Let me start by saying that I am not a simpleton, like so many in our chattering classes, who believe that ISIS or radical Islam can be stopped easily. You can't kill it with bombs. You can't contain it with good wishes. You can't police it away. And you can't ignore it into leaving you alone. Stopping radical Islam is a complex problem that will require much more brutal military power than we like to use, a greater use of psychology to break its will, dealing with moderates to narrow the problem, and a pretty heavy investment to change the nature of the Middle East, which currently feeds radical Islam.
So I don't buy any solution from blowhards who say we just need to drop more bombs. Nor do I buy any of the liberal solutions, which typically amount to click our heels together and hope it goes away. Nor do I believe in playing "gotcha" with this issue as so many talking heads do. There is no simply answer, so the only stupid answer really is that there is a simple answer.
But that brings me to Obama and Hillary.
Obama: Friday before the attack, Team Obama made the claim that ISIS is "contained." Then the attack happened. Naturally, the timing of the attack has made that particular quote an embarrassment and everyone is jumping on it. Basically, the attack is taken as proof that Obama is either lying or such a fool that he didn't realize that ISIS was not "contained." To me, the problem with this quote is slightly worse. To me, the problem is the idea that ISIS can be contained at all. Too many in our political class still view groups like ISIS and al Qaeda as if they were governments with borders. They think that if they can surround the areas these groups control, then they are "contained" and can be dealt with. But that's not how terrorists work. Terrorists specifically eschew that strategy because they know they lack the power to fight in that manner. Instead, they spread out and try to blend in, so they can attack the other side seemingly at random. The idea that you can "contain" a group like that is nonsense, just as the idea that you can "degrade" their capabilities by killing their members or shutting down their bank accounts is wrong-headed. As long as there are idiots with guns or homemade bombs willing to die to make a statement, these groups will continue to exist and continue to thrive no matter how many others you kill. Terrorists don't need an infrastructure.
Hillary: Hillary keeps putting her foot in her mouth. She was asked about ISIS and she actually said, that fighting ISIS "cannot be an American fight." Way to put your head in the sand, idiot. This statement pretty much disqualifies Hillary from any foreign policy authority. And as of this writing, she is being blasted by everyone on the left and right for being an idiot. She also refused to condemn radical Islam, which is even worse.
It makes sense when the Democrats say "we aren't at war with Islam, but only radical Islam." I think that's a bit naive, but it makes sense. For her to now refuse to condemn radical Islam is really delusional. It is like the Democrats spent all this time saying, "We aren't at war with the German people, we are only at war with Hitler and Nazism," and here comes Hillary and says, "Nope we're not at war with Hitler or Nazism either." So if radical Islam is not the problem, then who does Hillary think is doing all the killing?
Thoughts?
UPDATE: Hillary, who last told us that this "cannot be an American fight," has flipped around and is now trying to deny ever saying that. She's saying, "This is a worldwide fight, as I said, I know America has to lead it, but we cannot and should not do it alone." So there! She isn't a total moron after all! //shakes head Interestingly, she got Bill out of the brothel to sit on stage with her to make her look competent. So apparently when a "strong woman" gets in trouble, she tries to remind you that you liked the man on whose coattails she rode. You can't make this sh*t up.
53 comments:
"So if radical Islam is not the problem, then who does Hillary think is doing all the killing?"
Who knows?
And who told Hillary to give that answer?
Kit, I wish someone would have asked her. There is no answer to that. She's walked herself into a insane corner with no reasonable answer.
Regarding the 'contained' comment, I think Obama could have spared himself some embarrassment if he had specified 'contained militarily'.
Like Al Queda, ISIS has suicide bombers who reveal themselves five seconds before detonation, but like the Taliban, they also have a lot of goons on the ground in lawless areas, who fight openly in groups and make no effort at camouflage.. Containing the fighters on the ground in the Middle East doesn't directly impact suicide bombers in Europe.
I say directly because the fact Al Queda hasn't successfully staged anything big recently indicates to me that for aimless youth looking to die gloriously ISIS is the new hotness and Al Queda is old news. Military campaigns and assassinations eventually have an impact, even if the impact is only pushing aimless youth to the next high profile terror group.
Those suicidal idiots are a problem, but they are a much smaller problem when there isn't a brain behind them which points them at high value targets, coordinates them and gives them the tools and training (which doesn't look like much to me, but maybe I'm wrong) needed to do damage.
As for Hillary, her determination to say nothing remotely controversial that might cost her the Dem nomination is hilariously pathetic. No Dem running for the presidency was willing to condemn radical Islam last Saturday, lest they offend the hard left.
http://www.mediaite.com/tv/dem-candidates-decline-to-say-at-debate-the-u-s-is-at-war-with-radical-islam/
Andrew......A couple points.
1. The jihadists have made this into a religious war. They are using their religion as the justification for their barbarity and terrorism. Therefore, let's do the same back at them. We send in our vaunted special forces and target any imam who spews death and destruction. When we hear them exhorting their mindless followers to kill any infidel or American or Jew, we send in a strike on Friday and blow up their mosque with the imam and his followers in it. We start in Isis controlled areas then move outward until they get the message.
2. There is a military solution to this. Think Fallujah. We basically surrounded the city and stopped anyone coming out. We gave them 3 days to leave or suffer the consequences. We then arrested any jihadists who tried to leave and then went in and killed anyone remaining in the city. We can do this starting in Raqqa the Isis capital where all-baghdadi has set up his "caliphate."
Look, governments are legitimized by the people if they can even remotely manage. This administration has abandoned all legitimacy, as has France's, by not doing everything they can to protect their people. There is no excuse like with the Charlie Hebdo cartoons. These were innocent, true non-combatants that are now being targeted. Ala Israel.
Speaking of, I read somewhere recently that Netanyahu, except he has more class, should come out and call for peace between France and Isis and not respond disproportionately. Send John Kerry to act as mediator between the two parties and give Isis what they want, or the killing will continue.
I don't think anything long-term will come of Hollande's big, bad talk after the killings. No one believes him or Obama has the stones or public support to retaliate against these actors.
And yet we still plan on taking them in to our countries and taking care of them until they attack us again. Now is the time for a leader in the West to 'unleash hell' on this group and all Islamists who preach death and destruction.
Give it to them.
Bob
Robert L Hedd.
I think you're my write in vote for president.
GypsyTyger
Anthony, if you listen to Obama's contained comment, it was pretty much an embarrassment as he said it. He says ISIS is contained, and then goes on to describe exactly how they are not contained at all. To wit, PolitiFact is running interference for Obama, saying that the president only meant "contained" in a very limited sense; as in, contained except for the parts that aren't.
Sometimes I wonder about how Obama was raised.
"Barry, did you clean up your room?"
"Yes, Mommy, all except the parts that aren't clean!"
"Good boy! Now get in your PJs and we'll read Bedtime for Radicals after you brush your teeth."
Bob, Netanyahu... should come out and call for peace between France and Isis and not respond disproportionately. Send John Kerry to act as mediator between the two parties and give Isis what they want, or the killing will continue.
That's hilarious!! Wouldn't that be so appropriate! Give them exactly what they've been giving Israel!
On your military points, I think there's more to it. I think we need to understand their psychology. These guys are fanatics because they have a set of beliefs that tell them that the reward for their murderous ways will be great. We need to flip that around and use their beliefs against them.
For example, these guys should be buried in unmarked graves along with pig remains so they can't get into Heaven. During the British mutiny, the British claimed to wrap their bullets with pig fat, which totally freaked out the Muslim mutineers. Not a single one of the bastards in Gitmo should have left without first being castrated and probably having a hand removed. And so on.
At the same time though, we need to start applying pressure to the moderates. They need to start outing these people or we need to start seeing them as allies, especially in a place like Europe. And frankly, they should be deporting anyone considered radical.
Fighting terrorists takes a whole strategy, but unfortunately, the left won't accept that these people need to be stopped.
Anthony, What I find so amazing about Hillary is that every time she does open her mouth, she puts her foot into it. She's totally incompetent as a campaigner! And the fact she needs to trot out Bill to remind people of why they're supposed to like her is bizarre.
tryanmax, They are scrambling everywhere to come up with a way to redefine what he said to make it sound not as stupid as what he said. But the truth is that he said it because he's hoping to sit out the rest of his time in office without another major incident and then blame the next guy as if he had the problem solved when he left office. This blew up on him. It was bad timing and it exposed that he has no solved anything. But the real "crime" here is that he knows these guys are no more "contained" than the IRA was contained when it was blowing things up all over Britain and Ireland.
There needs to be an addendum to this article titled #MoronsOnTwitter.
Black Lives Matter responded to the Paris attacks with a couple new hashtags: #F**kParis and #F**kFrance (edits mine) In brief, they are tying the attacks to French colonialism in Africa and Haiti. So not only are they without class, they are geo-politically illiterate.
Also trending on Twitter is #MuslimsAreNotTerrorist in response to the backlash that is not occurring against innocent Muslims anywhere. In fairness, I think this hashtag could also represent a late awakening by Muslims that, yes, they do need to distance themselves from terrorism committed in the name of their religion. And, yes, they need to do so each and every time. Christians do this every time some Bible-thumping nut goes off, and it seems to control perceptions as well as limit the number of crazies. As the Geico ad says, it's what you do.
Nothing Black Lives Matter does or says could surprise me at this point. They are already mostly irrelevant. The only thing they can hope to achieve now is making themselves so utterly irrelevant that even Hillary will dare to ignore them (that might be impossible given how timid Hillary is, but if its possible, they will manage it).
Oh, my! I found a couple more.
One Charlie Hebdo artist tweeted a cartoon rebuffing the #PrayForParis campaign, blaming "religion" for the terror attacks. I just don't have words.
Also, a number of people across social media are doing the important work of bashing a viral sketch of a peace sign combined with the Eiffel Tower, because clearly this is meant to echo anti-Vietnam peaceniks. LINK Real classy, guys.
tryanmax, The Black Lives Matters crew are despicable people. They are racists in the purist sense of the word with no ability to see any wrong done to anyone who is not part of their specific tribe. They are lucky that the rest of the world isn't like them.
On the MuslimsAreNotWhatever thing, I will believe it when I see some action. Right now, I take these things as whining: "stop accusing me" rather than "hey, we're not like this." I will believe it is "hey, we're not like this" when they start roundly condemning other Muslims and when they start engaging in ways to help roust these people. Right now, their complaints are aimed at us for being nasty rather than the terrorists for smearing their religion.
One more! Though not Twitter related. Bernie Sanders says the terror attacks were caused by ... wait for it ... Climate Change! And, of course, his cure for this mess is global Marxism. I think the man would bleed red even if it weren't normal.
Andrew, the reason I'm willing to grant some benefit of the doubt to #MuslimsAre NotHashtags is because the tone is generally softer this time. But that might just be in comparison to the white liberals who cheer on our would-be destroyers.
tryanmax, I too blame Climate Change. Without it, the planet would be too cold for human life and there would be no a-holes to blow everyone else up.
I'm not surprised about the attempt to blame religion. It's typical stupid liberalism. They see something they think is bad and they are incapable of distinguishing between good and bad versions. Hence, guns in the hands of good people are just as evil as guns in the hands of bad people. Religion used as a basis for violence is the same as religion used as a basis for civilizing people. They are black and white simpletons.
And I wish people would ask them the logical follow up to their idiocy. For example, "If religion is evil, should we start shooting Buddhist monks? Maybe raise all the Shinto shrines? Ban Wicca?"
On the "Eiffel Tower chicken foot" image, it is fitting. It shows why ISIS picked the right target and why this issue will never go away if left to the efforts of the Europeans. "Get out the knee pads" is not an effective response.
I don't doubt you on the Muslim=terrorist thing, but I have lost my good faith on this issue. The burden is on them to prove what side they are on now.
First - I read the long-winded circular explanation at Politifact which was just stunning. They really were doing everything within their most Orwellian jibber-jabber to redefine what "contained" means and has always meant to make Obama not look like...well...exactly what he looks like every day to me.
Second - Yes, I have been following our little college snowflakes and delicate flowers who are stomping their feet and having temper tantrums because they were shoved aside just as they were making a difference. Gah...just because a bunch of no nothing people were blown up on masse, why should Occupy BS suffer!!! Not enough college presidents have resigned yet!!!!
Third, I go on record as saying I do not give a sh*t about what hashtags Muslims come up with to explain away that ISIS and their ilk are "not real Muslims, because Islam is a religion of Peace. See, here's a quote from Quran and everything. So don't blame us" crap.
Lastly, I would LOVE for Netanyahu to condemn France for their asymmetrical response, but he is more likely to say "I have been trying to warn all of you, but you did not listen. Now do you want our help or not?"
One more - There are many governors in the US now who are challenging the HLS about taking Syrian refugees without any kind of security check. The Feds say it just can't be done efficiently. They managed a 100 years ago at Ellis Island to hold people until they could examined them, checked their status and sponsors and that was without any computers. So why can't we do it now?
Bev, I concur 100%!
On the Netanyahu thing, this is where the politics protects the left. The right is more serious about solving problems. So the left craps on them all the time, but when it blows up on the left, the right doesn't throw it back in their faces, they try to solve the problem. That is unfortunate in a way because it gives the left a free pass to be hypocrites. And you know that once this passes, they'll be right back to attacking Israel the next time Israel has the bad taste to be attacked by Islamists.
As for the whining college kids, honestly, the can go f-themselves. What they are whining about can't even be called "first world problems," it's "privileged elitist problems." This is spoiled children whining about their unhappiness. And the fact they don't have the sense to realize that they need to STFU when real tragedies occurs just shows how utterly selfish they are.
Bev,
About the Governors. Jindal just blew his chance to vault into the Top 3. By not taking a stand, a VERY PUBLIC and outspoken stand, that LA would not take in ANY "Syrian refugees," he missed his moment in time, politically. He, and he alone among the Repub candidates, could have made this issue his own and capitalized on the opportunity. Yes...he would have "politicized" the issue, but he's a POLITICIAN and that's what politicians do before they even get out of bed in the morning.
What of the other Gov's in the race? Why wouldn't they jump on this moment?
Let's take them one at a time:
Christie - Wouldn't want the negative hounding and bad press. Thinks it would hurt him in the general campaign.
Kasich - Yeah....right.
All the other candidates can do is talk big about what they would do. The Gov's can actually do something about it and show America that they stand behind their words with concrete actions. I don't believe anything any of the other candidates would say on this or any other matter right now, as they are trying to woo the press and the Repub base. Meanwhile, the Gov's have a ready made "crisis" that they could exploit and would put paid to their tough rhetoric.
But then again, I probably picked a helluva time to stop sniffing glue, amirite?
Bob
P.S. Actually, thinking about it, Jindal could say "Sure, we'll take the Syrian refugees....the women and children refugees. All those single, young, able-bodied Syrian men will have to line up over there and held in detention until each of them, one by one, are released back to their families after a thorough, exhaustive vetting. Yes, it might take years, but tough luck Mohammed."
Black Lives Matter keeps getting awesomer.
http://www.mediaite.com/online/dartmouth-protesters-disrupt-students-in-library-fck-you-you-filthy-white-fcks/
Campus Reform managed to obtain video showing the protesters walking through the library shouting as others try to study. One of the protesters can be seen flipping off the cameraman. Another gets in the face of those who are studying demanding they say that black lives matter.
Anthony - At Columbia Univ., there was a staged walkout where everyone was told to wear black clothing. If they saw a student who was not conforming, they demanded that they conform or face the wrath of whatever because of something about their "rich, white privilege", etc. Of course, they don't see the irony in their harrassment, but then they are young...
Anthony, Talk about poor taste! Although many of the BLMers probably are too young to remember another time when people stormed through a library demanding allegiances. I'm not equating the two events. But I'm not not-equating them either.
You know what? I take it back. I am equating the two events. If a Republican/conservative so much as sets foot in the South, it's declared a racist dog-whistle because, inevitably, something bad happened there in the pre-civil rights era. Never mind which party actually ran things back then. So if knuckleheaded liberals do anything remotely reminiscent of any past atrocity, I'm gonna say it was on purpose to evoke just such a response. So there!
Really, you have to convince the Muslim nations that it is in their best interests to do something..frankly, they have done little if anything. They are for the most part cowards. They fear that if they get involved they will become targets. The King of Jordan, Iran and well, that's about it are trying..(I hate giving Iran any credit, but what the heck). We need a diplomat, somebody with the skills of Colin Powell or George H.W. Bush, not John Kerry. And I have no ideas along these lines as to who is out there. .
Bob, I think Jindal was DOA a long time ago, but I'm surprised he didn't join the rest of the states that have refused to take the Syrians.
WOW! So much fun over the last couple weeks and I haven't had any time to comment.
1. I'm now reading it is Charlie Sheen who has HIV. Before, anyone having sex with him elicited an ewww now it is squared.
2. I blame the student protest issues on the university presidents. In Missouri, he should have arrested them for trespassing and assembly without a permit. He then should have threatened the football players that anyone who doesn't show up to the game may loose his scholarship as a breech of contract. By quitting he emboldened them. Pussy. The Yale president is nearly as bad.
3. I still don't get why 30-40% still support Hillary. Even a ham sandwich would make a better president. Her only saving grace is the other candidates are even dumber.
4. Bobby Jindal has issued an executive order to not allow Syrian refugees into LA
5. What France and German should do with all the refugees is immediately put them into a uniform and fly them back to Syria to fight their own goddamn war.
6. No matter how I feel for the French, this attack is horrible and a little comeuppance since they were the ones who were such dicks to the Bush administration regarding terrorism. Hopefully this will make them a little more engaged. That sounds a little harsh as innocent people lost their lives but the country exists to try to protect its citizens. Since the government works at the behest of the people...
6. Can anyone convince Obama to just go on a 15 month vacation and let Biden finish the term? Please? This country is stupider and worse off because of his existence.
Anthony and Bev, I think the BLM group is a parody of themselves at this point. They have really exposed themselves as a nasty group of people who think violence is fine when it happens to people who aren't them, and they clearly are not willing to show any respect. It's interesting too how they don't care about blacks killed by blacks or any other race killed by anyone.
Critch, Kerry is an utter waste. I think even the Europeans are seeing that.
Koshcat, If it's Charlie Sheen, then I'm going to be disappointed. Frankly, I assume he has AIDS and everything else known to man. If it's him, then this whole "surprise" thing was a fraud!
I totally agree about the refugees. Go save your own country! How does the world get better if the people who are needed to solve a problem run away?
I agree too about France. The longer places like France ran interference against US efforts, the more they let this problem grow. Maybe now they will get serious about solving it before it really spins out of hand.
Kit - I agree with all of your points, except here is my defense of France. Yes, with Bush they refused to help. However since 2008, the French Presidents have been downright rightwing-ish about global terrorism compared to Obama. They've had to contend with Muslim riots in the streets, terrorist attacks, and other issues that we have not, and finally gave up on Obama with his wishy-washy-ness. Hence the bomb first, ask questions later happening right now.
Critch and Andrew re: John Kerry...but he speaks fluent French!
Btw that kind of cause a problem when he gave a speech yesterday in French sending our condolences that was broadcast in the US, but there was no translator. Some British guy stepped in for the network and tried to translate on the fly.
BTW, I have to say that verbally at least, Hollande is showing some real muscle. I'll be curious if he follows through.
Re: Sheen
Nation Enquirer is reporting it. They are more accurate than the NYT.
Yeah, there seem to be several people reporting it now. I feel ripped off. :(
In more important news, Manning is out for next week's game against the Bears. Could this be the end of Payton Manning? News at 11.
Another BTW, the French Interior Minister is promising to shut down extremist mosques and deport their clerics. That's actually smarter and more ballsy than I expected. Nicely done.
Koshcat, I saw that. He's got a rib cage injury and a pretty serious foot injury. I suspect he'll be out for a while. He was AWFUL yesterday!
He claimed to have slept with >5000 women at least some of them while he knew. If any one of them comes up positive, would they have at least a civil if not a criminal case?
Sheen or Manning? (Just kidding, Manning is a pretty awesome human being... Sheen is a turd.)
I think any woman he slept with after he knew would have a civil suit for emotional harm and the cost of continued future testing, unless he told them first.
I don't know about criminal. Possibly.
Andrew/Koshcat I am shocked it's Charlie Sheen simple because I did not consider Sheen to an "A-list" actor...
Charlie Sheen has AIDS? I am shocked.
Bev, I don't see him as an "A-list" actor either. Plus, it's no surprise that he has ___(insert any disease/drug addiction)___ either.
Kit, Are you serious? The man's been living on meth and hookers for several years.
Sorry, left out this:
(Sarcasm)
Re: Meth and hookers
That may be a reasonable palliative care option for people with end stage incurable diseases especially since the people who live off it seem to live far longer than they should.
Re. the Syrian refugees -- and I'd like to honestly thank their likely faux plight, er, Trojan Horse gambit, um, what the hell, poor and down-trodden for getting U2's "The Refugee" back on my radar after too long away -- I say make any and every Obama voter, at minimum, offer them a couch or bedroom in their respective homes. Look at it as an offshoot from my "Git' with the G.A.P." proposal from a few years ago.
http://www.popmodal.com/video/3845
On the refugee crisis:
First, I think the US government's primary duty is to it's citizens, not the Refugees.
That being said, we are the United States. We should let at least some in. huddled masses and all that. But not 10,000.
Honestly, let a few in, maybe, 1,000 or 2,000. Families of US citizens first in with a restriction on young males (18-30), and the FBI sets up a network of informants among the refugees.
Absolutely, Kit. We are the United States of America, still land of the free, and a beacon of hope for those in genuine need of refuge. That said, if we must take President Obama and his admin at their word the Syrian situation's too overwhelming for the normal screening process, I have a modest proposal in order to accommodate the procedures as best, and hopefully safely, as possible: keep them housed in the blue counties which voted for the man apparently so willing to gamble on our lives and livelihood in the wake of Friday's horrific attacks in Paris; i.e., the lastest round of World War III.
Eric and Kit, I agree about the US, but at the same time, we really need to stop pulling away the very people who are needed to change these countries.
Absolutely, and they should be the first ones escorted home once the situation is truly contained.
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