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sidd

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Re: US intervention in foreign lands
« Reply #450 on: August 14, 2018, 10:49:11 PM »
Strikes on children are just the logical extension of preemptive war. They woulda grown up to be terrorists anyway, and threatened our precious bodily fluids. Kill 'em young. The media ain't gonna say anything about it, no ratings boost in covering dead brown kids.

sidd
 

sidd

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Re: US intervention in foreign lands
« Reply #451 on: August 17, 2018, 10:01:26 PM »
Bellum sine fine. Englehardt in a sorrowful retrospective :

--
 I began writing about that war in October 2001 ...

I wrote about our Afghan War in 2008 ...  “We have become a nation of wedding crashers," I wrote, "the uninvited guests who arrived under false pretenses, tore up the place, offered nary an apology, and refused to go home.”

 I wrote about Afghanistan in 2009, while considering the metrics of “a war gone to hell”

I wrote in 2010, thinking about how “forever war” had entered the bloodstream of the twenty-first-century U.S. military ...

I wrote in 2012, when Afghanistan had superseded Vietnam as the longest war in American history: “Washington has gotten itself into a situation on the Eurasian mainland so vexing and perplexing that Vietnam has finally been left in the dust ...

I wrote in 2015, thinking about the American taxpayer dollars that had, in the preceding years, gone into Afghan “roads to nowhere, ghost soldiers, and a $43 million gas station” built in the middle of nowhere ...

I wrote last year thinking about the nature of our never-ending war there: “Right now, Washington is whistling past the graveyard. In Afghanistan and Pakistan the question is no longer whether the U.S. is in command, but whether it can get out in time.

... the Pentagon and the country's field commanders seem to be hooked on America’s “infinite” wars. They exhibit not the slightest urge to stop them. The Afghan War and the others that have flowed from it represent both their raison d'être and their meal ticket.

Despite that military’s supposedly apolitical role in this country’s affairs, its leaders are uniquely capable of blocking any attempt to end the Afghan War.

 Every day that the U.S. military stays in Afghanistan is indeed a victory for... well, not George W. Bush, or Barack Obama, and certainly not Donald Trump, but the now long-dead Osama bin Laden.

 Unfortunately, it’s a reasonable bet that, in August 2019, or August 2020, not to speak of August 2021  I’ll be repeating all of this yet again.

--

Read the whole thing:

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2018/08/16/war-piece-end-all-war-pieces

sidd

sidd

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Re: US intervention in foreign lands
« Reply #452 on: August 17, 2018, 10:17:12 PM »
Zenko on war crimes over at foreignpolicy:

"America Is Committing War Crimes and Doesn’t Even Know Why"

“I don’t currently know the specific goals and objectives of the Saudi campaign ..."

"There is a simple reason officials from both the Obama and Trump administrations have made no public efforts to justify the material support provided to the Saudi-led intervention: It is unjustifiable. "

https://foreignpolicy.com/2018/08/15/america-is-committing-awful-war-crimes-and-it-doesnt-even-know-why/

Quite disgusting. Unthinking brutality and refusal to know.

sidd

SteveMDFP

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Re: US intervention in foreign lands
« Reply #453 on: August 27, 2018, 03:27:34 PM »

Worrisome but unsurprising development with respect to Iran:

Iran says it has full control of Gulf, U.S. Navy does not belong there
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-iran-nuclear/iran-says-it-has-full-control-of-gulf-u-s-navy-does-not-belong-there-idUSKCN1LC0N0

"Senior U.S. officials have said they aim to reduce Iran’s oil exports to zero.

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the most senior authority in the Islamic Republic, said last month that he supports the idea that if Iran is not allowed to export oil then no country should export oil from the Gulf."

Trump withdrawing from the Iran nuclear accord left warfare as the only alternative for stopping the development of nuclear weapons.  In reality, I think Trump and his minions intended to go to war, and have manufactured a plan that leads to this result.

Neven

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Re: US intervention in foreign lands
« Reply #454 on: August 27, 2018, 06:07:15 PM »
Who's got the power to stop the US being stupid or rash?

The American people...
The enemy is within
Don't confuse me with him

E. Smith

jacksmith4tx

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Re: US intervention in foreign lands
« Reply #455 on: August 27, 2018, 06:14:37 PM »
Who's got the power to stop the US being stupid or rash?

The American people...
Nope, but the bond/treasury market can stop it on a dime. The American people writ large are pretty much brain dead.
Science is a thought process, technology will change reality.

TerryM

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Re: US intervention in foreign lands
« Reply #456 on: August 27, 2018, 07:50:04 PM »
Who's got the power to stop the US being stupid or rash?

The American people...
Nope, but the bond/treasury market can stop it on a dime. The American people writ large are pretty much brain dead.


We weren't able to stop the government back in the 70's, but we did send them on some very long detours. :)


As long as both parties feast at the same trough, it's damn near impossible to get them to act against their own fiscal interests. The DNC and DCCC won't allow any insurgents to breach the walls, and starving them into submission is difficult when corporations bottomless pockets seem ever eager to refill the gravy train.


If the walls cant be breached, and a siege can't succeed, there's no option but to pull a Maginot. Bypass them to get to where the power to change things resides.
Terry

jacksmith4tx

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Re: US intervention in foreign lands
« Reply #457 on: August 27, 2018, 08:25:54 PM »
I must say that in this digital world there maybe new options.

https://goodcountry.org/news/a-featured-news-item-imperdiet-a-venenatis-vitae-justo
Quote
The Good Country will be a country without a government. Thanks to our cutting-edge AI technology, it will work as a self-organising system, guided and driven by its citizens. A virtual country that collaborates actively with other countries and shows them how to produce lasting results both for their own citizens and for the world as a whole. A country with the economic clout to create new international systems and structures where and when they’re needed.

https://goodcountry.org/
What do you think might happen if you network 2/3 of the planet?
Have a look at their county index.
https://goodcountry.org/index/results
Interesting rankings.

Since they want their 'citizens' to pay up to $5/yr.(tax!) it could self fund it's overhead.
Science is a thought process, technology will change reality.

TerryM

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Re: US intervention in foreign lands
« Reply #458 on: August 27, 2018, 09:25:45 PM »
Interestingly 3 of the bottom 3 are all recent recipients of America's kindly ministrations of Building Democracy by Bomb tm.


It's almost as if they would have been better off without America's help./sark
Terry

jacksmith4tx

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Re: US intervention in foreign lands
« Reply #459 on: August 28, 2018, 06:01:52 AM »
Lurk,
Do me a favor and don't quote something I never said.

My links to the good country project was just to offer Terry a different POV. I'm always looking out for what new technology is doing because I really think technology can change reality.

https://www.darpa.mil/news-events/2018-07-20a
https://www.darpa.mil/program/explainable-artificial-intelligence

I'm pretty sure there are similar programs in China, Russia, EU, India and that's just the government stuff. The commercial guys are spending even more.

Every thing you could possibly think of to worry about they have been spending billions of dollars to make more of for years.

You are too late. Now what?
Science is a thought process, technology will change reality.

Neven

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Re: US intervention in foreign lands
« Reply #460 on: August 28, 2018, 01:52:14 PM »
This seems like perfect whataboutism:

Quote
US Government Admits It’s Making Fake Social Media Accounts to Spread Propaganda in Cuba

The United States has repeatedly accused the Russian and Iranian governments of using social media to spread “disinformation” and foment chaos. Under US government pressure, Big Tech corporations have banned large numbers of accounts accused (in some cases falsely) of being Russian and Iranian “troll” accounts.

At the same time, however, the US government is doing exactly what it is accusing its enemies of: the US Office of Cuba Broadcasting is secretly creating fake social media accounts to inspire dissent and to spread right-wing pro-US, pro-capitalist propaganda in Cuba.

During the Cold War, the US government tried to assassinate Cuban leader Fidel Castro more than 600 times. Washington also simultaneously waged an information war. For decades, the US has maintained an elaborate propaganda apparatus committed to toppling Cuba’s socialist government.

In its 2019 congressional budget justification report — which was first reported on by the Miami New Times — the US government’s Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG) disclosed that it “is establishing on island digital teams to create non-branded local Facebook accounts to disseminate information.”

The US government body noted that these “native pages increase the chances of appearing on Cuban Facebook users newsfeeds.”

And it is not just Facebook where the US government will be creating these accounts. “The same strategy will be replicated on other preferred social media networks,” the BBG added.

The propaganda office said it “will continue to engage audiences on the internet using Facebook Live and YouTube as distribution channels into Cuba as the Communist regime has been wary of blocking these popular channels.”

Put more directly, the US government is creating fake accounts on Facebook and YouTube inside Cuba and going out of its way to portray these profiles as “local,” to more effectively spread this propaganda among Cubans as if it were somehow organic.

“Working with Cuban independent journalists and encouraging citizens to create user generated content on the island for OCB’s platforms continues to be a top priority,” the US government body continued in its report. “As Wi-Fi service has expanded in Cuba and with substantial numbers of Cubans now using Facebook and other social networking sites, OCB’s social media presence has increased.”

Propaganda broadcast to 11 percent of Cubans on a weekly basis

The US Office of Cuba Broadcasting (OCB) presently has 117 employees and an annual budget of $28.1 million. It estimates its audience at 1 million.

The OCB also holds the annual Cuba Internet Freedom Conference in Miami.

The US government body claims that its propaganda broadcasts “currently reach 11.1% of Cubans on a weekly basis with audio, video, and digital content delivered by radio, satellite TV, online, and on distinctly Cuban digital ‘packages’ (paquetes).”

It also claims that 96 percent of its audience say the US government propaganda “helps them form opinions about current events and most users both share information they get from Martí and would recommend it to others.”

Distributing propaganda on DVDs and flash drives inside Cuba

The US Broadcasting Board of Governors furthermore reveals in its 2019 report that its Office of Cuba Broadcasting distributes propaganda on DVDs and flash drives inside Cuba, for those who do not have internet access.

“To circumvent the blockage of TV Marti signals, OCB is dramatically increasing the distribution of DVD’s and USB drives with Marti content, radically altering its distribution strategy to avoid dealing with bulk amounts of content entrance into the island,” the report noted.

“The content is now downloaded once inside the island, copied on the island and distributed immediately. Previously, the information was downloaded elsewhere and carried onto the island. Much of it was intercepted at the border before reaching its intended audience,” the OCB continued. “This optimization of OCB’s content supply chain will increase its availability on the island tenfold at the same cost level.”

A long history of US government propaganda campaigns worldwide

This is far from the first time the US government has been exposed for manipulating social media to spread propaganda. And these US propaganda operations are by no means limited to China.

The Broadcasting Board of Governors noted in its report that its propaganda efforts are targeting audiences “in Russia and its periphery, China, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Iran, and Cuba.”

The US government has long used social media to sow discord in Cuba in particular. In 2014, it was revealed that the US Agency for International Development (USAID), the government’s ostensibly “humanitarian” soft-power arm, had created a fake Twitter-like app called ZunZuneo to stir unrest inside Cuba.

In January 2018, the US State Department announced the creation of a Cuba Internet Task Force to try to undermine the socialist government in Havana.

Cuban state media condemned this new institution as an attempt “to subvert Cuba’s internal order.” The Cuban government’s newspaper Granma wrote, “In the past, Washington has used phrases like ‘working for freedom of expression’ and ‘expanding access to internet in Cuba’ to cover up destabilizing plans.”

And back in 2011, The Guardian likewise revealed that the US government was creating fake “sock puppet” accounts on social media to spread propaganda and manipulate public opinion.
The enemy is within
Don't confuse me with him

E. Smith

wili

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Re: US intervention in foreign lands
« Reply #461 on: August 28, 2018, 02:18:09 PM »
And should Cuba be perfectly happy about that? Should anyone?
"A force de chercher de bonnes raisons, on en trouve; on les dit; et après on y tient, non pas tant parce qu'elles sont bonnes que pour ne pas se démentir." Choderlos de Laclos "You struggle to come up with some valid reasons, then cling to them, not because they're good, but just to not back down."

sidd

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Re: US intervention in foreign lands
« Reply #462 on: August 28, 2018, 11:18:04 PM »
Sjursen on the full throated calls for war by neocons and democrats alike:

"these days Maddow and her fellow "mainstream" progressives at MSNBC and CNN sound like hysterical, bellicose neocons. "

I suspect he will shortly be denounced as Putin stooge.

https://original.antiwar.com/Danny_Sjursen/2018/08/27/the-left-gone-mad-mainstream-liberals-as-modern-day-warhawks/

sidd

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Re: US intervention in foreign lands
« Reply #463 on: September 02, 2018, 09:24:12 PM »
A perceptive article on how war narratives in the USA extol the courage, travails and exploits of their own warriors and ignore the suffering of the peoples of the lands where the war is waged. And some exceptions to that rule.

"    When we say always remember and never forget, we usually mean to always remember and never forget what was done to us or to our friends and allies. Of the terrible things that we have done or condoned, the less said and the less remembered the better. More than this, what we really wish to remember and never forget is our humanity and the inhumanity of others. "

“all wars are fought twice, the first time on the battlefield, the second time in memory.”

But, of course, the dead and the broken are small unimportant lives in remote and faraway lands who must be disciplined for the greater glory of Empire.

https://theintercept.com/2018/09/02/americas-war-narrative-focuses-on-its-heroes-and-victims-afghans-and-iraqis-are-brushed-aside/

sidd

« Last Edit: September 04, 2018, 06:56:58 AM by sidd »

TerryM

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Re: US intervention in foreign lands
« Reply #464 on: September 03, 2018, 03:23:54 AM »
You can remember the USS Chesapeake! I'll savor memories of the HMS Shannon. ::)


Terry
Those aren't don't remember their history are doomed to repeat history 101.

sidd

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Hefaistos

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Re: US intervention in foreign lands
« Reply #466 on: September 06, 2018, 03:43:39 PM »
"The U.S. ambassador to Israel said in remarks published on Thursday he expected Israel to keep the Golan Heights in perpetuity, in an apparent nod towards its claim of sovereignty over the strategic plateau captured from Syria in a 1967 war."

When Israel annexes land from Syria, it's ok, and might be recognised as something Israel had a right to do. Syria is a sovereign state, but it doesn't seem to matter when the sionists need more land. Maybe they should first arrange a referendum among the Golan heighters? (c.f. Crimea)

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-crisis-israel-usa-syria/u-s-envoy-sees-israel-keeping-golan-heights-forever-idUSKCN1LM11T

mostly_lurking

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Re: US intervention in foreign lands
« Reply #467 on: September 06, 2018, 04:11:25 PM »

When Israel annexes land from Syria, it's ok, and might be recognised as something Israel had a right to do. Syria is a sovereign state, but it doesn't seem to matter when the sionists need more land. Maybe they should first arrange a referendum among the Golan heighters? (c.f. Crimea)



This land was captured in war along with other land. This other land (Sinai) has been returned in a peace treaty with Egypt. Jordan also got some land back when they signed a peace treaty. Gaza strip and the west bank were NOT WANTED by the previous occupiers ( Egypt and Jordan). Syria refused to negotiate peace and now it's too late. They had their chance.

gerontocrat

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Re: US intervention in foreign lands
« Reply #468 on: September 06, 2018, 11:15:35 PM »

When Israel annexes land from Syria, it's ok, and might be recognised as something Israel had a right to do. Syria is a sovereign state, but it doesn't seem to matter when the sionists need more land. Maybe they should first arrange a referendum among the Golan heighters? (c.f. Crimea)



This land was captured in war along with other land. This other land (Sinai) has been returned in a peace treaty with Egypt. Jordan also got some land back when they signed a peace treaty. Gaza strip and the west bank were NOT WANTED by the previous occupiers ( Egypt and Jordan). Syria refused to negotiate peace and now it's too late. They had their chance.
The Golan heights are of great strategic value to whoever has them. It also gives control over the watershed. Israel keeps the heights because it needs them - perhaps even more for water than military advantage. Same for the West Bank.

"Para a Causa do Povo a Luta Continua!"
"And that's all I'm going to say about that". Forrest Gump
"Damn, I wanted to see what happened next" (Epitaph)

sidd

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Re: US intervention in foreign lands
« Reply #469 on: September 06, 2018, 11:32:48 PM »
Another murderous puppet of USA is dead: Jalaluddin Haqqani  stood up by the CIA to destabilize Afghanistan.

I'll drink to that.

https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-afghanistan-haqqani/taliban-says-founder-of-militant-afghan-haqqani-network-dies-idUKKCN1LK09Y

sidd

sidd

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Re: US intervention in foreign lands
« Reply #470 on: September 06, 2018, 11:37:29 PM »
And another neocon warmonger appointed to Afghanistan:  Zalmay Khalilzad. He is certainly deep state, but what is worse, he is incompetent. He screwed up big time in Afghanistan and Iraq before. Cockburn has a skewering

https://harpers.org/blog/2014/06/the-long-shadow-of-a-neocon/

Afghanistan hates him Pakistan hates him. What could go wrong ?

https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/us-adviser-afghanistan-raises-hackles-region-57622959

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sidd

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Re: US intervention in foreign lands
« Reply #471 on: September 06, 2018, 11:38:37 PM »

mostly_lurking

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Re: US intervention in foreign lands
« Reply #472 on: September 07, 2018, 09:03:50 AM »

The Golan heights are of great strategic value to whoever has them. It also gives control over the watershed. Israel keeps the heights because it needs them - perhaps even more for water than military advantage. Same for the West Bank.

All true, but, If Syria would have come to the peace table at the same time Egypt did, they would have gotten (maybe not all) it back.

Hefaistos

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Re: US intervention in foreign lands
« Reply #473 on: September 07, 2018, 02:03:44 PM »

The Golan heights are of great strategic value to whoever has them. It also gives control over the watershed. Israel keeps the heights because it needs them - perhaps even more for water than military advantage. Same for the West Bank.

All true, but, If Syria would have come to the peace table at the same time Egypt did, they would have gotten (maybe not all) it back.

Right. WIth the same argumentation Russia can then keep Crimea, because she needs it?

sidd

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sidd

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Re: US intervention in foreign lands
« Reply #475 on: September 17, 2018, 09:49:08 PM »
Great news: the war on terror is a success, now we have more war and more terrorists.

https://www.usip.org/publications/2018/09/beyond-homeland-protecting-america-extremism-fragile-states

War is the business of the USA. And business is looking up.

sidd

TerryM

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Re: US intervention in foreign lands
« Reply #476 on: September 18, 2018, 12:34:47 AM »
Great news: the war on terror is a success, now we have more war and more terrorists.

https://www.usip.org/publications/2018/09/beyond-homeland-protecting-america-extremism-fragile-states

War is the business of the USA. And business is looking up.

sidd


The USIP sounds very aggressive in it's quest for "Peace".
Perhaps another "War for Peace" is in the offing?


Fighting for Peace is like Screwing for Chastity - to clean up and retain an old refrain. 8)
Terry





sidd

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Re: US intervention in foreign lands
« Reply #478 on: September 19, 2018, 11:10:02 PM »
What a surprise: warmongers need more weapons

"The Air Force must add more than 70 combat squadrons and 40,000 airmen by 2025 to address increasing threats by China and Russia to the United States"

https://www.mydaytondailynews.com/news/air-force-leaders-call-for-more-planes-and-airmen-confront-adversaries/gGvrVVXBrQ5KLdmVzvfouM/

sidd

TerryM

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Re: US intervention in foreign lands
« Reply #479 on: September 20, 2018, 12:52:00 AM »
What a surprise: warmongers need more weapons

"The Air Force must add more than 70 combat squadrons and 40,000 airmen by 2025 to address increasing threats by China and Russia to the United States"

https://www.mydaytondailynews.com/news/air-force-leaders-call-for-more-planes-and-airmen-confront-adversaries/gGvrVVXBrQ5KLdmVzvfouM/

sidd
Which threats were they again, you know, the ones that can be addressed by having more airplanes?
Terry

sidd

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Re: US intervention in foreign lands
« Reply #480 on: September 20, 2018, 06:05:14 AM »
Re: which threats

from the link

" ...  increasing threats by China and Russia to the United States ... "

We have always been at war with Eurasia. (Or is it EastAsia ... ? i cant remember ...)

But look a little deeper and the bones and sinews of the mil-in state stand out. The person making the speech is mil-ind as it gets. Here's an excerpt from her official bio:

"From 1989 to 1991, Wilson served on the National Security Council staff as director for defense policy and arms control for President George H.W. Bush during the fall of the Berlin Wall and the collapse of the Warsaw Pact.

From 1991 to 1995, and again from 2009 to 2013, Wilson was in the private sector. In 1991 she founded Keystone International, Inc., a company that did business development and program planning work for defense and scientific industry. She served as a senior advisor to several national laboratories on matters related to nuclear weapons, non-proliferation, arms control verification, intelligence and the defense industrial base. Wilson also served on the boards of two publicly traded corporations as well as numerous advisory and non-profit boards.  "

https://www.af.mil/About-Us/Biographies/Display/Article/1183103/dr-heather-wilson/

You got to remember where she was making the speech too, in Wright-Pat, haven of old white guys been sucking the mil-ind complex teat for generations (think Wright Patterson Airforce base, near dayton OH). Of course she is gonna make 'em happy.

And for those who don't recall, Dayton was a sundown town till the fifties. Ain't much better these days, the keep voting down a busline that might bring those darkies into their neighbourhoods.
But that discussion probably belongs on another thread. Just brought that up to give you a flavour of her audience.

sidd


TerryM

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Re: US intervention in foreign lands
« Reply #481 on: September 20, 2018, 06:03:38 PM »

Might help to keep the Deplorables under tight control and off the streets in 2025?


Not Deplorables sir, this year's buzzword is Dregs.


Marketing research after our ill fated 2016 election found that voters resented it when our candidate referred to them and their loved ones as Deplorables.
Calling political enemies The Dregs of Society will have quite the opposite effect that Hillary's unfortunate use of Deplorables had.


This sir is 2018 and today's modern voter has learned many hard lessons that their predecessors way back in 2016 could never have grasped.


Calling the opposition "The Deplorables" was an unforced error by Hillary Clinton in 2016.
Calling the opposition "The Dregs of Society" is a brilliant wordplay by Joe Biden in 2018.


Screaming for Bill Clinton's head on a platter virtually assured his re-election to a second term.
Screaming for Donald Trump's head on a platter will surely end his dream of a second term.


Accusing Thomas of sexual impropriety didn't prevent his confirmation.
Accusing Kavanaugh of sexual impropriety will prevent his confirmation.


Those who recall history are doomed to repeal it 8)
Terry

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Re: US intervention in foreign lands
« Reply #482 on: September 20, 2018, 07:00:01 PM »
Screaming for Bill Clinton's head on a platter virtually assured his re-election to a second term.
Screaming for Donald Trump's head on a platter will surely end his dream of a second term.
Those who recall history are doomed to repeal it 8)
Terry
You are not telling the whole story. Leading up to the 1996 election there was a big corruption scandal for the Republicans.

THE SPEAKER STEPS DOWN: FACING A REVOLT ...
https://www.nytimes.com/.../speaker-steps-down-overview-facing-revolt-gingrich-won-t...
Nov 7, 1998 - Speaker Newt Gingrich, who orchestrated the Republican takeover of Congress in 1994 and presided this year over what at times seemed like ...

This was a major factor in the Dems winning the 96 election.
Wiki:
Eighty-four ethics charges were filed by Democrats against Gingrich during his term as Speaker. All were eventually dropped except for one: claiming tax-exempt status for a college course run for political purposes. On January 21, 1997, the House officially reprimanded Gingrich (in a vote of 395 in favor, 28 opposed) and "ordered [him] to reimburse the House for some of the costs of the investigation in the amount of $300,000". It was the first time a Speaker was disciplined for an ethics violation.

Additionally, the House Ethics Committee concluded that inaccurate information supplied to investigators represented "intentional or ... reckless" disregard of House rules. The Ethics Committee's Special Counsel James M. Cole concluded that Gingrich had violated federal tax law and had lied to the ethics panel in an effort to force the committee to dismiss the complaint against him. The full committee panel did not agree whether tax law had been violated and left that issue up to the IRS.

As to how this affects Trump in the 2020 election I have no idea. He at least can count on the 'so called' religious right because they are actually a cult of hypocrites and trully are the dregs and deplorables of the US electorate.
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sidd

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Re: US intervention in foreign lands
« Reply #483 on: September 20, 2018, 09:32:45 PM »
Tunisia being freedomized and liberated:

"There, the United States sustained its first casualty in action in Tunisia since World War II. "

https://nationalinterest.org/blog/middle-east-watch/america-quietly-expanding-its-war-tunisia-31492

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Neven

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Re: US intervention in foreign lands
« Reply #484 on: September 23, 2018, 12:52:21 PM »
We're all just talking theoretical BS out of our philosophical asses. This is what a real hero looks like:

The enemy is within
Don't confuse me with him

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litesong

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Re: US intervention in foreign lands
« Reply #486 on: September 29, 2018, 03:55:40 AM »
<snip>
« Last Edit: September 29, 2018, 10:44:23 AM by Neven »

litesong

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Re: US intervention in foreign lands
« Reply #487 on: September 29, 2018, 04:26:54 AM »
<snip>
« Last Edit: September 29, 2018, 10:44:48 AM by Neven »

Rob Dekker

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Re: US intervention in foreign lands
« Reply #488 on: September 30, 2018, 08:28:53 AM »
Neven, since you vowed not to moderate the political threads, now I'm really curious what litesong said that was so horrendous that you felt you needed to moderate.
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litesong

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Re: US intervention in foreign lands
« Reply #489 on: October 01, 2018, 02:27:17 AM »
Swedish truckmaker Volvo has stopped assembling trucks in Iran because of Washington’s sanctions, spokesman for the company, Fredrik Ivarsson, told Reuters.
According to him, the group could no longer get paid for parts it shipped and had therefore decided not to operate in Iran.
“With all these sanctions and everything that the United States put (in place)… the bank system doesn’t work in Iran. We can’t get paid… So for now we don’t have any business (in Iran),” Ivarsson said.
Lurch tries to generate sympathy for the well-known Volvo label, showing the "unintended damage to a european business", due to iranian sanctions. However, Volvo belongs to a communist chinese business (got it dead cheap)...... which means one country full of dictators is scratching the back of another country full of dictators. Volvo, if still owning itself, might not have gotten involved with iran in the first place. But, maybe so. 
 Anyhow, the U.S. is just giving both iran & communist china, reasons to scratch themselves harder.
 Decades ago, I nearly purchased a Volvo sport wagen. I didn't buy the Volvo or Saab, because both were white. Now I won't buy Volvo, because it is communist chinese red.
« Last Edit: October 01, 2018, 03:09:46 AM by litesong »

Hefaistos

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Re: US intervention in foreign lands
« Reply #490 on: October 01, 2018, 06:25:42 AM »

Lurch tries to generate sympathy for the well-known Volvo label, showing the "unintended damage to a european business", due to iranian sanctions. However, Volvo belongs to a communist chinese business (got it dead cheap)...... which means one country full of dictators is scratching the back of another country full of dictators. Volvo, if still owning itself, might not have gotten involved with iran in the first place. But, maybe so. 
 Anyhow, the U.S. is just giving both iran & communist china, reasons to scratch themselves harder.
 Decades ago, I nearly purchased a Volvo sport wagen. I didn't buy the Volvo or Saab, because both were white. Now I won't buy Volvo, because it is communist chinese red.

What you say is wrong. Volvo trucks are not owned by Chinese, they are still a Swedish/European company. It's Volvo cars (personal cars, family cars, whatever you call it) that was sold to China.

litesong

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Re: US intervention in foreign lands
« Reply #491 on: October 01, 2018, 01:37:58 PM »
What you say is wrong. Volvo trucks are not owned by Chinese......It's Volvo cars that was sold to China.
You are correct, as far as you go. China's Geely Holding owns Volvo cars, which Geely has turned into a profitable concern. Now Geely has continued its domination of Volvo, by being Volvo Truck's largest shareholder. Yeah, communist chinese claws are deep into Volvo.
& my statement is still true,  "Decades ago, I nearly purchased a Volvo sport wagen. I didn't buy the Volvo or Saab, because both were white. Now I won't buy Volvo, because it is communist chinese red."
 Thank you for pointing out extra details, NOT to buy Volvo. 
« Last Edit: October 01, 2018, 01:45:27 PM by litesong »

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Re: US intervention in foreign lands
« Reply #492 on: October 05, 2018, 09:50:33 PM »
Rubin at the nation on the unholy alliance between democratic and neo-con warmongers:

" There is something surreal about watching so many Democrats and liberal or progressive pundits adopt the ugliest rhetorical tics of the very post-9/11 chauvinism I once found myself immersed in, from seeing anyone or anything inconvenient to the presiding account as fifth-columnist to treating the utterances of spies and other military-industrial propagandists as gospel. "

https://www.thenation.com/article/the-forever-wars-cheerleaders/

Bellum sine fine.

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Re: US intervention in foreign lands
« Reply #493 on: October 15, 2018, 06:10:26 AM »
Well, well, well. Saud threatens to spike oil price ? Might be time for liberation and democracy to come to the sands of Araby. Sorta like the ridiculous plan they had for Iraq.

"In Washington in 2005, a senior Pentagon official told me of a ridiculous plan they had to take ‘the Saudi out of Arabia’ (as was the rage post-9/11). It involved establishing a council of selected Saudi figures in Mecca to govern the country under US auspices after the US took control of the oil. "

https://in.reuters.com/article/saudi-politics-dissident/saudi-threatens-to-retaliate-against-any-sanctions-over-khashoggi-disappearance-idINKCN1MO0F3

https://www.spectator.co.uk/2018/10/death-of-a-dissident-saudi-arabia-and-the-rise-of-the-mobster-state/

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Re: US intervention in foreign lands
« Reply #494 on: October 16, 2018, 10:42:05 PM »
Well, hello there: US agrees to discuss troop pullout from Afghanistan with Taliban.

https://news.antiwar.com/2018/10/14/taliban-confirms-us-talks-says-us-agrees-to-discuss-troop-pullout/

Bear in mind US envoy is Khalilzad, who is old and wise in evil. He was viceroy in afghanistan forawhile, and the Talib know all about him.

Meanwhile the current satrapy in Afghanistan is not at all amused. "Shaking in their boots" and "beside themselves with fear and fury" are phrases that come to mind. They well know their own fate once the Talib get their hands on them. So sad.

"the High Peace Council is holding out for the same thing they’ve wanted from the start, a situation in which the US can totally stabilize the country and defeat the Taliban, at which point discussion of a pullout can happen. Since that’s clearly never going to happen, they are rejecting the idea of the US talking pullout at all."

https://news.antiwar.com/2018/10/15/afghan-high-peace-council-says-talk-of-us-troop-withdrawal-is-premature/

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Rob Dekker

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Re: US intervention in foreign lands
« Reply #495 on: October 21, 2018, 05:33:07 AM »
Not sure if this is the right thread.

But I'd like you guys to be aware of a great effort to document air strikes in the Iraq and Syrian and Libyan conflict zones :

https://airwars.org/

These guys are amazing, using open source information to document civilian casualties in air strikes in the Middle East.

While it is not possible to investigate every air strike in the Middle East (thousands of them), airwars.org attempts to document and verify as many as they can.

Quote
For our Libya project, Airwars has teamed up with the New America Foundation to assess all known public records of airstrikes and reported civilian harm since the end of the NATO campaign in 2011. We have identified hundreds of likely civilian fatalities in a complex conflict which has seen over 2,000 airstrikes from at least eight belligerents, both foreign and domestic.

« Last Edit: October 21, 2018, 05:58:41 AM by Rob Dekker »
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Rob Dekker

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Re: US intervention in foreign lands
« Reply #496 on: October 21, 2018, 06:03:22 AM »
Here is an interesting overview (from airwars.org) of transparancy of individual coalition forces in the conflict zones of Iraq and Syria :



My home country of the Netherlands is not doing so well in this overview : The don't even reveal which country they are bombing, or when, let alone which specific targets.
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sidd

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Re: US intervention in foreign lands
« Reply #497 on: October 22, 2018, 10:57:49 PM »
Sjursen on war criminals, ours and theirs: He was our war criminal, dammit !

" ... senior Afghan officials were killed. I knew one of them – General Raziq – and he might just have been a war criminal ..."

" ... the Taliban demonstrated – once again – that they can strike where and when they choose ..."

" ... the US mission is failing by ever measurable metric ..."

"The very soldiers and policemen that American soldiers are there to train turn their guns on their mentors and shoot them in the back and/or at close range. A couple hundred Americans and several allied troops have been killed in such assaults. "

"So much has trust dissipated, indeed, that the US military has created a new force to watch over the trainers ..."

"It’s time to admit the inconvenient truth: the war is over – America’s longest war. There will be no liberal democracy in the Hindu Kush. Not now, and not anytime soon, regardless of how much blood and treasure the United States commits."

Might be time to cut and run, when even your own hired guns turn on you.

Read it and weep:

https://original.antiwar.com/Danny_Sjursen/2018/10/21/quagmire-what-the-attack-on-general-miller-in-afghanistan-tells-us/

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Rob Dekker

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Re: US intervention in foreign lands
« Reply #498 on: October 23, 2018, 08:52:30 AM »
Sjursen on war criminals, ours and theirs: He was our war criminal, dammit !

" ... senior Afghan officials were killed. I knew one of them – General Raziq – and he might just have been a war criminal ..."

And then again, he may NOT have been a war criminal.
Pretty sick unfounded accusation if you consider that the guy died in the attack.

Quote
" ... the Taliban demonstrated – once again – that they can strike where and when they choose ..."

" ... the US mission is failing by ever measurable metric ..."

One Afghan commander gets killed in an attack, and the entire "US mission is failing by ever measurable metric " ?

You REALLY want the Taliban to succeed in Afghanistan, don't you, sidd ?

Quote
"The very soldiers and policemen that American soldiers are there to train turn their guns on their mentors and shoot them in the back and/or at close range. A couple hundred Americans and several allied troops have been killed in such assaults. "

Can you give an example of where "A couple hundred Americans and several allied troops have been killed in such assaults." where they "turn their guns on their mentors and shoot them in the back" ?

Sidd, this never happened, so why are you stating this lie ?
« Last Edit: October 23, 2018, 08:57:31 AM by Rob Dekker »
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kassy

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Re: US intervention in foreign lands
« Reply #499 on: October 23, 2018, 07:34:16 PM »
How do you know this never happened Rob?

In the article it says: Let’s begin with the problem of insider attacks. There have already been 102 such fatal attacks perpetrated on US forces over the years.

And i recall reading news reports on a number of them so a simple search would turn up a number of examples.
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