The US Election - nausea edition

Lordy, lordy it's half of fordy!   Only a couple of weeks left in the Obama ruptured duckery and then , once again, America can be the land that Israel ordained it to be.   Don Trump's inaugural barge will leave the power people of  Pluto, Florida -  those who attended at the 'emprah's new year's ball' and soiree for $180 bucks a pop - and the "White House South" - 'Mar-a-Lago', (trans: 'Bad of the last', or 'the worst' in Neapolitano) and steam up Pennsylvania Avenue.

Hilaria's Take on the New Year's disgrace

Meanwhile up north, the Russians looked like they were running some sort of Exodus, for  a plague of sanctions descended from the WH on some specific Russians for what the US government think they know, or think they were told, Putin's hackers had done to 'Democrazy'.  Not enough to have an election rescinded, obviously, but enough to make somebody - particularly a Hillary supporter,  think that, if whatever it was hadn't happened, Hilary might have attracted more black non-voters and increased her popular vote figures - the ones that say, "I won!"  In a late development, to bring that message of fear closer to the minds of Americans , a government source used a clip from a popular video game (where hackers gather info to help them open safes)  to illustrate the existing danger.

Getting serious about hacking 

But back to the Russians.

The US State Department issued marching orders for a number of Russian diplomatic staff to cease, desist and remove themselves, before midnight, from the magical kingdom - for 'espionage'.  The numbers included  the chef at a legation in California and what might be described as a 'coven' of Russky Christadelphians, or an  Amway team, or Scientificisicians living in a  'group retreat center' on Long Island .  I guess they'll be taking their higher power home to mind-meld with Vlad.

Among others sanctioned, were the head, deputy head and a few other high-ranking members of the Russian security apparatus (no Disney trips for those birds).  Surprisingly,  a young female Russian is complaining, to-day, that she and her security company - she has actually won a few EU rewards for finding hacking activities - have been arbitrarily accused of 'helping' Russian state security find out what John Podesta had in his inbox - or that Hilary's friends didn't want Bernie Sanders doing more than flailing before 'the goddess'.

Actually I think it's likely that her business might be competition for 'CrowdStrike', the US anti-hacking, now multi-million dollar 'corporation' that is US state security's sole, apparently,  font of wisdom. The Russian boss of that operation probably offered a merger - between the two they could have 3/4 of the globe 'covered'. But she wouldn't bite his bag and so he's getting his pals to do him a solid.  If she's smart,  we'll hear that they're 'dating'.

High Drama American Style

It's the last of summer long-weekend in America - maybe even in other parts of the world people are enjoying the end of summer too. But that time for residents of the Northern Hemisphere has traditionally been a good time to lay a beating on the neighbor. The harvests are ripening and are available for the taking. Failing the taking, they can be ruined, leaving the neighbor to starve. In the bad old days, September could be a good time for ultimatums or invasions, or both.

Time hasn't changed us all that much and so we 'mall trotters' are watching a story unfold that could, if obtained, empty the stale ordinance of the ammo lockers of freedom.

This past fortnight saw a development in the Syrian CivilWar/Revolution that had been some time in coming. Assad the barbarian had finally acquiesced to a long overdue investigation of an incident last spring, in which, it was claimed, chemical weapons had been used on a 'rebel' enclave. UN investigators had appeared in Damascus to take up a long cold trail of evidence. Imagine the dismay (delight?) of most people when the nightly news was filled with the same kind of  foam-flecked images seen last spring. Apparently, we were told , to celebrate the arrival of UN investigators, the Syrian Government had gassed its own people, again.

There were delays (to hide the evidence?) before the investigation team could get to the affected areas. But despite being sniped on their first foray, the team was able to get into rebel-held areas to gather information. They concluded their work and left Syria yesterday. They had 24 hours to do that.

That was how close Pres. Obama was to his deadline - the one he warned the Syrian government about when he drew his Netanyahu-inspired 'red line' back in the Spring. The C in C was all ready to let slip the pups of war to punish those who used chemical weapons without a permit. He had a coalition of the willing and, forgoing the OK of the UN or any other say-so, he was/is prepared to 'go it alone' if needs be. Gassing people, as opposed to blowing them to bits with a chain gun, rocket projectile or guided bomb is not morally, politically or even physically acceptable, especially if the people gassed are 'innocent'. So he was getting all wired-up on the sure knowledge that Bashir did it, knew he'd done it, didn't say he was sorry and needed to be chastised.

The past two weeks have seen that message about guilt and responsibility repeated over and over until Obama stated it as gospel - chapter and verse.  While it seems he has the verbal support on most world leaders who count, very few, except for the gallant French, who led the last charge into Libya, are 'on board' for the expense of blasting Damascus. In fact, aside from the world leaders, Obama doesn't seem to have much support at all. Most people think it's Iraq and WMDs all over again.  And most people don't like the idea.

So in order to cheer up the weekend barbecues, Obama is defining what he means about 'going downtown' on Assad. He just wants to do a little bit of bombardment, nothing serious really, just as little boom-boom to let Assad know things could get worse if he doesn't get smart. A really surgical strike that most Syrians won't notice, or particularly care about, except the bad Syrians. Of course his Syrian 'allies' and the helpful Israelis will be helping him select targets - maybe at the 'end o'summer war-room popcorn and movie night'. He wants it to be just like the bombing Ron Reagan did on  whacko Khaddafi.  Gloriously cheap and effective and not committing America to any 'boots-on-the-ground' kind of thing. They did mess-up his favorite tent, and kill one of his kids - by accident of course. And it didn't bother Khaddafi at all - just ask the Lockerbie survivors.

But only the good stuff this time, OK?

Hear Brad Manning

Brad Manning - the poster boy to blame for everything that's gone 'wrong' in America's little effort to recreate Iraq and the rest of the world, is getting his day in court after almost two years in military prisons. And things are taking a decidedly nasty turn for the powers that be, or at least the powers that were. For despite the 'image' of Manning as so far presented - a homosexual, loser, runt with mental issues and a hatred for everything America stands for, he's turning out to be surprisingly lucid, intelligent and more than reasonable.

One wondered when almost immediately he pled 'guilty' to the greater number of charges against him, illegally sharing classified information he was not authorized to divulge. He remains on trial on the charges to which he pled not guilty, ie the charges of treason, and aiding the enemy in time of war.

Along with that guilty plea, Manning has been able to offer the court an account of what he says he did, and why he did it. In that story is the proof of his pudding. And now someone has leaked the audio of his statement to the court. Unless the government can rebut this, or prove otherwise, Brad Manning might go free at last.

The audio record is available here.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2013/mar/12/bradley-manning-tapes-own-words

What strikes one immediately is Manning's native intelligence and, apparently, his moral fortitude, he just doesn't sound like somebody who thinks, after two years of 'special handling' by the Marines, that he's done something wrong.

First of all, relating to how and why he came to have access to America's most secret information, it seems that his aptitudes and testing on intake to the military were of such a high order that his other obvious 'deficiencies' were  downplayed. He is not constitutionally fitted to America's standard 'vision' of  the 'warrior class'. Basic training - at least the physical part- was a challenging and notably protracted experience. He passed basic in twice the length of time prescribed - ie he should have 'washed out'. For some reason his superiors saw military value in him that allowed them to make a pass of a short, weak, deficient soldier. He pleads guilty to being a somewhat 'weak sister' sort of guy.

Having passed basic he was assigned to military intelligence where he soon learned his 'craft' - gleaning intelligence reports and synopsizing the same for upward transmission, sifting and combining pertinent reports to make note of trends or patterns that could be used for military purposes. He seems to have been good at his job and technically proficient in managing large data systems. His 'problems' started when he insisted on thinking about what he was reading. He claims to have become affected by a "helping" operation was  becoming a self-defeating one. That Iraqis were unappreciative of American sacrifice, but that America's counterinsurgency tactics were geared to do anything but 'win them over'. What he was reading in situation reports was glaringly at odds with the 'official narrative' put out for the information of American forces, and the American people.

He claims that he did what he could to undo what he considered to be incompetent work by military intelligence and was stopped by military bureaucracy and  hierarchy. He claims that personal problems at a time of furlough led to reflection turning into a perceived need to act. He had 'backed-up' his data in a way that would be accessible to him and he had that in his possession, not for nefarious reasons but only to preserve the continuity and integrity of his work. He sought advice from friends and what he thought to be  trustworthy others - including the man who would later turn him in, who was, then, claiming to be an "journalist" and "pastor".

The notion of sharing what he knew with the US media took form in his mind. He approached some media and was rebuffed. No media sources proved to be as interested in what he knew as he hoped they would be.  Eventually, however, he got somebody, who could appreciate its news value, to look at what he had  ... that was the Wikileaks organization. After that the media started to take notice.

Manning was careful to note that the information he transmitted was, according to its official coding, material that was widely-distributable within military and government circles.  He did not transmit any information that was classified or highly restricted.  He explained those 'official' codes to the court.

In short Bradley Manning is proving to be the Daniel Ellsberg of his time, leaking official documents that are at odds with what is being released as truth, or being done in reverse to what is being said. This is, simply, the 'Pentagon Papers' all over again, only this time from the State Department.

One Other Little Thing

The members of NATO , Canada included, find themselves involved in a 'mission civilitrice' instigated by the last US administration as part of what it claimed was a response to 'world-wide terror'. Canada, along with the US and a couple of other NATO members finds itself involved in the bang-bang end of the mission, the part that entails 'defeating' a Taliban insurgency spurred on by Al Qaeda.

To what end? Well first of all there's a democracy to build, and a democratic government to support. Then there are a people(s) to lift out of ignorance and degradation into a modern world-economy. There are little girls to be educated, clinics and schools to build, cell phones and consumerism and entertainment industries to be developed. There's a pipeline planned to supply the fuel needs of India and Pakistan we're told, but built by the US oil industry. That's a tall (if not totally impossible) order given that the Afghans don't seem to want any of it.

Along with all the civilization there are a couple of problems that are sneaking up.

There's the drug problem for one thing. Not the growing and export of opium and heroin, but the growing number of Afghan addicts. For a country so steeped in the culture of the opium poppy, either one would have thought that the subjugation of a bunch of addicts would have been a walk-over for the forces of cleanliness and decency, or perhaps, like other places, where such 'diversions' are part of the natural landscape, drugs are a part of life and not an escape mechanism. From what we've known drugs were not a big problem in Afghanistan before, but they certainly are now. Our media is replete with regular tales of degradation due to drug use in the Afghan cities. US-style addiction ie 'the street person effect' - idleness, poverty and social dependence are on the up-swing.

Also on the up-swing is the American predilection for 'poontang and dick'. Prostitution and 'slavery' are becoming more prevalent as parts of the 'market' available to those in need of money. As usual, US (to a lesser extent other NATO) service personnel with money and time on their hands are a driving force. Two women were shot last year by the Taliban in Khandahar allegedly for working as prostitutes on the NATO base there.

There is a disturbing story creeping out of Kabul lately about the 'adventures' of US embassy security personnel - for the most part civilian employees of the Armor Group Security firm.


Added to this were other recent reports that these contractor were developing and executing their own 'missions' in the Kabul area - usually involving nighttime forays among uninhabited buildings. You can bet your bippy that, given their 'alternative' discipline and a propensity for high school sophomorics, this gang couldn't be doing much good for Afghans. Add the fact they're armed to the teeth that's probably a gross understatement. What they are, however, in mufti or otherwise, are a gang of six-foot walking targets. One day they'll get it and 'Taliban Massacre' will be all over the papers.



I'd love to know just how many 'cowboys' it takes to get the rest of the herd thinking Brokeback Mountain escapades ain't really bad after all? One? More than one? "Hey I got a idea. Let's drink vodka straight outta the crack in Joe's ass! Joe drop trou! Me first, I like mine salty with a backkick o' doo doo - cause I'm macho man! If the wife or kids at home see it, it all the PTSD's fault."

It's Ramadan around the world, the Muslim holy month. Muslims fast and pray during the day and break their fast after sundown. They do that everywhere from Edmonton to Shiraz St. in Alabaster, Alabama and anywhere Muslims are in between. That includes the 'front lines' - Iraq, Gaza, Lebanon, Somalia, Sudan, Mali, the Philippines - places where Muslims are actually at war about something.

They claim they're fighting 'crusader aggression'. The opposition - the 'freedom loving' countries of the world, claim they're fighting the first stages of a war of world domination. First, Muslims want to crush the State of Israel and then the rest of the Christian, and other, worlds.

Who's being aggressive? The 'Muslims', particularly a small fringe group of 'radical' muslims attacked the World Trade Centre and the Pentagon on September 11th, 2001. There has been muslim aggression since, and there was some before, but 11/09/01 is a watershed moment.

After 9/11 the way was clear to ramp-up freedom-loving aggression like it hadn't been ramped-up for 5 years since Desert Storm - the 'mother of all battles'. There was the up-graded embargo that hurt every Iraqi but Saddam Hussein, kids mostly; there was the military build-up; the PR exercises at the UN; then 'Shock and Awe' and the romp to Baghdad. After that was a, I think deliberate, 'looking the other way' as civil order in Iraq disappeared. It suited the purpose of 'democracy' to rebuild from the ground up. It's just that the 'democrats' didn't see the truck that hit them coming.

The aggression has continued and escalated. The 'peaceable', reformed Iraq has yet to appear. The 'democrats' think that just a little more killing is going to do it, that one day the Iraqis will give in to inevitability and westerners will be able to stroll downtown Baghdad with a bellyful of daiquiris after dinner. For the foreseeable future that's far from inevitable.

Last month General Petraeus made his report that the 'surge' was taking effect. This was to be expected as he was given his position with this end in mind. Self-criticism might happen, but certainly not in front of a Senate committee. To an extent Petraeus is right, violence does seem reduced, American casualties are in decline and then Ramadan. Unlike last year, this years' Ramadan seems to be relatively peaceful. Whether it was intentional or not, the BBC stopped carrying a weekly 'surge report' of five or six basic comparisons from week to week of the surge, this after two weeks of notable improvement. That has been replaced by the 'body count'.

Started in Afghanistan three months back, the coalition forces began to report numbers of insurgents killed in operations. It must have seemed such a good idea that it has been emulated in Iraq. Someone has forgotten that, thirty years ago, all the statistics and numbers pointed toward victory in Vietnam. The enemy was beaten wherever he showed up. And yet, somehow, that war was lost. Probably when the public started to wonder about the reported success and the evident failure. Scoring the dead is a slippery slope. Particularly during Ramadan. Bragging to the media that the surge is working could be asking for a riposte.

The mentality behind this war continues undiminished. President Bush needs another 190 billions to prosecute his war. At the same time the USA, number one in arms sales with a bullet - is preparing to arm its friends in the middle east. If you happened to be a non-friend you might be sending some weapons buyers to see the world's 'we try-harder' arms dealer, Russia. Iran, trying to get a nuclear plant working, is the world bogey-man while the North Koreans who actually built and detonated a bomb are now the recipients of American largesse, if they promise to 'forget how they did it'. Speaking of largesse, Hamid Karzai says he's willing to talk peace to the Taliban and America offers $200 000 a head for their leadership - 'dead or alive'.

Somebody , a graduate of the LBJ Academy for the Wise Application of The Buck, forgot the part about how, although everybody likes it, some people won't take it and it makes others very unhealthy. Reminiscent of the SNL parody about H. Ross Perot's money and 'squealing like a pig' for 50 bucks.

If it isn't over , the month after Ramadan could be a 'doozie'.