[Breitbart London] Friday on Fox News Channel's "Your World With Neil Cavuto," commentator Ben Stein discussed President Barack Obama remarks from earlier in the week when he declared Iranian hardliners chanting "death to America" were "making common cause" with Republicans and questioned Obama "mental health."
Stein said, "Mr. Obama is desperate. I'm not sure he is well-rested or in good mental health. The idea of comparing loyal, patriotic Americans with Mullahs and terrorists who want to destroy the United States, destroy Israel, is simply incredible. It's almost unbelievable. I think Mr. Obama doesn't understand have to have a civil discussion. It seems to me he could have tried various arguments. This deal is not 100 percent terrible. He could have tried sensible arguments. Instead he went down to the lowest level of smear tactics." Appears Ben has been reading the Burg.
#4
Obama is crazy? Ben, are you just noticing that--it's been going on for nearly 6-1/2 years; maybe far more (seems like 50)? After all, he never was really vetted. What is next? That we will find out Hillary is nuts?
[DAWN] The creation of the Taliban and their conquest of Kabul ...the capital of Afghanistan. Home to continuous fighting from 1992 to 1996 between the forces of would-be strongman and Pak ISI/Jamaat-e-Islami sock puppet Gulbuddin Hekmayar and the Northern Alliance, a period which won Hek the title Most Evil Man in the World and didn't do much for the reputations of the Northern Alliance guys either.... 21 years or so ago was viewed with pride in Pakistain as a considerable military success, and at least a section of the khaki establishment had no intention of abandoning its Afghan assets despite the post-9/11 exigencies. Its possible role in formulating a strategy for the period that began with the departure of most Western forces is inevitably unclear, but there are legitimate questions to be asked and it's hardly illogical for suspicions to arise.
One obvious question is how key figures in the Pakistain intelligence hierarchy could possibly have been unaware of Omar's demise -- even if he didn't, as Afghan intelligence sources claim, die in a Bloody Karachi ...formerly the capital of Pakistain, now merely its most important port and financial center. It is among the largest cities in the world, with a population of 18 million, most of whom hate each other and many of whom are armed and dangerous... hospital. And if it was a calculated conspiracy of silence, were any other interested parties -- such as the CIA, for instance -- complicit in it?
Similar questions arose, of course, after the late Osama bin Laden ... who is now sometimes referred to as Mister Bones... was hunted down in his home near the Kakul military academy outside Abbottabad ... A pleasant city located only 30 convenient miles from Islamabad. The city is noted for its nice weather and good schools. It is the site of Pakistain's military academy, which was within comfortable walking distance of the residence of the late Osama bin Laden.... more than four years ago, and they are yet to be convincingly answered. It appears, meanwhile, that even Al Qaeda's leadership was unaware of Omar's fate, given that Ayman al-Zawahiri ... Formerly second in command of al-Qaeda, now the head cheese, occasionally described as the real brains of the outfit. Formerly the Mister Big of Egyptian Islamic Jihad. Bumped off Abdullah Azzam with a car boom in the course of one of their little disputes. Is thought to have composed bin Laden's fatwa entitled World Islamic Front Against Jews and Crusaders. Currently residing in the North Wazoo area. That is not a horn growing from the middle of his forehead, but a prayer bump, attesting to how devout he is... re-pledged allegiance to him just last year.
But then again, who knows whether Zawahiri himself is alive? After all, not long after the Omar newsflash, it was reported that Jalaluddin Haqqani has also been dead for a year. His son Sirajuddin is purportedly one of Mansour's deputies. The Haqqanis are believed to have been particularly dear to the Paks, but there are contradictory reports about where Mansour stands in this respect.
The latter's belligerent statements belie his reputation as a relatively moderate Talib -- although that doesn't mean very much in the context of violent extremism. But differences of opinion do matter and could have a significant impact on determining the future of Afghanistan.
Although even its modern roots go back a long way, the upsurge in Islamist extremism can be traced back to a series of unfortunate events in the late 1970s: General Zia ul Haq ...the creepy-looking former dictator of Pakistain. Zia was an Islamic nutball who imposed his nutballery on the rest of the country with the enthusiastic assistance of the nation's religious parties, which are populated by other nutballs. He was appointed Chief of Army Staff in 1976 by Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, whom he hanged when he seized power. His time in office was a period of repression, with hundreds of thousands of political rivals, minorities, and journalists executed or tortured, including senior general officers convicted in coup-d'état plots, who would normally be above the law. As part of his alliance with the religious parties, his government helped run the war against the Soviets in Afghanistan, providing safe havens, American equipiment, Saudi money, and Pak handlers to selected mujaheddin. Zia died along with several of his top generals and admirals and the then United States Ambassador to Pakistain Arnold Lewis Raphel when he was assassinated in a suspicious air crash near Bahawalpur in 1988... 's military coup in Pakistain, the communist takeover in Kabul (which was followed less than two years later by the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan), and the advent of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini's regime in Tehran.
The well-funded mujahideen rebellion in Afghanistan sowed the seeds for much of what has transpired thereafter, including Taliban rule (and subsequent insurgency, which inevitably spilled over into Pakistain), and the role played across the Middle East (and beyond) by returnees from the Afghan jihad. The US played a primary role in propelling that jihad, and then was surprised -- even hurt -- by the blowback.
It stupidly waded back into the miasma and compounded its folly by invading Iraq, helping to create the conditions that facilitated the emergence of Daesh or the self-styled Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... (IS). Last Saturday marked the first anniversary of its anti-IS intervention, and there's little to show for it thus far beyond a mounting corpse count.
There have been reports in recent months of small groups of Taliban drifting into IS, which has already displaced Al Qaeda as the go-to one-stop-shop for fulfilling 'jihadist' fantasies; disarray among the former followers of Mullah Omar ... a minor Pashtun commander in the war against the Soviets who made good as leader of the Taliban. As ruler of Afghanistan, he took the title Leader of the Faithful. The imposition of Pashtunkhwa on the nation institutionalized ignorance and brutality in a country already notable for its own fair share of ignorance and brutality... can only facilitate its inroads into Afghanistan and, sooner or later, Pakistain.
There is certainly no cause to mourn Omar's demise, but nor is there any obvious reason to assume that his absence opens up pathways to peace.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/12/2015 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11126 views]
Top|| File under: Taliban
h/t Instapundit
Despite what The Donald and Jeb! and Carly said in last week's debate, Scott Walker's closing statement tackled an even larger elephant in the room: "I'm a guy with a wife, two kids, and a Harley. One article called me 'aggressively normal.'" The Wisconsin Governor's detractors aren't as euphemistic. Let's face it: Scott Walker is B-O-R-I-N-G.
He brags about the bargain rack at Kohl's. He spends his Sunday mornings at church and his Sunday afternoons watching the Packers. He live-tweets his haircuts and getting the oil changed in his Saturn. His only unhealthy obsession seems to be an addiction to hot ham and rolls after church. (He really loves hot ham.) He's also the only one who took on America#1 problem: the all powerful public employee unions---in comparison, MM & ISIS will be a walkover.
#1
Republicans have the advantage of having several current and former governors in the race: the Laboratory of the States doesn't only churn out good ideas, but has produced some good Presidents as well.
The advantage I see Scott Walker bringing to the table is that HE'S WON. He's more than qualified to shove that down the throats of the Demoncrats who have cited their victory for their agenda.
At the moment, he's a bit wafflely on Illegal immigration, which I chalk up to his state not being overrun by starving Canadians, and having the advantage of being too cold for the ones currently plagueing us. I think, however, that he's the type who will sit down with the governors of the border states and get the true sense of things.
I was talking to Mike Kupari about this yesterday, mostly being my usual optimistic self, and telling him don't worry, the election wasn't going to be Donald Trump versus Bernie Sanders, so there was no reason to flee and build a compound in Costa Rica just yet. He suggested I write it up for the blog, so what the heck, here goes.
Note, these aren't endorsements, they're predictions. So you don't need to yell at me for not backing your dude. Yes, I'm sure your Candidate X is super awesome, and I'm a stupid jerk face for not seeing it.
My prediction is that the republican nominee will be Ted Cruz. The democrat nominee will be Hillary Clinton. At this early point in the campaigns I got Dole, Bush, and Romney right. McCain surprised me, but I think I was just blinded by my dislike for him. I predicted Obama as soon as he got done with that first original DNC speech, and sadly got that one right. Though I was surprised how fast he usurped the Clinton machine.
Here is my reasoning. Larry Correia is the creator of Monster Hunter and Grimnoir Chronicles universes
#4
In a country where the law is enforced by a competent, impartial government, not an oligarchy masquerading as a Republic with selective laws enforced or executive powers created, she would be arrested by now. Which kind of place has America become?
#5
..ah...the same thing as old Roman republic became. Yeah, yeah, history doesn't exactly repeat itself but like a river it has currents, eddies, and backwater cause human behavior is pretty much consistent.
#7
"A lot of people are thinking it would be a good match up because Fiorina is a woman and Hillary is a sort of woman shaped carbon based life form. "
DNA Could prove him wrong about Clinton. She might be a princess of the planet Zod.
#8
One of the best critics of the SJWs on the internet - he started thh Sad Puppies that stood the libs Hugo awards on their heads. They sputter with rage at his mention.
[Breitbart] The two men leading Huffington Post's new Arabic-language site have in the past been accused of having direct involvement with the Muslim Brotherhood and radical clerics; and one has openly expressed conspiratorial views that have been interpreted as having an anti-Semitic connotation.
Anas Fouda, an Egyptian native now living in Muslim Brotherhood-friendly Turkey, is the new editor-in-chief of HuffPost Arabi. He was arrested by UAE authorities in 2013 after being charged with being a leader in the Islamist group, according to a NOW Lebanon, which linked to an article in which Fouda allegedly admitted that he has been a member of the Brotherhood since 1988. Prior to becoming the Huffington Post Arabic editor, Fouda was an executive producer at Al Jazeera Arabic, a network accused of having rabidly pro-Brotherhood biases.
After examining his past statements, NOW Lebanon writer Alex Rowell described Fouda as "bread and butter MB; recommending for instance, articles praising" Yusuf al-Qaradawi, who is considered the spiritual leader of the Islamist group. Qaradawi has in the past praised Nazi leader Adolf Hitler as someone "sent by Allah" to "punish" the Jews. The Muslim Brotherhood kingpin's arrest is now being sought by INTERPOL, the international counter-terror organization.
Famous Muslim Brotherhood alumni include a plethora of international terrorists, including Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al Baghdadi and deceased Al Qaeda mastermind Osama bin Laden.
Many Muslim Brotherhood members also happen to be anti-Semites, due to the jihadist group's founding political ideology, which calls for particular hostility towards Jews. The Huffington Post Arabic editor-in-chief is no exception to the commonly-found parallel.
Fouda tweeted last July, "Only after the latest Israeli aggression on Gaza did I realize the number of Egyptian Jews has increased greatly since the coup." The Tweet is still displayed in Fouda's Twitter feed.
Moved to Opinion The Obama Administration may quietly be dropping its commitment to the failed, U.S.-run fighter scheme in Syria, which was the cause of much derision recently when 23 of the only 60 men the program trained were captured. The Daily Beast reports:
The Obama administration is still publicly counting on a $500 million rebel army to beat ISIS in Syria. But privately, the Pentagon brass long ago moved past its own proxy force, The Daily Beast has learned. They've found another group to fight the self-proclaimed Islamic State instead. Who? The 3 stooges?
In the eyes of the administration, a better force had emerged‐already trained, competent, organized‐that posed little risk of abandoning the fight or worse yet, switching sides. They are the Syrian Kurdish militia‐the Popular Protection Units or YPG, by their Kurdish initials. And they have successfully wrestled Syrian territory out of ISIS's hands.
Seeing officials finally move to distance themselves from the training program, even if only in an off-the-record manner, is heartening. The first step to solving a problem, as the saying goes, is to admit you have one, and America's policy with regard to Syrian forces has had a serious problem lately. As a "senior defense advisor" told The Daily Beast, "I don't understand why we are still training, other than to inoculate criticism. ⌠[The administration] cannot admit it is a complete disaster." We must protect our phony bologna jobs, gentlemen!!
But a pivot to the YPG would be far more complicated than it is presented here as being, largely because of our new alliance with the Turks. They have no intention (to put it mildly) of allowing the anti-ISIS fight to create a new Kurdish power in the region. In fact, as Dov Friedman has argued in our pages, Ankara seems to see the campaign against ISIS as an opportunity to crush Kurdish regional aspirations. So the Administration's trial balloon in this case proposes something completely at odds with its recent move to cooperate with Turkey in Syria.
Among the groups that can field real fighters in Syria, Kurdish forces are in many ways the most aligned with America's interests. It's good that they're on the Administration's radar‐and that we've (potentially) moved past the farce of the "New Syrian Force." But this still isn't a coherent strategy. Obumble will never arm the Kurds as they will win. Can't have that happening and piss of Iran, can we?
Posted by: DarthVader ||
08/12/2015 10:45 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11126 views]
Top|| File under: Islamic State
#1
* BIGNEWSNETWORK > [Japan Times] DEPARTING US ARMY CHIEF [Odierno] SAYS IRAQ MAY TO BE PARTITIONED.
and
* RELATED SAME, CNN AM > [AP] TOP US GENERAL [Odierno]: US SHOULD CONSIDER EMBEDDING TROOPS IN IRAQI UNITS IFF LITTLE PROGRESS MADE AGZ ISIS.
Espec iff US-led Air-Drone strikes prove to be ineffective in stopping the Islamic State + aligned.
#2
FYI the Bammer is being heavily criticized for on one hand wanting US Airpower, i.e. Drones, to attack Baby Assad's Army [SAA] in order to protect the Anti-Assad Rebel forces in Syria, but yet at the same time continue to NOT $$$ or materially, etc. support the Anti-Assad Rebs as previously promised.
[PJ Media] In an interview with Politico on Monday, Texas Senator Ted Cruz had a word of warning for fellow Republican presidential candidates who are slamming GOP frontrunner Donald Trump.
"I would ... note that an awful lot of Republicans, including other Republican candidates, have gone out of their way to smack Donald Trump with a stick. Now I think that's just foolish," he said.
Asked why, Cruz paused and then replied, "Donald Trump had a rally in Phoenix, Ariz. [to which] between 10 and 20 thousand people came out. When you attack and vilify the people at that rally as crazies, it does nothing to help Republicans win in 2016. I'd like every single person at that rally to show up and vote in 2016, knock on doors with energy and passion, and turn this country around. If Washington politicians show contempt and condescension to those [voters,] that is a path to losing at the ballot box."
And when asked whether he wants those voters to eventually support him, he replied, "It is my hope to earn the support of the supporters for every other candidate in 2016."
The Texas senator has been invited by reporters on a number of occasions to join the GOP pig-pile on Trump, but Cruz wants no part of that.
Cruz told the Politico he doesn't want to engage in "Republican-on-Republican violence."
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.
Zawahiri
...the creepy-looking former dictator of Pakistain. Zia was an Islamic nutball who imposed his nutballery on the rest of the country with the enthusiastic assistance of the nation's religious parties, which are populated by other nutballs. He was appointed Chief of Army Staff in 1976 by Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, whom he hanged when he seized power. His time in office was a period of repression, with hundreds of thousands of political rivals, minorities, and journalists executed or tortured, including senior general officers convicted in coup-d'état plots, who would normally be above the law. As part of his alliance with the religious parties, his government helped run the war against the Soviets in Afghanistan, providing safe havens, American equipiment, Saudi money, and Pak handlers to selected mujaheddin. Zia died along with several of his top generals and admirals and the then United States Ambassador to Pakistain Arnold Lewis Raphel when he was assassinated in a suspicious air crash near Bahawalpur in 1988...
[Breitbart] The two men leading Huffington Post's new Arabic-language site have in the past been accused of having direct involvement with the Muslim Brotherhood and radical clerics; and one has openly expressed conspiratorial views that have been interpreted as having an anti-Semitic connotation.
The Obama Administration may quietly be dropping its commitment to the failed, U.S.-run fighter scheme in Syria, which was the cause of much derision recently when 23 of the only 60 men the program trained were captured. The Daily Beast reports:
