Day: May 5, 2014

Is Obama A Wimp?

since Obama was elected president those on the Right, the more mental midgets, have been calling him a wimp when it comes to foreign aid and policy…….he was a wimp because of Benghazi…and then Syria…and then Libya….and then Ukraine….and soon it will be wherever an armed conflict pops up……

Of course most critics would not know what international relations meant…their  puny little minds see this country as the sole player in a global hegemony…….sorry but it does not work that way, only in the mindless dribble of an idiot…….

Over at The Dish, Andrew Sullivan notes the difference in opinion between the elites and the general public on foreign policy. Elites in New York and Washington, DC are upset that Obama hasn’t been forceful enough, whereas the public, as I noted yesterday, in greater numbers than ever want a less interventionist foreign policy of restraint.

Sullivan, however, thinks Obama has hit the right balance, while ultimately siding with the public on this one.

My view is that Obama has done about as good a job as possible in managing the core task of his presidency: letting self-defeating global hegemony go. That required a balancing act – of intervention where absolutely necessary and caution elsewhere. He prevented the world economy tipping into a second Great Depression, has maintained overwhelming military superiority and shored up Asian alliances even as he concedes, as we should, that China will be the dominant power in the region in the 21st Century.

The argument that Obama’s reluctance to bomb Syria illegally or put troops in western Ukraine denotes “letting self-defeating global hegemony go,” is unpersuasive. For Sullivan to be right, he would have to explain how the Libya intervention was “absolutely necessary” or how disregarding international law and national sovereignty by implementing a limitless and secret drone bombing campaign indicates caution.

I really hate (that would be a lie….I relish it) to tell these mental giants (sarcasm) the days of “gunboat diplomacy’ are over…….this is a global community and as such all situations, international that is, needs to be handled by that same community…..unfortunately Obama is still a pawn of special interests and they will get what they want…..every time!

Obama may not be the sharpest tack in the pack…..but he is a damn sight better at foreign policy than people give him credit….I believe that the world would be a lot worse off if a certain war hawk had been elected instead of Obama……..

What say you?

US News Media Just Sucks

there is nothing new about my statement on the news media….I have despised them for decades….for they search for  not news but sensationalism to report……every year some moron goes up Mt. Hood and gets lost or such and we here about these idiots ad nauseum…..now we have the Mt. Everest disaster where so many were killed in an avalanche….and now we have a show dedicated to these thrill seekers…..for one these people are nothing but adrenalin junkies, thrill seekers…the Sherpas were just trying to make a living….but the others are nothing but show boaters and junkies and the dignify their crass disregard for life just irks me….to NO end…I am not impressed by these types of thrill seeking morons……you want an adrenalin rush…the military can use a few good people and do something worthwhile.

I waited  few days before writing this the see how the media would handle this story…….

An Afghanistan village buried in a landslide yesterday is now considered a “cemetery,” says a government official in Badakhshan province. The last of the rescuers gave up hope today of finding survivors in the mud that devastated the village of Abi Barik in the mountainous and remote northeast, reports the BBC. It will take some time to figure out how many were killed, with estimates ranging between 350 and 2,700, reports Reuters. The focus now will shift to providing help for the estimated 4,000 people without shelter.

“The scale of this landslide is absolutely devastating, with an entire village practically wiped away,” says an official with the International Organization for Migration. “Hundreds of families have lost everything and are in immense need of assistance.” Many of those killed were at their houses trying to get things in order after an earlier, smaller landslide. The area has been deluged with rain of late.

Of course this story is not important enough to interrupt the total mindlessness of the “nerd prom” in Dc or for anyone to really give a shit about those people in Afghanistan….they are just not important enough for our media to care…….I am disgusted by the flippant attitude of the media and for that point, most Americans.

This is why I prefer BBC news it is more to the point and interesting, with the exception of some “bladerunner” trial or the royals….their news is usually spot on without the sanitized, sensationalized crap that American news offers.

What Are Turkey’s Intentions?

Inkwell Institute

Middle East Desk

Turkey has been on the cutting edge of the US foreign policy in the Middle East for decades…..it was also the front line against the old now defunct USSR….

Turkey has shot down Syrian planes and ventured a short distance into Syrian territory….my guess as a feeler to judge reactions…….I would think that all they have done was at the behest of the US…….since they have been our surrogate in the past one could imagine they are still doing our bidding…….

Now think back to last year…..remember the CW attacks that had the whole world up in arms….all screaming for the US to do something massive?  I like a good conspiracy theory as much as the next person…..and I have found a good one to write about…….. the sarin gas attack on a Damascus suburb on August 21, 2013 was actually carried out by Syrian “rebel” forces acting at the behest of Turkey, for the purpose of providing a pretext for a US attack on Syria.

From the book written by Seymour Hersch………

For several weeks, the Ghouta attack became the pretext for a warmongering campaign by the White House and the US and European media. Obama threatened immediate air strikes, claiming that the Syrian government had crossed a “red line” against the use of chemical weapons, which he had laid down in 2012.

The US president then abruptly reversed himself and announced he would seek congressional approval first, only to call off any overt military action in favor of a deal brokered by Russian President Vladimir Putin in which Assad agreed to the supervised dismantling of his chemical weapons stockpiles.

By Hersh’s account, “Obama’s change of mind had its origins at Porton Down, the defence laboratory in Wiltshire. British intelligence had obtained a sample of the sarin used in the 21 August attack and analysis demonstrated that the gas used didn’t match the batches known to exist in the Syrian army’s chemical weapons arsenal. The message that the case against Syria wouldn’t hold up was quickly relayed to the US joint chiefs of staff… As a consequence the American officers delivered a last-minute caution to the president, which, in their view, eventually led to his cancelling the attack.”

Calmer heads prevailed……but is there still a plan to enter Syria with ground forces?

Then there was….an oh sh*t! moment from Turkish PM…………

Turkey’s government may be considering a military incursion into Syria to protect a historical site important to Turks .

The Turkish government is debating whether or not to use military force in Syria to protect the tomb of an early Turkish ruler, after Islamic extremist groups fighting the Assad government took control of a nearby town.

Watch the borders of Turkey……if a ground attack is coming it will come through southern Turkey……….