Day: July 13, 2016

Veterans for Trump

I hear many people even some pundits ask….why is Trump polling so well with veterans?

As an anti-war person I am always looking for the candidate that has some issue with the ears we are to always fight.  Many veterans are looking for a candidate that will cease the involvement that only about 1% of the population is ever involved with……here I am talking about war and the possibility that there will be a movement against them…….

Trump does have some appeal to our veterans……

I came upon am article that attempts to answer this question…the problem is it comes from a site that I have little like for, Salon…….but my reader may find something in it that is appealing…..

Since no president has made much progress in ending the wars so far, voters have turned to outsider candidates

Two recent polls demonstrate that support for Donald Trump in the military and among veterans outpaces support for both Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders. A May Military Times survey of active-duty troops showed Trump beating Clinton by better than a 2-to-1 margin. A Morning Consult poll of veterans and active-duty members taken later the same month showed the likely Republican nominee leading his Democratic rival by nine percentage points.

People ask me on a regular basis why so many veterans support Trump. First, we must consider that the military personnel in general seem to skew a bit to the right. If we have more Republicans in the military — through self-selection or geographically targeted recruiting in the South — it stands to reason to have more military personnel support for the Republican nominee.

Source: Veterans for Trump: The military supports Trump for the same reasons civilians support him – Salon.com

I believe that our veterans see what is to blame for our national insecurity…..and it is not the lame slogans but rather a limited amount of people fighting continuous wars…..

But will it help if Trump is voted into office?

Is The “Caliphate” Collapsing?

I would like to thank a regular of IST, Ripening Wanderer, for giving me the idea for this post…..stop by his site if you get a chance…..https://theripeningwanderer.com/

The good news is that ISIS is steadily losing its footing in the Levant….the bad news is that the terror attacks do not seen to show this loss of territory….if anything they have picked up…….

I read a piece in the WaPo (not a reliable source but I could not find another source for this info) is reporting that ISIS has a new tactic in their bag of dirty tricks, the “Wolf Pack” attacks…..

ISIS, which measures success in the number of people its followers kill in bloody atrocities around the world, says it had a very successful Ramadan. In the latest issue of its al-Naba magazine, the group boasts that it killed or injured 5,200 people in 14 “military operations” during Ramadan, including the Orlando nightclub massacre, the murder of a police officer and his wife near Paris, and a particularly heinous bombing in Baghdad, reports Vocativ. The group also claims attacks in countries such as Afghanistan, Nigeria, Somalia, and Turkey, saying its victims included 285 non-Arab Christians and almost 2,000 Shiite Muslims.

But while ISIS brags about far-flung attacks, its “caliphate” in Iraq and Syria is steadily shrinking, and analysts say the group appears to be bracing for the possible loss of all its territory, the Washington Post reports. A recent al-Naba editorial insists the group would survive as an underground organization even if the physical caliphate collapsed, and an ISIS operative who spoke to the Post on the condition his location was not revealed says the transition has already begun. “We do have, every day, people reaching out and telling us they want to come to the caliphate,” he says. “But we tell them to stay in their countries and rather wait to do something there.” He adds: “There is a message to all members of the coalition against us: We will not forget, and we will come into your countries and hit you.” (Highly organized “wolf pack” attacks are seen as ISIS’ new signature.)

They may lose all the conquered territory but as long as they employ terror as a tactic they will not be defeated….and the world will suffer.

(watch for my upcoming series on terrorism)

 

Africa, The Dark Continent

I remember in my youth I heard Africa referred to as “The Dark Continent”…..I was never sure if that was a racist statement or just a statement on the limited amount of knowledge of the continent….I’m still not sure what is meant by the description.

Just what is US troops doing in Africa?  Are we fighting terror?  Maybe we are just a stabilizing force for some dictator?  What is the mission?

The Intercept has gained access to some papers that may help to explain our involvement in Africa…….

Across Africa, 1,700 Navy SEALs, Army Green Berets, and other military personnel are carrying out 78 distinct “mission sets” in more than 20 nations, according to documents obtained by The Intercept.

“The SOCAFRICA operational environment is volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous,” says Brig. Gen. Donald Bolduc, using the acronym of the secretive organization he presides over, Special Operations Command Africa. “It’s a wickedly complex environment tailor-made for the type of nuanced and professional cooperation SOF [special operations forces] is able to provide.”

Equally complex is figuring out just what America’s most elite troops on the continent are actually doing, and who they are targeting.

Source: In Africa, the U.S. Military Sees Enemies Everywhere

Again….what is the specific mission of troops deployed to Africa?

There is a line in a movie about Africa….”It is Africa….No body cares about Africa”…..that was accurate until oil was discovered in Nigeria and the world salivated and became concerned….the vision of dollar signs danced in their eyes…..

A Great Spy Story

I admit it….in my younger days was a huge fan of James Bond novels and a pulp fiction spy named Sam Durell…..spy novels were fun and even entertaining…..but are they anything like real life?

To this day I still enjoy a good spy story….only these days they are more fact than fiction…..

Awhile back I wrote a post about the death of a Russian dude in Washington D.C.  I provide a link below on the subject of modern day spies……

Source: Spies Like Us – In Saner Thought

I thought that it was interesting that a former KGB dude was poisoned and awhile later some Russian ex-pat was also killed “mysteriously”.

Then a couple of years ago the FBI and other counter-intel groups had a big coup when they uncovered a pack of modern day spies operation in suburbia….one was a hot red head name Anna Chapman…..

Anna Chapman (RIA Novosti / Vitaliy Belousov)

I recall the big deal that the media made out of the ferreting out of these spies and the damage they could have caused….the media played their scenario for hours about the spies and what it took to discover their existence……

And then I found the rest of the story…….

Russian intelligence officer, Aleksandr Poteyev, who was sentenced for treason in absentia by Russia after blowing the cover of a spy ring in the US, has reportedly died. Moscow, however, is not confirming the news or taking the defector of its wanted list.

Source: Russian ‘traitor’ who exposed Anna Chapman’s spy ring dead in US – reports — RT News

Another person with a “mysterious” death…..that makes 3 the number of people connected to Putin…….this would make a great spy novel or a TV show….wait….wait…I think they already have one…..”The Americans”?

 

“Hillary Clinton Will Win, But She Doesn’t Deserve To”

Yesterday I wrote about the possibility of Trump winning the election…..it was an analysis in The Nation magazine……

Today I found another analysis on the 2016 election that says the Clinton will most likely win the election….but if she does…does she deserve to?

The former secretary of state may well be the second coming of George H.W. Bush: A time-server with no grasp of the future.

Among the many implications of FBI Director James Comey’s recommendation that the Department of Justice bring no charges against Hillary Clinton for using a private email server while secretary of state, the single-biggest one is this: She now has a clear path to becoming the next president of the United States. As disliked as she is (56 percent of Americans dislike her), she is less disliked than Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee, and thus more likely to win in November.

Source: “Hillary Clinton Will Win, But She Doesn’t Deserve To” – Hit & Run : Reason.com

It is no secret that I have NO faith in either of the candidates to do the right thing for the country and its people….

I shall look elsewhere!

Something Nice About Saddam Hussein?

Last week in the news the media was all choked up on something that Mr. Trump said.  The MSM got lots of speculation in over his words.  Did he really say something nice about Saddam?

Trump’s stupid comments reveal a larger problem with how we talk about Iraq.

It’s possible that playing a game of gotcha with Donald Trump for the sin of saying that Saddam Hussein was good at killing terrorists is the most boring thing ever. Over 250 Iraqis were killed in Baghdad on Sunday when a lorry exploded in a busy shopping area of the city. The area is mostly Shiite and the Sunni extremist group Islamic State took responsibility. Believe it or not, this was the single worst loss of life since the invasion in 2003. Here’s how Jermey Bowen of the BBC put it:

Saddam Hussein’s regime was harsh, and it could be murderous. He led the country into a series of disastrous wars and brought crippling international sanctions down on their heads.

But with the benefit of 13 years of hindsight, the world that existed before 9 April 2003 seems to be a calmer, more secure place. They have not had a proper day of peace since the old regime fell.

As for democracy, many I have spoken to believe the hopelessly sectarian political system is broken. At least, they say, law and order existed under Saddam.

We need to reckon with this reality. It does no good to keep going back to the old rhetoric about what a tyrant Saddam Hussein was to his own people. What Trump is trying to say in his own awkward way is that Hussein kept the lid on and what we’ve gotten in his place is far worse. And, if he stuck to making that limited point, he’d be on solid footing, which means that it’s just a perpetuation of our national stupidity and infinite capacity to avoid self-reflection to go out and say, “Ooh, ooh, Trump said something halfway complimentary about Saddam Hussein!”

Source: Washington Monthly | Did Trump Say Something Nice About Saddam Hussein?

I may not agree with Mr. Trump on too much but I too believe that Iraq was a safer more secure nation when Saddam was its ruler…..

What is amazing is that all this debate, the back and forth, and not once has anyone in the media asked the Iraqi people what they think…..especially about Saddam….why is that?

BAGHDAD: The Iraqi man who was filmed attacking Saddam Hussein’s statue with a sledgehammer when US troops stormed into Baghdad in 2003 said Iraq was in a better shape under his rule and George W. Bush and Tony Blair should be put on trial “for ruining” it.Kadhim Hassan Al-Jabouri was speaking on Wednesday as British former civil servant John Chilcot released a long-awaited report criticizing Britain’s role in the US-led invasion and occupation of Iraq.

Source: Iraqi who hammered Saddam statue: ‘I wish he would return’ | Arab News

I still have a couple of friends in Iraq and they confirm that this is a popular talking point that is when people can actually go out and schmooze with their neighbors…..