Snapshot
The Obama administration sent Hillary Clinton aloft in a trial balloon signaling the willingness to get behind the Syrian opposition to Assad:
A decision to recognize the group could be announced at a so-called Friends of Syria meeting that Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton is expected to attend in Morocco on Dec. 12. It is the most immediate decision facing the Obama administration as it considers how to end the government of Bashar al-Assad and stop the violence that has consumed Syria.
There’s was always some danger to the course, thus the wisdom of allowing time to leave her holding the bag if it provokes a sharp reaction from Russia:
President Obama has not signed off on the move, and the meetings to decide the issue have yet to be held. Debates within the administration concern legal issues about the implications of diplomatic recognition, how such a move might affect efforts to enlist Russian support for a political transition in Syria and, most importantly, the state of the opposition.
But if the Russians don’t object, the administration can always claim “it was not on the wrong side of history.” When was it ever? It follows the lead of “Britain, France, Turkey and the Gulf Cooperation Council,” who “have already recognized the opposition, which was enlarged and overhauled at a meeting in Doha, Qatar.”
This development came as Egypt’s announcement of a new Islamic constitution had all the calming effect of a bucket of gasoline poured on a fire. The Washington Post’s Stephanie McCrummen writes:
If anything, the new charter — which passed after walkouts by liberal, secular and other non-Islamist assembly members and in theory will now be put to a public referendum — seems only to have plunged Egypt deeper into turmoil.
The document appeared to function as a battle line between two intractably opposed parties, with some objecting to its Islamist provisions and others outraged that it was not Islamist enough:
Analysts said that the constitution itself — or at least the portions of the text made public so far — appears to be neither the deeply Islamist document that Morsi’s critics had feared nor the inclusive, progressive charter that liberal and secular revolutionaries had hoped would guide the world’s most populous Arab nation.
…
The document will spawn “all kinds of controversy — political, legal and dueling confrontations on the streets,” said Nathan Brown, a Middle East scholar at George Washington University. “At this point, things seem to be escalating in all ways, and there are no real attempts to contain them. It raises concern about the stability of the political system.”
But as Syria has demonstrated, the administration has a foolproof method of resolving such dilemmas. It simply remains paralyzed until it is clear which bloody set of hands has reached the topmost rung. Then it reaches down to shake them. However, if events in Egypt are any indication, the administration has copious quantities of hand sanitizer available — just in case.
“But if the Russians don’t object the administration can safely claim “it was not on the wrong side of history””
They should get it over with and just start issuing trillion dollar paychecks. What is the point of being involved at all if you do not have a coherent policy?
“This as Egypt’s announcement of a new Islamic constitution from whose drafting Christians and liberals walked out had all the calming effect of a bucket of gasoline poured on a fire.”
Oddly, this is exactly what Republican, Independents, Libertarians, Moderates, and anti-Communists ought to do with this administration, particularly with regards to the fiscal cliff. The only way to moderate DC radicalism now is through state caucus.
I presume those colored lines are the exclusive economic zones. Maybe it is time to break out the crayons and bisect those lines before war breaks out instead. If the tonnage rule applies here it looks like China will prevail. I guess the best that might come out of it is the affected parties see to it that they pay. Maybe Obama can write a couple more trillion dollar checks for that as well.
Perhaps the Asian states can compromise and let the United States administer the Spratly Islands as a United Nations Trust Territory. Alternatively, at least some of the Spratly Islands could be claimed by the United States of America on the basis of the Guano Islands Act. This could get interesting.
Nifty video, wretchard. I feel so soothed and calm now.
In fact we could have a soothing singalong!
Pack up your troubles in your old kit-bag,
And smile, smile, smile,
While you’ve a Lucifer to light your fag,
Smile, boys, that’s the style.
What’s the use of worrying?
It never was worth while, so
Pack up your troubles in your old kit-bag,
And smile, smile, smile.
And, lest anyone think those lyrics are a bit un-PC, here’s the gay icon Judy Garland singing her heart out.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5loozi3svCo
Methinks that’s a vid that wretchard could find a more contextual use for many, many time in the coming months, years, however long we’ve got….
Perhaps the Asian states can compromise and let the United States administer the Spratly Islands as a United Nations Trust Territory.
That is effectively what a hegemon does, but not in this legalistic way. By its dominance the smaller powers keep to their lawful occasions engaging in trade, commerce and culture and suppress their antagonisms toward each other.
When the hegemon vanishes it has the same effect as abolishing the police in a big city. The streets — like the Sea Lanes — become a No-Man’s-Land. All kinds of claimants emerge. Hatreds long suppressed resurface.
This dynamic also operates in the Middle East. The various communities are now free to hate and slaughter each other with vengeance. The farther back the hegemon retreats the more vicious the slaughter.
The false promise of pacifism is that if you “throw away that old iron” the bandidos will ride away and leave you alone. Obama has promised everyone a peace dividend that doesn’t exist. He was handed the Long Peace, a marvelous period of history bereft of major conflict. What will he bequeath?
One of the most dramatic illustrations of the law of unintended consequences was the Vajont Dam disaster in Italy. Italy built a dam taller than the Hoover (860 feet) in the Dolomites. But in so doing the rising reservoir weakened the slopes of the hills further down the river. A massive crack appeared on a mountainside.
The engineers thought they could control it by alternately lowering and raising the water level, inducing the landslide. All went according to their models until suddenly the earth movement went nonlinear. But they didn’t worry, they had calculations showing that in the worst case a 70-foot high tsunami would form if the rock face slid into the lake.
Then in 1963 the rockslide began to speed up. The dam managers lowered the lake 90 feet and organized a party at the top of the dam so that they could watch the landslide. The mass of 500 Nimitz class aircraft carriers thundered into the lake in 45 seconds. A whole mountainside into the reservoir. This generated a tsunami about 700 feet high — nearly as high over the dam as the dam itself and killed everyone in the valley behind. Thousands perishd.
Things in the real world are nonlinear. Obama may think — if he thinks beyond cheap political calculation — that he is in control. And for a while he will seem to be. And then as so often happens in history, things will go all exponential on him. And by then he won’t even have time to blame Bush before the tsunami hits.
As for Vajont, the dam is still there, abandoned. It never generated a single watt of electricity. Werner Herzog, the film maker wrote:
Maybe Obama will be remembered for centuries, but for all the wrong reasons.
Our best hope is that Obama is not their agent but merely an idiot, so that they spit at his offered hand.
Instapundit had a quick mention of Obama’s latest debacle in Asia, where:
Thanks to this administration, it looks like the whole of asia is beginning to think China makes a more convincing, stable regional power than the decaying US.
“But shipping lanes that have nothing directly to do with mainland China, including the export paths from Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan to Europe, pass through these waters toward the Indian Ocean.”
Sounds like the Europeans have a problem brewing. Maybe they could invite President Putin (remember him? the guy who acts like a real President?) to look out for their interests?
Still, this is what the EUnuchs have wanted — an America cut down to size. And the Europhiliacs in the Soetero Regime have been only too happy to comply. Now everybody gets to live with the consequences.
Just wait till Chavez in Venezuela starts taking advantage of the situation. You know it is only a matter of time.
“Instead, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, plus China, India, Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand, will form a club and leave out the United States.”
Hey, wait a moment. Don’t these people realize that this would be racist? What, do they have a problem with sitting down with a black man? Shameful. We should bomb them all.
Same thing with all of the ME. Any parties that do not hop to it are obviously bigoted. The last biGots we had to deal were Japan and Germany. Oh yeah, we helped China against some of those biGots.
“Sounds like the Europeans have a problem brewing…” No problem. They can ship it into Los Angeles harbor and unload it using ULWU labor. There should be secure transportation all the way to the Atlantic using strictly union labor.
War for oil no.
War for union labor yes.
3.vanderleun
“Nifty video, wretchard. I feel so soothed and calm now”
Not to worry bro…rest assured that pres. Clinton put Jen Flo or Mon Lew type booby traps and or cigar infused blue dress back doors into all the technology he gave to the ChiComs. Typing of Clintons, is Hillary going to reiterate her smart power about how much of a reformer Assad is during her Moroccan routine or is she just going to be there for the wine?
Obama may think — if he thinks beyond cheap political calculation.
There is no reason to believe he does so, nor sees the lack, or goes beyond the surface on any issue whatsoever.
That is no sin, maybe 80% of the public is the same way on such large issues, but when powerful individuals, the party, the MSM and such are blind to this, then it means they share his blindness and incapacity, and that is frightening.
One more – it is no novelty for the powerful to elect a figurehead, and to some degree the office of president was created to be somewhat that figurehead rather than a monarch. But then the real power must reside somewhere, and today, just where IS that? When the powerful care only for themselves and NOBODY wields power for the public good, then the government is badly broken. And that is the Democratic party today, from top to bottom, as near as I can tell.
Vanderleun/4
Not to worry, the Japanese will take care of it.
PAGODA MAST
Was it just in the past
That the pagoda mast
Saw the dawn in the South China Sea
When the fierce IJN
Ruled the waves now and then
Heavy cruisers and fast sleek DD
Yes the bright Rising Sun
Snapping proud on the run
From Rabaul all the way to the Slot
Where so many then found
The name Iron Bottom Sound
Was for them a cold watery plot
Now the band plays again
The renamed IJN
May return to the South China Sea
Modern ships sleek and fast
Sans the pagoda mast
With an ancient foe off to the lee
Things are breaking down, and quickly. The roller coaster ride has only begun. The ME as we knew it is shattering before our eyes, breaking into feuding bands of psychotics that act in reality much like the current popular depiction of zombies on TV. I think things have gone too far already. I see a pocket nuclear war in the ME as being inevitable at this point.
And who knows how it will start? If I was in control of the KSA I might well consider buying a nuke or three from Pakistan or North Korea and then setting them off as a car bomb in the middle of Tehran. Everyone would blame it on the Israelis and my enemies would go for each others throats.
And there are many more such scenarios which are just as equally depressing.
In the meantime, China is acting much as Japan did prior to WWII. Its a resource poor but industrializing nation with an authoritarian government. What could possibly go wrong if they want something and folks resist them when they try to take it?
I guess we could always send them a reset button via the HildaBeast. Its always worked in the past.
Or maybe we could send them a unicorn.
RIMPAC 2012 http://www.cpf.navy.mil/rimpac/2012/
Twenty-two nations, more than 40 ships and submarines, more than 200 aircraft and 25,000 personnel are…
Here is some more stirring music celebrating 101 years of Naval Aviation
http://www.public.navy.mil/airfor/centennial/Pages/welcome.aspx
And some video of CONA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=s93q4JXifA4
(My favorite plane is the one I helped design the A-6E)
Slightly OT.
There is nothing quit so beautiful as a Destroyer under way with a bone in her teeth.
We will know the end is near when Japan starts to build capital ships, in her own yards. The Japanese are SAILORS, the Chinese, not.
Japan could even help its moribund economy with a three carrier battle group building program.
We’ve been here before. Only this time our moats are already crossed.
What is Vietnam’s reaction to Chinese claims? Enmity between Viets and Han is ancient and abiding. Are the Viets unsheathing their swords for yet another fooferei with the Men From the North?
And where, oh where, is Australia? A wealthy and stable country that, militarily, seems to punch (if at all) far below her weight. Why is she not assuming hegemonic duties?
“A wealthy and stable country that, militarily, seems to punch (if at all) far below her weight.”
At 22,620,000 people Australia has less than 10% (7.3) of the population of the US. It has less than 25% of the population of Mexico. With that in mind, when was the last time Mexico sent troops and material to support US and NATO operations? I’d say that is punching above her weight.
The US has 37.82 people per square km, most of them armed and Australia has 2.6 people per square km, none of them armed. I’d say that puts Australia in a defensive position. Not a very strong one at that.
The Syrian opposition to Assad are radical jihadists. There are no secular liberals in Syria. The cognitive dissonance of the administration may perhaps only be exceeded by the cognitive dissonance of those who voted for Obama.
The WP’s McCrummen’s attempt at equivalence and meme creation, “the text made public so far — appears to be neither the deeply Islamist document that Morsi’s critics had feared nor the inclusive, progressive charter that liberal and secular revolutionaries had hoped would guide the world’s most populous Arab nation. …” is sheer twaddle.
Morsi and the Brotherhood are following a tried and true formula; first lay the foundations for tyranny, then secure deeper control of the apparatus of governance, then ‘disappear’ the leaders of opposition, then adjust as needed to assure total control.
We’re witnessing history in the making, the initial formation of a Sunni jihadist nation state to match Iran’s Shia creation. But not to worry, Egypt won’t be a rival of Iran, it will be a partner, Israel and the US being greater ‘Satan’s’ than each other. 87% of Egyptians now say, they “would be happy” if Egypt acquired the bomb.
62% of Egyptians say that “Iran and its president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, are friends of Egypt” and 65% express a desire to restore diplomatic relations with Iran, with 61% supporting the Iranian nuclear program.
While China is historically not an expansionist society, arguably there are parallels with Japan’s pre-WWII maneuvers to gain greater regional dominance. The shipping lanes make this a geo-politically interesting time to live in but what could go wrong with mutual defense treaties in play?
#9,
It appears that Chavez is just about out of time.
#12,
Our badly broken government is a reflection of a slim majority which has rejected liberty in favor of the soft tyranny of dependent socialism. Their inability and/or obstinate refusal to see that the mathematically and politically certain end of that path is the hard tyranny of bondage, changes that free will choice not in the least.
#14,
I see that I’m not alone in my assessment. You too caught the China, Japan, WWII parallel I see. Regarding scenario’s; when Iran gets the bomb, if cooler heads prevail, they’ll give a nuke to Hezbollah who’ll put it on a luxury yacht and sail it into Tel Aviv’s Jaffa harbor. Look for the Egyptian’s to immediately launch an invasion, seize Jerusalem and start another final solution.
Japan, even in her weakened state, is far mightier than Australia. I don’t think any trouble impends in the region in the near term unless an accident or sudden change in the world situation creates a cascade of misunderstandings.
That the underlying tension exists is shown by China’s buildup of the Hainan base, Japanese rearmament, the US pivot to the Pacific and even the pitiful Philippines has started the biggest armament program in its history.
But whether these tensions will break out into worse is really unknown. Most of the powers would probably avoid it out of self-interest. The sea lanes streaming past Luzon are so crucial to the survival of China, Japan, Korea and Taiwan, that any insurance-rate raising tensions would be serious. If actual naval incidents occurred and the flows were interdicted the food, fuel and commodities situation could become critical quickly.
Australia’s government has allowed its liquid fuel stockpile to fall to a two week level. So you could argue that nobody can afford trouble. But this has never stopped folly from occurring. About 100 years ago, in 1910, Norman Angell wrote the Great Illusion which argued that globalization had made war impossible. Well we all know what happened in August, 1914. Gavrilo Princip didn’t get the word.
Angell was awarded the Nobel Peace prize in 1933, you know, like Kofi Annan, Yasser Arafat and Barack Obama.
Then there’s that great gender imbalance in China: Census data obtained in 2000 revealed that 119 boys were born for every 100 girls, and among China’s “floating population” the ratio was as high as 128:100. These situations led the government in July 2004 to ban selective abortions of female fetuses.
Those young men should be reaching draft age pretty soon. Good thing US doesn’t have that type of imbalance, and we have “smart” females like Hillary, Samantha, and Susan to show us the error of our ways.
#19. Geoffrey Britain
I wouldn’t rule out the possibility of Israel being hit first by a nuke by any means, but there are semi-rational actors in the region that do fear that Israel might invoke the Samson option: nuke them all in retaliation and let God sort them out as to the guilty and the innocent.
The very possibility of that does and should send shivers down the spines of any rulers in the ME whose measure of IQ isn’t approaching zero from the left side of the scale. If you want to spark a nuclear war with the Israelis, and all the hideous consequences that entails, you need to make sure that the identity of the culprits seems clear, and that you have a golden and perfect alibi.
The truly bad part is that culturally in that part of the world a talent for treachery and lying is seen as a good thing. Its an art that is cultivated and admired. But, as experience and history teaches us, there can be truly heavy consequences if such works of art are of substandard quality.
#16,
Well the Chinese are rusty at deep water navigation but remember; “Over fifty years before the Portuguese traversed the southern tip of Africa to first enter the Indian Ocean in 1488, fleets of hundreds of immense Chinese junks sent by the Ming Emperor Zhu Di traversed from the China Sea past Sumatra to Ceylon, India, Arabia and East Africa. Seven epic Chinese naval expeditions from 1405 to 1433 explored and brought under the Chinese tributary system the vast periphery of the Indian Ocean.”
Nothing changes until it changes. China appears committed to its Navy.
“The problem with intellectuals is that they assume all trends are linear.”
Really so many of the current “elite” can barely do arithmetic. Trying to get the concept of exponential change in any direction on a two axis chart to them is close to impossible.
There’s exponential and asymptotic. It looks like everything is hitting the asymptotic wall economically. Things went along nicely because they could. Then they couldn’t. Intellectuals do not believe in economic asmptotes, only environmental ones. Strange that.
“With that in mind, when was the last time Mexico sent troops and material to support US and NATO operations?”
TO my knowledge, it was WWII, when Mexico and Brazil each formed a P-47 group and sent them overseas to support the Allied war effort. The Brazilians went to Italy the Mexicans to the Phillipines.
By the way, the Cubans were on our side, too. The Cuban Navy sank at least one U-boat.
For Japan the real thing to watch for is a change in their Constitution, which currently forbids nuclear weapons on Japanese soil. Likewise New Zealand, which has stated that nuclear armed aircraft cannot visit. Since the US will neither confirm nor deny the presence of nuclear weapons on any aircraft or ship that led to some absurd approaches; U.S. aircraft would declare an emergency in order to get to land in NZ to refuel.
On an earlier comment thread, someone asked whether China could, if food shipments were interrupted, simply go back to an earlier, lower-calorie diet to weather the crisis.
I did some rummaging around the USDA’s website for food production and consumption data. It’s amazingly difficult to find that info in easy-to-use form, btw. Anyhow, if the USDA data can be believed, the average Chinese isn’t eating significantly more calories today than twenty years ago, which surprised me (and maybe the data is erroneous?). However, the mix of foods has changed quite a bit (which didn’t surprise me). There’s far more meat, dairy and fruits in the average Chinese diet, and less rice and vegetables.
By my rough estimates, the average Chinese urbanite in 1990 got two thirds of his caloric intake from grains and vegitables, and less than 20% from meat and dairy. His 2010 counterpart gets only half his calories from grains and veggies, and nearly twice as many from meats and dairy.
Among the rural population, per-capita meat consumtpion has doubled since 1990, fruit consumption tripled, and dairy quadrupled.
So in theory China could perhaps go back to a rice-and-cabbage diet, but that might be a little dangerous for the government now that people are more used to beef, fruit and milk.
#22,
I certainly hope that your assessment turns out to be the most accurate. I am perhaps less sanguine about the Iranian’s, Hezbollah, Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood, Hamas, etc. being ‘semi-rational actors’, when push comes to shove.
They’re ideological/religious fanatics who view martyrdom as the entrance to heaven after all.
Personally, I think that Israel’s best chance to deter those fanatics is to identify Islam itself as their enemy and publicly announce a new doctrine; that any nuclear attack against Israel will result in nuclear retaliation first against every major Islamic holy site and then, against every Middle Eastern Islamic capital and major city.
No more BS about moderates and radicals. Make absolutely certain that Muslims understand just what they stand to lose. And to eliminate the certain initial denial and disbelief, take out the Dome of the Rock, just to remove all doubt that Israel’s got a new sheriff on the job.
The loss of people and cities may not dissuade them but for religious fanatics, perhaps the certain loss of the Kaaba and Mecca will cause them to reconsider.
Otherwise, sooner or later it’s the Three Conjectures.
Interesting history RWE to be sure…
‘of the 31 Mexican pilots who flew in combat missions, five were killed.”
A personal sacrafice to be sure but would you call it punching above her weight?
“Some 300,000 Mexican citizens went to the United States to work in factories that produced war supplies and to help in any way that would benefit the Allies.” As then as now.
Annoy #29:
Consider that in WWII we came to the aid of many embattled and occupied countries that had been at war for some time before 7 Dec 41. That included the captive nations of Europe, many of which had governments in exile, and the British Empire.
But how many others came to help us? The only ones I know of are Mexico and Brazil. Cuba helped us mainly because of defense their territorial waters and trade. I think that a few other South American countries were on our side but mainly just offered words of encouragement and maybe a declaration of war to little effect. Argentina and Paraguay were, if anything leaning the other way, but not actively. German U-boats did flee to Argentina, the crews thinking they would be received warmly.
Back in 2002 the Left’s argument was that our cause was not just in Iraq because “no one” was on our side (and in reality that meant just France, Germany, and Russia). But those were the same who were not on our side in WWII. Russia started out as Germany’s ally, Vichy France fought us, at least for a while, and Germany was our enemy. In fact, I think Japan even sent forces to Iraq, and Italy supported us, so we had more people on our side than in WWII.
Have we today a ship named Panay?
The masters of China have initiated a policy which seizes control of the flow of wealth and goods in and out of the South China Sea including from Taiwan moving between these countries and the United States: this establishes the Chinese hegemony over the United States trading partners and allies in the Pacific; China would not being doing this unless they had accurately assessed our weakness. This seizing control of a major source of trade and wealth corresponds to Islamic forces seizing control of the Mediterranean Sea in the mid seventh century: the flow of wealth and goods stopped, Roman civilization ended, and Europe entered the Dark Ages.
“So in the future, when people are looking for the Neanderthals of the 21st century, they will see our traces standing in open air.”
Maybe Obama will be remembered for centuries, but for all the wrong reasons.
I have no doubt President Ozymandias (Obamandias?) will be remembered.
Checking for typos and didn’t notice my nic…
@21…
Since it’s the gals who have the babies…
And it’s couples that are restricted to ONE baby…
Then, every year that the one-child policy is sustained must cause Chinese demographics to change.
If China succeeds in reducing her population down towards half of current levels — the obvious implications of a one-child policy — then most of her strategic dilemmas evaporate.
Likewise, the falling population of Japan solves many strategic dilemmas.
Stuff like: just about everything.
The exploding populations of Egypt, Yemen and Somalia show that governments can’t get out ahead of the demand for infrastructure — nor much else.
On a short term basis, the next generation’s resource needs are a win-lose proposition. The more rapidly the society expands its membership, the more it is stressed.
This is particularly true for social capital. It’s not for nothing that the 1960s youth revolution occurred exactly when the percentage of the youth population surged.
Indeed, the ramp was so strong that many students had to attend classes off hours or in marginal facilities. My high school was using converted VA patient wings in the 1960s. (!)
The May,1968 Student Revolution in Paris revolved around college students having to sit in the aisles — and listen through the windows — on a routine basis — just to attend classes. The politicians had made promises that the infrastructure couldn’t keep.
The NATO generation had arrived.
(Daddy’s little peace dividend — plus eighteen years.)
========
Which is also to say: Peak Oil may have to face Peak People. Pretty much across the entire developed world population growth is halting — and going into reverse.
Humanity is pushing back from the edge of the Petri dish.
JMH @27…
The question is, for the whole planet, what is to be done when the meager phosphate mines give out.
Nauru has already been exhausted.
“Nauru was one of three great phosphate rock islands in the Pacific Ocean (the others were Banaba (Ocean Island) in Kiribati and Makatea in French Polynesia). The phosphate reserves on Nauru are now almost entirely depleted. Phosphate mining in the central plateau has left a barren terrain of jagged limestone pinnacles up to 15 metres (49 ft) high. Mining has stripped and devastated about 80 per cent of Nauru’s land area, and has also affected the surrounding Exclusive Economic Zone; 40 per cent of marine life is estimated to have been killed by silt and phosphate runoff…”
(Wikipedia)
========
To a shocking degree, the world is dependent upon remarkably few phosphate deposits; which, when gone, spell big trouble for our food supply.
It’s a commodity that can’t be substituted/ worked around.
(Phosphorus is used by all life for the ATP ADP energy cycle. It’s the limiting element for sea life — flora and fauna.)
Blert
http://www.zerohedge.com/article/will-phosphate-be-canadas-next-potash
SF
26. RWE
Not to quibble, but I believe the Mexican air force unit that fought in the Philippines flew P-51s. Maybe they started with Jugs and transitioned to Mustangs. I’ve seen photos of Mexican pilots in the PI posing with their P-51s.
The Brazilians sent a sizeable expeditionary force to Italy comprising army and air force units totalling about 26,000 men. They fought honorably and well in the Italian campaign through to the end of the war. The Brazilian navy conducted operations in the middle and south Atlantic and were a valued contributor to the Allied effort.
32. njartist49, re “… corresponds to Islamic forces seizing control of the Mediterranean Sea in the mid seventh century: the flow of wealth and goods stopped, Roman civilization ended, and Europe entered the Dark Ages.”
Islam did not seize control of the Mediterranean in the mid-seventh century. At that time and for several centuries that followed the Mediterranean remained up for grabs. Christian forces (Venetians, Knights Hospitallers, etc.) actually controlled most of the Mediterranean (west, central, north-east) until the early 16th Century. The Ottomans did not gain control of the eastern Mediterranean until 1522 when the Turks captured Rhodes from the Hospitallers. After Rhodes fell the Hospitallers occupied Malta and there turned back the tide of Ottoman expansion into the western Mediterranean in 1565. In the meantime the Venetians remained in control of Cyprus–and the sea lanes thereabouts–until 1571, when the Ottomans finally conquered the island. But that same year Christian naval forces won a famous victory in the Battle of Lepanto. The Dark Ages came about as a result of Rome’s decline and fall; the rise of Islam had nothing to do with it. Europe was well into the Dark Ages before Mohammed was born. The fall of Rome and the consequent darkening of European civilization were primarily (but not solely) attributable to population movements by numerous diverse peoples, notably the great Volkerwanderungen of the Germanic peoples.
In any case, prolonged conflict in the eastern Mediterranean ultimately proved beneficial to Europe, forcing Europeans to “go west” across the ocean … to the New World.
@ Geoffrey Britain #20
“The Syrian opposition to Assad are radical jihadists. There are no secular liberals in Syria.”
Check Michel Kilo’s movement, the Democratic forum, strangely missing from the English version of Kilo’s wikipedia page. Check Randa Kassis’ Coalition of Secular and Democratic Syrians, again not on the English version of wikipedia. Check Haytham Manaa’s National Coordination Committee for Democratic Change. Check Louay Hassan and Rima Fleyhane. And stop reading the NY Times.
There are secular liberals in Syria. They started the current rebellion, not the salafists. Syria’s secular liberals have been thrown out of the Syrian National Council for pushing the Brahimi plan (check that, too). Of course, with the U.S. and the E.U. supporting the salafists and Russia, China and Iran supporting Assad, secular liberals might not survive in Syria for very long. But they do exist, despite everybody’s cognitive dissonance.
At 22,620,000 people Australia has 3 million less people than Texas.
yes, just Texas.
we really would be better off being our own country again.
Re: #9 Kinuachdrach……
This is an excellent observation:
“Sounds like the Europeans have a problem brewing. Maybe they could invite President Putin (remember him? the guy who acts like a real President?) to look out for their interests?
Still, this is what the EUnuchs have wanted — an America cut down to size.”
This is an example of “Be careful what you wish for.”
A quick review:
There are two troublesome areas here, the Modern Middle East – essentially created by the British/French Sykes-Picot Agreement of 1916 which so smugly created those hand drawn international borders straddling centuries-old ethnic, religious and tribal areas….. along with that Balfour Declaration which reads, in that letter from Lord Balfour to Lord Rothschild,
“Dear Lord Rothschild,
I have much pleasure in conveying to you, on behalf of His Majesty’s Government, the following declaration of sympathy with Jewish Zionist aspirations which has been submitted to, and approved by, the Cabinet.
“His Majesty’s Government view with favour the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people, and will use their best endeavours to facilitate the achievement of the object, it being clearly understood that nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious’ rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine, or the rights and political status enjoyed by Jews in any other country”.
I should be grateful if you would bring this declaration to the knowledge of the Zionist Federation.
Yours sincerely,
(Signed) Arthur James Balfour”
Read that wording again, slowly. Should’ve gotten a Pulitzer for arrogance.
Unfortunately for us Americans, both the British and the French are now pretty much impotent to be of any help, and, the current William Hague who recently said, [Google] “….But we want them to go further down the road, and point out how important it is to have American leadership …” – in the Middle East.
This is laughable chutzpah if it weren’t such an evasion of responsibility, but again both the British and French are now basically impotent.
Now, in that noxious China Sea with its shipping lanes cutting through competing claimed areas of control of the adjoining nations still emerging from European Colonialism’s collapse after WWII [along with America's control of the Philippines], we find it again the presumed responsibility of us Americans to exert “leadership” in that cauldron.
We Americans have protected the freedom of Europe and Asia since 1917 through the Cold War via various umbrellas [..."You're welcome." ], so it’s time now for America to start looking after our own interests since the World is now running out of United States Dollars to look after the World; and, adding further insult to America the General Assembly of those “Nations United” against America have granted these troublesome Palestinians some sort of additional “observer” recognition.
Now, we’re saddled with Obama and his Affirmative Action-ed claque for yet another four years.
It’s now almost “Everyman” for himself.
@32…
That seizure has not happened yet.
Regardless of the Poltroon in Chief, Japan will not permit any trans-oceanic tariff comparable to that of the Barbary Coast.
Let’s not get ahead of ourselves.
@SBW
“Islam did not seize control of the Mediterranean in the mid-seventh century. At that time and for several centuries that followed the Mediterranean remained up for grabs.”
Please read Mohammed and Charlemagne (Henri Pirenne) and its follow on book Mohammed and Charlemagne Revisited (Emmet Scott). These two books are discussions of how the onset of Islam destroyed, nearly overnight mid seventh century, Roman Civilization: by conquest of the ME and the north African granaries and through naval action and jihadi piracy which cut of the flow of goods and wealth (gold) from the western portion of the Empire. The latter book amplifies and adds to the former.
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss/190-7596066-1127458?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=Mohammed+and+Charlemagne
I’m disgusted – I’ve never read so much bias and hate directed at foreign leaders and my meta-national origins.
As for trial balloons, Hillary is going to need more lift than the Hindenburg if she ever wants to go airborne. At least they can’t call it a “weather balloon” when that crashes down.
“Swamp gas”, perhaps.
Some of my friends in Japan indicate that Japanese military activity has been heavier in the last few months than at any time since the early 1970′s. Let us face it, the bullying PRC actions in the South China Sea must be strenuously opposed by: Japan; South Korea; Taiwan; the Philippines; Vietnam; and pretty much all other non-PRC countries in the area. Of course, the US would traditionally have been the protector of the world’s high seas, but we are now in serious decline, so we don’t and won’t.
44 njartist49
Re read my post and respond, if you would, to the points therein.
If you have accurately summarized the two books you mentioned, the authors are wrong in the essentials and outside the mainstream of historiographical thought. Roman civilzation was not comprehensively destroyed in the mid seventh century (the Byzantines would be surprised to hear that); nor did Islam gain comprehensive control of the Med, a notion I refuted with facts in my post.
Roughcoat #38:
Interesting, and I guess a transition from P-47′s to P-51′s would not surprise me, but the only way I know that they used P-47′s is that there was painting of a Mexican Air Force P-47 on a ground support mission in the PI that was done several years ago. I ended up discussing that artwork with an art dealer, when I was asking him about another painting done to illustrate one of my articles. I don’t know if you have ever had the great pleasure of opening a magazine and discovering that an excellent and famous artist (such as Jack Fellows) had done a double page wide painting to illustrate your article, but it blew me away. They could have kept the $300 they paid me.
Annoy #29:
Note that they did not do a great deal but there was no reason they had to do ANYTHING. Relative to their capabilities at the time they did do a lot. I suspect that a desire to get their hands on late model equipment and the associated training had a lot to do with their participation.
Folks, in reality the type of people who wave their Obamaphones and demand their share of the “Stash” could not give a rat’s rump if the whole ME went up in a puff of smoke. They are incapable of understanding the impact that would have on their lives, and when it is finally felt they will blame it all on the Old White Men anyway. I recall reading of a black woman, a US bank employee, bemoaning the fact that her kind were ever transported from the paradise of Africa, and saying she was going to save up her money, go there and live naturally with her own kind. In HI there is a movement underway to enable the natives to go back to their original form of existence.
I don’t even think the Bernie Madoff Jews who voted for Obama will shed a tear if Israel is destroyed. Oh, in 20 or 30 years their children might, but not them.
It’s funny, you know. One of the Left’s arguments against the SDI program was that it would result in Fortress America, where the existence of a missile defense capability would reuslt in the USA withdrawing from the rest of the world. Now, missile defense or not, that is the approach favored by the Left -except for pointless R2P exercises.
By the way, I got my M1 Garand yesterday. What a monster! My respect for our troops in WWII went up another notch or two. Imagine being told to grab that heavy thing as well as your backpack, wade through that water on the way to the beach and haul the whole mess to Germany. Never mind getting shot at; that trip would be an ordeal in its own right.
OT: My father was in the Pacific in the army during WWII. He was once caught on deck when a Japanese plane attacked the ship. He said “Aussie gunners” shot the plane down (at about 100 yards).
My question is: would Australian gunships have been escorting a US troop ship? I’m assuming they would not have operated guns on a US ship.
If anyone can clarify, I’d appreciate it.
PS. He always spoke warmly of Australians.
48. RWE
Thanks for the info concerning Mexican AF P-47s in the PI. Maybe they transitioned to P-51s toward war’s end? Or the photo I saw of Mex pilots with Mustangs was a publicity shot? In any case the Mex pilots must have been hot. Flying Jugs and ‘Stangs was not a job for weenies. Cool story about your article and Fellows. I have had similar experiences!
Remember the 1957 sci-fi movie, “Kronos, Destroyer of the Universe”? A gigantic alien machine attacks Mexico. The Mexicans counterattack with … P-51s!
The Garand is indeed huge, and heavy. I find it unwieldy, though I love it just the same. Are you able to easily obtain the eight-round clips for the rifle?
Imagine being the guy tasked to carry the BAR. Talk about heavy!
49: Yes, Aussie warships operated with U.S. Navy warships and served as escorts for Allied troopships. E.g., Australian cruisers Australia and Canberra were in the covering force during the initial landings at Guadalcanal; Canberra was sunk in the Battle of Savo Island. Also, Aussies may have crewed the AA guns on your dad’s troopship.
We’re now getting confirmation that the Choomgang leader took the WH with little understanding of Islam or Christianity.
Back to the Arab world — a quick perusal of the some of the Mid East on-line newspapers will show that America’s standing in the region is secure. The Mid-East is welcoming an outstanding female ambassador from the US … Kim Kardashian!
While it is doubtful if Ms. K can undo all the damage done by Soetero’s Bevy of Beauties, she has wowed crowds in Kuwait & Bahrain, with more stops to come.
To be serious for a moment, maybe this is a reminder that we should not fall into the Liberal’s trap of seeing people as members of an imaginary unified group, rather than as individuals. Islam is riven into multiple confessions, which have even less sympathy for each other than the Church of England and the Church of Latter Day Saints. And innumerable Muslims follow the actions of Ms. Kardashian much more closely than those of any imam.
The highly fractured nature of Islam and of the Arab World would be an opportunity for a US Political Clique which was not suffering from Ivy League Syndrome. (Sorry, Wretchard; maybe your background rendered you immune?). Less than two hundred years ago, a tiny minority of the British population was able to dominate the world through judicious application of ‘Divide & Rule’. But they were realists. And their descendants later succumbed to ‘Oxbridge Syndrome’, and lost everything.
“And innumerable Muslims follow the actions of Ms. Kardashian much more closely than those of any imam.”
Yes, they do but it’s the fanatics with the guns and no compunction about using them that worry me.
Russian FM Sergey Lavrov: “We are concerned for the fate of Christians in the Middle East
The depth of knowledge (and interest) visible in the above posts is
one major reason why the U S of A will survive the coming Hard Times.
The World Wide Web is another (unprecedented) reason why; the Pols
have _still_ not realized this, though they have for years been
like the proverbial ‘cat trying to cover up on a tile floor’,
unaware that everybody can see what they have done.
RWE, That Garand is heavy (10 lbs). But that weight plus the gas operation reduce that .30-06 recoil to that of a .223! When you use those superb peep sights and if the rifle is tight, you can put a clipfull into less than 2 inches at 100 yds. I have seen Garands do 1″ at 100 yds in the hands of experts.
Another plus about the Garand/.30-06 is if your target is behind a 12″ pine tree or telephone pole, you can drill through and still hit him!
Enjoy!
Obama leads with his behind. What’s new?
cg @ 42: Read that wording again, slowly. Should’ve gotten a Pulitzer for arrogance.
The Zionist project had been officialy going on for twenty years already, it was already on the ground, and Balfour’s statement didn’t commit the empire to anything at all. What arrogance? WWI was also underway, the British Empire was already looking to dispose their entire Middle East territories via Sykes-Picot, and nobody, not Arab, Jew, or Brit, had any idea what “homeland for the Jewish people” even meant, a picturesque neighborhood like Chinatown, or a district in an Arab country yet to be created (!), or an independent nation. As to that last option, nobody had even the vaguest timeline even if it were to be advanced, and the thinking was mostly that it might take a century or two, that there was no hurry.
Well, events transpired both in Palestine and in Europe, the Empire decided to pick up and go home from around the world, and we have what became the actuality. But where really is the arrogance in the Balfour declaration?
–
So many things were different then. Today it’s Kim Kardashian’s world, and even Obambus merely lives in it.
#40 Caton,
I stand corrected on the assertion that there are no secular liberals in Syria. Allow me to rephrase; what few secular liberals there are in Syria haven’t the proverbial “snowball’s chance in hell” of coming out on top in the Syrian ‘free for all’ and will not survive as a viable faction. In addition, I highly doubt that they were the primary faction that started the Syrian ‘revolution’. I would however, welcome evidence showing that to be the case.
Finally, other than a few web articles, which were laughable, I’ve never read the NYT. Whatever gave you the idea that I did?
58. Josh,
Maybe just me but there seems to be a shift going inside Israel. There is plenty of support for going after Hamas. Seems that Bibi government is criticised for failing on what seems contradictory. He is not hard enough on military threat and not soft enough on diplomatic progress. We can talk about Obama and Rice all day but the responsibility for the UN vote lies on the shoulders of the Israeli government. That has happened and will not be reversed. Now what?
I like Netanyahu but I think Israel will shift this time around. Lifestyle and economics are stalling. No progress on diplomatic issues with growing military threat against Islamist rulers with modern arsenals. I do not know where it will lead but the winds have changed.
Watching events in Egypt I’m beginning to think the entire US intelligence apparatus is a colossal waste of time and money. If these agencies are so caught up in classified cables, wiretaps and secret insider tips etc. that they can’t see the stuff that’s right out there in plain sight for anyone who cares to look, then what good are they?
http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/1/64/59547/Egypt/Politics-/Tens-of-thousands-of-Islamists-rally-in-support-of.aspx
s @ 60: Maybe just me but there seems to be a shift going inside Israel.
Hey it’s Israel, the shifts tend to be marginal, cryptic, and continuous, and the choices stark, but that’s today. What about 1948, what if the Jews had settled for a non-state solution back then? What if 1956 had gone differently, or post-1967? We’ll never know. If there’s been a land of what-ifs, the Middle East is it. What if the Salafists had never colonized Saudi Arabia, there’s one for ya. Even what if April Glaspie hadn’t given Saddam the impression he could have Kuwait? Maybe this is and has been after all the best of all possible worlds, that’s up through today at noon, not speaking for tomorrow. What if Dubya had started a crash program in energy independence on Sep 12 2001? What if Obambus wasn’t such a green weenie, closet Muslim, and all around wank? What if Abdullah Hussein of Jordan woke up tomorrow and said, “Screw it, I’m making full peace with Israel as of today.”
Josh,
‘Az di bobe volt gehat beytsim volt zi geven mayn zeide’
‘if my grandmother had balls, she’d have been my grandfather’.
Appreciate your response.
Now it seems Hamas has shifted tactics. They are sending people to challenge the border at sea and land. Israel wants. 300 m safe zone on land. Just for comparison that is less than basic rifle effective range. Now they are sending people right to the fences and boats past the extended sea range agreed to of 6km. Iron Dome cannot solve this problem. This is not “what if” it is “what now”.
The UN vote has to be dealt with somehow. So last thing I want for the Southeast Asian nations concerned about China ( whom all voted for recognition of the mess that is Fatah/Hamas as a “state” btw), is any harm. Best advice is do not count on US anytime soon. The pivot is a sham move. Done with fixing the MENA and Asian Subcontinent. Your turn next.
OT…
And especially for Charles:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=tdusXIvyLFQ#!
INRE the need for a new cycle to sustain NASA’s thirst for Pu-238, of which, we’re just about out of.
(By way of Instapundit)
Spindok…
These ops are all of a kind: mis-direction.
The main conflict is between chaos and control — and I’ve long wished we’d get smart.
At present, Tehran is tossing up dust all over the MENA — fighting to the last Sunni islamist.
As ever, the Persians are staying in the background. Their inferiorities are so vast that they can’t possibly stand direct exposure.
In this respect, they’re following the tactics of the evil Darth Sidious/ Chancellor Palpatine. Only at the end does Sidious dare face down what was previously an overwhelming opponent. Up until that moment, he has managed to get all of his opponents to fight each other. In his end game, they’re all to be liquidated, dupes everyone.
His apex tactic: Drone Wars.
Such gambits are the norm in Persia — famed for scheming this way for millennia.
And so, we have Valerie girl, flibbertigibbet of the Pink House, operating as an agent of foreign and alien sympathies (Shia) squared off against Huma. (Sunni)
Between them we have the Shuttlecock of Decision: the Wan.
The exemplar of a multi-vibrator in organic form.
His logical states: anti-Americanism & narcissism & frozen/locked-up.
This last logical ‘hold’ causes an ‘Axelrod reboot.’
{ Hence, the critical importance of polling; without the media induced re-verb chamber our boy wouldn’t have any compass bearing at all. }
Good article. I am dealing with many of these issues as well..
SBW @ 50: Thanks.
Another one of the benefits of reading BC.
SBW #50:
Yes, the 8 round en bloc clips are readily available for around $1.00 or so each. In fact a friend of mine gave me one, complete with ammo, this afternoon.
I have found that bolt action rifles seem to be easier to handle and better balanced than semiautos of similar size. I first noticed this when I went from a single shot .22 to a semiauto .22. And sure enough, my Enfield seems to be better balanced than the Garand. Maybe it’s inherent in the mechanisms or maybe it is that they try to make the bolt actions easier to hold because of the workload on the shooter.
Marzouq #56:
Hey, maybe when I get the M1 all cleaned up and the stock refinished we can take it and my Enfield out to a rifle range and try them both out.
Well I see over on the Drudge report that Hillary has stuck a spork into Rice. Says she prefers Kerry….(barf).
68. RWE “I have found that bolt action rifles seem to be easier to handle and better balanced than semiautos of similar size.”
Indeed. My rifle of choice is the 06 Springfield (“Aught-Six”!). A real sweetheart. A friend had one that he would let me use for hunting elk and deer in Colorado. I dream of getting one of my own.
Very colorful historical character.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basil_Zaharoff
If it would be possible to find out who play similar roles now and how they do it, it might be illuminating as to what is going on in world affairs.
The South China Sea is a bridge or two too far for a 200 ship navy with commitments in the middle east, Med, and Atlantic to police. The days of the USA as hegemon in the far east are over. There is no stomach for it and frankly some Americans me included see the US military, especially a navy as more of a threat than a protector. After all it was naval power that determined the course of the Civil War.
Sorry as far as I am concerned China can duke it out with Japan and Vietnam and whoever else decides to join the fight. I would remind our Chinese friends that their record against those two individually ain’t all that great but if they are feeling froggy go for it. That Greater Asia Co-prosperity thingy could work for them even though it does not have a great track record.
As for the USA, just like the Romans we find ourselves more than a tad over extended. Time to abandon Hadrian’s Wall and shrink back to a more defensible perimeter.
RWE @ 68
“I have found that bolt action rifles seem to be easier to handle and better balanced than semiautos of similar size.”
You young pups, sigh. Shoot your M1 rifle a few times, and get the feel for it. You will find it to be balanced and easy to handle.
As to “refinishing the stock” (also known as how to turn a $800 collector piece into a $400 shooter). Clean the stock with rubbing alcohol to get off the dirt and grime, and reapply tung oil to it. NO sandpaper, especially if it has cartouches. Scott Duff has a very good book, “The M1 Garand: Owner’s Guide.
My apologies for interupting the thread.
RWE,
“I got my M1 Garand yesterday.”
Enjoy! (Let us know when you get all the cosmoline off.)
More details on available on a previous thread
CHU LIED, DOLPHINS DIED!
http://tinyurl.com/d94gcsb
Obama and his thugs tried to kill the domestic offshore oil business, but the Zombie Kurt Mix has other plans!
Beware the oil zombies!
Boehner on Fox New Sunday was terse
“We are going to deal with the debt problem”. He repeated that statement clearly several times. It looks like he wants to lead the parade from the front.
We know Obama will keep trying to “lead from behind”.
@49 “It’s now almost “Everyman” for himself.”
Isolationism has long appealed to me. With the ways things are shaping up, let China dominate Southeast Asia and let them try to take South America. They can sell their cheap wares in 99 Euro stores and see how well Russia takes all of this.
RWE, like I said, interesting. It would have served me better if I heard of such actions taken by brave Mexican airman. I take nothing from their service and sacrifice. I will note two things though. One, Mexico was attached to the hip of the USA hegemon while it was in full war mode economically, was perhaps a tad embarrassed by the Zimmerman Telegram of WWI, and who knows what imprimaturs were made, this time in secret. Two, the Germans sank a Mexican tanker off of the Florida coast before Mexico’s declaration of war then lost another a week after. It could be said in a world war you are either with us or you are against us. At least suspect if not engaged. It would be hard to remain a Switzerland neutral when you were not surrounded by the Alps.
“In HI there is a movement underway to enable the natives to go back to their original form of existence.”
Liberalism promotes ethnic tribalism and with that war for control and land. It is really anti-progressive. I am for reversing globalism and creating a fortress America where hopefully we can take pride in being Americans. This is ‘no country for old (white) men.’ White people are a global minority that hates themselves. Nothing good could come of this.
“Jeepers, if I could have only been an Indian, I would be proud and everyone would have to feel sorry for me because I am a victim! I would have a heritage that everyone would have to learn about in school.”
BTW – One of the coolest cats that I had ever met was a Aussie Special Forces operator who ‘toured’ Viet Nam. Mexicans are good and decent people but Aussies actually like to fight and as such, are damn good at it.
With a quality semi-auto such as a Springfield M1A (M14 clone) and hand loaded ammunition, it’s easily possible to shoot within a 2 inch circle at 100 yards all day long. Buy your supplies in bulk:
1000 Nosler CC 155 hpbt: 0.23 per round
8 Lbs H4895 @ 40 gr: 0.12 per round
1000 Federal 210M primers: 0.04 per round
500 Winchester brass x 4 loads: 0.10 per round
For roughly 50 cents per round, you can get out of the house, have a lot of fun shooting targets, and hand loading can be a surprisingly relaxing activity.
The semi-auto offers the chance to make up in volume what you may lack in accuracy.
“In this respect, they’re following the tactics of the evil Darth Sidious/ Chancellor Palpatine. Only at the end does Sidious dare face down what was previously an overwhelming opponent. Up until that moment, he has managed to get all of his opponents to fight each other. In his end game, they’re all to be liquidated, dupes everyone.”
Blert,
remember what happened when Chancellor Palpatin was about to be destroyed by Jedi Master Mace Wendu, played by Samuel L. Jackson, when he was first discovered to be Darth Sidious? He got sucker punched (killed) by a seduced to the dark side Anakin Skywalker. If Iran is Darth Sidious and Israel is Jedi Master Mace Wendu who is playing Anakin Skywalker?
@79…
You’re thinking of a dupe powerful enough to save Iran — and then place them on the throne of planet Earth.
What worked for George Lucas as a plot device does not extrapolate to nations.
That Iran is following a “Let’s you and him fight” strategy is blatant.
If NATO = the Jedi council…
Then the Lucas scenario would require a stab-in-the-back from that crowd. It’ doesn’t fit. Committees don’t function upon solitary impulse. They can’t yearn for a woman and prospective family.
======
Getting much more powerful and socially advanced societies to fight within and without is entirely in keeping with Mo’s dicta.
This goes a long way to describing why the ummah can’t get into first gear, not ever.