#1
Democratic power brokers stoked the housing bubble and turned a blind eye to the increasingly rampant corruption and incompetence at Fannie Mae and the associated predatory lenders who sheltered under its umbrella; core Democratic ideas may well be at fault.
This was going on the entire eight years that George Bush was in office. He turned a blind eye too. You may love him for his prosecution of the WOT but his fingerprints are on the corpse of the American dream right next to Bawney Fwank's. He may have started whimpering about it in 2006 but he should have been screaming bloody murder from 2000 onward. Donks are not entirely incorrect when they blame Bush and that is why it will not be so easy for Trunks to exploit this issue in 2012. Fannie and Freddie may be jimmuh carter's babies but Bush had a chance to strangle them in their cradles and he failed.
#3
..but Bush had a chance to strangle them in their cradles and he failed.
Bush made a choice to fight a war delivered on our doorsteps on 9/11. Barney Frank belongs to Congress so don't pass up the legion of RINOs who let it passed while they had control of the keys to the store up till 2006. Like the Paleos, they always take the opportunity to pass up an opportunity. It's like there' something in the water in the Beltway. Time to import the stuff from outside.
#4
Yes. Bush did what he thought he had to do to continue Congressional support (such as it was) for the GWOT. He did, in fact, attempt to reform both Fannie/Freddie and Social Security after 2004 but was vilified for both efforts.
#5
Barney Frank belongs to Congress so don't pass up the legion of RINOs who let it passed while they had control of the keys to the store up till 2006.
I didn't mean to say it was just Bush. But it wasn't just Bawney either, as much as I despise that odious little man. They had LOTS of company on BOTH sides of the aisle.
And I've heard the theory that Bush had to compromise to get support for the war. But it's gonna be kinda hard to continue fighting the war when we're broke.
#6
Face it. It was the entire corrupt elite inside the Beltway of all stripes. The only difference is that the resistance, what little there was, was predominantly ,pub. But, a minority of the minority (small at that) ain't gonna do much.
[Bangla Daily Star] The Pakistani and the US authorities are reluctantly claiming the death of militant leader Ilyas Kashmiri for the third time in the last three years, but they still lack the knowledge about his network, aims and the capability of his 313 brigade despite the fact that Kashmiri was actually a genie created by the Pakistani establishment. He served the interest of the US in the 80s and of Pakistan's in the 90s, but today both American and Pakistani security establishments want to celebrate Kashmiri's death based on some confirmation. Pakistani security agencies have arrested a number of people, who were once close to Kashmiri, from different areas but the agencies are not ready to admit that the violation of the article 256 of the constitution of Islamic Republic of Pakistan by the Pakistani state actually made many people admire Ilyas Kashmiri.
The Pakistani establishment mishandled Ilyas Kashmiri after the 9/11 and this turned him into one of the most dangerous threats for the security of not only Pakistan but the whole South Asia. He trained hundreds of young boys in the last few years in an aim to break out a war between India and Pakistan. He was leading the most lethal militant network with the support of many low-level retired army officers. Kashmiri was not the product of religious schools. He was a man who believed in modern education and used modern war strategies.
I met Kashmiri first in mid-90s when he escaped from an Indian jail and came back to Pakistan. He was very popular in the Kashmiri militant circles and military circles. He became a darling to the military leadership when he attacked an Indian check post in LoC in Naushehra sector on February 27, 2000 and killed seven Indian soldiers. This operation was organised as a response to the Indian Army raid on a village in Nakial area of Pakistani Kashmir. Many civilians were killed in the raid.
Kashmiri killed some senior Indian army officers in Tanda area of Jammu sector in 2003 but within a few months he was arrested by the Pakistani Army in connection with an assassination attempt on General Parvez Musharraf. He was declared innocent during the investigations and was released in February 2004. He was again arrested in 2005 but was released again on the pressure from Kashmiri militant outfits. Torture and humiliation in a Pakistani jail made him say to a senior leader of Hizbul Mujahedeen, "There is no difference between Pakistani and Indian jails; they don't trust us because we are people of Kashmir."
He moved to North Waziristan after the Lal Masjid operation in Islamabad in 2007 but interestingly some militant groups always suspected him behind the operation because of his past connection with Pakistan Army. He was trusted more by the Punjabi Taliban rather than the Pashtuns but with the passage of time he developed good relations with Hakeemullah Mehsud group. On the other hand, he never had good relations with the militant groups which had an unannounced peace accords with Pakistani authorities in tribal areas and were fighting only against US troops in Afghanistan.
It was reported last Friday that Ilyas Kashmiri was killed in a US drone attack at an apple orchard close to Wana area of South Waziristan. This area is under the control of Maulvi Nazir, who is considered a "Pakistan-friendly good Talib". It is not yet clear why Kashmiri decided to visit an area where another Taliban leader Hakeemullah Mehsud does not feel safe and where Hakeemullah's fighters were attacked by Maulvi Nazir group sometime back. Hakeemullah is now hiding somewhere in North Waziristan. Some sources claimed that perhaps the Pakistani authorities helped the US to track down Kashmiri, but his being in a non-friendly area is still a mystery.
Kashmiri was very careful about his relations with those who have direct or indirect contacts with Pakistani establishment. He focused more on recruiting boys from English medium schools in the last four years. He planned to break out a war between India and Pakistan by organising attacks in big cities like Delhi and Mumbai and was more interested in the independence of Kashmir and wanted to take some advantages out of India-Pakistan war. He discussed his plan with some militant groups associated with Taliban but achieved no consensus because the other groups were keener to fight against the Pakistani state.
According to some reports, Kashmiri managed to infiltrate dozens of his fighters into India in the last few years. Some of them came from India's Gujarat via Dubai or directly from Delhi. These boys came to Afghanistan undercover, as labourers and technicians, but slipped to eastern Afghanistan and entered North Waziristan to be trained with the 313 brigade. Kashmiri recruited a big number of boys not only from Rawalpindi and Islamabad but also from Azad Jammu and Kashmir. Most of them had no previous records of militancy. He abandoned the "seniors", who were having good relations with the Pakistani state. His mixture of young and fresh Pakistani boys with angry Muslim boys from India made him the biggest threat for peace in South Asia.
Once I interviewed him in his big training camp near the mountains of Kotli where he showed me anti-aircraft artillery. I asked him about the need of heavy weaponry in guerrilla warfare. He said may be one day he would be attacked by the Indian Air Force and need to retaliate with anti-aircraft artillery.
On another occasion, I asked for his opinion on formation of a private army which is a violation of article 256 of Pakistani constitution that says "no private organisation capable of functioning as a military organisation shall be formed and any such organization will be illegal". Kashmiri replied, "I am fighting for the liberation of Kashmir sitting in Kashmir. It's not Pakistan; it's Kotli."
Kashmiri developed distance with Pakistani establishment when he was asked to join Jaish-e-Muhammad of Maulana Masood Azhar. I met with Kashmiri in Islamabad many times after he grew differences with Pakistani establishment. He had more than two offices in Islamabad and his frequent visitors were many known religious clerics of the capital. But he disappeared one day.
He decided to take revenge for Pakistan but today the Pakistani establishment is trying to arrest all those who were close to him. The fate of Ilyas Kashmiri is a lesson for many "good Taliban" as well as the Pakistani establishment. The first lesson is, Pakistani establishment used thousands of youngsters in the name of Jihad and liberation of Kashmir but it can change its policy anytime under foreign pressure. They are not reliable. Secondly, Pakistani establishment must realise that creating private armies is a violation of the constitution. They must not create private armies and even if they had, they shouldn't mishandle them. They can become genies like Ilyas Kashmir.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/09/2011 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in Pakistan
[] Lately, many people came out to say "no to Paleostinians being exploited in the crises of some Arab regimes." This was after demonstrations broke out at the Yarmouk Paleostinian Refugee Camp in Syria in protest at the Syrian regime sending Paleostinian youth to the occupied Golan Heights, which led to them being killed at the hands of the Israeli army.
The reality of the situation in our region is that the Paleostinians have become akin to a single currency being used by some Arab regimes -- as well as Iran, of course -- when facing a crisis. Whenever these regimes find themselves facing crises they settle their internal and external bills, either by sacrificing Paleostinians, or by writing a check, or in other words exploiting the Paleostinian cause!
The question here is: why did the Syrian regime send Paleostinians to the occupied Golan Heights, whether this is to mark the anniversary of the occupation of the Golan Heights, the Naksa [annual Paleostinian commemoration for Israel's victory in the 1967 Six Day war], or whatever other reason, without sending any Syrian citizens as well? Indeed, how could Damascus ...The City of Jasmin is the oldest continuously-inhabited city in the world. It has not always been inhabited by the same set of fascisti... send Paleostinians to the occupied Golan Heights when Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason, itself banned Paleostinians in the Gazoo Strip from taking part [in the commemoration] and traveling to the borders with Israel? Why should it be the Paleostinians who are placed under threat and used to settle the bills of some Arab regimes that are trading with the Paleostinian cause, most notably Syria? Syria is not alone in this of course, for Saddam Hussein also previously followed this same policy in order to justify the Iraqi occupation of Kuwait, as well as to justify his clinging to power and the suppression of his people. This is something that the Iranian regime has also done, and continues to do every day, in order to justify its interference in Arab affairs; and this is this same Iranian regime that has never fired a single bullet in defense of Paleostine. Indeed the Paleostinians have not forgotten the day that the Iranian Supreme Guide advised the Iranian people not to intervene in Israel's last war against Gazoo! Others who utilize this single currency for all crises -- the Paleostinians -- include Hezbullies, and this is something that Hezbullies does on a regular bases. Hezbullies also did not join with the Syrians to protest along the Israeli border, although they did protest along the Israeli border last month [in commemoration of Hezbullies's Resistance Day]; this is perhaps an indication that Hezbullies is now convinced that it is not in its interests to stand with Damascus!
Therefore, we ask ourselves: is there an honest leader amongst the Paleostinian leadership who is sympathetic to the plight of his own people and who can tell the Paleostinian people not to allow themselves to be used as firewood for those who want to stoke the crises in our region, whether this is Iran or anyone else? Is there nobody among the Paleostinians who can say that it is not permissible to cheapen our blood and our cause in order to settle the internal and external bills of some Arab regimes that trade in the Paleostinian cause? How can the Paleostinians believe, for example, that Iran is concerned with the Paleostinian cause when it has not fired a single bullet for its sake? What about our discovery that Israeli ships have been docking in Iranian ports over the past ten years? How can the Paleostinians believe that the Syrian regime is concerned with the resistance when they have not resisted the Israeli occupation of the Golan Heights over the period of occupation, except through slogans and the media? How can the Paleostinians believe Hezbullies, which did not stand with Gazoo when it was burning and facing Israeli aggression?
Some in Hamas, or other Paleostinian factions, will say that the enemy of my enemy is my friend, and this is true, but the enemy of my enemy is not my partner or my commander; the Paleostinian interests must be paramount!
Therefore, what is happening today in the region is that the Paleostinians have become the single currency for some regimes in our region, and they use this to settle the bill of their internal and external crises; we need an honest Paleostinian leader to come out and say "no more trading on Paleostine and the Paleostinians."
Posted by: Fred ||
06/09/2011 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Govt of Syria
#1
exploiting the Paleostinian cause!
No sh*t, Sherlock. How long did it take you to figure that out?
Well, Tariq old boy, people have a right to use their own property. Are you going to argue that creating something out of nothing doesn't make it its creators' property?
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
