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2007-02-24 Home Front: Politix

"Iraq the greatest disaster in American foreign policy": Halfbright

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Posted by Nimble Spemble 2007-02-24 00:00|| || Front Page|| [11135 views since 2007-05-07] Top

#1 Many presidents have problems in office and then go on to do great things. Jimmy Carter was a disaster as president. Since then his mission has been to embarrass Americans and frustrate America's goals.

Posted by whatadeal 2007-02-24 00:25|| 2007-02-24 00:25|| Front Page Top

#2 I thought letting Iran go to MM, was the greatest disaster in American foreign policy. With attack on Serbia in support of Muzzi territorial ambitions being the second.

Posted by gromgoru 2007-02-24 01:11|| 2007-02-24 01:11|| Front Page Top

#3 Madame Albright is much too modest; she can certainly claim the title of the greatest disaster in American foreign policy.

Posted by RWV 2007-02-24 02:12|| 2007-02-24 02:12|| Front Page Top

#4 Now HERE is a "Great Disaster."

My Daddy the Dancer

One day a fourth-grade teacher asked the children what their fathers did for a living All the typical answers came up -- fireman, mechanic, businessman, salesman, doctor, lawyer, and so forth.

However, little Justin was being uncharacteristically quiet, so when the teacher prodded him about his father, he replied, "My father's an exotic dancer in a gay cabaret and takes off all his clothes in front of other men and they put money in his underwear. Sometimes, if the offer is really good, he will go home with some guy and stay with him all night for money."

The teacher, obviously shaken by this statement, hurriedly set the other children to work on some exercises and then took little Justin
aside to ask him, "Is that really true about your father?"

"No," the boy said, "he works for the Democratic National Committee and is helping to get Hillary Clinton to be our next President, but I was too embarrassed to say that in front of the other kids."

Posted by Besoeker 2007-02-24 03:02|| 2007-02-24 03:02|| Front Page Top

#5 ROFLMAO!

Posted by DanNY 2007-02-24 06:25|| 2007-02-24 06:25|| Front Page Top

#6 We're going to skip the foreign policy debacle in which our State Department wasted years negotiating withe the Japanese Foreign Office when all along the real power was being wielded by the military junta that constituted the real center of power in '40-41? Ignoring who's really in charge and not operating your actions and policies upon reality seemed to have cost the American people a hellva lot more than anything we've experienced since. Sorta like taking Kimmey at his word, right Babes?

Posted by Procopius2k 2007-02-24 09:04|| 2007-02-24 09:04|| Front Page Top

#7 "We have lost the element of goodness in American power, and we have lost our moral authority," she said. "The job of the next president will be to restore the goodness of American power."

"Element of goodness"??? "Moral authority"??? Jeez Louise, WTF is it with these people, anyway? Do these flatheaded, drooling imbeciles actually believe that if only we'd be "nicer" to the world's tyrants, mass-murderers, psychopaths and slave-drivers, they won't hate us so much???

Eight solid years of that kind of nonsense is what CAUSED the attacks of 9/11: the Islamoloonies sensed weakness and it encouraged them to strike.

There's something wrong with these idiots. Their brains don't function properly. They need adult supervision in a controlled, highly structured environment.

Posted by Dave D.">Dave D. 2007-02-24 10:08|| 2007-02-24 10:08|| Front Page Top

#8 Dave D, right on!

The fact of the matter is that American power and moral authority is not and should not be based on "goodness". American power and moral authority extends from doing the right thing at the right time even if that means going against the grain of the rest of the world.

"Goodness" means nothing when exercising power and moral authority. Being nice usually means being taken advantage of when trying to exercise the legitimate interests of one's country, especially when those interests are American as opposed to the rest of the world's intersts.

"Goodness" means very little to the rest of the world. They simply do not have the capacity to understand it IMNSHO as practiced by the US. Sheer, raw-boned FEAR means a helluva' lot more to most people.

In today's world, the exercise of US power and moral authority needs to get away from the "good" aspect and swing more towards the aspect of inspiring fear.

We must become wolves.

Posted by FOTSGreg">FOTSGreg 2007-02-24 10:33|| www.fire-on-the-suns.com]">[www.fire-on-the-suns.com] 2007-02-24 10:33|| Front Page Top

#9 "goodness" and statecraft lectures from Halfbright have as much value as "ethics" lectures from Hillary! and "justice" lectures from Janet Reno... ask for a refund from their time in office

Posted by Frank G">Frank G 2007-02-24 10:40|| 2007-02-24 10:40|| Front Page Top

#10 I had a great experience yesterday. I was out jogging, wearing an old Army PT shirt, when I passed an old German guy. He smirked, pointed west, and said, "Paris ist zwei tage" (Paris is two days that way). Apparently, not only does he feel that Paris needs subduing, but that a woman could do it all by herself. LMAO!

Screw goodness. We'd score big -- and not just with Germans -- if we invaded and annexed France.

Posted by exJAG 2007-02-24 10:59|| 2007-02-24 10:59|| Front Page Top

#11 Germans have always had a soft spot for chemists.

Posted by Nimble Spemble 2007-02-24 11:07|| 2007-02-24 11:07|| Front Page Top

#12 :> exJag

Hit 'em Again Dave D.

Posted by Shipman 2007-02-24 11:20|| 2007-02-24 11:20|| Front Page Top

#13 Albright... said many Americans believe that they should be loved around the world. "We don't have to be loved," she said. "But we shouldn't be feared. We should be respected."

Anyone who believes that we "should be loved around the world" is just plain neurotic: needy, insecure, and craving of warm fuzzies, group hugs and a little Golden Star on his report card.

But Albright herself is tainted with more than a small dose of that, if her definition of "respected" is substantially different from "feared". Best I can figure, her notion of "respected" corresponds roughly to being "liked", or perhaps "admired, if a little grudgingly". In the end, it's no different from wanting to be "loved", just that the neediness is not quite as intense.

This "progressive" notion of respect needs to go.

REAL respect, in my opinion, consists of the following:

1. People-- friend and foe alike-- know without a doubt that they can count on you to do what you say you are going to do. In friends, this behavior breeds trust. In enemies, it breeds fear.

2. They know without a doubt that you will treat them fairly-- and, just as important, that you will insist they do the same with you.

3. They know without a doubt that if they fuck with you, you will impose unacceptable-- and sometimes horrible-- consequences on them.

When people know these things of you, THAT is respect. Anything else is worthless.

Posted by Dave D.">Dave D. 2007-02-24 11:39|| 2007-02-24 11:39|| Front Page Top

#14 this from the incompetent that sent US State "messages" via her daily choice of brooch

Posted by Frank G">Frank G 2007-02-24 12:13|| 2007-02-24 12:13|| Front Page Top

#15 exJag: okay, we'll do it, but you know the Germans are going to want Alsace-Lorraine from us when we're done.

Posted by Steve White">Steve White 2007-02-24 12:20|| 2007-02-24 12:20|| Front Page Top

#16 Tell me how this woman became Secretary of State.

Pure Accident. That's how.

Posted by Redneck Jim 2007-02-24 12:36|| 2007-02-24 12:36|| Front Page Top

#17 Where? Oh, Alsaß. Cool with me. Personally, I'd take care of Belgium while we're at it, and give Flanders back to the Dutch, along with Wallonia and the rest of France. Perhaps some would flee to, say, Morocco, Sierra Leone, or Rwanda? No offense, JFM and A8059, but y'know what I'm saying.

But we were discussing US foreign policy disasters, because of course there's never been such a thing in Europe.

Posted by exJAG 2007-02-24 12:45|| 2007-02-24 12:45|| Front Page Top

#18 A couple of years ago, one of the commentors at the Daily Brief insisted that it was soooo much more dangerous for Americans overseas, now, than it had been before the Bush administration. I argued to the contrary, with the following list. I would refer Ms. Albright to it, for a little education on how much our goodness and moral authority got us:
Item: 30 May, 1972. Members of the Japanese Red Army Faction, acting on behalf of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, open fire at Ben Gurion Airport, killing 26 and wounding 78. Many of them are American citizens from Puerto Rico
Item: 2 March 1973. Two American diplomats are taken hostage and murdered by at the US Embassy in Khartoum, Sudan; it is thought members of the Fatah faction were responsible, and that PLO leader Yassir Arafat gave the order for the murders.
Item: 23 December 1975 : Richard Welch, the CIA Station chief in Athens is murdered in front of his house by the Greek N17 terrorist group.
Item: 11 August 1976. The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine attacks the El Al terminal at the airport in Istanbul, Turkey. An American citizen is among the 4 killed.
Item: 1 January, 1977. The ambassador to Lebanon and the US Economic counselor are kidnapped by the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine at a checkpoint in Beirut, and later murdered.
Item: 4 November 1979. A radical Islamic student faction seized the US Embassy in Tehran, and hold 66 diplomats and American citizens hostage. Thirteen are released, but the others are held until January of 1981.
Item: 17 December 1981: Italian terrorist group Red Brigades kidnaps a senior US army officer in Italy, BG. James Dozier; he is rescued by Italian police forces.
Item: 19 August 1982. Two American citizens are killed when the PLO bombs a Jewish restaurant in Paris, France.
Item: 18 April 1983. A truck-bomb kills 68 at the US Embassy in Beirut, Lebanon. Hizbollah, with backing from Iran is held responsible.
Item: 23 October 1983. A truck bomb destroys US Marine HQ in Beirut, Lebanon, killing 241 Marines. Hizbollah, apparently with the assistance of Syrian intelligence, and Iranian financing.
Item: 18 January-20 September 1983. In Beirut, Lebanon, the president of the American University (an American citizen) is assassinated. The head of the CNN news bureau is kidnapped, but escapes. A political officer from the US embassy is also kidnapped, but he was never released, and his body never found. A suicide bomb on the US Embassy killed 23. A van full of explosives detonated near the US Embassy annex in Aukar, Lebanon kills 2 Americans and a number of local employees and bystanders.
Item: 15 November 1983. The head of the Joint US Military Aid Group-Greece, US Navy Captain George Tsantes, along with his Greek driver is murdered on his way to work by the terrorist group N-17.
Item: 3 April 1984. A US Army NCO, Robert Judd is attacked while driving between JUSMAGG and the American air base at Hellenikon by the terrorist group N-17. He is injured, but survives.
Item: 12 April 1984. A popular restaurant near Torrejon AB, Spain is bombed. 18 US service members are killed. Hisbollah, again.
Item: 4 December 1984. Hisbollah hijacks a Kuwait Airlines flight en route from Dubai to Karachi. Two American passengers are murdered.
Item: 2 February 1985. Bobbys in Glyphada, a bar popular with American service personnel in Athens is blown up with a small suitcase bomb. No one is killed, but many injuries.
Item: 14 June 1985. TWA Flight 847, from Athens to Rome was hijacked by Hisbollah. A US Navy diver returning from a TDY was murdered and his body dumped on the runway.
Item:8 August 1985. A car loaded with explosives is driven into a busy parking lot at the American base at Rhein-Main, and detonated. Two are killed, twenty injured. The Red Army Faction claims credit. It is thought the murder of an American soldier several days previous was done to secure his ID card, and facilitate moving the car bomb onto a guarded installation.
Item: 7 October 1985. The cruise- ship Achille Lauro was hijacked by members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. They threw an elderly disabled American man into the ocean. His wheelchair was thrown in afterwards.
Item: 27 December 1985. Terrorists from the Abu Nidal organization shoot up the El Al offices at Romes international airport. Seven Americans were among the 87 killed and wounded.
Item: 30 March 1986: A bomb exploded on a TWA Rome/Athens flight. Four Americans were killed, although the aircraft landed safely in Athens. The Fatah group was held responsible.
Item: 19 June 1985. Four off-duty Marines assigned to the American Embassy in San Salvador are murdered by local terrorists, while sitting at a table at a sidewalk café. They were in civilian clothes at the time.
Item: 5 April 1986. An explosion at a nightclub in Berlin popular with American service personnel kills three and injures 191. Two of the dead and 41 of the wounded are service personnel. The Libyan government is held responsible.
Item: 5 September 1986. Abu Nidal terrorists hijack a Karachi/Frankfurt Pan Am flight, and divert it to Cypress, demanding the freedom for three convicted murderers in exchange for the lives of the passengers. They eventually kill 22 of them, including two Americans.
Item: 9 September-21 October 1986: Three American citizens, two of them associated with the American University in Beirut are kidnapped. Two of them are held for 5 years by Hisbollah.
Item: 20 October 1987. An Air Force NCO and a retiree are murdered just outside Clark AB, in the Philippines.
Item: 27 December 87. An American civilian employee is killed in the bombing of the USO Club in Barcelona, Spain.
Item: 17 February 1988: Colonel William Higgins, USMC, while serving as part of the United Nations Truce Supervisory Organization in Lebanon, was abducted by Hisbollah. The US refused to negotiate, and Colonel Higgins was excecuted.
Item: 28 June 1988, a defense attaché to the American Embassy in Athens, US Navy Captain William Nordeen is murdered by the N-17 terrorist group, using a car bomb
Item: 21 December 1988. Pan American Flight 103, from Frankfurt to New York, was blown up over Scotland by agents of the government of Libya. Most of the 259 passengers are Americans. Another 11 people are killed on the ground.
Item: 21 April- 26 September 1989. An American army officer is assassinated in Manila, and two military retirees are murdered just outside the gates of Clark AB, the Philippines.
Item: 13 May 1990. Two young enlisted men are found murdered, outside Clark AB, the Philippines.
Item: 7-18 February 1991: Members of a far-leftist Turkish group kill an American civilian contractor at Incirlik AB, and wound an Air Force officer at his home in Izmir.
Item: 12 March 91: Air Force NCO, Ronald Stewart is killed by a car bomb in front of his house, in Athens, by the N-17 group.
Item: 28 October 1991. An American soldier is killed, and his wife wound by a car bomb at a joint Turkish-American base in Ankara. The Turkish Islamic Jihad claims responsibility. at October 28, 1991, Ankara, Turkey. Victor Marwick, an American soldier serving at the Turkish-American base, Tuslog, was killed and his wife wounded in a car bomb attack. Two more car bombs in Istanbul kill an Air Force NCO, and an Egyptian diplomat. The Turkish Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for the attacks.
Item: 5 July 1992. In a series of incidents in southeastern Turkey, the Kurdish PKK kidnaps 19 Western tourists, including one American. They are all eventually released unharmed.
Item: 26 February 1993. A bomb in a café in downtown Cairo kills three. Two Americans are among the injured.
Item: 8 March 1995 Two gunmen armed with AK-47s open fire on a van belonging to the US Consulate in Karachi, Pakistan. Two embassy staffers are killed, one injured.
Item: 4 July 1995. A Kashmiri militant group takes six tourists, including two Americans hostage, demanding the release of Muslim militants held in Indian prisions. One of the Americans escapes, and the militants execute a Norwegian hostage. Both the American and Indian governments refuse to deal. It is assumed the rest of the hostages were killed in 1996 by their captors.
Item: 13 November 1995. A car bomb in the parking lot of a building that houses a US military advisory group in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia kills seven person, five of them American citizens.
Item: 25 June 1996. An explosive-laden fuel truck explodes outside the Khobar Towers housing facility in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia. 19 American military personnel are killed, and 515 persons are injured. A group identified as the Saudi Hizbollah is held responsible.
Item: 12 November 1997. Four American employees of an oil company and their Pakistani driver are murdered by two unidentified gunmen, as they leave the Sheraton Hotel in Karachi, Pakistan.
.
Item: 7 August 1998. Car bombs explode at the US Embassy in Nairobi, Kenya, and at the US Embassy in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. 292 are killed in Nairobi, including 12 Americans and injured over 5,000. The Dar es Salaam explosion kills 11 and injures 86. Osama bin Ladens al-Qaida network claims responsibility.
Item: 28 December 1998. Sixteen tourists, including two Americans are kidnapped in Yemen. One hostage and a Yemeni guide escaped, and four hostages were later killed when local authorities closed in.
Item: 12 October 2000. A small boat laden with explosives rammed the USS Cole.

Yep, it's all about our goodness and moral authority.

Posted by Sgt. Mom 2007-02-24 13:02|| www.ncobrief.com]">[www.ncobrief.com] 2007-02-24 13:02|| Front Page Top

#19 *WHY* is she consulted for ANY opinion?

She was a disaster herself - North Korea, Kosovo (we are *STILL* there), allowing Iraq to become even more of a rogue nation, ineffective crusie missle strike on "aspirin factories" and empty camps in Afghanistan... The list goes on and on.

Its like them consulting Mugabe on how to transition Zimbabwe to a democratic capitalist society.

Posted by OldSpook 2007-02-24 13:39|| 2007-02-24 13:39|| Front Page Top

#20 OS---people like Halfbright, Jimmah, Slick willie, et al are darlings of the media. They fit their agenda. Good people don't. Our biggest enemies are the MSM and the dems, then comes Al and the Qs.

Posted by Alaska Paul">Alaska Paul 2007-02-24 13:48|| 2007-02-24 13:48|| Front Page Top

#21 *WHY* is she consulted for ANY opinion?

She's sort of the Brittany Spears of the Helen Thomas set.

Posted by Nimble Spemble 2007-02-24 14:00|| 2007-02-24 14:00|| Front Page Top

#22 I once heard that we don't agree with what she says, but we defend to the death her right to say it.
Not me. Not any more. All these traitors should be whipped, then put in the stocks for public display. I've had it with their bullshit. They are all corrupt and they have been working hard to destroy all we do that is good in this world. I say the left needs a world class ass kicking.
Wake me.

Posted by wxjames 2007-02-24 14:06|| 2007-02-24 14:06|| Front Page Top

#23 But under the Clinton Administration a contradictory sanctions program, a manipulated oil-for-food program, a near-daily violated no-fly zone policy, an ineffectual UN Weapons Inspections program, and covert support for opposition groups (terrorists) worked so well. Gotcha!

Posted by Beavis 2007-02-24 14:16|| 2007-02-24 14:16|| Front Page Top

#24 sgt mom
You left out Sirhan Sirhan, a Leb Paleo, shoots and kills Robert Kennedy after he makes a campaign speech in support of Israel.

Posted by 3dc 2007-02-24 14:25|| 2007-02-24 14:25|| Front Page Top

#25 Wikipedia on Sirhan Sirhan

...Sirhan was born to Palestinian parents in Jerusalem and was raised a Maronite Christian. However, in his adult years he frequently changed his religious thoughts, to Baptist, Seventh-day Adventist, and Rosicrucianism....

Sirhan supposedly believed himself deliberately betrayed by Kennedy's support for Israel in the June, 1967 Six-Day War, which had begun exactly one year before the assassination. However, the "RFK must die" diary entries started before Kennedy's support of Israel became public knowledge. After his arrest, these journals and diaries were discovered. Most of the entries were incoherent and repetitive, though a single entry obsessed over a desire to kill Kennedy. When confronted with this entry, Sirhan couldn't deny writing them, but rather expressed bafflement. In the 1990s, Sirhan proposed the theory that he had been brainwashed.
..

Posted by 3dc 2007-02-24 14:31|| 2007-02-24 14:31|| Front Page Top

#26 Albright never has gotten over the fact that Condi Rice was her father's (Josef Korbel's) star grad student.

Rice is sexier, smarter, more effective, more respected, funnier and more articulate than Madsy can hope to be. The old lady has never gotten over her jealousy.

Posted by occasional observer 2007-02-24 14:48|| 2007-02-24 14:48|| Front Page Top

#27 My focus was on American military, diplomats and travelers overseas, from the end of the Vietnam War up to the Cole bombing. I also omitted American citizens killed by terrorism in Israel, which was another kettle o'fish entirely, and would have doubled the length of it, easily.

Although the Kennedy assassination happened in Beverly Hills, IIRC, so maybe that would count as a foreign country today.

Posted by Sgt. Mom 2007-02-24 14:50|| www.ncobrief.com]">[www.ncobrief.com] 2007-02-24 14:50|| Front Page Top

#28
Tell me how this woman became Secretary of State?

Have you noticed that all of Clinton's affairs were ugly?

Posted by JFM">JFM 2007-02-24 16:10|| 2007-02-24 16:10|| Front Page Top

#29 Not all. We almost got to see Kimba Wood on the nightly news for 8 years. Instead, Janet Reno.

Posted by Nimble Spemble 2007-02-24 16:16|| 2007-02-24 16:16|| Front Page Top

#30 Carter and Albright appeared on The Carter Center stage together

Good gawd, speak of your targets of opportunity. If it weren't for the 'burbs of Atlanta, where I live, I almost hope the next strike is on Atlanta. The "mecca" of rap music, home of da Carter Center, and the former Republik of Cynthia McKinney. What is it with major "urban" areas that leans toward LLL-ism?

Posted by BA 2007-02-24 16:44|| 2007-02-24 16:44|| Front Page Top

#31 "What is it with major 'urban' areas that leans toward LLL-ism?"

My theory is that it's because these people live in an environment in which all the necessities of life are provided by others, and within which the need for self-reliance has completely evaporated. Their brains are no longer capable of making the connection between "it's broke" and "I better get it fixed"; for them, the connection is made instead between "it's broke" and "THEY better get it fixed".

Their housing is provided by someone else-- either the city government or a landlord. Their food is supplied by someone else-- a supermarket chain whose obligation (assuming they want to stay in business very long) is to keep the shelves stocked. Their transportation is provided by someone else-- urban mass transit or the cab companies. Their drinking water is provided by someone else-- public utilities under legal obligation to keep safe, clean water flowing from the taps. Their poop is flushed away efficiently in sewers provided by someone else.

They live in an environment in which they are literally no longer responsible for anything, other than going to work each day to earn the money to pay for these things that are provided for them by others.

And that's where the problem starts: it all has to be paid for. For the well-off, city/suburban life is comfortable, indeed. But for those of less means, coming up with the scratch can be a challenge. So it's a small step from having all these infrastructure things available for a price, and having that price controlled and/or subsidized so that it is "affordable".

And it's only a teeny, tiny little step from there, to "I've got a problem: I can't work to earn that money; so government (e.g., the people) should GIVE me that money. I'm ENTITLED to it."

Urbanization breeds a socialist mindset. That's my theory, anyway...

Posted by Dave D.">Dave D. 2007-02-24 18:11|| 2007-02-24 18:11|| Front Page Top

#32 interesting theory, DD. Similarly, I would postulate that in an urban environment there is less of a "community of like-minded souls" that a rural setting has. In a rural town, EVERYONE has the same issues: water, schools, power, etc., in which they all have to cooperate to get things done. There are few free-lance ACLU-type gadflys throwing roadblocks 'cuz everyone knows where they live...heh heh. In an urban setting, the sheer collective size makes each person freer to be an asshole, looking out for their particular pet peeve to the detriment of the overall good

Posted by Frank G">Frank G 2007-02-24 18:32|| 2007-02-24 18:32|| Front Page Top

#33 A nice analysis, Dave D. You're good at this.

Posted by trailing wife 2007-02-24 19:49|| 2007-02-24 19:49|| Front Page Top

#34 Re: #21 "*WHY* is she consulted for ANY opinion?
She's sort of the Brittany Spears of the Helen Thomas set. "

All I can say Nimble Spemble, is I hope you not anticipating any 'special' limosine exit photoshots from Halfbright.......

Posted by USN, ret. 2007-02-24 21:29|| 2007-02-24 21:29|| Front Page Top

#35 Reno and Albright must have been Hilliary picks.

Posted by JohnQC 2007-02-24 22:11|| 2007-02-24 22:11|| Front Page Top

#36 If America became a place which (today's) Iran, North Korea, and Venezuela could love it would be time for me to find a new homeland. I am quite proud of what we stand for and am willing to wait forever for many parts of the world to change into something WE can respect.

Posted by Sic_Semper_Tyrannus 2007-02-24 22:18|| 2007-02-24 22:18|| Front Page Top

23:56 Darkydark
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