Hattip Shipman. It's Mark Steyn, and he's always worthwhile.
There's something slightly weird about taking a hashtag - which on the Internet at least has a functional purpose - and getting a big black felt marker and writing it on a piece of cardboard and holding it up, as if somehow the comforting props of social media can be extended beyond the computer and out into the real world. Maybe the talismanic hashtag never required a computer in the first place. Maybe way back during the Don Pacifico showdown all Lord Palmerston had to do was tell the Greeks #BringBackOurJew.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
05/12/2014 02:27 ||
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#1
I don't know, the current US regime is perfectly willing to dronezap random Pakis* in (3 digit numbers?) per month
*Mind you, IMO, it's a good idea. Eventually you'll have to withdraw from Afghanistan through Pakistan**. So putting a bit of fear of G*d into the locals---to dampen their Islamic enthusiasm, can't hurt.
**You just burned your chance of withdrawing through Russian controlled 'stans.
Almost nobody in Japan heard about the Battle of Midway until after the war. The Emperor Hirohito, upon hearing of the debacle ordered a comprehensive cover-up. The wounded were isolated on hospital ships. All mail was censored. Surviving enlisted men and officers were held incommunicado until they could be shipped off to distant battlefields from where it was hoped they would never return. The sunken ships themselves were gradually written off over the course of the war until their loss blended in with the general demise of the imperial fleet. In order to coordinate this effort Hirohito created a special office of cabinet rank.
It worked perfectly. If the US had not won World War 2 Midway would never have existed in Japanese history. The average man of course read nothing in the papers, heard nothing on the radio, saw nothing in the newsreel. But perceptive Japanese 'felt' something momentous had happened though they could not identify its cause. Its impact, though denied in the press, shuddered through the whole Imperial fabric. From that day forward events seemed to take a downward trajectory. Only after the war did the Japanese know the root of their misfortunes.
#2
SupposeBenghazi was a catastrophic failure, made all the more dangerous by the possibility that Russia had a hand in it.
The Russians are using their Spetsnaz in the Ukraine, why should it seem strange for them to have used Spetznaz in Syrian and Libya? The accuracy of those mortars still confounds me.
One very basic fact that I overlooked about Benghazi; how many 'political demonstration' take place during the hours of darkness? Additionally, how many of these late evening 'demonstrations' actually continue whilst being targeted by US Navy SEAL machinegun fire? Damn few I'd reckon.
Now that it is apparent everyone in the NCA knew Benghazi was a terrorist attack from the onset, why was Ambassador Stevens written off? Forget the commo man Smith and brave SEALS for a moment, why was a US Ambassador left to die with no effort to locate o save him or run his captors to ground? Then, days and weeks after the attack, the greatest crime busing sleuths in the world [F.B.I.] are for some unknown reason delayed in getting to the scene and securing evidence.
It's all beginning to look a bit contrived to me. Not to put on my Alex Jones/Tony Shaffer tin hat, but it make one wonder if perhaps Ambassador Stevens ill-fated trip to Benghazi was the result of his discovering something entirely inconvenient.
#4
So heres how it went down. The Turkish Counsel-General is a guy named Tayip Bey or something Turkish like that. A real stand up guy and he, being a Turk with a big mustache , knows which side of his bread is buttered and how the butter got there. The Turks are caught in the middle between Obama and Putin. They are deeply concerned by the situation in Syria. The Russians show Tayip Bey and his friends some SAT photos of Libyan arms deliveries right to Tayips house. Bad. Bad.
So Tayip contacts Ambassador Stevens and say he has to see him right away. Stevens tell Tayip that he will see him in Tripoli in a week. But Tayip says no it has to be in Benghazi and it has to be now. And we have to meet in the CIA HQ..and we have to do it tomorrow evening...not breakfast, not Lunch, DINNER time.
And who is on the menu? Putin says its Ambassador Stevens.
You dont think that happened? Dont ask the MS media...they wont say a word. Where WAS Stevens when he was taken, children? Has Obama made that overly plain. Do you think the CIA is going to help you at any hearings? Do you think Petraeus is going to be in any position to say anything but what he is told to say? This is how it is done in Chicago.
Watch it on television and you get what you deserve.
Posted by: Big Thromoth3646 ||
05/12/2014 4:41 Comments ||
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#5
it doesn't take any russia centric or turkey centic manuvering to see the problems that the admin has
-the idea of establishing a consulate in Benghazi was a really poor decision and it was probably a Hillary decision at that (or a Hillary/Power/Rice decision)-
why she did that and why Obama agreed to it (if he even did or just voted present) is key to understanding the whole thing
Posted by: lord garth ||
05/12/2014 6:58 Comments ||
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#6
Shipping arms via AQ, for the Syrian operation, during time of war (SJR:23, Sept 2001) makes all the Beltway parties liable to Article III clause of aiding and abetting the enemy. Bury it or lawyer up is the game plan in effect.
Swiss special forces will officially take over security tasks at Switzerlands embassy in Libya on Monday, replacing private firm Aegis.
The governments decision to hire Aegis for over three months was widely criticised in Swiss political circles. Although the company is headquartered in Basel since 2010, it also employs 20,000 mercenaries who are deployed mainly in Iraq and Afghanistan, making it one of the worlds biggest private armies.
The government had justified its choice to employ a private firm with local knowledge to guard the Tripoli embassy because it needed time to draw up an operational plan and reach a decision on whether to proceed.
The cabinet has since drawn up legislation banning private security firms operating in conflict zones or holding companies in this sector from being based in Switzerland.
The foreign ministry said on Thursday that the Aegis contract will have cost SFr960,000 altogether. The cost to deploy members of the Army Reconnaissance Detachment 10 should be around SFr600,000 for six months.
The embassy in Tripoli is the only Swiss representation abroad where Swiss soldiers will be responsible for security.
#9
There is enough data out there to believe the US was using that compound to move weapons, to someone. Just who is still not clear. What the weapons were is also not clear, Small arms or SAMs were the reports. The hit seemed to be either a chance to capture the weapons or payback for giving the weapons to ones enemy. Stevens was more than likely just caught in the middle. They probably did not know who he was, but that my opinion. It was not a protest, that was going on at the embassy, this was an annex and there was no media, protests alert the media, this did not happen. It was a coordinated attack using the protest as distraction to add to the confusion. Why did Obama lie to America, like some have noted, to cover up the arms shipments. We still don't know who they went to. Unfortunately some poor schmuck who made a Mohamed pron video took a big hit by the USG as part of their shell game to distract and mislead Americans. Obama is an amateur and fool. Hillary is well seasoned at lying, very calculated in her tactics, has a machine behind her to discredit anyone who objects to her, and is on plan to be president. Her big mistake is the Tea Party. She never expected politicians to not care about her attacks and seek the truth anyway.
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
05/12/2014 11:01 Comments ||
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#10
The lie is much more dangerous than the truth. America can live with an Obama mistake. But it cant live with an Obama who cannot acknowledge his mistakes.
Ah, but we are living with his mistakes and his lies. It sucks but we're doing it. I blame the Republicans every bit as much. Romney made a feeble effort to call him on it during the debate. A very feeble effort. There has been a little talk since then but absolutely no action. Where is the outrage? What good is an opposition party if they don't oppose anything?
#13
Actually it makes perfect sense Uncle Phester. Why not hook a few of highly placed RINO pubs into the scheme as insurance. Make'em feel impotent. Part of something really exotic, super, duper secret. Not the entire package mind you, just enough to make them co-conspirators when it all goes south. A pretty good strategy I'd say.
Gets a guaranteed income, from some public sector source.
Gets their "information" stream from some combination of legacy print media, the Comedy Channel, the alphabet networks minus FOX, and NPR/PBS.
What we say here at Rantburg, while important, will never be heard by those people. Literally never. Those "news" sources will never report any story or fact of substance that might reflect in any negative fashion on Obama or any Democrat. Never. Ever.
Worse, even if the left did hear it, it wouldn't cause the normative human reaction of outrage and revulsion we experience. There would instead be a cascade of events, as follows:
Obama or Hillary or Warren sets fire to a bus load of third graders, kills them and eats one of the corpses. It is captured on film. FOX news reports it.
1. A friend or family member sends them a link to a FOX news story reporting it. They respond "That news was on FAUX, and I didn't hear about it on NPR, so it isn't real."
For most of them, it will end there. But let's take it out further.......
2. More news starts to seep out about the incident. The partisans will then blame the event on conservatives and devout Christians (the actual words used will be "it's Bush's fault").
3. As even more information begins to surface, eventually, in an effort to rescue the narrative and preserve in office Democrats who will maintain the magic paychecks at any cost, the line will be "well, yeah, oh course they killed those kids. It's a wonderful thing!"
Some variant of this progression of events is sure to be coming to a leftist enclave near you in he the near future, regarding Benghazi.
Posted by: no mo uro ||
05/12/2014 17:18 Comments ||
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#16
We can't seem to get a handle on F&F, the IRS, or the VA. How in the world are entrenched bureaucracies such as the State Department, NSA, or the odious Klingons going to be held to account? I am least of all hopeful.
#17
Stevens was more than likely just caught in the middle. They probably did not know who he was, but that my opinion.
Stevens was initially sent, along with a small team, to develop links with anti-Qadaffi rebels in Benghazi. Having successfully done so, he was appointed ambassador after Qadaffi was 'removed'.
Can't seem to shake the feeling that the RINO 'pubs are just as deeply involved in Benghazi as Mr. Obama and company.
Highly possible; especially if one were on the various intelligence and military committees.
#1
President Obama solemnly promised to track down and bring to justice the perpetrators who harmed Americans in Benghazi. A year and a half later, he has yet to start fulfilling his promise. Its not that the perps are in hiding. They live openly in Benghazi, their addresses are well-known, and reporters have no problem getting in touch with them. Its only the FBI that just cant find them. Again, is the White House leery of what might transpire if the terrorists are allowed to talk?
Unfortunately I cannot discuss anything with you. Dead men tell no tales. You know the deal eh ?
[DAWN] I am inside the mosque. I walk back to the doorway and look out.
Awash with sunlight, there in the dusty lane a gang of labourers yell something like a work-song as they pass a bag of cement along a moving chain of men.
A peddler pushes his wooden-wheeled cart into the street, selling milky biscuits from a see-through plastic case.
One little boy sets up a narrow wooden plank on two concrete blocks -- a play bridge -- and tries to walk across. He is steady for a second. In the next, he is knocked over by the clamour of his own laughter.
I turn around and am back in the dark prayer hall of the mosque.
In the absence of windows, the sunlight outside barely finds its way in. Fluorescent bulbs hang from the high ceiling, lighting up the gold and red carpet and yellow walls embellished with the many names of Allah.
Garlands of plastic flowers and gold and green ribbons still adorn the walls of the prayer hall, the echoes of an inauguration ceremony from more than a year and a half ago.
The effect is unsettling, somehow. All I can think of is life outside. The laughing child. The chanting workers. The rows of narrow streets that frame a distant view of Rawalpindi. People walking up and down the alleys and roads, the sound of gravel and garbage crunching under their feet. The grey walls of houses and shops and mosques and schools tilting unevenly, looking ordinary and ominous at the same time.
It is only as I come out of the mosque and enter the everyday world around it that I fully understand what I have experienced.
This is not just any mosque -- and there are many in Pakistain. This is the apotheosis of the moral ambiguities that arise in the shadow of crimes committed so often in this country in the name of blasphemy.
To some believers, the Jamia Masjid Mumtaz Qadri is a monument to a religious hero who killed a blasphemous governor who was supporting a blaspheming woman.
"My faith is not that strong," says Ashfaque Sabri, who leads prayers at the mosque and oversaw its construction. "Otherwise I and every other Mohammedan would also do what Mumtaz Qadri did."
Indeed, to some believers, this mosque -- with its cream-coloured exterior and girders sticking out of the roof into the sky, waiting for another floor to be raised and more believers to be greeted -- is a befitting compliment to a man who languishes in jail for doing what it is every believer's duty to do.
For other believers, the 500 square metres of construction on the outskirts of Islamabad is a tribute to an unimaginably atrocious crime.
But standing in the doorway of the mosque and looking out -- the dark halls commemorating Qadri behind me, glimpses of ordinary life in front -- I feel disoriented, teetering on that elusive, almost indiscernible line that separates good from evil, guilt from innocence, death from life.
There is nothing to divide this monument to a killer from the city around it.
From where I stand, the sense of ambiguity -- matters of ordinary living, a universe of terrifying vice -- is enlarged.
It is not hard to imagine believers pouring in through the mosque's door, children playing outside on a spring afternoon, peddlers selling their knick-knacks. They are all already there.
The threat of more deaths at the hands of protectors of the faith; those who deny a crime was committed and seek to justify murders -- they exist in the same world as the one occupied by the laughing boy. And me.
As the peddler wheels away his cart and I get into my car, it becomes clear how ambiguous and undefined the parameters of guilt can sometimes be. They don't just include killers and those who set them free or make mausoleums in their name. They also include those who look the other way, who continue with their work, who refuse to be involved, who refuse to protest, who allow it all to just go on.
This is true of the worker and the peddler and the bureaucrat and the turbans and the prime minister. And it is true of me.
But then again, perhaps there is some wisdom in building memorials to our own misdeeds.
These concrete walls, the booming loudspeaker -- they are also directed at people who have found the capacity to forget Salmaan Taseer, Aasia Bibi, Rimsha Masih and Rashid Rehman.
The quiet abstraction of the mosque -- its bleak physical presence, its very existence -- inextricably entangle the murder of our own heroes into our everyday existence so that we can never forget them.
Let's never forget them.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/12/2014 00:00 ||
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[Ynet] Newsweek's articles only point out hypocrisy and ignorance in a US intelligence community that harbors a vindictive attitude towards Israel.
Ouch. And then the editorialist adds facts and experience. Lots more ouch. Enjoy.
The second Newsweek article on Israel's alleged spying efforts in the US, titled "Israel's Aggressive Spying in the US Mostly Hushed Up", embarrasses its author and sources almost more than the original piece published last Tuesday.
It serves as additional proof to what anyone who has ever worked in Washington DC and with the White House knows -- American analysis of events pertaining to foreigners is at times distorted or even downright mistaken.
#1
Collection is generally based upon someone's 'priority intelligence requirements' or PIR. The PIR of a foreign entity [friend or otherwise] can tell you a great deal about that their knowledge levels or lack thereof, ie, intelligence gaps.
My question is, what precisely is Israel targeting and why are they targeting it? What is it that we possess that cannot be shared with such a supposed staunch ally ?
#3
Anyone in the loop knows that if Israeli intelligence services wanted to spy against Al Gore, it could have done so in numerous ways, especially while in Israel where they enjoy a home field advantage.
Reminds me of that episode of COPS when patrol got a domestic call and confronts a shirtless rube attempting to explain that whenever his old lady gets a snootfull she gets jealous and tries to get him in trouble. Then when asked about her bruises he denies that he laid a finger on her and to prove his point he says if he actually did hit her she would still be out cold.
Do not be deceived: Leftism is an enigma. We need a theorem that explains not one or two aspects of Leftism, but all their traits.
The theory must explain, first, the honest decency of the modern liberals combined with their astonishing indifference, nay, hostility to facts, common sense, and evidence; second, it must explain their high self-esteem (or, to be blunt, their pathological narcissism) combined not merely with an utter lack of accomplishment, but with their utter devotion to destructiveness, a yearning to ruin everything they touch; third, it must explain their sanctimoniousness combined with their applause, praise, support, and tireless efforts to spread all perversions (especially sexual), moral decay, vulgarity, and every form of desecration; fourth, their pretense of intellectual superiority combined with their notorious mental fecklessness; fifth, it must explain both their violence and their pacifism; sixth, the theory must explain why they hate the very things they should love most; seventh, the theory must explain why they are incapable of comprehending an honest disagreement or any honorable foe.
Fails to mention the regime's war on the burbs is actually a war on conservative America and republican enclaves. The expansion of urban America at a time when birth rates are actually in decline is no accident. Anyone care for a new motor vehicle tax on commuter miles driven ?
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.
[DAWN] I am inside the mosque. I walk back to the doorway and look out.
