I know, I know, I have been promising a
lighter post, but somehow circumstances arise that point me in
another direction. Recently Lee sent me a link to a piece he had
found on Egypt, Iraq, Libya and Syria, the countries that have been so affected by war and the rise of ISIS(Daesh) in the region. What I found unique was that it wasn't
just on one country, or one turn of events, but on the series of
events that have placed that region into such turmoil today. It also
followed various people in their travels through the violence that
has so shattered their homes, and their dreams.
We so fear those who are seeking refuge
in our countries I felt it might be appropriate to at least shed a
little light on their plight. This magazine article does that. It
is long, but well worth the time to read.
61 comments:
I did note that Mr. Anderson repeated the common historical error about George H.W. Bush encouraging the uprising of the Shia (and the Kurds) against Saddam in the aftermath of first Gulf War to eject Saddam from Kuwait. That's an almost universal historical error. But, that simply did not happen.
What happened is that Bush (Sr.) urged them to rise up against Saddam before we were obliged to invade Iraq. It was during the long bombing campaign in Iraq and during the first moves by the coalition into Kuwait that he made the public call for a rebellion against Saddam as a way to ‘stop the killing’ which was already under way.
The Shia decided instead to sit on their hands and let us take out Saddam for them.
When it became apparent that Bush (Sr.) had no intention of doing, indeed it was after we'd signed a peace deal with Saddam's generals, the Shia then rose in revolt. When they got their asses kicked they made up the story about Bush having urged them to revolt after we'd made our peace with Saddam, and how we then left them to be slaughtered--much better story for them than the real story which is that they sat on their hands when the opportunity arose and the call came, and then they were disappointed to discover that we weren't going to take out Saddam for them.
Their revised history has now become commonly believed history (it's convenient for too many people to tell it that way), but it didn't happen that way.
The error is commonly believed though, and it's hard to fault Mr. Anderson too much for believing it; it's the customary "history" after all.
I did feel that there were some weaknesses in his analysis, but I did not want to put my thoughts in the post, leaving it to people who may read it to judge based on their knowledge.
He seemed rather critical of the US actions in Iraq, yet did not take into account that those actions may have been the result of internal domestic politics, which can be rather hard to set aside in our decision making. The one thing I did agree with was his belief that the de-baathification went too far. That, more so than the disbanding of the standing Iraqi Army, I felt was a huge catalyst in the start of the violent uprising against the US invasion. I still feel, IMHO, that if we had left the Iraqi Army intact it would have raised other problems that could might have well been just as difficult to deal with. Issues that would have put us and the Kurds on an opposite path. As was pointed out the Kurds were a major ally of ours. Plus there was the matter of the cost of maintaining that size of an army. Saddam was adept at paying off people by giving them "make work" jobs. Not just in the military, but in the civilian sector too.
What I felt was the strongest part of that article were the views expressed by those who actually lived through those times. They are the ones with first hand, real life knowledge of what went on. It was those people's voices I wanted to highlight, which is why I placed that article in a post of its own. They deserve to be heard. And it seemed even more important, since Zeyad made his blog private, for there to be some place that did that. Even if it is only here.
"What I felt was the strongest part of that article were the views
expressed by those who actually lived through those times."
Yeah, I think so. Their hindsight wasn't always up to 20/20 either, but they were the most powerful parts of the article.
Instead of crying Crocodile tears why don't you just man up and advocate that the USA takes the same level of "responsibility" that Europe has. If you wanna be as "responsible" as say Sweden you should've took in 163.000/10*350 which comes to 5.7 Million "refugees" last year. Get that sorted and live with the results and THEN you can speak about tolerance to others without sounding like total hypocrites.
Get ready for some of this though:
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-08-09/germanys-migrant-rape-crisis-spirals-out-control
The United States has been the number one immigrant destination for years. We've taken in more outside immigrants in the past 10 years than has all of Europe combined (not counting intra-European movement as outside immigration). Ya'll ain't nowhere near caught up, even with the surge in 2014-2015 to date. Catch up first; then whine.
Hmmm...it seems that Zero Hedge has branched out from its original subject matter.
That long list of sexual assaults does seem like a lot. But I don't know the percentage as compared to the populations of those cities and how that compares to crime in general and rape in particular elsewhere. But if the Germans are soft pedaling these crimes then that is their issue to deal with.
Maybe we should start talking about campus rapes in comparison? For the most part in both situations we are dealing with young men who are out on their own without much family supervision to keep them on the straight and narrow. Young men who are under the influence of friends who may or may not have a brain.
Just a brief change of subject. Apparently there was a bear attack up in the Tongass National Forest in Alaska. I've visited Sitka and the Tongass and thought it an awe inspiring place. They should have known better than to mess with a mother and her cub.
"But if the Germans are soft pedaling these crimes then that is their
issue to deal with."
Marcus seems convinced that they need his help. (The 8% conviction rate isn't new, and Marcus never thought they needed his help before, but now it's MUSLIMS doin’ the dirty deeds, or so goes Marcus' story. One thing I did notice from Marcus' earlier set of stats; if the accused is brown skinned the odds of getting a conviction go way up in Sweden. I believe it was something like 2,300% more likely to end in a conviction if the accused were a Syrian than if the accused were a blond Swede.)
And, if I recall correctly, that 8% conviction rate, low as it may seem, is nevertheless higher than Sweden's conviction rate.
Louisiana floods
The Louisiana floods, which have killed 13 people and damaged 40,000 homes, were the result of severe rainfall that drenched the Baton Rouge area. As much as 25 inches of rain fell in a two day period, according to the National Weather Service. Even in rainy Louisiana, the odds of so much water falling over such a short period of time in a given year are less than 1 in 1000, or 0.1%.
Raining here today. A good day for a nap, or reading a book. :)
Lee: "One thing I did notice from Marcus' earlier set of stats; if the accused is brown skinned the odds of getting a conviction go way up in Sweden. I believe it was something like 2,300% more likely to end in a conviction if the accused were a Syrian than if the accused were a blond Swede."
Bullshit. Prove that or recant your idiotic statment.
The 2,300% is the over representation of some (although I don't think it was syrians but marrocans) arabs in rape convictions. YOU make the assumption that swedes and marrocans rape in equal numbers per capita but that the arab overrepresentation is somehow due to rasist court systems over here.
Proof please.
Moroccans not Syrians? Okay, Moroccans then. I'm sure the numbers for Syrians was similarly elevated if not quite that high. I'd go back and look if it mattered, but it doesn't.
"YOU make the assumption that…"
I made no assumption; I offered no explanation. I just reminded us of the numbers--for Moroccans not Syrians, Syrians were a little lower than Moroccans I'd guess but probably not much.
Catch up first; then whine.
Mass sexual assaults at the "we are stockholm" music festival. Turns out 19 out of 20 aggressors were new immigrants, predominately Afghan "unacommpanied children".
Source (in swedish)
http://tino.us/2016/08/polisens-internrapport-om-massovergreppen-kungstradgarden/
The actual polive report in swedish also:
http://tino.us/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/avskrivning-WAS-2015-final.pdf
Afgans are neither Moroccans nor Syrians.
Syrian bombing close to US forces.
Two American F-22s on patrol over Hasakah, Syria, flew within a mile of two Syrian Su-24 fighter jets and "encouraged" them to leave Friday, a US defense official told CNN.
The close encounter comes only a day after two Syrian warplanes attacked the Kurds, a key US ally, forcing US special operations forces to be withdrawn from their position in northern Syria.
I get the impression that our military was seriously pissed off about that bombing(as they should be).
One of those child suicide bombers was involved in the wedding bombing in Turkey; authorities said he was between the ages of 12 and 14; killed 51 (so far). ABCNews
It's a sad commentary on the value of life, especially young life, in the Middle East.
I see that Iraq has hanged 36 people who were involved in the murder of the recruits at Camp Speicher.
A brief summary of the current state of the fight against Daesh in Iraq by Strategy Page.
It seems that the speculation is that the Iraqi government is hesitant to use the Iranian backed militias to retake Mosul because Iraqi government leaders are concerned about a militia takeover of the government by Al-Sadr.
Many in the Iraqi government army leadership do not want any of the 100,000 or so Iran backed Shia militia involved in retaking Mosul. The Iraqi Shia that control the Iraqi government and military do not trust Iran and believe the Iran controlled Shia militias are being prepared to support an armed takeover of the current Shia controlled government. Many of the Shia militia are from Baghdad and there are growing fears that Shia cleric Ayatollah Muqtada al Sadr, an open fan of the Shia religious dictatorship in Iran, is believed planning to use his months long anti-corruption campaign in Baghdad as justification for an armed takeover of the government.
"It seems that the speculation is that the Iraqi government is
hesitant to use the Iranian backed militias…"
They've been hesitant to use Sunni militias as well. And the Kurds ain't interested in taking the losses necessary to clear Da’esh out of Mosul just to surrender it to Baghdad (or have to fight Baghdad for it). Which leaves me with my questions still pending.
""Who's gonna go in? … And who's gonna control the city and the
province afterwards?"
"We are at a crossroads where our first priority must be saving our
nation. We need a leader with qualities that resemble those of Winston
Churchill, and I believe that leader is Donald Trump. As Churchill did,
Trump possesses the resolve to put his country first and to never give
up in a world that is increasingly hostile to our values.
* * *
"A vote for Donald Trump…is a vote to rebuild America’s respect
overseas…."
Jerry Falwell Jr. (Op-Ed in WaPo)
Gotta think God is mad at Falwell over somethin’ and his punishment is God allowed this to get published.
"According to two long-time Trump associates, the notion of a fixed
election isn’t just viewed as smart politics inside Trump Tower; it’s
something the GOP nominee believes.
"“If he loses, [he’ll say] ‘It’s a rigged election.’ If he wins, he’ll say it
was rigged and he beat it. And that’s where this is headed no matter
what the outcome is,” said one Trump ally.
* * *
"Trump’s words are having an effect. Just 38 percent of Trump
supporters believe their votes will be counted accurately….
* * *
"“I can’t see the fever swamp, alt-reality media universe on the right
learning the lessons of this,”…. “Can you see Sean Hannity and Laura
Ingraham saying, ‘OK, sorry, we screwed up’?”"
Politico.com
Re: Mosul
Supposedly the battle for Mosul will be joined, first and foremost, by Iraqi National Army folks. Militia kept out--Kurds, Sunni, and Shia militia alike.
We'll havta wait and see how that works out for them.
"[Swedish] police [have] started a campaign in which bracelets with
the message Policeavspärrat #tafsainte (Police cordon
#dontgrope) were handed out. The campaign has upset many in
Sweden, as well as abroad, who doubt that those willing to commit
sexual assaults care about the message printed on small plastic
bracelets.
Capx.co
Gotta think God is mad at Falwell over somethin’ and his punishment is God allowed this to get published.
ROFL! You can say that again!
I was woken by a bomb blast at 1:48 last night. It was a very loud explosion that was heard across the city. It went off about 300 meters from where I live.
That sounds close, Marcus. I'm glad you weren't hurt. If there was a medical facility there, perhaps they were looking for drugs? We had a break in at a dentist's office a number of years ago, and that was the thinking then.
Gotta run, going to lunch.
Apparently the 8 yo killed in Gothenburg was from britain.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3753225/Boy-eight-dies-GRENADE-thrown-bedroom-slept-amid-gangland-feud-involving-Somali-criminals-Sweden.html
"According to two long-time Trump associates, the notion of a fixed
election isn’t just viewed as smart politics inside Trump Tower; it’s
something the GOP nominee believes.
Whether he is delusional or just has a massive ego, I suspect he believes his press too. So, no, he can't believe that his detractors may outnumber his supporters. He sounds like all dictators wanna be's out there.
Well, ya gotta remember that Trump's version of a ‘fixed’ election includes the claim that he lost ‘cause the mainstream media was saying bad things ‘bout him. In his mind that's enough to call the election ‘fixed’.
The real problem is the Trumpkins, the ‘poorly educated’ whom Trump ‘loves’ and who believe the BS the Republican Party, FoxNews, and Radio Right-Wing has been shoveling to them all these years.
Protest gone wrong
Sporting detachable beards, the men drove a Hummer onto Old Town Square in Prague on Sunday, wielding fake submachine-style BB guns and waving an Islamic State flag. Accompanied by a camel and a goat, they shouted “Allahu akbar” and fired guns without pellets.
“We are bringing you the light of true faith,” the leader of the men, Martin Konvicka, who was dressed as an imam, told the crowd.
Mr. Konvicka is an anti-immigration activist, and his stunt — which had been preapproved by City Hall — was intended to sound the alarm about the possible threat posed by Islam encroaching on the Czech way of life. But he evidently did not anticipate how it would be received.
In his mind that's enough to call the election ‘fixed’.
Scary how his mind works. Granted, media can be biased, but they have no hand in how an election is carried out. Just because you scream something loud enough doesn't make it true. It just means you're a loud mouth.
"Just because you scream something loud enough doesn't make it true."
Joseph Goebbels and Donald Trump would beg to differ (As would Glenn Hannibaugh and Rupert Murdoch).
Lynnette: "That sounds close, Marcus. I'm glad you weren't hurt."
Thanks for your concern but it was 300 meters away and many solid buildings in between and I sleep away from my street windows anyway. So I was never near close to danger. It did wake me up though, and I did think to myself "that must've been a bomb".
Lynnette: "If there was a medical facility there, perhaps they were looking for drugs? We had a break in at a dentist's office a number of years ago, and that was the thinking then."
I don't think so. It's at the ground floor os a shopping centre which is a major conctrete building, which is why only the entrance got blown apart. And responders wouldv'e been there before anyone could enter the building and steal anything. I can see no clear motive, neither can our police a.f.a.i.k.
The ONLY motive I can think off is if it was a threat/intimidation towards a person who works there. Other than that it might be just wanton destruction, much like the nightly car burnings we've had.
A bit scary though. That size of a bomb if wrapped with a couple of kilos of nails could have done serious damage in crowded areas.
"Protest gone wrong"
You'd think the camel and the goat would have been a giveaway there.
Lee: "Joseph Goebbels and Donald Trump would beg to differ (As would Glenn Hannibaugh and Rupert Murdoch)."
As would Stalin, Pol Pot, Kim Jung Un and Castro. No wait, they'd just say it once and then kill/torture to death/incarcerate for life(death) anyone speaking against them.
This might be interesting reading for ya'll:
http://www.breitbart.com/tech/2016/03/29/an-establishment-conservatives-guide-to-the-alt-right/
One short quote from a long article:
"The alt-right do not hold a utopian view of the human condition: just as they are inclined to prioritise the interests of their tribe, they recognise that other groups – Mexicans, African-Americans or Muslims – are likely to do the same. "
I ask you to think about this and then think about the prison system in the USA. How do inmates seem to naturally align there?
You have a forced system and in that forced system I believe you can see a lot. People are forced into it and then they seek out alignments. How does multiculturalism work there? Or does it?
"You have a forced system and in that forced system I believe you
can see a lot."
Why would you want to believe that?
Against all odds Afghan family finds son in Sweden
VASTERFARNEBO, Sweden — Love, not war, sent an Afghan family fleeing from Iran during last summer's chaotic mass migration to Europe. Luck reunited them a year later, after a dark night in a Turkish forest separated 14-year-old Mahdi Azizi from his parents and sisters.
The boy's father was at an open-air concert in central Sweden this summer when he thought he spotted his son. Nader Azizi had spent anguished months seeking information about Mahdi's fate, not knowing if he were alive or also made it to Sweden.
"Is that Mahdi?" Azizi, 36, recalled thinking as he strained to keep sight of the youth in the crowd. "I told myself it was a dream." He pushed closer and shouted out his son's name. Mahdi turned around and exclaimed "Baba!" the Farsi word for dad.
You'd think the camel and the goat would have been a giveaway there.
lol! True, not too many terrorists bring along livestock.
Lynnette: "VASTERFARNEBO, Sweden"
I saw an almost exact replica of that story just a short while ago but in that case it was at a horse race track where the family "miraculously" found their son.
You'd have to be pretty dim not to acknowledge a staged miracle where a family joins with the anchor-child that will secure their permanent residency status.
"…but in that case it was at a horse race track…"
And where do you guess the ‘open-air concert’ was being held? (Might wanna hold off on tellin’ folks they have to be ‘pretty dim’ for not immediately jumping to your conspiracy theories with you.)
It's just a bit ludicrous with these "got separated" "happened to end up in the same small town in the same country" and "by chance met at a public event"-stories. Especially if you know the main reason for PUT (permanent residency) was given to the alledged "child" just because he (and it's always a he) was "unaccompanied".
I get that they pull that stunt. I do. I would too if I was in their shoes and had decided Sweden was where we wanted to relocate.
Go in a group. Send one teenage boy in and have him say he's alone in the world. Wait till he's got the PUT. Then miracously "find eachother". Game set and match.
It's not them I'm questioning here. They do what they think is the best for their entire family. It's our authorities that let themselves gat played and morons like swedes with minds like Lee C who buy this shit, them's the problem.
(Of course Lee doesn't really buy into this crap, he damn well knows I have the correct analysis here, he just argues for the hell of it. Or maybe out of that weird hatred for white Europeans we've seen from him which baffles me because I can't really see where he's coming from there)
Okay, here's the first thing…. "These 'got separated'" stories happen to be the ‘got separated’ story. Same story--just the one. You missed that. You need to be careful ’bout gettin’ your facts wrong and then blamin’ other people for not being smart enough to be wrong like you.
Second thing…. The boy hasn't functioned as an anchor as you claimed:
"However, his parents' and sisters' applications were rejected on
the grounds that they could live safely in Afghanistan.
"They are appealing…."
ibid
You need to be careful ’bout gettin’ your facts wrong and then blamin’ other people for not being smart enough to be wrong like you.
Third thing: "that weird hatred for white Europeans we've seen from him which baffles me".
I don't object to white Europeans. I do object to sitting quietly while fascists and their fellow travelers babble on. You need to be careful ’bout gettin’ your facts wrong.
Lee: "Second thing…. The boy hasn't functioned as an anchor as you claimed:
"However, his parents' and sisters' applications were rejected on
the grounds that they could live safely in Afghanistan.
"They are appealing…."
ibid"
Yet the article in itself is meant to do just that. And it WILL suceed too. The family now has an anchor. The "child" who came "alone" was given PUT and our LAW then demands that "family reunification" is the next step.
They threw the anchor, it took hold and now the clan gets free housing and benefits from the swedish tax payer. And sweden got just a little nit less swedish.
And Communist Lee C who believes every culture is equal scores one more gain. Good for you Lee, a win. I am of a mind to start to ut you in the losing side.
Can't get your facts right so you're going into the business of making predictions instead? That may not be as wise as it first appears to a fella can't get his facts straight in the first place.
"I am of a mind to start to ut you in the losing side."
No clue here what that's supposed to mean. I'm not sure you a clue either.
Typo correction:
"I'm not sure you got a clue either."
Serious earthquake in Italy and a bombing at the American University in Kabul. Not starting out to be a good day.
Hmm...I think one would call this a flip...er...flop.
Donald Trump suggested Wednesday that he would allow exceptions to let some undocumented immigrants to stay in the US, vowing he wouldn't grant them citizenship but telling Fox News, "there's no amnesty, but we work with them."
"…a flip...er...flop."
Ted Cruz is on that already. Politico.com This is not going to help with Hispanics; way too late; but I think Trump knows that. He's hoping to plug the leak of white supporters who're finding his prior ‘deport ‘em all’ position to be unworkable.
It appears that the early morning Republican response to Trump's new position on immigrants is to pretend he didn't really mean it. (The alternative is apparently too horrible for them to contemplate.)
It appears that the early morning Republican response to Trump's new position on immigrants is to pretend he didn't really mean it. (The alternative is apparently too horrible for them to contemplate.)
lol! There are die hard conservatives who agree with the "we'll build a wall" idea. To think Trump might renege on this now would be, well, unthinkable.
It’s a mistake by the Trump campaign; it seems to be this attitude that the way to win a presidential campaign is to follow the playbook the Republicans enacted over the last few cycles: move to the middle during the general election,” Wilson said. “It’s not the campaign Ted Cruz would have run. It’s why we said from the very beginning, to win a general election, we need to nominate a conservative.
Sure, then they can lose by a wider margin...
Interesting thought:
Could Putin make peace between the Israelis/Palestinians
But Putin's idea has failure written all over it. And if the Russian leader persists, Washington should stand back and let him try.
If there ever was a loser issue designed to suck huge amounts of thankless effort out of any would-be mediator without achieving results, it's the Israeli-Palestinian peace process.
Not only is the issue not ready for prime time, it's bound to make those who take it on look weak and feckless and earn the anger and animosity of the Israelis and Palestinians to boot.
Putin knows all of this, of course, which is why more than likely he'll steer clear of any serious effort. But who knows. After Ukraine and Syria, maybe he feels like he's on a roll. Having spent 20-plus years trying to push this particular big rock up the hill, I wish him luck.
Putin and Netanyahu are both just posturing. Netanyahu doesn't want a peace deal with the Palestinians and Putin knows that. Probably both just figurin’ to get in a final dig at Obama, just for the fun of it.
I'm staying at the Trump hotel in Doonbeg, County Clare ;-)
I have no idea what it's trying to be but it is decidedly odd, like some bizarre Oirish Disneyland. Suites are decorated as if trying to be a traditional Irish cottage, but almost everything is wrong about them. There are wooden beams in the ceilings ... on the same side of the country as that treeless island I mentioned. Traditional buildings have never been made of wood here. Everything seems kinda out of proportion too.
The clientele is mostly American though, so maybe attention to detail is not required. I found myself wondering if the Americans in this Trump resort are also Trump fans. A few that I met certainly seemed to be, which is also kind of interesting, seeing as a suite and a round of golf runs to a thousand dollars here. Trump support must extend beyond the struggling rust belt working class :)
I have to admit that the large screen TV looks a little out of place in this picture. But the beds do look comfortable. :)
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