It’s that day again

[aadler]

 
Eleven years on, I have to say that I wish we had accomplished more.

Iraq and Afghanistan are sliding back into Islamic anarchy, as American will dwindles. (Not that of the soldiers, no, not the people doing the fighting; the loss of determination is almost completely limited to politicians and others who stay safely home.) Egypt and Libya are lost to the Muslim Brotherhood, Syria is sure to be the next on the block, and Iran is right around the corner from nuclear weaponry. Weakness, apathy, and arrogant disregard — all from the White House — have set the stage for another round of terrible wars. And, when they begin, we won’t be ready, because we never are. America always yearns for peace, carries it to an unrealistic extreme, and as a result we always have to catch up to events we might have headed off.

In the time since I joined the Army, I’ve done three theater deployments and a support tour at Guantanamo, along with volunteering for every school and training and extra duty for which I could qualify. It wasn’t enough. I wanted to do more, and I tried to do more, because I knew I hadn’t done enough. And now, just as the need is about to increase, I’m approaching the point of involuntary retirement, and will no longer be allowed to contribute.

Things are about to get bad, and I’m convinced it didn’t have to happen. And, though there are many things that could have been done better, I pretty much blame Obama for the state of things now.

Maybe next time we can elect someone who, instead of focusing on the rise of the oceans, will just do his damn JOB.

Comments

[aadler]

Semi-secular dictatorships that dislike (or even hate) America, but focus primarily on preserving their own power, are not good things … but they ARE preferable to lunatic theocracies that hate America and actively promulgate terrorism. Especially when they murder their own citizens in job lots as dictated by their idea of religion.

[yamamanama.livejournal.com]

Well, I'm sure there's some vestige of the Gaddafi family still alive. Maybe you could vote for a president who would help reinstate him. That's what you want, isn't it?

[aadler]

Did we just shift from political disagreement to personal animus?

I feel about Gadaffi as I did about many other bad actors around the world. The most positive thing he ever did for the human race was to die. The operating calculus, however, is not particularly complex: When bad people are replaced by worse people, this is not an improvement. Especially when it’s an evil individual replaced by an evil system.

[skarman.livejournal.com]

Please, I'm sure if we talk with them, explain our position, then all will be well. We just need to bow and scrape and say 'yes' to everything they say. Isn't that what yamamanama is saying?

Because that's worked so well thus far. Let's be very clear here, Islam has taken a continent that was at the forefront of education and science and pushed it into an area where "It's god's will" is the main belief. They don't believe in science. They don't believe in education. All they belief in, is that god's will is paramount and that whenever things go wrong for them, it's all the fault of the Jews, Israel, the UK, the US and the West.

Look at what Israel has accomplished in a desert region. Then look at what the oil-rich islamic countries surrounding it have accomplished.

Nothing. Absolutely nothing. Apart from a highly evolved sense of seeing females as less than men. Or hanging/stoning/beheading LGBTs and raped women.

Mubarak, Quadaffi, Assad and the like where and are bad people BUT they were a known quantity that kept the worse elements in line. Now, they're gone or almost gone and things are worse. Witness the attacks on the US consulate and embassy. And the mealy-mouthed excuses by Washington and the State Department's people, including the ones in Egypt.

I've said it before in the last three years and I'll say it again. I race and religious war is brewing and it will be starting very soon. The Middle East is still living in the Dark Ages, due to their own prejudices. Check their calender, not the West's Roman-derived one and you'll see it's true. They won't rest until every other person on the planet is under their boot heel.

I invite yamamanama to check out all the wars of the last decade. The majority have one side being of islamic faith. The Balkans. The Middle East. Africa. Indonesia. The Philippines. Pakistan VS India. The attack on Mumbai. The attack in London. The attack in Spain. New York.

Funny how none of these have any other instigators, hm? I'm sure they're just misunderstood people, whom we need to cuddle and give in to all of their demands.

[yamamanama.livejournal.com]

How about Ceylon? That's a pretty major war. Or Burma? Maybe there are Muslim insurgencies there, but really, it's pretty much everyone vs. the Burmese State. The Congo Wars had nothing to do with Islam.

(EDITED because I can not in good conscience use the Sinhalese name for that shithole)

[skarman.livejournal.com]

You're correct, the Congo wars and that little slice of hell didn't have anything to do with muslims. Only tribal warfare. So congratulations. You've found a few that had nothing to do with islam.

OH SNAP!

This is what I wrote (quoted for accuracy):
"I invite yamamanama to check out all the wars of the last decade. The MAJORITY have one side being of islamic faith."

But what about the Janjaweed in Sudan and Chad? Or the insurgencies in Algeria, Mali, Mauritania, Morocco, Niger and Tunisia? How about Somalia and Kenya? As I read the map, those countries are all in Africa. Me thinks the number dwarfs the Congo, Liberia and the warfare between Hutus and Tutsis, hmm? All these countries, in Africa, have major problems with islamic terrorists. Have had it for years.

I think it's time you start checking out history. See what the Middle East was like before islam held sway. Science played a major part back then. So did slavery. Which it still does to this day. Funny that science was destroyed and slavery is still upheld. Then look at what happened in 1979. How the mullahs and their followers invaded the US Embassy and held it hostage for over a year. And what happened because of that. Then I want you to pull a parallel to today and the events of the last few days.

They say history repeats itself and ample proof is provided. You mentioned the Congo massacres between the tribes. Parallel to the massacres in the deathcamps of WWII. A weak US president presiding over the overthrow of an ally and the attack on a US State Department outpost.... Was that in 1979 or 2012? Oh, I know! It's BOTH!

I've lived through the Cold War. I've watched as the Peanut Farmer president made a mess of things. I've watched the Berlin Wall come down and the USSR and the East Bloc countries come tumbling down. I've seen the Soviets bleed themselves dry in Afghanistan. I've seen their people standing in line in Moscou, waiting to buy a loaf of bread and a pound of potatoes while their leaders drove around in limousines and their sons died in that hellhole. I've seen the various terrorist groups take hostages, shoot them, throw them off ships into the sea, blow them up etc.

Nothing has changed, just the names of the groups.

History is filled with repeating the same mistakes again and again. Einstein said it best:

Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.

Perfectly describes these people, doesn't it?

BTW, I'm serious about history. You should really start reading up on it. It seems that it is a subject not taught in schools anymore. Just like basic things like math, geography, economics, languages and logical thinking.

[yamamanama.livejournal.com]

Ceylon is possibly the most brutal regime on the face of the planet.