Never attribute to stupidity that which can adequately be explained by malice. Obama: Nihilist or Just Incompetent?
He’s The Muslim Brotherhood’s Man In The White House
That’s what he should have said. On the other hand, his followup is bang on:
Am I morally obligated to defend the president every time somebody says something bad or controversial about him? I don't think so!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 19, 2015
Any candidate who plays this game with the Obamamedia is a fool. Assuming for the sake of argument that the questioner is genuine and not a plant (like, say, the 14-year old all-American schoolboy clockmaker who didn’t make a clock at all and is the son of a belligerent Muslim activist and perennial Sudanese presidential candidate whose brother runs a trucking company amusingly called Twin Towers Transportation), putting all of that to one side, there are several entirely reasonable responses one could make to the gentlemen of the press…
Operation Empty Chair
By any measure, President Obama’s effort to train a Syrian opposition army to fight the Islamic State on the ground has been an abysmal failure. The military acknowledged this week that just four or five American-trained fighters are actually fighting.
But the White House says it is not to blame…
The Muslim Brotherhood’s Man In The White House
Related.
h/t Mike
Operation Empty Chair
Two senior analysts at CENTCOM signed a written complaint sent to the Defense Department inspector general in July alleging that the reports, some of which were briefed to President Obama, portrayed the terror groups as weaker than the analysts believe they are. The reports were changed by CENTCOM higher-ups to adhere to the administration’s public line that the U.S. is winning the battle against ISIS and al Nusra, al Qaeda’s branch in Syria, the analysts claim.
That complaint was supported by 50 other analysts, some of whom have complained about politicizing of intelligence reports for months. That’s according to 11 individuals who are knowledgeable about the details of the report and who spoke to The Daily Beast on condition of anonymity.
Glenn Reynolds: SO THE OBAMA ADMINISTRATION DID ALL THE STUFF THEY ACCUSED BUSH OF DOING. THE ONLY DIFFERENCE IS, BUSH WON THE WAR, AND THEY LOST IT.
A Bomb Bomb Bomb, Bomb For Iran
“After nuclear negotiations, the Zionist regime said that they will not be worried about Iran in the next 25 years,” Khamenei wrote. “I am telling you, first, you will not be around in 25 years’ time, and God willing, there will be no Zionist regime in 25 years. Second, during this period, the spirit of fighting, heroism and jihad will keep you worried every moment.”
I Felt A Great Disturbance In The Narrative
Update: New link to the video. Youtube “terminated” the original account, of course.
Breitbart;
The Youtube footage, which is embossed with the badges of the Hungarian police force, shows the migrants rejecting food packages and bottled water, throwing them onto the train tracks. Although some children appear keen to accept the food, the adults turn it down, in some cases throwing it back at police.
The migrants, described by some outlets as refugees, have been gathered at train stations in Hungary in the hope of travelling onwards to Austria and Germany. Hungarian authorities initially refused to let them through, resulting in chaotic scenes at Budapest’s main train station this week, but have now agreed to help them travel to the Austrian border.
Operation Empty Chair
But I would argue another known known is that this grievous situation is not going to get better anytime soon. Do the exercise yourself. Project out five years from now: Is it likely Syria will have stabilized? Is it likely Iraq will have? Yemen? Will Libya? In recent weeks, I’ve posed these questions to various experts from the U.S. military and diplomatic community and from the countries within the region itself. Their response was always that in all these cases it’s more likely than not that turmoil will persist — not only for the next five years, but quite possibly for much, much longer than that.
These experts might all be wrong about one or two of these cases. But it seems unlikely they are wrong. But here’s the one known unknown you can take to the bank: The Middle East is in a period of protracted crisis and instability, and, as we have seen with each passing day, the collateral damage and knock-on effects grow worse. While Syria is already the world’s worst humanitarian crisis, having endured more than four years of war, with hundreds of thousands dead and more than 7 million internally displaced, many more months and years of war will clearly only exacerbate that. Some 6 million are at severe risk of famine in Yemen. Libyans crowd onto small rubber rafts and pack into boats in the often vain hope of making their way to Europe. Refugee camps are posing a potentially unsustainable burden in Jordan and Lebanon. Unrest is begetting more unrest. One U.S. military leader told me that the Islamic State was reducing its recruitment efforts because it did not need them — more would-be extremists were volunteering. Continuing in the same vein, try the thought experiment yourself: Do you consider it more or less likely that extremism will add to the number of countries in crisis in the next five years? In North Africa? Sinai? Saudi Arabia? Afghanistan? How will falling oil prices exacerbate this? The meddling of a reenergized Iran?
Operation Empty Chair
“People who commit cultural genocide will mass-murder humans. War is inevitable.”
A Bomb Bomb Bomb, Bomb For Iran
Sen. Barbara A. Mikulski announced Wednesday she’s supporting the international agreement with Iran regarding its nuclear capabilities. In doing so, the Maryland Democrat gives the Obama administration a veto override-proof list of 34 Senate supporters, all from the Democratic caucus.
More Pavilions At Folkfest
The European Union could be forced to bring back border controls in the wake of the migrant crisis, Angela Merkel said last night.
The German Chancellor said for the first time that the Schengen zone, which allows passport-free travel across mainland Europe, cannot continue in its current form unless other EU countries accept their share of migrants.
If you build it, they will come.
More Pavilions At Folkfest
Police evacuate Budapest station as migrants try to board trains to western Europe http://t.co/iDc2DiLLeL Pic: AP pic.twitter.com/ZJL7zcGcuH
— The Australian (@australian) September 1, 2015
Clearing The Way For “MOUNT OBAMA”
…”Ahead of his 3-day swing through Alaska, President Obama announced Sunday that Mount McKinley will return to its native Alaskan name, Denali — meaning ‘the great one.'”
Operation Empty Chair
Via Allahpundit;
The Pentagon’s inspector general is investigating allegations that military officials have skewed intelligence assessments about the United States-led campaign in Iraq against the Islamic State to provide a more optimistic account of progress, according to several officials familiar with the inquiry.
The investigation began after at least one civilian Defense Intelligence Agency analyst told the authorities that he had evidence that officials at United States Central Command — the military headquarters overseeing the American bombing campaign and other efforts against the Islamic State — were improperly reworking the conclusions of intelligence assessments prepared for policy makers, including President Obama, the government officials said.
Fuller details of the claims were not available, including when the assessments were said to have been altered and who at Central Command, or Centcom, the analyst said was responsible. The officials, speaking only on the condition of anonymity about classified matters, said that the recently opened investigation focused on whether military officials had changed the conclusions of draft intelligence assessments during a review process and then passed them on…
Legitimate differences of opinion are common and encouraged among national security officials, so the inspector general’s investigation is an unusual move and suggests that the allegations go beyond typical intelligence disputes.
Operation Empty Chair
Don’t expect the Vatican to weigh in unless they start blowing up wind turbines: ISIS bulldozes 1,500-year-old Catholic church in Syria
Not A Muslim
NOOoonononono… In an unusual legal move, the Obama administration has taken the legal side of the Palestinian Authority and Palestine Liberation Organization in a federal court case that American terrorism victims’ families had already won.
Operation Empty Chair
What a year of Islamic State terror looks like.
The Islamic State has grown beyond its original home in Syria and Iraq, extending its operations into other parts of the Middle East and North Africa by establishing alliances and absorbing other terrorist groups. Data from IHS Jane’s Terrorism and Insurgency Center reveals how the group has claimed responsibility for carrying out attacks across the region. The map below reflects a year of Islamic State attacks following the capture of Mosul, one of Iraq’s most important cities.
Related: Chemical weapons in Iraq? All the experts told me that was umpossible!
Operation Empty Chair
Yes, I keep repeating this stuff. Because it bears repeating. In Iraq, Obama took a war that we had won at a considerable expense in lives and treasure, and threw it away for the callowest of political reasons. In Syria and Libya, he involved us in wars of choice without Congressional authorization, and proceeded to hand victories to the Islamists. Obama’s policy here has been a debacle of the first order, and the press wants to talk about Bush as a way of protecting him. Whenever you see anyone in the media bringing up 2003, you will know that they are serving as palace guard, not as press.
Operation Empty Chair
Never attribute to stupidity that which can be explained by malice:
While Israel and much of official Washington remain focused on the deal President Barack Obama just cut with the ayatollahs that gives them $150 billion and a guaranteed nuclear arsenal within a decade, Obama has already moved on – to Syria.
Read it all. But first, take a Gravol.
Global Test
Secretary Kerry of State John Kerry and Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz stated that they had not read the text of the side deals with Iran and that Under Secretary for Political Affairs Wendy Sherman “may have” before the Senate Armed Services Committee…