Day: August 4, 2016

How Much Do Americans Really Fear ISIS?

Let me start with a congrats to USA women’s soccer they beat New Zealand 2-0…….Iraq men soccer team plays to a draw with Denmark…

I made my tour of blogs today and of course the more Right leaning ones have the same information that have almost everyday……”Muslims Bad”…….only because some mouth breather told them they were…..

If you read some of the more knuckle dragging blogs you will believe that the “bad guys” are marching down Main street or they are converting people along the way or they are secretly invading the government…..most of it is just wishful thinking by old farts and their unfounded biases…..

But with that said….do Americans fear ISIS?  Yes they do…they are terrified of something they know little about……this is a waste of time to try and educate the unwashed masses but what the Hell….someone has to call them on the ignorance.

I read a pretty good piece in the National Interests blog…….

Polling isn’t a useful guide.

The horrific attack in Orlando by a man who pledged allegiance to the Islamic State once again has many Americans on edge and worried about terrorism. Yesterday CIA Director John Brennan amplified those concerns, telling the Senate Intelligence Committee that the Islamic State remains a dangerous threat “despite all of our progress against ISIL on the battlefield” and that “We judge that it will intensify its global terror campaign…” Referring to the gunman in Orlando, Brennan acknowledged that lone wolf attackers are “an exceptionally challenging issue.”

All that sounds pretty bad. So just how worried is the public about ISIS? Even though the question seems straightforward enough, the answer is more complicated than you probably think.

Source: How Much Do Americans Really Fear ISIS? | The National Interest Blog

Americans will not do their own research….instead they prefer to let politicians and pundits make their minds up for them…..

Maybe if most Americans weren’t too goddamn lazy then they might have a clearer picture of ISIS and their fears.

A perfect example of what I am talking about……

And now thanx to the corporate media the disinformation is greater than Casey would have anticipated….and may I say…..it is working extremely well.

How Interesting Can Turkey Get?

Since the coup attempt in Turkey last month the country has gone batcrap crazy….I wrote an op-ed for my friends at Ace News Room on the subject….

By now everyone has heard about the recent coup attempt in Turkey….even those that have their ears glued to the telly for the political circus we Americans call “the conventions”………

Source: The Coup In Turkey | Ace News Room

But since I wrote that piece so much more has gone on…..Erdogan is blaming the West for all his problems…..

Turkey has accused the West of supporting terrorism and backing the failed coup to overthrow the government.

In a fiery speech delivered at his 1,150 room palace in Ankara on Tuesday (2 August), president Recep Tayyip Erdogan demanded the United States hand over his bitter foe Fethullah Gulen.

Gulen, a 75-year old cleric who has lived in Pennsylvania since 1991, has been accused of masterminding the 15 July coup. He denies any involvement.

“This coup attempt has actors inside Turkey, but its script was written outside. Unfortunately the West is supporting terrorism and stands by coup plotters,” said Erdogan.

Source: Erdogan: West Supports Terrorism, Backed Coup Plotters | World Affairs Journal

This is the typical reaction of a despot….a reaction that could put the relationship between Turkey and The West in jeopardy…..

Turkey’s President Erdogan said on Tuesday that the script for the attempted coup on July 15 was “authored abroad” and that the West is supporting terrorism, explicitly calling into question Ankara’s relations to Washington.

Source: Concerns that NATO Could Lose Turkey Increase | World Affairs Journal

Let’s say Turkey dumps it’s relationship where will he return for back-up?

Russia appears to be the main beneficiary of the July 15 attempted coup in Turkey. Moscow clearly sees a strategic opportunity for itself given the sharp increase in anti-American and anti-European sentiments in Turkey, which are being fanned by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Erdogan supporters, and many Turks opposed to Erdogan, are convinced of a US finger in the attempt to topple Erdogan. The fact that Fethullah Gulen — the Islamic cleric accused of masterminding the coup — resides freely in Pennsylvania, and the belief that the United States is dragging its feet over Ankara’s demand for Gulen’s extradition, has raised anti-American feelings among Turks to a fever pitch.
Yet another problem for the next president to sort out…..Who will win the Turkish Lotto?

 

Trump Needs To Flesh Out a Strategic Vision for U.S. Foreign Policy

I know I may sound like the one trick pony poster when I write about foreign policy….unlike other bloggers I try to keep the post fresh and well balanced with other stuff……but this election is important especially in foreign policy.

I wish I could sit down and tell my readers what the foreign policy of Trump is…..that would be like trying to explain the chaos theory…..I still do not have a grip on just what his vision is……he says something that I can relate to and then before Twitter has cooled off he has recant and tried to explain his idea away….I cannot support someone that throws a dart at a map and says something semi-literate and then changes his mind moments later.

Trump really needs to come up with a strategy that he does not recant…..pick a topic and stick with it.

Now that Donald Trump has won the Republican nomination, capitalizing on his image as a nationalist tough guy, he needs to fill in some of the details on his strategic vision for a proper American role in the world. By correctly declaring the NATO alliance obsolete and urging U.S. East Asian allies, such as Japan […]

Source: Trump Needs To Flesh Out a Strategic Vision for U.S. Foreign Policy – Antiwar.com Original by — Antiwar.com

With less than 100 days before we vote…I do not see any change in his, Trump, ideas…..how about you?

It would reassure voters like me if he would just name his foreign policy team…..

With Bernie Sanders in her rearview mirror, Hillary Clinton is now busily reinventing herself as a national security expert in an effort to lure GOP hawks into her tent. The Secretary of State responsible for the failed Russian “reset,” who joined with President Obama in 2012 in criticizing Mitt Romney for calling out the Russian threat, now talks like a Cold Warrior and rolls out GOP endorsements such as General John Allen.

Source: It Is Time for Trump to Name His Foreign Policy Team | RealClearPolitics

With Trump’s problems in messaging maybe this would change the dialog and give the vultures something else to feed on….whatcha think?

How a Secretive Branch of ISIS Built a Global Network of Killers

WE always hearing about the reach of ISIS and its affiliates or we hear about the atrocities that this barbarous group has committed……but we know very little, that is we mere mortals, about their reach and instruction or recruitment practices…..we Americans should make ourselves aware of these things because this country is a major player in the saga of the ISIS machine.

I read an interview published in the NY Times (not one of my fave sources) that sheds some light on most aspects of ISIS…..

If you are hiding under your kitchen table then maybe you should read this interview and move to the basement…..

A jailhouse interview with a German man who joined the Islamic State reveals the workings of a unit whose lieutenants are empowered to plan attacks around the world.

BREMEN, Germany — Believing he was answering a holy call, Harry Sarfo left his home in the working-class city of Bremen last year and drove for four straight days to reach the territory controlled by the Islamic State in Syria.

He barely had time to settle in before members of the Islamic State’s secret service, wearing masks over their faces, came to inform him and his German friend that they no longer wanted Europeans to come to Syria. Where they were really needed was back home, to help carry out the group’s plan of waging terrorism across the globe.

Source: How a Secretive Branch of ISIS Built a Global Network of Killers – The New York Times

Ignore at your own peril!

 

Dammit! Foiled Again!

I know that most of the knuckle draggers probably will not mention this because it will not feed into the hatred mime….but the FBI has foiled yet another possible attack in the US…..

A 36-year-old Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority officer was arrested at work Wednesday on suspicion of providing financial support to the Islamic State, NBC News reports. It’s the first time a US cop has been charged with aiding ISIS. According to CNN, the FBI had been investigating Nicholas Young for more than a year. Authorities say Young met with an FBI operative posing as an ISIS fighter 20 times, providing information on how to go unnoticed by law enforcement. He also allegedly bought 22 mobile messaging app gift cards to send to ISIS. Authorities say Young was never a danger to the DC transportation system and wasn’t planning an attack in the US; he was only interested in supporting ISIS abroad.

Metro officials first reported suspicious behavior by Young back in 2009. He is said to be a Nazi-sympathizer, collecting Nazi memorabilia and sporting a German eagle tattoo, Fox News reports. Authorities say he also dressed as Jihadi John for Halloween in 2014, complete with a headless dummy he carried around. Young traveled to Libya in 2011, and he told the FBI he did so to fight alongside rebels against Qaddafi. Young, who was fired by the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority on Wednesday, faces up to 20 years in prison.

Wait! Why would they not acknowledge this successful sting?

Look at the name….Nicholas Young.

This cannot be used in their one trick pony diatribe….he was not a Muslim….plus he was a cop…..and to some a cop can do NO wrong……

My bet is that the typical sites that most ignorant Right wingers follow will not have anything about this….I do hope I am wrong….but I will not hold my breath.