Hey, how ’bout letting Great Britain, Germany, France, etc., etc. have a turn at being the world’s (or at least Europe’s) policeman and (further) bankrupting their economies doing it?
Maybe Obama will give a speech to sort this out.
Here, here, MJR.
Finally, the incalculable ignorance, insouciance, shiftlessness, and treachery of the man works to the advantage of American interests – where there are none, sacrifice neither treasure nor lives. Hoping Ophilia’s dissociative disorder continues. Oh hell! Gets worse.
Others see bho is focused on destroying America in revenge for the dreams of his father. They see an opportunity to forcefully advance their agendas. Russia, China, ISIL, Hamas, Boko Haram, and others fear no real retribution for their actions. This what comes to pass when America “leads from behind”. Expect more destruction here at home, and more malicious mischief off shore.
MJR,
If we do not lead from in front, no one leads western civilization. A collation of other states to take the lead ain’t gonna happen.
After the President’s speech one thing is clear. We will continue with our ineffective economic sanctions and Vlad can have as much of the Ukraine as he wants.
On this single issue, I agree with Obama.
On ISIS, I disagree completely with his non-strategy.
In the old days when NATO stood for freedom and human rights, I would side with Europe and the United States completely. This is no longer the case. Since the US and Europe are sliding into the Islamic Ummah, the Russian speaking Ukrainians might be better off in the long term in Russia which will maintain its Judeo-Christian culture.
George Pal, 4:44 pm — “Here, here, MJR.”
parker, 4:49 pm — “MJR, If we do not lead from in front, no one leads western civilization. A collation of other states to take the lead ain’t gonna happen.”
Yeah, yeah, I’m just mouthing off.
It’s all left to us — to disrupt our young men’s and women’s lives, put them in harm’s way, set up not only military bases but an enormous military infrastructure — and in the process, contribute, along with social programs and corporate welfare and good old-fashioned graft, to bankrupting our economy. I guess the Brits, Germans, French, and other assorted Euros get a relative pass. Such is life.
See ya’s . . .
MJR,
The here here were cheers. What followed should have made it abundantly clear – I agree with you.
When Georgia responded by using its military to crush Russian dissenters and death squads, Russia invaded Georgia too. But that was stopped by Bush II.
Putin should transfer the payment to the Os, to pay for Michelle’s vacations. They deserve it.
I was wondering when this story would come back. Last month a Russian armored column escorting a largely empty “relief column” of trucks was shot up by the Ukrainians and apparently nothing happened as a result. The rest of the world focused on other stories, but the Russians licked their wounds and planned their revenge. This is it. Advantage–Russia, because Ukraine really doesn’t have the ability to resist them and the rest of the world is disengaged.
BTW, I do NOT see this as a reason for US military involvement; it does not threaten the original NATO countries, and as of the late 1990s NATO has been increasingly irrelevant to our interests. Interesting times ahead for the EU, though. Those Chinese curses can be a real SOB….
MJR,
I have a cheaper and far more effective solution; create glass parking lots… its the only way to be sure when monsters must die. Mecca, Medina, Damascus, Tehran, etc. Either they die or we die a slow death by hacksaw beheading.
Millions of Ukrainians killed during Stalin’s collectivization and purges. Much of it under the supervision of that little Stalinist fuzzball Nikita Khruschev.
Actually, quite a rhetorical flourish; to use the Royal ‘We’, while simultaneously implying that his people have let him down by being unprepared to suggest viable solutions…
What an utterly despicable piece of work is this boy/man.
George Pal, 7:07 pm — “MJR, The here here were cheers. What followed should have made it abundantly clear — I agree with you.”
Gotcha. Thanks for clarifying!
parker, 9:11 pm — “MJR, I have a cheaper and far more effective solution . . . .”
Gotcha, but I have a major problem: Deep down, I’m a total softee, and I recoil from the thought of killing innocents — which many of those Mecca, Medina, etc. unfortunates are. It’s an eventuality I’d rather not think about today — maybe tomorrow [smile].
Yes, I know that that renders me unfit to be a commander-in-chief or a military commander of anything, but I’m me.
Yes, I know that when push comes to shove, which I fear it’s gonna do before too very long, the tough decisions are gonna have to be made. And I’ll be with the good guys (our side), and I’ll back what has to be done, once it’s clear there is no other way.
MJR,
There are no innocents when it is a matter of survival. There were no innocents when we fire bombed Dresden and Tokyo.There were no innocents when we nuked Hiroshima and Nagasaki. We have allowed ourselves to be neutered. Korea and Vietnam are perfect examples. We decided in both cases to fight half-assed war; same goes for every other engagement afterwards.
When Tehran took our embassy personnel, ignoring all international conventions, a message was sent, and that message remains true. Namely, we will not demand 100% unconditional surrender. We will not rub you and yours out and impose our will upon the survivors. Anything less is defeat.
parker, 11:30 pp —
Respectfully disagree. There *were* “innocents when we fire bombed Dresden and Tokyo” and so on, but we did what we had to do as the lesser of evils, even to the point where, with Hiroshima and Nagasaki, there is a pretty strong case that our nuking even saved the bad guys many lives. But, insists MJR, there were innocents.
Okay, I believe I know well your intent when you write, “there are no innocents when it is a matter of survival.” I believe I comprehend what you mean, and I agree — it came to the decision point where we did what we had to do: not with joy, but with grim determination. (Question: if there really were *no* innocents, might it have been with a dash of joy? — but *no* (sez MJR). . . . Okay, time to quit?)
See ya . . .
Not “11:30 pp” but “11:39 pm”. Sigh.
The commentariat needs to be re-introduced to the salami. (cf 1935-1938)
Something about slightly pregnant…
&&&&
Kiev may not be filled with angels.
But. EVERY rationalization advanced in this blog thread would be just as true as Putin rolled out for Case #2.
&&&
BTW, I rather hate the formulation that Russia is invading Ukraine.
I prefer the more accurate: Putin’s KGB/ FSB is invading the Ukraine.
For, to date, EVERY tactic descends from the NKVD/ KGB/ FSB. If the Russian Army were calling the shots, entire armies would’ve been on the march.
###
The counter-punch against Putin must be economic: Cold War II.
Outside of exporting crude oil, natural gas, and space tickets, Putin has got nothing going for him.
Indeed, he’s Beijing’s wingman.
A cynic might regard the Russian re-expansion into the Donbas/ Donets basin as a tune-up for the Red Army — which is in dire need of a ‘sparing partner’ prior to the main event: facing off in the east, against Beijing.
Folks, empire builders ALWAYS pick off the easy marbles FIRST.
This is your first ‘tell’ that something wicked is coming to a campaign near you.
$$$
I’m getting absolutely SICK of the well nigh universal misapprehension that Western Europe had a free ride courtesy of the Pentagon and the American taxpayers.
AS IF!
Nothing could possibly be further from the truth.
It’s a complicated (financial/ economic) world we live in. It’s too complicated for the average post-graduate educated in the West’s best universities.
1) Due to Bretton Woods (1944) the US dollar was made (legally, internationally) as good as gold. The US dollar REPLACED gold for all practical purposes. This was to have utterly profound impacts for all the generations to follow — across the ENTIRE planet. There is NO-ONE who has not been impacted by this financial construction.
It largely wiped out the global gold mining industry; silver, too. In the 1930s gold mining shares approximated 20% of the capitalization of the ENTIRE NYSE. Today, that entire industry is a trivial fraction of the capitalization of Apple Computer.
2) The very nature of this new order COMPELLED the entire rest of the planet to chronically subsidize the American economy — ESPECIALLY to include the US Department of Defense.
The net wealth shift due to the ‘dollar privilege’ ENTIRELY paid for the DoD budgets since the termination of hostilities in 1945.
That’s RIGHT. The Europeans have paid for the US military – almost entirely – via this mechanism. It’s the sole reason why no European nation can find any residual wealth to spend on their own military! Just paying for the import of US dollars tapped them out.
This convoluted mechanism is ENTIRELY the mechanism that permits the Americans to field such an astounding military machine, literally, the world’s policeman… though such a designation is loathed within the American political lexicon.
It keeps popping up — because IT’S TRUE.
Which brings us around to Barry Soetoro. He’s cashing in the insurance policy premiums — to benefit his own crew. In insurance circles this embezzlement is known as CONTROL FRAUD.
The top man in the organization is the primary embezzler.
Such insights are lost on the vast bulk of the polity.
They’ve yet to figure out that Europe (and Japan) paid for essentially ALL of the DoD — for all of their natural lives. They took script printed by the American government and turned it into real wealth — all this time — which printings closed the Federal budget. (cash flow wise) [ Forget balance sheet, GAAP accounting. The Government is a CASH-FLOW budgetary machine. Balance sheet figures have absolutely no meaning to an entity that stands above and astride the rule book — it writes the rule book to suit.]
@@@
Barry Soetoro is our Stanley Baldwin. (1935)
(Chamberlain came along too late to turn the tide.)
THAT’S our problem.
@@@
Look how Barry has re-generated ISIS.
this is NOT about the ukraine..
this is about ending NATO
and its about changing the worlds business in oil trading. that is, if you want to buy oil in the world, you have to pay in dollars (or gold under the table)… but with the sanctions on russia, obama is facilitaing a move to buying oil direct in rubles, and in yuan.
the days of petro dollars is over…
and with trillions in reserve for that reason, there will be a large force pushing the world to drop dollars or at least a large portion of them as the BRIC countries as well as the saudis move to rubles, yuan, and so on
the thing is never the thing
“Novorossiya” is the new stae
and theya re willing to use nuclear weapons too!!
[nuclear winter like global warming and peak oil are their inventions]
Economic pressure on Russia will eventually topple Putin, but it will take 2 or 3 years. Too late to save Ukraine or prevent invasion of Lithuania, Latvia or Estonia. Putin is completely crazy and will go as far as the West will allow him. We are in 1939 situation, and no Churchill to stop him. My only hope is on military putch in Moscow or succesful assassination by his close circle.
Too late to save Georgia too.
The propaganda in Russia at the time was that Georgia leader was cracking down on Russians and doing stupid things… in Georgia, that is.
No, at that time propaganda in Russia was that Georgia leader was cracking down on Ossetians and doing stupid things. And all this was true. Russian involvment here was pending on Russian obligation to protect Ossetia under 1992 ceasefire agreement signed both in Tbilisi and Moscow.
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Hey, how ’bout letting Great Britain, Germany, France, etc., etc. have a turn at being the world’s (or at least Europe’s) policeman and (further) bankrupting their economies doing it?
Maybe Obama will give a speech to sort this out.
Here, here, MJR.
Finally, the incalculable ignorance, insouciance, shiftlessness, and treachery of the man works to the advantage of American interests – where there are none, sacrifice neither treasure nor lives. Hoping Ophilia’s dissociative disorder continues. Oh hell! Gets worse.
Others see bho is focused on destroying America in revenge for the dreams of his father. They see an opportunity to forcefully advance their agendas. Russia, China, ISIL, Hamas, Boko Haram, and others fear no real retribution for their actions. This what comes to pass when America “leads from behind”. Expect more destruction here at home, and more malicious mischief off shore.
MJR,
If we do not lead from in front, no one leads western civilization. A collation of other states to take the lead ain’t gonna happen.
After the President’s speech one thing is clear. We will continue with our ineffective economic sanctions and Vlad can have as much of the Ukraine as he wants.
On this single issue, I agree with Obama.
On ISIS, I disagree completely with his non-strategy.
In the old days when NATO stood for freedom and human rights, I would side with Europe and the United States completely. This is no longer the case. Since the US and Europe are sliding into the Islamic Ummah, the Russian speaking Ukrainians might be better off in the long term in Russia which will maintain its Judeo-Christian culture.
George Pal, 4:44 pm — “Here, here, MJR.”
parker, 4:49 pm — “MJR, If we do not lead from in front, no one leads western civilization. A collation of other states to take the lead ain’t gonna happen.”
Yeah, yeah, I’m just mouthing off.
It’s all left to us — to disrupt our young men’s and women’s lives, put them in harm’s way, set up not only military bases but an enormous military infrastructure — and in the process, contribute, along with social programs and corporate welfare and good old-fashioned graft, to bankrupting our economy. I guess the Brits, Germans, French, and other assorted Euros get a relative pass. Such is life.
See ya’s . . .
MJR,
The here here were cheers. What followed should have made it abundantly clear – I agree with you.
When Georgia responded by using its military to crush Russian dissenters and death squads, Russia invaded Georgia too. But that was stopped by Bush II.
Putin should transfer the payment to the Os, to pay for Michelle’s vacations. They deserve it.
I was wondering when this story would come back. Last month a Russian armored column escorting a largely empty “relief column” of trucks was shot up by the Ukrainians and apparently nothing happened as a result. The rest of the world focused on other stories, but the Russians licked their wounds and planned their revenge. This is it. Advantage–Russia, because Ukraine really doesn’t have the ability to resist them and the rest of the world is disengaged.
BTW, I do NOT see this as a reason for US military involvement; it does not threaten the original NATO countries, and as of the late 1990s NATO has been increasingly irrelevant to our interests. Interesting times ahead for the EU, though. Those Chinese curses can be a real SOB….
MJR,
I have a cheaper and far more effective solution; create glass parking lots… its the only way to be sure when monsters must die. Mecca, Medina, Damascus, Tehran, etc. Either they die or we die a slow death by hacksaw beheading.
Millions of Ukrainians killed during Stalin’s collectivization and purges. Much of it under the supervision of that little Stalinist fuzzball Nikita Khruschev.
Obama confesses: ‘We don’t have a strategy yet’ for Islamic State
Actually, quite a rhetorical flourish; to use the Royal ‘We’, while simultaneously implying that his people have let him down by being unprepared to suggest viable solutions…
What an utterly despicable piece of work is this boy/man.
George Pal, 7:07 pm — “MJR, The here here were cheers. What followed should have made it abundantly clear — I agree with you.”
Gotcha. Thanks for clarifying!
parker, 9:11 pm — “MJR, I have a cheaper and far more effective solution . . . .”
Gotcha, but I have a major problem: Deep down, I’m a total softee, and I recoil from the thought of killing innocents — which many of those Mecca, Medina, etc. unfortunates are. It’s an eventuality I’d rather not think about today — maybe tomorrow [smile].
Yes, I know that that renders me unfit to be a commander-in-chief or a military commander of anything, but I’m me.
Yes, I know that when push comes to shove, which I fear it’s gonna do before too very long, the tough decisions are gonna have to be made. And I’ll be with the good guys (our side), and I’ll back what has to be done, once it’s clear there is no other way.
MJR,
There are no innocents when it is a matter of survival. There were no innocents when we fire bombed Dresden and Tokyo.There were no innocents when we nuked Hiroshima and Nagasaki. We have allowed ourselves to be neutered. Korea and Vietnam are perfect examples. We decided in both cases to fight half-assed war; same goes for every other engagement afterwards.
When Tehran took our embassy personnel, ignoring all international conventions, a message was sent, and that message remains true. Namely, we will not demand 100% unconditional surrender. We will not rub you and yours out and impose our will upon the survivors. Anything less is defeat.
parker, 11:30 pp —
Respectfully disagree. There *were* “innocents when we fire bombed Dresden and Tokyo” and so on, but we did what we had to do as the lesser of evils, even to the point where, with Hiroshima and Nagasaki, there is a pretty strong case that our nuking even saved the bad guys many lives. But, insists MJR, there were innocents.
Okay, I believe I know well your intent when you write, “there are no innocents when it is a matter of survival.” I believe I comprehend what you mean, and I agree — it came to the decision point where we did what we had to do: not with joy, but with grim determination. (Question: if there really were *no* innocents, might it have been with a dash of joy? — but *no* (sez MJR). . . . Okay, time to quit?)
See ya . . .
Not “11:30 pp” but “11:39 pm”. Sigh.
The commentariat needs to be re-introduced to the salami. (cf 1935-1938)
Something about slightly pregnant…
&&&&
Kiev may not be filled with angels.
But. EVERY rationalization advanced in this blog thread would be just as true as Putin rolled out for Case #2.
&&&
BTW, I rather hate the formulation that Russia is invading Ukraine.
I prefer the more accurate: Putin’s KGB/ FSB is invading the Ukraine.
For, to date, EVERY tactic descends from the NKVD/ KGB/ FSB. If the Russian Army were calling the shots, entire armies would’ve been on the march.
###
The counter-punch against Putin must be economic: Cold War II.
Outside of exporting crude oil, natural gas, and space tickets, Putin has got nothing going for him.
Indeed, he’s Beijing’s wingman.
A cynic might regard the Russian re-expansion into the Donbas/ Donets basin as a tune-up for the Red Army — which is in dire need of a ‘sparing partner’ prior to the main event: facing off in the east, against Beijing.
Folks, empire builders ALWAYS pick off the easy marbles FIRST.
This is your first ‘tell’ that something wicked is coming to a campaign near you.
$$$
I’m getting absolutely SICK of the well nigh universal misapprehension that Western Europe had a free ride courtesy of the Pentagon and the American taxpayers.
AS IF!
Nothing could possibly be further from the truth.
It’s a complicated (financial/ economic) world we live in. It’s too complicated for the average post-graduate educated in the West’s best universities.
1) Due to Bretton Woods (1944) the US dollar was made (legally, internationally) as good as gold. The US dollar REPLACED gold for all practical purposes. This was to have utterly profound impacts for all the generations to follow — across the ENTIRE planet. There is NO-ONE who has not been impacted by this financial construction.
It largely wiped out the global gold mining industry; silver, too. In the 1930s gold mining shares approximated 20% of the capitalization of the ENTIRE NYSE. Today, that entire industry is a trivial fraction of the capitalization of Apple Computer.
2) The very nature of this new order COMPELLED the entire rest of the planet to chronically subsidize the American economy — ESPECIALLY to include the US Department of Defense.
The net wealth shift due to the ‘dollar privilege’ ENTIRELY paid for the DoD budgets since the termination of hostilities in 1945.
That’s RIGHT. The Europeans have paid for the US military – almost entirely – via this mechanism. It’s the sole reason why no European nation can find any residual wealth to spend on their own military! Just paying for the import of US dollars tapped them out.
This convoluted mechanism is ENTIRELY the mechanism that permits the Americans to field such an astounding military machine, literally, the world’s policeman… though such a designation is loathed within the American political lexicon.
It keeps popping up — because IT’S TRUE.
Which brings us around to Barry Soetoro. He’s cashing in the insurance policy premiums — to benefit his own crew. In insurance circles this embezzlement is known as CONTROL FRAUD.
The top man in the organization is the primary embezzler.
Such insights are lost on the vast bulk of the polity.
They’ve yet to figure out that Europe (and Japan) paid for essentially ALL of the DoD — for all of their natural lives. They took script printed by the American government and turned it into real wealth — all this time — which printings closed the Federal budget. (cash flow wise) [ Forget balance sheet, GAAP accounting. The Government is a CASH-FLOW budgetary machine. Balance sheet figures have absolutely no meaning to an entity that stands above and astride the rule book — it writes the rule book to suit.]
@@@
Barry Soetoro is our Stanley Baldwin. (1935)
(Chamberlain came along too late to turn the tide.)
THAT’S our problem.
@@@
Look how Barry has re-generated ISIS.
this is NOT about the ukraine..
this is about ending NATO
and its about changing the worlds business in oil trading. that is, if you want to buy oil in the world, you have to pay in dollars (or gold under the table)… but with the sanctions on russia, obama is facilitaing a move to buying oil direct in rubles, and in yuan.
the days of petro dollars is over…
and with trillions in reserve for that reason, there will be a large force pushing the world to drop dollars or at least a large portion of them as the BRIC countries as well as the saudis move to rubles, yuan, and so on
the thing is never the thing
“Novorossiya” is the new stae
and theya re willing to use nuclear weapons too!!
[nuclear winter like global warming and peak oil are their inventions]
Economic pressure on Russia will eventually topple Putin, but it will take 2 or 3 years. Too late to save Ukraine or prevent invasion of Lithuania, Latvia or Estonia. Putin is completely crazy and will go as far as the West will allow him. We are in 1939 situation, and no Churchill to stop him. My only hope is on military putch in Moscow or succesful assassination by his close circle.
Too late to save Georgia too.
The propaganda in Russia at the time was that Georgia leader was cracking down on Russians and doing stupid things… in Georgia, that is.
No, at that time propaganda in Russia was that Georgia leader was cracking down on Ossetians and doing stupid things. And all this was true. Russian involvment here was pending on Russian obligation to protect Ossetia under 1992 ceasefire agreement signed both in Tbilisi and Moscow.