One can only wonder if this story is fabricated – the timing is highly suspect:
It sure fits their narrative to spin a good story with things imploding in the ME. And everything is “secret”, they can write whatever they want.
Defining a Team of Rivals
We live in a society where idiotic slogans and catchphrases pass for thoughtful ideas, strategies and concepts. Last week the smartest woman in the world, aka Hillary, the longest-mile Secretary of State rolled out her long-awaited (boy, that’s hard to imagine) new autobiography, “Hard Choices”, Clinton compares President Obama’s choice of her for secretary of state to that of President Lincoln choosing William Henry Seward (from a New Republic piece):
“But Hillary Clinton is, and will always be, Hillary Clinton. In Hard Choices, she playfully extends the oft-cited Team of Rivals comparison, likening Abraham Lincoln’s choice of William Henry Seward as secretary of state to Obama’s choice of her. Clinton writes of how she warms to the comparison, citing a contemporary of Seward’s who described him as “ruffled or excited never, astute, keen to perceive a joke, appreciative of a good thing, and fond of ‘good victuals.'” Sound familiar? It does to Clinton. “I could relate to that,” she writes.”
Doris Kearns Goodwin, an author of several historical works, has come under criticism more than once being accused of plagiarism. For a gist of the controversy, here is Eric J. Weiner, from a 2006 Huffington post piece:
“Kudos to the good people at the New York Historical Society for looking beyond the past sins of plagiarism committed by Doris Kearns Goodwin and bestowing on the prolific celebrity historian a prestigious award and $50,000 prize in honor of her recent biography of Abe Lincoln, “Team of Rivals.””
We all know the Clintons’ respect for the truth, so I wanted to give you my take on Ms Goodwin and Hillary’s understanding of military history:
Here are two well-known, oft-used, simple sayings that have stood the test of time:
Let’s start with the Biblical version: “A house divided can not stand”
Next let’s move on to the geopolitical/military strategic realm: “Divide and Conquer”
So, it’s obvious to anyone with a functioning brain cell (that excludes most of American academia) that dividing teams is a way to defeat a team. Thus, in simple language, “a team of rivals” is one the most idiotic things ever uttered and a contradiction in terms. Perhaps, we should offer these two brilliant women a Thelma and Louise road trip to US Civil War cemeteries or the military cemeteries of World War I and let them count the dead, to see how that “team of rivals” pans out. Unluckily for us Hillary seems far from the cliff’s edge and ready to hit the highways trotting out her same tired, old parsed lies, in her floundering book tour.
No better time than the present to remind everyone outside the DC echo chamber of The Gettysburg Address, obtained from the webpage, Our Documents:
Executive Mansion,
Washington, , 186 .
“Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth, upon this continent, a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that “all men are created equal”
Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived, and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of it, as a final resting place for those who died here, that the nation might live. This we may, in all propriety do. But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate — we can not consecrate — we can not hallow, this ground– The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have hallowed it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here; while it can never forget what they did here.
It is rather for us, the living, to stand here, we here be dedica-ted to the great task remaining before us — that, from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they here, gave the last full measure of devotion — that we here highly resolve these dead shall not have died in vain; that the nation, shall have a new birth of freedom, and that government of the people by the people for the people, shall not perish from the earth.”
So, how about we agree to work toward a new American banner:
UNITED WE STAND, DIVIDED WE FALL!!!
“
Filed under American Character, American History, General Interest, Military, Politics
Worsening Violence in Iraq Threatens Regional Security
Filed under Foreign Policy, General Interest, Islam
Iraqi democracy project implodes
Filed under Foreign Policy, General Interest, Islam
Accountability (guess not)
Another leaker stays on the job, but Obama announces new policies (for no one to follow)….
Filed under General Interest, Politics
Another Obama “ending the war”
“As militants advance in Iraq, U.S. Embassy in Baghdad readies evacuation”
posted at 9:31 pm on June 11, 2014 by Noah Rothman
Filed under Foreign Policy, Military, Politics
Some VA information
Really short on time this morning, so this will be just a few sentences – back to the VA scandal. G. Murphy Donovan (GMD for short) took aim at the VA, “Veterans in the Crosshairs”, which is a must read. He says:
“Alas, corrupt government is host to many ironies, but three are paramount: success is a liability, failure is an asset, and as long as the intentions are pure in the public mind, better funding follows failure, not success. Once established, bigger civic programs have few measures of effectives. The end game is there is no end.”
He cites a 2012 Human Events piece with more background on the VA, titled, “Hopelessly Broken” – another must read, but also check out all the links in GMD’s piece, ’cause he always links to interesting stuff.
Filed under Culture Wars, General Interest, Military, Politics
Abandoned in Afghanistan?
The always excellent US security nightly newsletter, Nightwatch, put out by KGS, offers the following comments on the Taliban exchange:
“Comment: The mainstream media have covered the increased risk of hostage-taking as the direct and foreseeable result of the hostage exchange. This was not a prisoner of war exchange.
Two points not mentioned in most mainstream commentary are noteworthy. This exchange invests Omar and his Islamic Emirate with stature that neither had when the Taliban ruled in Afghanistan. It negotiated as an equal with the US and got the better deal. That sets a precedent for potential deals with other NATO members. It is a powerful disincentive for Pakistan to rein in Omar and his cohorts.
The second point is the release of the five Taliban leaders will boost Taliban morale; help improve their organizational and fighting skills and enhance their operations. It might have a ripple effect on the now divided Pakistani Taliban.
The timing could hardly be worse for Allied forces. As NATO draws down its forces, the Taliban get an influx of experienced leaders, undermining years of effort to degrade the leadership. These were men Mullah Omar trusted in the early days of Taliban rule. He now has a seasoned core around which to build a reinvigorated administration and movement.”
Nightwatch is John McCreary’s baby and his bio is here. What I like is often the “comments” are delivered with a touch of humor, but rest assured always carefully researched, with the facts differentiated from the opinion.
Now a subject I haven’t heard any military experts talk about yet and one that I have questions about is: “What impact does the release of those terrorists, in addition to the troop draw-down have on the day-to-day security situation for those remaining troops left in Afghanistan? What is the true readiness assessment of the Afghan National security services on whom they will have to rely? Will a reinvigorated Taliban potentially leave our remaining troops vulnerable? How does the draw-down affect the resupply and support situation, with an already overstretched supply route? Has the CINC ever asked about the safety of the troops he is leaving in Afghanistan- vulnerable in such small numbers? What will their mission be – hunkered down on a base or will they still be out on patrols?
Filed under Food for Thought, Foreign Policy, General Interest, Military, Politics
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