Alan Caruba: Obama's Middle East Debacle; Other Commentaries on This Very Topic

And yet all this is lost on Obama's 50,000,000 voters, making one fear for this nation's destiny. TD

Warning Signs

http://comicallyincorrect.com/

 The Saudi King Salman -among others-begs off Obama's conference

. . . " As far as the Middle East is concerned, Obama seems to have no idea of the history or the dynamics that affect all the actions there. His Secretary of State, Kerry, is no better. He met with Arab officials last Friday and they told him they want a defense treaty in the event they were attacked by “external forces”, something that the Congress will not approve so long as Obama is in the White House."

. . . 

 "Writing in The New York Times on May 8, Jonathan Schanzer, vice president of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, put it bluntly, “It doesn’t matter what these politicians think now or have said in in the past. Peace between Israel and the Palestinians is not happening in the next two years.” That’s how long we all have to wait until Obama leaves office."

. . . 

 “ 'The Israelis look around the Middle East and see nothing but conflict, carnage, instability and danger,” said Schanzer. “The Obama doctrine—which includes a deliberate contraction of American power in the Middle East—has undeniably made Israel less safe.”

It has made the U.S. and the world less safe too." . . .

( Emphasis added, TD)

 

Related articles:

How Obama’s Made Sure to Leave Every Part of the World More Dangerous than He Found It  . . ."Alas, seven years later, a seemingly endless stream of apologies, attempts to placate the world’s miscreants, and inappropriate stabs at moral equivalency are primary components of a spectacularly failed U.S. foreign policy. Seems the “cowboy” Bush and all those opportunistic militarists at the Pentagon are not the reason so many bad guys take issue with the U.S. Similarly, the infamous time-dishonored plea for time regarding negotiations with Russia speaks to a comfortable familiarity with weak negotiating positions. With regard to Putin, “flexibility” can be read as “I have to look tough now, but just wait until I’m safely elected to a second term — then I’ll feel free to cut a deal — any deal.” . . .  To wit:

An early world apology tour, focused on the Muslim world, during which the newly elected U.S. president issued meae culpae for alleged inappropriate U.S. actions around the world; interestingly, no mention was made or concern evidenced of considerable U.S. blood spent to save Muslim lives.
The expedient selling out of Poland and the Czech Republic on missile defense in the interest of an oversold “reset” with Putin’s Russia.
A quick and forceful condemnation of Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak in the aftermath of his country’s “Arab Spring” street protests — to the benefit of the viscerally anti-democratic, ruthless, and anti-American Muslim Brotherhood.
A missed opportunity to gain negotiating leverage with a weakened Iranian regime by failing to support the dissident Green Movement in Iran, circa 2009.
A historic breach (complete with personal insults) with a sitting Israeli prime minister who has the fortitude to place Israel’s security interest ahead of Mr. Obama’s nuclear legacy.
An infamous “line in the sand” when proof of Syrian dictator Bashar Assad’s use of weapons of mass destruction against Syrian rebels was revealed to the world, but forgotten when the U.S. began relying on Iranian boots on the ground to fight the formerly J.V. army known as ISIS.

 Saudi Arabia is sending the US a clear message about MidEast strategy

 

. . . "The leading Gulf Arab power has complained for years that Washington does not take its concerns seriously. It thinks a focus on settling the dispute over Tehran's nuclear program has distracted the United States from more urgent problems.

" 'The conspiracy theorists of old have been proven right. The U.S. creates threats for us and then offers us more weapons systems. That does not bode well for us," said Sami Alfaraj, a Kuwaiti security adviser to the six-nation GCC." . . .

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/why-iran-will-not-be-able-to-take-full-advantage-of-sunni-arab-weakness-2015-5#ixzz3Zy7WrVgA

What is meant by the Islamization of a non-Muslim nation

Islamization Explained..." I mirror this outstanding video that lucidly and logically explains the mechanisms behind hostile Islamic takeover with most graphic images removed ,because YouTube gradually succumbs to Islamist blackmail and becomes more and more Sharia compliant. Two of my previous videos were removed ,ostensibly because of "inappropriate" content. This content is freely available on Google ,which owns YouTube."

'Islamization' of Paris a Warning to the West

European Muslim takeover - insider view part 3 of 4 
" Brave Israeli reporter infiltrates Islamist radicals in Europe and gives us an invaluable insight into the culture of Islamic Supremacy"

Restoring grave markers

 From Tom Pawlak at Guardian Eagles
"Military graves need polishing and restoring. Easy, if you ever painted a bedroom you can do this."

Inside Fidel Castro’s luxurious life on his secret island getaway

Via iOTW Report comes this column from the NY Post

 

For 17 years, Juan Reinaldo Sanchez served as bodyguard to Fidel Castro. But when he became disillusioned with the Cuban dictator’s hypocrisy and tried to retire in 1994, Castro had him thrown in prison. Sanchez made 10 attempts to escape the island, finally making it to the US in 2008. Now he reveals all in his new book, “The Double Life of Fidel Castro.” In this excerpt, Sanchez exposes “El Jefe’s” privileged life.

"To Cubans, Fidel Castro presents himself as a man of the people, claiming to make only 900 pesos a month (about $38) and owning no property other than a modest “fisherman’s hut” somewhere on the coast.

"In truth, El Jefe is worth hundreds of millions and owns 20 properties, including a chalet where he goes duck hunting every year and a private marina in the Bay of Pigs.

"His main home is Punto Cero, where his family was kept hidden away. No one knew until recently that he had a wife, Dalia, with whom he had five sons, all with “A” names: Alexis, Alex, Alejandro, Antonio and Angelito. Even Fidel’s own brother, Raúl, did not meet them until the children were adults. . . .

" Perhaps most extravagantly, Fidel Castro has his own secret island." . . .Full article here.

Cartoon Punch Down

Bokbluster

 bokbluster.com/

. . . "Doonesbury creator Garry Trudeau’s approach is different from the Fawstin way. He explained it in his acceptance speech for a Polk lifetime achievement award last month. It’s the punching bag theory of cartooning. He says that satire must always punch up at the powerful and never punch down at the powerless.

"Now they tell me. There are rules for satire.

"I like Doonesbury but haven’t liked its politics ever since the entire cast cheered Nixon’s wage/price controls back in the early 70’s. But that’s no reason to not appreciate a good cartoon. Doonesbury has been like an ongoing play with well developed characters who grow over time. It’s witty too. Most of the time.
. . .


 "Mark Steyn, on the other hand, hates Trudeau’s guts. So I picked out some of the good stuff from his column  'A Contemptible Man Strikes Down':" . . .

A Contemptible Man Punches Down

The offices of Charlie Hebdo: That's cartoonist's blood on the floor

. . . "Ah, so Charlie Hebdo is to blame for provoking ordinary, peaceful, moderate Muslims into supporting the Allahu Akbar guys who killed them.

Traditionally, satire has comforted the afflicted while afflicting the comfortable. Satire punches up, against authority of all kinds, the little guy against the powerful. Great French satirists like Molière and Daumier always punched up, holding up the self-satisfied and hypocritical to ridicule. Ridiculing the non-privileged is almost never funny—it's just mean.

By punching downward, by attacking a powerless, disenfranchised minority with crude, vulgar drawings closer to graffiti than cartoons, Charlie wandered into the realm of hate speech.

"Is Islam, which will be the world's largest religion by mid-century and already controls a 58-member voting bloc at the UN attempting to impose a global blasphemy law, really "a powerless, disenfranchised minority"? Does even someone as blinkered and parochial as Garry Trudeau think Charlie Hebdo was "punching down"?" . . .

 Charlie Hebdo dead, Vilks in hiding, Hedegaard shot, Rehman firebombed, Nekschot vanished, Molly Norris fled, Kurt Westergaard attacked by an Islamic axeman... But Garry Trudeau is on stage congratulating himself on "afflicting the comfortable". You can't "punch down" much lower than sneering at the dead and those no longer able to speak, can you?

This same "disenfranchised minority" has the world powers quaking in our boots, bowing and apologizing before them in fear.

This German cartoon needs no translation:

A Tribute to Baltimore

Moonbattery: "Baltimore has been taking it on the chin in terms of publicity, so let’s run a public service announcement on the city’s behalf. Maybe this will inspire some tourism to help jump start the local economy:"     H/T to iOTW Report

Baltimore is awesome! Watch the Orioles! Watch the Ravens! Take a boat tour in the harbor and then dine in one of the fabulous restaurants with a view. Visit the aquarium! You will love Baltimore!

The Failed Tactic of Flattering Islam; Why admiring the Muslim world won’t stop the bloodshed.

 

Bruce S. Thornton

 

. . . "But there’s another argument against actions and events like Geller’s that needs dismantling. This is the received wisdom that we should avoid criticizing Islamic doctrine or Mohammed because it will alienate moderate Muslims who otherwise would help us against the so-called “extremist” jihadists.

"Geraldo Rivera on Fox News invoked this rationale in his hysterical attack on Geller for “spewing her hatred and making us all look like the intolerant jerks they are saying we are in the Middle East and elsewhere.” In other words, most Muslims dislike the jihadis, who have “hijacked” and “distorted” their faith, and want to support our efforts against them. But they are put off by our “insults” of Mohammed and our “intolerance” of the wonderful “religion of peace,” all of which serve to “recruit” new jihadists. Even Bill O’Reilly and Laura Ingraham skirted this notion, advising against making any image of Mohammed, and thus in effect ratifying the legitimacy of the shari’a law against any representation of Mohammed, good or bad." . . .

. . .

 "Recently our historically challenged president whined about the Crusades and the Inquisition, with nary a word about the centuries of Muslim invasion, occupation, colonization, and brutal suppression in Christian Spain, Sicily, the Balkans, and Greece."

 

. . . " Are “moderate” Muslims “alienated” by [Russia's and China's] behavior and rushing to join the jihad against them? The obvious answer is no, for the simple reason that Russia and China are contemptuous of such juvenile psychological blackmail, pursue their national interests without regard for criticism by the “Muslim community,” and respond with brutal force to violent attacks.

The burden Michelle Obama must bear as no other first lady has had to do

Luxurious Life As First Lady Takes Toll On Michelle Obama Because She Is Black, She Complains

 

. . . "The first lady urged Tuskegee University graduates never “to succumb to feelings of despair and anger.”

"Along with President Obama and the couple’s two children (and occasionally her mother), Michelle Obama has made sure to spend plenty of taxpayer dollars on an impressive run of sweet luxury vacations.
. . . 

 That same month, Michelle Obama and the first daughters Malia and Sasha jetted off to China for over a week of much-needed sightseeing. (RELATED: Globetrotting Michelle Obama Announces Luxurious Vacation To China)
As of July 2014, the Obama family had already spent a whopping $44,351,777.12 in taxpayer funds on vacations. That dollar amount is obviously substantially higher now. (RELATED: The Obamas Have Spent Over $44 Million In Taxpayer Cash On Travel)
In 2008, then-candidate Obama promised gullible New York Times columnist Bob Herbert that he would not take vacations if he were elected president. (VIDEO FLASHBACK: Obama Promises No Vacations For Himself As President)

 No, Mrs. Obama, America’s Museums Aren’t Racially Discriminatory ..."The dedication of New York City’s new Whitney Museum — a $420 million, nine-story behemoth, under construction in Manhattan’s meatpacking district for the past five years — was an occasion for celebration. Leave it to an Obama to employ the occasion for racial scolding.

"The Obama in this case was Michelle, who has long shared her husband’s constitutional inability to refrain from racializing a public occasion: “You see, there are so many kids in this country who look at places like museums and concert halls and other cultural centers and they think to themselves, well, that’s not a place for me, for someone who looks like me, for someone who comes from my neighborhood,” she said at the dedication ceremony. “In fact, I guarantee you that right now, there are kids living less than a mile from here who would never in a million years dream that they would be welcome in this museum. And growing up on the South Side of Chicago, I was one of those kids myself.” . . . Read more at: NRO

 Michelle Obama on a Racial Tear

 

' . . .I knew Michelle Obama's running around the campaign saying, "For the first time in my life I'm proud of my country." You listen to Reverend Wright, you know what these people think, you know what they have been exposed to. You know that they have got a giant chip on their shoulder. And she's making it plain that she always has had and that it's getting worse after six, seven years, almost, in the White House, it's getting worse. It isn't getting better. According to her own words.
. . .
" The very people who thought this was going to be a transformative event in its own right are unhappier today and angrier today than they were six and a half years ago, than they were 10, 15, 20 years ago.  You talk about an opportunity blown.  Barack Obama is gonna go down in the history books, but he could have gone down in the history books, Barack Obama could have played this, he could have wiped out the Republican Party.  He could have rendered the Republican Party unnecessary if he would have just been colorblind. If he would have just sought to inspire everybody. If he would have just taken his oratorical talents and skills and passion and sought to build people up and build the country up.  And I'm not talking about lying about it. " . . . Rush Limbaugh

Don't Draw Mohammed, Debate the Origins of Islam

 

Steve Chambers   . . . "There’s a far better and more important way to exercise free speech about Islam, and Robert Spencer in particular should be aware of it and is well placed to facilitate it.

"Publicizing cartoons of Mohammed is a thumb in the eye of Muslims, particularly pious ones holding to the Wahhabi and Salafist view that portraying or mocking Mohammed is blasphemy.  Cartoons are therefore a double outrage.  However, cartoons do nothing substantial to undermine the ideology of radical Islam that plagues the earth, they just expose a raw nerve among some Muslims and hence elicit sympathy from non-Muslims, even including prominent Fox News pundits such as Bill O’Reilly and Martha MacCallum and conservative Catholic leaders such as Bill Donohue.

"It would be far more effective to have a calm, protracted discussion and debate about the origins of Islam and the real life of Mohammed.  Such an event should be more akin to a panel discussion mediated by Jim Lehrer than a media circus presided over by Bill O’Reilly or Jon Stewart, and it should bring in views from across the political and religious spectrum.

Read more: http://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2015/05/dont_draw_mohammed_debate_the_origins_of_islam.html#ixzz3ZsNTg1cL

Links on the Baltimore Six

Six Baltimore Officers Fight Prosecution, Allege Overreach  "The six Baltimore police officers charged in the death of Freddie Gray filed a motion Friday to dismiss the charges. “Rarely in the history of any criminal case has a prosecutor so directly maintained so many conflicts of interest,” the motion read. “Rarer still are instances where such clear conflict exists and a prosecutor steadfastly refuses to recuse him or herself. … This motion is being filed at this junction because the Defendants have grave concerns about the charging decisions which will be made in the near future and their ability to receive due process of the law.” . . .

Meanwhile in unpoliced Baltimore. . . 

Related:  Anti-cop race agitators claim another victim "Sierra C-Babi Mccurdy used to have a job at Subway, until she took to Facebook and celebrated the murders of Hattiesburg, Mississippi police officers Benjamin Deen, 34 and Liquori Tate, 25."

. . . 

"For her own sake, I hope Ms. Mccurdy will read up on the statistics and apologize to the families of Officers dean and Tate. She looks young, and her stupid belief in racist propaganda should not ruin her life. But if not, she will become another victim of the race mongers. And she will have lots of company.

Freddie Gray Case: Meet Prosecutor Mosby’s Lead Investigator..." As an aside, how typical it is that the Progressive propagandist journalist Anderson Cooper’s take-home message from this report is to question the motives of those who “leaked” this factual public information as opposed to questioning the motives and judgment of Mosby for appointing such an apparent loon to lead her “investigation.' ” . . .

Biased Much ? Baltimore Prosecutor Marilyn Mosby Sits On Stage As Guest Of Honor For Prince Concert Rally and Freddie Gray Justice…

 Baltimore Is Just the Latest Target in Obama’s Civil-Rights Crusade against Police Departments. . ."A key, if little noticed, part of Obama’s domestic agenda from the start has been to roll back lawful police methods that dramatically reduce crime. As I’ve previously explained, the Democrat-controlled Congress in the first years of the Clinton presidency gave him the tool he needed: the 1994 Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act. It enables the attorney general to file lawsuits against cities and towns that, it contends, engage “in a pattern or practice of conduct by law enforcement officers . . . that deprives persons of [federal] rights.”

 

Winston Churchill, 75 Years Ago Today

 

 William Kristol  "Seventy-five years ago today, on May 10, 1940, Nazi Germany invaded Holland and Belgium. Conservative prime minister Neville Chamberlain was rebuffed by Labour in his request to join him in a National Government, and at 6 pm, King George VI asked Winston Churchill to form a government. Churchill immediately did so. Here's the last paragraph of Churchill's account in the final chapter of his The Gathering Storm:

During the last crowded days of the political crisis, my pulse had not quickened at any moment. I took it all as it came. But I cannot conceal from the reader of this truthful account that as I went to bed at about 3 A. M., I was conscious of a profound sense of relief. At last I had the authority to give directions over the whole scene. I felt as if I were walking with Destiny, and that all my past life had been but a preparation for this hour and for this trial. Eleven years in the political wilderness had freed me from ordinary party antagonisms. My warnings over the last six years had been so numerous, so detailed, and were now so terribly vindicated, that no one could gainsay me. I could not be reproached either for making the way or with want of preparation for it. I thought I knew a good deal about it all, and I was sure I should not fail. Therefore, although impatient for the morning, I slept soundly and had no need for cheering dreams. Facts are better than dreams.

"The man of the century."

 What Makes a Man of the Century; "There were lots of important individuals, but one stands out"

President Clinton explained his choice of Roosevelt by noting that as a patriot he had to choose an American. Churchill was not only the son of an American mother, but one of only five honorary citizens of the United States. There must be something else that disqualified him in Clinton's eyes, and after reading Lukacs one can almost guess what it must have been. The crucial moment in Churchill's life was the moment when he prevailed upon a terrified British cabinet to fight on under seemingly hopeless circumstances. Can it possibly be that Clinton has the self-knowledge to understand that if by some freak of fate he'd been sitting around that cabinet table, he'd have been one of those who wanted to cut a deal?

Churchill on Appeasement

“You were given the choice between war and dishonor. You chose dishonor, and you will have war.” Spoken in reference to arch-appeaser Neville Chamberlain.

It must be said, however, that Chamberlain had a limit to his desire to appease; he himself declared war on Germany as soon as they invaded Poland on Sept 1, 1939. 
He drew a red line at Poland and meant what he said.  
Churchill himself was determined to follow Hitler to "the gates of Hell" and did just that. 
TD
.

Don't get too excited over Seymour Hersch's report that Obama lied about the bin Laden raid

 

Seymour Hersh is a crackpot  "Everyone has been sending me these links to articles about Seymour Hersh charging that Obama lied about the assassination of bin laden. Seriously, people? Seymour Hersh? Hersh is the fellow who charged that Darth Cheney had a secret assassination team that was taking out the Bush Administration’s political enemies. His sources? Well they were anonymous – in other words he was using the voices in his head." Jonn Lilyea

Serial fabricator Seymour Hersh is at it again . . ."Some of this rings true - Obama "embellishing" the details of the raid. And it wouldn't surprise me a bit, given the close relationship between the leadership of the ISI and our military that a couple of very high level Pakistanis knew of the raid in advance. It is understandable why the president would keep that detail to himself when announcing Bin Laden's death. 

"But the rest is typical Hersh - overblown, exaggerated bombast using poorly sourced "facts" to tell a tall tale."

Anyway, here is Hersch's latest expose':

The Hill

"An expose published on Sunday alleges that President Obama deceived Americans with his narrative of the 2011 assassination of Osama bin Laden. "In addition, the source said that the Obama administration originally agreed to announce bin Laden had been killed in a drone strike rather than shot during an active Special Forces mission. “ 'Obama’s speech was put together in a rush,” Hersh wrote of Obama’s announcement of Operation Neptune Spear to Americans. “ 'This series of self-serving and inaccurate statements would create chaos in the weeks following,” he added." . . .    

On Hersch's claim: ...Hersh says the White House did not respond to his requests for comment. Given that the US side of the story is based primarily on a single anonymous source, it should obviously be viewed with skepticism. Even with that caveat, though, the article is a startling read.

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/seymour-hersh-white-house-osama-bin-laden-2015-5#ixzz3Zq5fmFqh

  
From Vox: The many problems with Seymour Hersh's Osama bin Laden conspiracy theory . . . " A decade ago, Hersh was one of the most respected investigative journalists on the planet, having broken major stories from the 1969 My Lai massacre to the 2004 Abu Ghraib scandal. But more recently, his reports have become less and less credible. He's claimed that much of the US special forces is controlled by secret members of Opus Dei, that the US military flew Iranian terrorists to Nevada for training, and that the 2014 chemical weapons attack in Syria was a "false flag" staged by the government of Turkey. Those reports have had little proof and, rather than being borne out by subsequent investigations, have been either unsubstantiated or outright debunked. A close reading of Hersh's bin Laden story suggests it is likely to suffer the same fate.  Rich Lowry says of Vox, "Vox Obama is closed-minded and small."

 . . . Vox called the video clips of its interviews “films.” They had dramatic cut-aways and soothing music, as well as cute gizmos and other supporting material flashing on the screen to illustrate the wisdom and correctness of everything Obama said.

 

These from Lucianne:

Obama Lied When He Said he Pulled Off Bin Laden Raid Without Help Monday's big story.

Osama bin Laden was killed with help of Pakistanis, who held 9/11 mastermind prisoner at Abbottabad compound: report  More on the bin Laden deception. The Killing of Osama bin Laden

The original Seymour Hersh piece. "The White House story might have been written by Lewis Carroll." We post.. You decide.