Day: March 30, 2011

It Makes Their Sphincter Tighten!

Inkwell Institute

Middle East desk

Tunisia…Libya…Egypt….Bahrain….Yemen….and on and on…..but there is a puckering of sphincters at some of the situations…..and who belongs to those sphincters?  Israel!

Israel is having its problems with the rockets coming out of Gaza from their nemesis, Hamas…..and then there is the lunatic ravings coming out of Iran….and with all that to focus on…my bet is that someone in the bowels of TelaViv is watching and fretting over the occurrences in Jordan and Syria….two countries that border on Israeli territory….and if things go horribly wrong then the outcome of those protests could spell a disaster for any peace process…..

Syria……Anti-government protests in Latakia had started peacefully Saturday before several people were wounded in a hail of gunfire as security forces tightened their control on access to the city, witnesses said. However, presidential spokeswoman Bouthaina Shaaban told state media that it was an unidentified group of gunmen who opened fire at citizens and security forces.  And in the southern city of Deraa where protests have been raging for over a week…..Syria, which has a Sunni majority, is ruled by the minority Alawite sect. Fears of sectarian strife are one of the main stabilising factors for Christians, Druze and other minority groups. Despite the government’s claims, largely nationalist slogans have been heard.

Jordan is having its problems and the King has promised democratic reform, trying to stem off any more violent uprisings….but King Abdullah responded to the anti-government protests by sacking an unpopular prime minister last month and replacing him with Bakhit, a former intelligence general, in a step seen as dealing a blow to Islamist and liberal hopes for reform.

Dissent has built up and the opposition, disgruntled with the slow pace of promised political reforms, has become more vocal in its calls for change.

Islamist, leftist, liberal and tribal figures have staged protests and sit-ins over the past few weeks calling for a constitutional monarchy in Jordan.

The demonstrations have been smaller than others across the Arab world, but underlying tensions between Jordanians of Palestinian origin and the country’s indigenous “East Bank” population have resurfaced and could also threaten stability.

Okay, there you have a synopsis of what is happening in the two countries that border Israel…..a change in either one could put Israel smack dad in the middle of yet another region wide conflict…depending on the outcome of these protests and who emerges as the leadership……this could not be pretty to another in this region…..while American politicos spend their time trying to second guess the president, the region could burst in all consuming flames…..so spend your time doing worthless analysis of the president and pay the piper later…..smart move dipsticks!

2011 Anal-Ocity #14

Holy Crap!  The anal statements are just flying out of the mouths of politicos….it is like they cannot help themselves….that their lips are in control and cannot countered…..My newest anal statement is not wildly anal but it comes from a Washington insider who is suppose to be a smart, well informed person that has been a king maker for a couple of years now……

Today’s anal statement deals with history and Karl Rove should have known better, if he truly is the smartest guy in the GOP……but then he made his statement on Fox and they are NOT known for their grasp of history or for that matter ….FACTS!

ON the Hannity show on FOX Sean and Karl were discussing the situation in Libya and of course they were NOT very complimentary to the Prez…..at one point they were talking about who would take the lead on the “No-Fly” Zone once the US relinquishes the lead role……

“American troops have never been under the formal control of another nation.  Why should we start now?”

For being called a smart man he is an idiot about historical events…..

Polifact made my job a little easier……Basically, Rove is full of sh*t!

The Boxer Rebellion. U.S. forces took part in the “eight-nation alliance” sent to China after rebel forces known as “boxers” threatened westerners in the country. A 20,000-man force eventually captured Beijing, and the victorious powers imposed large reparations. According to the U.S. Navy, the first (and unsuccessful) offensive included 2,100 sailors and marines from the eight nations in the alliance — Great Britain, Germany, Russia, France, the United States, Japan, Italy, and Austria — under the control of British Admiral Edward Seymour.

• World War I. Vice Admiral Sir Lewis Bayly of the British Royal Navy oversaw an effort based in Queenstown, Ireland, to protect commercial ships off the coast of France and Great Britain. Among the assets under his control was a U.S. destroyer squadron commanded by Cmdr. J.K. Taussig.• Russian Revolution. Three U.S. battalions joined British, Canadian, Italian, Finnish and Serbian units near Murmansk that were under the command of a British general during the Bolshevik Revolution, according to CRS.

• World War II. The commander of U.S. forces in the China-Burma-India theater was British, though the personnel varied. Initially it was Gen. Archibald Wavell, the commander-in-chief in India. Then in 1943, Adm. Lord Mountbatten was named Supreme Allied Commander of Southeast Asia forces. Technically, U.S. forces in China were commanded by Chaing Kai Shek, the Supreme Allied Commander in China, though U.S. military leaders played an unofficial command role.

• Cold War. While the Supreme Allied Commander-Europe (or SACEUR) has traditionally been an American, NATO war plans put Americans under sub-commanders who were British or German. In fact, the general in charge of managing the defense of western Europe in the face of a Warsaw Pact attack was traditionally a German general, said Andrew Bacevich, a career Army officer who now teaches international relations at Boston University.• Recent conflicts. The CRS report cites several recent examples of U.S. troops under foreign control. During the 1991 Persian Gulf War, a U.S. brigade was placed under operational control of a French commander. Beginning in 1992, the ground component of the U.S.-Republic of Korea Combined Forces Command was commanded by a South Korean general with a U.S. deputy. Hundreds of troops have served in the Multinational Force in the Sinai, which has been commanded by non-Americans, including a Canadian.

The Balkan conflicts of the 1990s offered several examples, according to CRS. The U.S. sent a 342-man Mobile Army Surgical Hospital to Zagreb, Croatia, for the use of a United Nations force under French command. In 1993, roughly 600 U.S. soldiers patrolled the Macedonian border under a Swedish commander. And at one point in the Kosovo conflict, 6,515 U.S. troops served under a French general in NATO’s Kosovo Force.

Sorry about the length but it had to be said……one of my biggest bitches is that some people try to re-write history to fit the American Exceptionalism….and when it is a LIE I feel I have to point it out……..GOD I hate STUPID!

I Have Some Libyan Questions

Inkwell Institute

Middle East Desk

We know that NATO is bombing the crap out of Qadafi’s force to prevent them from retaliating against the rebels in the East……with that given I have some questions that I would like answered and so far I have heard nothing on them……

What happens if the rebels take Sirte, the hometown of Qadafi that is full of supporters?  Will the rebels retaliate against the supporters?  If so, then what will NATO do to prevent the mass killings of people in the town, if there is a possibility?  Does it them become yet another perception of a genocide?

In his recent speech on Libya, Pres. Obama said that when this situation in the country is finished that the US would help the Libyans stabilize their country….just what the Hell does that mean?  Just what will be needed for this promised stabilization?  Could it have anything to do with a recent report issued by BP…..

According to the 2008 BP Statistical Energy Survey, Africa had proven oil reserves of 117,481 billion barrels at the end of 2007, or 9.49 percent of the world’s reserves. Five countries dominate Africa’s oil production, accounting for 85 percent of the total—Nigeria, Libya, Algeria, Egypt and Angola. But Gabon, Congo, Cameroon, Tunisia, Equatorial Guinea, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Ivory Coast also produce oil, and exploration is ongoing in Chad, Sudan, Namibia, South Africa and Madagascar.

Africa’s oil is of a high quality and easy to mine, often from offshore rigs, and is distributed through existing sea lanes. The continent is the location of more than a third of the world’s new discoveries since 2000 and could be the site of far greater reserves than now thought.

Since democracy does not seem to be a driving force behind the insurrection of the Eastern half of the country….just what will we help stabilize?  Maybe it will be their economy?  That would send the fat cats jerking off in the corner!

The stabilization thing is a non-specific spin which means whatever we do we can say it is stabilizing a ravished country and people.  Personally, I detest generalizations…..,I WANT specifics and the people of Libya should be demanding the same thing.

In their rush to eliminate Qadafi they could well be giving away their future for a few bullets……

The Afghan Hunting Club

When I was a young man in the war in South Vietnam, if you had 10+ confirmed kills you got to join what they called, “The Viet Cong Hunting Club”….at least it was so in the Mekong Delta around the 9th Infantry Division…..and now I see that tradition has NOT been put to bed….looks like they have an Afghan Hunting Club” in our conflict in Afghanistan….but there it seems you do not have to be a known insurgent to be counted…….

This piece is from Newser website……..

How did the US Army’s self-proclaimed “kill team” get away with murdering unarmed Afghan civilians for so long, with little to no intervention by officers? That’s the question Hurt Locker screenwriter Mark Boal addresses in a lengthy Rolling Stone article on the murders and the cover-ups, in which no officers or senior officials have yet been charged. Boal traces the evolution of the plot, from the moment Staff Sgt. Calvin Gibbs joined the 5th Stryker Brigade’s Bravo Company as squad leader for the 3rd Platoon. Gibbs, who replaced a squad leader whose legs had been blown off by an IED, was already “an extreme version of a relentless attacker,” writes Boal. His new squad was suffering from low morale, and Gibbs had a solution: Hatch a plot within the troops to avenge their losses by killing civilians and hiding the evidence.Gibbs has been portrayed as a “crazy” sociopath, but Boal reports that Gibbs was actually well-liked by those both above and below him in the ranks. The article tracks the platoon’s actions from the first kill last January—a teenage boy in the isolated farming village of La Mohammad Kalay, whose finger Gibbs sliced off as a trophy—through those that followed over the next four months, claiming at least three more innocent lives. The soldiers involved were never disciplined or punished, and they got bolder as leadership continued to seemingly ignore their activities, despite warning signs and suspicious details. Boal shows that, far from the “rogue unit” the Army framed it as, the “kill team” actually operated quite openly, and the murders were common knowledge among the platoon. Furthermore, he writes, there is “evidence that the killings of civilians went beyond a few men in 3rd Platoon.” Click for the full piece, which also includes newly released—and very graphic……

A disgusting story……and it looks like the US cannot find a way from the accusation that we are on a crusade in Afghanistan……this type of stuff is some of the same occurrences that were reported during the crusades of years gone by….it is sad and disgusting….the things that we humans are capable of doing…