Mar 15 2007
Complexities We Must Face, Not Run From
I found this little nugget in the evidence section of the Khalid Sheik Mohammed transcript (previous post here) which should be a reminder that for all the good we can and will do for a large Middle East population, there will always be die hard enemies to face:
Paragrpahs s. The Detainee received funds from Kuwait-based Islamic extremists groups and delivered the funds to al Qaeda members.
One country clearly and openly indebted to the US is Kuwait. Yet here we have evidence of people in Kuwait funding an organization bent on attacking us and killing our people. The only way to address these cesspools of hate is to engage and face them. To stand next to the good people of the region and demonstrate how wrong the Islamo Fascists are. The Dems completely miss the fact engagement is the only way to change the dynamics. Running away only makes the problems worse and increases our danger.
They are sunni arabs. They do this ALL OF THE TIME!
In the beginning. And, I’m going back to 1776. The British, who were an organized navy, decided to let her rip. And, decided that American ships were OPEN GAME. So we lost many ships. Captured. And, our sailing crews, kidnapped, and turned into slaves. DISGUSTING.
Yet, from George Washington, through James Madison. 4 PRESIDENTS. And, decades in time. All we did was “pay tribute.” And, we’d get back “some” of our captured men. Well, we didn’t have a navy. And, congress-critters didn’t want to build one! State politics trumped what was the right thing to do.
And, then? If we even built a ship, the arabs demanded them as part of their ransom payments. And, we delivered this, too!
Ah. Yes. The french. Throw in for good measure that the french were in the carribean. And, they decided to block our trade, by using their gunboats. By this time, we have 3 ships of our own. And, we FIRED BACK. The french either went down or fled. And, America boasted her first victory. (Under President #2).
Alas, Thomas Jefferson was not impressed. And, still paid the yearly tribute.
But by the time James Madison reacts; he’s in his second term. And, we let fly. Europe paused. They were into paying tribute, too.
But we had the American Marines. let’s hum it together: FROM THE HALLS OF MONTIZUMA, TO THE SHORES OF TRIPOLI.
WE defeated the pirates. Or as they were known then, the “corse-hairs.” (Corsairs.) We grabbed them by their short-hairs. And, the problem was cured. Not just for the USA, but even for the ungrateful french and british, too.
That’s life. It’s never fair.
But if you want to learn from history, you’ll see we still have a powerful military. The kuwaitis are HATED by the Iraqis. Or you wouldn’t have seen the perversions you saw when Saddam attacked “those” oil fields. Again, we cured the problems for the tent dwellers.
But arabs don’t change. All they know is that they can charge us high fees. And, we pay them.
Bush is also the Saudi REALTOR. Not too successful, thank goodness. But that’s what’s in play NOW. Israel is getting its arm twisted by James Baker. Who holds some grudges from 1991. And, ya know what? HE CAN LOSE.
Bush is on the ropes. James Baker doesn’t care. The Light In His Loafers Guy made this mess. And, James Baker is taking advantage.
One thing for sure. Baker’s firm has offices in Dubai. He’s cleaning up. If the Bush dynasty goes down, it’s not gonna make him a poor man. He’s also still got his contacts with the media. A media driven, now to destroy BUSH.
Why? After Bush leaves office, he’ll be able to join his dad. Reputation wise, that’s not a great grade.
And, whomever we see coming into office in 2008 won’t be taking orders from James Baker. And, just like Kissinger. The old boys profited; while the soviets burned. And, none of the DC bureaucrats even knew.
But later the history books will record all.
AJ, you might want to have a look at this.
Saw the link to it from Ace’s blog.
Just a heads up, folks … things are going to get REALLY nasty from the press if things in Iraq begin to turn around. They are going to pull out ALL the stops to keep public attention diverted away from any good news in Iraq.
A lot of people do not understand the nature of consequences.
The things in Iraq hit a snag, not because of the press, but because of terrible decisions made by Bush! Starting with Paul Bremer!
Or? Perhaps, the stuff he believed from Chalabi?
In other words, we got rid of one bad problem: SADDAM
But what we missed were the moves that motivated Bush. And, these were coming from the Saudis!
It seems there was a “belief” that if we spread billions around, we’d fix the broken infrastructure. While building confidence. IT DID NOT GO DOWN THIS WAY!
And, the Iraqis, themselves, want nothing to do with the HOUSE OF SAUD! They had to go “international” as they looked for support against the reign of terror that sunni’s inflicted.
What’s made it ugly is that both sides broke through the boundaries. And, we had American troops stuck in the middle. And, a very lackluster pentagon; playing with this as a political football. Where Bush had one agenda. And, the people in Iraq ANOTHER.
Someday, someone will help you figure out the twists and turns.
But the money uncle sugar spent was wasted.
All the faith in Chalabi? The worst thing the CIA ever did. And, they’ve been bad at everything they do.
But now? It’s actually turning out that FEAR is a gigantic motivator.
Maliki walked on out Bush. In Jordan. When the sunnis tried to swing Israel into the “Iraqi” problem. He would have nothing to do with this! And, Bush may, or may not have, learned a lesson.
Bush isn’t very bright. If he was he’d realize there are other players at the table. And, while the words aren’t flying, you can see something from the diplomatic pants dancing.
Israel, for instance NEVER EVER wants to go back into Lebanon.
They also didn’t want to bomb the Iranian embassy this past summer; even though it was obvious to the Israelis, that Nasrallah was hiding out, there.
The Israelis probably figured that Lebanon has the problem. They didn’t need the “international incident.” And, condi, dancing with chirac; just handed the french a chance to station themselves in Lebanon. Olmert just shrugged. Really. Who cares? Southern Lebanon was a disgusting place. It’s less so, now. Since the french squat in what’s left of the landscape, after it got hit. And, turned into unpleasant rubble. Lots of people have run away. Which causes problems in syria and jordan. Again, just a good shrug for Olmert. Who has his own problems.
While Maliki kept playing the “we’re way too weak” hand, to be of any help to American troops. Doing what we do best, we built safe zones. And, then Bagdhad went to pot. Or hell in a handbasket.
At the same time, the Iraqis weren’t really all that religious. Not like what happened to the iranians next door. Perhaps, you don’t see the instability. But it is there.
And, with Maliki now on board. And, General Patreaus now in charge. The whole thing in Iraq is looking up.
James Baker? He’s still trying to get the House of Saud “property.” But other than making LESS FRIENDS FOR BUSH, there’s not much else “happening.” The Iraqis aren’t looking to make Bush look good, either. And, arabs, rather than rolling things up; tend to like the stalemates of long, drawn out solutions to any of their problems. Look how long the Iran-Iraq war went on. While behind the scenes? Plenty of animosity developed between sunni and shi’a. And, for the first time the shi’a actually have their hands on the levers of control. Ditto, for the Kurds.
As to the media, does it matter?
You didn’t just see the film “300” score gigantic profits? No stars. 60-days to make. And, a blockbuster. Tells the story of how the Spartans, fewer in number, creamed the Persians. 430BC. (That’s only one part. The other, of the Athenians at Salamis is not told, here. But the Athenians were ship-going peoples. And, Salamis was the first fantastic naval encounter.)
All you do know is that the media is starving for business.
And, when the right formula is found, the merchandise sells.
This is not good news if you’re a star. Or a pundit. But if you’re a newcomer who wants to strike gold, you now know where to look.
In Iraq? Maliki has a legitimate government. And, the gains are very real, with American help. While, it seems, the saudis “seeth.” And, Prince Bandar has been sent to DC to “convince” Bush to “act.”
Good luck to him. Bush can’t act. Bush can’t deliver diddley, anymore. All Bandar can do is buy himself a lame duck.
As to the donks? They’re still trying to sell their ideas to their lunatic base. Heck, even Howie Dean is making believe he’s got diplomatic credentials. As he is going about trying to get something, very un-government-like into place. So just like the sunnis who hate the shi’a, we, too, have our differences. And, ya know what? You don’t gain customers when these things fly.
Most Americans are pissed off at Bush. Is it his fault? He never did have the talent for this job. Only an inborn aristocratic idea that he “deserved it.” Not very different from algore’s.
Wanna laugh? Algore’s made more money these past six years. Though I don’t know how, exactly. But that’s on par with him winning an Oscar. Again, I don’t know how, exactly. Nor do I care.
“The things in Iraq hit a snag, not because of the press, but because of terrible decisions made by Bush! Starting with Paul Bremer!”
Uhm, actually no. Because of Democrat harping, we turned over too much to the Iraqis too soon. In our haste to leave, we ended up extending the time we need to be there. It looks that that has been rectified and we are now on the path to doing it the right way.
Important video from The Guardian showing how the Iraqis have turned on the insurgents.
KSM himself “spent some of his formative years in Kuwait, just like his nephew, Ramzi Yousef (three years his junior). He joined the Muslim Brotherhood at age 16.” These “Kuwait-based” groups were almost certainly charities affiliated with the Kuwaiti Muslim Brotherhood, one of which was designated as a sponsor of terrorism in 2002 or 2003.
KSM’s Kuwait connection is not just an illustration that jihadis are everywhere, it is a major clue to the true wellsprings of al Qaeda’s war against the USA. You may recall Laurie Mylroie, who was the leading exponent of an Iraqi connection to 9/11. Her favorite argument was that all the Pakistani-Kuwaitis (KSM, Ramzi Yousef) involved with the most ambitious attacks were actually agents of Iraqi intelligence, using identities obtained during the Iraqi occupation of Kuwait. I do not trust Mylroie herself, and have often wondered if her argument was constructed so as to identify the real state sponsor (Saddam’s Iraq) while distracting attention from the fact that he was working with people who had been trained and managed by western intelligence (working with Saudi and Pakistani intelligence) in the 1980s.
In any case, the original bombing of the WTC was on the second anniversary of Iraq’s withdrawal from Kuwait; and Clinton himself saw fit to bomb Iraqi intelligence HQ a few months later, purportedly in retaliation for the attempt to assassinate Bush 41 in Kuwait. Actually, this is an example of doublethink on Mylroie’s part. She says that as long ago as 1993, Clinton bombed Iraq in order to deter WTC1993-style attacks, but then maintains that the White House failed to make the connection between Iraq and subsequent AQ attacks. It is far simpler to suppose that Clinton, and Bush 43 too, knew of the connection but kept it secret; and so the war against Iraq was waged under the pretext of exaggerated WMD intelligence (a Tenet gamble that backfired), because to tell the truth would have meant exposing yesterday’s deceptions.
Even the press is starting to “get it” … from the NYT: