gdp's Comments

Big Peace : Are We At War in Afghanistan: Yes or No?

Mon, 15 Nov 2010 21:52:09 +0000

Karzai and his government are probably corrupt, by Western standards of governance. But I suspect that corruption may have always been a way of life in Afghanistan. And I'm not sure it is any more corrupt than the current government of Russia, or of Cook County for that matter. I'd like to know if his government is any more corrupt than the Afghan government in 1979 before the Soviet invasion, or the ones in 1970, 1960, 1950, etc. -- or even the one in 1800. Expecting something better from an Afghan government may be expecting too much. OTOH, Karzai does seem to have some kind of bi-polar disorder, as described in Woodward's book. His statements, policies, positions, attitudes and opinions seem to vary wildly day to day -- or at least that is what the reporting seems to indicate. But perhaps that too is not unusual in Afghan leaders. One of the ways we prevailed over the Taliban in 2001 was by persuading many of the warlords to change their allegiance, usually by paying them off. Rapidly and continually shifting allegiances, attitudes, and policies by government officials, warlords, and tribal leaders that vary with political, military, security, and economic conditions may be norm over there. So what we may be seeing in Afghanistan and hand wringing over may simply be what has been business as usual in Afghanistan for centuries. This can make the place seem to be a hopeless lost cause when viewed from our own political and cultural frame of reference. If this is what Afghanistan has always been it is probably not wise for us to try to remake it into something else as a condition of our involvement. Our objective is to fight the jihadist extremists, the Taliban, and Al Qaeda and prevent them from running Afghanistan and destabilizing the government of Pakistan. As long as we prevent them from having their way in Afghanistan and Pakistan we are winning. If we give up, then they win. This conflict is a test of wills and perseverance. If we have the will to prevail we will. If not we won't. I always knew that Bush had the will to prevail, and so did our enemies. The same cannot be said of the current occupant of the WH. On the plus side, I think he is terrified of the potential consequences of "losing" in Afghanistan, and rightly so. Ironically, I think Obama is too much of a coward to do what he would really like to do and pull out. So he will probably do what is required to at least persevere. And so the fight will go on. I think this is what Patraeus is expecting.

Big Peace : Citizen Guinea Pigs? Was the Mystery Over L.A. Really a Secret Drill to Test American Reactions?

Sun, 14 Nov 2010 00:43:09 +0000

Comment from the BLACKFIVE thread about this. "It’s a plane. We see them all the time like this. Inbound from Southeast Asia or Hawaii. As a witness to thousands of launches from Vandenberg AFB, this contrail does NOT follow the normal and predictable atmospheric parameters. As a rocket goes up, it passes through dozens of different wind patterns, disturbances, and pressure layers. This results in the smoke trail twisting into loops, pretzels, long curves, and various rainbows of colors as the vapor freezes at different altitudes. Not to mention, the damn thing would be traveling a hell of a lot faster than that video showed. This "smoke" is quite even in its disruption, because it is all at the same altitude. This is nothing more than the contrail of an airliner, the bright “flame” in the video is the sun reflecting off the belly of the aircraft, as the sun is visibly lower than it is. No secrets, no conspiracy, no show of force to Asia(really? two atomic bombs weren’t convincing enough?). Just a bunch of tourists coming home. I mean really, thinking a little will not hurt you brain. American tracking stations would know about this the moment it left the water, had it been a ballistic missile. Not to mention any Boomer, or half awake attack sub, would have heard the launch from the sub they had been tracking for days......" http://www.blackfive.net/main/2010/11/missile-lau...

Big Peace : Citizen Guinea Pigs? Was the Mystery Over L.A. Really a Secret Drill to Test American Reactions?

Sat, 13 Nov 2010 01:07:52 +0000

Take a look at the last link I provided.

Big Peace : Citizen Guinea Pigs? Was the Mystery Over L.A. Really a Secret Drill to Test American Reactions?

Sat, 13 Nov 2010 00:46:19 +0000

I'm writing this all off as nonsense. The "missile" was not a missile. It was an aircraft. That was the contrail from an aircraft. Similar affects have been seen in the past. Atmospheric and optical conditions made it look a bit like the vapor trail left by a missile. But it wasn't. http://ricochet.com/main-feed/Mystery-Missile-thi... http://ricochet.com/main-feed/Mystery-Missile-thi... http://uncinus.wordpress.com/2010/11/09/4/#more-4 From the last link... "An interesting contrail cropped up off the coast of San Clemente, Orange County, California on December 31st 2009. The curious shape led some people to think it’s a missile launch, which it does kind of look like (all taken from San Clemente)" A photo is included at the link.

Big Peace : Musharraf: ‘Are We to Be Abandoned Again?’

Fri, 12 Nov 2010 01:48:34 +0000

In that part of the planet "abandoned" seems to be a euphemism for "stopped giving us money and paying attention to us", Before the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan in 1979 that region had been "abandoned" by the entire world for centuries except for "The Great Game" between Russia and Great Britain in the 1800's.

Big Peace : Musharraf: ‘Are We to Be Abandoned Again?’

Thu, 11 Nov 2010 17:36:42 +0000

Abandon Pakistan? That's rich. I'm not a great fan of Woodward but I recently finished "Obama's Wars". One thing that jumps out is that without exception everyone thinks that many elements in the Pak government and military are double-dealing and playing on both sides of the Taliban fence. They have their reasons, primarily a fanatical fear of India, but to say that we would be "abandoning" them if we decided to no longer play the game their way is ludicrous. And I say that as a solid unwavering long time supporter of our efforts in Afghanistan since 9/11. Pakistan is neither fully a friend or fully an enemy in this fight. They are both a help and a hindrance. They cannot be trusted and we never know what they will or won't do. Until they truly decide which side they are on, get their house in order, behave accordingly, and become a trusted ally they have no credible claim to complain about anything the US does or might do. Sadly, I think there are Paks who wholeheartedly support us and can rightly be called allies. But that cannot be said of the leadership, government, military, and country as a whole.

Breitbart.tv : Bush on Waterboarding: 'Damn Right'

Wed, 10 Nov 2010 17:12:34 +0000

Not quite. "At the International Military Tribunal for the Far East, a.k.a. Tokyo Trials, that Begala says McCain is referring to, only seven Japanese war criminals were executed. Every one of them was convicted of either being complicit in or directly comitting atrocities and murder on a grand scale." http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/180923/sorry....

Breitbart.tv : Bush on Waterboarding: 'Damn Right'

Wed, 10 Nov 2010 16:16:37 +0000

Ignoring the “is water boarding torture” argument, I think there is little doubt that at some point even our current Beloved Dear Leader would use it with Holder’s approval. Water boarding can work to obtain actionable information. The arguments about extracting “confessions” using this interrogation technique are irrelevant. Obtaining information is the objective, not a confession. Obviously, we need to be able to confirm that the information we receive is factual, but that is far from an impossible task. So the question becomes “at what point is water boarding justified?”, if ever. Is it justified if it will save 100 lives? 1000 lives? How about 10,000 lives? Or 100,000 lives? Perhaps 1,000,000 lives? Certainly if the choice is between the lives of the entire population of the US or we water board a KSM the answer is easy, unless one is a suicidal raving lunatic of an idealist with a self-destructive martyr complex. The usual counter argument is that these hypotheticals are not realistic. That is a very weak argument. It is simply untrue and it is not difficult to counter. For example, if we had KSM in custody days before 9/11 we may have been able to prevent 9/11 by water boarding him. If 9/11 had gone as well as possible for Al Qaeda 30,000 would have been slaughtered in an hour instead of 3000. So it is very easy to construct a plausible scenario where the choice is 30,000 lives vs water boarding someone like KSM. So I ask the sanctimonious and self righteous, at what point would they approve water boarding? How many lives does it take to justify subjecting a terrorist to a procedure that does not physically harm him in any way – a procedure so physically benign that 10 minutes later the subject could play a game of basketball as well as he could before the procedure, and without requiring any treatment for any injury of any kind?

Big Peace : Time for Sec Def Gates to Hit the Bricks

Tue, 9 Nov 2010 18:42:14 +0000

I think Gates has been worn down by politics. When you are surrounded by libs day in day out, need to be diplomatic, and must constantly compromise it can take a toll and start affecting your judgment. Time to go Bob. May as well let Obama, Biden, and Donilon do whatever they are going to do. They are going to do it anyway.

Big Peace : Al-Qaeda cleric Anwar Al-Awlaki trained Pentagon's Muslim chaplains

Tue, 9 Nov 2010 18:34:48 +0000

Chalk up another epic fail to PC.

Big Journalism : The New Blacklist: ABC News Makes Provably False Claim Breitbart 'Exaggerated' His Role

Tue, 2 Nov 2010 02:10:47 +0000

I was thinking in terms of tactical talking points, not about overall philosophy and strategy. This election will be a repudiation of the Dem/lib/left position on the size and role of government in the economic sphere. Their position has been that more and bigger government -- more government control and regulation, more government centralized planning, higher taxes, and more government spending -- is the "solution" to our economic problems. The electorate is about to disagree, forcefully. Will the Dem's understand this or not? That's what I will be looking for when I listen to what the MSM talking heads say as they parrot the Dem talking points in response to the electorate's verdict.

Big Journalism : The New Blacklist: ABC News Makes Provably False Claim Breitbart 'Exaggerated' His Role

Mon, 1 Nov 2010 23:08:11 +0000

Why watch? Only two reasons I can think of. 1. For the schadenfreude entertainment value. 2. To see how they will try to spin it and learn what the Dem talking points for the next month will be. That should require only about 15-30 minutes of total viewing time during the course of the evening.

Big Journalism : The New Blacklist: ABC News Makes Provably False Claim Breitbart 'Exaggerated' His Role

Mon, 1 Nov 2010 22:48:41 +0000

This is a "teaching moment". If you are not a lefty/liberal and you are asked to appear on CBSMSNBCABCCNNNPRPBS, get everything in writing, in at least an email, before agreeing to anything. You cannot make a verbal agreement with these people with the understanding that it will be followed up later in writing. They cannot be trusted. Assume they are lying or will do a 180 until it is in writing. That way you will not be surprised when they do not follow through and try to lie about it.

Big Journalism : ABC Owes Viewers Explanation: If Breitbart Is Lying, ABC Needs to Say So Now

Mon, 1 Nov 2010 21:04:37 +0000

Soros is becoming a real life left-wing version of Dr. Strangelove.

Big Journalism : Email Reveals ABC News Walked Back 'Bigs' Publisher Participation in Election Night Coverage

Mon, 1 Nov 2010 02:34:19 +0000

Can't have those gullible dimwits in fly-over country hearing what AB has to say. They might believe him even if everyone else on the ABC broadcast disagrees with him. LOL. Imagine the wailing and condemnation coming from the left if the right campaigned to quash an appearance by a liberal journalist on a FOXnews election night broadcast,

Big Peace : No Reason to Bow to the 'Supreme Judicial Commander of the U.S. Military'

Tue, 19 Oct 2010 00:47:02 +0000

Actually, to be logically consistent I think that at least four separate "facilities" are needed, instead of two. Or, as you suggest, maybe only one for everyone.

Big Journalism : Whoopi and Behar Storm Off Set During O’Reilly Interview

Fri, 15 Oct 2010 19:03:41 +0000

If Christians or Jews did this in the name of their religion, for religious reasons, while shouting praises to their God, then it would be accurate, factual, and descriptively useful to say the perpetrators were Christians or Jews. Likewise if atheists had done this deliberately to kill theists. The religious beliefs of the perpetrators are material, a major part of their motivation, and useful information. If one chooses one could qualify the Muslim/Christian/Jew description with a radical/extremist qualifier, but it is not necessary -- unless one is looking to criticize and condemn the speaker to score PC points with one's like-minded righteous buddies.

Big Peace : WaPo: 'Fatal Blow' to Obama's Terror Trial?

Tue, 12 Oct 2010 21:35:05 +0000

"My guess is that, instead of admitting defeat, the administration would prefer to let terrorist after terrorist walk on technicalities and allegations of torture. That way they can open up more torture hearings, and tar the Bush Administration to shift blame. " They'll have some problems opening up more hearings if they do not control Congress in 2011. You may be right, but I cannot see Obama letting any of the terrorists clearly involved in any of the Al-Qaeda terrorist attacks go free. The public outcry would irrecoverably destroy his administration. My guess is Obama will now kick the can down the road a bit further. He will wait six months or more until other issues have dominated the news for awhile before trying to do anything else with the Gitmo detainees they cannot release and must eventually try in some way. If I were a Machiavellian Obama, Holder would resign within a year. The sooner the better. His replacement would then "revisit" the issue into and during the 2012 election year. The report and recommendations of the new AG would be whatever is deemed necessary to help Obama get reelected. Or, maybe the new AG will need so much time to review the cases, identify the options, and make recommendations that his/her report will not be made until after the 2012 election. These terrorists have been sitting in Gitmo for many, many years. A couple more won’t matter, even to Obama. He cannot appease the lefties and civil libertarians unless he tries them in civilian courts and, as seems obvious now, trying to do that will cause great harm to his reelection aspirations. So he will probably find a way to do nothing until then.

Big Peace : WaPo: 'Fatal Blow' to Obama's Terror Trial?

Tue, 12 Oct 2010 17:28:35 +0000

My first knee-jerk thought was they (Zero, Holder, and their DoJ lackies) knew this would happen. They wanted the evidence very publicly tossed out to shine a light on how the Evil Bush/Cheney admin “tortured” detainees to obtain information and how that negatively affects attempts to bring “alleged” terrorists to justice. However, after a little thought I concluded the nitwits didn't have a clue this would happen. First, this shows that "enhanced interrogation" (called “torture” by Zero and Holder) works. That is how we obtained the name of the witness they were trying to use. Whether one thinks “enhanced interrogation” should or should not be used, the argument that it “doesn’t work anyway” has been demolished. Also, the fact that the Holder DoJ acknowledged that it works is now public record. Second, it should now be obvious that KSM and his mass murdering buddies should not be tried in civilian courts, making Zero and Holder look foolish and incompetent for thinking they should/could be. Third, Zero and Holder are still using “rendition” which, according to the Dem Dictionary, means "torture". Any information obtained via “rendition” can never be used in US civilian courts. This could undermine any attempts to try “alleged” terrorists captured outside of the country by the Obama admin in US civilian courts. Of course, the last may not matter. Obama seems to wants to either assassinate “alleged” terrorists outside of the US or use rendition to imprison them elsewhere (anywhere but the US or Gitmo, apparently).