Day: March 18, 2016

IST Military Update

My last of the day will be an update on things happening within our military…..most of this did not make national news but I feel that it is important none the less…..

I have written much about a “flying brick” the F-35 which was suppose to replace the very successful A-10 Warthog…..this is an expensive and unreliable airplane that billions have been spent on its development and sadly has had more problems than successes…..finally some rational conclusions…..

This is one of my fave pics of this “brick”…….

Officials are finally admitting the F-35 fighter has turned into a nightmare—but it’s too late to stop the $400 billion program now.

Source: Military Admits Billion-Dollar War Toy F-35 Is F**ked – The Daily Beast

Too late to stop?  So instead of pulling the plug they will continue to waste taxpayer money…is that about it?

We are told by all players in government that there is nothing too good for our troops, right?  They get the best equipment, best training and the best health care…..well that may not be too accurate…….

Incredible waste is, of course, natural to Washington, particularly in the trillion dollar national security budget—which includes nuclear bombs, intelligence, and veterans’ costs. Three years ago, when I suggested “16 Ways to Cut Defense Spending,” one of the cost savings I wrote about was duplicative hospital costs, this from a system of separate Army, Navy, and Air Force medical services. They should be combined into a single system, but imagine the screaming about lost jobs.

Source: Why Military Hospitals Are Unhealthy and Inefficient | The American Conservative

What can we expect when each service is in competition with every other service……just another way to spend the taxpayer’s money that does not have to be so complicated.

I have written in the past about the Draft……I have said that if we continue all this interventionism then maybe it should be considered once again……but it seems that the Pentagon does not agree with me……

Defense Secretary Ashton Carter on Thursday appeared to favor abolishing the draft, amid the debate over whether women should be forced to register.

“It stands to reason that you will reconsider the Selective Service System and its treatment of females in view of the Department of Defense policies and practices with respect to women,” Carter told the Senate Armed Services Committee. “But the second thing I’d like to say about the Selective Service System and the draft generally is this: We want to pick our people. We don’t want people forced to serve us.”

Source: Pentagon chief: ‘We don’t want a draft’ | TheHill

There is your round-up of military situations…..you know more now than when you began reading…..go and enjoy your weekend.

This Is Why I Have No Confidence

I have written much about our foreign relations policies and how we are surrounded by people that cannot think logically.

I recent read a story that just confirmed all my fears about our international thoughts.

The subject in question is ISIS and their acts of barbarity.

We all have seen the executions, the in humane treatment, the forcing women and children into servitude and especially the mass murders of entire populations of Yazidis, Christians and destruction of heritage sites, just the list a few of their atrocities.

The report I read was about something the Kerry’s State department has said……

WASHINGTON (AP) — Secretary of State John Kerry determined Thursday that the Islamic State group is committing genocide against Christians and other minorities in Iraq and Syria, meeting a congressional deadline for a decision.

The declaration, while long sought by Congress and human rights groups, changes little. It does not obligate the United States to take additional action against IS militants and does not prejudge any prosecution against its members.

A day after the State Department said Kerry would miss the deadline because he needed to gather evidence and act deliberatively, Kerry said he had completed his review and determined that Christians, Yazidis and Shiite groups are victims of genocide and crimes against humanity by IS militants. The House earlier this week passed a nonbinding resolution by a 393-0 vote condemning IS atrocities as genocide.

“In my judgment Daesh is responsible for genocide against groups in territory under its control” Kerry said, using the Arabic acronym for the Islamic State group.

So he thinks that the acts of ISIS is genocide, right?

My first impulse was…..Ya Think!

My question is…..what took you so long?

I think this should be a no-brainer but apparently the State Department need some time to make up their mind.

He, Kerry, outlined a litany of atrocities that he said the militants had committed against people and religious sites, as well as threats. “Daesh is genocidal by self-acclimation, by ideology and by practice.”

Rep. Jeff Fortenberry, the author of the House bill, commended Kerry’s decision.

“The United States has now spoken with clarity and moral authority,” Fortenberry, R-Neb., said in a statement. “I sincerely hope that the genocide designation will raise international consciousness, end the scandal of silence, and create the preconditions for the protection and reintegration of these ancient faith communities into their ancestral homelands.”

I regret that I feel that we employ the dumbest mothers on the planet to run our foreign policy.

Why should it take over 2 years to make this determination?

You want to know why our country has such a horrible rep around the world……then look no further than the idiots that hold the key to our foreign policy.

Sorry, but Kerry sounds a lot like Homer Simpson……”DOH!”

Cruz And Foreign Policy

A friend has chastised me for not writing more on Cruz….he accused me of ignoring him…….I had to state that I was trying…… but he was right I have not given Cruz the scrutiny that I have given other candidates….and I will rectify that situation now…..

Other major candidates like Trump, Sanders, Clinton I have written about their policies and their people……I will admit that I have not seen much on the people that Cruz has on his team for foreign policy….that is until now……

Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz, has unveiled his new foreign policy team, stacked with some of the most aggressive hawks imaginable, saying they are a group of his “trusted friends” who believe in a “strong America.”

At the center of his team is neoconservative ultra-hawk Frank Gaffney, a loudly anti-Muslim figure who believes in a wild array of conspiracies, including that a number of top political figures from both parties of being part of a secret Muslim cabal plotting the conquest of America.

Also featuring prominently in the Cruz team is Michael Ledeen, the man at the center of the yellowcake uranium forgeries, among the pretexts for the 2003 US invasion and occupation of Iraq. Ledeen has been involved in a litany of scandals, dating all the way back to Iran-Contra. He was also, notably, the man who got Israeli spy Jonathon Pollard his job at the US Navy.

Of course speaking of Iran-Contra, one must inevitably discuss Elliott Abrams, who famously pled guilty to two charges of withholding information related to the scandal from Congress, and is likewise a central player in the new Cruz team. In addition to the Contra scandal, Abrams was involved in myriad ugly Reagan-era operations, and was a close ally of both former presidents Bush, receiving a pardon for his Reagan-era crimes by George H.W. Bush, and being appointed as a special adviser to George W.

(antiwar.com)

With this team and more, Cruz is surrounding himself with warmongers and criminals of the highest caliber. While the attempt appears to center on making him a more straightforward Republican insider, to serve as a counter to Trump, the jingoist and xenophobic policies these advisers portend also threatens to sabotage any hope he has of presenting himself as a safer alternative.

I think the hiring of these ultra-hawkish team illustrates just what type of foreign policy a Cruz presidency will follow……it will be unrealistic, interventionist and a problem for the safety of this country.

What Would Pres. Trump Mean To M-IC?

I realize that most people think I do not like Mr. Trump…..well they are correct.  Not from some political ideological point but rather that he will not be good for this country on so many levels.

He, Trump, may be a successful (debatable) businessman but his rhetoric could do damage to our defense industry (it needs to be shaken up a bit)….now that could be a good thing it could help us get out of the war business…….but it could also be disastrous to our economy.

Say what?

As Mr. Trump closes in on the GOP nomination for 2016 there is a massive attacks of panic, especially around the Military-Industrial Complex (M-IC).  I’m sure that most that read IST realize that the biggest and most profitable industry in the US is the manufacturing of weapons and weapon systems.

Mr. Trump has promised to bring back jobs to America and to make this country prosperous again.  Unfortunately is his rhetoric has the M-IC running a bit worried…..

This is a piece written by Sierra Rayne for the American Thinker……

Donald Trump’s views on immigration and Islam are not just polarizing public opinion and the media, but also causing waves within the American defense sector.

Defense One reports that “if Trump wins, expect thousands of defense jobs to move to Europe[.] … The GOP frontrunner’s anti-Muslim comments could prompt U.S. allies to shop elsewhere for arms.”

According to Byron Callan, an analyst with research firm Capital Alpha Partners, “President Trump may prove offensive to Islamic states and those countries could seek alternative sources of weapons systems.”

Another defense industry lobbyist was quoted as saying “anti-Muslim rhetoric absolutely does not help when you’re trying to sell to the Middle East.”

Anthony Cordesman, a Middle East expert with the Center for Strategic and International Studies, broadened the issue to other nations for which arms exports are important: “Trump’s nationalistic comments could have ripples beyond the Middle East. ‘Do you really think that Europeans, or Asians, or Latin Americans are going to be any more trusting?’”

This rhetoric could be for the benefit of the election and Mr. Trump is not this nationalistic.  Or it could be the corner stone of his foreign policy and if it is then many American jobs will be lost and the industry will suffer if he is elected to the presidency.
The question now is, if he wins the nomination will the rhetoric tone down or will he stick to his guns (no pun intended) and ruin America’s most profitable industry?
This is your chance to defend or condemn.

No Faith In A Clinton Presidency

The 2016 election is starting to look like the players for prez will be Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton (yuk on both counts).

It is no secret that I do not want Hillary to be president: she is a damn sight better than the alternatives in the GOP, but I just do not trust her as far as I can spit her or her family.

Yes, she has experience from being the First Lady, a Senator and the Sec of State–but at what price?

– US First Lady: 1993-2001 – Senator for New York: 2001-2009 – US Secretary of State: 2009-2013

My main concern in this election is the foreign policy that the country will be forced to follow with the new dude/dudette as leader….

Who will they be working for?  Will our foreign policy reflect undue influence from foreign players?  What influence, you may ask?

Just what sort of promises were made to these players?

I do not trust her decisions or her intentions…..

For instance….her words on the Libyan conflict.

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton loudly defended her push for the 2011 NATO war of regime change in Libya last night, insisting “we didn’t lose a single person” in the conflict. Clinton was Secretary of State at the time, and a loud proponent of the war.

Did she forget about 4 Americans that lost their lives?

She has been criticized for her support for the 2003 invasion of Iraq….sje has tried to explain it away but these words say it all….

“Part of what certainly influenced me” to support the Iraq war was George Bush pledging billions to rebuild New York after 9/11 a year before her vote, Hillary Clinton said last night. The comment is getting a lot of attention: folks are asking whether Hillary Clinton got bribed to support the Iraq war.
Apparently she can be bribed as the info-graph has illustrated.  Cash appears to be more important than American lives.

You may not care but if she is elected I will be watching the Geopolitics to see who gets what good deal.

She is a neocon, yes it is possible to be a Dem and a neocon.  Her foreign policy will not bode well for the US on the international stage..it is that simple!

Americans will be asked to pay for her decisions…..in blood!

Afghanistan: Shift to a ‘Conditions–Based’ Strategy or Lose the ‘Forgotten War”

For 15 years the Us has been involved in a war in Afghanistan…..there has been much written about this conflict and much speculation has come about on how to handle the war and how to extract the US from it without a relapse from the 1990’s.

Baqck in those days once the USSR pulled out the US lost all interest in the country and this allowed the rise of the Taleban and AQ……which allowed the world to go to war yet again.

The problem here is that there seems to be NO way out for the US.  Only a proper strategy will allow us to claim success or we will lose the war and yet again allow the Taleban to be on the rise…..

Source: Afghanistan: Shift to a ‘Conditions–Based’ Strategy or Lose the ‘Forgotten War’ | World Affairs Journal