Beware Of Turkey

Me thinks Turkey with their Islamist leader may be another can or worms for the United States and the region.  Another ally of sorts who has mixed allegiances due to mixed needs.

It was questioned why Turkey said no to our use of air bases within their borders while the air strikes against ISIL were being formulated.  It was thought perhaps because the newly re-elected Erdogan explained the leanings of his countrymen.  Not a comforting thought for the rest of the region.

Then he was given some slack when it became known that ISIL held a sizable group of Turks that were captured when ISIL over ran Mosul. Ah, that explains it.  Concern for the hostages.  Don't affiliate in any manner with the Great Satan.

Then duel headlines this morning sent a chill through me.  One was that some 60,000 Kurds were fleeing over the border to the relative safety of Turkey.  The other  was that the hostages have been released.  The reports are that it was some well executed rescue mission but I can't help but wonder.  We couldn't extract two and the Turks rescued forty nine?

Okay, our commander-in-chief, who has no military experience what so ever, meddles in everything military and that may have had something to our bungled mission. Still, the language of the reports are suspect when on one hand it was credited to a well executed rescue mission and on the other it talks of their having been handed over.  The two aren't compatible. When the double talk stops I'll take another look at Turkey and their intentions but for now I don't see them as an ally at all and putting aside Edogan's leanings, I don't blame them.

We can put 3000 of our military into Africa to fight Ebola which is not a threat to our national security at this point. Yes, it's a deadly disease in undeveloped countries, but it's a medical problem, not a military one.

Maybe the President doesn't think our troops are in danger there but I beg to differ.  If it migrates into our troops it will be as deadly to them just as much if their boots were on the ground fighting ISIL.  They actually may have a better chance fighting ISIL because it's what they've been trained to do and regardless what we're told, the movement is a threat more far reaching in the long run and certainly more difficult to detain.

Every day the world around us becomes more frightening with the Russians and Chinese buzzing our shores with war planes, the allies defying us at every turn and perhaps most of all the President insisting he personally signs off on every air strike planned for Syria.

Golf any one?

We're Not The Only Ones Who Can Say No

I'm just back from our short hiatus and am sorry to say the smoke from the fires in Oregon and California had moved into Glacier obliterating all that fantastic scenery.

Other topics, however, seem to be perfectly clear. I only scanned the papers that I've missed but I see both Iraq and Iran have told us no.  We're not wanted and they have no interest in cooperating with us in the fight against ISIS.  And ISIS iss in their territory!

It's not because they love ISIS; it's because we aren't trusted.  Period.  I wonder how the President likes that N word.  He's far more used to using it than hearing it. I'd like to think it smarts but my guess is he is secretly happy and will view it as letting him off the hook.

And kudos to the French! While we bomb pick up trucks their first mission hit a logisitics depot.  Now that's hitting where it hurts and does some good.

I also see we continue to refuse weaponry to the Ukranians. I know I've got to read in some detail what the reasons are and what reactions have been before going much further.  I have one observation that troubles me though.  Countries are bothering less and less with diplomatic correctness. It's what happens when you shun your allies and are impotent against your enemies.

I feel sorry for who ever the next President will be.  Not only will he or she inherit an unbelievable mess, the task of rebuilding America will be daunting. Let's just make sure the people we send to Washington not only this fall but in 2016 actually want to face up to the job.  If not I suspect it should and will be a thankless undertaking.  We'll be solely responsible if all goes awry.

Patience Isn't Always Prudent

What's the difference between soap opera and the Obama administration?  With soap opera you can walk away for weeks on end and little will have changed in the story line.  With the Obama administration much the same is true except for the theatrical agonizing that goes into changing nothing.

With that thought in mind I leave for a drive over Going to the Sun Highway in Glacier National Park before it closes next weekend.  I'll only be gone a couple of days and figure I'll come back to find nothing has changed.  Even if there is another beheading.

Everyone agrees that this President is very contemplative.  I question whether he really contemplates anything or rather it's just a ploy to delay action.  I do know you can't make a problem go away by thinking it to death.  I mean how can you execute a war and deploy troops on a case by case basis?

Meanwhile people die and territory is lost.  Now there is rumor ISIS is in Mexico and have plans for crossing into this country and beginning their campaign of terror with a series of car bombings.  Of course Homeland Security and the FBI say there is no credible threat of this nature but it wouldn't surprise me if there was some credence to it.

On that cheery note I take my leave.  I'm sure we'll see some snow at the top; a Mountain Goat would make it perfect.

If Not Us, Who?

There is a great column in today's NY Times  by Roger Cohen titled The Great Unraveling .  It is an unnerving summation of the world circumstance as it stands today.

It seems the world has ceased to know how to function in unity no matter  how dire the straits we face. The Russians have become aggressive,  Israel is in an uneasy cease fire with terrorists, Syria continues its civil war while the country implodes, the British are facing a major reshaping of their empire and our government is dithering about how much aid should be given to a region in dire need because one part of it hasn't formed a government of which it approves.

What has happened to us?  What difference what these people call themselves.  Al Qaeda, Hezbollah, The Islamic State, what ever!  They are all cut from the same piece of cloth.  Radical Islam. Their creed is all the same and eventually they will band together under one banner, that which is the most successful at achieving the goal they all share.

It isn't which group is more of a threat to us that should be the consideration.  It's the movement as a whole.  It must be destroyed and dithering doesn't get it done.  The way everyone is acting you'd think time is of no essence.  Heaven forbid we don't solve all the potential political ramifications before actually making a decision!

To Hell with politics.  Why can't we just do what's right.  The military has been quite vocal about what is needed.  The Powell Doctrine.  Hit hard, win and leave.  Win is the key word here.  No more pussy footing around, no more toying with populations.

The regional problems are going to remain.  They've been going on for centuries.  But we must let all those concerned within and outside of the region there is a limit as to what the civilized world will tolerate.

We will not tolerate madmen annihilating others merely because they believe differently when it comes to politics or religion.  We will not tolerate the capture, rape and selling of women. Nor the lashing of them nor stoning them to death. We will not tolerate the slaughter of innocent children because of their own or their parent's religion. We will not tolerate the inhuman executions of their captives, no matter nationality nor religion.

If they want to live in their tribal enclaves so be it.  We will not force democracy on them.  We will demand, however, that they emerge from their caves into the daylight of human decency and civilized behavior.

Should they continue to choose not to, we will eliminate them.  Pure and simple.  Expediently and timely.  You say war is uncivilized?  No.  What's uncivilized is the unwillingness to have the courage of our convictions.  Drastic actions call for drastic means.  Some one has to take charge.  It should be us leading the way.  Unfortunately it is not.  Courage is no longer in the vocabulary of politics.

And the enemy knows it.

It IS Our War

Listening to the Sunday morning Talk shows I note that the Democrats are still espousing the President's strategy and the Republican are saying it's not enough.

A couple of things occurred to me after hearing that a British aid worker has joined the ranks of sacrificial lambs to western politics.

Two arguments go against the grain that it's a regional war and those in the region have to sort it.

First conventional borders have been erased by the new State.  It is coming perilously close to obliterating even more - Jordan and Turkey, who incidentally is a Shiria state want-to-be under Erdogan.

The once assumed safe haven of Baghdad you'll note is surrounded by them making the formation of an all inclusive Iraqi state more difficult than it has been already.

That covers the territorial part of the argument.

Now for personnel.  You'll remember the first two deaths were American journalists.  The third a Brit and the fourth, another Brit, is fingered.  Remember they hold Italians and Turkish diplomats too.  They seem to be choosing those who have a connection with the military as their first victims no matter it may have been from generations back.  An excuse is an excuse.  Don't think for one minute that when they run out of captives that have any sort of military history they'll not turn to who ever is left.

Back to my argument.  Americans and Brits. That alone should make it ours.  But more than that consider how many foreign nations are in the middle east in ongoing business ventures.  I remember when my husband was working for both an oil company then an electronics firm where his travels took him.  Damascas, Beirut, Israel to mention a few plus a good number of South American countries.  Those were days of relative peace but I can recall his stories of kids playing soccer with military rifles slung over their shoulders. This is what it has escalated into.

The radical groups who do not call themselves ISIL and are operating in different territory will feed off of its success.  What happens when business or oil patch workers are captured and paraded out for execution?  Are we going to say it's a British problem if they are Brits?  Or Canadian or Italian or Swiss or whatever?

The politicians cannot quit playing politics even when human lives are at stake. People who care more about truth and compassion than politics are the ones losing their lives.  Meanwhile in Washington, the dreary beat goes on.

When they won't face up to the facts about our own border, I don't expect they'll ever face up to the facts elsewhere.

They don't want our boots on the ground.  How about a bunch of $800 wingtips?  They'll quickly learn the reality of not having skilled leadership and forces to back them up!