Day: October 11, 2016

Even More Troops For Iraq

Slowly but slowly the US has been sending more and more troops to Iraq and the media ignores this….what is more important than our troops in a war zone?

Not Kim and her fucking diamonds……not Trump and his propensity for vulgarity……NOTHING is more important!

Since I reported last month that more US Troops were to be deployed in Iraq ahead of the battle for Mosul……more news has been ignored…..

From the moment he announced, when the latest US war in Iraq began, that there would be “no boots on the ground,” President Obama was not being honest with the American public. Yet after years of trying to revise that to mean something short of no US ground troops, the sheer numbers appear to have overwhelmed the discussion.

Officially, the US had somewhere around 4,500 troops in Iraq. The actual numbers are in excess of 6,000, the discrepancy being the result of an attempt to brand certain troops as “temporary,” despite having no end date for their deployment, as a way to add troops above and beyond caps they’ve long since blown through.

Now, with Pentagon officials openly talking about US troops playing a substantial role in the imminent invasion of Mosul, there is no room for pretense, and officials are just adding more and more troops all the time, hyping them as part of this “vital” invasion.

(antiwar.com)

As the deployments rise the chances of death returning to Americans grows…especially when given the go ahead……

Powerful Shi’ite Muslim cleric Moqtada al-Sadr instructed his followers on Sunday to target U.S. troops deploying to Iraq as part of the military campaign against Islamic State.

U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter said on Monday the Pentagon would dispatch 560 additional troops to help Iraqi forces retake the northern city of Mosul in an offensive planned for later this year.

Sadr, who rose to prominence when his Mahdi Army battled U.S. troops after the 2003 invasion, posted the comments on his official website after a follower asked for his response to the announcement.

Source: Iraqi Shi’ite cleric tells followers to target U.S. troops fighting Islamic State | Reuters

Another news item that the MSM in the US seem to overlook……

I find it very pathetic that the lives of the troops means NOTHING to most Americans…..only when it is politically expedient.

Independents, The Lie That Just Keeps Giving

Opinion from the frustrated mind of Chuq

The election is just around the corner….so do you support Trump?  Maybe Clinton?  Does that make you an independent?  Nope.  A “populist”?  More accurate than independent….

Source:42% of Americans Ditch Two-Party System, Say Government is Biggest Problem – The Anti-Media

Here in the US we have this magical group…..a group that can make marvelous things happen……(a pipe dream of the media’s invention)…..they are the “independents”.

It is an election….this time it is for 2016…..and there will be poll after poll after poll after……it is endless……and the media will once again set off selling that there are a large group that does not approve of either party and they will be labelled as “independent”……and that is a snow job!

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The independents that will make the difference in this election as they have in the past (according to the MSM) are not independents.  These people are more like a centrist than independent.  Even “undecided” would be more accurate.

What makes me say such a thing?

If they were truly independent then they would be looking for political answers outside the prevalent 2 parties that control the American election process.  In other words third parties would be more popular in our process…..in case you have missed it….they are NOT!

To call oneself an independent would imply that the person is open to different ideas for solving problems….that would be a lie also.  Most “independents” have set ideas in their head and NO amount of rational argument will ever change those closed minds.

Most of the so-called independents are nothing more than disgruntled Repubs or Dems…….and when it comes time to vote they will inevitable cast their vote for the Dems or the GOP…..what part of that is independent?

These people are fooling themselves to seem to be more pragmatic….but in reality they are nothing more than a Repub or a Dem…..plain and simple.

Last national election I attempted to raise this subject, 27 June 2011 post…….

Source: Centrist Vs Independent | In Saner Thought

To me those that claim to be independent are people that are not happy with their party of choice…..most are one issue voters who grasp at a single situation to define their political ideology or join the echo chamber of the daily headlines.

The only alternative these people ever consider is which party best describes their issues……once again…….always within the 2 party system…..they seldom ever consider a true alternative.  For all their bitching and moaning and they cannot get past one party or the other……the sound of a fury that signifies nothing!

Why the popularity of the term “independent”?  The media!

The media has the American voter believing they are independent if they go against their party line……it is a con job!

And then there are those that strut around proud to be an “independent”….yet when someone disagrees with them they are bleeding hearts or deniers or ….well you get the idea…..what part of that is independent thinking…..sounds more like the batcrap crazies they quote…..not an independent.  These are the same bottom feeders that troll the scum of the news and look for stories that can feed their hatred and bigotry…..makes no difference that most of these stories are out of context or just plain made up…..but as long as it feeds their brain it is truth and NO amount of logic or rationale will change that for them.

There are few TRUE independents in American politics…..just people that lie to themselves to convince themselves that they are truly the change the country needs…..in reality they are the same as they ever were……just are gullible toads and afraid to admit it.

INDEPENDENT…..MY ASS!

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When Are American Deaths Important?

Before I begin…..the situation is dire in Gaza…..there is a basic blockade by Israel….no traffic in or out, no building supplies in, no food or few med supplies, no approach from the sea…there has been a couple of flotillas that have tried to break the blockade for humanitarian reasons and have been stopped by Israel….including the most recent “women’s flotilla”……

News has come out the Israel will pay $20 million in compensation for one of these incidents…..

As part of the reconciliation package with Turkey, Israel today sent some $20 million in compensatory payments into the Turkish Justice Ministry, from which it will be distributed to the families of 10 slain Turkish citizens killed by Israeli troops on the Mavi Marmara.

The Mavi Marmara attack saw  attacking and boarding the aid ship MV Mavi Marmara, which was bound for the Gaza Strip and carrying humanitarian aid. The Israeli military claimed the crew resisted, and ended up killing 10 of them, and while Israeli officials spent years spinning this as a great success, it did major harm to Israel-Turkey relations.

I have one question about this compensation package……Is the $20 million coming out of the deal from the US that sent $38 Billion to Israel?  Is it US taxpayer money?

Okay onward………

A few years ago a terrorist attack killed the American ambassador to Libya and three other Americans….the outrage was immediate (most trying to gain political clout)….so my question is…..when are American deaths important?

On 26 February, Mahmoud Shaalan, a 16-year-old Palestinian-American born and raised in Florida, was shot multiple times by Israeli soldiers at a checkpoint near Beit El settlement in the occupied West Bank.

Seven months on, 15 human rights groups have written to the White House urging the Obama administration “to demand that Israel publicly release all evidence” related to the military’s internal investigation into the killing.

The Israeli army claimed Shaalan stabbed a soldier, but “eyewitness testimony contradicts this account.” After Shaalan was shot, “soldiers reportedly stripped his body, left him bleeding on the road for more than two hours and prevented a Palestinian ambulance from approaching.”

Source: Rights groups urge Obama to investigate Israeli killing of US citizen – Middle East Monitor

To answer my question…..American deaths are only important when they provide some political agenda…..

There is a history of allowing Israel to kill Americans with no consequences….the USS Liberty comes to mind….

Okay, if he was some sort of undercover terrorist with a knife then let the FBI investigate and either prove or disprove the allegations.

All American deaths that are suspect should be investigated….and this death is suspect.

We need to STOP protecting Israel for their deeds……they are NO better than any other nation and should be made to prove all allegations.

Could the US election be stolen?

There are some in the population that are setting the stage for a presidential loss by hook or crook…….it is always in the wings to be used as an excuse for losing or for having a terrible candidate.

Despite hacking threat, several states use machines without paper back-ups that can be checked against computer tallies.

One month before the vote, and down in nearly every national poll, Donald Trump keeps telling his followers this election is “rigged”.

While he offers no evidence, a new poll indicates that half his supporters have little or no confidence that the election will be conducted fairly.

So he’s asking volunteers to act as election “observers” to look out for fraud.

Meanwhile, 16 states now demand photo identification from voters, like my own battleground state of Virginia, where a Republican legislature has adopted that requirement for the first time in a presidential election.

But a study found only 31 credible incidents of voter impersonation – the only category of fraud that photo ID could possibly prevent – over a 14-year period with over a billion votes cast. (a fact that will be ignored because it does not fit the tale they are wanting)

Source: Could the US election be stolen? – Al Jazeera English

The voter infrastructure is as aged and as vulnerable as our electric infrastructure….but that does not matter as long as they can find a way to make the election questionable.

Ever election the American people get more pathetic in what they are willing to believe with proof.