Reach Out!

"You could live easy if life stood still" 

Can the Paw Paw era soundtrack for the o tuff love scenario be applied like 'kini wax to certain - uh - sensitive, tender portions -  in the often unreal risible arena of diplopolititary endeavors au courant?

Like 44's recent excellent foreign adventure day trip through democratic m'Hammedist rich nation states? 

In India - 44 got bushwacked by the you know what quiz and replied with the usual pontificating pontificate preponderance of how precious, praised and preferred  an unexcitable, less rowdy laid back PBUHism  could be

In the increasingly intolerant democracy of Indonesia, 44 was on the biz end of a really pertinent quiz - the status of Great Satan's outreach effortry to m"hammedists worldwide and responded with even way more inappropriate handwringing disguised as progress and threw in some sister democrazy trash talk 'bout Little Satan's Apartments of War.


Well, that's the rub, nicht wahr? 

Great Satan's outreaching reach around to the m'Hammedist world' premise is totally bassackwards. Tardist in fact.


A far better case could be easily made repeatedly, without modesty or restraint that a certain powerless power bloc should be reaching out to Great Satan. 

Why not?

Woman worshipping, blood thirsty, blood sucking Great Satan, has in little over a decade, freed Palestinian hatin' haughty Kuwait, saved bunches of Bosnians, kaboodles of Kosovars, fed skinny Somalis, urged Commonwealth not to kill Chechnyans, warned the world about Sudan's creepy little Hitler Junior, put paid to the genuinely insane Taliban's genocidal rule and made dang sure that no longer were Shiites and Kurds to be literally ground to dust in Iraq.

Not to mention giving tons of bling to rocket rich rejectionists and PLOld school illegit regimes -  who haven't held an election since Pre Surge days - m'hammedists all - in the faux Palestines

Or, way back in the last millennium (1973 for those who collect such intell) when Great Satan asked Little Satan to please not park her panzers in downtown Cairo and Damascus. Or, that Great Satan blings way more tons of cash to Egypt, Jordan and Pakistan than she ever has for Little Satan.

 
Surely Shirley - that's worth a little recog and a high 5 or 3.


In an add 'em up additional addition - there are actually a few no strings attached signals  le m"Hammedist Bloc could send, aside from o, say Land of the Pure's Superiority Laws. 

Return Hagia Sophia :
One of Xiandoms oldest Churches taken in a bloody battle and xformed along with Constantinople into yet another m'sque in Istanbul. Returning it to Xianity would be a wonderfully crunk attempt to build bridges betwixt 2 Peaceful religiosities, as well as defuse the - uh,  surely disputable - idea that a certain conquering belief consecrates victory monuments to victory on the foundations of  conquered beliefs.  


Self imposed tolerance: 
Like a few gay bars in Damscus, Strip Clubs in the Strip, breast cancer centers in Baluchistan, churches in Jeddah, abortion clinics in Amman and casinos in Cairo would be nice too.

Or a rich, leisured indepth creatively cooperative response to Uncle Tony's latest quiz 'bout why cause certain elements in Europa - for whatever reason - cannot leave ancient tribalistic superiority complexes in the old country and hop on in the fun free choice new millennium.

"...There has to be a shared acceptance that some things we believe in and we do together: obedience to certain values like democracy, rule of law, equality between men and women; respect for national institutions. This common space cannot be left to chance or individual decision. It has to be accepted as mandatory..." 

A friendly hello to Little Satan could be done in like a billion diff ways. 
Official recog as a nation state. The "3 No's of Khartoum' have totally backfired in any measure of endeavor and have solved nothing - aside from massive LOLZ  re: Arab League's laughably pitiful military bona fides

UnAssing the al Aqza thingy and returning the you know what to Little Satan easily comes to mind. All the cool kids know the PBUH guy himself hopped a tripping trip on a unicorned peaguses to the far off m'sque in the before time. Izzy City is never mentioned as le place des armes in the k'ran - the furtherest m'sk could very well be 1/2 way 'round the globe from Mecca (truly - who could say?) - not a day's bus ride up the road.
 
Increasingly - not only Americans - yet perhaps most of Great Satan's Hot! League of Democrazies fubar sistas - are sick of a one way - all the way - reach around to tons of 7th century thinking (cos they don't know the secret!!) that appears intolerantly unhinged, mean to girls, risibly backwards and politically helplessly hopeless.

There are tremendous opportunities for such an outreach to Great Satan.



Pic - "Hey y'all! Take hold of the flame!"

Teufel Hunden Day!

Celebrating a 235 year old birthday, Great Satan's Marine Corps is an American treasure. "Semper Fidelis" (Always Faithful)) is especially sweet since her 1st foreign debut centuries ago. In a remakable twist of deja vu, a very young America was faced with a desperate choice - pay ransom cash to an 8th century caliphate or undertake to launch a war thousands of miles away on the shores of North Africa.

Diplomacy was the first choice and Great Satan's Thomas Jefferson himself met with a duly commissioned rep of the 'Barbary Coast'. His report to Congress is totally familiar to Americans in the New Millenium:

"The ambassador answered us that the right was founded on the Laws of the Prophet, that it was written in their Koran, that all nations who should not have answered their authority were sinners, that it was their right and duty to make war upon them wherever they could be found, and to make slaves of all they could take as prisoners, and that every Mohammedist who should be slain in battle was sure to go to paradise."

Jefferson used the Marine Corps to grant them their very wish. A task force led by the USS Enterprise stormed into the 8th century and defeated the Mohammedists in Great Satan's very first regime change.

Great Satan's enemies have learned the hard way that the Marine Corps is very often the piercing tip of the American spear. Like Kaiser Wilhelm's vaunted Prussian elites who admiringly christened the Americans at Bellau Wood - das Teufel Hunden - 'Devil Dogs'.

"Retreat Hell - We just got here."

Sweet irony that Deutschland surrendered on the day after the Marines 143rd birthday

10 November 1775 to 10 November 2010. Always Faithful indeed. Happy Birthday USMC!

The Marine Anchor, Eagle and Globe is a wonderful reminder to America's friends and enemies that Great Satan built the modern world.

And she knows her way around.

Pic - "First to fight for right and freedom And to keep our honor clean; We are proud to claim the title Of United States Marine.

Dedicated to Lance Corporal Sharp - his name liveth evermore

'Splaining Progressive FoPo

"Imma Bee Imma Bee Imma Imma Bee Bee"

At 1st glance, 1st glancers can be forgiven for thinking that something something 'Progressive  Foreign Policy and Nat'l Sec Think' is often a noxious noisome mix of "lay back and enjoy it," "hoping for the best" while indulging in thug huggery, internat'l nonprofit jawflapping or splendid isolationism and fleeing the modern world that Great Satan herself created and maintains.

While often shooting fun, friendly sparks off each other in a six foot jet, Armchair Generalist (and  - across the havoc of ideological divides - let it be known AcG is simply one of the best fully crunk siteses out yonder) snatched up and returned the accidental on purpose airdropped kerchief ala gauntlet via moi. 

"...Given a multi-polar world that features a rapidly changing global economy and evolving technologies, ensure that the United States maintains the freedoms and security of its people and interests within its borders and exercise its security interests around the world, while exercising a resource-based national security strategy that emphasizes diplomatic and economic engagements over military engagements.

"...I know it could be better crafted than this, but I'm just freelancing here. 

• Asia is going to be the main stage of the 21st century, but planning for a potential war against China is just foolishness. China's got a long way to go before it ever presents an expansionist threat, but the US government can re-invigorate and strengthen SEATO as a regional counterweight the way NATO was used against the former Soviet Union. Pull US forces out of Japan, South Korea, and Okinawa and look for joint basing agreements in the Philippines and Australia. Continue security and stability engagements with all countries in the region.
•  
• In the Middle East, pull US forces out of Iraq and Afghanistan as rapidly as possible, while negotiating with their governments as to roles for US advisors to continue training their security forces. Use the Gulf Cooperation Council to build on regional interdependence and to grow individual state capabilities. Maintain a military presence in UAE and Kuwait and the local waters to contain any state aggression. Reduce foreign military aid to Pakistan, Israel, and Egypt and make it dependent on their compliance with US security objectives in the region. 
•  
• In Africa, absolutely do not increase US forces for action in Yemen, Somalia, Sudan, or other nations. Build up security capabilities of African states as far as US security interests are concerned. Emphasize diplomatic and economic aid packages, build on literacy and disease eradication efforts. Aggressively promote US security and economic interests through engagement by State, not DOD.
•  
• In Europe, pull out all but one Army brigade (rotate at Grafenwoehr) and a few Air Force wings (at Ramstein AB). Retain US membership in NATO for as long as the European nations think our contributions remain valuable, but focus on needed institutional reforms that reduce unwieldy command and control methods and that emphasize European defense as the main goal of the organization (i.e., lose the expeditionary role). Let NATO worry about missile defense against Iran and eliminate the US plans to emplace two major missile defense bases in Poland and the Czech Republic.
•  
• In the Americas, strengthen the US Coast Guard to better execute interdiction missions as well as traditional missions. High tech sensors can only supplement for personnel and walls, but it should be clear that improving the economic conditions of Mexico and Canada and reducing the American demand for drugs will work much better in reducing illicit trafficking than physical barriers. Lift the travel restrictions to Cuba and its communist practices will collapse within a few years. Stop paying so much attention to Chavez, he's a two-bit player who enjoys having the United States as an adversary. Focus more on stabilizing legitimate governments and move them away from corrupt, internal security-focused regimes.

As far as topical goals, recommended as "progressive":

• The military needs to be focused on defending the homeland from external threats, and prepared to engage adversaries using expeditionary forces. We do need modernization across the board, but the DOD requirements and acquisition process is out of control and needs to be reined in hard. We cannot afford to execute multiple combat operations and adequately modernize our forces, because by trying to do both we short-change both efforts and just grow the deficit instead. Politicians are part of the problem and are not helping. The services could easily improve their efficiencies such as having joint medical forces, joint transportation and logistics forces, joint legal and admin experts.
•  
• As far as homeland security, reform DHS to be more than a collection of agencies and make them do their jobs. DOD isn't the best to lead the federal response to a "WMD incident" just because it has a few technical specialists in this area. We need to be much smarter about "risk-based" management of homeland security, and could start by getting rid of all the biological and radiological detectors dotting the United States. It's not cost-effective or operationally effective. DOD isn't the best agency to lead "cyberwarfare" or countering cyber-attacks (neither is the intelligence community). I think we all know that, but no one wants to grow the government and make a national counter-cyber agency. 
•  
• Combating terrorism must be led by law enforcement (DOJ/FBI) and supported by the intel community, using the military special operations discretely and rarely, and ideally in participation with other nations. The presence of terrorist groups or other non-state actors in weak/failing states and "global commons" is not a rationale for military action. Rather, tracking and intercepting terrorists (using internationally-accepted laws) as they attempt to use the global economy and transportation hub is the key. Close Gitmo and give it back to Cuba already. It's an unnecssary exception that runs counter to national and international legal methods that work fine today. 
•  
• Combating WMD is a failed strategy in which the US government believes it can contain and eliminate a particular threat through a step-wise methodology of nonproliferation (involving other nations) and counterproliferation (involving US-only military). Nonproliferation activities do allow willing states to participate in a group activity that reduces a number of dangerous weapon systems that could negatively impact noncombatants, but the general nature of WAR negatively impacts noncombatants. US forces need counterproliferation capabilities, but it's an operational issue that cuts across the range of military operations. It's not an excuse to go to war if a "WMD-capable" nation is building and not using them. 
•  
• Maintain our nuclear weapons capability at the New START levels and engage the Russians on the "non-strategic" nuclear weapons. No one is going to use them anyway, let's start phasing them out, starting with the ones in Europe. Global Zero isn't going to happen as long as any other nation has a nuke. Deal with it. National missile defense will never be cost-effective or sustainable, nor is it required. Other nations view our effort as our government desiring a "first strike" capability. Just get rid of it. 
•  
• As a general rule, "preventive" intervention is really hard to justify, and while pre-emptive attacks might be justified if an adversarial nation is going to attack the United States, it's really hard to see a case for that. If a terrorist group in that "weak/failing" state or "rogue state" or "global commons" is about to launch an attack against the United States, and law enforcement/special ops can't interdict the bad guys, then sure, launch a few cruise missiles or a long-range strike aircraft. But don't believe that this solves anything. 
•  
• Improve the strategic communications effort across the US government and especially within DOD. It's really not that hard, but people keep trying to invent new angles and they confuse information warfare, psyops, and public relations with strategic communications. It's really simple - it's a matter of outlining one's goals and activities and demonstrating to a select audience that you're doing what you said you were going to do. It's the execution that's hard.

 Pic - "Up In The Air"

Thug Hug?

Yo b'attache!

Hot gossip that  44's dispatched a sitting senator to reach out and do the non profit jawflapping exercise with genocidal Sudan is hot!

A bribe of sorts - Great Satan "...would agree to accelerate consideration of Khartoum's removal from the list of state sponsors of terrorism to July 2011 if Sudan meets certain specified conditions related to the conduct and respect for the outcome of a scheduled January vote on southern Sudan's possible secession."

This is significant

"....Kerry has been meeting with Sudanese government officials since Friday "about the decision taken in the administration to move up rescinding Khartoum as a state sponsor of terrorism to July 2011 provided the government of Sudan lives up to its obligations to:

1) prepare for and conduct a transparent and on-time referendum on the status of Southern Sudan, and 

2) respects the results of that referendum," a senior U.S. official told journalists on a hastily arranged call Sunday.

 Field Marshal President for Life Bashir is the only sitting head of state formally and officially indicted for war crimes and crimes against humanity-  it would be way more better to concrete a deal with Sudan in exchange for recogging seperation - and handing over the Field Marshal Prez.

Pic  - "No U.S. president has ever suffered politically for his indifference to its occurrence. It is thus no coincidence that genocide rages on."

Council WoW

Council Winners

• First place with 2 2/3 votes! – Bookworm Room - NPR’s carefully crafted tales — and why I don’t listen anymore
• Second place with 2 votes – The Glittering Eye – Tyrant For a Day
• Third place *t* with 1 2/3 votes - Right Truth – Changes in Fighting Terrorism and the Conservative Tsunami
• Third place *t* with 1 2/3 votes - Simply Jews – The dull, throbbing anxiety of Jonathan Franzen’s potential reader
• Fourth place with 1 vote - The Razor – Life in the Echo Chamber
• Fifth place with 2/3 vote - GrEaT sAtAn”S gIrLfRiEnD – Miss Beautiful Morals
• Sixth place with 1/3 vote - Rhymes With Right – A Quick Note On Texas Poll Watchers Standing Behind Voters

Non Council Winners

• * First place with 2 2/3 votes! – Big Questions Online - In Praise of Irrational Exuberance submitted by The Colossus of Rhodey
• Second place with 1 2/3 votes – RedState – Pretending The Union Money Doesn’t Exist submitted by Rhymes With Right
• Third place *t* with 1 1/3 votes – HillBuzz -An Open Letter to Rush Limbaugh and His Listeners — With Notes on the Democrat Civil War Already In Progress submitted by Joshuapundit
• Third place *t* with 1 1/3 votes -The Daily Bail – When The Big Banks Come Crawling Back, Screw ‘Em! Talking Points for the Anti-Bank Bailout Revolution submitted by The Glittering Eye
• Fourth place *t* with 2/3 vote – FrontPageMag – Thomas Sowell -Legacy of Lies submitted by The Razor
• Fourth place *t* with 2/3 vote - Abu Muqawama – An Open Letter to the Washington Post submitted by GrEaT sAtAn”S gIrLfRiEnD
• Fourth place *t* with 2/3 vote - YouTube/Team CrazyTalk -We Are The Ones: O RLY? submitted by Bookworm Room
• Fourth place *t* with 2/3 vote - RedState – A Special Note to Our Democrat Readers in Washington submitted by VA Right
• Fourth place *t* with 2/3 vote - Contentions - Some Historical Perspective on Negative Campaigning submitted by The Watcher
• Fourth place *t* with 2/3 vote - RedState – Pretending The Union Money Doesn’t Exist submitted by Rhymes With Right

Achilles Heel?

Quiz time!

So, what all does aQ's semi diminished ability to strike spectacular strikes, failed airborne chicanery from hopelessly backwards areas like Yemen (cos they don't know the secret!) and Great Satan's south 40 have in common?

Actually - a bodacious amount m'seur! 

One of Great Satan's hoochies lays steel on target with a hot! piece that includes the following money shots ala nat'l sec

"...Al Qaeda may be in trouble; it can no longer afford to lose its operatives in failed attacks. But that also may mean something more nefarious: We need to watch our borders more closely for anonymous entry. A key underlying concern caused by Mexican cartel violence on our border is possible exploitation by terrorist organizations, most particularly Hezbollah (Iran's terrorist arm) and al Qaeda. Recent arrests of senior Hezbollah operatives working closely with cartels out of northern Mexico and al Qaeda's interest in the Colombian FARC are just a few of the reasons for heightened concern.

 "...What does a crisis on our borderlands have to do with a cargo plot originating in Yemen, now said to have been just 17 minutes from at least one detonation? Mounting evidence suggests that al Qaeda needs anonymity on the front end of operations - and our borders between ports of entry are a near-guaranteed way to preserve that anonymity. One way to achieve mayhem is exactly what al Qaeda tried with the cargo-plane plot - sending nearly undetectable packages filled with PETN (pentaerythritol tetranitrate), mailed by using a stolen identity, authorities think, through a vulnerable aviation system. Our physical borders offer something similar: likely undetected operatives using any identity (or none) through hundreds of miles of scantily patrolled, vulnerable U.S. borderlands. 

"...This affords al Qaeda the ability to use a suicide bomber without the United States ever being able to positively identify the perpetrator forensically. Anonymity means success because the United States knows nothing, can place no responsibility on al Qaeda and cannot go after the organization afterward unless al Qaeda decides to take credit. If you are al Qaeda and losing ground in the war on terror, that may look like a pretty good outcome.


"...There is no doubt that the battleground against terrorist operations is wide and requires constant upgrades in the areas of intelligence, information-sharing, immigration and aviation security. However, securing our physical borders has long been doable. What has been lacking has been the will to do it. If we are concerned as a nation that al Qaeda may be moving toward anonymity, that is just one more sound reason to make our border secure and stop pretending it already is.

Pic - "Fencin'"

Asking For It

Casus Belli!

As previously previewed, the WikiLeaky leaks stripped bare the upheld faux notion of a kind of 'Grand Bargain" of sorts with crazy girl fearing, Little Satan obsessed Preacher Command in Tehran.

For 44 - it gets worse - extending a friendly hello, laurel and hardy handshake - to an illegit regime - "...to Khamenei not because the president is slow to anger when aggrieved Third Worlders kill Americans, but because he saw Iranian activity in Iraq, deplorable as it was, as somehow extricable from Iranian foreign policy toward the United States.

Well, see, the prob for 44's wishful thinking FoPo ala Iran "...is that Ali Khamenei and his inner circle really like to kill Americans. They had relatively few opportunities to do so before the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. But those wars have brought American targets near. The Iranians are killing Americans not as Persian dynasties once fought the intrusions of Byzantines from the West and marauding Turkic horsemen from the East, because they are invaders. They’re targeting Americans in Iraq and Afghanistan because they can do so easily.

"...It doesn’t help that Washington has been trying to establish in Iraq a Shiite-led democratic system that, if it starts to function properly, will complicate Khamenei’s despotic rule in Shiite Iran. We may not see much significance in the fact that the regime-shaking, pro-democracy Green Movement developed after America established “outposts” in Iraq and Afghanistan, but Khamenei and his guards undoubtedly do.

If and when Persia does go new clear - 44's fecklessness may actually invite a contest l'guerre:

"...If the press reports are true about Iran now supplying surface-to-air missiles to the Taliban, then we are asking for Khamenei and the Revolutionary Guards to hit us even harder if we don’t respond militarily to their provocation. Such weaponry is a significant escalation over Explosively Formed Penetrators. Any serious threat to American and NATO helicopters in Afghanistan could be militarily and politically paralyzing. 

"...The Islamic Republic is a different type of menace from the Soviet Union, with a much more vicious, America-centric ideology at work among the regime’s hardcore. We are fortunate that this ideology is contained within a state that has assets we can destroy. 

"...Tehran needs to know, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that Great Satan is prepared to shake the foundations of the Islamic Republic if it continues to kill Americans.  

 Pic - "Asking for it"