Riots in Gaza, Riots for Gas
There’s trouble in Gaza on Israel’s western border. “Egypt has recalled its ambassador in Israel, Yasser Ridha, following the assassination of top Hamas military commander Ahmed Jabari, Egyptian TV reported Wednesday.”
To the east of Israel riots have broken out in Jordan over high fuel prices, adding to unrest to a country formerly regarded as placid in that volatile region.
In Dhiban, a city of 15,000 south of the capital, Amman, protesters burned pictures of King Abdullah II, witnesses said. In Salt, which has been a site of popular discontent, protesters destroyed two cars outside the prime minister’s home, which was empty. And in Amman, thousands of demonstrators filled the circle outside the Interior Ministry near midnight, chanting, “The people want the fall of the regime,” echoing similar chants in Egypt and Tunisia, where the Arab Spring began.
Meanwhile the Obama administration is carrying out an undeclared personnel revamp of key military and intelligence figures in the Middle East.
RADM Charles Gaouette, USN, Commander of the Stennis battlegroup, recalled Oct 17, 2012 as his force entered the Fifth Fleet’s area of operations. “The Fifth Fleet of the United States Navy is responsible for naval forces in the Persian Gulf, Red Sea, Arabian Sea, and coast off East Africa as far south as Kenya.”
General Carter Ham, USA, AfricaCom. Replacement announced Oct 18, 2012.
General John Allen, USMC, ISAF Commander, linked to ‘inappropriate’ emails, mid-November, 2012.
David Petraeus, Director, Central Intelligence Agency, resigned November 9, 2012.
General William E. Ward USA, former AfricaCom commander, demotion announced Nov 13, 2012.
This is happening even as the administration moves heaven and earth to avoid explaining the goals and objectives of its policies with respect to the ‘Arab Spring’ in general and Libya in particular.
Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein has apparently won control of the hearings process. Petraeus will testify behind closed doors, and the questions will be limited to Benghazi. The administration now believes it can contain the context of the Benghazi scandal or at least draw its sting until the public forgets it. From its past track record the GOP is probably going to go along.
But the danger in going along is palpable. The Middle East is entering a new and dangerous period just as the administration is purging senior leaders in pursuit of a goal that the public can only guess at. What could go wrong?
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Tehran is sprinting to the atomic bomb — so naturally, the USN has been ordered to sail ‘danger close’ to the Persian coast.
I suspect that’s what cost RADM Gaouette’s stars, for, apparently, that’s exactly when he was relieved for ‘unsound’ leadership.
If the 2012 ‘results’ are not promptly re-verified — and de-tox’d — then there’s no going back.
Hugo Chavez leads by his example: no scrap of paper is allowed to stop el Presidenté.
you ain’t seen nuthin yet
Look how clueless Obama really is!
First he intends to throw Hillary under the bus.
Next will be Susan Rice.
Wanna bet Samantha Power, the Third of the Three Valkyries, will be right behind her?
But who is it that is “Leading” from furthest behind? The ultimate one destined to get run over by the Bus of History?
The One Himself, Barack Hussein Obama II!
Watch now as the rats begin to Abandon Ship! What was all that talk about a Preference Cascade?
I’m not entirely sure which side Senator Feinstein is on. Remember all that business when an Obama operative absconded with the honorable Senator from California’s campaign cash?
It seems pretty clear that somebody is purging the military. The question is who? Is the Administration purging the military, or is the military purging itself?
It’s a decapitation strike of one kind or another. But by whom, and in advance of what?
[Edit:] I suppose I should allow room for doubt. Other than l’affaire Petraeus, is this an unusual rate of turnover in Fleet and regional commanders?
What was it Vizzini said in The Princess Bride? “Starting a war is an ancient and honorable profession, with a long and glorious history”?
Admiral Richardson was “purged” about what, something less than a year before Pearl Harbor? Kimmell was definitely “set up”; he was the perfect patsy, unquestioning, short-sighted, no political antennae.
Had Roosevelt kept Richardson in command, he’d been more likely to have picked up which way things were going–or so I’d guess.
But didn’t he also sit in on the commission to study the Pearl Harbor attack?
War, Big War, is coming. And there’s nothing better to cement the power of government than that. Truly, too good of a crisis to let go to waste, indeed.
And don’t forget all that ammo the Social Security agency, among others, have been buying up.
The poet Robinson Jeffers had a line: “Finally I say let demagogues and world-redeemers babble their emptiness to empty ears; twice duped is too much.”
An Préachán
Re: Vizzini, remember the cruise of the Lanikai.
“In early December 1941 in the Philippines, a young Navy ensign named Kemp Tolley was given his first ship command, an old 76-foot schooner that had once served as a movie prop in John Ford’s “The Hurricane.” Crewed mostly by Filipinos who did not speak English and armed with a cannon that had last seen service in the Spanish-American War, the Lanikai was under top-secret presidential orders to sail south into waters where the Japanese fleet was thought to be. Ostensibly the crew was to spy on Japanese naval movements, but to Tolley it was clear that their mission was to create an incident that would provoke war.
“Events overtook the plan, however, when Pearl Harbor was bombed before the Lanikai could get underway. When Bataan and Corregidor fell, she was ordered to set sail for Australia and became one of the few U.S. naval vessels to escape the Philippines. In this book Tolley tells the saga of her great adventure during these grim, early days of the war and makes history come alive as he regales the reader with details of the operation and an explanation of President Roosevelt’s order. Tolley’s description of their escape in Japanese warship-infested waters ranks with the best of sea tales, and few will be able to forget the Lanikai’s 4,000-mile, three-month odyssey.”
http://www.amazon.com/Cruise-Lanikai-Incitement-Bluejacket-Books/dp/1557504067
An Préachán
Bush erred by assuming that as President he could replace 7 US Attorneys who refused to follow orders and prosecute corrupt Democrats. He proved himself an amateur who walked into a trap that paralyzed his administration. He should have prefaced his move with a campaign of total personal destruction of the assigned victims. At this one function Obama Axelrod and the rest of the Chicago Crew have proved themselves true professionals in the traditions of Alinsky, Stalin and Mao.
The Hashemites are probably toast. Next I expect to see the wave flow to Morocco. Pure 7th century Islam is being installed from the Atlantic to the Indus, and possibly into Indonesia and even parts of Latin America, Europe and Michigan. This is an almost purely parasitic ideology that must have subjugated or neighboring victims to extract wealth from. Either they will force the flow of tribute to increase or they will face collapse. This is a war. In five years the Ummah will experience financial and demographic pressures beyond anything seen today in a failing Western society, such as Greece. Expect the pressure on America Australia Europe (what remains of it) and India to intensify. Putin and the Chinese were fools for thinking that they could safely unleash this force as a weapon against America.
Jordan is toast. We’re past the age of Kings and Princes and those countries that have kings but nothing to offer the West or oil money to soften the blow will be the first to fall.
Jordan will go the way of Egypt but with a distinctly Palestinian slant. Jordan will of course become endemically hostile to Israel, and perhaps put off a country in the West Bank for Palestinian Arabs forever. Simply put, Jordan is not currently economically feasible. It has too many people and too few jobs and resources. Throw in the Palestinian population and it’s ripe for a fall. America will prop up oil, it won’t prop up anything else.
“The eastern world, it is exploding..”
Well, not quite yet, but give the Obama Admin Eve of Destruction Foreign Policy another 4 years.
Come to think of it, 4 months ought to do it.
Forward!
I reminded of a scene from “Act of Valor” where “Senior” squares the hole for “Christo” basically saying “I can put you in a cage with no windows for the rest of your natural life, never to be heard from or seen again” this is the power of our Federal Government today, gladly giving by the people to keep them safe to a president that had the Morals and Honor to not abuse them, fast forward and now we have a corrupt narcissist fascist like 0bama in charge of all that power, putting those people who will do exactly as he says, the future is clear to see… Ole Ben Franklin said something about this and I think its coming true! basically We are getting what we deserve, not what we wanted. Sola Dei Gloria!
So what’s in it for Reed, Pelosi, Feinstein, etc. and the rest of the big city democrats that are big fish in a small pond? Does he have files on them that will be “released” like Petraus so that they too have to resign…and will Obama supporters simply step in?
Maybe this “purge” of officers is not about politics, personal grudges, or CYA. Maybe it’s just all about business.
Here’s some food for though. I’ve listed below a few of the people on Raytheon’s board of directors:
Ret. Admiral Vernon Clark
Ret. USMC Four Star James Cartwright
Former Director of the CIA John Deutch
Former National Security Advisor to Pres. Bush Stephen Hadley
While I know it’s generally a liberal talking point to whine about the evil military-industrial complex, maybe we should start looking into the unholy symbiosis that exists between the defense industry and the highest echelons of our defense and intelligence organizations. I don’t have to tell any of you how much money is at stake here, and as we all know, money is not an insignificant motivator. Might it be possible that Petraeus, Allen, etc. are being sabotaged because of competition for future lucrative corporate positions? What large defense corporation wouldn’t want someone like Petraeus attached to their organization? With his reputation and influence, he could have been worth billions in future contracts. But now that he’s somewhat tarnished, maybe the corporate offers are drying up and going to someone else?
I don’t get the “closed sessions.” The enemy knows what happened in exquisite detail. US citizens are the only ones in the dark.
Jordan is toast….
Well, maybe yes, maybe no.
In a sense, Jordan has been “toast” for decades (though it’s been even more burnt over the past decade). For in a region of artificial polities, the Kingdom of Jordan ranks as the most artificial of them all. (This is not to say that it shouldn’t exist. It exists and it should continue to exist.)
Keeping in mind (a little background) that when The Kingdom was threatened by the PLO (in 1970), King Hussein fought back hard, massacring them to the extent that many of them decided to flee for their lives to….Israel (heh!) while those others who could, set up shop in South Lebanon, where they proceeded over the next half decade to destroy the delicate balance that held there. And practically destroy the country. (No sweat though, as the PLO were anti-Israel freedom fighters.)
To be sure, for Jordan, push is now coming to shove. In the past, the country, albeit with its professional and very decent army, given the size and nature of the place, was guaranteed by the USA (though Israel was the power that truly guaranteed it, if surreptitiously, for the simple reason that Israel needed stability, everything being relative, on its eastern border—but of course, no one was/is supposed to mention this, for the obvious reasons.)
Being defended by the US comes with its own problems, to be sure. But being guaranteed by Israel, though I suppose it’s not exactly a secret, would be fatal for King Abdullah.
At this point, however, no American ally can reasonably expect anything from the USA. Alas.
The only question, therefore, is: Will Israel tolerate an Islamist take-over in Jordan; and will Abdullah, who can be expected to defend his throne (to the last Bedouin) dare show his Israeli ace in the veritable hole.
Does he have a choice? (He may, actually, as he might well decide to die—or hotfoot it to Riyadh—rather than have the Zionists save his bacon, honor being what it is in his neck of the woods…)
Does Israel?
File under: Free Willies
W: But the danger in going along is palpable. The Middle East is entering a new and dangerous period just as the administration is purging senior leaders in pursuit of a goal that the public can only guess at. What could go wrong?
So we’ve got a stealth “night of the long knives” implemented against our top military brass. I wonder when the Obama brown shirts will be appearing on the scene?
Hmmm….
Another one bites the dust?
http://www.stripes.com/news/hertling-leaves-usareur-without-fanfare-retires-1.196405
I see a silver lining: After the twin debacles of Bush’s nation building and Obama’s nation bungling, nobody in the West will be interested in Muslim boondoggles like “winning hearts and minds” for a while. Through Western naïveté, through malice, through malpractice and titanic incompetence, the mask is ripped away — the scum of Islam exposed. Islam is a culture which needs destroying, not helping. We must subvert them. We must encourage the fractures and frissons and we must widen and extend them. Muslims hate each almost as much as they hate us, and the meltdown of Muslim regime after Muslim regime is a gift if the West is wise enough to see it so.
One of the reasons Islam has emerged onto the world stage is the fact that the West, in our lust for oil riches and our desire to see the place stable, has kept the lid on what the Muslims want to do: Jihad and Genocide. Let’s not stop them, but let’s make sure that the victims of Muslim violence are Muslims. Let us stabilize those the Muslims attack. Let us prop up their enemies. Let us prop up the muslims who are losing against other Muslims so that the amuslim civil war goes on until Islam eats her people and withers.That is just, and if done properly, the Muslims themselves will be the main reapers of Islam’s harvest of hatred. Let us help them to destroy themselves. It should be easier going forward if we are wise enough to see the opportunities.
STOP THE PRESSES! http://tinyurl.com/begsu82
BP says settlement near on US penalties connected to 2010 oil spill
Could it be reports that CHU LIED, DOLPHINS DIED posted here on the Belmont Club have suddenly made Obama and Eric Holder more malleable in negotiations with BP?
Enquiring minds want to know.
P.S. FREE KURT MIX!
P.S.S. – THE FOUNDER OF THE MODERN DEMOCRAT PARTY ONCE SAID, “ONE MAN WITH COURAGE MAKES A MAJORITY.”
geoffgo @13
My thoughts exactly.
There is a there…There.
I’m afraid the scene is Arrakis (Dune), the night of the Harkonnen conspiracy. I still recall my first reading of that book, and the horror I felt at the speed at which that catastrophe unfolded and how complete was the destruction of the Atreides. The treachery was predictable and still unavoidable. Dont we all see it coming? Plans within plans… within plans.
geoffgo #13
Maybe it’s so the Dims can say “See, we investigated the matter. Nothing to see here. Move along.”. And they can then “leak” whatever truth or falsehood is convenient to keep the sheeple heads down and grazing.
Feinstein is a snake and a Dim (repeating myself).
The illusion of control!
MachiasPrivateer coud probably tell us stories of oil & gas companies where powerful CEOs — masters of their own limited universes — furiously restructured & reorganized internally, while the competitors outside the CEOs’ walls took the future. Where are you now — Gulf Oil, Superior Oil, Getty Oil, Standard of Ohio, BNOC, Texaco, Mobil, Arco, etc, etc?
Soetero can play all the seat-shuffling back-stabbing games he wants within his own little empire, applauded by the pantie-throwing hackettes of his media defenders. But will that help him when his real opponents move in for the kill?
Wheels within wheels…
Jill Kelley, the woman who precipitated the David Petraeus scandal by reporting that she was being harassed, is actually a Lebanese woman named Jill Khawam.
http://articles.philly.com/2012-11-12/news/35069798_1_natalie-khawam-marcelle-khawam-paula-broadwell
Maybe the Palestinians takeover Jordan and the Israelis push them out of Gaza. One state solution.
“There’s trouble in Gaza on Israel’s western border…”
Not much trouble in Gaza itself, just 2 dead terrorists and some broken missiles.
The trouble is the outgoing fire from Gaza can hit 25% of Israel, and about 1 million civilians. That is without the long range missiles from Iran (which the IDF bombed).
I found this comparison enlightening:
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-gIzqg4WcI1I/UKSz3gdlOJI/AAAAAAAA9H0/bIVo4DzSdgU/s1600/Hamas%2Bin%2Bperspective.png
If Texas and LA were receiving rocket fire I think we would unleash more than precision airstrikes!
If this becomes a bigger war and Hizballah in Lebanon gets involved, then the terrorists could hit all of Israel, see:
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_BZv_cSK9PAU/TTZmGna24vI/AAAAAAAAAKs/ocsWSi3sywQ/s1600/idf-israel-missile-threat-map.jpg
and then all bets are off, and a ground war would follow.
If the situation in Syria gets desperate, Hizballah might provide such a distraction to save Assad.
Once the Chinese get done with their big Party Brew Ha Ha I think we will see even more very, very dark storm clouds… 0bama is a major Muslim Sympathizer, proof 0bama wears on his finger, Israel is in deep trouble, they know it but everyone else could care less. Happy Dec 21 to everyone, maybe that’s the start of our 7 year itch???
People, please help me get the word out on this. I don’t know what the heck the ambassador was doing in Benghazi, whether there is a prison, or whether there is gun-running going on. I do know, however, that this administration was supporting, through the Human Rights Council in the UN, the muslims efforts to criminalize blasphemy. That is why they seized on the video story and hung on to it like a dog with a bone.
When Obama spoke to the UN he probably had to have the speech vetted by the OLC – someone there informed our ‘constitutional scholar’ that blasphemy and the First Amendment don’t mix. Just as he wanted the control our Second Amendment rights with Fast and Furious, he seized on the video to restrain our First Amendment rights.
Wretchard: “What could go wrong?”
Answer: EVERYTHING
As the old saw goes, “it’s not a bug, it’s a feature.”
Looks like the “Abyss” is starting to stare back.
“….Less you become one.”
The creatures that the left has demonized seem to be sharpening their pitchforks and uttering the cry, “Slay the Demons!”
Of the nine unified commands, only AFRICOM has a civilian Deputy Commander. On the 14th of September, 2012, Christopher William Dell replaced J. Anthony Holmes as the DCMA (Deputy to the Commander for Civil-Military Activities).
Both Holmes and Dell are career State Department diplomats. I was unable to find any references to Senate confirmation hearings for the appointment of AFRICOM’s civilian DCMA. This suggests to me that they are appointed by the State Department.
Holmes farewell ceremony (as DCMA) was held on 7 September, 2012, so the events at Benghazi do not appear to be related.
General Ward seems to have earned his demotion if this Army News report is accurate.
First he intends to throw Hillary under the bus.
Next will be Susan Rice.
Wanna bet Samantha Power, the Third of the Three Valkyries, will be right behind her?
If you’ve worked with very many female executives, you’re perhaps familiar with a certain ferocity they often have for rival female executives. Anyone else see Valerie Jarrett behind this?
As far as the larger picture goes, this is clearly Obama trying to get “reliable” commanders in place. But, purges at the top only work if the new boss carries the purge on down the ranks. Problem with that is, if the purge is simply to solidify control, you do it at the cost of capability and morale. The cogs in the machine know the difference between their front line boss being replaced for incompetence and being replaced for politics. If they lose a good leader to favoritism, they get discouraged.
Well, I wouldn’t expect any of the Obama crowd to understand much about that. They’ve never had to make anything other than a scam work.
Looks like we got a front row seat to history and the fire exits are chained shut.
Jordan’s failure just might prove to be a boon. Trans-Jordan was the major portion (80%) of the British Mandate of Palestine following WWI. With Jordan’s failure comes the opportunity to create a true state of Palestine.
Ideally, the West Bank, Golan Heights and Gaza would revert to Israel, creating an undivided state with defensible borders.
Forget to write above that the push to criminalize blasphemy is the reason why Rice, UN ambassador, was sent out with the administrations’ talking points.
STOP THE PRESSES! BP Announces Resolution of ALL Criminal and Securities Claims by U.S. Government Against Company Relating to Deepwater Horizon Accident! http://tinyurl.com/alswlvu
SO NOW KURT MIX WAS TEXTING A MEMBER OF CONGRESS??
IF NOT, WHY WAS HE THE ONLY INDIVIDUAL CRIMINALLY CHARGED FOR 11 DEATHS THAT TOOK PLACE BEFORE HE WAS CALLED IN TO STOP THE FLOW OF OIL INTO THE GULF?
COULD IT BE HIS FORMER EMPLOYER CONSIDERS HIM “COLLATERAL DAMAGE”?
WHAT EVER HAPPENDED TO HONOR?
FREE KURT MIX!!!
NO MAN LEFT BEHIND!!!
OT:
22 Signs That Voter Fraud Is Wildly Out Of Control And The Election Was A Sham
By Michael, on November 13th, 2012
http://endoftheamericandream.com/archives/22-signs-that-voter-fraud-is-wildly-out-of-control-and-the-election-was-a-sham
OT:
Report: Petraeus Clashed With Agency Heads in Final Days
http://www.commentarymagazine.com/2012/11/15/report-petraeus-clashed-with-agency-heads-in-final-days/
When dealing with an “insane” opponent or group sometimes the only defense is to go “insane” and pull the limits off of your own governor.
“This aye night,
This aye night,
Destruction take them all.”
MachiasPrivateer #34:
Question for you:
How much expertise does the Fed Govt actually have in the area of deep water drilling? After all the Fed Govt does none of it by itself and based on Deepwater Horizon does not seem to get involved in supervision, control, or inspection other than making sure there are enough lifejackets and stuff and nobody takes a dump over the side.
This relates to an article I plan to write on the proper role of the Fed Govt.
Perhaps all these military leaders have been given “an offer they cannot refuse” and are scheduled to command that “civilian force, just as powerful as the U. S military” that the President said he had plans to prove up.
Gets rid of all those Posse Comitatus entanglements…and all my brothers and sisters will no longer honor that bond we used to share.
“Hey, it could happen!!!” – Judy Tenuta
Please purge all the O/T comments, here?
As for closed-door inquiries: such are necessary, because much classified information will be discussed, such as response capabilities and policies, communications and protocols, and ongoing military and intelligence missions and the personnel involved. It is not going to be just about Benghazi, but the whole array of diplomatic, security, and intelligence policies. It will cover process, not just the Benghazi event.
While I am suspicious of Feinstein’s actual motives, she is currently doing exactly the right thing, at least on the surface, so good for her.
RWE @ 38 – How much does the federal government know about deep water drilling?
Not much. Someone ought to ask the Director of the DoI’s safety group BSEE, former Coast Guard Admiral James A. Watson http://tinyurl.com/cqrqeaz where the one million barrels of “missing oil” went? Under the plea bargain he is supposed to oversee BP’s process safety plans during the five year probation period. Where is he going to look for that one million barrels of oil???
A better question would be why didn’t the Coast Guard do an Incident Specific Report for the period from the inital blowout up until he took over from Admiral Mary Landry as On Scene Commander on June 1, 2010, shortly after the “top kill” operation was aborted at Stephen Chu’s insistence. The FBI is still trying to jail Kurt Mix for conducting an effort to halt the flow of oil into the Gulf, not the deaths of 11 crew members. Does the government want its part in aborting the “top kill” to disappear down the Memory Hole? Are they worried that it would get out into the public that CHU LIED, DOLPHINS DIED! ?
And isn’t the government disappointed that it is only getting $4.5 Billion over 5 years when they were projecting $30 billion?
It is not a coincidence that Climate Czar Carol Browner’s weenies were burning the midnight oil drafting the illegal drilling moratorium right in the middle of the top kill operation during the night of May 26-27, 2010. When is Eric Holder going to provide the emails covering that time period???
Enquiring minds want to know!
P.S. And isn’t is something of a conflict of interest for the clean cut military type admiral to have been both the On Scene Commander and the Judge and Jury of BP? He does seem to be a very ambitious man.
JMH @31, I’ve worked with quite a few female executives, and I’ve never seen evidence of that stereotype.
#4 Neil
At the levels we are talking about, there are pre-planned tours of duty in the posts. Absent dereliction of duty you do NOT break that pattern. Especially not without an reasonable explanation. This AIN’T normal.
#16 E2
Quite possibly. It does not make sense, but I don’t know if it was his expected end of tour. Just as a thought, if you want to keep a record of this, look around and find another article about it to save. I am finding that as far as the personnel changes happening of late, STARS AND STRIPES seems to be sending them down the rabbit hole shortly after publication.
Subotai Bahadur
#42 Sarah Rolph
While YMMV, I have seen this phenomenon as a norm in state government.
Subotai Bahadur
Concerning the purge of the generals in the Mideast. I doubt that was/is meant to forestall a revolt. Generals have bought into the status quo with heavy perks, great salaries, and a big ego trip. They also, as someone mention above, that many end up on company boards. As well they get paid speaking engagenments at thousands of dollars a pop.
The real danger of revolt is from the next lower ranks of the officer corps, the colonels and majors that have been kicked in the teeth one too many times.
They, along with sgt majors are also the first warning line when a general gets out of order. I give you the example of Maj Gen Edwin Walker, who was ratted out by his G-2 and the Div Hq NCOs.
War is seldom appropriate, and none of this might have happened if Abraham Lincoln found a better way to free slavery 150 years ago.
This lesson is playing tomorrow in movie theaters. Everybody go see it.