Day: March 30, 2016

What Is In A Pledge Anyway?

Remember a lifetime ago when all the GOP candidates took the pledge to support the GOP  nominee whoever it was?

Those days of compromise and loyalty are GONE!

This election season has delivered yet another oddity: a CNN town hall event featuring three Republicans who won’t commit to supporting the Republican nominee. Donald Trump was the most direct when asked by Anderson Cooper whether he was sticking to his pledge “to support whoever the Republican nominee is.” “No, I don’t anymore,” Trump said. It was harder for Cooper to get a straight answer out of Ted Cruz, reports Reuters, though he eventually said he is “not in the habit of supporting someone who attacks my wife and attacks my family.” Trump “is not going to be the GOP nominee,” Cruz said. “We’re going to beat him.”

John Kasich also wouldn’t commit to honoring the pledge. He said he was “disturbed” by some of what he’s seen on the campaign trail and that the GOP candidates “shouldn’t even have answered that question” last year when they were asked to rule out third-party bids. “I have to think about what my word and endorsement would mean,” he said. “[I’ve] got to see what happens.” Trump didn’t seem perturbed by the prospect of not getting Cruz’s vote. He “doesn’t need to support me, I have tremendous support right now from the people,” Trump told Cooper. “I don’t really want him to do something he’s not comfortable with.”

The media ought to eat this up…..if the convention is not a circus enough then MR. Trump may go off on his own and run as a 3rd party….

I know there are Trump supporters out there…..is this a good thing or just a way to put that final nail in the GOP coffin?

ISIS: Is It A Matter Of Time?

With all the craziness and the misinformation at this time in the middle of an election cycle lots has been said and most of it is misinformation in an attempt to garner votes.

The war with ISIS is going good, at least according to the Pentagon…but my thought is if it is going so good why do we need more troops thrown into the fray.

The war is going well for the Syrian army they seem to be on the move against ISIS and in Iraq the forward progress is not so good.  But there have been some good ground made up by US led Iraqi troops and I recently read a piece in AJE that ISIS may be on their “back foot” in Iraq……

Sulaimania – The military campaign against the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS) is entering a crucial phase, Iraqi and Western analysts say.

According to a recent study, in the past three months the group has lost 8 percent of its territory in Syria and Iraq.

The past six months have seen the reclaiming of some significant and symbolic territories from ISIL in both Syria and Iraq. With Coalition Forces stating that 20 percent of ISIL-held territory in Syria and 40 percent in Iraq were regained in 2015.

Source: Is ISIL on the back foot in Iraq? – AJE News

The problem is that some are saying that it is from the assistance of Russia that this progress is happening…..Global Research has issued a paper……

They Syrian Arab Army (SAA) and the National Defense Forces (NDF) are continuing operations in the province of Latakia. On Mar.20, the Syrian forces repelled al-Nusra attempts to capture the village of al-Soucha. Since the partly departure of Russian forces from Syria, al Nusra militants have been attempting to restore their control on Jabal al-Qal’ah. However, all their attempts have failed. Meanwhile, Syrian troops took control of the Points 287, 397 and 409 in the province’s northern part and killed militants infiltrated al-Sawda village.

The SAA units repelled ISIS attacks on the villages of Kafr Saghir and Babins in Northern Aleppo. According to reports, some 50 militants were killed. Separately, the Syrian Air Force targeted ISIS’ positions in Deir Hafir and Maskana in the eastern part of Aleppo.

In Palmyra, the Syrian forces supported by Russian warplanes and helicopters took control of two hills overlooking the Ithriya-Palmyra road and set a fire control on it. The Ithriya-Palmyra road had been the ISIS main supply route between Eastern Hama and Palmyra. The road had been also used by ISIS for transporting oil from the town of Al-Sukhanah to the province of Al-Raqqa.

Source: Retreat of Islamic State (ISIS-Daesh) Forces in Syria and Iraq… Towards a Permanent Russian Military Presence in the Middle East | Global Research – Centre for Research on Globalization

If all this “good news” is truly and accurate the next logical question would be……can ISIS survive for much longer?

If IS continues to lose territory at the same pace, some people believe the year 2016 could well be its last. But experts are maintaining a cautious optimism in agreeing with this prediction, which is frequently voiced by Iraqi decision-makers.

Jacob Zen of the Jamestown Foundation, which closely follows IS activities in the Middle East and Eurasia, says IS might make it to the end of 2016, but most likely only as a shadow of its current self.

Source: Will the Islamic State survive 2016? – Al-Monitor: the Pulse of the Middle East

Optimism is a great thing but a delusion can be dangerous.

I will agree with all my reading and researching that ISIS does seem to be taken aback a bit….but they have endured many years of pounding from the air and from several different forces.  The season for operations is quickly approaching and I think that this will be the telling tale of ISIS.

All we can do is hope for success.

Reclaiming Conservative Foreign Policy

In these days when anyone writes something from a non-Right perspective they are being politically correct…..the fairly new buzzword for anyone that does not hold their point of view…….basically it is said before anyone responds in the hope of shutting down the conversation so they do not have to think of a reply.

You want politically correct?  People that call themselves conservative these days…..when they are actually a neo-liberal….. I know they are afraid of any title where the word “liberal” appears but sorry…..the truth hurts!

Today’s “conservative” foreign policy is anything BUT conservative.  Recently in the American Conservative they had an article that sort of makes my point…….an interesting read and should be a required reading for anyone that claims the title of conservative.  (Most would not know a true conservative even it walked up and bit them in the ass)…….

The rise of Donald Trump has led to predictions that the neoconservative dominance of Republican foreign policy is about to end, whether or not Trump wins. The Donald has challenged the perpetual military interventionism aspect of neocon-think without doing any damage to his campaign and, in the process, he has certainly noticed who the most strident voices being raised against him are.

Admittedly the prospect of a world blissfully free of neocons is appealing, but some observers have noted how the neoconservatives are chameleon like, blending in with whoever is controlling the levers of power and capable of moving from their original home in the Democratic Party over to the GOP—and then back again to the Democrats whenever it seems tactically advisable. Their eradication is far from a sure thing and one expects to see the neocon stalwarts Victoria Nuland and Robert Kagan at the top of any Hillary Clinton administration.

Source: Reclaiming Conservative Foreign Policy | The American Conservative

It is election time……maybe it is time for conservatives to remove their heads from their anal cavity.

Just a thought!

Lessons of Brussels

Fascinating!

The devastating attacks in Brussels and the media has moved on…..we now have a wall to wall coverage of a love sick veterinarian…..this is why the sort of attack that just happened will not end any time soon.

Few are talking about what the world needs to do to try and put a stop to this sort of attack……people…it has only been a week and we can hold a thought any longer than that?

So I guess for the conversation to continue we will need to have another attack that people can speculate on for a couple of days…..and that is just a little sad.

The vicious attack on the Brussels airport and metro underscores the futility of focusing on the Syrian “Caliphate” as the epicenter of terrorism: as I’ve been saying in this space since 2001, the snake has no head. Both al-Qaeda and now ISIS are protean entities with a vast geographical spread, and what the Brussels attack […]

Source: Lessons of Brussels – Antiwar.com Original by — Antiwar.com

The chances of this happening again tomorrow are great and what does the media have to report……some campaign bullsh*t about someone grabbing someone…..this is another reason that I refuse to use the MSM as a reliable news source……

 

Spring! And Thoughts Of Peace?

Recently there has been a movement to find an actual plan to try and end most of the violence and destruction in Syria……that attempt is moving along well….not a solution but at least the players, most of the players are still talking….

The two sides….Assad and the opposition have given their demands and 12 ponts have been agreed to in principle……

12 general points that were taken mainly from the two sides documents. The points include the following principles:

  1.  Reforming state institutions in accordance with international standards.
  2. Rejecting terrorism categorically whatever the source was.
  3. Re-building the Syrian army in accordance with national rules.
  4. Securing the proper conditions for the return of Syrian refugees and the displaced ones to their homes.
  5. Providing care and justice for all Syrians afflicted by war.
  6. Preserving Syria’s full sovereignty on all Syrian territory.
  7. Rejecting  any outside interference Syrian internal affairs.
  8.  Establishing a non-sectarian democratic ruling system in Syria.
  9.  Preserving the rights of women in the equitable representation according to international standards (30%).
  10. Implementing UN Security Council resolutions, particularly 2254 to ensure the power of political transition.
  11.   Creating a stable environment during the transition period to ensure equal opportunities.
  12. Commitment to national reconciliation and rejection of any revengeful acts by any side.

Now granted there is little chance that all 12 points will be finalized but if even 6 of them are then that would be a major step…..

Now let’s move to Yemen…….A Saudi-led coalition began a military campaign in Yemen a year ago with the aim of preventing Iran-allied Houthi rebels and forces loyal to Yemen’s ex-President Ali Abdullah Saleh from taking control of the country.

Last week there was an announcement that a ceasefire had been agreed upon……

The warring parties in Yemen have agreed to a cessation of hostilities starting at midnight on April 10 and peace talks in Kuwait beginning a week later, United Nations special envoy Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed said on Wednesday.

Ould Cheikh Ahmed said prominent Yemeni figures would be enlisted to cooperate with a de-escalation and coordination committee on the cessation of hostilities and “to report on progress and security incidents.”

He said the peace talks would focus on five areas: a withdrawal of militia and armed groups; a handover of heavy weaponry to the state; interim security arrangements; restoration of state institutions; and resumption of inclusive political dialogue.

Personally, I am glad to see that some form of sanity may have returned…..but there is one thing…….there is NOT much left standing in Yemen so to keep fighting would be a waste of ordinance.

Spring and time for a re-birth of all things……