I have usually no problem with blog content. I am a man of many opinions, if I don't have one, it is usually because I have not heard or thought of it before. I have too many opinions as it turns out.
I watched the news this morning, and with it, I began having disconnected thoughts and struggling to put it all together. I have little tolerance for terrorists or terrorism. I do not understand it, I do not have the ability to conceive of it. Nor do I posess the negative emotional quotient that is required.
I have no personal stake in what others believe, or what they say about what I believe. I cannot fathom the mental disease that is required to drive the acts of terrorists, or the narcissism that makes it attractive.
I do not understand what drives someone to murder over a cartoon. What is so weak and failing in your belief system that requires you to go kill for your god? If your god is all you proclaim, it probably does not require you to avenge their name. The exact point is that any god requiring you to kill someone else for what you say is just part of schitzo-paranoid delusions. Pulling that trigger is not a religious act, it is a sociopathic act that constitutes criminality, not religion.
After this particular outbreak settles down, there will be conversations about matriculating and westernizing Muslims. There will be discussion about the plight of the immigrant populations. There will be, what has become standard, explorations of the beauty of the Islamic culture.
I stipulate that there are millions of Muslims that have the same propensity for violence that I do. They present the same hazard that I do to the population at large. Very limited and only for something deeply personal, would I be of danger to anyone. However, I am, deeply and ultimately an American. I can summon the ability to go deal with the enemy on their own ground, to the maximum extend possible. It is deep within me and many millions of other Americans.
There is nothing different from Al Qaeda, ISIS, Hammas, insert name of group here, from the Nazis and the other Fascist. The Fascist movement at least had the decency to stay out of the religion soup, and do their dirty deeds simply because they were sociopathic, and weak willed followers of charismatic sociopaths. I do not excuse their excesses, nor do I apologize for them. There is not a glimmer of daylight between them, the Islamoterrorists and Nazis.
I do not need to explain what it means to compare someone to Nazis, and I deplore the pandering to base emotions. Nothing says I hate you like calling someone a Nazi. But, I wish to discuss a different aspect where the comparison and contrast is appropriate.
We, the non-Facist powers, initially started out with the intention of appeasing the mass populace of the Facist countries, by minimizing the impact of their leadership. We eventually ended up reducing two of the main players to rubble, and dropping atomic weapons on the third. When they finally hit a nerve in the US, we went to war with the real intention of doing whatever it took, however long it took, to get the job done.
We destroyed their ability to be treatening, to be relevant, except at our allowance. Italy has still not recovered. Germany and Japan are completely rebuilt. Japan is of most interest here. So rabidly dangerous, we ended up dropping two atomic weapons on them to change their mental state. We had to break their way of life, and be relentless and remorseless as we did it.
There is nothing different here, with this generation's challenge. We will eventually end up having to destroy them, regardless of the civilian deaths, regardless of the intensity of the struggle, regardless of the borders of other countries. Destroying Syria will not stop it. But, pursuing the ISIS buggers, following them into their holes and homes, and rooting them out with the same single minded purpose we demonstrated across the whole Pacific.
It will require all of us to be comitted. Jordan has figured it out. We will have to lead, we will have to commit the most, we will have to win, because we will never be allowed to resign from the fight or mind our own busienss.
Soociopaths do not respond to rational discourse. Nor do they ever stop until caught or killed. I think the only way forward is a bloody and dangerous one, But no one will walk it but us. It is a premonition more than a declaration. And I will continue praying I am wrong. But I do not think that is how it will turn out.
Unfortunately, though I love them, as I do all of the billions of humans, the men in question will not respond to that love, with anything but violence. It will be how we eventually find them all, the mark of what they are.
It is a horrible fate, and I fear I am right. I just hope that we find a way to do it differently than the past. I fear we will not. My children are of the age taht will pay that price. It scares me. Today was aa day of disjointed thoughts and fears. Nothing is making that feel different, or proving to be less than what I expect.
I love you all, and love will always win out. Faith, hope and love, and only the greatest of these remaiin.
Sunday, February 15, 2015
Saturday, February 14, 2015
Copenhagen in the news
Apparently, the US is not the only country that is having issues with violence and radicalized Muslims. In the last 2 or 3 months, we have had attacks in France and Denmark. These are countries that were held up as guides for how to deal with growing Muslim populations and communities.
But, the reality is that there is no guide to how to deal with radicalized Islamic buttholes. And, how could you make one? There is nothing that makes the radicalized Muslim look different than the peaceable and law abiding Muslim citizen.
And, there are certainly many more peaceful Islamic citizens all over the world than there are radical terrorists. They are exactly like every other demographic in every country in the world. There is no way to tell which white, Methodist citizen is full of criminal intent. There is no way to tell them apart visually.
There are ways to distinguish them. It requires that other citizens report things that are just not right, or concerning, or odd. Why don't more people do that? I know that often, family is the only group close enough to see the odd, see the transformation. Muslim terrorists, eco terrorists, abortion terrorists, anti government terrorists, cyber terrorists, none of these look different on the surface. But the investigation always highlights the multiple instances that something different was noted by family and friends.
Things that get justified away, excused and ignored, but always end up clearly indicating a break from the normal. There are not other things that explain someone heading to Lybia or Syria to "learn" about Islam. There are not other things that explain someone going away for a few weeks, to learn about radical Christianity. There are not other reasons that explain amassing an arsenal, There are not other reasons that explain explosive diatribes and outbursts at inappropriate times.
I do not know how hard this is for families. But, I do know that it is worse to live through the aftermath of their violent escapades. I liken it to serial killers. All serial killers have family, have people in their lives that know something is wrong. However, it is always worse after the person is found out and investigated. Dahmer's parents struggled to explain that they did not create the monster. However, the course of the investigation showed multiple instances that parents or close family would know are inconsistent with their normal personality.
Here is the US, everyone is allowed due process. There are many appeals, many opportunities to present all the information that demonstrates innocence or coherence. There are no processes by which we can give people their lives back. It sounds very harsh, what I am about to suggest, but used to be how things were.
There are statutes that allow prosecution of persons that have knowledge or suspicion of a crime to be committed, that do not inform authorities. These statutes should be strengthened, and then these charges should be pursued. Copenhagen is in the news because of a shooting in a major city, using weapons that are illegal, hard to find. Obviously the shooter knew what they were doing, and had a well planned escape
That always speaks to me of support systems and roots. That says to me that this was not a transient person that dropped into Copenhagen on Friday, and shoots the place up on Saturday. There are people who know thwwem, and knew them well. They drew off the reserves of family/networks of people. Every one of wh ich potentially saw or understood some change or warning signs.
When that is not reported, or taken seriously, deaths follow. The terrorist that attached on 9/11 had support and networks here . We did not publicly try them. We did not publicly retrace them through the rabbit hole and find the folks that could have seen or understood something that did not get reported.
This is also true of the gangs and other criminal enterprises that plague us all. I would be very sad, and very distraught over it, but I would turn in my own son. Better to be feeling that in the small block of my own family, rather than in the sea of pain in the whole nation. The two Russians that committed the Boston marathon bombing were seen as a problem by their family. The investigations were inadequate before the acts, but the family was only vocal as they tried to distance tthemselves from the boys.
That is the hard part, but we have to figure this out soon. ISIS is very dangerous in regards to attracting Western youth. We need to be cognizant of our children and our family. We owe the world that. We owe our conscience that. We have no other choice, or, rather we have a big choice and we are picking wrong way too often at this point. Very sorry for the people of Copenhagen tonight, and very sorry that some family is about to be ripped apart over things they saw and knew.
They will carry it to their grave. It will be a huge cross to bear. I hope it is ten times worse than I imagine and they do something to speak out, be ther role model.
I love you all
But, the reality is that there is no guide to how to deal with radicalized Islamic buttholes. And, how could you make one? There is nothing that makes the radicalized Muslim look different than the peaceable and law abiding Muslim citizen.
And, there are certainly many more peaceful Islamic citizens all over the world than there are radical terrorists. They are exactly like every other demographic in every country in the world. There is no way to tell which white, Methodist citizen is full of criminal intent. There is no way to tell them apart visually.
There are ways to distinguish them. It requires that other citizens report things that are just not right, or concerning, or odd. Why don't more people do that? I know that often, family is the only group close enough to see the odd, see the transformation. Muslim terrorists, eco terrorists, abortion terrorists, anti government terrorists, cyber terrorists, none of these look different on the surface. But the investigation always highlights the multiple instances that something different was noted by family and friends.
Things that get justified away, excused and ignored, but always end up clearly indicating a break from the normal. There are not other things that explain someone heading to Lybia or Syria to "learn" about Islam. There are not other things that explain someone going away for a few weeks, to learn about radical Christianity. There are not other reasons that explain amassing an arsenal, There are not other reasons that explain explosive diatribes and outbursts at inappropriate times.
I do not know how hard this is for families. But, I do know that it is worse to live through the aftermath of their violent escapades. I liken it to serial killers. All serial killers have family, have people in their lives that know something is wrong. However, it is always worse after the person is found out and investigated. Dahmer's parents struggled to explain that they did not create the monster. However, the course of the investigation showed multiple instances that parents or close family would know are inconsistent with their normal personality.
Here is the US, everyone is allowed due process. There are many appeals, many opportunities to present all the information that demonstrates innocence or coherence. There are no processes by which we can give people their lives back. It sounds very harsh, what I am about to suggest, but used to be how things were.
There are statutes that allow prosecution of persons that have knowledge or suspicion of a crime to be committed, that do not inform authorities. These statutes should be strengthened, and then these charges should be pursued. Copenhagen is in the news because of a shooting in a major city, using weapons that are illegal, hard to find. Obviously the shooter knew what they were doing, and had a well planned escape
That always speaks to me of support systems and roots. That says to me that this was not a transient person that dropped into Copenhagen on Friday, and shoots the place up on Saturday. There are people who know thwwem, and knew them well. They drew off the reserves of family/networks of people. Every one of wh ich potentially saw or understood some change or warning signs.
When that is not reported, or taken seriously, deaths follow. The terrorist that attached on 9/11 had support and networks here . We did not publicly try them. We did not publicly retrace them through the rabbit hole and find the folks that could have seen or understood something that did not get reported.
This is also true of the gangs and other criminal enterprises that plague us all. I would be very sad, and very distraught over it, but I would turn in my own son. Better to be feeling that in the small block of my own family, rather than in the sea of pain in the whole nation. The two Russians that committed the Boston marathon bombing were seen as a problem by their family. The investigations were inadequate before the acts, but the family was only vocal as they tried to distance tthemselves from the boys.
That is the hard part, but we have to figure this out soon. ISIS is very dangerous in regards to attracting Western youth. We need to be cognizant of our children and our family. We owe the world that. We owe our conscience that. We have no other choice, or, rather we have a big choice and we are picking wrong way too often at this point. Very sorry for the people of Copenhagen tonight, and very sorry that some family is about to be ripped apart over things they saw and knew.
They will carry it to their grave. It will be a huge cross to bear. I hope it is ten times worse than I imagine and they do something to speak out, be ther role model.
I love you all
Thursday, February 12, 2015
Turnip People
I do not have a crystal ball, nor did God gift me with the ability to see into people's minds or soul. I can only evaluate what I see and comment on what I know. I have to make that distinction, especially with the subjects of tonight's post. People can get all kinds of upset with what I am going to explore, and that is okay.
I read/saw several items in the news that reinforced in my mind that there are people out there that might provide evidence of evolution. Understand me, I am just exploring hypothesis here. Because, to get to be as smart as most humans are, if evolution is true, then there should be segments of the population that are like us in all outward appearances, and yet possess the mental equivalent of a turnip.
Because I have evidence of turnip people, it may be suspected that God made use of evolution as part of the process that got us from Adam to here. I don't know how evidence of a planet billions of years old squares with the conservative Christian view of a 6000 year old Earth. God knows how it went down, so I don't put a lot of thought into it. When I see God face to face, I won't care anyway, because I will be face to face with God. I will not care about evolution. But, I might ask about the turnip people.
Cases in point. On the news tonight, there is a bus driver that posted a "selfie" of herself on the bus, holding a beer to her mouth. Yellow school bus, granny gear transmission, probably smelled like a gym bag, driver, beer. If there is a need for me to connect the dots further for you, please don't tell me. There was a suspension, with pay, while investigating. This seems an unnecessary step in the process of firing her, lending evidence that the whole school board, anywhere, turnip people. Generally the most educated group of people in any community, but also the ones that struggle the most with any activity that does not involve tenure and complaining about having to live up to standards.
Certainly, I believe in due process. But DUE to the fact she turnipped and posted the picture, the process should be to fire her, and get a restraining order that requires her to be away from all children, including her own if she has any, before she contaminates them with turnip syndrome.
Yet another. This is about a tragedy. A 25 year old man commits suicide. During the autopsy, they determine that he has the same brain trauma condition that Junior Seau and Jovan Belcher had. It is indicative of repetitive concussions and motion trauma to the brain. This is terrible, but the young man is not a professional football player or boxer. He is not a college football player or amateur boxer. The family sues the Pop Warner football league the young man played in. Alleging that the league knew the danger of repetitive concussions and did not inform them or protect the child, 15 years previously.
This one is a couple paragraphs long. First, I feel terrible the young man took his own life. Nothing will ever make that better for the family. No law suit, no argument won, no public awareness, none of that will make it better. I know this, I know of what I type. I do not think the family deserves to be picked on, except that this is ridiculous, and they are likely being manipulated by a legal system and legal professionals with no conscience, and no regard for their injured state.
This is a ridiculous law suit, and the lawyer that filed it should be disbarred. Or that lawyer ought to get his/her act together and do the ambulance chasing thing for real. I mean really go for the Gloria Allred gold. Sue the school system because he might have fallen down at school and got a concussion. Sue all the shoelace and shoe companies, because he may have fallen down and gotten a concussion by tripping. Sue the government because he may have slipped on ice on a public sidewalk and gotten a concussion at some point.
The judge that allowed the suit to be filed should be disbarred. This one may be more turnip-like than Joe Brown. Although you can align the words into sentences that are correct in grammar and spelling, it still does not make sense, if you are not a turnip. Maybe the lawyer should sue the judge because he may have hit the kid with his gavel and given him a concussion. Exploitative lawyers and insane judges, turnip peoples. On top of mentally challenged, these are ethically dead people that are exploiting the sorrow and loss of a family who will never win enough, no matter what. The family does not deserve it, nor should they have to go through it.
Another case, Pete Carroll, the coach of the Seattle Seahawks. You have Marshawn Lynch, public punk that he might be, but Beast Mode that he definitely is. Yet you call a pass on the 1 yard line. Positively a whole field of turnips move. Defending it after the fact, like we don't all know it was stupid, that might be field of turnip squared.
Another football case, Washington Redskins. Drafting RGIII. Big ole turnip with bright green tops sticking out of their heads. (Sorry, I could not resist.)
At any rate, these are just examples of a mental state, in otherwise normal human beings, that I find hard to understand. I did not think there were many turnips, compared to the total population. But, there has to be a significant number. I mean COPS has been on TV for what, 25 years? I don't think they are recycling criminals. There is a fresh crop of turnips every time they go to any city.
I should not take a perverse joy in watching the wreck that always hits the turnip train. But, I honestly cannot help but watch. There are people that believe vaccines are more dangerous than the diseases they prevent (turnips). There are people that believe all Muslims are terrorists (turnips). There are people that believe it was a good idea to bring Ebola patients back to the US (turnips). There are people that attend Westboro Baptist Church (turnips). There are people that believe the US government was responsible for 9/11 (turnip). There are people that listen to Al Sharpton (turnip). There are people that listen to Sarah Palin (turnip). Bo Bergdahl, turnip.
The list gets quite lengthy. Where I think the evolution argument falls apart, is that while these turnip people wander around being all turnippy, occasionally, they figure it out. Sometimes they heal up or brain up, and get in the game with the rest of us. So, if you rule out evolution, you are left with free will. That is creepy and let me explain why.
These people are choosing to be this way. So, while I love them, and care about them, if they choose the turnip path on me, I have to let them go do their thing. I am called to love them, I am not called to participate in the turnip patch. Neither is anyone else. God loves us all, and gave us free will, so that we would not be slaves, or robotic followers. He wants our participation, because we choose Him. He wants our worship because we chose to sing and praise. He wants our prayers because we choose to trust in Him.
But, He does not prevent some of us from choosing a path other than Him. And He does not prevent the turnip patch from being overcrowded. I cannot conceive of the majesty and breadth of God. I am just thankful He does not prevent folks from leaving the turnip patch. I have been a turnip person in the past, we all have in our way. Thankfully, God loves turnips too. (I do not, though a couple mashed up with potatoes or cut up in vegetable soup aren't bad.)
I urge you not to encourage turnip people. Do not enable them by liking their foolishness on Facebook, sharing their addled mess on Instagram, buying their books that describes their turnip journey, or watching America's Funniest Home Videos or COPS. Just say no to turnips. Your life quality will improve, and your frustration level will go down. Well, okay, watching COPs is alright, I mean, they are going to keep making it anyway and it is surely entertaining.
Even the turnip people, I love you all.
I read/saw several items in the news that reinforced in my mind that there are people out there that might provide evidence of evolution. Understand me, I am just exploring hypothesis here. Because, to get to be as smart as most humans are, if evolution is true, then there should be segments of the population that are like us in all outward appearances, and yet possess the mental equivalent of a turnip.
Because I have evidence of turnip people, it may be suspected that God made use of evolution as part of the process that got us from Adam to here. I don't know how evidence of a planet billions of years old squares with the conservative Christian view of a 6000 year old Earth. God knows how it went down, so I don't put a lot of thought into it. When I see God face to face, I won't care anyway, because I will be face to face with God. I will not care about evolution. But, I might ask about the turnip people.
Cases in point. On the news tonight, there is a bus driver that posted a "selfie" of herself on the bus, holding a beer to her mouth. Yellow school bus, granny gear transmission, probably smelled like a gym bag, driver, beer. If there is a need for me to connect the dots further for you, please don't tell me. There was a suspension, with pay, while investigating. This seems an unnecessary step in the process of firing her, lending evidence that the whole school board, anywhere, turnip people. Generally the most educated group of people in any community, but also the ones that struggle the most with any activity that does not involve tenure and complaining about having to live up to standards.
Certainly, I believe in due process. But DUE to the fact she turnipped and posted the picture, the process should be to fire her, and get a restraining order that requires her to be away from all children, including her own if she has any, before she contaminates them with turnip syndrome.
Yet another. This is about a tragedy. A 25 year old man commits suicide. During the autopsy, they determine that he has the same brain trauma condition that Junior Seau and Jovan Belcher had. It is indicative of repetitive concussions and motion trauma to the brain. This is terrible, but the young man is not a professional football player or boxer. He is not a college football player or amateur boxer. The family sues the Pop Warner football league the young man played in. Alleging that the league knew the danger of repetitive concussions and did not inform them or protect the child, 15 years previously.
This one is a couple paragraphs long. First, I feel terrible the young man took his own life. Nothing will ever make that better for the family. No law suit, no argument won, no public awareness, none of that will make it better. I know this, I know of what I type. I do not think the family deserves to be picked on, except that this is ridiculous, and they are likely being manipulated by a legal system and legal professionals with no conscience, and no regard for their injured state.
This is a ridiculous law suit, and the lawyer that filed it should be disbarred. Or that lawyer ought to get his/her act together and do the ambulance chasing thing for real. I mean really go for the Gloria Allred gold. Sue the school system because he might have fallen down at school and got a concussion. Sue all the shoelace and shoe companies, because he may have fallen down and gotten a concussion by tripping. Sue the government because he may have slipped on ice on a public sidewalk and gotten a concussion at some point.
The judge that allowed the suit to be filed should be disbarred. This one may be more turnip-like than Joe Brown. Although you can align the words into sentences that are correct in grammar and spelling, it still does not make sense, if you are not a turnip. Maybe the lawyer should sue the judge because he may have hit the kid with his gavel and given him a concussion. Exploitative lawyers and insane judges, turnip peoples. On top of mentally challenged, these are ethically dead people that are exploiting the sorrow and loss of a family who will never win enough, no matter what. The family does not deserve it, nor should they have to go through it.
Another case, Pete Carroll, the coach of the Seattle Seahawks. You have Marshawn Lynch, public punk that he might be, but Beast Mode that he definitely is. Yet you call a pass on the 1 yard line. Positively a whole field of turnips move. Defending it after the fact, like we don't all know it was stupid, that might be field of turnip squared.
Another football case, Washington Redskins. Drafting RGIII. Big ole turnip with bright green tops sticking out of their heads. (Sorry, I could not resist.)
At any rate, these are just examples of a mental state, in otherwise normal human beings, that I find hard to understand. I did not think there were many turnips, compared to the total population. But, there has to be a significant number. I mean COPS has been on TV for what, 25 years? I don't think they are recycling criminals. There is a fresh crop of turnips every time they go to any city.
I should not take a perverse joy in watching the wreck that always hits the turnip train. But, I honestly cannot help but watch. There are people that believe vaccines are more dangerous than the diseases they prevent (turnips). There are people that believe all Muslims are terrorists (turnips). There are people that believe it was a good idea to bring Ebola patients back to the US (turnips). There are people that attend Westboro Baptist Church (turnips). There are people that believe the US government was responsible for 9/11 (turnip). There are people that listen to Al Sharpton (turnip). There are people that listen to Sarah Palin (turnip). Bo Bergdahl, turnip.
The list gets quite lengthy. Where I think the evolution argument falls apart, is that while these turnip people wander around being all turnippy, occasionally, they figure it out. Sometimes they heal up or brain up, and get in the game with the rest of us. So, if you rule out evolution, you are left with free will. That is creepy and let me explain why.
These people are choosing to be this way. So, while I love them, and care about them, if they choose the turnip path on me, I have to let them go do their thing. I am called to love them, I am not called to participate in the turnip patch. Neither is anyone else. God loves us all, and gave us free will, so that we would not be slaves, or robotic followers. He wants our participation, because we choose Him. He wants our worship because we chose to sing and praise. He wants our prayers because we choose to trust in Him.
But, He does not prevent some of us from choosing a path other than Him. And He does not prevent the turnip patch from being overcrowded. I cannot conceive of the majesty and breadth of God. I am just thankful He does not prevent folks from leaving the turnip patch. I have been a turnip person in the past, we all have in our way. Thankfully, God loves turnips too. (I do not, though a couple mashed up with potatoes or cut up in vegetable soup aren't bad.)
I urge you not to encourage turnip people. Do not enable them by liking their foolishness on Facebook, sharing their addled mess on Instagram, buying their books that describes their turnip journey, or watching America's Funniest Home Videos or COPS. Just say no to turnips. Your life quality will improve, and your frustration level will go down. Well, okay, watching COPs is alright, I mean, they are going to keep making it anyway and it is surely entertaining.
Even the turnip people, I love you all.
Saturday, February 7, 2015
ISIS and Foreign Policy
So, I am a war veteran. I am not a guy that went and spent 2 years unsupported behind enemy lines and disrupted and harrassed the enemy on their home ground. In that regard, I am like 99.99995% of all war veterans. I have not shot anyone, ever. I have not pushed the bomb release button on anyone, ever.
That is my disclosure about my personal involvement. Lost friends, saw some things that have been with me ever since, and will stay until I die. Experienced stuff that just belongs there and then, and I work hard to leave it that way. But there are war memorials I go to, because it is not just another name etched in granite. Those letters are a face, a friend, a loss.
So, I am careful to tell folks I don't understand a Chris Kyle. Who does anyway? I have my own conflicts with my own guilt. I was really, really good at my job. That meant we sent planes to the target, full of explosives, every time we intended to do so. It is a hard thing for me, as I feel complicit in the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people. There is not one single human being I feel competent to pass the sentence of death upon, on my own. I am not God, I don't and won't know enough, ever.
I am not ashamed of what I did in the military. If you allow rats and vermin to live with you, without doing your utmost to get rid of them yourself, you cannot get too upset at the effects of the pesticide that gets used to eradicate them. And, it is not about Islam, or Iraqi or Afghani. It is about vermin that live in human form. In that way, they are indistinguishable from our homegrown skin heads, ecoterrorists, gangs and drug rings. What happened to that Jordanian pilot is not new or unusual. These are not people that operate in the bands of normalcy as found in America. Just like Timothy McVeigh, the Bloods and Crips, and Eric Rudolph, that is what ISIS is.
So, I am proud to be part of liberating and protecting Kuwait, going after Al Qaeda and the Taliban. I am certain that it was the right thing to do. We, however, had no business in Iraq the second time or Afghanistan. I have said it many times, until Saddam Hussein developed a camel that could cross an ocean submerged, he was a threat like the boogey man is a threat. We developed the breeding ground for ISIS and the mess we face today, with our idiotic actions in Iraq. And God only knows what will come out of our actions in Afghanistan. That does not mean I was not a willing participant, nor do I demean the valor and sacrifice and devotion of all the service members that were there. It was dumb, but it was our duty and our orders, and it was done masterfully, bravely and with honor. I did not get a vote or opinion on whether we should do it, and I did everything I could in my power to make sure we did it even though I thought it stupid.
The funny thing about honor, it can be maintained, even while being involved in something ill advised or downright stupid. The charge of the Light Brigade, supremely famous, stupid and ill advised, but remembered because of the honor of the participants. Pickett's Charge, extremely ill advised, extremely wasteful of lives, and for the wrong side of the conflict, but remembered in our pantheon because of the honor of the individuals.
That is what we do not understand in America, really, in the "civilized" world. There is no absolute scale of honor. The actions of ISIS are predicated on the culture from which it rose. Islam is not the point, and never has been. It is as ridiculous as saying World War II was about Christianity, because predominately Christian nations were involved and won. We are facing tribal cultures and practices that are shocking and foreign because it does not match up with our own memories. What happened to that Jordanian pilot happened alot on the Great Plains, in the skirmishing between Indian tribes and the fight with American expansion. Perhaps not with a cage and gasoline, but the tribe gathered and watching as an enemy is tortured with fire.
All that being said, I tell you that there is a large segment of Hajii culture that sees honor in ISIS. Perverse as that seems to us, it is still true. These are largely underemployed, economically disadvantaged young men of tribes or families without connections or status that feel left behind by the increasingly Westernized culture around them. It becomes easy to bring them into a new tribe that preserves honor, offers hope and opportunity and stands for something they can believe in.
Sounds exactly like how gangs in our increasingly poor and disadvantaged areas continue to recruit young men into their ranks. It is not so different from phenomenon we see here in America, and comes from the same roots and issues. And, if you analyze what gained Ho Chi Min, Mao, Hitler, Mohammed, even St. Paul, adherants and followers, you see that it is the same formula at its base.
This means that American boots on the ground in Iraq and Syria will not stop, solve or eliminate ISIS. We will kill a boatload of them and every living thing in close proximity to them. We will destroy their identified weapons and hiding holes. But, it will not change what drives the hydra. It is just cutting off a couple more heads.
Egyptian, Lybian and Syrian unrest comes from within. Al Qaeda developed as a result of the disenfranchisement of many tribes in a particular region, due to the unfathomable wealth of oil and the great divide between the rich and poor in that region. They then found a disenfranchised son of a prominent family to lend them legitimacy and connections to groups with money to spare.
It is a sobering thing, because it is repeating in Syria right now. But, instead of finding another disenfranchised son named Bin Laden, they have tapped into deeper pockets. They have gotten Westerners to come join the cause. And while the Bin Ladens are very, very wealthy, they have pennies compared to the financial capability of the Westernized world. ISIS is more dangerous than its predecessor because of that. And not because they will be trying massive terror attacks now. But, they are tapped into unlimited funding and influence.
Don't believe me? The King of Jordan, as Westernized as Middle Eastern men come, was willing to trade and deal with ISIS. We were shocked, and appalled. What choice did he have? That enemy is drawing support and finances from Britain, America, France, Germany, Canada. That is a combined net worth of the entire world. Tribal pressure mounted, and he almost caved. He is a smart booger though, and held long enough to let the animals do themselves in. Once the fire video came out, ISIS took care of themselves in Jordan.
The Middle East will never accept democracy. They will never live within Westernized norms. Segments of their population will, and will always be the first victims of the rest of the population. It has been that way for thousands of years. If you have read the Bible, you know the history I just described, as it is the back story of the Old Testament, the Crusades and the last 400 years. It is unchanged and unending.
So, what do we do? We do what we can to help the refugees. We do everything we can to catch, punish and secure the Westerners that come and go there with malice intended. We have to continue to live in a free society that provides the contrast that grates and denigrates the enemy. We never give in, we never negotiate, and we never stop punishing them to the maximum. We have the ability to do that without a ground war.
I would also recommend that we let the current generation of Chris Kyle's go underground over there and find those British accented murdering bastards. They can be willing to stand before their maker for every shot they ever took too. Some of that would take quite a bit of the starch out of their britches, just like it did Al Qaeda and the Taliban. When it starts becoming personally deadly to be that guy on the video, we start getting less videos. Bin Laden disappeared for years because of fear of the Chris Kyle's in our military. My opinion is that it is time for these ISIS jack offs to disappear too.
That is different from sending divisions of our soldiers back to countries that are never going to sustain what we "set up". Look, it never took or got inbedded in Iraq or Afghanistan while we occupied it. It never worked in Egypt or Lybia. It doesn't even work in Jordan or Israel, really. And, that is okay. It does not have to work that way there. Let them figure it out. Leave them be, let them come to their own terms, stay out of reforming their belief systems and culture. We do not need to make them a reflection of us, or like us. We just need to make them understand the very real need to respect the hell out of us.
It has worked with China, the Soviets, the Russians, the French and the Germans for years. None of them really like us, and are not exactly reflections of us and our culture. But, they respect the hell out of us, and that means something. Ronald Reagan taught Qadafi respect with one bombing raid. Taught the French respect in the same bombing raid. We have forgotten how to play the whole chess game in the last 20 years. And that is because we have been led by folks that have zero understanding of what military capability is.
We assume military capability has to be descending on you in mass formation, and occupying your land to reform you. In reality, it is the ability to drop guided munitions in your son's bedroom, your harem's apartments and the French embassy for making us fly an extra 1000 miles. One simple raid that generated 20 years of understanding. No armies, black op prisons, torture tactics. But more effective than the last 20 years of military and foreign diplomacy policy, put together. Our leaders have never served, and don't understand. They don't listen to those that do serve. And, they have not learned as they were on the job.
I believe that Obama is twice the foreign policy president than any we have had since Reagan, the last great foreign policy president. I give credit to George the First as well. A very capable man, and a continuation of the Reagan approach, which he helped craft. The intervening two presidents were both just abyssmal at foreign policy. Asleep at the switch, ignorant of how to operate the switch and surrounded with the least capable, least qualified and most dangerous supporting cast that we have had since the run up to the Civil War.
Lots of folks might disagree with me about that. Some because they can't stand Obamacare, or have gotten their heads full of the Fox News cancer that includes the war on Christmas crowd. Some because they have the MSNBC tumor and can't stand the fact that it requires some muscle flexing to stay safe. Hugging gay whales for Jesus is great, until they drag you under and you drown. The whale does not know or care how much you love and respect it. Neither does Hajii.
But, I maintain that the facts, not the opinions or the political parties, bear me out. There is an approach that will work for ISIS, and it is an approach that only the Americans, with assistance from allies, are able to take. We have to go start killing some targeted folks with a whole lot of ordinance. Drone strikes, SEAL teams, air raids, cruise missiles, those kinds of things. And, call them out by name. If we were to add the name of who is next up on the list when we announce a successful kill, we will shorten the time required to be done. Even if we put the 82nd Airborne on the ground, what I suggest will still be required and the only path to success.
Does that appeal to me as a Christian? No, it sickens me. Does that sound like something that matches up with the romanticized John Wayne informed view of war that most of our current leadership has? No, it is almost totally at odds with that. How we have not learned those lessons in Korea, Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan, I do not know, but we are stubbornly and valiantly resistant to them. We just cannot accept that we do not need to send the fleet and the army. How do you get great movies like Saving Private Ryan, if you don't send the army?
I fear we don't have the ability to learn this lesson. I fear that within 12 months we will have people on the ground in Syria, just laying the ground work for the next group like ISIS. They will be brave, valiant, following orders, being heroic, and still driving an outcome that is defeatist and contrary to what our national aims should be. If anyone thinks we got something out of the war in Iraq or Afghanistan that is lasting and providing greater security to our nation today than before 9/11, I would be interested in hearing what that was, and how it is demonstrated.
We need more than shock and horror at tribal behaviors that are centuries old and pervasive through the world. We need a cold, calculating approach that demonstrates what America was, at one time. We were a hornet's nest of cataclysm that did not stop once enraged. Ask the Japanese and Germans how applicable the sleeping giant metaphor was, at one point in time. We need to be that again, but with a different method of application. We need to have 4 planes flying beside each Jordanian plane, and giving ISIS 5 times the fun. We need to see how Assad likes the Qadafi cruise missile treatment. And we need to do it right away, and repetitively until there is a peace that is sustained.
I think Obama understands this. I think Odierno is the least capable and competent Chief of Staff we have had in decades. I don't even know the background of the CNO, or what he looks like. Our military leadership is the weak link, while our civilian leadership needs them the most. We had strong knowledgeable military leadership under George the Dumber, Dubya, whatever. The civilian leadership was so crazy, bad and ill qualified, nothing the uniformed folks would do mattered. I was in uniform then, I was part of that. I felt bad for Powell. His long, illustrious career tied up with Cheney, Rumsfeld and Curious George. It hurt. We lost so many good people for what will be exactly like Vietnam, not one demonstrated change in the outcome of the course of the occupied countries.
Yet, because it has not yet been an American military man/woman on the ISIS videos, we are just kind of voyeurs. It is not quite real. Journalists dumb enough to be there, well, they get what they deserve, no one likes them anyway. They are like carnies in that regard. Aid workers that are dumb enough to be there, well, I mean, really? You are giving them aid?
Let it be a Navy pilot off a carrier in the Gulf, and things will start changing. Let the Paris attack happen in Chicago, and things will be back to 2001. We will come up with the next fabrication to justify the war that replaces the failure during the peace. It was WMD before. Maybe this time it will be Energy Security. We'll come up with something, and go send 200,000 folks. It won't be any more effective.
Why this long post? Just foreshadowing. As a people, we have to learn to operate correctly in the real world. Grant and Sherman showed the entire world how to wage war in the 20th Century. We have shown the world how to be successful in the 21st Century. We just refuse to follow our own blueprint. It will cost us thousands of more lives, and result in no victory.
I love the military, I served, I respect them, I understand them and I support them. They will follow the orders they are given, regardless of what they think of them personally. Well, there are always some Bo Bergdahl's, and that is the subject of another post. But, the vast portion are honorable and dedicated and worth more to me than any other group of people outside America. That is not quite Christian, but it is something I will just have to work on. But, a member of the US Air Force will be more important to me than an Algerian. Sorry, that is just how it is.
It ought to be true and not just words with our leadership as well. I think it is with Obama. It was not with the previous two. Entirely different view points, entirely different failures, but exactly the same issue. I also don't think Obama is scared to dump the Army on someone, but they have to earn the honor of dying at the hands of his army. That is the difference in approach. Iraq had not earned that honor. Neither had Afghanistan. Al Qaeda is not a country, and let's all be honest, Afghanistan is not where we found Bin Laden. We had other agendas, and they were lies from the beginning. That is not a dishonor on the military, but a stain I will never forgive the civilian leadership for, and the rest of us should not either.
That is my point, and the end of this ramble. Don't know exactly what drove it, other than some stupidness I read on the "internets." I welcome the argument, if you want to make it, but it won't change the fact that ends each of my posts.
I love you all.
That is my disclosure about my personal involvement. Lost friends, saw some things that have been with me ever since, and will stay until I die. Experienced stuff that just belongs there and then, and I work hard to leave it that way. But there are war memorials I go to, because it is not just another name etched in granite. Those letters are a face, a friend, a loss.
So, I am careful to tell folks I don't understand a Chris Kyle. Who does anyway? I have my own conflicts with my own guilt. I was really, really good at my job. That meant we sent planes to the target, full of explosives, every time we intended to do so. It is a hard thing for me, as I feel complicit in the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people. There is not one single human being I feel competent to pass the sentence of death upon, on my own. I am not God, I don't and won't know enough, ever.
I am not ashamed of what I did in the military. If you allow rats and vermin to live with you, without doing your utmost to get rid of them yourself, you cannot get too upset at the effects of the pesticide that gets used to eradicate them. And, it is not about Islam, or Iraqi or Afghani. It is about vermin that live in human form. In that way, they are indistinguishable from our homegrown skin heads, ecoterrorists, gangs and drug rings. What happened to that Jordanian pilot is not new or unusual. These are not people that operate in the bands of normalcy as found in America. Just like Timothy McVeigh, the Bloods and Crips, and Eric Rudolph, that is what ISIS is.
So, I am proud to be part of liberating and protecting Kuwait, going after Al Qaeda and the Taliban. I am certain that it was the right thing to do. We, however, had no business in Iraq the second time or Afghanistan. I have said it many times, until Saddam Hussein developed a camel that could cross an ocean submerged, he was a threat like the boogey man is a threat. We developed the breeding ground for ISIS and the mess we face today, with our idiotic actions in Iraq. And God only knows what will come out of our actions in Afghanistan. That does not mean I was not a willing participant, nor do I demean the valor and sacrifice and devotion of all the service members that were there. It was dumb, but it was our duty and our orders, and it was done masterfully, bravely and with honor. I did not get a vote or opinion on whether we should do it, and I did everything I could in my power to make sure we did it even though I thought it stupid.
The funny thing about honor, it can be maintained, even while being involved in something ill advised or downright stupid. The charge of the Light Brigade, supremely famous, stupid and ill advised, but remembered because of the honor of the participants. Pickett's Charge, extremely ill advised, extremely wasteful of lives, and for the wrong side of the conflict, but remembered in our pantheon because of the honor of the individuals.
That is what we do not understand in America, really, in the "civilized" world. There is no absolute scale of honor. The actions of ISIS are predicated on the culture from which it rose. Islam is not the point, and never has been. It is as ridiculous as saying World War II was about Christianity, because predominately Christian nations were involved and won. We are facing tribal cultures and practices that are shocking and foreign because it does not match up with our own memories. What happened to that Jordanian pilot happened alot on the Great Plains, in the skirmishing between Indian tribes and the fight with American expansion. Perhaps not with a cage and gasoline, but the tribe gathered and watching as an enemy is tortured with fire.
All that being said, I tell you that there is a large segment of Hajii culture that sees honor in ISIS. Perverse as that seems to us, it is still true. These are largely underemployed, economically disadvantaged young men of tribes or families without connections or status that feel left behind by the increasingly Westernized culture around them. It becomes easy to bring them into a new tribe that preserves honor, offers hope and opportunity and stands for something they can believe in.
Sounds exactly like how gangs in our increasingly poor and disadvantaged areas continue to recruit young men into their ranks. It is not so different from phenomenon we see here in America, and comes from the same roots and issues. And, if you analyze what gained Ho Chi Min, Mao, Hitler, Mohammed, even St. Paul, adherants and followers, you see that it is the same formula at its base.
This means that American boots on the ground in Iraq and Syria will not stop, solve or eliminate ISIS. We will kill a boatload of them and every living thing in close proximity to them. We will destroy their identified weapons and hiding holes. But, it will not change what drives the hydra. It is just cutting off a couple more heads.
Egyptian, Lybian and Syrian unrest comes from within. Al Qaeda developed as a result of the disenfranchisement of many tribes in a particular region, due to the unfathomable wealth of oil and the great divide between the rich and poor in that region. They then found a disenfranchised son of a prominent family to lend them legitimacy and connections to groups with money to spare.
It is a sobering thing, because it is repeating in Syria right now. But, instead of finding another disenfranchised son named Bin Laden, they have tapped into deeper pockets. They have gotten Westerners to come join the cause. And while the Bin Ladens are very, very wealthy, they have pennies compared to the financial capability of the Westernized world. ISIS is more dangerous than its predecessor because of that. And not because they will be trying massive terror attacks now. But, they are tapped into unlimited funding and influence.
Don't believe me? The King of Jordan, as Westernized as Middle Eastern men come, was willing to trade and deal with ISIS. We were shocked, and appalled. What choice did he have? That enemy is drawing support and finances from Britain, America, France, Germany, Canada. That is a combined net worth of the entire world. Tribal pressure mounted, and he almost caved. He is a smart booger though, and held long enough to let the animals do themselves in. Once the fire video came out, ISIS took care of themselves in Jordan.
The Middle East will never accept democracy. They will never live within Westernized norms. Segments of their population will, and will always be the first victims of the rest of the population. It has been that way for thousands of years. If you have read the Bible, you know the history I just described, as it is the back story of the Old Testament, the Crusades and the last 400 years. It is unchanged and unending.
So, what do we do? We do what we can to help the refugees. We do everything we can to catch, punish and secure the Westerners that come and go there with malice intended. We have to continue to live in a free society that provides the contrast that grates and denigrates the enemy. We never give in, we never negotiate, and we never stop punishing them to the maximum. We have the ability to do that without a ground war.
I would also recommend that we let the current generation of Chris Kyle's go underground over there and find those British accented murdering bastards. They can be willing to stand before their maker for every shot they ever took too. Some of that would take quite a bit of the starch out of their britches, just like it did Al Qaeda and the Taliban. When it starts becoming personally deadly to be that guy on the video, we start getting less videos. Bin Laden disappeared for years because of fear of the Chris Kyle's in our military. My opinion is that it is time for these ISIS jack offs to disappear too.
That is different from sending divisions of our soldiers back to countries that are never going to sustain what we "set up". Look, it never took or got inbedded in Iraq or Afghanistan while we occupied it. It never worked in Egypt or Lybia. It doesn't even work in Jordan or Israel, really. And, that is okay. It does not have to work that way there. Let them figure it out. Leave them be, let them come to their own terms, stay out of reforming their belief systems and culture. We do not need to make them a reflection of us, or like us. We just need to make them understand the very real need to respect the hell out of us.
It has worked with China, the Soviets, the Russians, the French and the Germans for years. None of them really like us, and are not exactly reflections of us and our culture. But, they respect the hell out of us, and that means something. Ronald Reagan taught Qadafi respect with one bombing raid. Taught the French respect in the same bombing raid. We have forgotten how to play the whole chess game in the last 20 years. And that is because we have been led by folks that have zero understanding of what military capability is.
We assume military capability has to be descending on you in mass formation, and occupying your land to reform you. In reality, it is the ability to drop guided munitions in your son's bedroom, your harem's apartments and the French embassy for making us fly an extra 1000 miles. One simple raid that generated 20 years of understanding. No armies, black op prisons, torture tactics. But more effective than the last 20 years of military and foreign diplomacy policy, put together. Our leaders have never served, and don't understand. They don't listen to those that do serve. And, they have not learned as they were on the job.
I believe that Obama is twice the foreign policy president than any we have had since Reagan, the last great foreign policy president. I give credit to George the First as well. A very capable man, and a continuation of the Reagan approach, which he helped craft. The intervening two presidents were both just abyssmal at foreign policy. Asleep at the switch, ignorant of how to operate the switch and surrounded with the least capable, least qualified and most dangerous supporting cast that we have had since the run up to the Civil War.
Lots of folks might disagree with me about that. Some because they can't stand Obamacare, or have gotten their heads full of the Fox News cancer that includes the war on Christmas crowd. Some because they have the MSNBC tumor and can't stand the fact that it requires some muscle flexing to stay safe. Hugging gay whales for Jesus is great, until they drag you under and you drown. The whale does not know or care how much you love and respect it. Neither does Hajii.
But, I maintain that the facts, not the opinions or the political parties, bear me out. There is an approach that will work for ISIS, and it is an approach that only the Americans, with assistance from allies, are able to take. We have to go start killing some targeted folks with a whole lot of ordinance. Drone strikes, SEAL teams, air raids, cruise missiles, those kinds of things. And, call them out by name. If we were to add the name of who is next up on the list when we announce a successful kill, we will shorten the time required to be done. Even if we put the 82nd Airborne on the ground, what I suggest will still be required and the only path to success.
Does that appeal to me as a Christian? No, it sickens me. Does that sound like something that matches up with the romanticized John Wayne informed view of war that most of our current leadership has? No, it is almost totally at odds with that. How we have not learned those lessons in Korea, Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan, I do not know, but we are stubbornly and valiantly resistant to them. We just cannot accept that we do not need to send the fleet and the army. How do you get great movies like Saving Private Ryan, if you don't send the army?
I fear we don't have the ability to learn this lesson. I fear that within 12 months we will have people on the ground in Syria, just laying the ground work for the next group like ISIS. They will be brave, valiant, following orders, being heroic, and still driving an outcome that is defeatist and contrary to what our national aims should be. If anyone thinks we got something out of the war in Iraq or Afghanistan that is lasting and providing greater security to our nation today than before 9/11, I would be interested in hearing what that was, and how it is demonstrated.
We need more than shock and horror at tribal behaviors that are centuries old and pervasive through the world. We need a cold, calculating approach that demonstrates what America was, at one time. We were a hornet's nest of cataclysm that did not stop once enraged. Ask the Japanese and Germans how applicable the sleeping giant metaphor was, at one point in time. We need to be that again, but with a different method of application. We need to have 4 planes flying beside each Jordanian plane, and giving ISIS 5 times the fun. We need to see how Assad likes the Qadafi cruise missile treatment. And we need to do it right away, and repetitively until there is a peace that is sustained.
I think Obama understands this. I think Odierno is the least capable and competent Chief of Staff we have had in decades. I don't even know the background of the CNO, or what he looks like. Our military leadership is the weak link, while our civilian leadership needs them the most. We had strong knowledgeable military leadership under George the Dumber, Dubya, whatever. The civilian leadership was so crazy, bad and ill qualified, nothing the uniformed folks would do mattered. I was in uniform then, I was part of that. I felt bad for Powell. His long, illustrious career tied up with Cheney, Rumsfeld and Curious George. It hurt. We lost so many good people for what will be exactly like Vietnam, not one demonstrated change in the outcome of the course of the occupied countries.
Yet, because it has not yet been an American military man/woman on the ISIS videos, we are just kind of voyeurs. It is not quite real. Journalists dumb enough to be there, well, they get what they deserve, no one likes them anyway. They are like carnies in that regard. Aid workers that are dumb enough to be there, well, I mean, really? You are giving them aid?
Let it be a Navy pilot off a carrier in the Gulf, and things will start changing. Let the Paris attack happen in Chicago, and things will be back to 2001. We will come up with the next fabrication to justify the war that replaces the failure during the peace. It was WMD before. Maybe this time it will be Energy Security. We'll come up with something, and go send 200,000 folks. It won't be any more effective.
Why this long post? Just foreshadowing. As a people, we have to learn to operate correctly in the real world. Grant and Sherman showed the entire world how to wage war in the 20th Century. We have shown the world how to be successful in the 21st Century. We just refuse to follow our own blueprint. It will cost us thousands of more lives, and result in no victory.
I love the military, I served, I respect them, I understand them and I support them. They will follow the orders they are given, regardless of what they think of them personally. Well, there are always some Bo Bergdahl's, and that is the subject of another post. But, the vast portion are honorable and dedicated and worth more to me than any other group of people outside America. That is not quite Christian, but it is something I will just have to work on. But, a member of the US Air Force will be more important to me than an Algerian. Sorry, that is just how it is.
It ought to be true and not just words with our leadership as well. I think it is with Obama. It was not with the previous two. Entirely different view points, entirely different failures, but exactly the same issue. I also don't think Obama is scared to dump the Army on someone, but they have to earn the honor of dying at the hands of his army. That is the difference in approach. Iraq had not earned that honor. Neither had Afghanistan. Al Qaeda is not a country, and let's all be honest, Afghanistan is not where we found Bin Laden. We had other agendas, and they were lies from the beginning. That is not a dishonor on the military, but a stain I will never forgive the civilian leadership for, and the rest of us should not either.
That is my point, and the end of this ramble. Don't know exactly what drove it, other than some stupidness I read on the "internets." I welcome the argument, if you want to make it, but it won't change the fact that ends each of my posts.
I love you all.
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