Assad is actually taking a page from American war strategy. He has already lost well over 200K soldiers and can ill afford more losses. We have used air power and bombing since WWII as a means to avoid casualties. In such reports on Ghouta very little blame is put on the al-Qaeda militants, who are not only mostly foreign invaders, but holding residents as hostages and shields (another war crime). I am not letting Assad and the SAA off lightly, but they also have few options under the circumstances.
My war and Army are always part of any discussion of civilian casualties. My father was a B-17 pilot, where carpet bombing was used also to limit American infantry casualties. This same thinking was used in Vietnam, with "free fire zones." To engage in carpet bombing and free fire zones is now considered war crimes. To get back to Assad, the SAA has suffered horrific casualties. To conduct street-by-street fighting would decimate what is left of the SAA. Let's not forget that Assad would not be in this jam were it not for Saudi-paid psychos.
Under Reagan, the tax cuts created deficits, as you stated. To help reduce the deficits, though, he took one trillion from the SS Fund and taxed SS income. That happened around 1982.
I would hardly call "American" support stronger than ever. 81% of Americans disapproved of the 38 billion to Israel, while the congressional vote was 435-0. The majority of Jews do not support Israel, especially the younger ones. My own Jewish dentist refuses to even visit, even though I tell him it's a beautiful country. It's the violence and occupation he is taking a stand against. To sum up, Congress is bought and paid for, but not the majority of American people.
As an anthropologist I had once considered writing a thesis on millenarianism in the Confederate Army in the last year of the war. Soldiers would fast and pray, feeling sin was the real reason they were losing, not technology or superior numbers. It really is quite an interesting phenomenon to study.
You say Obama is cautious but Ash Carter (and Brennan) is not. I believe Carter ordered the strike to derail the ceasefire. The unmentioned gorilla in the room is Israel, which will pursue any insane policy to get rid of Assad and the land bridge to Hezbollah. Carter, Clinton and others support Israel (the Likud) no matter how self-destructive their policies.
Juan: Evidently the Arabic pejorative used only by ISIS was not used in a fraudulent ISIS posting supporting his attack. I have no idea which special word ISIS uses to describe gays. Do you? Thanks.
During WWII, an audit was performed on the SS. The auditor streamlined the SS bureaucracy and pointed out three full divisions would be able to fight on the hard-pressed Eastern Front. Himmler was elated, but some SS tracked him down and beat the crap out of him. I see times have not changed.
There are two points you brought up. First, let's not forget that the FBI ignored all reports from Russia's FSB regarding the Tsarnaevs meeting with Chechen terrorists. Secondly, the Boston PD had no Arabic speakers (aside from from anybody) in contact with the mosque that threw out the elder Tsarnaev for making radical comments.
This is not isolated "bad" policing. The Belgian police have no Arabic-speaking police for outreach and patrolling. In the US, I offered my services as an Arabic-speaker for free to a large police department with a mosque where numerous terrorists (now dead or in jail) had preached. I was more interested in outreach and to act as a police liaison. The hiring authority had no problem rudely rejecting me, a decorated Vietnam Veteran with a clean record.
I would say we have a "police problem" more than a "terrorist problem" on our hands. There were plenty of opportunities to pick these terrorists up, but the police are way too incompetent to deal with this issue.
I saw a report on CNN how the Arab citizens and residents in Belgium complain that no police speak Arabic. Maybe I should write a short piece for you on my attempts to aid local police in acting as a liaison and outreach for Arab communities. (The Boston PD was unaware that the elder Tsarnaev brother had been kicked out of the local mosque since they had no dedicated outreach.) I was quite rudely rejected, even though I am a retired Vietnam Veteran and offered my services for free.
I wrote a thesis on this in 1982 which was ignored. What happened in the First Indochina War was state actors became involved in the heroin trade. The Viet Minh was armed through the opium trade, whereas the French used opium to fund counter-insurgency. This model has been used ever since. It is no secret the US and Pakistan used opium profits to fund the anti-Soviet forces in Afghanistan; food-producing orchards were cut down to provide for opium planting. Opium is a winter crop, but farmers are not allowed to plant spring and fall crops.
It is in the interests of state actors, particularly the US, to never legalize any drug. Even looking at oil smuggling in Syria by ISIS, how come the Russians had to bomb smuggling routes and trucks when we had the same intel?
Thanks, Robin. Let's also not forget Yeshayahu Leibowitz, "the conscience of Israel," who opposed occupation for prescient reasons. The money quote is below:
Soon after Israel captured the West Bank and Gaza Strip in the 1967 Arab-Israeli war, Mr. Leibowitz began warning that the occupation of the territories would turn Israel into an agent of repression, whose citizens would be employed in growing numbers to police the Palestinians. Israel had to "liberate itself from this curse of dominating another people," he said, arguing that prolonged Israeli rule over the Palestinians would "bring about a catastrophe for the Jewish people as a whole."
He supported Israeli Army resisters who refused to serve in the territories, and he warned that soldiers in the occupied areas risked becoming "Judeo-Nazis." Israeli undercover units that tracked down and sometimes killed Palestinian fugitives there were no different from gunmen of the militant Islamic group Hamas, he asserted.
Mr. Leibowitz warned darkly of a possible civil war in Israel over the future of the occupied territories and of a danger that the country would become a "fascist state" that would imprison political dissidents like himself in concentration camps.
Carpet bombing of WWII was declared a war crime under the 1977 Geneva Convention Protocol. Not one of these morons ever served in the military, with Trump using five deferments to avoid Vietnam. link to en.wikipedia.org
Great point, but my impression is the people screaming for theonomy like to pick and chose. There were 22 violations demanding death, and the Kentucky court clerk would have been stoned to death before any chance to become religious. Yes, the Old Testament does not mention abortion, but it DOES take a position on rape. "If a man happens to meet a virgin who is not pledged to be married and rapes her and they are discovered, he shall pay the girl's father fifty shekels of silver. He must marry the girl, for he has violated (anah) her. He can never divorce her as long as he lives." Deuteronomy 22:28-29
This is what the Foreign Legion was created for. There are less than 8,000, with half stationed in France. With the exception of the Syrian Arab Army and Kurds, all limit attacks against ISIS to air power.
Paul, I agree with you as I once worked and lived in the West Bank and Israel. I also believe that Israel knows they are putting off the inevitable, while also knowing each passing day makes the resolution more violent; just witness the increasing violence of "price tag" attacks. I am positive Israel will eventually lose American support, and the IDF will be forced to violently evict the settlers. Most of the latter are Americans and will run when faced with IDF attacks instead of support.
I've been there and one thing you will never see on the MSM is that most settlers are the most racist and repulsive American Jews our country has to offer. This is the base and home of Meir Kahane and Baruch Goldstein. These creeps are back up, unfortunately, by the most un-Jewish Israeli government officials.
Juan, isn't it interesting (or sad) that the graves (monuments) to Meir Kahane and Baruch Goldstein in Hebron--which are illegal under Israeli law--are bigger than Rabin's grave?
Juan: Funny you would mention the ARVN. As a Vietnam Veteran I never thought to compare them to the current situation, but you are right in more than you think. Our insistence on a large army stripped villages of the adult men necessary to maintain control, leaving the teenage boys to run rampant; we called these thieving youth "cowboys." This decision changed the social structure. Interpreters were a problem as well. My cousin was an interpreter, but we had far too few, needing to recruit locals. Of course, communists volunteered by the droves, providing needed intelligence on movements, something I know personally as ours we arrested and carted away. (Our Air Force was "amazed" how the NVA knew in advance of planned air strikes.) I was on Firebase Sabre when we turned it over to the ARVN, and watched as an ARVN officer was slapping his men in the face while screaming in French. Meanwhile, the locals were stripping the firebase of the defenses we built to sell on the black market. The ARVN felt no connection to the highly corrupt government. We always joked that the South Vietnamese flag was red and yellow, stating the South was also red or yellow; we had respect for the NVA, but viewed the ARVN as cowards. We really are seeing these same factors in Afghanistan in particular.
I will never forget a conversation I had with Jim Webb before he became a senator. We had both seen the IDF in action, and Webb called them a fourth-rate army fighting seventh-rate armies. Hizbullah is the only regional army to have ever the IDF. The IDF can't really operate above the brigade level, which was the same problem with Saddam's army. Israel makes sure neighboring countries are unable to have their own jet fighters, thanks to US bullying. Netanyahu is clearly living in a dream world regarding the IDF and Israel being a world power.
I returned last month from Lebanon. The Palestinians head to Palestinian-only refugee camps. These are controlled by the PLO and neither NGOs nor Lebanese government officials are allowed in. The PLO also refuses to say how many are there. Not saying the Palestinians have a good deal, but the camps for the non-Palestinians are hell on earth.
Having lived in the West Bank (Palestine now), let's not forget that these Americans are the creme of the crap. I was always amazed at how casually racist they were, comparing Palestinians to "criminal" African-Americans. Look at our lovely exports Meir Kahane (whom I met there) and Baruch Goldstein (who I'm glad I didn't). These Americans used to go to Israel for a few weeks in order to "Arab bash." Now these losers come and stay permanently, basically welfare recipients, and can "Arab bash" with guns all they want.
I got back from Beirut two weeks ago, living just across the highway (former Green Line) from Martyr's Square. I was there when the garbage started piling up; aside from being pissed at the government, people were really embarrassed. I noticed the office of Sukleen was quite pristine, though. The garbage got picked up after people blocked the highway to Sidon with garbage, which held up all traffic. One protest in Beirut was to start the piles on fire, but this wasn't as effective as blocking the highway. I described Beirut to people there as a really fun place to be on top of a volcano. I don't see another civil war, but the security forces reacting like are the first rumbling in the mountain. Beirut drivers are dangerous, but the only one who almost killed me was a local security force member. I thought the LAF members were friendly, but the "police" were sketchy to me.
I know Jim Webb personally and believe he gave the best quote: Israel is a 4th rate army fighting 7th rate armies. He was a journalist in the ME and saw them in action (like me). Once you see the IDF in action you realize this fact. Like Webb, I also served in Vietnam.
I remember in the 70s when a Japanese pilot intentionally slammed his 747 into a mountain. It turned out he was depressed and suicidal. I had a number of friends as pilots and all were pulled in for psychological evals, which then became the norm. Obviously, some fall through the cracks. This is all it seems to be; no conspiracy, no terrorism.
Yes, satire. We already know ruined this country through unnecessary war and torture, and Wall Street ruined us financially through fraud, and nothing will be done. But...sell cigarettes without paying taxes and you get strangled to death. We've got standards, you know!!!
I am sure many will dismiss this, but it is spot on. I am basing this on my own insurgency research and experience in Vietnam. (Two weeks ago Juan published an article by me on my thesis.) The vacuum of a weak government is always filled by "insurgents" looking to create either their own base or take over the entire country. As this article states, it is not only the rebuilding of the economy and government services, but the re-legitimizing of the government that will solve these problems.
What few realize is that Israel has based its assassination policy on a CORPORATE study. The initial study was to find out how many managers can be fired before the corporation collapses. Israel admits now that (see Gatekeepers) such a misguided policy leads to much more radical and homicidal leadership. ISIS is already following the al-Qaeda theory of "management of Savagery," so I don't see any change there. This is why I disagree with Yasser (above).
This is only slightly off topic. Looking at the reaction of the Ferguson, Missouri, I thought "this looks like IDF responses to West Bank protestors." Little did I know the Ferguson police had been trained by Israelis. Michael Chertoff, while at DHS, mandated training by Israeli companies. Chertoff, by the way, is a dual-national Israeli. (His family history with Israeli is quite fascinating.) I am including a link by a blogger (a bit strange, to be sure) who has compared some overreactions by police to specific training by Israelis. The two Houston Police who had just finished training ended up killing a one-armed man in a wheelchair. I think it means it is time to not only de-militarize the police, but end Israeli training as inappropriate. I am a Vietnam Vet, so I really laugh at these fat cops in "combat" gear, but there is no laughing at what they do. LRAD, rubber bullets, armored cars, etc., in Ferguson--with citizens treated like Palestinians--is nothing to laugh at. link to veteranstoday.com
Juan: This is actually a valid question. We actually did have this happen: the US Embassy in Baghdad. We received fire almost daily, a fact noted many times in the MSM. (Yes, how quickly they forget.) So...did we send F16s in to bomb the neighborhoods the fire came out of? No. Did we send in tanks? No. I have mentioned this numerous times, but it never gets repeated in the media. I also recommend Spike Stephenson's book "The Golden Hour" on the first year at the US Embassy. I booked him as a speaker once, plus he is a Vietnam Veteran like me.
When the kidnappings happened, I noticed at least some of the settlers were Americans. As an American who lived and worked in Israel, these are the worst racists I ever met. Those kidnapped are from settlements in Hebron. Hebron is where American Dr. Goldstein murdered dozens of Palestinians. He and Kahane are buried under a 10-foot tall monument. This monument is actually illegal under Israeli law, but, yeah, Netanyahu is on it I am sure. I am not saying these settlers "deserved" to die, but their own rabbis incite murder and violence. All I can say is you have to live there and meet these people. I wrote a letter to Obama before his visit and asked him to visit Hebron and, like Reagan, tell the Israelis to "tear this monument down" as a first step towards peace. I'm still waiting for a reply.
[Ed. note: The reader has mistaken a satire for a real event]
Juan: Actually a black variant has just recently happened. In Harlem, a parade ground belonging to a defunct armory was turned into a garden. The neighborhood lost in court. When the GSA showed up with bulldozers, hundreds blocked their path while Black Panthers took up positions on the buildings as snipers. The GSA backed off for now. I have said it dozens of times before, even here, that what is happening now happened in America during the early part of the Depression.
As a historian, we really are reaching the same tipping point as 1933-35 in the US. After machine-gunning union strikers, Bonus Army, coal miners, etc., the US government was quite unpopular during that period. We even had a near coup, financed by bankers, exposed by Gen. Smedley Butler. If we don't get an FDR to help restore a sense of justice, this is just a prelude. History does repeat.
I lived and worked in this area years ago and would never go back. Most people are unaware that Hebron is the stronghold of the American followers of Meir Kahane and Baruch Goldstein. Both were childhood friends, the latter murdering 29 Arabs at prayer in 1994. Both men have shrines in Hebron venerating them--against Israeli law. It's a pilgrimage site for these racist Jews. Americans need to understand that dual-citizenship American Jews are the heart of the problem of racist settlers who refuse to live with Arabs as neighbors. It is still shocking to me how disgusting these Americans are when I had my first encounter with them.
Exactly, but I would also like to remind others of the rhetoric of the times (I am 61 and fought in Vietnam). We were referred to as "main enemy" (glavni vrad I think) with them boasting where their missiles were pointed. They were very aggressive militarily. I lived and worked in Israel and the Likud and their settlers are just plain crazy.
Juan: This became the case with the Phoenix Program in Vietnam. It was a simple way for an INDIVIDUAL to get revenge, take over a business, etc. For my thesis in 1982 I had a former SF intelligence sergeant who paid the informants. All a TRIBE had to do was declare their enemies as "communists" during Vietnam and now "al Qaeda" today. This theory of counterinsurgency didn't work then and it doesn't work now. (My thesis oddly predicted this for Afghanistan if war came to that area and we used the same theory.) I believe Brennan is a dangerous man, but Obama is not being played. Brennan was allegedly running an operation behind the backs of Stevens and Petraeus.
Juan. Great article and analysis as usual. Whenever a writer brings up Spitzer and others as possible victims I point to a program used by the Nazis. Look up Salon Kitty. The bordello was used by the SS to blackmail and get rid of certain diplomats and German officials. Sound familiar?
Since McVeigh's was brought up, I would like to add to that. It WAS questioned, since he associated with Christian Identity members, whether or not he also belonged. Christian Identity followers were indeed engaged in anti-government actions and bank robberies, hence the questioning of his membership. As noted, however, McVeigh claimed to have had sex with an associate's (sent to jail for the bombing) wife, who was from the Philippines. Christian Identity members justify the murder of inter-racial couples through one passage of the Old Testament regarding the killing of a Jew who intermarried. I have to say I find the convoluted "logic" of radical fringe "religious" groups absolutely fascinating. Speaking on the main topic, as an Arabic speaker (ahem, Presbyterian), I remember reading the (partial) Atta letter and immediately thinking what a flake he was. Not only the heretical opening, but instructions on how to wash his body. Yes, I want to see and read the whole thing as well.
Amy: You and I agree totally. See my response to Schanzer. The system broke down when I was in Vietnam. In WWII, nearly 1,000 GIs were executed, all but one for criminal behavior. Yet not one GI was executed in Vietnam or Iraq for murder or rape of civilians. Not even when they raped and murdered their fellow female soldiers. I have stated in writing so many times that a few firing squads, made up of men and women in the murderer's company, would have put an end to all that. I am sure Schanzer does not care to perform any research as he simply has an agenda. I have "known" Juan Cole for years and am a bit puzzled what he sees in this guy.
You weren't in Vietnam in 1971, so you don't know. Vets wore the VVAW (Vietnam Veterans Against the War) patch openly. I was involved in a number of mutinies, one which got Senator Kennedy to intervene. Some were written in Stars and Stripes, plus many underground newspapers (Grunt Free Press comes to mind) were circulated. The Army was refusing to fight a losing war. That is why you last sentence comes across as rather pompous. You also fail to agree on how My Lai was exposed--not by Major Powell.
It is obvious Mr. Schanzer never served in the military. As a Vietnam Veteran, I know reporting anything through military chain of command is ridiculous. Don't take my word for it, Manning tried to tell his supervisor, who only shrugged. Regarding Vietnam, look at Ridenour and Hugh Thompson and My Lai; see the movie "Casualties of War," based on a real event that was published--which the movie followed completely, even the opening shot on the bus. Look at the war crimes in Iraq, even the soldier who tried to save the kids in the Collateral Murder video Manning leaked. If you want to do something positive Mr. Schanzer, use your connections to insist Hagel prosecutes all officers involved, starting with the generals.
I don't know if that was a Blue Hair attempt by the Kerry campaign. I believed they were just trying to show the hypocrisy of Cheney and GOP "family values." It was telling that the Cheneys did not appear with their famly at the convention, and it was obvious why: questions about what he thought about his lesbian daughter. BTW, I worked on the Kerry campaign in Virginia--if you could call it that. No effort and no organization. They even wanted to charge me four dollars for one Kerry sign. I refused, and you saw the results.
I am sorry to see you decided to inject a personal attack into your reply: "yours excepted apparently." Your assumption is nobody in my family was moved to join you and nobody in my family was killed. You are also assuming I am white and everybody in my family is white. To specifically reply to your post, while participating, evidently you did not hear this statement by Stokely Carmichael: "What you want is the nation to be upset when anybody is killed, but it seems for this to be recognized, a white person must be killed." He was angry the media had made a big deal over the murder of Rev. James Reed (white) while ignoring the murder of Jimmie Lee Jackson (black). Unfair as that is, it enabled King to get his message out to a much broader audience--my family excepted to correct you.
Thanks to A Berns for stating what and how a boarding party are "supposed" to do. I tried stating the same thing on a Salon posting and was attacked and called a "dipshit." Forget, as I stated, the legal arguments of the Law of War whether or not Israel had the right--all experts disagree; they all agree, though, that the killing and violence violated the law. I believe that the Gaza Flotilla has found the magic to end the occupation. Compare this to the Civil Rights movement in the US. Israel is acting like racist Southern police and Klan types wanting to keep the status quo. CORE and others hit upon the strategy of recruiting white college kids. Seeing them beaten and shot brought the story to the point of change. Like the Southern cops who thought they had the "right" to kill the white kids the same as local blacks, Israeli soldiers think they have the right to treat Europeans the same way. Reports state they beat the passive passengers who had surrendered--sound familiar to those old enough to remember the scenes of the Civil Rights movement shown on TV? I was so outraged I and my wife gave money to the Flotilla. We support Israel, but this behavior has to end.
Since Lieberman is a Jew, I found his "knowledge" about stripping a bit weird; for instance, didn't he know what happened to John Demjanjuk? Also, the Constitution notes there need be only two witnesses for treasonous statements. Doesn't he remember Aaron Burr? Now that we have video, this could be easier to prove to a legal standard. We do have a process, and it works very well when followed. As for the warmongering charge, as a Vietnam veteran I notice the draft dodgers like Lieberman, Cheney, Bolton, et alia always talk tough to over compensate for their personal cowardice. Just read the names on the New Hampshire Gazette's "Chickenhawk Database" to see what I mean.
I am really curious to know how many churches have been destroyed or damaged by settlers. Having lived and worked in the West Bank in the 80's I was shocked at how racist these mostly American settlers were. I just want some facts, though, if they are targeting only mosques. Anybody here know?
When I served in Vietnam in 1971 I think I saw three air-condtioning units. Two were for the 1/7th Cav's CO (a colonel) and the XO (a major). They both had trailers brought in so they could be comfortable. I also remember somebody burned down one of the trailers. I still think energy independence is possible in maybe 10 years. What everybody needs to eventually have is at least a hybrid for driving. (Sort of a cash for clunkers.) I hate to say fat chance, though.
Not so odd, really. When individuals or states criticized Nazi Germany's anti-miscegenation laws directed against Jews, Nazi officials pointed out they had modelled their laws after America's anit-miscegination laws directed against Blacks.
In 1982, ten years after I served in Vietnam as a soldier, I wrote a thesis for my Anthropology MA. Originally "The Effects of Unconventional Warfare on Tribal Populations: Case Studies From Vietnam." (It is at Amazon as "Tribal Soldiers of Vietnam.") I mention this fact only to point out I do know something about what I am talking about. Just as one fallacy, "experts" always trot out the local militia concept. I have a short section how this always leads to crime, corruption and criminal organizations. Vietnam, expecially the Tai HIghlands in the First Indochina War, was a leading opium producer. Sound familiar? Opium is a winter crop so keep your eye on when military offensives happen. The Viet Minh used the opium to fund their war, so the French tried to purchase it--using the Corsican Mafia--to keep it out of their hands. Yeah, that worked; been there done that. My second major complaint, as an anthropolgist, is that counterinsurgency experts always overlook the insurgents' use of "parallel hierarchies." Hamas and Hezbollah, just like the Taliban, have thier own courts (efficient), hospitals (cheaper and better) and parallel government. After Israel bombed Lebanon, notice how Hezbollah had a rep out there immediately paying people for damage, months before the Lebanese government? I used a combination of Barth's New Elite Theory as well as Clifford Geertz's theories of assumed and primoridal blood ties, in which the latter included the Kurds, Baluchis, etc. Whenever we get involved in counterinsurgencies, there are three typical outcomes: 1) the tribe (or group) becomes incorporated into the larger society, usually at the low end, 2) accept minority status and probably become assimilated, 3) emphasize ethnic identity, thereby creating a new movement (or a new state.)
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Assad is actually taking a page from American war strategy. He has already lost well over 200K soldiers and can ill afford more losses. We have used air power and bombing since WWII as a means to avoid casualties. In such reports on Ghouta very little blame is put on the al-Qaeda militants, who are not only mostly foreign invaders, but holding residents as hostages and shields (another war crime). I am not letting Assad and the SAA off lightly, but they also have few options under the circumstances.
My war and Army are always part of any discussion of civilian casualties. My father was a B-17 pilot, where carpet bombing was used also to limit American infantry casualties. This same thinking was used in Vietnam, with "free fire zones." To engage in carpet bombing and free fire zones is now considered war crimes. To get back to Assad, the SAA has suffered horrific casualties. To conduct street-by-street fighting would decimate what is left of the SAA. Let's not forget that Assad would not be in this jam were it not for Saudi-paid psychos.
Under Reagan, the tax cuts created deficits, as you stated. To help reduce the deficits, though, he took one trillion from the SS Fund and taxed SS income. That happened around 1982.
I would hardly call "American" support stronger than ever. 81% of Americans disapproved of the 38 billion to Israel, while the congressional vote was 435-0. The majority of Jews do not support Israel, especially the younger ones. My own Jewish dentist refuses to even visit, even though I tell him it's a beautiful country. It's the violence and occupation he is taking a stand against. To sum up, Congress is bought and paid for, but not the majority of American people.
As an anthropologist I had once considered writing a thesis on millenarianism in the Confederate Army in the last year of the war. Soldiers would fast and pray, feeling sin was the real reason they were losing, not technology or superior numbers. It really is quite an interesting phenomenon to study.
You say Obama is cautious but Ash Carter (and Brennan) is not. I believe Carter ordered the strike to derail the ceasefire. The unmentioned gorilla in the room is Israel, which will pursue any insane policy to get rid of Assad and the land bridge to Hezbollah. Carter, Clinton and others support Israel (the Likud) no matter how self-destructive their policies.
Juan: Evidently the Arabic pejorative used only by ISIS was not used in a fraudulent ISIS posting supporting his attack. I have no idea which special word ISIS uses to describe gays. Do you? Thanks.
During WWII, an audit was performed on the SS. The auditor streamlined the SS bureaucracy and pointed out three full divisions would be able to fight on the hard-pressed Eastern Front. Himmler was elated, but some SS tracked him down and beat the crap out of him. I see times have not changed.
There are two points you brought up. First, let's not forget that the FBI ignored all reports from Russia's FSB regarding the Tsarnaevs meeting with Chechen terrorists. Secondly, the Boston PD had no Arabic speakers (aside from from anybody) in contact with the mosque that threw out the elder Tsarnaev for making radical comments.
This is not isolated "bad" policing. The Belgian police have no Arabic-speaking police for outreach and patrolling. In the US, I offered my services as an Arabic-speaker for free to a large police department with a mosque where numerous terrorists (now dead or in jail) had preached. I was more interested in outreach and to act as a police liaison. The hiring authority had no problem rudely rejecting me, a decorated Vietnam Veteran with a clean record.
I would say we have a "police problem" more than a "terrorist problem" on our hands. There were plenty of opportunities to pick these terrorists up, but the police are way too incompetent to deal with this issue.
I saw a report on CNN how the Arab citizens and residents in Belgium complain that no police speak Arabic. Maybe I should write a short piece for you on my attempts to aid local police in acting as a liaison and outreach for Arab communities. (The Boston PD was unaware that the elder Tsarnaev brother had been kicked out of the local mosque since they had no dedicated outreach.) I was quite rudely rejected, even though I am a retired Vietnam Veteran and offered my services for free.
Best reply, short and sweet.
I wrote a thesis on this in 1982 which was ignored. What happened in the First Indochina War was state actors became involved in the heroin trade. The Viet Minh was armed through the opium trade, whereas the French used opium to fund counter-insurgency. This model has been used ever since. It is no secret the US and Pakistan used opium profits to fund the anti-Soviet forces in Afghanistan; food-producing orchards were cut down to provide for opium planting. Opium is a winter crop, but farmers are not allowed to plant spring and fall crops.
It is in the interests of state actors, particularly the US, to never legalize any drug. Even looking at oil smuggling in Syria by ISIS, how come the Russians had to bomb smuggling routes and trucks when we had the same intel?
Thanks, Robin. Let's also not forget Yeshayahu Leibowitz, "the conscience of Israel," who opposed occupation for prescient reasons. The money quote is below:
Soon after Israel captured the West Bank and Gaza Strip in the 1967 Arab-Israeli war, Mr. Leibowitz began warning that the occupation of the territories would turn Israel into an agent of repression, whose citizens would be employed in growing numbers to police the Palestinians. Israel had to "liberate itself from this curse of dominating another people," he said, arguing that prolonged Israeli rule over the Palestinians would "bring about a catastrophe for the Jewish people as a whole."
He supported Israeli Army resisters who refused to serve in the territories, and he warned that soldiers in the occupied areas risked becoming "Judeo-Nazis." Israeli undercover units that tracked down and sometimes killed Palestinian fugitives there were no different from gunmen of the militant Islamic group Hamas, he asserted.
Mr. Leibowitz warned darkly of a possible civil war in Israel over the future of the occupied territories and of a danger that the country would become a "fascist state" that would imprison political dissidents like himself in concentration camps.
Carpet bombing of WWII was declared a war crime under the 1977 Geneva Convention Protocol. Not one of these morons ever served in the military, with Trump using five deferments to avoid Vietnam. link to en.wikipedia.org
Great point, but my impression is the people screaming for theonomy like to pick and chose. There were 22 violations demanding death, and the Kentucky court clerk would have been stoned to death before any chance to become religious. Yes, the Old Testament does not mention abortion, but it DOES take a position on rape. "If a man happens to meet a virgin who is not pledged to be married and rapes her and they are discovered, he shall pay the girl's father fifty shekels of silver. He must marry the girl, for he has violated (anah) her. He can never divorce her as long as he lives." Deuteronomy 22:28-29
This is what the Foreign Legion was created for. There are less than 8,000, with half stationed in France. With the exception of the Syrian Arab Army and Kurds, all limit attacks against ISIS to air power.
Paul, I agree with you as I once worked and lived in the West Bank and Israel. I also believe that Israel knows they are putting off the inevitable, while also knowing each passing day makes the resolution more violent; just witness the increasing violence of "price tag" attacks. I am positive Israel will eventually lose American support, and the IDF will be forced to violently evict the settlers. Most of the latter are Americans and will run when faced with IDF attacks instead of support.
I've been there and one thing you will never see on the MSM is that most settlers are the most racist and repulsive American Jews our country has to offer. This is the base and home of Meir Kahane and Baruch Goldstein. These creeps are back up, unfortunately, by the most un-Jewish Israeli government officials.
Juan, isn't it interesting (or sad) that the graves (monuments) to Meir Kahane and Baruch Goldstein in Hebron--which are illegal under Israeli law--are bigger than Rabin's grave?
Let's not forget the local joke about Bashir's father: huwa kan labwa qabel assad. He was a bitch before a lion.
Juan: Funny you would mention the ARVN. As a Vietnam Veteran I never thought to compare them to the current situation, but you are right in more than you think. Our insistence on a large army stripped villages of the adult men necessary to maintain control, leaving the teenage boys to run rampant; we called these thieving youth "cowboys." This decision changed the social structure. Interpreters were a problem as well. My cousin was an interpreter, but we had far too few, needing to recruit locals. Of course, communists volunteered by the droves, providing needed intelligence on movements, something I know personally as ours we arrested and carted away. (Our Air Force was "amazed" how the NVA knew in advance of planned air strikes.) I was on Firebase Sabre when we turned it over to the ARVN, and watched as an ARVN officer was slapping his men in the face while screaming in French. Meanwhile, the locals were stripping the firebase of the defenses we built to sell on the black market. The ARVN felt no connection to the highly corrupt government. We always joked that the South Vietnamese flag was red and yellow, stating the South was also red or yellow; we had respect for the NVA, but viewed the ARVN as cowards. We really are seeing these same factors in Afghanistan in particular.
I will never forget a conversation I had with Jim Webb before he became a senator. We had both seen the IDF in action, and Webb called them a fourth-rate army fighting seventh-rate armies. Hizbullah is the only regional army to have ever the IDF. The IDF can't really operate above the brigade level, which was the same problem with Saddam's army. Israel makes sure neighboring countries are unable to have their own jet fighters, thanks to US bullying. Netanyahu is clearly living in a dream world regarding the IDF and Israel being a world power.
I returned last month from Lebanon. The Palestinians head to Palestinian-only refugee camps. These are controlled by the PLO and neither NGOs nor Lebanese government officials are allowed in. The PLO also refuses to say how many are there. Not saying the Palestinians have a good deal, but the camps for the non-Palestinians are hell on earth.
Having lived in the West Bank (Palestine now), let's not forget that these Americans are the creme of the crap. I was always amazed at how casually racist they were, comparing Palestinians to "criminal" African-Americans. Look at our lovely exports Meir Kahane (whom I met there) and Baruch Goldstein (who I'm glad I didn't). These Americans used to go to Israel for a few weeks in order to "Arab bash." Now these losers come and stay permanently, basically welfare recipients, and can "Arab bash" with guns all they want.
I got back from Beirut two weeks ago, living just across the highway (former Green Line) from Martyr's Square. I was there when the garbage started piling up; aside from being pissed at the government, people were really embarrassed. I noticed the office of Sukleen was quite pristine, though. The garbage got picked up after people blocked the highway to Sidon with garbage, which held up all traffic. One protest in Beirut was to start the piles on fire, but this wasn't as effective as blocking the highway. I described Beirut to people there as a really fun place to be on top of a volcano. I don't see another civil war, but the security forces reacting like are the first rumbling in the mountain. Beirut drivers are dangerous, but the only one who almost killed me was a local security force member. I thought the LAF members were friendly, but the "police" were sketchy to me.
I know Jim Webb personally and believe he gave the best quote: Israel is a 4th rate army fighting 7th rate armies. He was a journalist in the ME and saw them in action (like me). Once you see the IDF in action you realize this fact. Like Webb, I also served in Vietnam.
I remember in the 70s when a Japanese pilot intentionally slammed his 747 into a mountain. It turned out he was depressed and suicidal. I had a number of friends as pilots and all were pulled in for psychological evals, which then became the norm. Obviously, some fall through the cracks. This is all it seems to be; no conspiracy, no terrorism.
Yes, satire. We already know ruined this country through unnecessary war and torture, and Wall Street ruined us financially through fraud, and nothing will be done. But...sell cigarettes without paying taxes and you get strangled to death. We've got standards, you know!!!
I am sure many will dismiss this, but it is spot on. I am basing this on my own insurgency research and experience in Vietnam. (Two weeks ago Juan published an article by me on my thesis.) The vacuum of a weak government is always filled by "insurgents" looking to create either their own base or take over the entire country. As this article states, it is not only the rebuilding of the economy and government services, but the re-legitimizing of the government that will solve these problems.
What few realize is that Israel has based its assassination policy on a CORPORATE study. The initial study was to find out how many managers can be fired before the corporation collapses. Israel admits now that (see Gatekeepers) such a misguided policy leads to much more radical and homicidal leadership. ISIS is already following the al-Qaeda theory of "management of Savagery," so I don't see any change there. This is why I disagree with Yasser (above).
This is only slightly off topic. Looking at the reaction of the Ferguson, Missouri, I thought "this looks like IDF responses to West Bank protestors." Little did I know the Ferguson police had been trained by Israelis. Michael Chertoff, while at DHS, mandated training by Israeli companies. Chertoff, by the way, is a dual-national Israeli. (His family history with Israeli is quite fascinating.) I am including a link by a blogger (a bit strange, to be sure) who has compared some overreactions by police to specific training by Israelis. The two Houston Police who had just finished training ended up killing a one-armed man in a wheelchair. I think it means it is time to not only de-militarize the police, but end Israeli training as inappropriate. I am a Vietnam Vet, so I really laugh at these fat cops in "combat" gear, but there is no laughing at what they do. LRAD, rubber bullets, armored cars, etc., in Ferguson--with citizens treated like Palestinians--is nothing to laugh at. link to veteranstoday.com
Juan: This is actually a valid question. We actually did have this happen: the US Embassy in Baghdad. We received fire almost daily, a fact noted many times in the MSM. (Yes, how quickly they forget.) So...did we send F16s in to bomb the neighborhoods the fire came out of? No. Did we send in tanks? No. I have mentioned this numerous times, but it never gets repeated in the media. I also recommend Spike Stephenson's book "The Golden Hour" on the first year at the US Embassy. I booked him as a speaker once, plus he is a Vietnam Veteran like me.
When the kidnappings happened, I noticed at least some of the settlers were Americans. As an American who lived and worked in Israel, these are the worst racists I ever met. Those kidnapped are from settlements in Hebron. Hebron is where American Dr. Goldstein murdered dozens of Palestinians. He and Kahane are buried under a 10-foot tall monument. This monument is actually illegal under Israeli law, but, yeah, Netanyahu is on it I am sure. I am not saying these settlers "deserved" to die, but their own rabbis incite murder and violence. All I can say is you have to live there and meet these people. I wrote a letter to Obama before his visit and asked him to visit Hebron and, like Reagan, tell the Israelis to "tear this monument down" as a first step towards peace. I'm still waiting for a reply.
[Ed. note: The reader has mistaken a satire for a real event]
Juan: Actually a black variant has just recently happened. In Harlem, a parade ground belonging to a defunct armory was turned into a garden. The neighborhood lost in court. When the GSA showed up with bulldozers, hundreds blocked their path while Black Panthers took up positions on the buildings as snipers. The GSA backed off for now. I have said it dozens of times before, even here, that what is happening now happened in America during the early part of the Depression.As a historian, we really are reaching the same tipping point as 1933-35 in the US. After machine-gunning union strikers, Bonus Army, coal miners, etc., the US government was quite unpopular during that period. We even had a near coup, financed by bankers, exposed by Gen. Smedley Butler. If we don't get an FDR to help restore a sense of justice, this is just a prelude. History does repeat.
I lived and worked in this area years ago and would never go back. Most people are unaware that Hebron is the stronghold of the American followers of Meir Kahane and Baruch Goldstein. Both were childhood friends, the latter murdering 29 Arabs at prayer in 1994. Both men have shrines in Hebron venerating them--against Israeli law. It's a pilgrimage site for these racist Jews. Americans need to understand that dual-citizenship American Jews are the heart of the problem of racist settlers who refuse to live with Arabs as neighbors. It is still shocking to me how disgusting these Americans are when I had my first encounter with them.
Exactly, but I would also like to remind others of the rhetoric of the times (I am 61 and fought in Vietnam). We were referred to as "main enemy" (glavni vrad I think) with them boasting where their missiles were pointed. They were very aggressive militarily. I lived and worked in Israel and the Likud and their settlers are just plain crazy.
Juan: This became the case with the Phoenix Program in Vietnam. It was a simple way for an INDIVIDUAL to get revenge, take over a business, etc. For my thesis in 1982 I had a former SF intelligence sergeant who paid the informants. All a TRIBE had to do was declare their enemies as "communists" during Vietnam and now "al Qaeda" today. This theory of counterinsurgency didn't work then and it doesn't work now. (My thesis oddly predicted this for Afghanistan if war came to that area and we used the same theory.) I believe Brennan is a dangerous man, but Obama is not being played. Brennan was allegedly running an operation behind the backs of Stevens and Petraeus.
Juan. Great article and analysis as usual. Whenever a writer brings up Spitzer and others as possible victims I point to a program used by the Nazis. Look up Salon Kitty. The bordello was used by the SS to blackmail and get rid of certain diplomats and German officials. Sound familiar?
Since McVeigh's was brought up, I would like to add to that. It WAS questioned, since he associated with Christian Identity members, whether or not he also belonged. Christian Identity followers were indeed engaged in anti-government actions and bank robberies, hence the questioning of his membership. As noted, however, McVeigh claimed to have had sex with an associate's (sent to jail for the bombing) wife, who was from the Philippines. Christian Identity members justify the murder of inter-racial couples through one passage of the Old Testament regarding the killing of a Jew who intermarried. I have to say I find the convoluted "logic" of radical fringe "religious" groups absolutely fascinating. Speaking on the main topic, as an Arabic speaker (ahem, Presbyterian), I remember reading the (partial) Atta letter and immediately thinking what a flake he was. Not only the heretical opening, but instructions on how to wash his body. Yes, I want to see and read the whole thing as well.
Amy: You and I agree totally. See my response to Schanzer. The system broke down when I was in Vietnam. In WWII, nearly 1,000 GIs were executed, all but one for criminal behavior. Yet not one GI was executed in Vietnam or Iraq for murder or rape of civilians. Not even when they raped and murdered their fellow female soldiers. I have stated in writing so many times that a few firing squads, made up of men and women in the murderer's company, would have put an end to all that. I am sure Schanzer does not care to perform any research as he simply has an agenda. I have "known" Juan Cole for years and am a bit puzzled what he sees in this guy.
You weren't in Vietnam in 1971, so you don't know. Vets wore the VVAW (Vietnam Veterans Against the War) patch openly. I was involved in a number of mutinies, one which got Senator Kennedy to intervene. Some were written in Stars and Stripes, plus many underground newspapers (Grunt Free Press comes to mind) were circulated. The Army was refusing to fight a losing war. That is why you last sentence comes across as rather pompous. You also fail to agree on how My Lai was exposed--not by Major Powell.
It is obvious Mr. Schanzer never served in the military. As a Vietnam Veteran, I know reporting anything through military chain of command is ridiculous. Don't take my word for it, Manning tried to tell his supervisor, who only shrugged. Regarding Vietnam, look at Ridenour and Hugh Thompson and My Lai; see the movie "Casualties of War," based on a real event that was published--which the movie followed completely, even the opening shot on the bus. Look at the war crimes in Iraq, even the soldier who tried to save the kids in the Collateral Murder video Manning leaked. If you want to do something positive Mr. Schanzer, use your connections to insist Hagel prosecutes all officers involved, starting with the generals.
I don't know if that was a Blue Hair attempt by the Kerry campaign. I believed they were just trying to show the hypocrisy of Cheney and GOP "family values." It was telling that the Cheneys did not appear with their famly at the convention, and it was obvious why: questions about what he thought about his lesbian daughter. BTW, I worked on the Kerry campaign in Virginia--if you could call it that. No effort and no organization. They even wanted to charge me four dollars for one Kerry sign. I refused, and you saw the results.
Egypt's lifting of the Blockade likely Temporary
I am sorry to see you decided to inject a personal attack into your reply: "yours excepted apparently." Your assumption is nobody in my family was moved to join you and nobody in my family was killed. You are also assuming I am white and everybody in my family is white. To specifically reply to your post, while participating, evidently you did not hear this statement by Stokely Carmichael: "What you want is the nation to be upset when anybody is killed, but it seems for this to be recognized, a white person must be killed." He was angry the media had made a big deal over the murder of Rev. James Reed (white) while ignoring the murder of Jimmie Lee Jackson (black). Unfair as that is, it enabled King to get his message out to a much broader audience--my family excepted to correct you.
Thanks to A Berns for stating what and how a boarding party are "supposed" to do. I tried stating the same thing on a Salon posting and was attacked and called a "dipshit." Forget, as I stated, the legal arguments of the Law of War whether or not Israel had the right--all experts disagree; they all agree, though, that the killing and violence violated the law. I believe that the Gaza Flotilla has found the magic to end the occupation. Compare this to the Civil Rights movement in the US. Israel is acting like racist Southern police and Klan types wanting to keep the status quo. CORE and others hit upon the strategy of recruiting white college kids. Seeing them beaten and shot brought the story to the point of change. Like the Southern cops who thought they had the "right" to kill the white kids the same as local blacks, Israeli soldiers think they have the right to treat Europeans the same way. Reports state they beat the passive passengers who had surrendered--sound familiar to those old enough to remember the scenes of the Civil Rights movement shown on TV? I was so outraged I and my wife gave money to the Flotilla. We support Israel, but this behavior has to end.
Since Lieberman is a Jew, I found his "knowledge" about stripping a bit weird; for instance, didn't he know what happened to John Demjanjuk? Also, the Constitution notes there need be only two witnesses for treasonous statements. Doesn't he remember Aaron Burr? Now that we have video, this could be easier to prove to a legal standard. We do have a process, and it works very well when followed. As for the warmongering charge, as a Vietnam veteran I notice the draft dodgers like Lieberman, Cheney, Bolton, et alia always talk tough to over compensate for their personal cowardice. Just read the names on the New Hampshire Gazette's "Chickenhawk Database" to see what I mean.
I am really curious to know how many churches have been destroyed or damaged by settlers. Having lived and worked in the West Bank in the 80's I was shocked at how racist these mostly American settlers were. I just want some facts, though, if they are targeting only mosques. Anybody here know?
When I served in Vietnam in 1971 I think I saw three air-condtioning units. Two were for the 1/7th Cav's CO (a colonel) and the XO (a major). They both had trailers brought in so they could be comfortable. I also remember somebody burned down one of the trailers. I still think energy independence is possible in maybe 10 years. What everybody needs to eventually have is at least a hybrid for driving. (Sort of a cash for clunkers.) I hate to say fat chance, though.
Not so odd, really. When individuals or states criticized Nazi Germany's anti-miscegenation laws directed against Jews, Nazi officials pointed out they had modelled their laws after America's anit-miscegination laws directed against Blacks.
In 1982, ten years after I served in Vietnam as a soldier, I wrote a thesis for my Anthropology MA. Originally "The Effects of Unconventional Warfare on Tribal Populations: Case Studies From Vietnam." (It is at Amazon as "Tribal Soldiers of Vietnam.") I mention this fact only to point out I do know something about what I am talking about. Just as one fallacy, "experts" always trot out the local militia concept. I have a short section how this always leads to crime, corruption and criminal organizations. Vietnam, expecially the Tai HIghlands in the First Indochina War, was a leading opium producer. Sound familiar? Opium is a winter crop so keep your eye on when military offensives happen. The Viet Minh used the opium to fund their war, so the French tried to purchase it--using the Corsican Mafia--to keep it out of their hands. Yeah, that worked; been there done that. My second major complaint, as an anthropolgist, is that counterinsurgency experts always overlook the insurgents' use of "parallel hierarchies." Hamas and Hezbollah, just like the Taliban, have thier own courts (efficient), hospitals (cheaper and better) and parallel government. After Israel bombed Lebanon, notice how Hezbollah had a rep out there immediately paying people for damage, months before the Lebanese government? I used a combination of Barth's New Elite Theory as well as Clifford Geertz's theories of assumed and primoridal blood ties, in which the latter included the Kurds, Baluchis, etc. Whenever we get involved in counterinsurgencies, there are three typical outcomes: 1) the tribe (or group) becomes incorporated into the larger society, usually at the low end, 2) accept minority status and probably become assimilated, 3) emphasize ethnic identity, thereby creating a new movement (or a new state.)
I see no good coming out of this war at all.