Trump wants an expanded Military able to fight multiple wars at the same time

"We got two, three, four wars goin' on,
All I can do is sing this song..." - Times is Hard, Loudon Wainwright III, Songs for the New Depression (2009)

According to reporting in the Armytimes and MarineCorpstimes, Donald Trump wants an expanded military able to project military power in multiple theaters simultaneously.

Trump wants an active-duty Army with another 60,000 soldiers in the ranks, an unspecified number of additional sailors to man the 78 ships and submarines he intends to see built in coming years. He wants up to 12,000 more Marines to serve in infantry and tank battalions, and at least another 100 combat aircraft for the Air Force. 

Where is he going to get the extra Americans from? Right-Wingers love to talk up the military but shy away from actually joining and doing the work. Conservatives shirk duty at every opportunity.

But, during the Global War on Terror (GWoT) sometimes known as World War IV to Conservatives (Ronnie Raygun having won World War III against the Soviet Union by himself), Young Conservatives eschewed military service. During W(orst POTUS Ever) misadministration military Recruiters, under massive pressure to make quotas, were driven to signing up gangbangers and white supremacists to fill vacanies which conservatives were reluctant to fill. But, conservatives were more than willing to fight the battle on the homefront; Attacking liberals, defaming anti-war activists, and joining the couch-borne keyboard commandoes.

However, during the year-long 2016 Presidential Race, conservatives adopted a mealy-mouthed anti-war stance, which they really didn't believe. Right-Wingers and their media sychophants assured America that Trump hated Wars, especially Iraq. Of course, Iraq really was entirely the fault of HRC and her 30 year reign as Emperor of America. The vote totals probably indicate Trump's new found anti-Iraq War stance didn't sway anti-war people into Trump's camp but, it did afford ratfvckers like Glenn Greenwald and Jill Stein cover to go after HRC while minimalizing the world-wide danger represented by Donald Trump.

So, what we are seeing is a repeat of Reaganomics. Massive deficit spending on the military. Jobs creation focused on the military; more soldiers, more contractors, more non-military support staff.

Remember that for every soldier, airmen, sailor, or Marine in uniform you're talking at least 9 non-military personnel added.

Trump has promised to build a Marine Corps capable of simultaneously winning two wars. It would be based on 36 battalions, up from the current force structure of 24 active-duty infantry battalions, two active-duty tank battalions and supporting units. That means adding between 8,000 and 12,000 more Marines to the service’s roster, another potentially expensive personnel plus-up dependent on a significant influx of new funding.   Using the fiscal 2017 personnel costs as a base, that could total more than $1 billion per year just in personnel costs, before equipment and training are factored in. 

But, when coupled with the right-wing moronic lunatics Trump is proposing former Marine Corps General James Mattis for Secretary of Defense and General Mike Flynn for National Security Advisor it's time to realize the United States is about to enter two new wars in the Middle East; i.e. An invasion of Syria to unleash Trump's secret smarter than the generals plan to fight ISIS and a ramping up of tensions with Iran under the leadership of Warmonger Senators Tom Cotton and John McCain until Trump declares war to distract the American people.

So, as conservatives get their war back on, challenge them over and over to enlist and put their asses on the line instead just talking tough. But, get ready for Generation: Chicken Hawk 2.0.

The Republicans want War with Iran

The Letter from the 47 Traitors was a shot across the bow of Iran. However, it wasn't a warning but, a promise that as soon as they can the Republican Party will declare War on the Iranian People. Well, to be clear, the Republicans plan to send other Americans' children to war.

The Right-Wing Warmongers feel they have the perfect poster boy in Senator Tom Cotton, who despite being so stupid that he doesn't know that Tehran is the Capital of Iran, is leading the charge.

Tehran Tom is a true believer. He still believes the George W(orst POTUS Ever) Bush Administration Big Lie that Saddam was involved in 9/11, that Iraq still has WMDs, and the Iraq debacle was a Great and Noble Crusade. Senator Cotton is now calling for a ramp-up of Military spending to match the 1980's because he is a full-fledged member of the Military-Industrial-Congressional-Complex.

So, of course, Tehran Tom was chosen by Bloody Bill Kristol and the D.C. NeoCons to lead the Iran War Propaganda Charge. War with Iran will accomplish a great deal for the Republicans.

First, of the high-ranking Republicans leading this Crusade, all but perhaps one or two will have no family members anywhere near the War. The Young Republicans on college campuses will again beat the War Drum from the safety of their Quads. It'll just be working class Americans suffering and Republicans love when Poor people suffer.

Second, the Republican Party is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Rich. The Rich used the Iraq War to steal at least 3 Trillion Dollars from the American People. A New War in Iran will be a windfall for the Rich while also providing the a crushing debt which the Rich will use to steal Social Security.

You see the Bush's Iraq War and the Huge Deficits associated with it have been used by Conservatives for over a decade to slash spending for the Social Safety Net and hamstring President Obama.

So, not only do the Rich get Richer, the Poor get Poorer. And when the Republicans launch the War on Iran a New Generation of Veterans will come home damaged and broken to be spit upon and left to suffer and die by the Republican Party.

Dead is Dead in Syria. No More US Involvement in the Middle East

"My God, man! Drilling holes in his head isn't the answer! Now put away your butcher knives and let me save this patient before it's too late!" - Leonard Bones McCoy

Poison Gas! Oh no...

What crap. As if getting a hacked to death by machettes is better than drowning in your own blood after sucking-in mustard gas.

Some weapons are acceptable. Those machine guns emplacements which mowed down hundreds of thousands of men in World War 1were totally fine. That mustard gas which killed far less? Absolutely evil!

Of course, that Winston Churchill ordered British Dive Bombers to use poison gas on Iraqis in 1920 has been forgotten by everyone (save the Iraqi Insurgents during OIF who named their group the 1920 Revolutional Brigade).

One would think by now that Americans would understand that the Plutocratic Military-Industrial-Congressional-Complex runs this Nation.

Of course, we are going to conduct "MOOTW" in Syria. There enough votes on Both Sides to approve US military involvment. The Region and more importantly the oil reserves are still a keystone to the Strategic Goals of many nations.

What President Obama's call on Congress does is stick a finger in the eye of the Tea Party Assholes in Congress who claim to be so outside the normal corruption in DC.

There's going to be a split in the Republican Party over this, Senators John McCain and Lindsey Graham never met a Bombing Campaign they didn't love, Speaker John Boehner has already indicated his support, but any of the Teahadists who vote against the interests of the MIC are going to find funding for their future political campaigns very hard to get. It doesn't mean they can't carve out a Ron Paul niche, but by and large a No Vote is going to doom them.

Right now, the Anti-American Tea Party is trying to figure the metrics. Mostly, it's coming down on Obama's a Muslim Terr-a-wrist so he's doing this to get Assad killed to help the Muslim Brotherhood and Al Qaeda just as he did in Libya and Egypt. 

But, while that works for the (ever-growing) Insane Faction of the Republican Party, most want to take War Credit while also damning President Obama. So you get the Marco Rubio/Paul Ryan Right-Wing Saviors who will vote for military action while claiming President Obama has already lost Syria by not invading earlier.

Sadly, it appears the yes votes for the initial Air Campaign, which may eventually Mission Creep into full-blown Regime Change in Syria, will come from the Democratic Party.

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi has voiced her support for the President will she drag enough Democrats along to get us embroiled in Syria?

Right now in Illinois, my Congressmen Peter Roskam (R) is Undecided and my Congresswoman Tammy Duckworth (D) is a No. Senator Mark Kirk (R) is a Yes and Senator Dick Durbin is Undecided.

The question is: the Middle East is nearly destabilized, what will more US military involvement do to the Region? My fear is a full-blown regional war which will set off a cascading sequence of events which involves Outside Powers because of the massive oil reserves.

Despite our Victory in Iraq as proclaimed by the Right-Wing Fart Bubble before George W(orst Ever) Bush skulked out of office, thousands are still dying in coordinated VBIED attacks, (What are you doing on the 5th Anniversary of Victory in Iraq Day on November 22nd?)

But, the Invasion of Iraq wasn't sold on Humanitarian grounds or Saddam's use of chemical weapons, it was sold on the Bush Regime making the connection between the 9/11 Hijackers and Saddam Hussein.

Yes, Saddam's evil use of chemical weapons was referenced by George W(orst Ever) Bush multiple times but the implication was he'd be giving those weapons (and his new nuclear ones) to Osama Bin Laden to attack us for Our Freedoms.

Of course, I could be wrong and Our Involvement may allow the Rebel Factions to swiftly overthrow and kill Assad as happened to Qaddafi in Libya. Republicans are still angered that President Obama directed a successful Operation in Libya. Hence the Benghazi-Mania which has festered and boiled inside the Right-Wing Fart Bubble as the Worst Disaster in the History of America.

But, that is what makes Syria a perplexing question. Does the use of military power ever aid anyone and can it help at all in Syria?

The SS of the USMC

The "SS" logo flag in a photograph of the platoon 
taken in September 2010 in Helmand province.

United States Marine Corps Scout Snipers have used the distinctive Nazi SS Lightning Bolts as a Unit symbol. The Marines, in this photo, were members of Charlie Company, 1st Reconnaissance Battalion, out of Camp Pendleton, California.

There is no way this is unintentional as the Marine Corps initial investigation claims,

“We don’t believe these Marine Corps snipers had a historical appreciation for what this symbol meant,” an unnamed USMC official said.

Marine Corps leadership also claims the Corps did not know until late last year,

The inspector general at I Marine Expeditionary Force at Pendleton was made aware of the “SS” flag photograph in November, said Capt. Gregory Wolf, a spokesman at Marine Corps headquarters.

Please recall Claire Danes in the Homeland episode The Weekend where she notices a tattoo on a seemingly normal looking guy in a backwater bar:

Danes:'88,' huh?
Neo-Nazi: Yeah, it’s my jersey number from high school.
Danes: Or code for HH. Eighth letter of the alphabet. 'Heil Hitler.'
Neo-Nazi: You’re not just a pretty face, are you?
Danes: You guys are White Nation, huh? That’s cool.
Neo-Nazi: It’s Aryan pride, baby.

It's a whistle. Gangs. White Supremacists. Christian Dominionists. They put these symbols out there because most of the world doesn't see them for what they are and when they do get caught there's plausiable deniability.

Service members are checked for tattoos and markings during their physicals. Every single member of that Battalion and every Marine Corps Scout Sniper (and DoD Service Member) should be checked for tattoos. Americans would be shocked at the number of Gang members and White Supremacists that are currently in the military.

This is what happens when the Military relaxes standards and looks obliquely past obvious warning signs to accommodate Chicken Hawk Republicans need for Glorious, Glorious War. Gang members, Militia members, White Supremacists, Christian Fascists, criminals have been inflitrating the military for the last decade in order to gain skills, training and inside knowledge of military workings to further their own goals in the US.

The Marines Leave Iraq

"Is the sacrifice worth it? It is worth it and it is vital to the security of our country," ~ George W. Bush

On 01/23/10, the US Marines transferred Anbar Province over to the US Army and are heading home after 7 years of Operations in the area.

And while I am still firmly against the Iraq War, and do not believe any so-called victory is worth the price we paid, I salute my brave Corps Brethren.

The Marines who served prior, during and after my time in Iraq accomplished an incredible feat through sheer guts, intelligence, determination, training and perseverance despite the best efforts of the Bush/Cheney Neo-Con chicken hawks and Democratic cowards who sent them over there to make money for the War Profiteers.

Sadly because Conservatives have no intention of going to war they view the Marines and Soldiers as little more than wooden tokens on a RISK like game board. And many Marines bled their heart's blood into the desert for no good reason. And those that made it back to the States physically have left a part of their souls in the Middle East.

For some Marines never really come home. They suffer, unable to readjust to regular life in the 1st CIV DIV. Many take their lives.

Why? Because Dick Cheney and the Republicans (and then the Democrats) couldn't be bothered to deal with bureaucratic mismanagement and spend time helping those they sent into harm's way. But, that's to be expected from Republicans. Republicans are Cowards who hate the Troops and view them as raw meat. To be ground up serving Republican interests and advancing the Republican Party.

The Republican Party especially likes when soldiers die because Conservative Chicken Hawk Cowards, like the grave robbers and fakes they are, put their evil ideology, into the mouths of the dead for whom they have no right to speak.

Championing War, with no intention of fighting, and Using the dead are core Conservative Principles.

And they even give talks highlighting their cowardice: "Join the UMass Republican Club for yet another lively and edifying political discussion on the costs, necessities, consequences, and benefits of war." Because all that The University of Massachusetts Amherst Republicans and "rising star in the conservative intellectual movement" Jonah Goldberg are saying is Give War a Chance... You can always hear the people who are willing to sacrifice somebody else's life. They're plenty loud and they talk all the time.

Related:
Disaffected and it Feels So Good: Feels like Suicide

Victory in Iraq Day, One Year Later

Disgusting Warmongers, REMFpublican apologists and Chicken Hawk Cowards last year declared 11/22/08 to be Victory in Iraq Day:

We won. The Iraq War is over.

I declare November 22, 2008 to be "Victory in Iraq Day." (Hereafter known as "VI Day.") ~ Zomblog, Zombietime

This craven maneuver was an attempt to salvage the legacy of Bush and Cheney. Giving them One Win (Iraq) and Two Losses (Bin Laden 9/11) and One Tie (Afghanistan) in Republican War Accounting and ignoring the Bush/Cheney Legacy of Hundreds of Thousands of Deaths.

However, focusing just on Iraq since VI- Day 161 Americans have been killed and 688 wounded. But I'm certain Zombtime has consoled each and every grieving mother of the dead and the fathers of the maimed and wounded by telling them they can sleep better knowing that President Bush "technically" Won in Iraq on 11/22/08 and their child isn't a Casualty of War.

Obama Don't Bow Down

President Obama don't bow down to the Republican Chicken Hawk Warmongers who want to continue to suck the life's blood of the American people by having you expand the war in Afghanistan. Be brave and strong enough to stand up to the MIC and not allow American lives and money to be expended futilely in Afghanistan.

President B. Hussein Obama your decision is easy, pull us out of the Wars and be remembered as the one of the Greatest American Presidents ever... You, like I, took an Oath to Defend the American Constitution not the Afghanistan or Iraqi ones!

Listen to General Powell, take your time don't let the Chicken Hawk Warmongers like Mitt Romney goad or bully you into sending hundreds of thousands of Americans (as long as they aren't any of Romney's 5 sons) into a war with no purpose to defend a CIA backed corrupt regime for ambiguously defined National Interests. (Surprise! The brother of Hamid Karzai, the Mayor of Kabul, Ahmed Wali Karzai is a CIA paid operative, despite also being a Opium Kingpin and possibly funding the Taliban and international Terrorism. The CIA also backed Ahmed Chalabi who played the CIA and Bush/Cheney like fools, getting them to remove Saddam for him, and then double-crossed the US by giving classified Intel to the Iranians)

Getting and Letting (Getting In, Getting Bin Laden, Getting Out, Letting the "Afghans" figure out the rest) was a better choice in the beginning but the Bush/Cheney Regime had no intention of starting a war and finishing it because Perpetual War is the prime way the REMFpublicans make money! For instance Condi Rice and Stephen Hadley are starting a consulting firm, a nice cover to receive their payoffs for using their offices to push War onto America.

President Obama, I know it will be difficult, the MIC has made Trillions on the Wars of Bush and Cheney and if you think the Fox News led outrageous attacks by the Punk Ass Bitch REMFpublicans and their Teabagging Birtherite followers has been bad over the last 2 years the open calls for your Assassination (Pray for Obama psalm 109:8) and Overthrow will be unending from the Extremist Right.

And even though The Equalizer passed away his line as Harry Harbord Morant in Breaker Morant is more apropos: There is an epitaph I'd like: Matthew 10:36. Well, Peter... this is what comes of 'empire building.'

Related:
Armchair Generalist: Afghanistan Corruption - Out of Control

The DC Sniper and a Question of Terrorism

Riding on the winds of death
Raining from the sky
Suffocating final breath
The misery sublime

Shock and Awe
Eradicate eliminate exterminate at will
Shock and Awe
Rapid execution termination orchestration of the dead ~ Shock 'n' Awe, Onslaught

Despite his execution, the murderous DC Sniper John Allen Muhammad clearly was a figment of the imagination and did not exist. I know this because for years the Chicken Hawk Pimp Dick Cheney bragged unequivocally He kept America Safe from Terrorism Every Single Day He Was in Power after that whole 9/11 failure (shhhhh Amerithrax Attacks). Cheney the Pimp was backed by his ever lying prostitute/daughter Liz Cheney and the Fox News TV SpecFor Commandos.

Punk Ass Bitch Republicans backed Cheney and his man Bush despite of and in support of their repeated failures home and abroad. And the Iraq War was framed by the Extremist Right as the War on Terror and all attacks on American forces in Iraq were terrorist acts and all the combatants were terrorists.

It's only Terrorism when they do it, It's Shocking Glorious Freedom when we do it.

9/11 was a horrible Act of Terrorism. So what was Shock and Awe? For that matter what was the Fire Bombing of Dresden? Clearly the target of such overwhelming attacks is to kill and cow the civilian population into surrender, despite stated goals expressed by US Government officials.

Mushy Chicken Hawk Know-Nothing Jonah Goldberg declared he doesn't believe the Fort Hood Incident to be Terrorism. According to him Terrorism is: by conventional definition, an attack on civilians intended to strike fear in the non-military population in order to advance a political or ideological agenda.

Well, a true definition of Terrorism is War. War is Terrorism.

But! But... the problem is the individual soldier isn't a Terrorist however, collectively We as a Society allow unscrupulous men to use them in Terrorist actions.

Fort Hood and the Costs of War

The Horrible Incident at Fort Hood, in which at least 13 service members died and 29* were wounded is unquestionably a Terrorist Attack. And the perpetrator, Nidal Malik Hasan, appears to be a Sleeper Agent.

If one suicide bomber can kill 100 enemy soldiers because they were caught off guard that would be considered a strategic victory.

That comment and his extremist posts lauding muslim suicide bombers now seem to be advance warning of a plan to conduct an attack from within on Americans for the faith. An acquaintance, Colonel Terry Lee alleges Hasan stated, "Muslims should stand up and fight the aggressor and that we should not be in the war in the first place." And that Hasan said he was "happy" when a US soldier was killed in an attack on a military recruitment centre in Arkansas in June.

How does this incident factor into the current American wars? Well, strategically as far back as the Punic Wars Generals have realized the most effective way to undercut deployed troops is to stage attacks back on their homes instead of on the actual deployed army. This had the effect of dividing their attention and undercutting their morale.

Scipio Africanus engaged in such slash and burn tactics forcing the Carthaginians to recall Hannibal from the Italian Peninsula and into direct combat with his Scipio, leading to the Roman Victory over Hannibal at Zama.

Sherman's March to the Sea and the devastation it wrought pulled the Confederate forces from the fight up north not only through the material destruction and interruption of the South logistics but through the psychological impact on the Southern soldiers.

Now, we have this... tragedy. American soldiers unsafe on base in CONUS and unsafe with a Doctor who was, ostensibly charged with, helping them cope and adjust.

Another cost of war... Another calculation Chicken Hawk Punk Ass Bitch Warmongering Neo-Conservatives merely put down in the "it's worth it" side of the cost/benefit analysis warfare ledger... This one, single attack is a terrorists' best weapon as it will shake and disrupt US society profoundly. Although I'm certain Sean Hannity and Liz Cheney are delighted as they will no doubt try and use this to blame Obama somehow...

As for Hasan, after his trial and conviction, his execution by firing squad or hanging needs to be done the same day.

Additional:
I am struck by two incidents which are to me somewhat comparable. First the infamous Columbine Massacre. One theory purports Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold committed the slaughter in retaliation for the alleged rampant bullying they were subjected to in school and there are allegations Hasan was subjected to slurs and harassment for being a muslim post 9/11.

The second was recounted by Howard Zinn in A People's History of The United States,

A twenty-year old New York City Chinese-American named Sam Choy enlisted at seventeen in the army, was sent to Vietnam, was made a cook, and found himself the target of abuse by fellow GIs, who called him "Chink" and "gook" (the term for Vietnamese) and said he looked like the enemy. One day he took a rifle and fired warning shots at his tormenters. "By this time I was near the perimeter of the base and was thinking of joining the Viet Cong; at least they would trust me." ~ pg. 495-496.

However, in no way do these comparisons justify or mollify the murderous actions of Hasan.

Where is the Conservative and Republican Rush to enlist?

I haven't heard about the mad rush by Young Republicans (YR's) or Young Conservatives (YC's) to fill the slots needed by ISAF Commander General Stanley McChrystal to win in Afghanistan. The YC's resistance and fighting here on American Colleges is too important and the YR's are too busy fighting here on the home front against Islamo-Hitler to finish the job Superhero Bush and Ditherless Cheney began 8 years ago. Or maybe all the slots were filled by ethnic minorities while they DeLay'ed and by other Americans in tough financial straits or lacking health coverage?

Well, you can't expect the gutless flabby Chicken Hawk Punk Ass Bitch Republicans to actually fight! They merely goad people on and leave the fighting to be done by others.

Perhaps, secretly, the Chicken Hawks agree with US State Department Official Matthew Hoh (and former Marine) who resigned his position in Zabul Province because of opposition to continuing the Afghan War. Hoh stated in his resignation letter, "I find it specious the reasons we ask for bloodshed and sacrifice form our young men and women in Afghanistan" and "I do not believe any military force has ever been tasked with complex , opaque and Sisyphean mission as the U.S. military has received in Afghanistan." But, Chicken Hawk Punk Ass Bitch Republicans will publicly call for more troops and more war if they think it will help their political aspirations all the while harboring no intention of ever putting their pasty asses in the fire.

Rough stuff excerpted from The Usual Suspect at Rucksack to Backpack: Walk With Me In Hell

To my ungrateful generation,

This world is full of people who demand respect without earning it. That's a commodity that I can no longer afford to give away freely. If I haven't earned someone's respect by now, then I never will, and that's fine. The more I think about it, the more I realize that you have NOT earned mine. Thought you had it for free? I can't believe you're still alive when some of the best men I'll ever know died in someone else's country. As far as I'm concerned, this ain't your land anymore. We earn our keep. You'll always be below me now, not because of what you haven't done, but because of how you conduct yourself despite what you have not done. Don't dare try to cheapen what we go through. Come experience it for yourself.

Roll the dice, take a chance card. Spin the wheel, sit for a spell and let the Russian Roulette begin. Let's do some time in the meat grinder together, THEN you can open your mouth. Until then, you're cattle with an inflated ego and unfounded opinions. Empty, vapid, soulless byproducts of bad TV and shitty rap music.

There's more via the link. But, that's a coarse hard bitten assessment of the hidden costs of war which Punk Ass Bitch Chicken Hawk Republicans conveniently leave out of the ledger of bills due. Hopefully, The Usual Suspect doesn't let his experiences exact too much of a toll on his soul. So I bid him remember those Thespians of Great Renown and their view on (The Bright Side of) Life:

If life seems jolly rotten
There's something you've forgotten
And that's to laugh and smile and dance and sing.
When you're feeling in the dumps
Don't be silly chumps
Just purse your lips and whistle - that's the thing.

And...always look on the bright side of life...
Always look on the light side of life... ~ The Bright Side of Life, Monty Python

Related:
Operation Yellow Elephant: Not as tough as his name and mouth imply

Obama: End the Wars and Earn Your Prize

While Obama hasn't done anything as cool as invent Dynamite, Obama was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

I hope the Award is earned by Obama and he pulls us out of Afghanistan and Iraq. If Obama is able to extricate us from both of Bush's Wars of Money Transfer he'd have go down as the greatest president. Because despite the rhetoric of the Right the goal of Bush's Wars has always been transferring Trillions of Dollars into the coffers of those who profit on Death and Destruction and who Control the Federal Government.

I always felt The Strategy of Getting (Getting In, Getting Bin Laden, Getting Out) would have been a better choice.

I'm optimistic but only cautiously so... I hope Obama is strong enough to get us out of the Wars, in which, Bush and his Controllers treated Soldiers as RISK gameboard pieces. Little wooden tokens easily placed on the map and easily removed when killed.

But, besides the cost in dollars and more heart-wrenchingly in lives, it's the millions of little pains and evils which accompany the survivors home and are suffered by their families. Because that's the true cost of wars; the suicides, the divorces, the arguing, the fights, the drinking, the drugs, the small crimes the shattered dreams, the pain...

Update:
Remember how the hatred for Obama isn't based on Race? Well, yes it is: Flabby Chicken Hawk Coward Jonah Goldberg asks if Kayne West could attend the ceremony.

Erick Erickson of Red State, who would rather disband Police Forces* than allow them to Unionize, declares the Noble Prize has an affirmative action quota.

*- This needs expanding. About 130 Macon Georgia Police Officers want to unionize. For such temerity, Erickson stated: I’m thinking I’ll have the City Attorney draft me legislation to dissolve the police department and contract with the Sheriff to provide public safety services. Erick Erickson hates people and wants them to die. In that regard he is a typical Right Winger Punk Ass Bitch.

Disrespect

"I must say, I'm a little envious," President Bush said in March 2008 to soldiers in Afghanistan. "It must be exciting for you ... in some ways romantic, in some ways, you know, confronting danger."

Yesterday was not the day to make any post on the futility of war or perhaps it was the exact day... But, I'll not show any disrespect to the memory of those who gave the last full measure overseas for "American Interests". Even though those in power seem to have no problem continuing the Bush Regime's policy of using and discarding Marines and other Troops for Interests.

9/11 is just another day now, thankfully, I'm not one to celebrate defeat. You reflect on it and try to ensure it doesn't happen again but how?

Well the REMFpublican Chicken Hawk Party of Deferments invoked 9/11 time and again to support their policies. Everything was tied to 9/11 including the necessity of keeping them in office. While the Bush Administration was in power, those who profited off of death made Trillions of dollars and anyone who questioned the Iraq War was accused of hurting the Troops and Treason against a sitting President. That second part is of course ignored now that Barack Obama is in office, "questioning" him during wartime and bringing loaded guns to rallies decrying his Presidency is now the height of Patriotism, of course, the money still flows to the architects of fear and death.



Lost in the homeland political squabbles is that average Marine. The Bush Regime and his defenders sought to quash all dissent by hiding behind Marines, Soldiers, Airmen and Sailors they also fought to shield the American people from the sight of any blood. Lest the people knew what their pilfered tax dollars were actually buying them.

The shielding from sight the cost of war was one of the lessons REMFpublicans Bush, Cheney, Tom DeLay and the Pentagon learned from Vietnam; to control the message coming from the battlefield. You can't let the American people see the consequences of the Warfare State. But, merely restricting official media members did not stem the flow of the ugliness and evil of War. Bans on cell phone cameras and soldiers blogs (until the blogs, like through amber lenses were silenced forever) were tried at various times while unceasing war propaganda was spewed by Chicken Hawk REMFers on Fox, CNN and every other news agency in order to ensure you Don't Mention the War!

The other lesson Young and Old REMFpublicans learned from Vietnam was let other people do the actual dangerous fighting abroad because their valuable pasty pampered flabby asses were needed to fight the propaganda battle at home convincing the American people of the costs, necessities, consequences, and benefits of war, while ensuring they would never fear having their balls blown off by an IED...

However, the Bush Administration did only a semi- effective job of hiding the costs of the war from the American people. Anti-war rallies were strong yet marginalized (Two-Thirds of the American people are against the war? So?) and the collapse of the US economy in 2007 was tied directly to the profligate war profiteering and Bush tax cuts for criminals who hid the money they siphoned off using Bush's government power into Swiss bank accounts. Of course, anyone who questioned Bush's competence was attacked as a traitor and faced daily Fox Attacks even while "The Decider" bungled Afghanistan, Iraq, the response to Hurricane Katrina, the economic collapse, the shrinking and battered American middle class, justice and the years from 01/20/01 to 01/20/09...

Now, Afghanistan is on everyones mind... Again. It's a fucked place. The area hasn't been effectively controlled since Tamerlane bestrode the land like a whirlwind of primal destruction. Since then it's been a crossroads of battle as time and again countries have moved into Transoxania in the pursuit of National Interests and the people have used the Panjshir Valley as a center for resistance against whomever the occupiers have been. But, controlling and administering the land should never have been our mission. It should have been Destroying AQ and killing Bin Laden and letting the Multi-Ethnic Peoples of Afghanistan figure out the rest. When it cam e to the kill/capture of Bin Laden the directed incompetence from the Bush Regime in failing the trigger pullers was detailed by the nome de guerred Delta Force Commander Dalton Fury who was given that mission, in his book Kill Bin Laden.

Delta developed an audacious plan to come at bin Laden from the one direction he would never expect.

"We want to come in on the back door," Fury explains. "The original plan that we sent up through our higher headquarters, Delta Force wants to come in over the mountain with oxygen, coming from the Pakistan side, over the mountains and come in and get a drop on bin Laden from behind."

But they didn't take that route, because Fury says they didn't get approval from a higher level. "Whether that was Central Command all the way up to the president of the United States, I'm not sure," he says.

The next option that Delta wanted to employ was to drop hundreds of landmines in the mountain passes that led to Pakistan, which was bin Laden’s escape route.

But they didn't do that either, because Fury says that plan was also disapproved. He says he has "no idea" why.

"How often does Delta come up with a tactical plan that's disapproved by higher headquarters?" Pelley asks.

"In my experience, in my five years at Delta, never before," Fury says.

Getting (Getting In, Getting Bin Laden, Getting Out) would seem to have been a better choice. Sure that plan may have failed and Afghanistan could have turned into another Somalia, or the Taliban could have reclaimed power or Gulbuddin Hekmatyar would have emerged as the next Dictator in the area but those things could happen even with American and ISAF forces in the country and we would be spared cowardly screes from Ralph Peters enticing the Taliban to kill captured US Soldier Bowe Berghdal.

And lest we forget Iraq is still festering threatening to burst forth with renewed violence after having been "won" so many times over the last 5 years just as Afghanistan has...

Times of Troubles

"Crime is crime is crime. It is not political." ~ Margaret Thatcher.

I highlight the above quote, not because I agree with the Thatcher, but because she was a stalwart friend and stood shoulder to shoulder with Saint Ronnie. Ronnie was the champion of the plutocrats and laid the rock solid foundation of the Economic Collapse of Tipsy Canoe with his Piss Down Your Back Voodoo Economics and is the reference for all Republicans today.

Thatcher's comments were made so the British government could allow Irish Resisters to starve to death in prison. Prisoners who were captured during The Troubles, a period of open warfare in Ireland.

2 Time Iraqi War Veteran Chuck Norris has announced thousands of cell groups will be united around the country in solidarity over the concerns for our nation. But Norris, Tea-bagging protesters and a youtube video by a "Marine" do not make a strong or popular movement. But even though I hope these are just the fringe elements, Frank Schaeffer highlights the comments by Norris may not just be some weird aberrations.

Norris is a champion Car-ate expert, but he and others are given a platform by those who would disavow any call to arms out one side of their mouth while engaging in the most vile and inflammatory rhetoric which hopes to bring about a visceral reaction amongst those whom they hate, control and abuse (the poor) but wish to use in order to keep the other half of the poor in check and divided.

Republicans are working for failure. Obama must fail so they may rule. Of course, the counter by the group has been Well you Democrats wanted Bush to fail, too! Nee Ner Nee Ner Nee Ner! As Dave Neiwert notes about Failure:

It would be one thing if Republicans were simply warning that Obama's stimulus plans were doomed to failure. We'd understand that. It certainly would mirror how we felt about the Iraq war: we believed it was a doomed enterprise that would not only cost far more in human lives than anything that might possibly be gained from it, but would actually worsen the conditions for terrorism it purportedly meant to combat. We recognized that Bush's rosy scenarios might come to pass, but we doubted it deeply -- and said so, and rightly.

And as Mahablog notes in When Failure is an Option: The Right "do not... see a difference between expressing the opinion that X is a bad idea and wanting X to fail."

From 09/12/2001 to 01/19/2009 disagreeing with the President was wrong-headed at best and at worst emboldened our enemies. However, dissent and the threat of civil war are now the highest form of patriotism. Before we had the simple conjectures to browbeat those who were against the destructive policies of Tipsy Canoe;

Supporting the Troops = Supporting the Mission = Supporting the President,
Not Supporting the President = Not Supporting the Troops + Treason.

Now supporting Obama is aiding the descent of America into a Islamo-Marxist Communist Dictatorship. And all sorts of things become acceptable to defeat that threat, especially when Republican Senator David Vitter calls the Obama government a "Dictaorship".

And so the election of Obama has given new vigor to an old enemy. The False Patriots standing up to denounce the excesses of the government. These men came to the forefront during the Clinton presidency and decryed all things government especially the Executive Branch. To them the government was coming for you and the revolution was at hand.

But, when a Republican "won", by a 5-4 vote, the White House, the rhetoric slowed, the furor subsided, the anger abated. The Southern Poverty Law Center noted by the Summer of 2001 there were 194 anti government Patriot groups a drop from the high of 858 in 1996. Why? Why did freedom lovers sit back when Tipsy Canoe and his Aides were crafting powers to curb laws, supressing the consitution, using the government to bilk Trillions, starting wars and keeping US safe, except for the whole 9/11 thing...

Well, the anger is back. Anger which began prior to Obama even taking office and which bubbled over by the Toxic Commentators declaring Obama equals the End of America. Recall how this was exacerbated when Republican VP candidate Sarah Hot and Palin and McCain spokeswoman Nancy Pfoentauer declared some parts of America are Real and "Pro"-America. The "Pro"-tectors of Eric Rudolph, who blew up women and abortion clinics, and found refugee amongst the Patriots in the Appalachians.

And now the Revolution is once again nigh.

But, the history of the English Occupation of Ireland and The Troubles is an apt comparison and should provide a blueprint for Norris, The Birthers and all the False Patriots of the consequences of their toxic rhetoric. Do they really want the bitter fruits which shall arise from planting the seeds of revolution? A militarized police force, captured persons being allowed to starve to death in prison, occupation by the military, outright street warfare, car bombs, indiscriminate shootings, a Kent State or a Waco or an Oklahoma City Bombing every month or worse in American cities?

But, the most terrible and most poisonous result coming from a call for armed resistance and open fighting would be the destruction of the Ideal The Founding Fathers crafted, a peaceful transition of power. Which once lost might never be found again.

Related:
Drinking Liberally in New Milford: Will the GOP upChuck on Norris support?

Compare and Contrast

Listening to McCain/Obama on the radio I thought McCain won the debate. He sounded confident in his positions. But the unrepentant Warmonger was on full display for all Americans to see. Unfortunately, rabid Nationalism and the War/Fear dichtomony means the somber advice form yesteryear is ignored if not outright scorned. The Debate should have been War Today, War Tomorrow, War Forever!

Compare McCains statements in the Debate:

We've got to show moral support for Georgia. We've got to show moral support for Ukraine. We've got to advocate for their membership in NATO.

We have to make the Russians understand that there are penalties for these this kind of behavior, this kind of naked aggression into Georgia, a tiny country and a tiny democracy.

And so, of course we want to bring international pressures to bear on Russia in hopes that that will modify and eventually change their behavior. Now, the G-8 is one of those, but there are many others.

But the Russians must understand that these kinds of actions and activities are not acceptable and hopefully we will use the leverage, economic, diplomatic and others united with our allies, with our allies and friends in Europe who are equally disturbed as we are about their recent behaviors.

And when asked about if he "would you be willing to commit U.S. troops in support and defense of Israel? Or would you wait on approval from the U.N. Security Council?"

McCain stated: Let me say that we obviously would not wait for the United Nations Security Council. I think the realities are that both Russia and China would probably pose significant obstacles.

Now I reference the following address:

Against the insidious wiles of foreign influence (I conjure you to believe me, fellow citizens) the jealousy of a free people ought to be constantly awake, since history and experience prove that foreign influence is one of the most baneful foes of republican government. But that jealousy to be useful must be impartial; else it becomes the instrument of the very influence to be avoided, instead of a defense against it. Excessive partiality for one foreign nation and excessive dislike of another cause those whom they actuate to see danger only on one side, and serve to veil and even second the arts of influence on the other. Real patriots, who may resist the intrigues of the favorite, are liable to become suspected and odious, while its tools and dupes usurp the applause and confidence of the people to surrender their interests.

The great rule of conduct for us in regard to foreign nations is, in extending our commercial relations, to have with them as little political connection as possible. So far as we have already formed engagements, let them be fulfilled with perfect good faith. Here let us stop. (italics mine for emphasis - George Washington

And lest you think McCain was speaking directly about the specific nations/regions around Russia and Israel. McCain is a champion of involving the US in every corner(?) of the earth. So Compare McCain's following statement:

Well, I thank you for that question, because there's no doubt that history shows us that nations that are strong militarily over time have to have a strong economy, as well. And that is one of the challenges that America faces.

But having said that, America -- and we'll hear a lot of criticism. I've heard a lot of criticism about America, and our national security policy, and all that, and much of that criticism is justified.

But the fact is, America is the greatest force for good in the history of the world. My friends, we have gone to all four corners of the Earth and shed American blood in defense, usually, of somebody else's freedom and our own.

So we are peacemakers and we're peacekeepers. But the challenge is to know when the United States of American can beneficially effect the outcome of a crisis, when to go in and when not, when American military power is worth the expenditure of our most precious treasure.

To a famous quote:

America does not go abroad in search of monsters to destroy. She is the well-wisher to freedom and independence of all. She is the champion and vindicator only of her own. ~ John Quincy Adams

Of course, Obama and Biden's statements about sending the US military hither and fro (Biden's Darfur Expeditionary Force)are as unnerving and I am not going to ignore them or play them off as useful soundbites made to win the election while not based on their real stances.

The problem is the members of the Federal Government have become enamored with the Wilsonian Doctrine of Interventionist Coercive "Democracy". And unfortunately, now with the abolishment of the draft and the rapidly expanding division between Our Federal Lordships and the rest of the hoi-polloi, we have a class emerging which rarely will have a family member who will be sent into harm's way Spreading Peace and Freedom.

Using the Dead

The Dead can't Speak... but that doesn't stop those those who wish to take or maintain power from using them. The most recent incident is Barack Obama wearing a bracelet with the name of soldier killed in Iraq during the Presidential debate. It appears the family has asked Obama not to wear the bracelet.

Of course, the Demopublican/Republocrat side would never stoop to such behavior. My side is pure and righteous, the other side evil and ghoulish. My side has every right to invoke the dead and use them to take power because my side will do what is right with that power.

No one in politics has the right to use the dead. It is odd the side of the blog-o-shpere which supports McCain (or simply loathes Obama) is just finding out now those in power use the dead to support their continued control. Where or where have you been during the last seven years? You haven't been listening to Bush use the dead as the main reason we have to stay in Iraq?

But of course, supporting The War to Realign the Middle East to conform to American business and military interests, by simultaneously protecting Israel and Saudi Arabia, placing a puppet regime in Iraq with which to gain access to their oil reserves and possessing force projection ability towards both Syria and Iran is a good and proper use of American lives...

The truth is there is only one side in America, the ruling side, the Party of Property which controls you, does not have your interests at heart and to whom you are nothing more than an interchangeable and replaceable cog wheel in the machinery of industry or war.

You can always hear the people who are willing to sacrifice somebody else's life. They're plenty loud and they talk all the time. You can find them in churches and schools and newspapers and legislatures and congress. That's their business. They sound wonderful. Death before dishonor. This ground sanctified by blood. These men who died so gloriously.

They shall not have died in vain. Our noble dead.

Hmmmm.

But what do the dead say?

Nobody but the dead know whether all these things people talk about are worth dying for or not. And the dead can't talk. So the words about noble deaths and sacred blood and honor and such are all put into dead lips by grave robbers and fakes who have no right to speak for the dead. If a man says death before dishonor he is either a fool or a liar because he doesn't know what death is. ~ Excerpt from Johnny Got His Gun by Dalton Trumbo

Iraq War Costs

A US soldier in Iraq allegedly shot and murdered two other US soldiers.

I don't know the facts in this case so I won't speculate on the reasons this happened which could be almost anyhting.

But the fact which I can comment on is; Two More Deaths.

Does anyone not connected care at all? Does the politician who uses the War (pro or against) know about this situation? Does any of the true cost and horror being visited upon people register at all? The Surge (and the disgusting rush to capitalize upon it's success in lowering violence) has allowed people the ability to compartmentalize the War costs.

A la the narrator speaking with Tyler Durden in Fight Club, "That's the last sofa I'm gonna need. Whatever else happens, I've got that sofa problem handled."

To many of the American People that Sofa is the Surge. "Golly gee I sure don't need to worry about that darn Iraq War anymore."

Maj. Gen. Anthony Cucolo called the deaths "a tragic and senseless loss of two professional soldiers..." The problem is the entire war is a tragic and senseless loss of thousands of lives.

Sarah Palin God's Chosen One

No wonder The McCain Camp and The Extremist Christianist Base did not want Sarah Palin interviewed. She's a Warmongering Zealot who doesn't know what War she wants to Monger for, God's Holy War in Babylon, going to War with Iran on behalf of Israel, defending NATO "ally" Georgia against Russia, jaunting over into Pakistan...

Palin has benefited from the same initial bru-ha-ha which surrounded Barack Obama. Nationally no one knows her. So, what the McCain camp did was allow the American people to graft their own hopes, desires and ideals onto her. Even if she doesn't hold them. Because once people have made up their mind about a candidate it very rarely is shaken. Especially when uncomfortable facts appear. It's another System of Control.

So ignore her Religious Zealotry, ignore her dearth of knowledge about the History, Civics, International Relations, Principle of US Government, ignore her improper per diem reimbursements, in fact ignore her shady political career altogether.

Bush Doctrine? Why Charlie, what do you mean? Go to WAR with Russia? Absolutely, American interests must be served! The Iraq War is a Task from God? Oh no! I never presume to know God's will or to speak God's words. Except when it comes to adding Judeo-Christian Biblical Creationism to Scientific curriculum because you need to "Teach both."

I'll Define Winning in Iraq Right Now...

Winning in Iraq is when US Soldiers no longer have to occupy the country. However, this is a cynical answer because the US isn't going to leave Iraq despite the demands of Nouri al-Maliki that Iraq wants a timeline for withdrawal of U.S. troops to be attached to a security agreement. Of course, the American People can't agree to such an artificial timetable for withdrawal.

After all as Super War proponent Der Max Boot recently offered up at Commentary Magazine:

In order to build on the success that General Petraeus and his soldiers have had, we need to maintain a long-term commitment in Iraq-for 100 years if need be, as John McCain has said.

The Surge has worked.
No it hasn't...
Yes it has!
No! It! Hasn't!
YES!
NO!

The Surge was nothing less than another shell game. The Surge was touted as a success even before it happened. As violence spiked and more Americans died in 2007 than any other year of the Occupation The Surge was working. As US service members deaths dropped (thankfully!) The Surge worked.

The fact is it doesn't matter.

In my first blog post a year ago I postulated the Occupation of Iraq is more akin to the US invasion and Occupation of the Philippine Islands than Vietnam.

In a hundred years no one's going to remember the hundreds of thousands killed and maimed. No one will remember the 3 Marines killed by a Suicide Bomber or the 30 or so Iraqi unpersons after The Surge worked and the Enemy in Anbar Province was neutralized. And we'll have Iraqis working as barbers and cooks and cleaners here in America!

But, for many of those who've served the Occupation of Iraq is forever.

One a Day Ain't Bad

The callousness of the Warmongers is really striking. The constant pressure being exerted on the American populace to believe the Occupation of Iraq is going well is laughable. You see We Are Winning since the violence is down from outright street fighting and daily car bombs killing 50 Iraqis (with notable exceptions) and we are only losing an American a Day!

In the Battle of Iraq America and it's allies have prevailed... Again...

But then, the eviiil DemoRat Congress and Marxist Pinko Cowardly MSM aided by the jihadist loving antiwar traitors worked to subvert the Sunshine, and Lollipops and Rainbows (NO NOT Rainbows!) news from Iraq. Even the Marines AO, Anbar Province which was declared lost is going to be turned over to the Iraqis. Errr, scratch that last line.

It recalls the Twilight Zone episode were a couple is given an empty box with a button and told they'll become rich if the button is pushed. The only downside being a random person they don't know will die.

Who are these cowards who are willing to sacrifice another American's life simply because they don't know them and don't see their broken and destroyed bodies on TV? Because these keyboard commandos are quite willing to push that button and cause an American to die.

EOS

My alarm awoke me at Zero Dark and I realized the Corpse no longer has a hold on me. 8 long years over. Now if I can just figure out how to get my on-the-job training monies...

In better news we have a 2008 World Series Preview today as the Cubs and White Sox play.