President Creosote
Now the diplomatic paper is being backdated. In fairness to the French, Obama has been building up a concealed crisis in Africa and the Middle East since he pulled out of Iraq. The final straw was probably the Libya action. Now the French, in order to protect their national interests from the unraveling situation, have decided to bolt.
The situation now somewhat resembles the Suez Crisis of 1956, in which colonial powers Britain and France acted independently to seize the canal and precipitated a superpower crisis. The difference is that Obama is not Eisenhower and it is no longer a bipolar world. The current world is increasingly one in which it is every man for himself. Therefore, it is doubtful whether Obama can strongarm Hollande back into line. He must either support the French or watch their underpowered forces grind to a halt in the vast Sahara.
Meanwhile, the president is currently engaged in fixing the greatest problem of the age: the Second Amendment. The Washington Post reports:”Children across US ask Obama for changes in gun laws following Connecticut school shooting.” But in grabbing power, power, and more power — the power to borrow, make laws, make treaties, conduct secret foreign policy without reference to anybody — Obama has failed to realize that in reality he is getting smaller every day.
His power relative to American institutions has, indeed, increased. But that has been achieved at the cost of weakening America itself. Power viewed through the relevant prism may mean that assault rifles in American hands are bad while the same weapons in Jihadi hands are simultaneously good. It is all a question of context; according to whether it serves the increase of domestic political power or not. In consequence the president has made himself a big fish but in a shrinking pond.
Mali shows how short his arm has really become. And his reach will continue to recede. Actors like Syria are bound to see Mali as a strategic opportunity. The alliance is split. It has limited ability to respond to any new crisis. And therefore they will provoke it. For the first time since 2001, Washington is on the global strategic defensive.
American enemies realize, even if the media won’t say it, that Western policies since the Arab Spring have painted it into a corner. It was never Leading from Behind. It was always being Led by the Blind. And that won’t change until Western politics realizes the same thing. Until then, more of the same.
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“Obama has been building up a concealed crisis in Africa and the Middle East since he pulled out of Iraq”
Before that, surely. Less than two months into the usurpation. From the Seals-vs-pirates stand-off off of Somalia. Where the captain and the Seal Team on USS Bainbridge managed to override bad CiC orders and rescue the hostages from the Maersk Alabama, 12 April 2009.
When Argentina last got its ass kicked over the Falklands, they were ruled by a military dictatorship. Argentina found out that its army was best suited for repressing Argentinians, rather than engaging other countries’ well-trained forces. Is that our eventual fate with our own home-grown Juan Peron? DHS keeps growing by leaps and bounds, as do the private armies of various other agencies. It’s as if an American battlefield is being shaped while the foreign soil ones melt away.
It seems certain Democrats are looking at the rapid increase in money and members of the NRA and the reactions of various state legislatures and other elected officials and are starting to get real nervous about the whole gun control thing.
It is true that while the House could impeach Obama the odds of a Democrat controlled Senate actually agreeing to try him would seem to make the effort futile. But I’m starting to wonder. An office holder seeing the possibility of his iron rice bowl being broken could go all cornered rat and bite the President. The impeachment process alone could bring up bad feeling toward the One.
A significant internal conflict in America would destroy it as a world power; probably crash the dollar, destroy world stability and collapse the US standard of living.
This should be obvious.
An administration can run roughshod over American public opinion. But it cannot have prosperity at the same time. However this realization may not occur to people living in a bubble who think goods and services can be printed from a press.
In that regard a US domestic upheaval would be strategically much worse than say, the isolation of the entire army in Afghanistan.
One keeps waiting, in vain, for the “wise men” of both parties to say, “basta”. But no word is spoken and the terrible ifs accumulate. This is incredibly shortsighted. Trashing the constitution to expand partisan political power is like burning Rembrandts to toast marshmallows. The fact that they’ll do it speaks volumes.
Canada is making a very small contribution to the Mali mess by sending some aircraft to help with transportation. That is hardly of major interest. But the words that Prime Minister Harper used were interesting. He said that “our ally, the French”, had requested help and he had decided to send some.
“Our ally” would be a quaint sounding phrase to Mr Obama’s ears I think. When he has lost the goodwill of all those quaint “ally” people will he enjoy his splendid isolation?
The Euros will be begging for choppers and drones from King Obama. Bad timing for crushing an armed revolt against the Crown. Federal gun consfication is on hold. No word yet on whether the lone nutjob mass shooting at the Super Bowl will be cancelled. Some say the King needs such a distraction as the Sandy Hook narrative continues to fall apart. Lt. J. Paul Vance of the CT state police could not be reached for comment.
At the moment, our CIC is busy pronouncing on Netanyahu’s inability to act in Israel’s best interests. This coming less than a week before Israel’s upcoming elections–but that’s no doubt a coincidence….
(Laughable of course, as it certainly would be nice if Obama might deign to act in America’s best interests…but that’s not in the cards for several reasons, but mostly because his view of America’s “best interests” is for America to crash and burn—though before that, he will do his utmost to drive a stake into the GOP. First things first. Mali, and Hollande, can wait.)
With all due respect to the Belgians, 75 troops is not a “let’s win the war” deployment. And Denmark… no.
It is a “Let’s get our names in credits” deployment. Winning would involve coughing up a couple of infantry battalions, say one each from Belgium, Denmark, and a few from France.
The AP says that France has received about 100,000 tons of talk from allies in nonstop airlifts.
There comes to mind the classic dialogue in Wren’s Beau Geste. Sometimes there is no reason but necessity. You’re alone and everybody knows it.
Many of them were bound in the end for Fort Zinderneuf. So far from the lights of gay Paris.
W: incisive as ever, but I must express my disappointment at this sentence: “The current world is increasingly one in which it is every man for himself. ”
Surely, in deference to the situation with le pauvre M. Hollande in Mali, you could have said “sauve qui peut”?
Otherwise, as always, perfect. Also, BVW/1, thanks for the reminder about the Pusillanimous One and his near-botching of the Somali pirate take-down. His (lack of) character was evident from day one.
“The situation now somewhat resembles the Suez Crisis of 1956, in which colonial powers Britain and France acted independently to seize the canal and precipitated a superpower crisis”
You left a country out. Israel did all of the fighting. Maybe that is why the West still refers to it as a “crisis” and Israel calls it a “war”.
The good outcome is that it bought Israel cooperation from France for a time and Israel could get some decent weapons. They also gave Israel nuclear technology which arguably is the only reason the country still exists.
The cold war looks so simple and predictable in hindsight. Israel went to the West, Egypt to the Soviets, we knew where things were. We could call our deadliest enemies on the phone. Where is the hotline to Al Queda to make a deal or ceasefire?
You have to cut off the supply chain. They are getting bullets from somewhere – actually we covered that in another post.
Wretchard wrote:
“An administration can run roughshod over American public opinion. But it cannot have prosperity at the same time. However this realization may not occur to people living in a bubble who think goods and services can be printed from a press.”
Do leftists living in the West really want prosperity?
Indeed, it is difficult to discern how the Obama admin’s policy in the ME does anything other than advance the interests of the Mohammedan Brotherhood. The only question is whether that’s on purpose or due to stupidity and incompetence.
Until Forbes forced the hand of a few media outlets, a video of Egyptian president Morsi calling Jews apes and pigs and Americans the enemy has been totally ignored by US media and the State Department.
Despite Mr. Morsi’s barbaric comments (maybe because of?) Obama is still sending a few dozen of the latest F-16s and a couple hundred Abrams tanks to Mr. Morsi. For what purpose will this hardware be used one might ask.
From what I’ve seen France has deployed a single infantry battalion and a handful of Mirage to Mali. That’s about the size of the Madison marching band. Calling this another Vietnam is ridiculous in the extreme, but expecting any honest and truthful reporting from today’s media is probably equally ridiculous.
The Suez Crisis created an aftermath which enabled Israel to develop an undeclared nuclear weapons program with the help of France. But Israel accepted the existence of the hegemon, and American limits provided hard stops to the 1967 and 1973 wars. The nukes were there as a last ditch defense. They were the backup system, not the primary one.
But when the primary goes down, things become altogether more dangerous. Your backup system if the airliner goes down in the water is your lifejacket. There’s a big difference between the primary and the backup.
Officially Israel has not admitted to having nukes. Nor will it do so in the near future. We will only officially learn of their existence at the last turn of the screw, when it’s all over one way or the other.
Right now the thing to be most feared is an regional conflict involving Israel, perhaps growing out of Lebanon, Egypt or Syria. But really, anything could happen. The world is like a patient with an impaired immune system. Things which could be managed 4 or 5 years ago are no longer manageable today.
And what’s the most important thing? Gun control, apartments in East Jerusalem, Global Warming. Stuff like that. Really? I wonder what Ed Koch, Alan Dershowitz and Noam Chomsky are thinking now. They optimized for a system that doesn’t exist any more. Their control system was lagged; they made their political calculations in a world where Washington was the center of the universe. Chomsky was like a dog who finally caught the car. Hope he likes it.
When you throw everyone under the bus no one answers your call. France to some extent is paying for past perfidy. For Obama the situation is far more serious. No one would lift a finger for him. Bill Clinton had famously short coat-tails. Obama makes him look like the Horn of Political Plenty by comparison. We saw this when he couLdn’t even land the Olympics.
I assume that the goal of Hollande was to start a war, and have the Americans come in and do the heavy lifting and eventually bear any costs and casualties. He is going to be sorely disappointed; in that first, we do not have the forces to take over the war, and second Buraq Hussein Obama has always sided with the Muslim Brotherhood and Al Quada. They will either get bogged down, or cut and run. Al Quada is our country’s enemy. It is NOT our government’s enemy, but rather their ally. That kind of puts paid to the concept of “the enemy of my enemy is my ally” that France seems to be depending on.
#4 Wretchard
There ARE no “wise men” in either party. If you have been watching, Obama’s latest victories in the House have come with the Republican Speaker of the House, Boehner, voting with the support of about 40 of the 200+ Republicans allied with the Democrats. He is functionally the Democrat Speaker of the House in any fights with the White House.
Today, Obama asserted the power to over-ride the Constitution by Executive Order. Boehner did give a statement. It was memorable for its pusillanimity, and not for any opposition. They are running out of Rembrandt’s and starting to toss Impressionists on the fire.
The battle over the Second Amendment may get … interesting. Something new has come up. Obama banned firearms magazines of greater than 10 rounds capacity. The counter to that was tested last weekend.
As you might have heard, there is a movement to make computer printable firearms using 3-D computer printers. They have so far made a working pistol, I believe. Today I saw this in Forbes Magazine. They have produced and tested a printed 30 round magazine for an AR-15, obviating any Federal controls. There is a link in the article to the company’s site where their files can be downloaded. 3-D printers are expensive right now. I think they cost about $50K, which is why design prototyping firms usually lease them. But the costs have come down in the last few years. They used to cost over a $million. The costs should continue to fall, and will eventually be reasonable for private individuals and groups to acquire.
I would guess that now that the AR-15 design is out, and since that is a simple 3 piece box [not a complex design, and not under the stresses other firearms parts would be under] that designs will be released or developed for other common magazines.
Given the inevitable future Enabling Acts by Decree, it would be a good thing if their firearms and magazine files were downloaded from various WiFi locations onto disposable devices, saved to a lot of thumb drives, and widely distributed; against the day when they may be useful.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/andygreenberg/2013/01/14/gunsmiths-3d-print-high-capacity-ammo-clips-to-thwart-proposed-gun-laws/
I don’t think that the coercive organs of the State will be able to regulate and control the supplies of plastic, spring steel, and computers nationwide.
Subotai Bahadur
Less than two months into George W. Bush’s Presidency, on 1 April 2001, two Chinese Shenyang J-8 fighter jet intercepted a US Navy EP-3 operating about 70 miles off the Chinese coast. The one Chinese pilot flew very aggressively with reckless bravado and collided with the US recon airship. He and his jet were lost, the P-3 was damaged and made an emergency landing on China’s Hainan Island. Despite the international law regarding such emergency landings the plane and the 24 crew members were taken captive, and the plane and all equipment on it was completely gone over by Chinese military. It was far more serious hostage incident that the Somali pirate hostage taking. It was settled with the words of real diplomatic leaders, a letter: “Letter Of The Two Sorries”. The hostages were released ten days after the incident. The plane, dissembled, was shipped back three months later. The US paid $34,000 for lodging and care of the crew for the ten days. The Chinese had demanded a million. Chinese pilots became less aggressive after the incident. The US continued its recon missions. (via Wikipedia, “Hainan Island Incident”)
Two leaders had their measure taken. Character counts. Experience counts. Obama has neither.
We should follow up on the idea of the 1,000 Ship Navy with similar land-based forces. What would be useful in Mali? Cheap close air support, the kind of thing the Phillipine 16th Attack Squadron http://www.15thstrikewing.mil.ph/16as.htm could provide.
The aircraft they use, the OV-10 was remarkably successful in Vietnam when flown by the U S Navy Black Ponies http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_American_Rockwell_OV-10_Bronco#US_Navy
The AQIM forces don’t have airpower, so it would be an asymmetric response to asymmmetric warfare.
2 @Don Rodrigo
Let’s not forget the 1+ billion rounds of hollow-point (not solid-jacketed training) ammunition recently purchased (and supposedly disbursed around the country in strategic locations) by the feral government. When you add that to the bear-baiting that the Obama administration is engaged in with those who cherish their freedoms, and it ain’t a pretty picture.
4 @wretchard
The fact that they’ll do it speaks volumes.
Yeah, it says they know it’s “game over” and their going to get theirs while the gettin’ is good. Hope they’ve figured out a way to avoid the pitchforks, torches, tar, and feathers when that times comes. Or maybe I don’t.
As Prof. Reynolds says, this is our worst political class, by far.
Do leftists living in the West really want prosperity?
No. They do not. I can attest to the fact that many leftists are even offended at the whole notion of prosperity. They insist that Americans in particular content themselves with “adequacy.” Poverty of spirit breeds an acceptance of material poverty — for others.
19. Dworkin Barimen
2 @Don Rodrigo
Let’s not forget the 1+ billion rounds of hollow-point (not solid-jacketed training) ammunition recently purchased (and supposedly disbursed around the country in strategic locations) by the feral government
I didn’t. That was one of the “triggers” to my comments. It is a perfect example of shaping the battlefield — the pre-positioning of stocks. And I also remember that DHS began defining the new enemies as fellow Americans as far back as 2009 — returning servicemen, militias (are there still “militias?”) and others. Recall also that Small Wars Journal highlighted a War College paper on dealing with a possible “Tea Party” insurrection.
I am not assuming outright that “preparations” are being made for a major push against supposed insurrections. Even with all these “clues,” there are still too few dots to assemble a clear picture. It would be wrong to ignore these events, however.
to Gary O @ 6:
‘Some say the King needs such a distraction as the Sandy Hook narrative continues to fall apart. Lt. J. Paul Vance of the CT state police could not be reached for comment.’
Would appreciate links for further reading. First time I am hearing about this. Thank you.
regards
SF
>>> American enemies realize, even if the media won’t say it, that Western policies since the Arab Spring have painted it into a corner.
That is the rub though. Percentage of Americans realize what a disaster Obama’s Arab Spring is is very small, they and the media are perfectly happy to remain ignorant that way.
“I wonder what Ed Koch, Alan Dershowitz and Noam Chomsky are thinking now.”
They won. They are big shots with the winning team. Dersh makes a little fuss and Hagel comes out saying all the right words. They don’t want Netanyahu to win anyway because he is such an embarrasement so they will say nothing when Obama grumbles about the apartments in Jerusalem.
Obama would bring down the constitution to make sure that a hate filled political extremist calling for death to an entire race of people would not get ahold of a handgun, but he will hand Mohamad Morsi the best F-16s and M1A1 tanks we can build.
Why worry about Mali? It is not like these peasents can learn to fly airplanes or defeat a superpower, right? All that matters is whatever we do we look good doing it.
Our Dear Leader reminds me of a character from the “Lil Abner” comic strip, General Jubulation T. Cornpone. He is remembered for those glorious battles, Cornpone’s Retreat, Cornpone’s Debacle and Cornpone’s Rout. His memorial statue depicts him riding a mule backwards.
As thing stand, we would be hard put to contribute much more than a Boy Scout troop and a beatup Ford pickup to the French effort. The economy is in a shambles, we are on the verge of hyperinflation and the prez is wasting time on gun control if there ever was one. Yup; bread and circuses.
Subotai Bahadur/16: Interesting to hear about the printable magazine. Worth a download of the file, for sure. I don’t know that 3-D printers are $50K anymore, I read recently of consumer models going for $2-3K. Maybe they can’t handle the gunsmithing stuff, however. Agree that between such technologies and the older ones (drill press, dies, thread-cutters, files, lathes) it is kind of hard to put the genie back in the lamp.
Machias Privateer/18: While tempting to think of a cheap turboprop fighter-bomber force to unload the whupass in Mali, I think the logistics chain would be tough. Less horrible than for a squadron of Mirages, sure; but still a hard way to do business. Also, I understand that the rebels have more than the usual AK-47′s and RPG’s, they have MANPADs and/or truck-mounted AA guns. Which would make things even more expensive.
As Wretchard remarks at #14, once your primary goes, the options available with the backup are not as good. Things are not as easy to manage. Your rheostat becomes an on-off switch. M. Hollande has almost nowhere to go on this. If France still has a Force de Frappe, I would imagine he’s asking for a briefing on it. Just in case. So, what was unthinkable, is suddenly part of the option set.
People usually have commitments but The Mali exercise comes at a time when many have concerns for which they just have to provide.
Britain is worried about the Falklands, they have just junked their carriers and they just have to know they can’t rely on the Americans.
Canada has made huge commitments in spending on military hardware and is now facing a citizen mini revolt over the cost of F35s.
Germany is trying to dominate the EU and won’t worry at all if France is screwed in Africa.
Italy is pretty well screwed financially and has the usual political chaos. The PM (or president) is quitting so they are deadlocked for a while.
All the smaller countries are reeling from the financial mess in Europe and would dearly love to see France taken down a peg.
I wouldn’t want to be posted to Mali just now.
#21 SF
There are some really jarring problems with what is claimed and facts.
1.) I have seen and possess the press interview with the County Medical Examiner within 24 hours of the shootings who stated repeatedly and categorically that the primary weapon used to kill the children was the .223 cal. Bushmaster rifle. He also claimed on the air to be more familiar with firearms than most medical examiners [an interesting assertion for a small town ME, given the number of firearms victims in Blue cities].
2.) I have seen and possess a news tape of the police retrieving and clearing the .223 caliber Bushmaster from the locked trunk of Lanza’s car. The weapon was not brought into the school, while the SIG and Glock pistols [and possibly 2 more pistols] were. The pistols are 9mm.
3.) Being semi-automatic, all the weapons involved eject spent cartridge cases when fired. Everywhere he shot should be littered with them. Anyone can tell the difference between .223 cases and 9mm cases at a glance.
4.) Wounds from the calibers differ.
5.) Just in physical evidence, someone is not telling the truth, and has not from the get-go.
There is much more.
Subotai Bahadur
Let’s see it went something like this:” In one college game that I was quarterbacking, in the huddle I complained about the front line not keeping the other team’s defense off me of long enough. On the next play two linemen in front of me blocked left and right and there was the biggest and meanest of the defensive players looking at me with a big smile on his face and drooling….I handed him the ball.”
Wretchard
no France didn’t drag the US into the conflict, they were part of it since the beginning, except that Susan price was saying that the french plan for invading was “crap” during last december, but seems to have another opinion today.
and besides of that, Americans have been taken into hostages in Algeria, and that was before France started the hostilities, the AQMI fighters infiltrated Algeria
http://articles.washingtonpost.com/2012-12-05/world/35638627_1_malian-islamic-extremists-ground-troops
-http://www.malijet.com/actualite-politique-au-mali/flash-info/58502-mali-%3A-pour-l%E2%80%99am%C3%A9ricaine-susan-rice,-le-plan-fran%C3%A7ais-d%E2%80%99interven.html
Creosote: a coal tar distillate used to preserve wood; also a bush.
He spreads himself, this distillate
On woody fibers fair
Preserving them from earth and rain
And taking every care
To see that termites do not stay
To taste of wood’s delights
And which is why this distillate
Spends all his White House nights
Protecting all the wood he sees
For when shove comes to push
He knows that all the lumber’s gone
‘Cause he sure ain’t no Bush
It seems that the Europeans will do more than the wishing goo words, they didn’t realise how serious it was, like a war for CIVILISATION
anyways
http://fr.euronews.com/2013/01/15/mali-du-renfort-logistique-mais-la-france-toujours-seule/
“Madame Ashton, you said: We, the Europeans, are concerned. Everybody say “we”. But there’s only French soldiers on the ground. “We”, the Europeans, say to the French : we’ll provide you the nurses, but go and get killed in Mali”
Daniel Cohn Bendit at the EU parliament
And I wrote to the Germans, if you want to send us a army of nurses, we prefer the spanish nurses, who at least need the job
15. Blast From the Past
no France isn’t paying for perfidy, the thing is, you Americans have a hard time to understand how the Arab mindset works, while we do, and since Charles Martel
Surprising that you let so many into your country then.
33. cjm
but they aren’t the jihadists
at best they burn old cars
http://pjmedia.com/richardfernandez/files/2013/01/washington_post_map_large.jpg
Germany jihadist cells were those implied in 9/11
How can a printer lay down edge hardened, or properly hammer forged, metal? I’m sure it can print metal parts than don’t last long at all bearing shock loads, or edge loads. Yes, I’m also sure you could design a high capacity gun that uses printed metal or plastic to operate — maybe not a great gun, but something that lasts a few hundred rounds. Something like the low tech British grease gun, the Sten Mark III, that could be made in cottages by a laborer in five hours.
SB@27
Long gun from trunk news video.
If I had any musical talent I’d start on a new play called Les Disposables. As the French State — and the elites in general — start fighting for their lives the first ones to get cut off in the emergency are the paid voters. In a crisis it is the guys in public housing, on welfare; the gender studies graduates and the union barons who become disposable for the duration.
You see this in California and in all the bankrupt Blue States. You see it in Greece and Spain. The state itself is cracking down on those it bought off, reneging on pension promises, leaving them with a gutted “health care”, obliging them to eat literally out of garbage cans. The state is doing this to save itself. It will do anything to survive.
When survival is paramount the people who count the most are the people who can do actual stuff. And if this means “temporarily” suspending quotas so that qualified people can do the job it will happen. The Les Disposables can wait.
The call will go out to those who can shoot; not to gun control activists. The state will become more interested in advancing talented programmers instead of prosecuting them. It will advance those who can build thorium reactors, drill for shale oil and produce energy from thin air instead of regulating them. Why Barack Obama will claim that he invented Missile Defense Systems like Al Gore invented the Internet. He might even intern people and Eric Holder will hop to it.
They will do it to save their hides.
Necessity can work amazing things because in the interests of survival, all lying must momentarily stop. There is no time to do anything but call a spade a spade.
The most surprised people will be Les Disposables. They will present their PC credentals — omnipotent only the day before — and get the door slammed in their face. And in a sense they will be real victims. But their only crime will have been to have believed Chris Matthews and Candy Crowley and all those others. They believed. Ha ha ha. Can you beat that? They believed
I think Alan, and Noam and Ed will be alright. They’re smart in their own way. Too smart to fall to zero. They’ll prosper whichever way is up. But internationally and nationally, things will be hard for those who believed in the lie when the day of truth dawns in the sky. Of course, if they can hold out long enough — if the West wins, if the good times come back — then they might just make it to the next era of redistribution, when the lies descend again, when votes are bought and the fantasy starts anew.
Take it from a Frenchman born in Algiers:
SB@27: thank you
SF
(ps: by the way it seems there’s a lot of questioning going on You Tube,
like this one : http://youtu.be/VrngdgUixYg )
from the french military blog a Greek commenter is supporting us
Hello from Athens
For us, francophone Greeks, or of mixed origins, France has done well to act.
The Jihadist plague extends so as intolerable and attacked all azimuths. Discussions, EU summits and the rest is good (we know something here), but taqfiris infiltrate even in countries up to now outside “traditionial” wars of colonization etc..
It is indeed “the chalifat again!” Here, a share our economic problems is that we have one million foreign essentiellemnt Muslims, peaceful and non-Salafi jihadis, but after the “liberation” of Libya things “radicalized” and it smells bad …
The Kosovar mafias and Albanian arm and are not hesitating to attack the mini-markets with AK 47.
The battle of France in Mali is a battle for Europe, Hellenic, Roman and Christian!
Les maffias Kosovares et Albanaises s’arment et n’hesitent pas a braquer les mini-markets au AK 47.
Le combat de la France au MAli est un combat pour l’Europe, Hellenique, Romaine et Chretienne !
#27
2.) I have seen and possess a news tape of the police retrieving and clearing the .223 caliber Bushmaster from the locked trunk of Lanza’s car. The weapon was not brought into the school, while the SIG and Glock pistols [and possibly 2 more pistols] were. The pistols are 9mm.
Yes, I remember that early on, yet news reports keep claiming Lanza used it in the killings. Early reports also claimed he was wearing body armor, when it actually turned out to be a utility vest. The Aurora killer (Holmes?) also was mistakenly said to be wearing body armore, when it too turned out to be a utility vest. And yet I read a news report dated as recently as last month that stated the Aurora killer wore body armor. This kind of bad, and probably dishonest, reporting is infuriating.
#38
Unfortunately that video goes off the deep end after addressing some genuine inconsistencies and inaccuracies.
For what its worth, I was designing some Miles accessories for the M4 an the entire firearm was available online for download. 3D printers are toy makers but a decent receiver can be machined with a CNC machine of $50k or so and be rock solid. Half the after market stuff is already machined billet aluminum. The most difficult thing to fabricate in my estimation are barrels but not undoable. 25 years ago I had plans for a Sten, now a days the AR15 is out of the bag never to return.
37 W
“And in a sense they will be real victims. But their only crime will have been to have believed Chris Matthews and Candy Crowley and all those others. They believed.”
BUT, it is not as if they are the first Useful Idiots, if only they read a bit more on history. And they won’t be the last.
16 SB
Rep. Israel to Introduce Legislation to Prohibit 3-D Printed High-Capacity Magazines Along with Plastic Guns
Subotai #16:
“…we do not have the forces to take over the war…”
Actually we do, easily enough. What we don’t have is enough forces to fight the war in a manner that would be acceptable to the Political Class and its lapdogs, the MSM. The way in which we could fight it, very effectively and very quickly, would be indistinguishable by the critics from the approach known as “Kill them all and led God sort them out.” The SC ANG alone probably could do the job. If we use nukes, then one B-1 would do the job far more quickly and even more thoroughly.
“The counter to that was tested last weekend.”
As well as over 40 years ago. A Vietnam vet I attended college with told me how some in his unit would take three 20 round M-16 magazines down to the Honda shop in a nearby village and come back with one 56 round magazine. Some of the troops in his unit carried nothing but the 56 rounders and really lit up the countryside if ambushed. A manufacturing operation that could be done in a jungle village Honda shop surely could be done in thousands upon thousands of small businesses and private workshops throughout the US. Cut, weld, and turn 7 or 10 round magazines into whatever capacity you wish. Come to think of it, I have the stuff on hand to do it myself. Obama is about to spawn a cottage industry of vast proportions.
Subotai #27:
As I understand it, the weapon seen being removed from the car was not an AR-15 but rather a semiauto shotgun built on the AR-15 pattern. I did not even know such a thing existed but I happened to see one in a “Cheaper Than Dirt” catalog back around Christmas. Go over to their website and take a look.
Annoy #41:
A mail order place I have used a lot was selling Sten kits several years ago for $80. They were Stens that were complete except for the receiver being cut apart – a foot long hunk of common 4130 chromalloy tubing. Of course, I was horrified and did not even think of buying one. I now wish I had been so horrified that I did not think of buying several. By the way, the same place is now selling AK lower receivers for $23.99. I was horrified and did not order one of those, either.
“Nous affirmons que les otages sont plus de 40 croisés, dont 7 Américains et 2 Britanniques, parmi d’autres nationalités”
“We affirm that we have more than 40 crusaders, among them 7 Americans, 2 British, and others nationalities”
These hostages have been taken by a dissident fromt AQMI, destitued, (“La brigade Al-Mouthalimin”). it’s the name of Mokhtar Belmokhtar, lately destitued from Al-Qaida au Maghreb islamique (AQMI), a donné à sa katiba (unité combattante).
http://www.lemonde.fr/afrique/article/2013/01/16/deux-francais-enleves-en-algerie-selon-el-watan_1817589_3212.html
the Algerian special forces are preparing for the assault:
-http://www.algerie1.com/actualite/des-forces-speciales-a-in-amenas-en-prevision-dun-assaut/
W/37: Great idea, Les Disposables. I could try to draft you some inspiring lyrics for the songs. You know, where the tenor realizes his Party-issued value card has been declined, or where the chorus is being pushed into FEMA dog-houses after Sandy. But Walt has all that covered, I’m sure!
RWE/43: very interesting comments, thanks. Not sure if we need nukes right off the bat, maybe we could use this theatre to do some field-testing of MOABs and other stuff. With the results posted to Youtube. Pour encourager les autres.
Marie Claude/44: I wish the Algerian spec forces all best luck. But something tells me those hostages are not going to come through this unscathed. I pray for them.
The domestic press, having drank deeply of the Kool-Aid, may truly believe that Obama walks on water and can do no wrong, after all he is half-black and a democrat.
Unfortunately our enemies, rivals and even alliance partners don’t sip from the same pitcher. The evidence is so overwhelming that Obama is the weak horse and incapable of fixing anything that even our staunchest allies are looking for the exits or dealing behind our backs to try and save their own skins from the disaster that is heading our way.
And so here we are. Take a good look around, if what you see does not terrify you, than the lobotomy was a complete success.
And we have another 4 more years of this to look forward to.
Change is coming to America…
General Wesley Clark: Because I had been through the Pentagon right after 9/11.
About ten days after 9/11, I went through the Pentagon and I saw Secretary Rumsfeld and Deputy Secretary Wolfowitz. I went downstairs just to say hello to some of the people on the Joint Staff who used to work for me, and one of the generals called me in. He said, “Sir, you’ve got to come in and talk to me a second.” I said, “Well, you’re too busy.” He said, “No, no.” He says, “We’ve made the decision we’re going to war with Iraq.” This was on or about the 20th of September. I said, “We’re going to war with Iraq? Why?” He said, “I don’t know.” He said, “I guess they don’t know what else to do.” So I said, “Well, did they find some information connecting Saddam to al-Qaeda?” He said, “No, no.” He says, “There’s nothing new that way. They just made the decision to go to war with Iraq.” He said, “I guess it’s like we don’t know what to do about terrorists, but we’ve got a good military and we can take down governments.” And he said, “I guess if the only tool you have is a hammer, every problem has to look like a nail.”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9RC1Mepk_Sw&feature=player_embedded
Hillary Clinton Admits the U.S. Government Created al-Qaeda Published on Apr 10, 2011
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ifZK6SVlQ1Y&feature=related
Pentagon planning for multinational military operation in Mali By Craig Whitlock,December 05, 2012
http://articles.washingtonpost.com/2012-12-05/world/35638627_1_malian-islamic-extremists-ground-troops
Donald Rumsfeld grilled by Judge Andrew Napolitano on Freedom Watch
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SRjLs21DxEk
Pentagon planning for multinational military operation in Mali By Craig Whitlock,December 05, 2012
http://articles.washingtonpost.com/2012-12-05/world/35638627_1_malian-islamic-extremists-ground-troops
No.37, Absolutely right. They have chosen a beast to ride to power that has a huge appetite and must be constantly fed. So they will look in any and every place for the food (money) to feed it. And when there is no more food they believe they can dismount, slay this beast, and find another to ride to power. As you say “we shall see”.
Spindok @ #23……”he [Obama] will hand Mohamad Morsi the best F-16s and M1A1 tanks we can build.”
I hope smart patriotic U.S. military people will know how to sabotage these items before they get in Egyptian hands.
S.B. #27
“Just in physical evidence, someone is not telling the truth, and has not from the get-go. There is much more.”
S.B., thank you for mentioning something about the shooting that has bothered me from the first reports onwards. While I have no doubt that Lanza was involved in this, much of the physical evidence just doesn’t add up.
The question then becomes, why muddle the true identity of the weapons used? If the desire is to manipulate events to gin up support for semiqutomatic weapons with large capacity instead of against handguns or weapons in general, why?
Any ideas?
43 @ RWE
What is the SC ANG? South Carolina National Guard? It is not in my acronym list.
oMan @ 25 – I think you missed that the PAF units have been upgraded to be LGB capable. You get a multi-mission manned drone with machine guns. The AQIM forces are quite light, pickups with machine guns. They don’t have tanks. So light aircraft will do the job. You get a poor man’s Spooky. Which proves the point you don’t need a new airframe to be effective. A front line close air support aircraft originally built on a DC-3 airframe.
Being airborne gives you control of the heights and speed to escape.
Why much up the true identity of the weapons? Because even the harshest anti-gun promoters know that they would never be able to pass an anti-handgun bill. So they can’t have handguns be the source of the bullets, or else it’s just not very useful politically.
And of course the new paradigm being pushed has nothing to do with actual safety, or with making these sad events less likely – this is about control, nothing more. In fact, from that viewpoint it’s very useful for these things to occur every few years, to keep moving the ratchet forward.
3. toadold
“An office holder seeing the possibility of his iron rice bowl being broken could go all cornered rat and bite the President. The impeachment process alone could bring up bad feeling toward the One.”
I’d pay a hefty sum to a pay-per-view on primetime to see that happen. I bet a lot of people would and in more countries than just the good ‘ol USA. We could probably make a dent in the national debt with the proceeds…
Creosote is usually white, or gray like an alien. That title sounds racist to someone who doesn’t clean chimneys often.
Jwarrior #52:
South Carolina Air National Guard. F-16′s at McIntire ANGB
“Creosote” is the name of the Monty Python character who eats himself to death at a ritzy restaurant, as show in the picture. It is also a kind of tar based coating that you apply to outdoor structures to keep out the damp. In this case the word applies to the character.
You may be able to 3D print a Glock look-alike, but you can’t 3D print W231 or H355, not to mention primers!
Mr. Creosote: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aczPDGC3f8U
Re:
…pasted here: “32. Marie Claude
15. Blast From the Past
no France isn’t paying for perfidy, the thing is, you Americans have a hard time to understand how the Arab mindset works, while we do, and since Charles Martel….”
Well, then….if you French understand the this Arab mindset,since Poitiers/Tours 732 A.D.,why hasn’t that expertise been applied inside the area of the Sykes-Picot Agreement during the period since 2001? There would’ve been so much expertise/experience that France could have contributed to us in the West all this while since the Muslims attacks of 2001, that perhaps earlier more significant contributions of your men and materiel would’ve stalled some of this Muslim advance years earlier. So much time has been lost.
It may just be possible that after de Gaulle wanted N.A.T.O and all of us Americans out of France in the 1960′s…..not so long ago, despite our shortened attention spans, we Americans may very well be resistant to offering more than token airlift to the French mired in Mali.
[Some of us of a certain age remember also the then covert American air-dropped emergency assistance to those French so tragically surrounded at Dien Bien Phu in 1954. It took half a century for that aid to be recognized at the French Ambassador's residence in Washington.]
Now, your Military are involved in the sands of Mali…after the tragedy of Algeria, everyone is waiting to see the application of this French understanding of the Arab/Muslim/Taureg(?) mind-set.
Consider malevolence, please. It explains so much.
wretchard – That is the first time in a long while I have heard you use “the terrible if’s”….
It made me shiver. The things that are heading our way are legion. Not well regulated.
The “Leading From Behind” thing is working well for The Won. But not in the way he envisioned I wager.
He may want to have chaos at home to cement his continued rule.
60. Charlie Griffith
Ask our Brit friends they had the first hand for designing the borders, cuz of their legendaire Lawrence !
So long we were in Great Syria, we managed to transform the region into 2 modern states (Lebanon and Syria), it’s since we left that the Muslims (Shia and Sunni) became more numerous.
“There would’ve been so much expertise/experience that France could have contributed to us in the West all this while since the Muslims attacks of 2001″
perhaps it escaped to your skilled scrutinity, that the French Intelligence warned the US before 9/11 that AQ was preparing something big in the US… of course, that came from these third world geered French, none deigned to accord any attention to what they said.
” that perhaps earlier more significant contributions of your men and materiel would’ve stalled some of this Muslim advance years earlier”
you aren’t going to put the fault on us if you failed into your gambling campain on Saddam (see the vid above from Wesley Clarck). When we decide to go to war it’s not decided like on a play station, it’s serious !
“we Americans may very well be resistant to offering more than token airlift to the French mired in Mali.”
Actually you haven’t the choice, it’s your mess too !
“[Some of us of a certain age remember also the then covert American air-dropped emergency assistance to those French so tragically surrounded at Dien Bien Phu in 1954. It took half a century for that aid to be recognized at the French Ambassador's residence in Washington.]
Certainly not some of you. The poor guis must be dead by now.
If it took so long, to be acknowldged, it’s not due to the French, but to your administration that had always pretended that no Americans were involved in the Indochine war.
“Now, your Military are involved in the sands of Mali…after the tragedy of Algeria, everyone is waiting to see the application of this French understanding of the Arab/Muslim/Taureg(?) mind-set.”
I’m sure that you’re wishing us good luck, aren’t you?
MC 32,
My criticism was not directed at Frances record with the Muslims, nor at her current intervention. It was a comment on the lack of support that France is getting in her hour of need from supposed allies in Europe and North America. France under the Fifth Republic chose to assert her liberty at the expense of not only the United States but arguably also to the cost of other Europeans. Some of her partners carry hard feelings, the litany of incidents over the last half century is known to most of us. That does not mean that a French patriot could not defend the conduct of the Elysee on any particular occasion. It is simply that a wise statesman, and a political class as sophisticated as the leaders of France hold themselves to be, would have considered the bigger picture and sought to limit the estrangement. Examples that have produced friction, as in the conduct of Messrs Chirac et al regarding America and Israel have been mentioned here. Some public revisiting of them, as in addressing the misconduct of French officials stemming from Oil for Food and the run up to the Iraq war or in the al-Dura affair, would help repair the damage and smooth cooperation when it is needed. French troops have served ably in Afghanistan and that service has done France’s reputation good.
#62 Marie Claude
As I’ve noted before, you are not likely to get much in the way of help from the US because we do not have the conventional forces to commit and our president is actually on the Islamists’ side. Y’all [including any EU forces that may join you] are on your own.
It is not the choice of the American people. In case you have not been watching, we no longer have any input into what the government does, and our government’s approach to the Constitution and the law seems positively Gallic. We have a few matters to settle locally before we have any voice in such things again, and after we do there may be memories of French activities in the past.
Obama, at the initial urging of France and Italy, helped overthrow the governments in North Africa which were maintaining a peaceful, albeit less than democratic, status quo. He stirred it up, and armed the ones you are fighting. If anyone has been following his record, he agitates the feces, and then walks away leaving anyone who depends on him coated with it. It seems that it is Frances turn in the barrel.
I do look forward to watching France apply their superior knowledge, skill, and understanding of the Arab mindset. We have been told by you for so long that we were doing it wrong, and now we get to see how you guys do it right. I will consider it a chance to observe the masters at work and will be taking notes.
As far as wishing you luck, surely we do. As much as France was wishing us in March 2003.
Subotai Bahadur
Subotai
how long Libya would have lasted if we hadn’t intervened? it was sitting on a barrel of powder, iit would just have been delayed, and confrontation with the islamic fanatics would have come any way. Now we have them exposed, we know who they are, and where they are, it’not question of removing a new Saddam, it’s the real war on Civilisation
I know that some of you are wishing us to fail, you’re just not so christian as you pretend to be
63. Blast From the Past
“It was a comment on the lack of support that France is getting in her hour of need from supposed allies in Europe and North America.”
For Europe, it doesn’t surprise me, our allies never were our proxy neighbours, but the Brits and the Russians. As far as the US, they are doing their part from behind, there’s non official help. It seems that none wants OFFICIALLY being part of it
“Some of her partners carry hard feelings, the litany of incidents over the last half century is known to most of us.”
Hmm France has no reliable European friends, contrary to what the EU tries to force us to swallow, but interested partners, if we can afford to pay for their great free common market. But you could be more explicit on what is repproached to the French by such good partners?
“Messrs Chirac et al regarding America and Israel have been mentioned here. ”
Did it occur to you that then France wasn’t alone, Germany, Belgium, Luxemburg were in the league too… how comes that it’s only repproached to France?
“Some public revisiting of them, as in addressing the misconduct of French officials stemming from Oil for Food and the run up to the Iraq war or in the al-Dura affair,”
Sorry to tell you the food for oil thing is a hoax, that benefitted to all the UN countries, besides of that it was initiated by the US, during the clinton administration, and your country wasn’t the last to trade cheap oil !
oh and al Dura affair shouldn’t come into the perspective, it’s a intra Israel affair, if they aren’t happy that one of theirs treated the infos like they wanted, why then didn’t they punish the guy? who is freely living in Israel
I’m fed up of this non argument !
“would help repair the damage and smooth cooperation when it is needed. French troops have served ably in Afghanistan and that service has done France’s reputation good.”
oh that reputation, certainly on ly good when we are obbeying to the Zuzerin order, in Saddam case it was fool orders !
Fourth Post, limited out
#43 RWE
Finally had time to go through the hundreds of shotguns at the Cheaper Than Dirt site. Sorry about the delay. There are only two shotguns that come close to appearing like a modern semi-auto rifle. The Saiga 12 gauge actually looks more like an HK-91 or 93 than an AR-15, and I know that it is a LOT larger and heftier than an AR. The other is probably what you saw. There are several models made by the “Russian American Armory Co.”. The weapons are actually made in Turkey. They are patterned on the AR-15 outline, but are much bulkier and heavier. From what I saw in the NBC video of the cops removing and clearing the weapon it was actually a bit smaller and slimmer than the AR-15, which would match the Bushmaster or several other similar pieces. YMMV, but I don’t think that it was a shotgun, let alone a Turkish shotgun marketed by Russians. They are bloody rare here. They are also marketed under the trade name “ATI”, and I have heard, but not confirmed, that they have some severe problems in the manufacturing process that stopped sales for a while because they did not work.
If it was any sort of shotgun, that leaves the question of where Lanza got it. The Bushmaster was stolen by him after he killed his mother. He is not confirmed to have access to any other long guns, however he did try to buy several in the weeks prior. And the background check worked and he was denied the purchase. If an RAAC shotgun was there, where did it come from, and why haven’t we heard anything about it? Its novelty value would seem the type to trigger some sort of mention. Where did you hear it was a shotgun?
#65 Marie Claude
How long it would have lasted if you hadn’t intervened is a question that is not answerable, just as from our point of view, how long it would have been before Saddam used the WMD [of all sorts, chemical, biological, and nuclear] that he was working on was not answerable before the war. I find it interesting that France, and indeed Europe, were accusing us of being imperialists interfering with a sovereign nation. Last time I looked, Libya was sovereign and independent, but apparently France is allowed to decide it can intervene at will, and we can’t. And I seem to remember that France went out of its way to try to protect the exact same Libyan ruler who in 1985-86 was helping the Red Army Faction, Provo IRA, and Red Brigades commit terrorist attacks in Rome and Vienna [and Ghaddaffi bragged about it]. In 1986, he was behind a terrorist bombing in Berlin [we have the cables giving the orders, and after the fall of East Germany, we got the Stasi files showing the East Germans had helped him]. We went to bomb Libya, and France would not let us cross its airspace, making the raid more difficult and placing our aircrew at risk.
After the bombing, Ghaddaffi hid in his hole, and stopped supporting terrorists. France was apparently against that.
France’s decision to go after Ghaddaffi might have more to do with his raising the price of Libyan Light Sweet Crude Oil, which is the only kind that French and Italian refineries can handle [heavier, more sulfer laden crude takes special refinery equipment]. Don’t go all “moral” about the war. France does not mind tyrants or terrorists as long as they can make a franc off of them. And just like Americans are frequently charged [and admittedly, in North Africa the charge is true] there was no real plan for what to do after you had toppled the regime.
And we know that the French were rooting for Saddam, hoping for us to fail, and rejoicing at our casualties. We get the American editions of French, German, and European media here. The only difference between then and now, is that now it is French troops getting shot at, and not ours. You are angered and offended now, we were angered and offended then. Right now, both our countries are governed by imbeciles at best. You have the advantage, because at least your government has some loyalty to your country. Obama hates our country. And guess what? He hates yours too.
As far as not being as Christian as we pretend to be; I am not now, nor have I ever been Christian. And since 1789; your country has been militantly secular and hostile to Christianity and Judaism, from the genocide against Christians in the Vendée to the toleration of Muslim attacks on Jews in France today. The only religious group your country does not touch is Muslims. So seeking support on the basis of shared religious culture or Christian guilt just doesn’t cut it.
Subotai Bahadur
you’re repeating ol refrains
“how long it would have been before Saddam used the WMD [of all sorts, chemical, biological, and nuclear] that he was working on was not answerable before the war.”
Except that you’re still looking for the WMD ! the biological were too old for being effective. And the Nuclear? it’s l’Arlésienne, we are still waiting for the Iranian’s since 3 decades, and they still aren’t operating , so imagine saddam with poor means and the world scrutinity !
BTW, it was Cameron that pushed the war on Libya the first to the UN, seconded by Sarkozy. apparently he was trying to make a african currency pegged on gold, removing the trades made in dollars, euros, francs CFA… so whatever the hidden agenda, the city would have suffered ! we were lesser importer of the libyan sweet oil than Italy (32%) Germany (14%), France (8%), Britain…
hmm the Italians rather attribute their terrorist attack in the early eithies on Gladio cells (financed by the CIA)
“After the bombing, Ghaddaffi hid in his hole, and stopped supporting terrorists. France was apparently against that.”
Oh lala, poor guy that was oppenly raping all the young boys and girls in Libya with the benediction of uncle Sam !
About 1986, France and Spain had some intelligence on the manipulated informations from the Mossad, Gadhafi wasn’t responsable of the terrorists attack on american soldiers in Germany .
Besides that Reagan had many times the opportunity to strike Gadhafi in the early Eighties, but didn’t dare to make it because it was the french that offered the deal,(and not the Mossad)
http://www.americanthinker.com/2011/03/assassinating_gaddafi.html
Also we stroke Gadhafi 2 years before that the US did.
-http://www.opex360.com/2011/03/10/le-precedent-de-ouadi-doum/
“We get the American editions of French, German, and European media here.”
I’m sure that you can’t read them in the text, but their sided interpretation by your favorite french-bashing neo-con opinionists !
“You are angered and offended now, we were angered and offended then. ”
not at all, you don’t represent the US all by yourself !
“And since 1789; your country has been militantly secular and hostile to Christianity and Judaism, from the genocide against Christians in the Vendée to the toleration of Muslim attacks on Jews in France today. The only religious group your country does not touch is Muslims. So seeking support on the basis of shared religious culture or Christian guilt just doesn’t cut it.”
you really are brainwashed and deliberately show a crass stoopidity if not insanity !
last Sunday from 5 to 8 thousand of French manifested against the Gay marriage because of tchristian family principles
I know that France would like us to send lots of troops to help them out, but how many people does it really take to raise a white flag?
But seriously folks, when either of the Bush presidents went to war, they crossed their T’s and dotted their I’s, gaining international support (at cost of their own political popularity at home) before doing what was needful. President Obama broke that mold for our country. Now France figures they are big dogs and can follow suit, but I don’t think they have the chops for it. If they fail, well, it won’t be their first time…
69. Caestal
actually, it’s yours that is on the play station, hey too bad, you can’t make your cinetic war among the sandmonkeys
Subotai (16),
Wow, did I miss something? I read the proposed EO’s, nothing in their attempts to ban standard-capacity magazines.
One wonders how many Frenchmen will see a battalion (soon to be brigade) size engagement in land-locked Mali as “a fight for Civilization” as Marie Claude suggests. The possibilities are interesting.
Why are the Mohammedans in Mali a threat to Civilization while the millions of Mohammedans ringing the cities in France are not? It was only a couple years ago that two straight weeks of rioting Mohammedans burned to the ground the symbols of civil life in France – churches, schools, hospitals, and businesses over the entire country. Maybe Marie Claude will find some comfort with the memory that it was only a few old cars in Paris, but the rioting was much, much bigger than that.
Does Hollande think that he can wave the banner of patriotism and manliness in Mali without the breeze also stirring the smoldering embers in the citee? How many mosque speeches this Friday will cry about the injustice being done to the brothers in Mali?
I suspect that stirring the hornet’s nest and facing up to the consequences of the Islamization of Europe may prove too much for the chattering class. I’d be very surprised if the condemnations don’t start in a week.
Subotai #67:
I heard one of the major radio talk show hosts (think it was Glenn Beck or one of his guest hosts) explain that the shotgun was what they found in the car, not the AR-15. After I saw the pictures at Cheaper Than Dirt I understood the confusion. I never saw the pictures of the rifle being taken out of the car.
An additional source of confusion is that Bushmaster makes a bolt action .223 rifle, as used by the DC Sniper. But Bushmaster also makes full fledged AR-15 copies; a friend of mine has one. So he could have a Bushmaster rifle and it still be an AR-15 rather than a bolt action.
To me it would make perfect sense that somone concerned with survival as was Landa’s mother and planned to hunt birds for food would include a shotgun in their arsenal.
The move from Mali into Algeria (all starting because of Syria?) reminds me of something Pres Bushs generals said. That these terrorists are all tied together in loose groups all around the globe. And that we needed a broader approach. Seems we have been pretty focused on Iraq and Afghanistan. Some folks call that target fixation. I hate the idea of letting the terrorists set the tone and pace of our responses. Hows about killing the funding sources and starting a serious propaganda war. And having that all start here in North America. Maybe by investigating and outing the folks at the Council on American-Islamic Relations and its American congressional supporters. For once I’d like to see our President stand up for Americans. I kinda doubt that that’s going to happen. He sent that jackass Panetta out to comment on the already known … we’ve been attacked again. Panetta forgot his politically correct dictionary. He actually called the Algerian terrorists and the incident a terroristic attack. The correct lingo is ‘man-caused disasters’. We are lead by hippies and con artists.
#62 Marie Claude…..
Your multiple attempts at spinning while at the same time answering assertions by raising new questions is ever increasingly looking like trolling.
And, as for this:
“Certainly not some of you. The poor guis must be dead by now.”
Certainly not true for all of them, three of these belatedly decorated heroes, maybe a fourth, are my living friends. We’re octogenarians, of course. Remembering.
72. Peter Boston …..
Very well said.
75. Charlie Griffith
Really? how can we verify yourassertions?
Could you provide their names?
Trolling certainly not my goal, but responding to contempting comments
#77 Marie Claude:
Re your,……”Really? how can we verify yourassertions?
Could you provide their names?”
Yes,
Bring up via Google the website and try to find the heading:
“Home Page:About Air America, Archive guide”, scroll down slowly until you see in blue lettering, “Search The Cat/Air America Website, then, “Search the Air America Website”.
Inside the blank white search space type “DienBienPhu”, click “search”, scroll down through the empty space and you’ll find, “CAT Pilots Honored With France’s Highest Award”. I’ve pasted some of it here:
“CAT PILOTS TO BE HONORED BY FRANCE
France’s Highest Military Honor Awarded Fifty Years After Epic Indochina Battle
On February 24, 2005, the Government of France will honor the seven surviving American civilian pilots who voluntarily flew many hazardous supply missions to the besieged French Expeditionary Forces gallantly holding out at Dien Bien Phu (North Vietnam). Fifty years after their valiant service in support of their French comrades, these Americans will receive France’s highest military and civilian honor, “Chevalier de la Légion d’Honneur” (Knight’s version). The “Legion of Honor,” created by Napoleon Bonaparte, dates back to 1802.
The presentation ceremony will take place at the official residence of the French Ambassador to the United States in Washington D.C. His Excellency Jean-David Levitte will present the Legion d’Honneur to the former pilots in a formal presentation. Family members will accompany the pilots to the ceremony. U.S. Government officials and other distinguished guests have been invited to witness this historic occasion.
Honoree Pilots:
• Roland Nelson Duke
• William Preston Hobbs
• Allen Lawrence Pope
• Douglas R. Price
• Monson William Shaver
• Roy Furniss Watts
• Robert Lee Brongersma
CAT Pilots Deceased During* or After Dien Bien Phu
Wallace Buford*
Walter C. Buttons
Darrell D. Carden
Ernest W. Cedergren
Maurice K. Clough
Stuart E. Dew
John R. Dexheimer
Norwood N. Forte
William Donaldson Gaddie
Charles E. Hayes
Hugh H. Hicks
Neese D. Hicks
Paul R. Holden
Henry J. Hudson
Frank L. Hughes
August L. Judkins
Steve A. Kusak
David A. Lampard
S. McDonnell
James B. McGovern, Jr.*
Hugh L. Marsh
Michael L. McCallum
Kenneth L. Milan
Cyril M. Pinkava
John R. Plank
Thomas C. Sailer
Eric Shilling
John M. Verdi
Frederick F. Walker
Arthur D. Wilson
* Indicates killed in action during Dien Bien Phu support mission.
Vis-a-vis France in Mali – we’re acting like we did with each other after 9/11. Instead of pulling together, we used the crisis as an excuse to throw bricks at each other. What little unity we had lasted about a month, then it was leftists vs. the right, Republicans vs. Democrats, business as goddamn usual.
Now we’re doing the same thing with the French. They’ve gone their own way since DeGaulle, so we shouldn’t help them now? How about this: Radical Muslims are the common enemy, and we should support anybody who wants to fight them, anywhere they want to fight them. It will be a long, hard battle – many years before we either defeat them or knock them back to the desert for another few hundred years. We have to pull together.
I’m not saying we should go the Vietnam route in Mali. But we should do as much as we can, wherever we can. IF the French are serious about it, we should be serious, too.
….correction:
Omitted was….”the website “airdashamericadotorg” then the detailed directions. There is. of course a lot of material there which is well worth the time to
browse. Somehow the AAM address will not reproduce correctly here.
#79 It will be a long, hard battle – many years before we either defeat them or knock them back to the desert for another few hundred years. We have to pull together.
It doesn’t have to be a long battle, or even hard. Muslims believe their holy city Mecca is protected by Allah, and is therefore inviolate. Crush their city and their god falls. Kinda like Samson bringing down the temple of Dagon!
It’s only difficult and hard when you try to fight them kinetically in all their nests.
When I had termites in the house, I didn’t spray individual termites as they came into the house. We set bait out in the yard, and the little worker termites took the bait back to Termite Mecca. No more termites!
Marie Claude….
Here’s a much simpler link…..
“CAT and Air America
udornrtafb.tripod.com/id42.html
CAT and Air America – Again, in November 1953, a French logistical blunder at Dien Bien Phu provided troops with a nightmare of keeping troops supplied with …”
Someone was asking , ‘What’s the big deal about Mali?’ Look at the map. A target-rich environment is Nigeria. There’s oil thereabouts. Sokoto, in NE Nigeria, used to be a hotbed of militant Islam a century or so ago. There is a bit of oil piracy going on in the Delta. Boko Haram is active in northern Nigeria. Believe me folks, these people mean business and they’re active all over the place.
78. Charlie Griffith
hey, more simple, it’s me that brought the link some days ago, but that doesn’t tell who were those still alive that you personally know. ahahah
http://www.air-america.org/newspaper_articles/france_honors_cat.shtml
‘assault rifles in American hands are bad while the same weapons in Jihadi hands are simultaneously good”
They are also good in the hands of Mexican drug cartels.
“A significant internal conflict in America would destroy it as a world power; probably crash the dollar, destroy world stability and collapse the US standard of living.
This should be obvious.”
This is distinct from the outcome now being obtained how? I’m not sure if it even changes the bodycount.
AWRM.org
I firmly believe that if enough people had saluted the trillion dollar platinum coin idea, they’d be talking to the diemakers now. What do you think?
In my opinion, french elites doesn’t care if France becomes a muslim country. They know very well that europeans are childless people and have no future. What they care is to manage Islam and its more violent manifestations, so that the Islamization of France could proceed without causing a civil war in the country.
In my opinion, french elites banned the burka and street prayers not because they cared about women or secularism, but because they were afraid that the high visibility of Islam may cause a surge in the Far Right. It is all about social cohesion and stability, not about principles. Even the war in Mali is part of that.
The French don’t want radical Islam around, that could radicalize french muslims into Islamism and native french people into nationalism. What they want is some kind of moderate, calm, less visible Islam, so that the Islamization of France can continue without waking up the native french people and causing a possible disintegration of the country. They think that civil war in France is worse than muslim France.
Passer by, you really are passing by beyond your feet
Marie Claude…..you can’t tell us you’re not trolling, teasing, pulling on threads here and there.
Some other less elegant, words come to mind, …..now, you’re playing with tragedy….. it’s long past the time for you to stop. You’re out of order. Just stop.
89. Charlie Griffith
don’t you like that I point on your incoherences?
Creosote is also a kind of tar based coating that you apply to outdoor structures to keep out the damp. I think any liberal commentator would call that a ‘dog whistle’.