Back To Iraq

Obama is fired up and ready to go back to Iraq:

WASHINGTON — President Obama said Thursday that he authorized "targeted airstrikes" if needed to protect U.S. personnel in Iraq, as well as airdrops of food and water to religious minorities in Iraq who are under siege from Islamic militants and trapped on a mountaintop.

"Today, America is coming to help," Obama said.

The president's announcement Thursday amounts to a significant escalation of involvement in the growing Iraqi crisis, but Obama attempted to assure the American public that it would not lead to U.S. involvement in a ground war there.

The reassurance about no ground troops is hardly necessary - we all understand Obama is not committed to success here.

Peter Baker of the Times unleashed his inner auteur; it's "news analysis", not straight reporting, so let the prose flow:

WASHINGTON — In sending warplanes back into the skies over Iraq, President Obama on Thursday night found himself exactly where he did not want to be. Hoping to end the war in Iraq, Mr. Obama became the fourth president in a row to order military action in that graveyard of American ambition.

The mandate he gave to the armed forces was more limited than that of his predecessors, focused mainly on dropping food and water. But he also authorized targeted airstrikes “if necessary” against Islamic radicals advancing on the Kurdish capital of Erbil and others threatening to wipe out thousands of non-Muslims stranded on a remote mountaintop.

As he explained himself to a national television audience, Mr. Obama made a point of reassuring a war-weary public that the president who pulled American forces out of Iraq at the end of 2011 had no intention of fighting another full-scale war there. Yet his presence in the State Dining Room testified to the bleak reality that the tide of events in that ancient land have defied his predictions and aspirations before.

We see this "war-weary public" meme everywhere. But are we weary of war, or weary of endless, inconclusive struggles fought with no plan for victory? I opposed Obama's Hokey-Pokey surge in Afghanistan (You put the troops in, you take the troops out...) because Obama clearly had no conviction or commitment and becasue our hazy objectives were probably not attainable. I would oppose an effort by Obama to put troops back in Iraq for similar reasons. But under new leadership (not Hillary!) maybe a renewed US-led push in Iraq could make sense. Leaving ISIS to fester seems like an insane alternative.

WRONG ALL SUMMER: This is interesting if unsurprising, from Mr. Baker:

Mr. Obama has spent months resisting just that. Even after the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, or ISIS, seized Falluja and other territory in the western part of the country at the beginning of the year and marched through Mosul and toward Baghdad by summer, the president expressed no enthusiasm for American military action. 

In June, he sent in 300 special forces troops not to fight but to assess the situation, an assessment that has yet to be completed, and he increased surveillance passes over Iraq. But Mr. Obama rebuffed calls, including those from within his administration, to quickly send in air power to hit ISIS forces.

Aides said his hand was not forced until ISIS won a series of swift and stunning victories last weekend and Wednesday night against the Kurds in the north, who have been a loyal and reliable American ally, especially compared to the Baghdad government of Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki. ISIS threats to wipe out Yazidis and other religious minorities trapped on Mount Sinjar, they said, added to the urgency.

An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Or would have been.

Comments

[Beasts of England]

And Tiger won't be playing on the weekend unless rain delays the completion of his second round until Saturday.

[Jack is Back (From Bridgehampton via the Road from Hell)]

Frau,

I can see a 5 year old having a basic knowledge of a language exposed to for 5 years. Butting keeping it current for 50-60 more years, meh!

[narciso]

Iraq, had been broken by 35 years of Baathism, which had driven the Kurds and the Shia, out of most of society, an exception was Allawi, who joined the Mukharabat after medical school,

[Jane]

AB is fine. She said it was a small event where she is.

[daddy]

Interesting to watch VChris Matthews these last few minutes on MSNBC. His 2 guests are General McCaffrey and Captain Westmore.

Chris appears to me to be struggling hard to find any silver lining (i.e.) any way possible that he can praise Obama or blame the horrible things going on over there on Bush, but he just can't seem to find any opportunity to do so, and his 2 former guests are both making very valid points about military strategy and how this ain't going to do the job, and they are buttressing each others comments.

[narciso]

why Henry Luce wonders why he bothered;

http://time.com/3090600/obama-iraq-isis-genocide-is-islamic-state-sinjar/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+timeblogs%2Fswampland+%28TIME%3A+Swampland%29

[daddy]

Matthews really is amazing to watch today. he is incapable of letting his latest guests finish any answer. he is so frantic that he has to constantly interrupt.

He has some serious psychological issues going on.It is worth clicking on over and watching him go nuts. He honestly just interrupted the guy he was asking questions of at least 8 times as the guy tried to answer his machine gun style questions.

[Jack is Back (From Bridgehampton via the Road from Hell)]

daddy,

Don't forget an order of Rendevous ribs for Another Barbara:)

Great play by Phil at 18 but his putting for par has been the difference.

[lyle]

There's (Gus alert) NOTHING worth watching Chrissie Matthews save his on air immolation.

[miss Marple]

Thanks for the report on Matthews, daddy!

I am unable to watch him due to my blood pressure, so I appreciate the report.

[Jane]

Gawd Daddy, Matthews looks about 20 years older than the last time I saw him. All those tingles have taken their toll. And Ron Reagan jr looks about 90.

[daddy]

Chris finally got in a criticism of George W Bush. Matthews by saying that he criticized Bush in the past because all Bush did by killing these zealots was to create more zealots who hated America, but then he said to his guest what do we do now because if we don't kill these zealots they are going to go on zealously killing?

So in his illogical banter there Matthews criticized Bush for what he knows is the proper action that must be taken to save the lives of these besieged peoples, yet he can't figure out any solution, so he concludes by rhetorically asking what is Obama going to do now?

Matthews to me acts as if he has eaten a handful of uppers. Anyone else watching him as he psychologically flails in dealing with the implosion of his world view?

[Jeff Dobbs]

Oh nuts.

I had a whole thing written up, copied it to the clipboard, went to refresh, copied something else . . . and lost what I had written.

It was pretty good, too.

It started out...

"21 years ago today was the best day of my life . . . up to that point."

You may never know the rest of the story.

Here's one hint: there was a bucket involved.

[daddy]

Gee-zus,

We are now subject to Chris Matthews looking for Military Tactical advice from from Ballet Dancer Ron Reagan Jr.

Well I suppose that in the big picture he has as much experience as Obama.

[narciso]

OT, I'm watching this film, Runner Runner, which is unexceptional except for the fact
that Gemma Arterton, who plays the moll/assistant to internet casino bos Ben Afflec

[Jane]

Oops that wasn't Ronald Reagan jr. that I saw. It was the guy in the next segment whose name I forget.

The 5 is on next for the 2nd time today.

[Jack is Back (From Bridgehampton via the Road from Hell)]

Just when you thought things couldn't get nuttier:.

Debbie Wasserman Schultz: Coke and M&Ms gave me cancer.

http://mediaequalizer.com/brian-maloney/2014/05/batty-dem-rep-mms-and-coke-caused-my-cancer

[daddy]

Dana Rorhbacher says to Matthews that this crisis has been brought on by Obama's intentional and willful incompetence.

Chris is pissed at Rohrbacher for speaking that bit of truth and barks that he wants to hear Rohrbacher's solution. Hearing Rorhbacher's comments Now Chris says lets do the Biden solution of split them into 3 parts.

Chris talking to the Dem guy wants to know if pinpricks will work? The Dem says no.

Chris concludes that we have answered the question and the answer is that we have to aid the Kurds.

My take is that Chris was for Obama not taking any action before he became adamant that Obama has to take some action.

[daddy]

Jane the fat guy was Dana Rohrbacher in a sort of white colored Hawaiian shirt. Ron Reagan Jr, still looked like a gay, middle-aged southern Schoolmarm with a butch hair-cut.

[narciso]

Matthews seems to have devolved like William Hurt in the sense dep in Altered States

[Jane]

Yup daddy, right on both counts. I really do love watching the left scramble. Then I remember how serious it is.

[daddy]

Marie Harf is on MSNBC on with the guy who followed Matthew's and his spittle.

Harf would do a fine job as a reporter for People Magazine covering the Kardashians and the latest "he said she said" between Beyonce and her latest boyfriend.

[miss Marple]

Daddy, my 30-ish daughter saw Harf in a clip on Fox.

Her comment as that she looked like someone from SNL. She was horrified that Harf was a spokesperson.

[daddy]

Harf and the 2 Dem Congress-guys who have been on MSNBC this last half hour are all for doing the very smallest possible militarily and all 3 say that this is a problem for the Iraqi's themselves to solve and we cannot do this for them. They are for pinpricks only, and saying that we need to have conversations.

Now here's Howard Dean. Dean asked iif he supports Obama's actions?

He disagrees with the last Dem Congressman. He wants to save the Kurds as a separate country. He doesn't like Maliki's Govt. And Isis is like the Nazi's.

He supports the President, but wants Obama to look long term at preserving Kurdistan. He wants to get rid of ISIS sooner to keep them from getting bigger later and pull us in. Dean I believe wants us to go after ISIS militarily but not by putting boots on the ground. He wants us to support the Kurds. He is unable to say up front what precisely he wants us to do. He says the president has been doing the right thing because he has been faced with impossible situations. He now says we should support the Kurds with military Air Power.

He says he is against going to War but since ISIS is such bad guys we have to support why the President is doing.

After listening to Howard Dean, it is worthwhile to remember that when the "dummy" George Bush spoke, he spoke to us with clarity and we underwood what he was saying. With Dean I can't tell where the hell he is with any precision and with very little clarity. Apparently he thinks we ought to do some stuff with airplanes against the Nazi's, but not really, and Obama is wrong in what he's been doing but he supports him in what he's been doing, because it's an impossible situation but not really.

[Jack is Back (From Bridgehampton via the Road from Hell)]

The biggest bullet America ever missed was not electing Walter Mondale. The chance Bob Beckel would have been awarded any position of importance especially in State or DoD would have resulted in 911 being unnecessary since we woild have been done before tben.

A complete family sized idiot.

[daddy]

Now California Congresswoman Barbara Lee.

She supports the Prez and he laid it out very clear, and anything else besides pinpricks he will have to come to Congress and explain it all to us because we are all War Weary.

Her resolution is to stop Mission Creep. This operation is targeted and limited and not designed to lead to Mission Creep. if it does...

We have to support a UN Evacuation Corridor so the evacuees can get out. But we cannot get back into a war without end. It is time for the Iraqi's to all get together to develop a diplomatic initiative to solve these problems. She is against any air strikes at ISIS sites across the border in Syria. We can't go down this road again.

Apologies guys for live blogging MSNBC, but sometimes it is worthwhile to see who Chris Matthews is spitting at. I'm done.

[Jane]

Well then come over to the Five Daddy - Jesse Watters and Jedidiah are on.

[narciso]

So splunge basically, one of the problems with the retreat from Iraq, was that it put Maliki,
more in line with Syria, whcih we've seen with
the Civil War, and through them to the Revolutionary Guard (Pasdaran)

[Jack is Back (From Bridgehampton via the Road from Hell)]

Beckel wants to make glass.

[Rick B]

Son of a gun - they captured an El Salvadoran Gordito in California. He's wanted for murder in El Salvador and is a founder of a notorious gang.

Dreamy.

[MarkO]

The question of Who Lost China took us through Viet Nam and, perhaps into Iraq.

The question of who lost Iraq, Iran, Syria, and the Crimea is easier to answer.

Why is that question not asked?

[Rick B]

Any bets on when we'll see the first splatter cam vid or pic of Iraqi kids hit by US bombs? The Mahometan savages are already strapping them to their vehicles so I'm going with tomorrow, Sunday at the latest.

[Ignatz]

Can Nancy Pelosi sponsor him?
The feds will pay her if she can't afford it. She could say she was a Baptist. It'd be just as accurate as claiming she's Catholic.

[narciso]

Strassel had a good take on this squirrel of a report;

http://news.yahoo.com/a-warning-on--torture-report--release-233244652.html

considering the location, she may worship Pazuzu

[PD]

Now California Congresswoman Barbara Lee.

She supports the Prez and he laid it out very clear, and anything else besides pinpricks he will have to come to Congress and explain it all to us because we are all War Weary.

Her resolution is to stop Mission Creep. This operation is targeted and limited and not designed to lead to Mission Creep. if it does...

If it does ...

Quagmire.

[Some Guy]

Mission Creep

Perfect name.

[Ignatz]

Back to golf for a second;
Tiger Woods is an idiot.
To keep torquing his disc when it is telling him it is still injured is amazingly reckless and stupid.
A disc is cartilage with a gelatinous pad in the center. If he tears or ruptures it they don't heal themselves because cartilage has essentially no blood supply. And the tear can permanently damage the nerve sheath of whatever nerves branch at that disc. A serious injury also almost invariably begins the arthritic process in that joint along with degeneration of the disc itself.

If somebody doesn't slap his face soon he's gonna be worrying about gettin out of bed not making the cut.

[Jane]

HIllary in a mumu

[miss Marple]

Daughter, liberalism Catholic, wants Isis bombed into oblivion.

I think Obama has misjudged the public. Especially since Isis is tweeting be headings.

[Some Guy]

Ig, people have been telling him for several years. Tiger don't listen.

[henry]

Mumu? That's a FEMA tarp with a slit in the middle.

[Rick B]

Misss Marple,

We have our flying gas stations at Incirlik and could bomb on a 24/7/365 basis for about 37 years if we had a President rather than a puppet.

[miss Marple]

Rick, I know. It is horrible that our national will has been hijacked by Obama.

It is shameful that we are not pounding those Isis groups right now.

And I don't mean "targeting."

[Eric in Boise]

Hillary in a mumu

Daily Mail photographers: doing the jobs Americans won't do!

[Ignatz]

--He honestly just interrupted the guy he was asking questions of at least 8 times as the guy tried to answer his machine gun style questions.--

Excellent description daddy.
As Florence King, said the dude has "a machine gun nest for a mouth".

[Jack is Back (From Bridgehampton via the Road from Hell)]

Hillary in a MuMu:

That's not an ocean beach but the Great Peconic Bay. They are on the bay side of Amangasset not the Ocean side. Slumming in the Hamptons, north of the highway,

We on the other hand are south of the highway in Southampton - don't have to drive the highway to hell to get here:)

Iggy, did you see my answer to your Q this morning on Tiger's issues? He only played because of his sponsorship contracts = moolah. If he never makes another cut the networks will always make him number one star until the viewers finally desert him.

[narciso]

they block arms shipments to the peshmerga, which as Krauthammer pointed out are holding
a 600 mile line, as an excuse to write them
off, as they did the Hmomg (or Meo). the Montagnards, the Contras etch

[Ignatz]

As much as I'd like to unload on Hillary, her FEMA tarp and those frickin cankles, BillyJeff must sleep in a coffin all day by the looks of those Nosferatu legs.
I picture Bela Lugosi's looking not dissimilar.

[Ignatz]

Yes I did JiB and thanked you guys for your comments.

[Threadkiller]

but then he said to his guest what do we do now because if we don't kill these zealots they are going to go on zealously killing?

One day, a scorpion looked around at the mountain where he lived and decided that he wanted a change. So he set out on a journey through the forests and hills. He climbed over rocks and under vines and kept going until he reached a river.

The river was wide and swift, and the scorpion stopped to reconsider the situation. He couldn't see any way across. So he ran upriver and then checked downriver, all the while thinking that he might have to turn back.

Suddenly, he saw a frog sitting in the rushes by the bank of the stream on the other side of the river. He decided to ask the frog for help getting across the stream.

"Hellooo Mr. Frog!" called the scorpion across the water, "Would you be so kind as to give me a ride on your back across the river?"

"Well now, Mr. Scorpion! How do I know that if I try to help you, you wont try to kill me?" asked the frog hesitantly.

"Because," the scorpion replied, "If I try to kill you, then I would die too, for you see I cannot swim!"

Now this seemed to make sense to the frog. But he asked. "What about when I get close to the bank? You could still try to kill me and get back to the shore!"

"This is true," agreed the scorpion, "But then I wouldn't be able to get to the other side of the river!"

"Alright then...how do I know you wont just wait till we get to the other side and THEN kill me?" said the frog.

"Ahh...," crooned the scorpion, "Because you see, once you've taken me to the other side of this river, I will be so grateful for your help, that it would hardly be fair to reward you with death, now would it?!"

So the frog agreed to take the scorpion across the river. He swam over to the bank and settled himself near the mud to pick up his passenger. The scorpion crawled onto the frog's back, his sharp claws prickling into the frog's soft hide, and the frog slid into the river. The muddy water swirled around them, but the frog stayed near the surface so the scorpion would not drown. He kicked strongly through the first half of the stream, his flippers paddling wildly against the current.

Halfway across the river, the frog suddenly felt a sharp sting in his back and, out of the corner of his eye, saw the scorpion remove his stinger from the frog's back. A deadening numbness began to creep into his limbs.

"You fool!" croaked the frog, "Now we shall both die! Why on earth did you do that?"

The scorpion shrugged, and did a little jig on the drownings frog's back.

"I could not help myself. It is my nature."

Then they both sank into the muddy waters of the swiftly flowing river.

Self destruction - "Its my Nature", said the Scorpion

[narciso]

this is the previously situated group

http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/465/Abbasid-Dynasty

the mongol invasion of 1231 put an end to it,

[narciso]

winning the fracking future;

http://www.steynonline.com/6505/piper-lament

[Jack is Back (From Bridgehampton via the Road from Hell)]

Meet the Yazidis. Interesting history, culture and who they admire,

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2720307/MICHAEL-BURLEIGH-Are-Yazidis-anicnet-tribe-Isalmist-never-wipe-H.html

No wonder Champ was so reluctant to come to their aid, They like the Israelis.

[PD]

Iggy, did you see my answer to your Q this morning on Tiger's issues? He only played because of his sponsorship contracts = moolah. If he never makes another cut the networks will always make him number one star until the viewers finally desert him.

Tiger Woods was once good, but he is now the Danica Patrick of golfing. You know how they put up the standings for a Nascar event: "1 (name)" through "10 (name)", ellipsis, "29 Patrick".

That's now Woods in golf: Standings that show the top few, ellipsis, 109. Woods.

[narciso]

not her best look, but it's what I could find on short notice;

http://www.contactmusic.com/photo/gemma-arterton-a-hundred-streets-film-set_4313929

[PD]

Now California Congresswoman Barbara Lee.

She supports the Prez and he laid it out very clear, and anything else besides pinpricks he will have to come to Congress and explain it all to us because we are all War Weary.

One wonders why she thinks he considers himself under compulsion to come explain anything. Case in point: Obamacare is legislation passed by Congress that needs Congressional approval to be modified, yet Obama routinely makes changes to it, just because he wants to.

You might say, this is different, it's war. Not so. It's war in both instances. The only difference is that with Obamacare, it's war against his own citizens.

[Strawman Cometh]

A better view of Amagansett
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-btkeT_fwLCk/URU2g0fQ1TI/AAAAAAACYGo/dg4JkeWTHOk/s1600/Marilyn+Monroe+at+Amagansett+Beach+in+the+Hamptons,+by+Sam+Shaw+1958+(4).jpg

[narciso]

Hey, PD how have you been.

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

I like the Kurds, I have stood with the Kurds,

I Stand With The Kurds

today, tomorrow, and forever.

From time to time I've posted images of the flagpole in front of my home. This is that flagpole tonight.

If you also stand with the Kurds, I strongly encourage you to display your support, either with a Kurd flag on your flagpole, or a printed copy of the Kurd flag pasted to the window of your car, or in some other matter.

As much as the Kurds need--and want, American support--America needs good allies like the Kurds.

Vires et Honestas.

[Jane on Ipad]

Yeah PD, nice to see you.

[narciso]

Barbara Lee was the only one who voted against the original authorization of use of force, so this is an improvement by her lights,

[Jeff Dobbs]

Miss Marple:
Daddy, my 30-ish daughter saw Harf in a clip on Fox.

Her comment as that she looked like someone from SNL.

I like her. Your daughter, that is, not Harf.

"I'm just saying, State Department spokespersons Jen Psaki and Marie Harf look like they are straight out of SNL central casting."

That's the way I started my post from a few weeks ago, anyway...

[narciso]

me thinks he struck a nerve, or a live wire;

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/10/books/review/letters-a-troublesome-inheritance.html?_r=2

[Strawman Cometh]

more Wretchard
"Patrick Sawyer, a 40-year-old consultant with the Liberian Ministry of Finance"

Affirmative Action hire

"If Ebola should get to Mecca then we will rediscover the truism that no man is an island, especially not in our globalized world."

One can dream.

[narciso]

, now we know it's a pointless exercise;

http://americanglob.com/2014/08/08/warmonger-elizabeth-warren-supports-obamas-air-strikes-in-iraq/

[Dave (in MA)]

Harf & Psaki would probably be funnier on SNL than the actual cast members.

[Dave (in MA)]

"HIllary in a mumu"

pic#2 looks like Seamus is about to pinch one off.

Secret Service had better have a Baggie.

[narciso]

yes, that ahow is deader than the passengers on Regis 7f7 (the one's with the vampire)

http://weaselzippers.us/195888-krauthammer-why-in-gods-name-dont-we-resupply-the-kurds/

[Ignatz]

I think we should stop ISIS from slaughtering the Kurds and Yazidi, however this is precisely what the idiot lefties always do; like Kosovo.

They are more than willing to go bomb people who are killing someone who has almost no strategic importance to us.
They are almost never willing to engage in strategic wars to protect our national interests.
They like to [appear to] stop crimes against unfortunates. They really do want to be the world's policeman; just not America's defenders.

[narciso]

And mark my words, ISIS has grown into a global force, through it's exploits, from Spain, to Saudi Arabia and everywhere in between,

they will not commit to a direct hammer blow against AQ, because that's not on the Anbar
plain

[Eric in Boise]

Marie Harf is so unserious, she almost reminds me of Moon Zappa's "Valley Girl" schtick from the 80s.

"Oh my GAWD, these ISIS people are doing WHAT? Beheading CHILDREN?"

"Barf me out!! Gag me with a spoon!! Hey, have you seen the new shoes I got at the Galleria? They're totally BITCHEN!"

[Danube on iPad]

I think we should simply destroy ISIS altogether, rather than prevent them from achieving this or that immediate objective. We have the opportunity and the ability to deliver, at very little cost in American lives and treasure, a horrifying defeat to those at the cutting edge of radical, murderous Islam. We will come to rue the day that we lost this opportunity.

But hell--he ended the war in Iraq, didn't he?

[daddy]

I can't run the tape back in the hotel here, but I think I just heard Kirsten Powers (on with Shannon Bream) say something like she thinks Obama views this all thru a political lens, and that he took this bombing action because he sensed that his political followers needed to see him do some leading, so that's why he ordered the bombing, but he isn't really into it personally or convinced that it is what he should be doing, and also that he doesn't seem to have an opinion formed of what needs to be done.

If I understood Kirsten correctly, she was basically saying that Obama is like Oakland: There's no "there" there.

[Ignatz]

I believe we should destroy it too, although I'm not sure how cheap or easy it would be.

As tragic as what is happening in Kurdistan is, ISIS represents a gigantic strategic threat. If they only gobble up most of Syria, the Kurdish oil fields and north central Iraq we will have the most virulent, and apparently extremely pugnacious and risk taking jihadists on earth in control of vast resources and a critically central crossroads that would dwarf anything these kind of nuts have had before. They make the ayatollahs look reticent and phlegmatic by comparison. The threat to Jordan and Israel is mammoth, especially if, contrary to the above scenario, they completely swallow Syria and then Lebanon.
With the present state of the ME, such an entity, even if it turned east rather than toward Israel would destabilize the entire ME with a confrontation with Iran. This isn't 1980. Any conflict there now could lead to God knows what kind of holocaust.

Letting them explode on the scene and remain in power may end up looking about as wise a move as the German's twin idiocies of pardoning Hitler after the Beer Hall Putsch and tossing Lenin on a train bound for Moscow.

[Threadkiller]

Blow up the oil.

The people at the top of this so-called caliphate will get the idea real quick. It is reported that ISIS is selling cheap oil which means somebody is buying their cheap oil.

Find out who the buyer is, make them famous and pull a Goldfinger to the inventory that ISIS is profiting from

[daddy]

No surprise this:

EPA chief: Teach climate change in schools

(EPA) chief Gina McCarthy said students should be taught the science behind climate change in schools.

"I think part of the challenge of explaining climate change is that it requires a level of science and a level of forward thinking and you’ve got to teach that to kids

For refresher we have this from Mark Steyn:

if your kid is graduating from high school this week there has been no global warming his entire life.

[(A)Nuther Bub]

My favorite headline of the day:

"Man in Obama Hat Robs Eight Banks."

(If this has already been posted, forgive me. I've had a couple of hurricanes to deal with. They didn't amount to much, but few of my expectations have.)

[matt]

Great news, Jim!

The widowmaker is called that for a reason. A close friend had the same surgery and is doing fine after 2 years now.

Speaking of heads on pikes from the last thread, it is now 8:00AM in Narbonne, headed to Carcasonne, where the French got their Inquisition on back in the 1200's.

The Albigensians, dualists all, were also caught up in the struggle between the King of France and the king of Catalonia. You had yer slaughter of Beziers and your Counts of Toulouse ("What have you got Toulouse?" came from this of course) and the siege of the castle of Cabaret (Come to the Cabaret, my friend!).

Then came the scorched earth warfare and Blanche of Castile and Humbert and then they torched all of the heretics and the Inquisition gathered strength. Nobody, and I mean nobody, expected the French Inquisition.

I taught a 1 week class on this in college so this brings back memories.

See ya at the auto da fe'!

As to our ISIS friends, bring back napalm!

[daddy]

Hi A(B),

If you need rescuing, I'm on my way:)

A very cute Hawaiian Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard is on Gretta's replay this minute saying that we should not be getting involved in Sectarian Civil Wars, but then she says ISIS is Al Quada and we need to take out these ISIS Islamic extremists and we need to do that by helping the Kurds and supplying the Kurds and doing airstrike cover, but not by putting boots on the ground.

Looks like that is going to become the overwhelming conventional wisdom from both sides of the aisle as the Prez is pushed into pretending to lead.

Gabbard says of the 2 Hawaiian Hurricanes that it's been a tense 48 hours and a further tense 72 hours to come. She speaks very well. I'd wave a campaign sign for her if there was a free meal in it.

[daddy]

Hi Matt,

Gorgeous territory with amazing brutal history. I have to assume you guys are having a wonderful time. Cheers.

[daddy]

Watts Up is so full of good posts today it's difficult to pick one out so here's the website home page and just start scrolling down.

I do wonder why we had not heard this story though: Record cold in Antarctica threatens lives of British Antarctic Survey members during power outage – with little chance of rescue

[Beasts of England]

Even with some scattered clouds, the supermoon was brighter than any I can remember. Navigated all around the lake without my spotlight - seeing the channel markers was a piece of cake...

Now, it's bedtime.

[Stephanie tortoise not the hare]

Love boat?

[anonamom]

Back to the north. Sounds like the night skies will keep
us entertained this weekend.

[JiB]

Main headline at Drudge: BARAQ

LoL

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

The Islamic State is a snowball going downhill, gathering more adherents every turn.

Young S'u'n'n'n'i' males will be drawn to the IS 'higher calling.'

Untested Armies--someone earlier mentioned KSA's superbly and lavishly equipped forces--will be wholly unprepared and incapable of satisfactorily responding once the IS Army smashes through Kuwait.

More, desertions from the weaker horse(s), whether it be KSA's Army or Jordan's will increase; these lesser armies will melt in a fashion similar to Iraq's Army, even if for different reasons.

Young males-whether Arab, or Western--want to believe in something, even if it is the nihilism of Mohammedism. They are being 'called' to a religious life of sacrifice. Very appealing.

We, in America, were (and still are, although the reason is imputed to be obsolete) called to

"...support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same;..."

But that fading document is like, what, almost a hundred years old. I know, we are fighting for free birth control...

I never hear about the savages suffering from post-traumatic-stress. Either the CDC has not poured billions into a study of why IS fighters aren't upset at what they experience, or the certainty that theirs is a stronger horse, a stronger god (gawd) gives them emotional comfort.

Halsey's view--in another time, a different place--is instructive as to how IS fighters should be regarded.

BTW - the US has a significant base in the region, called Camp Doha. This information is dated, there is likely much much more @ Doha now:
Camp Doha serves as a staging area for the Army Propositioned Set-5 (APS-5) fleet. The APS-5 fleet is comprised of specified weapons systems and subsystems that can support a forward deployed Heavy Brigade. The use of the fleet facilitates the realistic combat training of three active duty task force rotations annually. These rotations to Kuwait are referred to as "Intrinsic Action" rotations, and last for 120 days each. This massive warehouse complex is a heavily fortified super stash of everything a heavy brigade-sized task force would need to go to war. Among the gear:

100 M1A1 Abrams tanks. 30 Bradley Fighting Vehicles. 80 Armored Personnel Carriers. 12 Paladin 155mm Howitzers. 9 Multiple Launch Rocket Systems. 48 Armored Command Vehicles. 30 bulldozers and bridge layers. 150 trucks and Humvees.

What to do, what to do ?

[Jack is Back (From Bridgehampton via the Road from Hell)]

Vlad the Bold: Putin Believes He Can Win War with NATO.

http://windowoneurasia2.blogspot.com/2014/08/window-on-eurasia-putin-believes-he-can.html

BARAQ is going to need a bigger bottle of Aleve.

[Steve]

Full Video: Live Free Or Die: ObamaCare In New Hampshire

http://commoncts.blogspot.com/2014/08/full-video-live-free-or-die-obamacare.html

[DrJ]

Insomnia does strange things to people. Well, it does to me.

I have had Wagner's Tannhäuser in my head for some days now. I sat down at the piano, and to relieve the Wagner curse, I sounded out the prelude to Meistersinger, where I have played the principal trumpet part many times.

I couldn't get the complex chords quite right, so of course I went to the Internet. And what did I find?

The late Glenn Gould playing a piano transcription of the prelude to the Meistersinger:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9wpwL0EWSa0

Now Glenn Gould was a very odd man, and specialized in playing Bach, but he does a pretty darned good job playing Wagner ala Bach. It works for pretty well overall.

Again, insomnia can do do odd things. Back to bed!

[Jack is Back (From Bridgehampton via the Road from Hell)]

Good News for North Carolina: Federal Court Smacks Down Obama DoJ on Voter ID Law.

http://pjmedia.com/tatler/2014/08/08/breaking-federal-court-smacks-down-eric-holders-attack-on-nc-voter-id/

[Jane]

I like it this way JIB:

BARAQ: Between Iraq and a hard place!

[Pagar]

This story seems strange to me. Why is the Chinese govt involved in building a plant in Idaho?

http://weaselzippers.us/195876-meridian-idaho-company-out-2-5-million-on-green-energy-project/

We worry about Irag and will wake up on day and find we are owned by the Chinese.

[Jane]

OK, where is everyone?

[Thomas Collins]

Will Obama go Curtis LeMay on Islamic State? I think the greater likelihood is he'll go Tom Friedman on them.

[narciso]

talk them to death, doubtful, on another front, the Bill Whittle piece on Volodya, would suggest they would get away with, heck speciallly after MH 117

[Ignatz]

--Will Obama go Curtis LeMay on Islamic State?--

Was just contemplating that same question. He may bomb and bomb, which will not destroy an army almost wholly made up of light infantry. but I would be stunned if he did what needed to be done.
The question I placed to myself was if IS was to pose an obvious, real and immediate threat to our vital national interests would he commit troops to stop them.
The answer I came up with was an emphatic "no" if that threat was contained within Iraq and probably even Kuwait. The reason being he will not let himself back down over the anti-Bush, ideological claims he has made about Iraq in the past; IOW my Barry, right or wrong.

If they expanded by absorbing Syria and directly threatened Israel he might have to bow to political pressure and if they crossed into KSA and were marching on Riyadh and the oil fields maybe he would have to bow to reality again but I'm not certain.

In Barry-world "calculus" it's hard to see how Israel or the KSA differ much from Qaddafi and the IS differs much from the Libyan rebels and we know who he supported in that dust up.

[Miss Marple]

Good morning, all!

Accuweather is predicting a polar vortex in the Great Lakes and Northeast in SEPTEMBER.

My collie-like English shepherd has been shedding her summer coat like crazy; I had to have a groomer brush her out yesterday and she was amazed at the amount of hair. (Not as amazed as my vacuum, which has been picking up vast quantities daily.)

I was sure that this meant an early fall (since squirrels have been exceptionally buys around here) and I believe I am right.

Lay in your firewood!

[henry]

Miss M. I'll start prepping for my emergency igloo. Too buggy for chainsaw use right now, but the emerald ash borer has set me up with plenty of raw material to stay warm once it cools off a bit.

[Jeff Dobbs]

Jane:
OK, where is everyone?

Oh boy, this could take a while.

You are in central Mass.
I am in North Carolina.
Daddy is somewhere between Tennessee and Hawaii.
anonamom is somewhere between NC and upper Michigan.
Matt is in Europe.
DrJ is in bed up the hill from Sacramento.
Beasts is off the water and presumably has made it to bed in Abalama.

Oh, new thread.

[Jane]

LOL Hit! Touche!