made fun of and unappreciated. So? Constitutional gov is one course that might someday free Middle Easterners from kidnappings, suicide bombers and dictators in Ray Bans.

That's in our interest and theirs alike.

As soon as 44 announced his own Afghan surge, he also promised to set dates for withdrawal. Fairly or not, both our military and the enemy concluded that American departure, rather than securing the country, was the overriding concern.

4 diff generals have commanded operations in Afghanistan in a span of less than three years — a far different scenario than P4"s continued tenure during the Surge in Iraq. Americans are also tiring of the war: When P4 took over in Iraq, we had been at war almost four years; 2011 saw the 10th anniversary of an exhausting war in Afghanistan.

Finally, we still do not know all the reasons that Iraq quieted in 2008 and 2009. There may have been ancillary factors for the surge’s success. A steady increase in Iraqi oil revenues helped. In 2006, well before the surge, many fed-up Sunni leaders had abruptly joined Americans and turned on the murderous terrorists in their midst. And by 2007, Americans had cumulatively killed thousands of foreign hajies, proxies, home grown ex-Ba"Athists and Mahdi Army JAM Especial Groups.

Adding more troops and changing tactics might not have been the entire story of success in Iraq. A surge alone in Afghanistan likewise may not so easily turn things around without other such positive developments.

Continuity of American command, an ironclad commitment from the president to finish the job, diplomatic and military unity, and far more help from everyday Afghans are critical to the surge. Without all that, more troops and better tactics still will not bring the sort of success that we saw in Iraq.

Pic - "Surge Baby Surge!"

The New KPA

2011-12-01T00:00:00.003-05:00

Juche'!

Since way back in the Before Time the world has been magically blessed with 2 Koreas - the yankee part is little more than a starving, slave trading underground rocket factory with an unfree, unfun new clear weaponized nation state attached led by the undying Dear Leader with Young General in the wings just in case.

As far as NoKo's Peoples Army goes - 1st glancers could be somewhat forgiven for thinking out loud that NoKo's conscript army is more like an uber artillery rich flea market of ancient Warsaw Pact weaponry.

GsGf"s Nippon Def Force (Land Warfare) Officer and brainiac academ l'guerre shares a few choice observations about the new millenniumistic upgrade KPA and the diversification of military capabilities.

"KPA is more than a collection of Cold War military platforms. Aside from Mig-29s, the majority of platforms are models designed and produced during the 1960s or earlier. Ever since Pyongyang constructed its ideological stronghold on the Korean Peninsula,the North Korean gov has been ingrained with the belief that modernization isn’t so much about tech innovation, but innovation in the use of existing technology.

NoKo has an overwhelming stock of upgraded Y-5 (the Chinese variant of the Antonov-2) transport aircraft fitted with stealth capabilities and KN-01 missiles. Against this backdrop, the modernization of the KPA doesn’t necessarily require major adjustments in investment or structural management. Instead, the process simply exploits existing conventional platforms by applying asymmetric capabilities.

Signs of North Korea realigning its conventional military capabilities have been there for at least the past two years. In January 2010, the KPA held its “Combined Maneuvers” military exercise, which involved the KPA’s ground, air and naval services. The fact that exercises of this nature have never been held (at least officially) since Kim Jong-il’s rise to power in 1992, hinted that the KPA is reconfiguring itself into something new. Following the “Combined Maneuvers” exercise, the KPA began to partially actualize its “new” capabilities by sinking the Cheonan, conducting several artillery drills near the Northern Limit Line (NLL), and the deadly shelling of Yeonpyeong Island.

For North Korea, the military “provocations” of 2010 proved that the utilization of conventional platforms were just as, if not more, effective as strategic weapons for upsetting the U.S. alliance with the South. Not only did the attacks bewilder SoKo and Great Satan, but their response was delayed and ineffectual. There’s therefore good reason to believe that North Korea will continue to diversify its conventional military capabilities to seize its asymmetric edge over the SoKo/Great Satan alliance hook up.

More extra alarming developments in the KPA this past year include

Structural developments:

Despite technological weaknesses, NoKo’s knowledge-based technology seems to have advanced to the point where it’s capable of conducting DDoS and jamming attacks. Recent reports also claim that large-scale jamming facilities are currently under construction in areas near the demilitarized neutral zone (DMZ).

Increase in the activities of artillery/MLR (Multiple Launch Rocket) units in the coastal areas near the NLL with the Yeoneo (130t) and Saneo (300t) class submarines, and the recent testing of air-to-ship missiles with Ilyushin-28 Beagle (w/sev China copies H5 Hongzhaji) bombers.

In offensive terms, North Korea has qualitatively diversified its conventional military capabilities by increasing the number of options to further develop its asymmetric threat. In terms of defense, recent developments could be seen as being directed at strengthening its deterrence capabilities along the DMZ and NLL.

Biggest threat to South Korea – the increased efficiency and effectiveness in the mobilization of its special operations (SOF) troops. A recent South Korean Defense White Paper, for example, stated that North Korea has approximately 200,000 personnel designated as special operations forces, with roughly a quarter of them forward deployed along the DMZ. Successful coordination of cyber/electronic attacks and bombardment by artillery, meanwhile, would allow smoother infiltration by the KPA’s guerilla troops into South Korea.

KPA’s conventional forces still suffer from at least two weaknesses.

1st off - power projection capabilities – especially in the country’s air force. While the KPA has an abundant stock of air platforms, overall combat readiness is undermined not only by an aging inventory, but also because of the severe shortages of fuel. Even in emergencies, North Korean fighter jets have avoided engaging with South Korean F-15Ks. Kim Jong-il’s unsuccessful attempts at acquiring China’s J-10 fighter jets last May, meanwhile, highlights Pyongyang’s desire to remedy its inferiority in terms of airpower.

And the negative impact of the political process. As heir apparent Kim Jong-un rises up the ranks in the North Korean system, ideological discipline has been strengthened, while significant organizational changes have been taking place in both the KPA and the Workers Party of Korea (WPK). While this may bolster the North Korean leadership’s political security, it inevitably distracts the regime from addressing technical issues in the KPA.

The complexity of the KPA highlights the ongoing problems with North Korea’s defense planning. In 1962, Kim Il-sung issued the sa dae gunsa roson (Four Grand Military Lines), which aimed to: modernize the entire KPA; establish a cadre-based military; ensure nationwide fortification; and arm all citizens. Ironically for North Korea, the very system designed to strengthen the KPA became the source of its defense planning failures simply because it was beyond the state’s capacity to cope with it.

KPA’s diversifying capabilities are part of longstanding efforts by Pyongyang to achieve the Four Grand Military Lines aimed at compensating forNorth Korea’s shortcomings in the regional security balance. However, while North Korea may have been successful in strengthening its military leverage, it has fallen short of guaranteeing the regime’s security. North Korea’s realignment of its military capabilities also reflects the state’s shaky domestic foundations.

What ev - KPA’s diffusionary diversifying and sexing up military capabilities will prob never make NoKo totally Juchelicious - self reliant or a hot and fully crunk “strong and prosperous nation.”

Yet it sure makes NoKo a potentially more deadly nation/state.

Pic - "Boom boom - like it like it"

Borderline

2011-11-30T00:00:00.002-05:00

Nishan - e - Haider!

"Be with you girl - like being low. Hey! Hey! Hey! Like being stoned"

This delightful little ditty from way back in the last millennium makes a wonderfully crunk soundtrack for the 'lationship au courant betwixt Great Satan and her only client new clear army with a nation state attached.

Oh, it is so! All the cool kids knew eons ago the AF part of AFPAK is about as good as it can get - until (unless) certain 'no go zones' across the magical Durand line are violently xform'd into combat zones.

Which could be interpreted to be going on right now, ala the recent border clash betwixt NATO and Land of The Pure that has Pakistan tore up from the floor up.

"Although it is currently unknown what triggered the "tactical development" along the Afghan-Pakistan border on Nov. 26, given recent events in the area it is likely that the aerial destruction of the remote Pakistani outposts was prompted by either the movement of Taliban fighters between Kunar and Mohmand or by artillery salvos emanating from Mohmand, or both."

And it's equally true cats with zero affinities for Taliban, al Qaeda or the Haqqi Network will be totally dissed and resentfully resent, violently even, having their nation state assailed with Drones Gone Wild and air power from abroad.

Against this backdrop--Pakistan careening from one crisis to the next and the Land of the Pure - Great Satan hook up at lowest level of suck available so far - - the quiz is - was NATO set up?

Reports suggest the Taliban may have deliberately tried to provoke a cross-border firefight that would set back the fragile menage à trois l'guerre betwixt Great Satan, NATO and Pak.

See, insurgency warfare is kinda hit and run - and it's hurtfully unhelpfull if the insurgents have a spot to run to after the hit

Pakistan remains a safe haven for insurgents, which makes military victory almost impossible. "Slamabad is also unwilling to allow coalition forces to root out the Taliban and foreign fighters because they may, one day, come in handy. The strategic rationale for supporting the Taliban - to have a sympathetic, radically "Slamist neighbor on its western flank - is an inescapable fact of geography.

Such a set up and the aftermath is unclear - yet certain conclusions may be Cordesman'd

If Pakistan should effectively cease all cooperation with Great Satan and ISAF in allowing transit through Pakistan, it would shut off a critical supply route in the winter, and one for which there is no good alternative. The Northern route is barely possible, but it would take months to find out just how much capacity is really available, and even under the best conditions, the capacity would be inadequate and the lead times would seriously affect both the campaign and aid efforts in 2012.

Pakistan needs aid, however, and at least a minimal face of good relations with her largest patron. It seems likely that this crisis will get papered over with an ISAF apology, a bribe in the form of better aid flows, and some kind of smokescreen about better liaisons. In the process, however, the NATO will face even less prospects that Pakistan will really crackdown on insurgent groups in the border area, or stop seeing Afghanistan as an area where it competes with India, and which is useful for strategic depth in some future war with India.

There will be a new façade, but the fundamental differences in strategic perspective will remain. A largely vacuous set of new pledges and promises in the coming conference in Bonn will not affect the reality that Pakistan now acts on the basis that the ISAF forces allies will be gone at the end of 2014, and it must now serve its own interests in keeping ties to the Taliban, Haqqani, and Hekmatayer.

Like many other regional states - and many states outside the region - Pakistan will talk about new efforts at regional cooperation and helping Afghanistan, but it will seek to create a zone of influence along its borders. It will do what it can to use any talks between the Afghan government and the insurgents to its own advantage, and to try to push the Afghan government into closer ties to Pakistan and away from the US. It will try again to reach out to China as a substitute for US aid - although China is unlikely to be much more forthcoming than in the past. It will ensure that any remaining US advisory presence is narrowly constrained in ways that serve the Pakistani military, and place even more limits on US intelligence and use of UCAVs.

This will not cripple the US transition effort, but it will further undercut it. It will make reaching any kind of stable outcome in both Afghanistan and Pakistan as the US and ISAF withdraw their forces even more doubtful. It will also send a message to Russia, China, the Central Asian states, India, and Iran that they must do what they can to buffer themselves against the coming cuts in US and ISAF forces, spending in the region, and aid to Afghanistan and Pakistan. There will be more talk of a regional solution, aid pledges, and enduring support, but the reality will be very different. Every state will act to its own advantage and pursue its own view of its narrow self-interests.

This will make Afghanistan's "transition" even more difficult to do major without US and ISAF forces and anything like the present level of spending and aid even more difficult, and create even more problems for Free World allies in getting the legislative support and funds they need. It also will isolate Pakistan more, make the tensions between its civil government and military worse, and reduce outside aid. It will also mean that even if - as seems most likely - Pakistan does reopen its supply routes to the US and ISAF, relations will remain so tense that new incidents and crises in US and Pakistani relations are inevitable.

This will undermine the already uncertain chances America can actually achieve any stable benefits from the war after 2014 - either in Afghanistan or Pakistan

Pic - "Pakistan's State Motto could very well be sump like "Hey y'all! Watch this!"