Last weekend reports of CIA-backed Syrian rebels fighting Pentagon Syrian-backed militias emerged in numerous news reports. Here’s a LA Times report:
“Syrian militias armed by different parts of the U.S. war machine have begun to fight each other on the plains between the besieged city of Aleppo and the Turkish border, highlighting how little control U.S. intelligence officers and military planners have over the groups they have financed and trained in the bitter five-year-old civil war.”
War On The Rocks has a report with a very helpful map, which explains that this isn’t really the case in, “ARE CIA-BACKED SYRIAN REBELS REALLY FIGHTING PENTAGON-BACKED SYRIAN REBELS?” by Sam Heller, March 28, 2016. Heller reports:
“This is complicated, but bear with me. The Kurdish-dominated Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) are not a monolithic force. Like nearly every other faction in Syria, they’re spread across an archipelago of enclaves nationwide. The SDF units clashing with Syrian rebels reportedly supported by the CIA are not supported by the Pentagon —they’re from a different enclave. The U.S. military is exclusively supporting the SDF in northeastern Syria on the other side of the Euphrates River. The Pentagon-backed SDF east of the Euphrates is fighting the self-proclaimed Islamic State, not rebels with or without U.S. backing.
Allow me to explain.
The confusion around this news story is a result of wartime Syria’s jigsaw-like map of control. The Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) and the SDF umbrella under which they operate are primarily active in northeastern Syria east of the Euphrates River, where they’ve linked what had been two isolated Kurdish enclaves to form a zone of control along much of Turkey’s southern border. But they also control a still-isolated enclave west of the Euphrates River in northwestern Aleppo province called Afrin, as well as a single neighborhood in Aleppo city. Afrin remains separated from YPG/SDF territory east of the Euphrates by a long stretch of Islamic State territory that the U.S. government calls the “Manbij Pocket.”
Before February, SDF units in Afrin had periodically clashed with Arab and Turkmen rebels in northern Aleppo province, including some that reportedly receive arms via a combined intelligence cell in Turkey that includes the CIA. Then, in February, the SDF in Afrin took advantage of the chaos caused by a Russian-backed regime offensive around Aleppo city to attack the rebels from the west and grab large sections of the northern Aleppo countryside. The Afrin SDF allegedly enjoyed Russian close air support against these rebels, although they have publicly denied these reports. Some clashes have persisted since then, but the new SDF-drawn lines have mostly held.”
Please go read the entire article at the War On The Rocks and look at the map, which makes the disposition of the two SDP forces much clearer and makes Heller’s explanation much easier to understand. News agencies should spend some time trying to acquire updated, accurate maps and talk to more analysts familiar with what’s going on before running with these stories. US policy assuredly has been a convoluted mess in the ME for a long time, but having some accurate facts from on the ground should always be sought and might help unravel some of the media’s added knots of misinformation.
Hard to remember what was life like before YouTube videos, but assuredly these videos can say it best. This one was from the Washington Free Beacon:
Dr. Ben Carson: Worst Campaign Surrogate Ever | SUPERcuts! #309
Check out Rudy Giuliani describing the vulgar, vile Donald Trump at 31:09 on this video – the lies are limitless from Trump apologists. Giuliani described Trump as “gentlemanly” — the man tweeting in public about Megyn Kelly bleeding out of her wherever is really a gentleman in private…. yeah right! So, this post is going to be a recap and some thoughts on the GOP Primary Insurgency.
Last Spring the 2016 race looked like an easy GOP victory when Hillary Clinton’s private email server scandal broke. Coupled with truly terrible campaign PR, from the initial video launch to the multiple efforts to relaunch her campaign, things looked dire in ClintonWorld. The GOP line-up, on the other hand, looked like a field of many talented Republicans and then there was Donald Trump. The media created this “Year of the Insurgent” meme and while Sanders gets mentioned as being part of that meme, despite being a “Washington insider” down to his bones, for the most part the term has been a badge of honor worn by Donald Trump and the media saturation has been on Trump, not on Sanders.
Hillary, with the help of Bill Clinton’s arm-twisting and shoving his political muscle around, is poised to glide to the Democrat nomination, head held high, serenely walking up the middle, cleared by Bill Clinton’s brilliant triangulation strategy, as I’ve repeated since last Fall. If the match-up is against Trump, she will easily win is my prediction.
The GOP is headed to a train wreck of a convention, aided by virulent protesters funded by George Soros, by a duplicitous John Kasich, funded by George Soros and then there are the two “front-runners” in this GOP campaign, Ted Cruz and Donald Trump, both surrounded by enough strange antics that one can only wonder how the GOP allowed its party to be hijacked by hostile forces.
Trump’s mass media saturation for months on end last year, where the media gave him millions of dollars of free air time and where he relentlessly repeated his litany of buzz words and hollow phrases, came loaded down, not with policy, but with some of the most vicious sleaze was, in plain English, CHEATING – it was cheating and fraud on a massive scale. From many sources:
Now add in what amounted to a rock star doing a national tour with big stadium venues lined up and plenty of nationalistic jingoism and scapegoating various ethnic groups, Trump attracted quite a crowd of bottom-feeders, along with plenty of poor whites trampled on during the past 8 years of a depressed American economy and Obama vast federal government expansion and intrusion into American daily life. Trump promises to “Make America Great Again” and for millions of Americans, feeling powerless, he has become their savior.
In comments at various sites, I dubbed Trump’s most faithful, those who champion him no matter how vile, outrageous or deceitful he is proven to be, as his 5th Avenue Loyalists. They will remain loyal even if he does shoot someone on 5th Avenue and make up rationalizations to justify it. The Trump phenomenon ranks as a bizarre study in mass delusion that I hope America breaks free of soon.
As to Ted Cruz, now here is another candidate that no matter how much I would like to unreservedly support him, based on his stated conservative principles, I can’t. Cruz, a brilliant lawyer, who so carefully calculated avoiding alienating Trump supporters and refused to condemn Trump’s antics early on, hoping that if Trump fell, he could pull Trump supporters to his side, still publicly campaigns with the bizarre freak show that is Glenn Beck. Beck has been all over the political landscape – Tea Party enthusiast, down to the border to hand out teddy bears to illegals, champion of George Washington’s values, and now prognosticator of religious prophecy. Yet, Cruz still campaigns with him, in fact, Cruz traipsed down to the border in 2014 with Beck to hand out soccer balls and teddy bears to illegal immigrants and Beck highlighted all the good works of these religious charities receiving millions of federal dollars to administer these refugee and immigration services for the government. It’s a YUGE racket of corruption! (here and here and here)
Trump corners the market on being able to say vulgar, inane, idiotic, crude, and over the top bombastic things with no political fall-out. He could repeat an idiotic plan to send US troops to murder ISIS family members, all to sound tough, and his supporters excuse that as he either didn’t mean it literally or he, at least, wants to “do something”. That plan was a war crime, ISIS terrorists routinely use their family members as human shields and don’t “scare” easily, but none of this matters to Trump supporters. The Trump policy disparaged US troops, equating them to just hired muscle, who will commit cold-blooded murder without question.
Trump’s supporters hear Trump tough talk and cheer – no matter what the content! However, Cruz is supposedly so smart, so why would he recently revert back to this language of “carpet bombing” bombast from earlier in his campaign, knowing this language carries with it so much negative political fall-out? It makes no sense, just as his campaigning with Glenn Beck makes no sense.
Now, we get to the present tabloid trash phase of this GOP Insurgency, where Kasich stands smugly on the sidelines, hoping Trump and Cruz implode, basking in Soros cash and the GOP primary moves to the gutter of the Kardashians and Paris Hilton looks like a class act compared to Trump and Cruz. Sure, there are those who will wail that Cruz is a victim and that Cruz’ wife was trashed with that Trump retweet of the unflattering picture of Heidi Cruz. Sure, there are those who blame Cruz for the Super PAC release of public photos of bare-bottomed Melania Trump being splashed in papers. And sure, Trump is close friends with Pecker, who now published the exposé of Cruz and a handful of women Cruz is alleged to have had affairs with in the National Enquirer.
All of the above can be attributed to Cruz or Trump, but something is rotten in this entire GOP primary – Cruz who can’t get along with anyone in the Senate and just created endless agitation propaganda stunts there and now we have Trump the reality TV insurgent tearing the GOP apart, but promising to bring in “Democrat converts” to rejuvenate the GOP… So, how does Trump who brags about hiring the best people hire a sleaze of the first order like Roger Stone, who published a book, “The Clintons’ War on Women” in Oct. 2015 and the “Jeb! And the Bush Crime Family” in Feb. 2016? How did Corey Lewandowski rate as part of the pool of best among campaign managers? And how on earth did this former twit, Tea Party activist, Cruz senatorial campaign volunteer, Katrina Pierson, end up on Trump’s list of “best” candidates for campaign spokesperson? And what are the odds that such a woman would be part of a National Enquirer spread meant to take down Ted Cruz?
Who doubts for a moment that despite all this “bad blood,” that if push comes to shove, Cruz would, in a heartbeat, jump at the opportunity to be Trump’s vice president, if offered the job? Look at the transformation of the “nice” Dr. Ben Carson, who was vilely trashed by Trump, now singing Trump’s praises??? Look at Chris Christie???
Here’s a link to Trump with some golfing buddies, Bill Clinton and Rudy Giuliani… Rush Limbaugh is also a Trump golfing buddy. Bill O’Reilly another Trump long-time friend. Geraldo, of tabloid trash TV, another long-time friend of Trump. Jeanine Pirro – another Trump long-time friend – check out her ex-husband, whose corruption derailed her career, btw. She divorced him and rebounded with this FOX news gig. Allegations abound about her own corruption as DA too, so who knows… Trump’s corruption is epic and well-known, but his supporters airily dismiss it.
There’s a lot of strange stuff going on in this GOP hostile takeover and we haven’t even scratched the surface on who the real power players behind the scenes are in trying to implode the GOP. Impacting soon, I’m sure!
I’m backkk, lol. Lately, I’ve been spending a good bit of time reading the articles at National Review Online as The Trump Divide within the GOP deepens and hardens. So many of the writers there keep making the compelling case for why Donald Trump should NEVER be the GOP candidate, but along with those arguments, some of their writers went beyond that to highlight what America is and isn’t.
Kevin Williamson penned an excellent piece today, “What John Adams Knew,” highlighting that America is a republic, not a democracy:
“John Adams hated democracy and he feared what was known in the language of the time as “passion.” Adams’s famous assessment: “I do not say that democracy has been more pernicious on the whole, and in the long run, than monarchy or aristocracy. Democracy has never been and never can be so durable as aristocracy or monarchy; but while it lasts, it is more bloody than either.” Democracy, he wrote, “never lasts long. It soon wastes, exhausts, and murders itself. There never was a democracy yet that did not commit suicide. It is in vain to say that democracy is less vain, less proud, less selfish, less ambitious, or less avaricious than aristocracy or monarchy. It is not true, in fact, and nowhere appears in history. Those passions are the same in all men, under all forms of simple government, and when unchecked, produce the same effects of fraud, violence, and cruelty.”
Regular LB readers will be familiar with my republic vs. democracy concern too, which I expressed in a January blog post, “On America’s side”:
“A couple weeks ago my 10 year old granddaughter, a very bright student enrolled in the gifted program at her public school, mentioned something she learned at school, which I told her is not correct and what she learned really plays into the problems plaguing America and it also speaks to our future. My granddaughter said, “America is a democracy.” Reflexively, I corrected her and said, “No, America is a republic!” Thus began a stream of back and forth, because as of yesterday she told me that her teacher still says, “America is a democracy.” I told her again that her teacher is mistaken, because assuredly, America is a republic, set up as a constitutional federal republic. However, watching the demise of federalism and the reliance on pop culture and public opinion polls to silence dissenting opinion, I’m wondering if America has descended into that hellish, brutish state where on the whims of ginning up anger and use of slick mass media manipulation (propaganda) to sway the mob, the only thing that matters is the “majority rules”.”
Kevin D. Williamson has been joined in expanding on what “America” is, with an excellent post by Ian Tuttle, “Go-Getters, Gone?” Tuttle showcases the American spirit through the words of a pioneer woman, Lodisa Frizzell, making the journey from Illinois to California in 1852:
“That this journey is tiresome, no one will doubt, that it is perilous, the deaths of many testify, and the heart has a thousand missgivings, & the mind is tortured with anxiety, & often as I passed the fresh made graves, I have glanced at the side boards of the waggon, not knowing how soon it might serve as a coffin for some one of us.”
Mr. Tuttle’s piece carries a Marco Rubio quote that really deserves wide-reading, because “Little Marco,” as the vile Donald Trump (you know the vulgar jerk, whom Rudy Giuliani last night on Hannity described as “gentlemanly), explained this American spirit so eloquently, that I apologize for using so much of Mr. Tuttle’s article here, but I’m still going to post Marco Rubio’s words and at the same time urge you to go to NRO and read Tuttle’s wonderful piece:
“We are a hopeful people, and we have every right to be hopeful. For we in this nation are the descendants of go-getters. In our veins runs the blood of people who gave it all up so we would have the chances they never did. We are all the descendants of someone who made our future the purpose of their lives. We are the descendants of pilgrims. We are the descendants of settlers. We are the descendants of men and women that headed westward in the Great Plains not knowing what awaited them. We are the descendants of slaves who overcame that horrible institution to stake their claim in the American Dream. We are the descendants of immigrants and exiles who knew and believed that they were destined for more, and that there was only one place on earth where that was possible.”
With too much going on in the news to keep adequate track of, I’m waiting to filter it into a coherent blog post. So, with all the anger and hate swirling, until I have something original composed, here’s a repost of an old LB blog post from May 15, 2015:
Finally, here is a post on factions, that’s so simple even a 5 year-old can understand the problem. Adults might get stuck in their rigid ideological beliefs. All beliefs are not morally equal – some when carried to extremes have horrific consequences for millions of innocent people, while others can do remarkable good for the entire world. That is the TRUTH.
Let’s say you believe very strongly that a color is aquamarine and I believe equally as strongly that that color is turquoise. Being that we both believe a different thing, many avenues are there for us to choose. We could argue and get so angry that we end up hating each other and never speak to each other again. I could feel so strongly about my belief that I kill you. We might even kill each other fighting over who is right. I could even decide that it’s not enough to just kill you, but because you’ve convinced your whole town that the color is aquamarine, it’s necessary to kill all of them too.
Of course, on the less extreme side we might agree to consult an outside expert on color to settle the matter, perhaps, we could call the Crayola Company, after all they’ve been naming colors since 1885 in Easton, PA, near where I grew up.
We might argue, passionately and often, clinging to our beliefs (as President Obama accused those rural people in PA), but in the American tradition, we could agree to disagree and at some point, shake hands and say, “Let’s go have pizza!” Presented to most 5 year-olds, the vast majority will agree that it’s stupid to kill other people just because we disagree, on the other hand most adults refuse to even listen to differing opinions. Maya Angleou, renowned poet, expressed it exactly right:
So, in America, being a country forged together by a people committed to INDIVIDUAL FREEDOM, we have The Declaration of Independence to ensure our God-given, unalienable rights are not infringed upon:
Sadly, in America our political partisanship swirls dangerously to extremes – where hate has swelled to such a level that many Americans choose to receive all of their news from sources that align with their political views. The hate and extremism goes so far that even the President of the United States works to divide Americans into hostile camps. Distrust turns Americans into furtive enemies, partisans avoiding those who hold an opposing view, with ideological walls being girded to lock out all who dare to disagree. Even codes are enacted in our universities to silence opposition.
We must tear down these partisan walls! We must work to find common ground, or we can not face the threats beyond our borders. President George Washington warned about the dangers of extreme partisanship in his Farewell Address:
“I have already intimated to you the danger of parties in the State, with particular reference to the founding of them on geographical discriminations. Let me now take a more comprehensive view, and warn you in the most solemn manner against the baneful effects of the spirit of party generally.
This spirit, unfortunately, is inseparable from our nature, having its root in the strongest passions of the human mind. It exists under different shapes in all governments, more or less stifled, controlled, or repressed; but, in those of the popular form, it is seen in its greatest rankness, and is truly their worst enemy.
The alternate domination of one faction over another, sharpened by the spirit of revenge, natural to party dissension, which in different ages and countries has perpetrated the most horrid enormities, is itself a frightful despotism. But this leads at length to a more formal and permanent despotism. The disorders and miseries which result gradually incline the minds of men to seek security and repose in the absolute power of an individual; and sooner or later the chief of some prevailing faction, more able or more fortunate than his competitors, turns this disposition to the purposes of his own elevation, on the ruins of public liberty.
Without looking forward to an extremity of this kind (which nevertheless ought not to be entirely out of sight), the common and continual mischiefs of the spirit of party are sufficient to make it the interest and duty of a wise people to discourage and restrain it.
So, beyond my stating it is a parental duty in a civil society to train your children to respect the rule of law. George Washington tells you that it’s a duty to discourage extremist politics – the duties are required to be a good citizen. I wrote a post in 2013 titled, “The duty of a wise people”. on this subject.
There was a time, not so long ago, when American school children were routinely taught about this speech and American principles. Sadly, today I suspect many school children don’t even know who George Washington was. And mentioning The Constitution, too often and too loudly, will get your name on a Homeland Security watch list as a right-wing extremist…
As if we don’t have enough evidence that Donald Trump is UNFIT to ever be commander in chief, here’s a short piece by Kerry Jacoby, at the American Thinker, “Donald Trump and China: Read This before You Vote”. Jacoby recalls his memories of Tiananmen Square in 1989. He writes:
A year later, in a Playboy interview, here is what Donald Trump said of the Chinese government’s handling of the Tiananmen Square massacre:
“When the students poured into Tiananmen Square, the Chinese government almost blew it. Then they were vicious, they were horrible, but they put it down with strength. That shows you the power of strength. Our country is right now perceived as weak … as being spit on by the rest of the world” –
Then the interviewer changed the subject.
So, no, Trump fans, I will not vote for this man. Not in the primary, not in the general.
I saw the pictures. Nothing can excuse that statement.
Romanian hacker Marcel Lazăr Lehel — better known as Guccifer — is being extradited to the United States, say news reports. The hacker has scored many notable victims in recent years, including Hillary Clinton shadow adviser Sid Blumenthal. Guccifer once bragged to PANDO that I used to read [Clinton’s] memos… and then do the gardening. As the Daily Caller has previously reported, Guccifer’s hacking has played a role in the Clinton email scandal:
libertybelle diaries 