Baghdad Bob, Meet DC Sue

The NY Times reports on the collapse of the Iraqi army in the face of a major militant offensive and includes this gem:

In a speech on Wednesday, Susan E. Rice, Mr. Obama’s national security adviser, said that the American effort to buttress Iraq’s forces have been effective. “The United States has been fast to provide necessary support for the people and government of Iraq,” she said in remarks at the Center for New American Security in Washington.

Did she add that the Iraqi forces are serving with honor and distinction? Evidently her role in Team Obama is to handle the talking points no one else can deliver with a straight face, so I expect we'll be seeing a lot more of her in the next two and a half long years. Go long Botox.

AND STILL NO HASHTAG: Samantha Power(less) unlocks the door to the US arsenal:

Strongly condemn attacks in Mosul by the Islamic State in Iraq and Levant (#ISIL), and its efforts to turn back clock on #Iraq's progress.

"Strongly" condemn? I was hoping for "Fiercely", but whatever. The lack of a new and improved hashtag clearly signals confusion and irresolution. I suggest #YesAllIraq, but please don't ask me what it means.

IS THIS AN ESCALATION OR A RETREAT? I learn this from Amb. Power's Twitter:

Appalled by ISIL kidnapping of Iraqi & Turkish citizens & Turkey Consulate staff. Join Govs of Turkey/Iraq in calling for immediate release.

"Appalled" beats "Unnerved" anyway.

NOT WHAT I HAD IN MIND... No, #IraqWarIsOverCauseWeLeft is not what we are looking for as a signal of solidarity.

SEND IN THE DRONES: Does anyone think Obama can endure headlines about the collapse of Baghdad in the run-up to the Democratic rout this November? Does anyone think the Iraqi military can hold off collapse past November?

I think the political and national security concerns actually overlap on this one. We are going #BackToIraq.

Comments

[Threadkiller]

Wake up little Susie, wake up
Wake up little Susie, wake up
We both fell sound asleep
Wake up little Susie and weep
The movie's over, it's four O'clock
And we're in trouble deep

[Exasperated]

That moronic misfit. Obama, and his moronic
misfit supporters won't be satisfied until they
have destabilized every nation on this planet.

[Man Tran back home]

Greetings from the Great NW. Took almost a week to catch up after being gone a week. The stir fry pineapple duck at Henry's was wonderful. So was the iced down Grey Goose. Mel hauled me all over Lapp Land for nearly a day. (Where IL laps over into WI.). If the economy gets any worse, southern WI will look like San Diego to Northern IL looking like Tijuana. Yeah, no consequences there.

In anticipation of the next possible JOM meet, I would like to propose a renewal of interest in Pebble Beach/Laguna Seca in August. It was mentioned last winter as a possibility and I now have a couple of friends who are going to break in a new Vette by driving down there and spending the week. I would suggest the vintage race as the focal point. Any takers?

[Bruce]

Iran is doing more to help Iraq than the USA is.
http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/news/world/middleeast/iraq/article4116273.ece

[narciso]

What difference does it make;

http://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2014/06/ralph-peters-islamist-conquest-of-iraq-the-biggest-jihadi-victory-since-the-12th-century-video/

[NK(withnewsoftware)]

Excellent snark TomM, excellent.

Hashtag/Smart diplomacy? BRILLIANT.

I have a question about Rice and Powers; do these 'Brilliant' ladies understand that this mayhem and chaos -- disasters for USA interests-- are a feature of Obummer, not a bug?

[GMax]

I am particularly enamored with the straight face line used by TM. I have to wonder if a congential liar like Rice can fool a lie detector. My guess is she can...

[GMax]

between Sam and Sue, which one is Costello?

[GMax]

And do either of them have a clue about who is on first?

[narciso]

It's the Costanza effect, Power misses how year Zero, the Itijihad, the Anfal, happened
because the absence of Western Power, there are some parallels in Iraq, with the Ikwan invasions of Mesopotamia in the early 19th
Century, and a similar instance in the 20s,
after the Brits pulled out,

[Sandy--Engorged Capital~Fallow Districts--Daze]

I spent almost six years inside Iraq 2004-2011. We military retirees worked in the seam between the kinetic action of the active duty and the purely civilian efforts of the NGOs etc. Many of the gents I worked with were Vietnam-era, and were scarred by that result. They swore to me that they did not ever want to see a repeat of what had happened in Vietnam, that is why they had volunteered to come to Iraq.

Alas.

This did not have to happen, what is happening delegitimizes the sacrifice. For what, for what, for what.

Article 140 is now resolved, de facto. Kurdistan got a lot bigger yesterday.

The ISIS will continue to move south, gobbling primarily sun'ni territory, and will likely stop at Taji. The Iraqi armor units are all shia'a and should (!) should hold fast. No matter the prisoners released and the equipment gained, Mr M1A1/2 Abrams is a strong deterrent to the ISIS fighters.

So, Joey gets his wish.

Meanwhile, can we consider the possibility of a military (!) coup ? Perhaps a "gentle nudge" from Allawi or Chalibi or elsewhere? Turk intervention, the return of the Ottomans?

[Jane]

I dunno ManTran, it sounds like heaven.

[steve]

Question: do the likes of Power and Rice actually believe they're doing something positive? Can they be that delusional? Or put another way, are they stupid or is it simply that they think we are?

Of course, 'we' elected Obama twice, so there's not a lot of empirical evidence that we're not stupid.

[Sandy--Engorged Capital~Fallow Districts--Daze]

It was only March--of this year-- when Secretary of State John Effing Kerry said countries no longer rewrite borders through force, saying that Russia's Crimea campaign is a "19th century act."

Looks like it is all back to the future, with the ISIS/L caliphate being (re-)established, as Ralph Peters commented, this takes us back to the 12th Century...

[Captain Hate]

Sorry your work is being flushed away, Sandy, by people much much worse than you.

[Bruce]

Maybe it is too soon to retire the A-10?

[NK(withnewsoftware)]

You were there, but I can't imagine the Big Bad MB Party of Erdogen standing by and allowing the Kurds, Mullahs and low rent Jihadis split up Iraq. Erdogen has a chance here to get the Ottoman Band back together. This is also the Mullahs opportunity to test and then deploy the Shia Bomb. Ancient hatreds with nukes. That's our Brave New World.

BTW-- GWB's focus on Mesopotamia is looking rather astute right now.

[Eric in Boise]

Of course, 'we' elected Obama twice, so there's not a lot of empirical evidence that we're not stupid.

I don't know what's more depressing, that we're stuck with these losers or that we deserve them.

[Marlene]

Sandy,thanks for your service. Your heart must be breaking. Our (now retired) Navy Seabee brother-in-law served two tours,both in Fallujah.I imagine that all the infrastructure work that was done by the Seabees and others has been smashed or burned to the ground.
B-i-l came home safely both times,but I remember the tension and anxiety that my sister and the kids lived with while he was gone. Thousands of military families must be heartbroken today.

[Jeff Dobbs]

Sandy, good to see you...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LAURA!!!

[NK(withnewsoftware)]

"We" elected Obama twice?

Where does the 'we' come from Kemosave?

[Sandy--Engorged Capital~Fallow Districts--Daze]

Thanks, CH. On my personal time in Iraq I used to attend the local CSH, and lend my phone to, or call home on behalf of, the MARINES and GIs who were there, in-between the combat which had rendered them unfit for continued action, and the medivac which would move them to Landsthul for more involved injury remediation. (Sidebar: the docs would tell me, we are 100% in keeping anyone alive who comes in here alive, and have surprising success in keeping alive those who come in here technically dead--simply amazing doctors and nurses.)

I remember one time, talking with a mainly awake but heavily sedated MARINE who had about a third of his foot removed during enemy contact. He was a small-town guy, probably off a mid-west farm. He asked me why, what did it all mean and now that he was unfit for continued service, what would become of him. His greatest anxiety, aside from the orthopedic incapacitation, was not being able to serve any longer beside his brother MARINES.

I told him his sacrifice, no matter how personally injurious, needed to be seen in a larger context of the campaign goals which his service helped to achieve. That he was IMPORTANT to that success.

That conversation seemed to help the MARINE deal in the immediate moment. I am confident that the medical care he was to receive (and did, although I have no way of knowing) ultimately led to his achieving near good-as-new orthopedic status.

But now, the 10K coalition (military/civilian) deaths, the 100K plus injuries...

for what, for what, for what...

[Eric in Boise]

That's the "country" we, not the "people with common sense" we.

[Captain Hate]

We as a country elected 404, NK; don't be like the other side that acts like somehow the first person plural doesn't apply to them.

[NK(withnewsoftware)]

It is epic logic fails like that that prove to me Obummer is just really dumb... like really dumb: http://hotair.com/archives/2014/06/12/obama-declares-world-less-violent-than-ever/

[NK(withnewsoftware)]

In truth, I have a really hard time wrapping my brain around the concept that 'we' elected Obummer... twice.

[Sandy--Engorged Capital~Fallow Districts--Daze]

No maybe about it, BRUCE. A squadron of A-10s right now would be a MAGNIFICENT counterpunch to those God-damned ISIS/L butchers.

If you are not aware of the performance of that magnificent beast of a bird via Kim Campbell, pilot extraordinaire, please see:

http://www.aircraftresourcecenter.com/Stories1/001-100/0016_A-10-battle-damage/story0016.htm

[Captain Hate]

It is rough to swallow, NK; chalk it up as something to learn from if we ever get out of it somewhat intact.

[Sandy--Engorged Capital~Fallow Districts--Daze]

For those who suggest the resident is dumb or stupid, I suggest reading

Presence of Malice: Against the Conservative Portrait of the President

for consideration.

[GMax]

Well that Rose Garden Pashto poetry session seems to have laid a massive egg, despite the best lies Rice could tell:

The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 54% of Likely U.S. Voters now disagree with the decision to release five Taliban leaders from the Guantanamo terrorist prison camp in exchange for the one U.S. military prisoner of war being held by the Taliban in Afghanistan. That’s up 11 points from 43% a week ago.

Just 29% agree with the Obama administration’s decision to make the prisoner swap, an 11-point drop from 40% last week. Sixteen percent (16%) are still undecided

[GMax]

I will ask again. Is there any policy of this administration that is not a complete and utter disaster of epic proportion?

[Sandy--Engorged Capital~Fallow Districts--Daze]

Has this been posted earlier ? Warning: rough reading for gentle souls, reader discretion advised:

Bowe Bergdahl Dances With Wolves

[Sandy--Engorged Capital~Fallow Districts--Daze]

Question: Is there any policy of this administration that is not a complete and utter disaster of epic proportion?

Answer: By design, not accident. In that light, he is 100% successful.

Read

Presence of Malice: Against the Conservative Portrait of the President

for the longer explanation.

[Beasts of England]

Happy US Open Thursday! Kooooooooch!

[GMax]

Didn't Double Douche insist repeatedly that this swap was going to be a winner for Zero? Some nonsense about lather, rinse repeat? How is that draino working out for a final rinse/mouthwash, Douchee?

[Marlene]

OT...George H.W. Bush will make a parachute jump today,his 90th birthday.
He vowed on his 85th birthday to make a jump on his 90th. Weather is overcast,but the jump is a go. A birthday bash with 200 relatives and friends will be held in Kennebunkport.

[Marlene]

OOPS! He jumped at 11AM.

[Extraneus]

Report: Jeb Hensarling drops out of majority leader race, Kevin McCarthy locking up votes; Update: Next Congress?

[Porchlight]

I was really glad to hear that GHWB made another jump. Happy birthday sir.

[Jane]

Happy B-day Mrs Daze!!!

[NK(withnewsoftware)]

Happy Birthday Mrs. Daze and GHWB.

[NK(withnewsoftware)]

BOE-- speaking for myself, I would love US Open updates. Soggy at Pinehurst?

[Porchlight]

Happy birthday Mrs. Daze as well!

[centralcal]

Ha ha ha ha ha ha....

In the Nevada Democrat primary for Governor candidate the winner was: None of the Above

[Marlene]

Happy Birthday Mrs.Daze.

[Beasts of England]

Scattered storms, NK. Looks like that will be the case through Saturday - maybe drying and firming up for Sunday!

Happy Birthday GHWB, of Walker Cup fame...

[derwill]

I had a conversation last night with a woman who's son is an FBI agent working in the their cyber counter-terrorism unit. She said her son told her that in the last few years jihadi terrorists have been pouring into this country--many of them minors, in the legal sense, that is (hello Dream Act!). Apparently even though we know they're terrorists, we don't do anything like, oh, you know, kick them out. We just "watch" them, I guess like we were watching the Boston Marathon terrorists. Anyway, the son said he and his fellow agents, in their branch of the FBI at least, believes--and have warned the powers that be--that a major terrorist attack of catastrophic proportions inside this country is now imminent--as in any day now.

DOOM!

[Jeff Dobbs]

You're slacking Jane. I was 40 minutes ahead of you.

[Porchlight]

OT, thanks Extraneus and Cap'n for the kind comments on the last thread.

Wanted to respond once more to DoT re: Dave Brat. I encourage everyone to listen to the audio (or at least read the transcript, but if don't listen you won't get as good a sense of his speaking abilities) of his interview with Hannity on Tuesday night.

http://www.foxnews.com/on-air/hannity/transcript/2014/06/11/dave-brat-reacts-upset-win-over-eric-cantor-virginia-republican-primary

Brat basically ran on a unity message. He credits the grassroots and Tea Party specifically for the victory (being outspent 40-1 and winning by 10 points obviously means massive grassroots labor was involved). So he isn't running away from the Tea Party label. BUT he calls himself a Republican and says he stands by Republican first principles (Republican "creed" is his term). Says Republicans in Congress have failed to follow these principles and that all Republicans, elected and grassroots, need to (re)unite on first principles to get the country back on track.

Broadly, I think you could argue that Brat represents the success of the Tea Party when Tea Party principles and grassroots support are mainstreamed into a broader coalition with a positive conservative message that pulls the party into better alignment with voters. Reaganesque if you will. It's a winner.

I didn't even wince once listening to the audio and that's a rarity for me with any candidate, even one I voted for.

[Porchlight]

derwill,

Wow. I hope they have documented their warnings.

[centralcal]

Not surprised, derwill.

[Tom Maguire]

Is there any policy of this administration that is not a complete and utter disaster of epic proportion?

Well, the Japanese are understandably nervous about our resolve in the Pacific but they haven't bombed Pearl Harbor. (Hmm, I say that, but I don't have CNN on just now...)

[Some Guy]

Is there any policy of this administration that is not a complete and utter disaster of epic proportion?

The oceans stopped rising.

[Janet - the districts lie fallow, while the Capitol gorges itself]

I still have all my printouts & papers from following our efforts in Iraq. I have a map where I would mark off the provinces as they came under our control.
It was such a great effort to bring some freedom & light into the ME. Maybe a dim city on a low hill...but SOME light nevertheless.

I feel so sad for the people of the ME.

[Some Guy]

...oh and the sun came up everyday.

[NK(withnewsoftware)]

Porch@11:48-- thanks. Brat shows the way to win. Conservative principles bring in the votes, the Establishment has to supply the money. Both sides need to apprciate the fact they need each other and reconcile differences.

[pagar]

Happy Birthday Mrs. Daze and GHWB. Wishing both many more!

Sandy, It is good to see you posting. We need you to post more often.

Jane, can you expand on the changeover to Obamacare in that office? If the doctor is seeing less patients does that mean the doctor is spending more time with each patient? Does the 45 minute check in interview include the:
how many guns are in the house, are you living in fear of any one, have you ever been
sexually assaulted, etc, etc, ?

[Beasts of England]

Zee Germans bombed Pearl Harbor, Tom. Everybody know that.

[Porchlight]

It is very sad to think of the sacrifices made for nought, Janet. Especially Fallujah.

[Miss Marple]

Fox is going to carry a press briefing from the White House on Iraq.

I am sure it will be edifying.

I would like to see the press go aver them like a pack of rabid wolves, but I know this is a pipe dream.

[Frau Unheimlich]

The questions have been distributed to the approved journalists, Miss Marple.

Is there any chance Cantor will support Brat to foil a dem victory in November?

[Carol Herman]

Quick lesson: The sunni's are the saudi's. And, Al-Kay-Duh, is their child. The saud's gave us 9/11. But quickly ducked and blamed "others." Then the names came along to confuse people sitting at home, who are shrugging their shoulders.

Both Bush's went into Irak. For their friends, da' saud's.

From the looks of things, now, Maliki, with his arrangement to seek help from iran's "mullahs," (or mullucks). Didn't keep the iraqis (who kept shooting at American soldiers), in first gear.

Maliki just lost "big time." And, iran? They never were friends with the iraqis. Who gamed the wrong horse.

Saudi Arabia is at the heart of all the troubles you see in the Mideast. They have the money. And, they've ham-stringed the American military.

For all we know there will be fighting in the Mideast, from Irak. To Turkey. Down to Libya. With Jordan offering sites to General Demsey ... So the Americans can sit and watch "stalemate" for years.

Syria's now a pile of rocks.

Not "movie worthy." But? Cringe worthy.

[Jeff Dobbs]

Some Guy:
...oh and the sun came up everyday.

Obama thinks he did that

[Threadkiller]

Will the press conference be in Arabic?

[Threadkiller]

Happy Birthday Mrs. Daze!

[Sandy--Engorged Capital~Fallow Districts--Daze]

Laura--Mrs Daze--is traveling; am passing on your kind wishes on her birthday, perhaps she'll get to a screen later in the day.

In the meantime, on her behalf, may thanks for the wishes.

[Carol Herman]

If you were God. And, you assumed God wants to protect Israel, exactly what would you see?

Sure. Lots of arab states busy at war. And Israel can't count on the euro-pee-ins. Or even America's military, anymore.

Yes, you'd see a lot of American support going to Saudi Arabia. Who funds "ji-had-sickness." As there are lots of poor arabs capable of producing teenagers who want to fight and die. So they can meet Allah, early.

God's not going to clue you in that he's "looking."

The other thing: When you look at Israel's leadership you tend to see "meh." Bibi's actually running well, when you consider how bad Eshkol was. To say nothing of Olmert, who had specially made pants allowing him to collect envelopes full of money.

At least Israel works through the democratic processes. And, even though Olmert backslapped W ... guess who is going to jail?

[Janet - the districts lie fallow, while the Capitol gorges itself]

Happy Birthday, Laura! Lots of love to you!!

[centralcal]

Happy Birthday to Laura Daze! Another former commenter here - Laura Peters is also having a birthday today. (They aren't the same Laura, I hope!)

[Beasts of England]

Phabulous Phil and Kooooch tied at the top, at -2, late in their respective first rounds.

[henry]

HB Laura!

Its good to see your posts Sandy. I too am incensed the left is so nostalgic for helicopters at an embassy that they engineered a crisis for Baghdad.

[MarkO]

HBD to all Lauras, wherever they may be.

[pagar]

"left is so nostalgic for helicopters at an embassy that they engineered a crisis for Baghdad."

" And when the black flag of al Qaeda is raised in Baghdad it will be seen, correctly, as an American defeat."

LUN

[Captain Hate]

Thank you, cc; I was getting confused. HB to all JOM Lauras.

Btw, why did Boehner cry yesterday? The Horde is talking about Meeka giggling about that emotional dunce blubbering again and I don't know what it's about; although I suspect it was about his little buddy Eric.

[Janet - the districts lie fallow, while the Capitol gorges itself]

They are the same Laura, cc.

[Extraneus]

I didn't even wince once listening to the audio...

Me, neither, except when he ended declarative sentences with ", right?" I just read the transcript, though. Maybe it was smoother in the video.

[MarkO]

With Barack the Fair on the throne, no country or group of misunderstood products of American oppression poses a threat to our land.

These are not troubling times in the kingdom.

[Rick B]

Happy Birthday, Laura!

___________________________
Janet,

It wasn't for naught. The current Arab Spring Break in combination with other outbreaks of Mahometan savagery confirms the thesis that selecting the proper dictator for a particular set of Mahometan tribes is the most important aspect of dealing with the great Mahometan manure piles. If one Mahometan manure pile can be set against another, so very much the better.

The next time it is necessary to stomp the cockroaches it can be done with greater dispatch and much less care due solely to the savages having provided continuous evidence that the 'softer, gentler' approach is a game which is simply not worth the candle.

It can be argued that simple observation is all that is necessary to reach the conclusion that Mahometan savages would not be any more effective in self governance than the voters of Detroit but just as Detroit required bankruptcy to provide the factual predicate for proving the assertion, so also the "democracy" effort in the Mahometan dung heap.

After all, an electorate dumb enough to elect BOzo of the Merde Touch twice really needs has to endure a great deal of painful reality to acquire the experiential knowledge necessary to survive.

If it does.

[narciso]

Happy birthday, Laura Daze,

this is the fruit of the Times's jihad, on Iraq, including the 40 straight days of coverage on Abu Ghraib, the WH was caught off guard in many accounts, that is the theme that Henninger dispatches today in the Journal

[jimmyk on iPhone]

"Btw, why did Boehner cry yesterday? "

A day ending in'y'?

[Captain Hate]

Is there any chance Cantor will support Brat to foil a dem victory in November?

I think so although he's already disappointed me by not doing it already.

Is anybody listening to 404? The Horde is more outraged than usual over what he's saying.

[Beasts of England]

Na, Spieth, and McDowell now lead at -2. Phil and Kooooch have dropped back to -1.

[Stephanie tortoise not the hare]

Go Fitzpatrick!

Seen the getup Fowler is wearing?

[centralcal]

oops! Well, then - thank you for clearing that up for me, Janet!

One Laura! Phew.

[Comanche Voter]

Well one thing about Susan Rice. You can put any load of b.s. in her mouth and ask her to spout it, and she will. And she'll say it tastes just like vanilla ice cream!

Tom you missed her bon mot that
"core Al Qaeda has been decimated". Okay Little Falllacious Floozie Suzie, then why are they doing so well all over the Near and Middle East? 'Splain that to me if you can.

But let's go back to that "core . . .has been decimated". As Slow Joe Biden reminded us, "Osama is dead and General Motors is alive!". Osama had been in hiding--communication, command and control (to the extent that Osama ever tried to exercise that) was tenuous at best. Getting Osama was striking at a very damp squib. Like so many of Obama's triumphs it was overhyped.

[Stephanie tortoise not the hare]

As a product and tool of the "long March through institutions," you'd think Rice would recognize the deleterious and parallel effects of the tendrils of AQ and the dangers posed therein.

[Jane]

You're slacking Jane. I was 40 minutes ahead of you.

How do you think I found out Hit.

Derwill, should we watch where Obama goes to find out where it's not happening?

[Porchlight]

Me, neither, except when he ended declarative sentences with ", right?" I just read the transcript, though. Maybe it was smoother in the video.

It is smoother. I didn't even notice it in the audio, just when I later read the transcript. It isn't the "I know, right?" inflection that is the current parlance.

[Bruce]

Maybe this is all a trick to get all the terrorists out in the open and there is a secret airbase with 1,000 A-10's just about ready to strike ....

Naaah.

[Danube on iPad]

I've been quite impressed with what I've seen so far.

Elsewhere I posted a Biden quote from February 2010 in which he described Iraq as one of the "great successes" of the Obama administration. That's gonna make it awfully tough for them to tie yhis can of worms to Bush's tail.