Article

2014-01-07 Iraq

Archived material is restricted to Rantburg regulars and members. If you need access email fred.pruitt=at=gmail.com with your nick to be added to the members list. There is no charge to join Rantburg as a member.

Posted by Besoeker 2014-01-07 00:00|| || Front Page|| [11124 views ] Top

#1 The Iraq war was a test of theory "People naturally love Freedom & Democracy and will adopt them if we remove the tyrants keeping them in subjugation." Tests (cf. Iraq, and Libya, and "Palestinian Territories", and Syria) results indicate that the theory is not universally applicable.

Posted by g(r)omgoru 2014-01-07 02:38|| 2014-01-07 02:38|| Front Page Top

It was Bush's war and any further commitment will impede the administration's domestic goals as outline below.

President Obamas new most powerful man in housing is already planning big changes, The Wall Street Journal reports.

Rep. Mel Watt was sworn in Monday afternoon as the new director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA). His nomination was originally blocked by a Republican filibuster because of concerns that Watts political involvement and close ties with the administration would be a detriment to the mission of the FHFA. When Senate Democrats changed the rules using the nuclear option, however, Watt was easily confirmed.

Weeks before he was sworn in, Watt emailed reporters the first surprising policy change he plans to make. Immediately after taking office, he intends to delay FHFA rate hikes until such time as I have had the opportunity to evaluate fully the rationale for the plan, according to the Journal. The rate hikes, which were announced last month, were intended to give private companies a better chance to compete in the housing market.

Watts actions to delay the rate hikes will slow down the return of private capital to the market and would further entrench the governments role in housing, Edward Pinto, resident fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, told The Daily Caller.

The result will be an increase in risky lending and greater reliance on government guarantees, Pinto said. This is not good news for Americas homeowners, as home equity is the primary asset of most families.

Furthermore, Watt has shown a strong preference for government-driven policies that encourage homeownership at taxpayers risk.

Mel Watts confirmation as FHFA director poses great risk for the nations homeowners, said Pinto. Like the HUD secretaries before him, Mr. Watt has broad and nearly unfettered authority to impose risky lending standards on Fannie and Freddie pursuant to the congressionally-mandated affordable housing goals. All evidence indicates that Mr. Watt remains a strong supporter of these mandates notwithstanding general agreement that they were misguided.

Obama claimed in a December statement that Watt would be the right regulator to make sure the kind of crisis we just went through never happens again. But Watt had a significant role in causing the last financial crisis.

Posted by Besoeker 2014-01-07 03:00|| 2014-01-07 03:00|| Front Page Top

#3 Another test case proving that Freedom & Democracy are not natural to Peoples: USA.

Posted by g(r)omgoru 2014-01-07 03:06|| 2014-01-07 03:06|| Front Page Top

Posted by Spereting Tingle4064 2014-01-07 06:59|| 2014-01-07 06:59|| Front Page Top

#5 If 4000 years of the history of human behavior is any means of measurement, democracy is a rare and unique form of organization. The natural historical state of human governance is the basic hierarchical arrangement of power and castes. Democracy requires rare and unique circumstances to take hold and flourish. You are witnessing up front what happens in the long run as its institutions are eroded by groups and individuals pursuit of power right here. The phrase 'white privilege' is just another way of promoting anti-democratic agendas. Why would any rational person expect democracy to magically appear among those who have no record of cultural institutions that provide a basis upon which to build?

Posted by Procopius2k 2014-01-07 07:40|| 2014-01-07 07:40|| Front Page Top

#6 All low rates do is make housing (well the land cost) more expensive!

So "affordable housing" is a total lie.

Can someone test any of these monkeys on the basics of Ricardo's law (the Economics equivalent to Newtons Gravity in Physics)?

How can pushing down the yield on something help increase the growth of the economy (sum of all yields)?

Posted by Bright Pebbles 2014-01-07 09:53|| 2014-01-07 09:53|| Front Page Top

#7 We invaded the country to destroy weapons of mass destruction. We stayed to nation build. And we failed at both. I disagree. We accomplished both goals while we were there. We did destroy WMDs. Saddam was brought to justice as were his lunatic sons. We set up a process for elections and a democratic government. It is not our fault if the Iraqis did not follow through on the goal of nation-building after we left. Had we stayed, we might have been able to create a strategic wedge between Iran and the rest of the Muslim world. However, we never brought about the kind of destruction of Iraq that resulted in Germany's and Japan's capitulation and surrender after 4 years. Maybe we erred.

Posted by JohnQC 2014-01-07 13:03|| 2014-01-07 13:03|| Front Page Top

#8 The phrase 'white privilege' is just another way of promoting anti-democratic agendas. Why would any rational person expect democracy to magically appear among those who have no record of cultural institutions that provide a basis upon which to build?

The comments reminded me of some recent devotionals that point out why Operation Iraqi Freedom didn't endure: (excerpts)

Moses reiterated the well-known refrain, Let my people go! & it is the reoccurring phrase in the Exodus story and applied to freedom movements throughout history. However, people often miss what immediately follows that phrase: so that they may worship me.

Why? Because freedom is meaningless without purpose. In fact, freedom can be dangerous without direction.

The point of the Exodus was not to set the children of Israel free. The goal was that they would be free so that they could serve God..The final plague prior to the Exodus is the death of every firstborn from Pharaohs son to the slaves son to the firstborn of every animal. However, there is a glaring question that we need to address. In ancient times, the Pharaoh was always a firstborn. The question is why didnt he die in the plague?

Hadnt Pharaoh sinned enough to deserve death? Later on, we read that Pharaoh and his army followed the Israelites into the sea and then the sea came crashing down on them, killing everyone except for one person. Pharaoh was left standing. Alone, he took in the massive destruction that he had brought upon his land. Why was he allowed to live?..According to Jewish tradition, this Pharaoh later became king of Nineveh. Remember Nineveh? Thats the city of wicked people that the prophet Jonah was commanded to warn of imminent destruction. When Jonah came to Nineveh and warned the city that if they didnt repent, they would be destroyed, the king immediately commanded everyone in the city to fast and repent. The Sages credit this quick and full response to the fact that this king had already witnessed the hand of Gods destruction because this king was either Pharaoh or his direct descendant. He had learned his lesson the hard way, and he was not about to make the same mistake..This extra information about Pharaoh explains to us why God kept him alive. Ultimately, God does not desire death or suffering. God wants us to live and learn. For Pharaoh, that was best accomplished by keeping him alive so that he could appreciate his mistakes.Eventually, he repented and brought about the repentance of the entire city of Nineveh. When we are going through challenges and trials in life, it is so important to realize that God takes no pleasure in our suffering. The point of everything we experience the good, the bad, the painful, and the pleasurable is so we will learn and change for the better.

Ninevah is the modern Mosul in Iraq.I'd say there are still many who "don't know their left-hand from the right" there and haven't learned a thing over the millennia even as painful it has been. They'd behead Jonah after they cut his tongue out today and even Paul was prevented by the Holy Spirit from entering the region, so I won't hold my breath.

Posted by Flaiger Uneamp8181 2014-01-07 13:59|| 2014-01-07 13:59|| Front Page Top

#9 According to the book the J curve there is a point when the GDP is high enough that Democracy is almost guaranteed. Taiwan, Korea, Chile and a few others followed this pattern because at some point the country develops enough people who are wealthy enough to want a say in politics.

Before that point its seriously hit & miss. I believe it can be done but I also doubt if it is worth spending blood and tax money like that.

Posted by rjschwarz 2014-01-07 14:50|| 2014-01-07 14:50|| Front Page Top

#10 ...it's called a 'middle class'. Which by merit and ability develop via routes in the culture to gain a corollary of power with old world type castes. If you notice, that just the very group the current power manipulators have set out to destroy in America.

Posted by Procopius2k 2014-01-07 16:32|| 2014-01-07 16:32|| Front Page Top

23:17 CrazyFool
23:05 OldSpook
22:53 OldSpook
21:57 USN, Ret.
21:56 Silentbrick
21:55 JosephMendiola
21:52 JosephMendiola
21:46 JosephMendiola
21:37 USN, Ret.
21:35 JosephMendiola
21:31 JosephMendiola
21:26 Rambler in Virginia
21:25 JosephMendiola
21:05 JosephMendiola
21:00 Frank G
20:53 Frank G
20:38 Pappy
20:31 DepotGuy
20:22 jefe101
20:05 Thing From Snowy Mountain
19:58 Procopius2k
18:49 swksvolFF
18:32 Rambler in Virginia
18:14 Chantry