Day: August 10, 2016

Why Does No One Care?

Before I begin the meat of this post I would like to commit on something in the news recently……I saw where Trump at one of his get-togethers held up a Purple Heart and said that some vet handed it to him…..I want to know who this vet was….none of the vets I know would give away their Purple Heart…for any reason!  If it is true….GIVE ME A NAME!

We have been at war footing for 15 years…..troops go die and are wounded or maimed….and NO one seems to give a shit.  Why is that?

Just recently I wrote an article about more troops for Iraq……

Step by step….inch by inch….we are returning to a full compliment of US troops in Iraq…..we are returning combat troops to “assist” the Iraqi army handle the day against ISIS….recently word came down that as many as 750 American troops would be returning to Iraq……and if you thought that was the end of the build-up…..think again!

Source: Slowly We Turn – In Saner Thought

For instance….we have troops fighting in Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan and now Libya….

US special forces have been on the ground in Libya for months, though when the war against ISIS was expanded into the country last week with airstrikes on Sirte, Pentagon officials were quick to insist that there was no ground component to the new operation. That didn’t last long.

Now, officials are conceding that a “small number” of special forces are operating out of a unity government base on the outskirts of Sirte, supporting the ongoing attempts by the unity government’s forces to conquer the city, as well as forwarding targeting information to US warplanes bombing the city.

Details are still scant, and the officials quoted in the media on the matter insisted on anonymity, because officially the ground forces’ involvement in the war hasn’t been formally announced. The troops were originally sent to Libya to find potential allies for a war that officials had been talking about launching for a long time.

Americans are even linking up with the opponents of ISIS…..

More than 100 Americans have traveled overseas to fight the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) with local forces and militias, according to a new report.

The London-based Institute for Strategic Dialogue estimates that more than a third of 300 foreigners who have traveled to Iraq or Syria to fight ISIS or the terrorist group formerly known as al Nusra are from the United States, with many of those being military veterans.

“Ex-military veteran fighters are also motivated by a desire to ‘finish the job’ and ensure previous sacrifices were not in vain,” says the report, released Tuesday. “This is true primarily among military veterans that have served in the region during the ‘War on Terror.’ Many fear that their previous efforts, and those of their colleagues that were killed or injured, will be in vain.”

The report is based on a database of 300 foreign anti-ISIS fighters compiled by the institute from open sources such as news reports and social media. The report cautions that it represents a sample, not a complete picture.

(thehill.com)

WE keep asking more and more of a finite amount of troops…..how long can this continue before a breaking point is reached?

 

To Vote Or Not To Vote?

This election cycle has been crazy brutal….name calling, insults, lies, confusion and most all just plain theatrics……many young voters were turned on by Sanders but since his endorsement of Clinton they are even more confused and angry.

I recent did a post about the anger and confusion of the so-called Millennials….

Bernie has lost his position as the head of a progressive movement…he did that the minute he endorsed Clinton and quickly on his coat tails was Warren….all in the name of unity…&#…

Source: The Millennial Revolt – In Saner Thought

These voters are being turned off by the policies and issues of modern neoliberalism….aka Clinton…..

Their confusion and anger are reflected in a recent poll…..

Most young Americans say the Republican and Democratic parties don’t represent them, a critical data point after a year of ferocious presidential primaries that forced partisans on both sides to confront what — and whom — they stand for.

Source: Poll: Most young Americans say parties don’t represent them

My question is….will this anger and confusion lead to a true viable third party run?

Whatcha think?

Think Green!

 

Western intervention, is it ever helpful?

Our intervention has been disastrous since 2003….hell since the 1980’s and Lebanon…our involvement in the Middle East as been at best a disaster.

Since 2008 we have been involved in more and more conflicts and it seems to be accelerating…..with each passing year……but with all this intervention the question should be asked…….

According to Greg Muttitt, a London-based writer, the best thing the West can do for Libya is to leave it alone.

Last week I wrote about Libya and expressed the hope that the country would be able to find its own path in a future without Gaddafi. The rebels have received important help from France and Britain among other foreign powers. Those foreign powers will be eager to establish a regime in Libya that suits them. Only the Libyan people can create a country whose natural resources support the freedom and prosperity of the many.

Plenty of people will be on hand with advice for the Libyans in the months ahead. I thought it might be useful to think a little more about how best people outside the country might be able to contribute. I turned to Greg Muttitt, a London-based writer who has made an intense study of the politics of Western intervention and Iraqi resistance in the years since the invasion of 2003.

Source: Western intervention, is it ever helpful? – Al Jazeera English

The West intervention into Libya’s affairs has been anything but helpful……and it is not alone….Syria, Iraq, etc…..none of our interventions has proven to be helpful to anyone but the arms dealers.

Even with lots of proof that this war on terrorism is just a food source for the M-IC……but the conversation remains that we need to use more bombs and more force to solve an unsolvable problem……

The complicated, multidimensional nature of the Syrian civil war continues to discourage clear thinking in debate about U.S. policy toward Syria. The involvement in the conflict of multiple protagonists who are each anathema to the American debaters but who are opposed to each other within Syria is a fundamental complication that too often gets ignored.

Basic questions of what U.S. interests are in Syria too often get overlooked. A recent example is an op-ed by Dennis Ross and Andrew Tabler of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy that argues for a bombing campaign against the Assad regime and expresses opposition to any cooperation with Russia in striking violent extremist groups such as ISIS and the Al-Qaeda-affiliated al-Nusra Front.

Source: More Neocon Excuses to Bomb Syria – Consortiumnews

Sanity has got to find a way to assert itself into our foreign policy dialog….this election is NOT that time……there is a chance that after the election that the anti-intervention people will start preparing the country for the next election…..will they succeed?  That is a question that we cannot answer…..only to say…it depends.

Sorry cannot do better than that right now.

I will keep watching and commenting and maybe someone will hear the logic of a more restrained foreign policy.

 

Republican foreign policy experts are condemning Trump

The big news for a couple of days is that 50 GOP national security wonks have condemned Trump on his foreign policy…..please read and then I shall give my take on this……

Monday afternoon the New York Times published an open letter from 50 foreign policy hands who had served in Republican administrations pledging to oppose Donald Trump. The letter, which you can read at the end of this post, suggests Trump “would be the most reckless president in American history.”

This, as with many things in this election cycle, is basically unprecedented: Foreign policy professions like these folks are usually angling for a job with their party’s nominee, not publicly condemning him as a threat to national security. Yet this letter goes beyond the normal weird of 2016 and into some pretty revealing territory.

Source: Republican foreign policy experts are condemning Trump. It matters more than you think. – Vox

Just look at the signers…..all WAR HAWKS every one…..that alone should tell people who the M-IC is supporting and where our foreign policy will go…..and tell you that more wars and conflicts await.

I am NOT saying that I support Trump….I am saying he is right when he criticized those that signed the document….but why would neocons run from the GOP nominee?

Neocons are jumping off the Republican ship for Hillary Clinton even though Donald Trump has shifted their way on Israel and military spending. The big reason is his resistance to a new Cold War with Russia, says JP Sottile.

Bill Kristol is downright despondent after his failed search for an alternative to Donald Trump. Max Boot is indignant about his “stupid” party’s willingness to ride a bragging bull into a delicate China policy shop. And the leading light of the first family of military interventionism — Robert Kagan — is actually lining up neoconservatives behind the Democratic nominee for president of the United States.

At the same time, the Democrats have become the party of bare-knuckled, full-throated American Exceptionalism. That transformation was announced with a vein-popping zeal by retired general and wannabe motivation screamer John Allen at the Democratic convention in the City of Brotherly Love. During his “speech,” a few plaintive protests of “no more war” were actually drowned-out by Democrats chanting “USA-USA-USA!”

Source: Why Neocons Can’t Stomach Trump – Consortiumnews

If you have a propensity to be a Neocon then Hillary is your choice…..God help us!

Why America Loses Wars

Okay before some nose picker goes off on me for being unpatriotic or something similar let me say….this is NOT my opinion.  It is something that I read and thought I would press it to IST to see if there were any contrary opinions….intelligent opinions that is…..

New Eastern Outlook is a pro-Russian website….so this op-ed piece should be expected….

America’s military isn’t just bloated, it suffers from so many diseases they are countless. At the heart of the problem is a system based on a corrupt military culture. Many things can be blamed, certainly the Christian fundamentalism that rules the military, the hatred of education, inherent racism, political ignorance, extremism and “toadyism” are prominent.

For those who know real combat and real war, watching American units today makes our heads hurt. After Vietnam, combat veterans fled military service while the Pentagon embraced what they believed to be the new very highly paid “professional military.” The failure of Vietnam was blamed on those who fought. The military expunged all combat veterans at the end of the war, as it was explained to me by I Corps commander, General Herman Nickerson, who indicated he was willing to make an exception for me.

Today’s military is built out of those who served in Vietnam’s luxury real eschelon retreats, fine food, air conditioning, sexual deviance and cowardice, the building blocks of what Colonel David Hackworth called “the Perfumed Princes of the Pentagon.”

Source: Why America Loses Wars | New Eastern Outlook

While I understand why this opinion was aired…..I also see some truth in the piece…..the corruption of the defense department for one…..while I do not endorse this much it is still worth reading to see how our opponents are thinking…….and the views they are selling……

Keep in mind that propaganda works both ways…..