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I think we should just get out of the middle east, and let them fight it out. No outsiders have ever been able to keep the peace over there, and we won't be able to either.
Let them fight it out and we'll deal with what ever rises from the ashes.
chuckle8: Man, you are all over the place. What does an arcane, useless, waste of time law have to do with the Federal Gov'ts ability to create new dollars?
I've always wondered how all the WORLD CLASS SCUMBAGS take their fun and hide their profits from Coup de Tats, rebellions, kidnappings, smuggling, human Trafficing and Drug dealing and stay in business. Somehow all these reptiles can write checks and wire money all over the world without any cops finding out?
How much human misery have these pychopaths financed? They owe us some interest repaid before they go under, before the Banksters get a DIME! They deserve a JAIL CELL!
It looks to me that we might have to entertain the LOGICAL notion to let the area revert to its OTTOMAN Empire status of 3 separate autonomous countrys'! Instead of the colonial construct of "Iraq" (which is Arabic for Viet Nam!)
Turkey would not like it because it will give the Armenians a claim but I think they should figure it out over there! NOT US!
Of course if we're going to off all logical and stuff maybe we could stop backing Palestinian Apartheid practiced by the Israelis.' Israel can't be a JEWISH STATE, because Jews would never treat people like that because it's against that religion.
Reply to #19: Hi Nachos. Long time no see. Thanks for another bull's-eye comment. Empire building is the game, and a deadly one at that. This empire is doomed to crash and burn just like all the others.
The USA thinks every fight is our fight.
Rich of Jeff -- You seem to be mixing up the progressiveness in Obama with his political calculations.
Incidentally, I agree with you political calculus, but I am not so bold as to be certain it would have worked. With all the voter suppression, voter machine rigging and billionaire dollars going against the dems, I am not certain that anything would have made a difference.
kipopp -- The debt ceiling battles and all the damage they caused does seem to fit with what you are saying.
Since the biggest predictor of where Koch Bros. money goes is minority populations, I suggest that Republicans adopt the extrmely cynical attitude of drawing minorities to their districts in order to get their beaks wet on that deal. Ha ha.
The United States is not accountable (prosecutable) under the Geneva Convention. That's why war crimes, atrocities are never paid for. They don't need a pardon. Another little piece of trivia is that any American president could have with six months notice removed us from any trade agreement. That's built into the agreements.
Accusations of American "exceptionalism" aren't hot air, they have a basis. Most of the agreements, treaties, etc., U. S. enters into have clauses excepting or exempting the U. S., opt-out clauses.
Cutting social security is REAL austerity banging on 'Merica's door!
No one has mentioned the straightforward, hard to understand action that Obama could do on his own. He just needs to pardon Bush and Cheney. In so doing, he would say we committed war crimes. In this way, he would be telling people like the head of that terror attack in France that he was right and had a reason to be pissed off.
First I want to comment that I am very impressed with the good works you do, the intelligent dialogue on your radio program, and your consistent progressive outlook. I also very much appreciate your willingness to admit when you do not have adequate knowledge on a certain topic. I have learned alot listening to your radio program on WCPT and largely agree with your comments. Of course like any thinking person there are times I partly or totally disagree.
I am commenting on your extensive conversation yesterday regarding ISIS, their humanitarian works with the local populations in Syria and Iraq and how we should adjust US policy learning from their success. What I did not hear you mention is ISIS only provides help to those who blindly follow their ideology and those who do not they torture and massacre much like the Nazis did before and during World War II to populations under their control. Hitler and his gang of blood thirsty murderers also helped the local German population economically provided they showed the same hatred and brutality toward Jews, Communists, and Socialists.
I do agree US policy in the Mideast is way too skewed by thirst for oil and there are too many in the US who want to go down the path of war before giving diplomacy a chance. Since World War II and especially after the cold war we are largely guilty of being the Imperialists of the world and need to recognize how that affects how others view us. Where there is an opportunity to provide help to the local population and seek peaceful solutions we along with our allies and others in the Mideast region need to pursue that. With ISIS I feel there is no room for negotiation and compromise. Their motivation is total domination and those who fail to adopt their ideology must be put to death, most often in a very brutal and barbaric way. Undoubtedly our policies in the region helped lead to their growth. My concern is the US is not exactly trusted by the local population or governments in most of the Mideast. Who can we trust to partner with on the ground especially in Syria to provide humanitarion aid? Iraq is a different situation but good faith acceptance of our aid is still very uncertain, except perhaps for the Kurds. Also, much like we should not be policing the rest of the world, we alone should not be the one to always provide humanitarian assistance. Our allies, other mideast countries, and the United Nations needs to play a much larger role. We need to accept and respect their help.
To summarize I believe you are excellent making inciteful and strong arguments. In this case however my impression is you ignored the considerable down side of both the enemy and our opportumity for positive influence in the region given considerable cultural differences, hatred, and lack of trust. I do agree there are actions we need to take to break down those barriers.
Thank you for your great program and consideration of my comments.
Best, Don Baker
Where there's a will there's a way.
Bottom line...The U.S. Government MUST STOP POLICING THE WORLD; Our Corporate high jaked government is WORSE than that of the King's Rule that We originally declared & fought for our Independence from. We need to take inflated profit out of war, stop glorifying the Military, and put Howard Zinn's The Bomb and Dalton Trumbo's Johnny Got His Gun on all High School Reading list.
Our foreign policy should not be one motivated by the Military Industrial Complex...Stop Empire Building.
You are so right! But too many people has been drinking the kool aid dished out to them during bush years and watching fauxnews. How do you convince them that supporting more wars isn't the answer?
chuckles8, I'm going to give this one last shot because I can't help myself. Can't you see, if Obama was serious about his budget (forgiving the unjustifiable military increase), he would've offered it up prior to the end of his "lame duck" administration? If Obama would have been an ounce of the liberal he was accused of being, the democratic party would still be holding both Houses with additional seats. Obama's administration has produced justifiable cynicism from voters - this is reflected in Democratic voter turnout, and the Republican dominance in Congress and recent majority in Senate.
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Real Datpiff Supplier
Yes, this Great Country was built of Lying, Raping, Deception and Free Labor. So what's changed?? Not a damn thing!
So what's your point??
We're fighting an enemy called Terrorism. George Bush called it "the war on terror". Terrorism is not a person like King George, or Hitler or Ho Chi Minn. There was a person responsible for terrorism called Osama Binladen and he was killed but terrorism still exist. Terrorism is not a country like Japan or Spain or Germany. We sent large armies to two countries over a decade ago to stop terrorism but terrorism still exist. Terrorism has no borders and no single leader. Terror is a state of mind. When a person has this state of mind they are said to be terrified. People who cause that state of mind are called terrorist and the act of causing that state of mind is called terrorism. When U S high speed jets and unmanned drone aircraft fly over civillian populations causing them to to be terrified, because they know these aircraft sometimes kill innocent civillians, doesn't that make the U S the terrorist? How many innocent civillian deaths are acceptable as collateral damage per bombing or drone strike? 5? 25? 50? In my opinion the number is 0. Those surviving relatives are going to retaliate. It looks to me like we're fighting terrorism with terrorism. That's like trying to put out a fire by pouring gasoline on it. There must be a way to end this war but what we've done so far has not worked. I'ts time to rethink what we've been doing and do something different.
Well said, Thom. You and I are thinking alike. My article in OpEd News:
http://www.opednews.com/articles/A-Radical-Plan-to-Curb-Ter-by-Arlen-Gro...
Thom, you seem to think that our problems with the middle east began recently. Not so. If you check your history books, you'll find that these problems have their roots in the actions of the western nations beginning about 6 months after the World War I armistice, when wartime agreements with the middle eastern "tribes" were thrown in the trash heap of history, one after another. And then, we really began meddling in middle eastern affarirs.
The real solution to these problems, in my humble opinion, is for US to stop f&*%ing with other countries.
Can we just get real for a minute here? Considering the overwhelming evidence that our very own home grown CIA as well as Israel's Mossad are arming and funding most of the worlds terrorist groups, perhaps we can just politely ask them to cease and desist. Am I the only one that has followed the evidence down this rabbit hole? Veterans Today has been investigating this story for years, and has found ample evidence to support this. Perhaps if more of these alternative media sites would invite others to do their own research, the people would begin to wake up to the treasonous atrocities that our present government, (all puppets), and the corporations, banks, and puppeteers continue to dupe the public with. This hidden agenda is beginning to come to the surface, and folks are waking up. Perhaps it's time that this blog does too!!
Again, it's easier to shake a hand with aid than to blow it off with a bomb.
Thom, while everything you’ve said is true, you seem to be coming from the assumption that the AMERICAN death cult sincerely wants to “defeat” terrorism. To the contrary, ISIS, Al Qaeda, the Taliban etc. etc. are GREAT FOR BUSINESS! Come on Thom, war contractors and their CEOs have bills to pay too!
Long as there’s an “enemy” to fight, the American death cult can justify its existence and bloated military budget, and American weapons manufacturers can keep singing all the way to the bank. We’ve created these monsters, Thom. You think we’re gonna suddenly switch gears now, and try winning hearts & minds instead of blowing up civilians in their beds, massacring them at their weddings and funerals?!!
God bless the USA. - AIW
Lot of good points but there are other alternatives than the two you present. We should try to lead a mult-nation diplomatic effort on how to confront ISIS and all the differences in the region. It should include the Arab nations, including Saudi Arabia, and it should include Iran, Syria and Russia. Part of the problem is this is a proxy war between Iran and Syria and Saudi Arabia.