Oh Brother(hood)

According to the Bloomberg News in an article headed Two Girls Among Four Dead in Attack on Egypt Church Wedding ,
"Egypt boosted security at churches after gunmen killed four people during an attack on a wedding ceremony, the latest attack on the country’s minority Christians following the ousting of Islamist President Mohamed Mursi.

"The shooting outside St. Mary’s Church in the Warraq district of Giza left eight-year-old and 12-year-old girls dead and drew condemnation from both the military-backed government and the Muslim Brotherhood organization that has been the target of a crackdown since Mursi was removed from power on July 3. Four people were subsequently arrested, the state-run Ahram Gate website reported. "

"The Muslim Brotherhood also condemned the violence, blaming the incident on the lack of police protection, according to an e-mailed statement." "

The lack of police protection may have something to do with the fact the Brotherhood and those who share its terrorist bed are attacking police and army personnel at every opportunity, so the police are busy trying to track down the brothers.

Meanwhile, Obungler and the liberals are punishing the Egyptian army for deposing a dictator in the early stages of his reign; an army that is the only hope Egypt has of stability.

At the same time, Obungler & Company have driven the Egyptians into Russia's hands. The president-dictator want-to-be has managed to undo what previous presidents of both parties, from Kennedy on managed to accomplish; to turn Egypt aware from U.S. influence.

He also has endangered the Egypt-Israel peace agreement, ignoring the fact that the peace was kept because Egypt's army wanted the peace to be kept.

It's a pity Obungler could not have settled to be a Kennedy-like pretty boy who did nothing to embarrass the United States; who smiled at the camera and mouthed words penned by his speech writers. "Ich bin ein Berliner"

It is amazing how the liberals of the world - the U.S. does not have a monopoly on fools - ignore Muslim atrocities in Africa and the Middle East - consider who is keeping the "Palestinians" in the camps; not Israel. The answer is the UN and their fellow Muslims.

No one ignores, for now, Muslim misbehavior in Pakistan because a little girl who only wanted to go to school was shot by a Muslim who preferred she stay ignorant and she made headlines around the world. But she is an exception - she survived.

Any Egyptian who thinks other than what the Brotherhood thinks - Muslims and non-Muslims alike - is a target for the brothers.

Thanks to Obungler, Egypt may turn into another Lebanon.

AND NOW, the Wall Street Journal reports under the headline Spy Chief Distances Saudis From U.S., that "Saudi Arabia intends to scale back the degree to which it cooperates with the United States in arming and training Syrian rebels, a decision that comes amid what the Wall Street Journal describes as "a growing dispute between the U.S. and one of its closest Arab allies over Syria, Iran and Egypt policies." Riyadh late last week declined a seat on the United Nations Security Council for similar reasons, with Prince Bandar Bin Sultan al-Saud reportedly telling diplomats that the decision "was a message for the U.S., not the U.N." The move was broadly praised by Saudi Arabia's regional allies, including Egypt, Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, and the UAE. Arab governments have become increasingly public in expressing frustration with the Obama administration, which they fault for withholding aid from Egypt's anti-Muslim Brotherhood interim government and for being overeager to cut a deal with Iran on the country's nuclear program. Privately, Saudi officials in Washington have expressed that they "increasingly feel cut out of U.S. decision-making on Syria and Iran." Secretary of State John Kerry met with Saudi Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal on Monday in Paris in an effort to reassure the Saudis that the administration takes seriously the concerns of its long-time allies."

He messes up domestic politics and he messes up international politics. But the liberals love him.

Pity.

Pols get theirsAnd we lose ours

Politicians continue to get our money in salary and benefits while Joe and Jane Citizen suffer.

One of the the things Obungler and company shut down with the most recent tit-for-tat spat between political foes is the USDA’s Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC) program.

Meanwhile, the pay checks continue to roll in for members of congress, the executive branch, and (probably) all the staffs.

What could have been sacrificed?

Six days-a-week mail delivery could be cut to 5 days-a-week. That probably should be done in any event, at least for residential customers.

Some military expenditures could be delayed; certainly payments to contractors who have projects overdue or that have gone over budget could be halted. Maybe the U.S. could forego a misadventure in the middle east – at least until we figure out which side, if any, is on OUR side.

Do we really need to patrol our border with Mexico? Any workers who cross over illegally will soon be given citizenship anyway, and apparently there is no stopping either guns or drugs. We also can reduce Customs and Immigration details at air and sea ports; terrorists pass through like water through a sieve since the spooks on one hand refuse to talk to the spooks on the other hand. Maybe FBI, CIA, NSA, and other spooks should be furloughed; they don’t seem to do their jobs anyway. 9-11 anyone? How about Benghazi?

Israel’s equivalent to the State Department went on strike and the government continued more or less normally. Maybe State could have a reduction in personnel for the duration. So it takes an extra two weeks for a passport; travelers can adjust.

Funny enough, the IRS has been shut down. Since that is one of the primary sources for picking the taxpayers’ pockets (robbing Peter the taxpayer to pay Paul the politician), it seems as if Obungler & Company is cutting off its collective nose in spite of itself. Is it the air in Washington or is it the water that leads our Dilbertian leadership in its peculiar ways?

This following the “sequester” and preceding the coming soon battle over raising the nation’s debt limit – again. Didn’t Obungler manage to do that last year? Failure, we are told, would mean the U.S. would be in default on its debts and the national credit score would be down the proverbial tube. As Americans, do we care?

Rather than raise – once again – the debt ceiling, Obungler & Company, he’s not in this alone you know, should look at where the budget can be trimmed.

Start with foreign aid. True, a lot of it has strings attached, strings that benefit the U.S. military-industrial complex so that the countries getting the aid must buy killing supplies from the likes of the Boeings, Littons, Northrop Grummans, Electric Boat, and GE-type organizations. Cancel membership in the U.N., consistently proven to be no friend of America.

Obungler closed the nations’ parks and furloughed the rangers. That was smart – like the IRS, the parks generate income and are a destination for many foreign tourists. Shortsightedness on a field of a starless night.

It seems our politicians, in all branches and of all parties, are determined that American will follow all the previous “powers” into second rate status.

The politicians' pettiness will make America a petty nation.

I’m glad I’m a geezer who knew America in a better time.

Return to sender

Reports from Lebanon state that Assad is shipping his WMDs, including chemical weapons, are back to Iraq, from whence they came prior to the U.S.’ invasion of that country.

Because it took Bush II months to convince his friends in the EU to join in the attack, Saddam Hussein was able to transfer his WMDs to Syria. By the time the “inspectors” arrived on the scene, there were no WMDs to be found, much to the delight of the liberals.

Now Putin and Obungler – and that’s the proper order – are giving Assad a little over a week to tell the world where WMDs remain in Syria.

Some WMDs will be found; almost everyone agrees that Syria has such weapons so failing to find something would seem suspicious.

Meanwhile, Putin is delivering Israel-range missiles to the Syrians – government or rebels, the result will be the same for Israel no matter who ends up with the launch codes.

And, “meanwhile,” Obungler is claiming the U.S.’ threat of an attack on Syria caused Assad to buckle. There may be a job for him at Comedy Central; the entire Muslim middle east thumbed its nose at Obungler, and Israel (one hopes) realizes that it is on its own.

The whole idea of U.S. missiles taking out Syria’s – government or rebels – chemical weapons is ludicrous – at best.

The U.S. lacks the intelligence to know where the weapons are stashed. The U.S. lacks the intelligence to know when the weapons are relocated, and to where.

The bottom line is: The U.S. lacks intelligence in the Muslim world. – and that includes the Muslims in the U.S.

President Faux Pas managed to put himself – and us as well – between a hammer and an anvil/rock and a hard spot by making threats he apparently had no intention of carrying out. Unfortunately, as the chief executive’s reputation goes, so goes the nation or organization over which the chief executive presides, or pretends to preside.

Bush I did almost as much damage to America’s standing among the nations when he failed to finish what he started in Iraq. Bush II, in a slightly less faux pas declaring the war in Iraq over long before the shooting stopped. (Carter, of course, topped them all.)

Indeed, if it were not for peanut farmer, Obungler would win the “worst president in modern times” award hands down. (With Obamacare still in flux, Carter may yet be elevated out of his bottom-most spot.)

With all the spy power – drones, satellites – one would think the weapons shift back to Iraq – and then onward to Iran - could be seen and interdicted. It won’t happen on Obungler’s watch.

Perhaps President Faux Pas is preparing for his post-White House career: using his abundant hot air to send balloons into the sky. For this we are paying $400,000 a year PLUS perks.

 

Changed your passwords lately?

Islamist* dance

 

According to a report in the Global Security Newswire headed Assad Sets Conditions on Relinquishing Chemical Arms, the Syrian president said his nation would give up its chemical arms “only if the United States ends any weapons deliveries to opposition forces and ceases its ‘threatening’ behavior.”

Put conditions on everything and do nothing.

Sounds like Bashar Al Assad’s buddy in Iran, Ruhollah Mostafavi Musavi Khomeini, a/k/a Grand Ayatollah and his nuclear games.

And then there is the terrorist Abu Mazen of the so called Palestinian Authority who demands that Israel make concessions and, when the Israeli prime minister du jour caves under US and leftist pressure, the terrorist adds more demands.

It’s the Islamist dance.

* Iranians are quick to tell us they are not Arabs; Muslims yes, Arabs no, hence “Islamist.”

What is particularly interesting about Assad’s two-step is that while he is pressing for to halt the weapons flow to the insurgents, he will continue to receive weapons from his allies – Iran and Russia. These weapons can be used against both the locals and Israel.

What I fail to understand is what he calls Obungler’s “threatening’ behavior.” The incumbent at 1600 Pennsylvania has emasculated the country and truly made it what the Chinese called it decades ago: a paper tiger of no consequence.

On the other hand, most Israelis – except perhaps Obungler’s alter ego in the prime minister’s office, and the left wing – now understand that they cannot depend on the United States for anything, certainly not as long as the White House and State Department are Islamist sympathizers.

Obungler managed to put his foot in his mouth and embarrassed the United States by making threats he won’t carry out.

Then he comes crawling to the Congress in hopes it will share the blame for his stupidity.

“Well,” he tells the world, “I can’t do anything until Congress gets back from its latest vacation.”

Meanwhile, one on-line poll shows that at least 91 percent of all respondents do NOT think the U.S. should attack Syria.

Is Syria a threat to the U.S.? Not hardly. Certainly it can be a jumping off point for Islamist terrorists, but the U.S. has its own homegrown Islamist terrorists (or is Islamist and terrorist redundant?).

Does Syria have anything the U.S. wants? No.

“Well,” we are told by Obungler & Friends, “the U.S. must act for humanitarian reasons.”

OK. So …

1. Why wait until now? Syria’s civil war is more than 2 years old.
2. Why didn’t Obungler threaten Sudan (see UN Human Rights Council and Darfurian Voices
3. Why doesn’t Obungler press for a Kurdish state? Kurds are victims in Syria, Turkey, and elsewhere.
4. Why doesn’t Obungler point the finger at the Muslims in Aza or in Lebanon/Syria who randomly fire rockets at Israeli civilians and Hamas in Aza who murder Egyptian policemen at their posts.
5. What about North Korea? In September 2011, the Harvard International Review published an article which argued that North Korea was violating the UN Genocide Convention in every possible way, through its systematic killing of half-Chinese babies and religious groups.[
6. And Somalia. The Social Science Research Council (2007) reported genocidal killings committed against Somalia's Bantu population and Jubba Valley dwellers from 1991 onwards noting that "Somalia is a rare case in which genocidal acts were carried out by militias in the utter absence of a governing state structure

Why is it that chemical weapons are bad, but bullets, bombs, missiles, and other killing devices are OK?

Never mind that Obungler allowed the attack on the U.S. consulate in Libya go unpunished. Shades of Jimmy (Peanut Brain) Carter.

While North Korea is not an Islamist state, it uses the Islamist delaying tactic to keep the U.S. at bay while the North threatens the South.

I am reminded of the Arpege perfume commercial: Promise her anything, but give her Arpege. Promise the U.S. anything, and like an ingénue, the U.S. will believe and will coninue to believe the promises even after they are broken time and time again.

Obungler has done somethiing right – by accident. So far he has only used his hot air against Syria. At the same time, he has made the U.S. a laughing stocvk among nations that understand only force, a heavy hand.

The Arabs and Persians and Koreans all respect only a heavy hand. Unfortunately, the day when Teddy Roosevelt could “speak softly and carry a big stick” (with the so-called “Great White Fleet”) are long gone.

America’s political fall from power didn’t start with Obungler – it goes back to charmin’ Jack and his “youth in Asia” plan (incorrectly applied to LBJ) – but the current president certainly has exasperated matters.

Turns out there is a post script to this. Since the above was cobbled together he other day, Assad has added more conditions, including that Israel must join in renouncing use of chemical weapons and allow unbiased (that's a joke) UN inspectors to review whatever chemical weapons Israel might possess. Meanwhile, Assad's stockpile gets moved around - likely to Iran.

Obungler’s buddy Haniyeh won’t Recognize Israel

 

This is a “peace partner?”

In a Ma’an News Agency article headed Haniyeh: Palestinians will not recognize Israel ( http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=608441) Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh said Tuesday that Palestinians would not recognize Israel, despite the siege on Gaza and two wars.

Is Ma’an trustworthy? Does it report PA news accurately? Ma’an was “Launched in 2005, Ma'an News Agency (MNA) publishes news around the clock in Arabic and English, and is among the most browsed websites in the Palestinian territories, with over 3 million visits per month. Considered the main source of independent news from Palestine, MNA has become the first choice for online information for many Palestinians, and is also attracting a growing international readership and interest from prominent international news organizations and agencies.”

Obungler and his lackey John Kerry each have to be deaf in both ears and blind in both eyes if they fail to see and hear Gaza’s chief terrorist’s words in the PA’s on media.

There is NO ambiguity in Haniyeh’s words. He lacks the guile of Abu Mazin in Ramallah, Fatah’s prime minister. That terrorist plays word games with U.S. agents by setting “preconditions” Israel must meet before talks can move forward, but then before anyone can sit down at a table, Abu Mazin adds yet more “preconditions.”

How is Israel supposed to discuss peace with a divided people – Hamas on one side, Fatah on the other? Haniyeh says what Abu Mazin puts into pictures – a “Palestinian” state that replaces all of Israel – a Jewish-free state at that. (Perhaps the feuding prime ministers will let the good people of Mea Sharim stay; they prefer to be under Muslim rule and never recognized Israel’s governments.)

Obungler and his minions may as well stay in D.C.; there is zero hope for a true peace agreement with the self-created “Palestinians” of Hamas or Fatah. It becomes more and more questionable it Hamas and Fatah actually represent the people they claim to control.