NOW We Want To Arm The Syrian Rebels!

The administration is now proposing we arm the Syrian rebels!  Wow.  What a novel idea.  I wonder why it wasn't suggested three years ago when the Syrian civil war began.  What?  It was?  I must have missed it, was it in the newspapers?

Of course it was as well as every other media outlet known to man. With this revelation, I think I've figured out how this administration thinks.  If we read papers at all, all we read are the headlines and never get to the nitty gritty.  Therefore we are easily fooled and take the governments actions as timely.

So it is with these current headlines. Forget we know it's too little too late.  The President wants $500,000,000 for this task.  There are a few obstacles.  One, he'll need Congress to appropriate the money.  Sure, there are stashes from which he can draw, still they have to have the funds within them.

That actually may be the least of his problems.  There is the issue of how to determine the good rebels from the bad.  To assume all the bad guys have crossed the border into Iraq is fool hardy.  These guys aren't dumb.  It would have been much easier when this little skirmish began rather than waiting until the bad guys filled the void and thoroughly muddied the lines between good and bad.

Let's say they can figure this out.  Then they have to be armed and trained.  By the administrations own estimate this could take nearly a year after everything else is in place.  Does any one really think the situation is going to be put on hold until we get our choice of players in place?  Don't hold your breath.

Meanwhile the bad guys continue their march toward their own Caliphate.  Syrian war planes have joined the fray as have the Iranian military.  Neither are our friends and neither are going to wait for us to get our ducks in order.

If by staying out of it the lines of Iraq are redrawn, is that so bad?  Let the Kurds have their long awaited freedom.  Let the al Maliki government fall but don't trust any new one to be any more western friendly than his has been. Either way, a portion of Iraq will be under Iranian dominance.  Don't forget, either, Syria has Russia as an ally.

Maybe we'd be better off putting our efforts toward protecting the few friends we have left.  Jordan and Israel and maybe Saudi.  Saudi is iffy.

The moral is read the story under the headlines and discover we're really not going to do anything that will stop the current carnage nor strengthen and save Iraq. I'm surprised al Maliki even asked for U.S. help since both his allies have air capabilities.

For once, stay out of it until they sort it out for themselves.  Then we can offer aid for considerations and be more likely to have some success.  Dealing with the semi-satisfied would be a whole lot easier than dealing with the maddened crowd.

Unfortunately, if past history is any indicator, the wrong decision will be made.

The Beauty of Cochran's Win

Thad Cochran is old.  He looks old.  He's of the ilk of which I speak when I say it's time for them to retire.  Heck, he's four years older than me!  Time for new blood and fresh ideas.

The people of Mississippi don't agree.  Cochran brings home the pork.  But not all pork is bad.  Especially when it's slated for the down trodden, the poor and the under educated.  In Mississippi those people are mostly black and Democrat.

So what the the new kid, Chris McDanie's, have to offer? Absolutely nothing and Mississippi let him know. The beauty of which I speak is that Cochran won with votes from across party lines.  For his record of accomplishment.  That how it should be.

It's a lesson in gray.  Nothing is black nor white, especially in politics.  That McDaniel had no problem with Mississippi's open primary system wasn't of concern when he thought he might win.  But when a run off was necessary good political strategy on the part of his wily old opponent flat out out smarted him.  Now he's crying foul.  Sorry sir.  Too late. Change the law if you don't like it.

I'm not a fan of unending government hand outs but obviously there are situations where they are needed and desirable.  Mississippi is not a wealthy state and their senior Senator is doing what he can to compensate for it. Good show.

Liz Cheney may have learned the same lesson in Wyoming where she thought perhaps her name and relative youth might out upend the well established incumbant.  She didn't even make it to the primary.

I guess it goes to show when we generalists shout throw the bums out, all of them, we need a rethink.  Not all the bums are actually that.  Some of them look pretty darned good compared to those who would replace them.

But definitely not always. That's the trick.



 

What Can One Say?

I've really been negligent about posting of late.  It isn't that I don't have anything to say.  It's that I don't know what to say.  It's all become quite overwhelming.

For instance, why can't we get a U.S. Marine released from a Mexican jail?  Why can't we prevent thousands of of children from entering our country?  Why can't we approve the Keystone Pipeline?

Is there truth to the idea Hillary has more sever health problems than thought?  Check out Ed Klein's book.  Is it just another vast right wing conspiracy?

How can the IRS lose so may e-mails on such a select few computers?  Why does the press insist in saying the Tea Party elected Dave Brat in Virginia when indeed they didn't even support him?

How can we take Susan Rice seriously as National Security Advisor?  Why can't Secretary of State Kerry stay home?  The leaders in the middle east have more important issues to deal with than listening to his empty dictates. Did he ever wonder if climate change supposedly caused by man might have more to do with the pollution of war than of factories?  Think about it.

Perhaps most of all, why does the President appear to care more about his golf game than America? All of this has been tumbling through my head for weeks now.  So I haven't been writing.  I've been working in the yard and watching baby birds emerge from their nests; having a glass of wine on the front porch at the end of the day, enjoying the breeze and the serenity.

At times I think I'll never look at another paper nor watch another newscast.  But I also know that's wishful thinking.  As my Mom always used to say, "I know I can't do anything about it but I like to keep informed."  Ah, the wisdom of mothers.

As for me? Time is against me.  I've been away too long.  At any moment the mess in my head will demand venting and I'll oblige.  It's just the nature of the beast.

To Go Or Not To Go ~ That Is The Question

Nero fiddled while Rome burned.  Obama plays golf while the mid-east erupts.  I hope he got a lot of thinking done on the links this past week end.

However, if he's really considering sending in special forces to help with the Iraqi situation I'd advise him to think again.

Not one American life should be put at risk for al-Malaki and the thugs in his government. He had his chance and blew it before the last American was even off Iraqi soil. Now he wants our help to ward off ISIS, an even worse bunch of thugs.

Any other administration might be able to come together with Iran to help the Shiite cause without paying a price to the Iranians but I don't trust this government to do so.  Heck, we can't even spring a Marine wrongly jailed in neighboring Mexico or keep the Central American countries from flooding our borders with their kids.

Do you really think we can quell the violence in Iraq?  Everything we had going for us during the Iraqi war is long gone.  We no longer have intelligence capabilities, personnel or equipment.  The last thing we should do is re-enter the conflict. Especially since the President follows no counsel except his own.

Al-Malaki sold out to the Iranians a long time ago.  That was how he was able to maintain power.  They can bail him out if it is to be.  Never-the-less, Iraq will never be the same.  Shiia and Sunni will forever be struggling for what's left of what's already gone.  ISIS will continue to regroup and gain strength.  If they do cede any hard won territory it will be a bloody battle of which we'd best not be a part.
 
Let the current participants fight to the death. Last terrorist standing wins. Until that fight is over we're relatively safe.  Everyone is fighting for dominance at the moment.

That gives us time to actually come up with a strategy with which to move forward.  Hopefully we'll have a new president in time.  One who understands the office of President is not a personal paradise in which to indulge in whimsical activity while leaving the rest of the world to wonder at what is now considered, by this President and administration, par. 

Sacrifice Wasted

Along with a path of destruction are the beheaded bodies of civilians and soldiers of what was once Iraq.  Within a week I'll wager it will either belong to Iran if they get there in time, or ISIS, the Islamic extremists in pursuit of their Caliphate.

Our President has said he has asked his national security team for options to help what's left of the floundering government.  After options are determined he will decide which to follow.  There is no one in the world that believes he will take any action before it's too late.  It's already too late.  Iraq, as we've long known it, is gone.  Just as is Ukraine.

I am both angry and sad.  Sad for the civilian populations of both countries.  Angry at our government for having abdicated it's position of leadership and even more angry for the ultimate slap in the face the situation in Iraq is to the men and women of our military who sacrificed so much.

Every time I watch a plea for support for the Wounded Warriors organization I marvel at the strength and courage of not only the warriors but of their families, both left with a life forever changed.

The conflict was begun for all the wrong reasons and ended for the wrong reasons.  It was begun in a mass of bad intelligence and confusion over weapons of mass destruction muddled with regime change and revenge. There was nothing noble about any of it.

It was ended by cutting and running rather than exerting the necessary effort to win.  There is nothing noble about that either.  Neither are the American way - or what used to be the American way.

Then there are those warriors.  How many dead?  How many wounded beyond repair both physically and mentally?  Multiplied by the irreparable harm done to the families.

For what?  Politics, misplaced ideology and under informed egos.  Yet go they did because they were honor bound to do so.  They fought even when they knew the best advice wasn't being heeded.  They fought and continue to do so in yet another country while a deserter's family is feted by the commander in chief. What reason is there in any of this?

What reason to sacrifice one more of our soldiers for the beheading, child kidnapping happy extremists?  The time to protect our interests in that region of the world has long passed. There aren't even any pieces left to pick up.

It's a call to future administrations to choose the most knowledgeable people possible for high level responsibility rather than political and personal cronies.  It's a call for our people to do the same in elections.  No more "cool".  No more giant personalities skating through life with a vacant sign where their brain should be.

We have two more years of this administration to endure.  It's bad enough our warriors have to watch their sacrifices nullified.  It's even worse they come home to find the America they chose to defend is also being nullified.