What of the US's redline on Assad's use of gas?

Mideast Media Sampler – 04/29/2013 – Chemical weapons used by Syria, or not

It would be alarming if Mr. Assad crossed a line few others have crossed. Within one minute, nerve agents like sarin can trigger eye pain, nausea and vomiting, loss of bowel function, difficulty breathing and muscle weakness. But the case against Mr. Assad, so far, is thin. Experts say the best way to prove that chemical weapons have been used is to collect soil samples promptly at the site and examine suspected victims. That’s hard to do in a war zone, and, so far, Israel, Britain and France have not offered physical proof (Israeli officials cited only photographs of Syrians “foaming at the mouth.”) Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel told Secretary of State John Kerry on Tuesday that he “was not in a position to confirm” his own government’s intelligence assessment. Given such mixed messages, Mr. Kerry and other administration officials have said, that while sharing some of the suspicions of America’s allies, they simply don’t have the facts to make a judgment, much less fashion a policy response.

 Syrian rebels: Official military document (Division 7) proves use of chemical weapons by Assad forces. Doc attached pic.twitter.com/ewoH7HH2g3

 

 

Obama’s non-response to Assad’s chemical weapons would encourage a nuclear Iran -  "This loss of credibility and face would have three immediate consequences:

1. Assad will not stop using lethal chemicals against his people. After getting away with it scot-free, he will use them against any time he feels his regime has its back to the wall.
2. Tehran and Pyongyang will take US inaction on the Syrian chemical issue as a license to go forward and develop their nuclear and other sophisticated weapons without fear of forceful interference.
3. At some stage in the Syrian conflict, Assad will transfer to Hizballah a quantity of chemical weapons and other advanced war materiel as a reward for the Lebanese Shiite radicals’ stalwart battle in support of his regime. debkafile’s military sources have learned that preparations are already in train for the transfer.






Caroline Glick writes that it is Time to confront Obama  .... "Perhaps our leaders are repeating these lies because they want to present a unified US-Israel front to the world. But the effect is just the opposite.

 

"What their statements really demonstrate is that Israel has been brought to its knees by its superpower patron that has implemented a policy that has enabled Iran to become a nuclear power.

 

"Indeed, the US has allowed Iran to cross the nuclear threshold while requiring Israel to pretend the course the US has followed is a responsible one."....

Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee(D-Texas) Spends $23K on Round-the -World Trip: Why?

Voice of Lillpop   "Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee has never been one to moderate on anything. From her wild-left ideas to her voting record, the woman seems to believe that the voters owe her a life of luxury and posh living.

"Lee’s excesses apparently extend to her reckless use of taxpayer money to travel around the world. As reported at the reference:"

....The trip costs included $19,970 for transportation, $1,292 for per diem, and $2,385 for other purposes.

"$2,385 for “other purposes,” Representative?"

 

How to respond to being called 'judgmental'

American Thinker  "When we understand the motivation of the defensive person, we can mobilize strategies to respond in powerful ways. At least two approaches are possible: conciliatory or confrontational. With a conciliatory response, we empathize with the defensive person and try to establish a mutually respectful relationship. We realize that people are generally reactive when they feel vulnerable and threatened. A cornered beast bares teeth and claws.  And nothing triggers a reaction like shame and guilt.  Read more.   Hat tip to Christy Waters

 

Americans fear government more than terror

WND   "According to a pair of recent polls, for the first time since the 9/11 terrorist hijackings, Americans are more fearful their government will abuse constitutional liberties than fail to keep its citizens safe.
"Even in the wake of the April 15 Boston Marathon bombing – in which a pair of Islamic radicals are accused of planting explosives that took the lives of 3 and wounded over 280 – the polls suggest Americans are hesitant to give up any further freedoms in exchange for increased “security.”"

 

Media toons

 

 

Obama Intentionally Hurting the Nation

conservativedailynews.com ..."Obama is willfully and intentionally doing as much damage as possible."

.... "The President rejected a proposal by the Senate Republicans to give the President more flexibility to pick and choose which programs should be cut to reach the $85 billion spending reduction over seven months mandated by the so-called sequester. That would have given him the opportunity to meet the requirements of the budget deal, without affecting the people our government is supposed to be serving. Keep in mind, that these legislatively  mandated reductions are not cuts in actual spending, but only reflect a 2.5% reduction in the growth of government spending.
 (Emphasis added)

But never forget these words:

But Obama rejected congressionally authorized flexibility in applying the reductions, and he opted instead to make the sequester as painful as possible. The Washington Times reports of emails to department heads that the administration intended to make good on its warnings of the “painful” sequestration cuts. According to the Times, the emails directed agency heads, “not to do anything that would lessen the dire impacts Congress had been warned of.”

Christy Waters

Pulitzer Prize-Winning Idiot

Alan Caruba "What kind of idiot would write, “Until we fully understand what turned two brothers who allegedly perpetrated the Boston Marathon bombings into murderers, it is hard to make any policy recommendation other than this: We need to redouble our efforts to make America stronger and healthier so it remains a vibrant counterexample to whatever bigoted ideology may have gripped these young men.”

"“Whatever bigoted ideology”? This is what Thomas L. Friedman of The New York Times wrote on April 21."

 

 Well, Mr. Friedman shares the same worldview as his employer  "Let’s take a look at the Times and how they eulogize a cold-blooded murderer:"

NY Times's Ludicrously Liberal Columnists Give It Their Worst in the Sunday Review  "Friedman then went to his solution to every problem in the entire world: An energy tax.

So what to do? We need a more “radical center” -- one much more willing to suggest radically new ideas to raise revenues, not the “split-the-difference-between-the-same-old-options center.” And the best place to start is with a carbon tax.

It's how his mind works, you see.

Coming in May, 150 years ago: The Battle of Chancellorsville

Jackson sizes up Hooker's vulnerable right flank

 

In his centennial history of the Civil War, Never Call Retreat, Catton titles his chapter on Chancellorsville, "The Darkness, and Jackson, and Fear".

"Jackson's flank attack"

 

This battle was not so much a battle of the Army of Northern Virginia vs. the Army of the Potomac as it was a moral struggle between Robert E. Lee and General Joseph Hooker. Lee had total domination over Hooker (as he did most other northern generals). Union General Darius Couch, one of Hooker's senior corps commander saw this at the time and expressed his contempt for Hooker in his report, which ended with these words:

In looking for the causes of the loss of Chancellorsville, the primary ones were that Hooker expected Lee to fall back without risking battle. Finding himself mistaken he assumed the defensive, and was outgeneraled and became demoralized by the superior tactical boldness of the enemy.  

Here is a wealth of study links

The map below shows troop dispositions at the final stages of the battle when Hooker (blue) planned his retreat back across the river in defeat. Those of you interested in military tactics and strategy may see here signs of the moral dominance Lee held over Hooker. What does this map tell you?
What would Lee have done here if he commanded the blue formations instead of the red? What would you have done with the two Corps of Reynolds and Howard?

Stephen Crane's book, The Red Badge of Courage is based on this battle.

Soldiering:The Civil War Diary of Rice C. Bull

A soldier's account:  "Among the rank and file of largely uneducated Union Soldiers in the Civil War, Sergeant Rice C. Bull was an exception--a sensitive and perceptive man whose diary vividly describes the training, daily routine and combat that was the life of an infantryman. Among the memorable passages are those of the Battle of Chancellorsville and of marching with Sherman through a devastated Georgia to the sea."
Review of this book:

 Rice Bull's regiment: 123rd New York


West Point study of the Battle of Chancellorsville  Quick View of this study

From Student of the American Civil War: The Chancellorsville Campaign

Video tutorial of the battle

 

Mark Steyn: Did we all fail the Tsarnaevs? Shame on America for making these young men do what they did.

bokertov

OC Register  "The Tsarnaevs' mom, now relocated from Cambridge to Makhachkala in delightful Dagestan, told a press conference the other day that she regrets ever having gotten mixed up with those crazy Yanks: "I would prefer not to have lived in America," she said.

"Not, I'm sure, as much as the Richard family would have preferred it. Eight-year-old Martin was killed; his sister lost a leg; and his mother suffered serious brain injuries. What did the Richards and some 200 other families do to deserve having a great big hole blown in their lives? Well, according to The New York Times, they and you bear collective responsibility. Writing on the op-ed page, Marcello Suarez-Orozco, Dean of the UCLA Graduate School of Education and Information Studies, and Carola Suarez-Orozco, a professor at the same institution, began their ruminations thus:

"The alleged involvement of two ethnic Chechen brothers in the deadly attack at the Boston Marathon last week should prompt Americans to reflect on whether we do an adequate job assimilating immigrants who arrive in the United States as children or teenagers."

The Celebrity-in-chief; President Slams Media But Conan Softballs Obama At Lame WH Correspondents Dinner

Deadline Hollywood   "O’Brien’s best line of the night was comparing the relationship between Obama and House Majority Leader John Boehner  to a blind date between Anderson Cooper and Rachel Maddow. (“In theory they understand each other’s positions. But deep down you know nothing’s ever going to happen.”) Obama got in the nastiest media dig. Noting that CNN has “taken some knocks” – because of errors during reporting on the Boston Marathon bombings -  he said, “Fact is I admire their commitment to cover all sides of a story – just in case one of them happens to be accurate.” Obama even stabbed his liberal media cronies. He said saying seeing David Axelrod going to work for MSNBC was “a nice change of pace since MSNBC used to work for David Axelrod”.

....
Obama "also made this media comparison: “My job is to be president. Your job is to keep me humble. Frankly, I think I’m doing my job better.” He did receive a big laugh with this line: ”These days I look in the mirror and I’m not the strapping young Muslim Socialist I used to be.” Swaggering to the podium accompanied by rap music, he began by self-congratulating himself."

Obama jokes openly jokes about this! "David Axelrod now works for MSNBC, which is a nice change of pace, since MSNBC used to work for David Axelrod.  "Said Obama last night, making funny at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner. His comic routine lasts over 20 minutes. I just pulled that one line out because it actually almost corresponded to the truth about correspondents."

The Federal Aviation Administration is not collapsing but the White House is.

Jennifer Rubin  "The latest FAA gambit was a somewhat desperate effort to revive the issue. Once again the president, seemingly with no back up plan, had no choice but to give up when the public became outraged and it was obvious that Democrats were trying to wield their inconvenience as a club against Republicans. Really, did the president expect any different result than occurred when he was threatening to lay off first responders?
"The president has been deeply unserious of late — about our debt, about the Syrian chemical use (not such a “red line” after all), about the identity of our enemy (jihadists) and about the depth of our economic woes. He would rather pursue a largely frivolous anti-gun bill or demagogue about the FAA. For the sake of the country, he needs to raise his game and start facing up to our real challenges."

School Counselor Fired for Alleged Racist Rant on Texas Explosion Victims

Big Government "The comment was posted under the Facebook account of public school counselor Karon Wright on the Facebook page for a local news station. The comment stated:

It's amazing how the 'whites' get angry when Obama speaks. Oh well....its most of the whites who is getting blown away. So they will soon be wiped from the earth. Lol

"The comment was not the only angry words from liberals directed at relatives of the killed or injured victims of West. Several local officials in the city and county have had voicemails left for them blaming the prominence of
“conservative” political ideologies in the area for the explosion, according to Toby Marie Walker, a county resident who also heads up the Waco Tea Party. “They blame a belief in free-markets for the explosion,” she said in an exclusive interview with Breitbart News."

She plans the Anthony Weiner defense:
WFAA Dallas reports  "She closed her statement saying her goal "has been and will always be to support my students in a professional manner."
"Wright said she has filed a complaint with Facebook about the comment, and hired an attorney."