We are now engaged in another great illegal war, this one is in Yemen; relax, we are only killing Al Qaeda operatives and civilians, since Obama was elected with a 6% landslide margin and has the unflinching support of American Socialists, he is not bound by the usual rules that govern presidents. The war is classified so only the readers of the New York Times and Flopping Aces know about it; however, the relatives of civilians killed in the kinetic actions have probably put the pieces together. We are striking at militant leaders with armed drones and fighter jets, so in Obama’s unique definition of war and Nobel Peace Prize qualification, it narrowly misses being designated as a war, there is also a growing power vacuum in a nation we consider to be an ally.
Yemeni troops are battling militant troops of Al Qaeda for control of the country, Obama sees the use of American firepower as an option for keeping the same militants he has helped to gain power in other oil rich Middle Eastern Countries from gaining power. Obama realizes he alone must employ a discriminating and at times prejudicial sense of judgement to designate which tyrants should stay in power and which ones should yield to Al Qaeda.
Democrats have given their tacit approval of Obama’s gunboat or airstrike diplomacy because he has the much heralded but difficult to define superior intelligence to conduct rogue wars and assassinations of enemies and American citizens with style and aplomb so characteristic of Liberal hypocrisy. Its true they would have incited their witless legions to riot if these same acts of barbarism had been committed by a Republican, but they have a committed Marxist in the White House and questioning the Party Line or the Revolution is counter revolutionary.
These latest strikes come after strikes were halted a year ago as a result of poor intelligence that resulted in significant civilian deaths and bungled missions that were complicating the goals of Obama’s objectives, if we are to assume he actually has predefined objectives, like his intelligence he plays his cards close to his chest.
Officials in Washington acknowledged that American and Saudi spies have been receiving more intel from electronic eavesdropping and informants, but they admitted that the information could be programmed and manipulated to provide strikes against rival factions, those militants can prove to be real rascals.
An anonymous Pentagon official confirmed that using airstrikes and drones is complicated because Al Qaeda operatives mingle with other rebels and antigovernment militants, thus making it difficult for Obama to send his death from the sky without appearing as if he taking sides.
The American campaign in Yemen is led by the Pentagon’s Joint Special Operations Command, and is closely coordinated with the Central Intelligence Agency. Teams of American military and intelligence operatives have a command post in Sana, the Yemeni capital, to track intelligence about militants in Yemen and plot future strikes.
Concerned that support for the campaign could wane if the government of Yemen’s authoritarian president, Ali Abdullah Saleh, were to fall, the United States ambassador in Yemen has met recently with leaders of the opposition, partly to make the case for continuing American operations. Officials in Washington said that opposition leaders have told the ambassador, Gerald M. Feierstein, that operations against Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula should continue regardless of who wins the power struggle in Sana.
The extent of America’s war in Yemen has been among the Obama administration’s most closely guarded secrets, as officials worried that news of unilateral American operations could undermine Mr. Saleh’s tenuous grip on power. Mr. Saleh authorized American missions in Yemen in 2009, but placed limits on their scope and has said publicly that all military operations had been conducted by his own troops.
American air strikes that kill civilians continue to complicate the situation; particularly, since there is no declared war or reason for the air strikes, especially for the civilians being killed and their relatives. There is always the chance of retaliation by those who feel as if their lives have been adversely affected by the death of loved ones by a trigger happy Obama.
“We’ve seen the regime move its assets away from counterterrorism and toward its own survival,” said Christopher Boucek, a Yemen expert at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. “But as things get more and more chaotic in Yemen, the space for the Americans to operate in gets bigger,” he said.
But Mr. Boucek and others warned of a backlash from the American airstrikes, which over the past two years have killed civilians and Yemeni government officials. The benefits of killing one or two Qaeda-linked militants, he said, could be entirely eroded if airstrikes kill civilians and lead dozens of others to jihad.
Edmund J. Hull, ambassador to Yemen from 2001 to 2004 and the author of “High-Value Target: Countering Al Qaeda in Yemen,” called airstrikes a “necessary tool” but said that the United States had to “avoid collateral casualties or we will turn the tribes against us.”
Obama’s policy of consulting advisors and bureaucrats that are less intelligent than him seems to be one of the more consistent features of his administration.
The Yemeni experts seem to be at least as knowledgeable as the most intelligent President, who has yet to provide any indications of his superior intelligence.
A professional horseman for over 50 years, Skook continues to work with horses. Skook has finished an historical novel, Fifty Thousand Years, that traces a mitochondrial line of DNA from 50,000 years ago to the present. The story follows a line of courageous women, from the Ice Ages to the present, as they meet the challenges of survival with grit and creativity. These are not women who whimper of being victims, they meet the challenges of survival as women who use their abilities without excuses or remorse, these women are winners, they are our ancestors.
Fifty Thousand Years is available in paperback and e-book, it is getting great reviews. You can purchase a copy here; Visit me on Facebook.
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Dylantheauthor
This would be absolutely hilarious, if it weren’t so damned true.
Sigh, another illegal war-as you correctly point out Skookum-and another “pass” taken by the Republican Congress.
How come this leftist Republican House never rates an article on FA????
Need a stock broker? Call your Congressional Representative
On Senate GOP…GOP Senators reject Ryan Budget
GOP Dodges Medicare Reform
Congress silent as Obama ignores war power act
GOP showing backbone? Doesn’t look like it
RINO Lindsey Graham…
Congress gets worst approval ever…
Republicans have nothing to be giddy about
Republicans Avoiding Appropriations Committee… politics as usual
That ought to get your reading started, Ivan. Not every one on this forum… authors or commenters… are in lockstep. Nor are we clones. And you owe everyone an apology for your blanket class group lumping comment.
@Ivan:
Why don’t you write one instead of bitching about the absence of critical pieces on the Republicans?
Critical of LIBERAL Republicans that is, John.
Or are you comfortable with the knife in the back?
Ah yes, ivan posts yet another attack on the GOP, yet wants us to believe he isn’t a liberal. When 99.9% of all your posts attack the GOP, it’s safe to say at the very least you are lying to yourself if not to us.
Notice the dems are okay with military force when it’s “their” military? Liberals really are mentally ill.
@Hard Right:
And by your silence, you enable the betrayl our Republican Party is engaged in.
Intellectual honesty and critical thinking are not your strong points, are they HR?
I understand and dislike the knife in the front, but the knife in the back is what I have little tolerance for.
But you don’t understand that, do you, HR?
PS Aye has stalked me on the internet and can tell you that I’m no liberal. Go ask him, the man-up and apologize for once.
@Ivan:
I simply asked why you don’t write an article yourself. I think that you’d find it more well-received than you think it would be. Why not?
@johngalt:
I think, for the most part, it would be viewed on this moderate website as treason to the party. That is how many of my posts have been received, thus why should I expect any different from a submission?
Let’s face it, I’m more of a populist conservative than an establishment conservative which is what most of the posters here are.
I hope “trigger happy” and all the hyperbole (“Previous Marxist Leaders, Obama Appreciates Scorched Earth Policy”), is done, “tongue-in-cheek”?
I think our presence in Yemen and Pakistan is just an extension of what began under Bush. Civilian deaths and our presence as foreigners in any sovereign country (including Iraq and Afghanistan) risks breeding resentment and anti-American sentiments. Which is why the governments, partners in the GWoT, have a juggling act to do with their people over to what extent and in what manner they cooperate with us. Which is also why, publicly, they have to say one thing, while privately, they may welcome and sign off on such things as Predator drone attacks. Condemn while condone.
Libya’s a different matter…
Didn’t George W Bush set the precedent regarding missile strikes against al Qaeda in Yemen?
US Defends Yemen Strike
Mata,
Tokenism doesn’t count compared to the degree of betrayl the Republicans have engaged in.
It’s amazing to me what little outrage there actually is on FA given just how servere the betrayl has been.
We’re talking the knife in the back, Mata, not the front. The outrage over Obama’s Goat phucks is beyond the pale, yet the Republicans being complicit in his perfidious conduct is hardly mentioned here.
Well, given the degree of betrayl of just about everything Republicans ran on (rule of law, small govenrment), that is a pretty timid headline.
How about this,” Republicans betray November Victory in Support President Obama’s Illegal War” or, I like this one,”Republican Fund Illegal War”.
Hmmmm???? Yes, it’s called tokenism and it against works on the weak-minded, but not me, Mata.
The New York Times( All the news that’s print to fit).
Scorched Earth Policy( Taxing and spending your way to prosperity)
What is the cumulative total of the ratio of civilians killed, wounded, and turned into refugees per Qaeda-linked militants killed or captured in Iraq?
What if we hadn’t gone into Iraq but had, instead, stayed in Afghanistan to finish the job?
– Larry Weisenthal/Huntington Beach, CA
@openid.aol.com/runnswim</a
Larry,
You’re wrong about Iraq. Al Queda made Iraq THE Battle of the war on terror and we bled them white!
They broke their sword in Iraq and have not been able to launch a spectacular attack since losing in Iraq.
For all his faults, we owe President Bush a debt of gratitide for not backing down like the liberals wanted him to do.
@Ivan: Interesting assertion. Can you back this up with any facts?
I’d like to read the evidence for this; perhaps you’ll convince me, but not simply with an unsourced assertion.
– Larry W/HB
Larry also overlooks how we did what the left wanted in Afghanistan–we let NATO take a portion of the responsibilities. As a result the conditions deteriorated due to their negelect. And yes Larry, we would have given them the task without Iraq ever happening.
Some food for thought:
And a fascinating look into the developing technology of where we’re headed.
Wordsmith, that’s what I said to drj over a week ago… when he was complaining that Obama’s definition of hostilities meant that the US could bomb countries without limits, and without Congressional approval. Well… that’s exactly what we’ve been doing for decades. Bush bombing Pakistan, Clinton’s engaged in a few bombings himself.
From my June 20th comment, and still appropriate INRE drones in other nations here:
@Ivan:
I think, as I stated, that you would be surprised, assuming, of course, that you present factual information that supports your assertions. You think most here are completely supportive of the Republican party. I think your mistaken in that regard.
No, Ivan, I’d say that you are just antagonistic towards other people in general. I’d also state that many here are conservatives. The Republican establishment is hardly conservative, but you tend to assume that simply by omission of critique, that the majority here support everything they do. Absence of proof is not proof of the opposite, Ivan.
@MataHarley: Thanks for letting me know and linking me up, Mata! 🙂
Whine, whine, whine. You make an accusation there are no critical articles of the GOP here on FA, and I point out authored posts that do just that. Not to mention the criticism that comes out constantly in the comments by myself, johngalt and others here.
But there’s no pleasing you. You just run off to a different tangent when proven you’re wrong, and whine it still doesn’t measure up to your standards because…. whine whine whine.
@Larry, your inability to tie the dwindling Muslim support for jihad to Iraq is not because of lack of data, but because you refuse to accept the data. Muslim support for jihad was high after we went into Afghanistan. When the jihad movements started slaughtering fellow Muslims in Iraq, the support started tanking. They were not the glorious religious fighters Muslims envisioned.
Wordsmith and I have both written on this with supporting documentation, years ago.
Me on my old blog, Feb 2008: Subtle Priase for Bush Doctrine from WaPo?
Wordsmith, May 2008: Is the Islamic World rejecting AQ thanks to Iraq
Me, June 2008: Increasing animosity towards AQ as a result of Iraq
Me, January 2009: The Bush Legacy: gifting Obama with a muslim world rejecting jihad In that post, I even mentioned my conversation with you about this very subject.
@Mata (#23): I’m not trying to be contentious here, but just trying to make sure that I don’t misunderstand your argument.
You are saying that Iraq helped dampen enthusiasm for Jihad, because it provided an opportunity for Jihadists to slaughter fellow Muslims, bomb mosques, etc., thereby demonstrating to the Islamic world just how morally bankrupt the Jihadi movement was?
Before commenting further, I want to make sure that I’m not misunderestimating anything, to paraphrase a notable quotation from the era in question.
– Larry Weisenthal/Huntington Beach, CA
Why don’t you quit summarizing what you think I said, and go back into history and review what you and I actually said on this very subject, Larry? It’s not like this is a new debate between you and I, ya know.
As I said, my Jan 2009 post highlighted the NIC Global Trends 2025 Report. In that same post, I referenced my my conversation with you days earlier on that subject. The latter specifically addressed your claims that Iraq was a “bonanza” for jihad recruitment when the NIC report and even Muslim polls about jihad showed exactly the opposite.
You also said, back then:
Considering that this POTUS is busy disintegrating any quasi-allies in the Middle East we have acquired at a rapid rate of speed, it’s likely we’re only to be left with Iraq, Kuwait and Israel sooner than we’d like. So there are far more benefits of a free Iraq than “a single thing”. And one of the byproducts of that war was that the global Islamic jihad movements behaved so abominably in warfare as to undermine their own credibility with fellow Muslims.
I am on the road, so I have not been able to join in Maypole Dance of Lunatics; however, there was supposed to be a measure of comedic wit in the article. For instance if the roles were reversed and a Republican Pres was assassinating the odd Jihadist and a few innocent civilians as well, Bo would be pleading sanctimonious indignation at the thought, along with the rest of the Socialist agitators in the legislature.
Thus we have the Theatre of The Absurd. I am not being flippant with the plight of civilian casualties, not at all, but if we are being kept in the dark, what is the opinion of the average man on the street of the country we are using kinetic actions, that is the critical perception. We can kick ass till Hell freezes over, but if we lose the peace or the people, all is for naught
Actually not, Skook. The role *was* reversed when Bush was bombing Pakistan and Yemen with drones. The Zero one upped Bush when he increased the predator attacks in Pakistan, also went after Yemen, and has added Somalia to the mix. He didn’t disapprove of Bush’s predator policy then, and promised to increase the use of predators.
Which he did. Which is why “you’re an idiot” (/sarc) if you don’t listen to, and believe, what this POTUS says, and be assured that he’s going to take any path to accomplish what he wants… legal, ethical or not. He’s done it with health care, the stimulus, climate change policy thru EPA, clamping down on coal and oil production, promises to invade Pakistan without approval to get Bin Laden, and promises to further increase incursions into Pakistan… without their approval. No law or regulation is going to stop him from his quest of an Euro-socialist America.
@mata: Thanks for the pointers/links. I’ll try to refresh my memory. I’m particularly interested in some credible survey of number of active jihadists, pre and post Iraq. – Larry W/HB
Focus on reading the NIC Global Trends Report for 2025 then, Larry. And compare it to the 2015 report I have also linked in that same Jan 2009 post.
Now if you’re looking for a “poll among active jihadists”…. BWAHAHAHAHA…. Yes, I’m certain they open up their phone lines to Gallup and Pew. Get serious, guy. What you want is not what jihadists think. They aren’t getting a change of heart because of any war. You need to know what fellow Muslims think of jihad, pre and post Iraq.
1. Health care. Campaign promise. Obamacare built on RomneyCare which was built on 1993 Dole/Grassley model (which included mandates). Back in 1993, it was the “sensible Republican free market alternative.” Today, it’s a “socialist takeover of health care.”
2. Stimulus. $250 billion more than that advanced by the GOP. Not small potatoes, but neither what it’s been represented to be. Also, big chunk of stimulus were tax breaks specifically proposed by GOP as part of their own stimulus and a lot of it was extension of unemployment benefits which had bipartisan support and a lot of it kept teachers and cops on the job.
3. EPA. Hardly draconian measures. Can you even tell me what was done, from memory (honor system here)? That’s how consequential these were.
4. Clamping down on oil/coal production? Well, he’s a Democrat, for goodness sake. Saving our own oil and coal for future generations may be a lot of things, but it’s hardly socialistic.
5. Pakistan invasions. Following the Bush doctrine. Any nation which harbors terrorists will not be allowed to continue harboring terrorists. Somehow, I don’t think that Bush would have been criticized by you for doing this, had he had a third term in office and pursued the exact same policies. As far as I can tell, the Bin Laden and drone operations have done what they were supposed to have done. Impact on Pakistan, long term, is an unanswered question.
On another subject, I’d highly recommend the HBO documentary “Hot Coffee,” which certainly changed the way that I feel about tort reform and trial lawyers, in general.
http://www.hbo.com/documentaries/hot-coffee/synopsis.html
P.S. re #29. I’ll read your link. Thanks again.
– Larry Weisenthal/Huntington Beach, CA
@openid.aol.com/runnswim:
1) Nope. Still socialism
2) The stimulus should have been opposed by the GOP-period.
3) You mean strangling our ability to drill, and destroying the energy industry via over-reaching regulations isn’t draconian?
3b) BTW, he did not do those things to conserve anything, but to pursue his fantasy of green energy while punishing us for “driving SUVs” and having our air conditioners set too cold.
Saada is a northwest territory in Yemen where a Muslim religious minority affiliated with Shi’ite Islam has been clashing with government forces since 2004.
When the persecution of Jews got very bad in Yemen, a year or so later, we were part of a group who funded the settling of about 100 Yemeni Jews in the USA.
All the rest went to Israel.
Except for about 20 or 30 who tried to stay on only to leave in the last year or so.
The very same week that Obama gave his Cairo speech to the Muslim world the last of 4,000 Jews (where there were over a million) were being driven out of Yemen.
A nice background on it is still here at The Guardian.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/jun/07/yemen-jews-exodus-arab-countries
The Saudis were so terrorized by the Yemenis that they started to build a huge wall, 20 meters tall and running under the sand for another ten meters.
http://www.yobserver.com/front-page/10013538.html
It was to be topped with cameras and gun placements.
But they left off building it and quietly shot people who sneaked in.
Yemen cannot feed its own, doesn’t even seem to try.
Add to that foreigners, poorer even than the Yemeni’s themselves, are pouring in all the time.
Yemen does a robust slave trade with the Saudis.
The average age of people in Yemen is ONLY 18!
(Ours is 39 in the USA)
Yemeni females average 4.6 live births EACH!
Only 30% of females there can read.
Only 1/2 of the population can read.
Think of the possibilities for charismatics to propagandize that ignorant population.
Of all the oil producing ME countries Yemen is running out of oil and natural gas faster than the rest.
45% of their people are in poverty.
35% of their workers are unemployed.
As of 2010 the inflation rate in Yemen was 18%.
STATS:
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ym.html
I really don’t see how anything Obama does can help in Yemen.
It is a tinderbox.
And it is blowing up.
I doubt we even have the money to fix their problems in Yemen, since their problems are systemic.
It seems like this man’s thoughts and ideas are gaining more acceptance and are justifying his positions daily. It’s a shame we didn’t listen then. Take 9 minutes and listen to them now.
@openid.aol.
The early speculation in the blogosphere that bin Laden ignored Iraq wholesale has proven incorrect. Osama did address Iraq’s place in al-Qaeda’s plans and the country’s importance in the global jihad. Last fall, Ayman al-Zawahiri stated Iraq is the central front in the war and referred to the country as “the place for the greatest battle of Islam in this era.” bin Laden agrees:
The epicentre of these wars is Baghdad, the seat of the khalifate rule. They keep reiterating that success in Baghdad will be success for the US, failure in Iraq the failure of the US. Their defeat in Iraq will mean defeat in all their wars and a beginning to the receding of their Zionist-Crusader tide against us. Your mujahidin sons and brothers in Iraq have taught the US a hard lesson while in the fourth year of the Crusaders’ invasion, they are steadfast and patient and keep killing and wounding enemy soldiers every day.
It is a duty for the Umma with all its categories, men, women and youths, to give away themselves, their money, experiences and all types of material support, enough to establish jihad in the fields of jihad particularly in Iraq, Palestine, Afghanistan, Sudan, Kashmir and Chechnya. Jihad today is an imperative for every Muslim. The Umma will commit sin if it did not provide adequate material support for jihad.
More at this link:
http://counterterrorismblog.org/2006/04/osama_bin_laden_calls_baghdad.php
@Larry, you’re welcome for the old links that rehashes a debate where we’ve trod before. Jihad numbers are hard to come by. They aren’t a card carrying membership with records. Do we include all the Taliban? Or just the Taliban that the admin feels is NOT “moderate”? How about the villagers who are forced to do their bidding, or die? Are they jihadists willingly? Or for survival? After all, in the tribal outlying areas, he who has the most ammo and biggest guns, rules.
And as Nan pointed out, do you count the global Islamic jihad movement that is loosely connected in structure, and bound by ideology and often band together for specific events? This has always been the problem. I cringe whenever I heard either Bush, or Obama, describe the enemy as “al Qaeda”, when that is far from the truth. A rose by any other name.
As for the laundry list I mentioned about Obama and his accomplishments…. it was not done with pride, and rather was a take off on drj’s constant (and insulting) mantra that “you’re an idiot to believe anything Obama says”. I have countered many time that I believe him and his promises, and he has proven to be true to those aims. He has told us upfront his ideology as one for social justice, admires the Euro-socialist state model, is a supporter of single payer insurance, and has one FUBAR’d attitude towards foreign policy and who is, and isn’t, and ally.
So to your counter response:
It is, as Obama has stated himself, the first step to single payer healthcare. As I said, I believe what he says. Didn’t like Romneycare, don’t like Romney, and it was never the “sensible” alternative to me. Can’t help those idiots in Congress who like to call themselves conservative when they are really just Dem’lites or RINOs.
Again you’re assuming that I was in support of any additional stimulus. But the handling of the stimulus cash is also to be criticized, including Obama’s foray into the illegal when he used his half of the original TARP I funds for GM, when the legislation clearly states it is for financial institutions only. Funny… no one called him on that… including those bozos in Congress who dare to call themselves “conservatives”.
There’s nothing inconsequential about Lisa Jackson’s EPA adminstration and regulatory choices. And that includes their thwarting any effectual clean up on the Deepwater Horizon oil spill by their nanny adherence to the discharge rules from the centrifuges.
However, under Jackson, they have taken advantage of the 2007 SCOTUS ruling which essentially stated that they had no power to issue rulings over greenhouse gas emissions since that was a power reserved solely to the EPA under the Clean Air Act. This was neither a support, nor rejection, of CO2 as a dangerous emission… just a statement that forming opinions that related to that was out of their jurisdiction.
How wonderful for the AGW folk like Lisa. As soon as they had power, they reviewed the lawsuit to see how far they could go with the ball… and declared CO2 – as well as methane, nitrous oxide, hydrofluorocarbons, perfluorocarbons and sulfur hexafluoride – as a danger to the public’s health and welfare… ergo increasing their power of regulations and tenacles of reach.
The EPA releases and “agenda publication” (aptly named…) twice a year. This one, from fall 2010, shows their emphasis on all things AWG. As Jackson puts in the glowing text accompanying…
Personally, I’m appalled that Congress (all parties) continue to yield their powers to unelected appointees in the various departments they have created over the decades. EPA themselves realize they do not need Congressional permission to apply a climate change agenda, but is willing to help Congress craft language to give them even more power.
Somehow I doubt this is what the Founders/Framers had in mind…..
Were this power to civil servants over citizens and free enterprise not Draconian enough, we have a POTUS who promised that if Congress did not present legislation for climate change, he and Jackson would pursue it thru regulatory power.
Obama has, of course, been neutered post 2010 midterms, and robbed of the most cooperative social justice Congress in the history of this nation. He has nothing left but regulations to try and fulfill campaign promises now. And since he’s PO’ed his far left base with his schizophrenic war mongering, and the entire nation – despite party affiliation – with his non-results of economic recovery, even leftist Salon writer, Andrew Leonard, notes Obama’s tiptoeing quietly about his regualtory climate change agenda in order not to draw attention to it to thwart it, but to also appease his leftist radical base.
But I will also add here that the GOP and the 2007 Congress, as well as Bush, are way on my sheeeeeet list for their ban of the incandescent light bulb. My utter disdain and, in some cases hatred, for all the idiots that are over paid, over pampered, in the beltway is non partisan.
He is not “saving our own oil and coal”, Larry. He’s locking it away permanently… or as permanently as anyone one in elected power can do. Why? To “save the planet”… not future generations. Enter, again, the EPA to accomplish an Obama campaign pledge to destroy coal. Thus, another reason that “you’re an idiot NOT to believe anything Obama says”. It’s not only unbelievably stupid for our national security (reducing dependence for energy on foreign nations), but it the height of economic ignorance to destroy these jobs in this economy.
Thus, he’s a double dunce loser.
No… maybe to you it’s following the Bush doctrine. However Bush always had tacit approval and communications with Musharraf and the Pakistani government. He never cowboy’ed in, unannounced, and always maintained a diplomatic balance. A huge chasm of a difference to those more astute to the going on’s and doin’s.
Diplomacy and communcation is something quite “foreign” to this POTUS in his foreign policy. For a guy that talks a lot about diplomacy, he has none. Additionally, he has the worst advisors for how to treat foreign dignitaries.
Lastly, your comment:
I’d love to watch, but haven’t the time. Would you care to summarize your old vs new ‘tudes on tort reform and trial lawyers in general for us?
These numbers are old and maybe even off a tad. The current number is probably classified. 6,000 less Al Qaeda had to have had some sort of a negative effect on their organization. It’s not like they had millions under arms. Al Qaeda was also in Iraq before we invaded. Perhaps instead of invading Iraq and sucking more Al Qaeda into there, we should have let our troops in Afghanistan go into the mountainous terrain to kill them thus following the same strategy the Soviets did. That worked out real well.
http://gulfnews.com/news/region/iraq/six-thousand-al-qaida-fighters-killed-in-iraq-says-top-official-1.110441
@openid.aol.com/runnswim:
Now comment on what I posted. You wanted proof, I gave it to you. You don’t run out on me after making me meet that demand.
My, my, my how fast things change. It seems like just last month we only had to be concerned about our young men and women being killed in Afghanistan and Iraq. Then it was Afghan, Iraq, Libya and Pakistan. As Skook pointed out Yemen was recently added to the mix and today I hear we’re also killing people in Somalia!
So let’s see, that currently makes 6 nations our beloved peace loving president has decided we need to remodel in order to secure our safety and improve their living conditions. The man is a shoo-in for a second Nobel Peace Prize!
Dear Ivan,
I’ll get back with you, when I’m able. The first thing that I want to do is to read the links which Mata kindly provided. I’ll reply to both of you, after I’ve done this.
I don’t get paid for writing on this blog. The beauty of this is that I get to do things on my own time, when I want and if I want. If I ever fail to reply in what you consider to be a timely manner, please feel free to declare victory, or whatever. Otherwise, just take satisfaction in having the last word. That’s what most people do.
– Larry Weisenthal/Huntington Beach, CA
Larry, *no* one gets paid to write on, or for, this blog. And that includes Curt. One would hope he at least breaks even on the cost of maintaining this forum.
And I see that Ivan continues to demonstrate how he’s the trailer trash of commentary….
@openid.aol.com/runnswim:
I caught most of that today. I don’t think any different about there needing to be some sort of tort reform, but it certainly affected my outlook on how to go about it. I still believe that juries with free reign over damage amounts is dangerous, and inherently tilted negatively towards the defendants. But I also understand that without that risk of damages, when a company acts wrongly, that it invites companies to become less accountable to their customers and employees. It is a serious issue that cannot be handled by complete lockdown on damage awards, nor by allowance of “anything goes”.
@Ivan: Well, YOU could always write one….
@MataHarley: You got that right. It’s a labor of love basically…the server costs me about $1,200 a year but thankfully the google ads seem to be covering that so I basically break even. The redesign was paid for by the awesome readers we have here who donated to the cause.
If we got paid for this we could be blogging dozens of stories a day like the big dogs do but alas, we all got day jobs.
@Curt: Paychecks? Paychecks? We don’t need no steenking payche…wait.
Never mind.
In all seriousness Curt, you do a fantastic job. You have always responded to my emails in a timely and professional fashion and you have quite a nice site here.
Thank you for letting me be a part of it by not only posting commentary, but also letting me post articles when I decided to once in a while.
@Ivan Re: @johngalt
As with many of us here, I’ve not keep my silence when I disagree with, or find myself opposed to Republicans, Democrats, Liberatarians etc.. I am registered Republican, only to be able to vote in the primary. I’m a “constitutionalist” who’s political view are most closely aligned with the founders. I’ve consistently pointed out that I don’t trust members of any party. I don’t think any of those who have followed Regan were good presidents, and very few in the century before.
I have to agree with the assertions of others here that we hear plenty of teeth gnashing from you against Republicans, but you do not say squat about Democrats, who (if we are to believe your claimed political alignment,) are generally much more worse in relation to your particular chosen rant subjects. I too have concluded that you Ivan are a donkey in elephant’s clothing.
@mata (#42). I was just trying to remind Ivan of the obvious. Contributors don’t even get paid on sites like the Huffington Post. When you volunteer, you enjoy a certain degree of freedom to pick your fights and to determine your own schedule in responding. I haven’t forgotten about other issues to which I intend, eventually, to return. e.g. the Constitutional “original intent” issue (with John Galt) and whatever happened on the voyage of the U.S.S. Abraham Lincoln (with you). When I can reply based on stuff in my head, I tend to do that immediately. If it becomes a particularly thorny and contentious debate, I like to find some time to properly research my end of it. I do this type of research when I have the time and am in the mood.
Curt certainly deserves the appreciation and gratitude of all who consume what is written here and all who find personal satisfaction in having a forum for their points of view.
– LW/HB
@openid.aol.com/runnswim:
I had to chuckle to myself when I read this comment to you from Ivan:
Considering Ivan’s history here…that’s really funny.
Ivan is the world’s worst at running out when his hide has been tacked up on the barn wall for all to see.
Pay no attention at all to him because he’s nothing more than a lying, egocentric, hypocritical, bigoted, racist, sexist, homophobic, misogynistic, festering rectal fistula.
Oh…yeah…he’s a dick too.
Aye, I hate it when you beat around the bush like that. Say what you mean!
could it be, that, HE HAS A ANGER MANAGEMENT PROBLEM,
so when he got very angry at ISRAEL PM, HE FIGURE MAYBE, IF HE HELP UNITE THE ISLAMIC COUNTRY TO GIVE THEM MORE POWER, they will then go attack ISRAEL AS A MOB marching toward it,
and by FLOTTILLAS BACK WITH INDIRECT FRIENDS IN PINK CLOTHES,
SO TO KILL AS MANY AS THEY CAN, AS A START, GREECE ALQUADAS HELPING
WITH FLOTILLAS EVEN MORE THAN BEFORE WILL BE ENCOUNTERD BY ISRAEL SECURITY,
IT TAKES ONLY ONE OF 6 TO BEGIN THE SHOOTING, SO THAT WOULD FIT AND HELP TO DEFUSE A ANGRY LEADER WHICH HATE THE JEWS.
Curt, the day jobs that many of us have are tenuous at best, especially during these glorious days of Obama and his visions of wealth redistribution.
If it were a possibility to build the faux empire of HuffPo and its supposed astronomical wealth, I’d say damn the torpedos, full steam ahead, but that scam has fallen apart and will probably never be resurrected.
@Aye: You said:
I don’t know, I mean liberal1(absolutely no objectivity) is pretty good at hit and runs, too. I guess they would have to have a contest to see who is the most cowardly when it comes to real, honest debate.
@Aye
Yep, all I’ve seen from liberal1 is hit and runs. Pretty cowardly if you ask me. At least Ivan at has enough gumption to argue.
Aye Said:
Smile when you say that. ;->
@openid.aol.com/runnswim:
And in the it took you to write these words you could have commented on my post.
What a lightweight you are.
@Aye:
Sorry, I have a really busy life that doesn’t allow me to keep up with every thread that goes over 80 posts. My FA posts usually go into my spam folder.
But I’m touched that you’re so dissapointed that I don’t always get back to you!
You know you did stalk me so you do have my email address and we could always talk via email if you’d like.
So touching!