Persian Pests

It seems as if some Persian fellow has warned the U.S. to not move our military equipment: namely an aircraft carrier, back into the international waters of the Gulf. He strongly recommends this because "Iran is not in the habit of warning more than once." Really Mustafa? I would guess that our govt will soon "recommend and emphasize" that Iranian Naval and Air equipment stay in port and on the ground.

Iran is just not strong enough to back up such bold threats. They are pretty good at supplying technology to insurgents and such but..............

There is such a difference between courage and stupidity. The Persians are afflicted with the latter.

Gas Prices Again

Have you noticed that the price at the pump has risen a bit in the past few days? There is speculation (of course) that the Iranian naval exercises and bellicose rhetoric have been contributing factors.It is always something it seems. Prices rise anytime there is some unrest near any oil exporting region. Sometimes it is just an excuse to wring wring more buck per barrel out of the world consumer. Or so I would guess.

The Persians would probably do well to keep their "navy" in port and their air on the ground. Nothing good (for them) can come out of their military equipment in such close proximity to those of the West.

Really?

Did President Obama really ask the Mohammedans for our captured drone to be returned? Please tell me he is not that obtuse. All is fair in love and war they say.

War "Over"

Supposedly the war in Iraq has ended. Troops are coming home and for that I am thankful. Now is the time to mourn those American and allied troops who paid the ultimate price in that sad, useless, land.  There are those who say the mission in Iraq is already a failure. There are others that say that it was a horrible, almost criminal, decision to get involved there anyway. It is hard to say who is right or wrong.

I suspect that the only ones who will benefit will be the Iranians. If allowed to do so, they will dominate their weak neighbor and perhaps the whole Gulf region. Geopolitics 101.  The desert "kingdoms" fear this to be the case and it will likely prove to be so. Unless the Iranian regime is contained, marginalized, and/or destroyed of course.

One can imagine that plans for the quick and total destruction of Iran have been long dusted off and are being refined daily. That is, after all, what we pay our nation's military for.

Obama Probably Won't Strike The Persians

There has been some rather under the radar speculation that President Obama would consider a military strike on Iran. It goes without saying that when coalition forces finally leave Iraq for good then the hand of the Persians will be strengthened in the region. Geopolitics 101. Now with the likely Iranian nuclear program moving forward one would think that the time is ripe for a preemptive strike with strategic arms. After all we are now in a "low level" war with Iran now and we do have an interest in keeping the Iranians contained so as not to interfere with our energy needs. It is (almost) a foregone conclusion that there will be a major military clash at some point. I submit that Obama would initiate action if his poll numbers go much lower or he begins to become seriously threatened by a Republican challenger.

Therein lies the issue. The Republicans are imploding and it is quite possible they are not a danger to unseat Obama. That is hard to believe frankly, but there you have it.

People across the land are learning what we in the Republic have known all along about Perry.

Romney is just a politician and should be trusted by no one.

Cain is being accused of being some sort of man "who likes his pussy." Something not right there. Someone is getting paid somewhere. The whole thing seems just a bit manufactured. Be that as it may, it is an issue and is damaging Cain's chances.

Newt now "surging" in the polls? The game is up if that amoral freak is one of the "leaders" in the race. Hell that nut Palin may as well jump in at this point.

Paul has no real shot. The establishment and their radio host lackeys do their best to discredit him. He scares them. Of course he does has some pretty loony ideas.........

No one else is in the Republican field is worth mentioning.

Nope Obama will not strike Iran. He doesn't have to politically at this point. While there certainly is a need to do so and do so quickly from a strategic standpoint; there is no need for the POTUS to initiate action due to domestic politics.  Apparently that is more important than our legitimate national defense needs.

That is a sad state of affairs.

Something Odd I Have Noticed

The debate over nuclear energy has begun and will rage for quite some time I will wager. Whether nuclear energy has a place in the future is any one's guess. All depends on the politics I suppose. One thing funny that I have noticed though is that those who are now bleating like sheep to shut down our nuclear plants are strangely silent on the Iranian nuclear program. Has anyone noticed that? Probably so. I would guess that such folk would scream the loudest if Israel or (God forbid) the United States decided to take out the Iranian program in fiery fashion. A tad hypocritical but fairly typical. Don't you think?

Iran's Right to Nuclear Capability is "Non Negotiable"

Reuters is reporting that Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has stated that "Iran's right to nuclear capabilities is non negotiable." He is right. It is non negotiable. He will likely find that out soon enough.

What Will Happen When Israel Strikes?

What will happen when Israel strikes Iran? The most probable scenario is this; Israel will damage Iran's nuclear facility(ies), The Muslim and particularly the Muslim Arab nations will condemn the action publicly but privately be relieved, the Soviet Union err Russia will rattle her sabre a bit, Hamas and or Hezbollah will fire a few rockets, the "professional left" in this country (and elsewhere) will jump around and whine in their usual cuntish way, and the region will be somewhat safer.
That is about it.

An Iraqi General Wants Us to Stay and Probably For Good Reason

Gen Zabari, the commander of the Iraq military has apparently said that he would like the United States to maintain a military presence in his country until 2020. Is it possible that this man knows damn good and well what will happen once Western combat troops leave? I have said before that when we leave Iraq that the butchery will begin in earnest. Iran will most likely attempt to step in to "stabilize" the region with the resulting consequence of her becoming more dangerous and powerful than she already is. Whether our decision to move into Iraq was correct or not, I will not go into here. Suffice to say that in order to maintain a regional balance of power, prevent genocidal butchery, and to safeguard our "allies" (really our energy supply) in the region it is hard not to see his point and perhaps take his words seriously. Nation building, particularly in that region, is a long term commitment. To prevent genocide, perhaps we ought to consider this man's words. While I certainly do not want to keep troops in harms way any longer than necessary, our country, like it or not has become the "balancer" (if you will) of power in the region. Perhaps our leadership should have considered the consequences of our actions a bit more carefully. While I am certainly no fan of nation building - it is apparent that we will need to remain in the region for some time to safeguard our interests.

World Cup Coverage - Not

I sure will be glad when the "World Cup" is over. Futbol is for the most part a pretty uninteresting sport to watch. About the only thing of interest in the whole thing is watching the crowd. In that it is kind of like NASCAR. Most people watch NASCAR to see the spectacular crashes and I would imagine that many glance at "futbol" hoping to see some kind of riot.
On the rare occasions that I do check out the game it is only to watch the English (Barclays)Premier League, the NFL of soccer. It is fun to listen to the fans drunkenly sing in the stands and plus the teams have cool names. The team from Arsenal has perhaps the best name in professional sports anywhere. I have an Arsenal Gunners t shirt just because I love the name and the logo.
Here in the USA soccer continues to gain popularity. There is now of course a professional league that actually has a chance to stand on its own. I personally would not pay 50 cents to go see it, but to each his own. Soccer is probably a good sport for children to play as it is, for the most part, a non contact sport. Oh sure, you can get hurt, but you can get injured walking from the living room to the kitchen. It is without doubt good exercise and a good way to keep fit. It is also pretty fun to play, but to watch it is like pulling teeth.
Now with that being said, it will not be too long before the USA is the top dog in the exciting world of "futbol." This is can be viewed as both good and bad I guess depending on your perspective. At any rate it is apparent that soccer is here to stay despite the fact that it is viewed by many as just somehow "Un American."
That reminds me of something. Do you remember a few years back when Iran beat the USA in some sort of multi national soccer match? The Iranians jumped for joy and ran around like maniacs. One would have though that the Prophet himself had shown up and scored the winning goal. Sports Talk great Jim Rome commented that he hoped the Iranians were happy with themselves but that they should realize that the USA is much better than they at the only sport that really matters - War.

I liked that.

For The First Time In My Adult Life ...........

For the first time in my adult life (where have we heard that?) I am afraid for the future of our nation. Why? A myriad of reasons. Here are a few.







The BP oil spill is a "man caused disaster" of perhaps biblical proportion. It must be said that the "biblical proportion" part may be overstated. It is probable that the oceans will break down the petroleum and the environmental damage will be minimized. You must note that I did not say minimal however. The salt and fresh water marshes that have been affected will take a very long time to come back. The fishing industry, both commercial and recreational, have taken a huge hit and many of those who make their living in these endeavors will not be coming back. The tourism industry will be affected to a great extent but that should not be long term. Of course this is all dependent on BP "plugging the damn hole." It will be plugged before long (hopefully)or we are certainly all up the ass of the Prophet. While the environmental damage is and will be quite significant the thing that really scares me is the radical faction(s) in the federal government now have an excuse to damage or destroy an industry that is of prime importance to the economic well being and national security of the nation. How? By severely curtailing off shore oil drilling. Now I may be in favor of a temporary "moratorium" on deepwater drilling - It is apparent that the oil industry has little idea how to stop a major oil spill at those depths, but it is assured that lessons are being learned the hard way. It would have been better for all concerned of course if the oil industry had a real game plan before a disaster of this magnitude, but it is obvious they did and do not. Of course they should be required to "plug the damn hole," pay for clean up, and restore livelihood to those adversely affected. It is interesting the BP is the company involved in this disaster. They do appear to have a very bad safety record. Either they are extremely unlucky or they have some major safety deficiencies to rectify. Be that as it may, a temporary deepwater moratorium does make some sense, but shallow water drilling and of course land work should continue unabated. It truly frightening but somewhat predictable that the government may try to totally derail the industry at the cost of untold thousands of direct and indirect jobs.

Now back to deepwater drilling- Pemex (Mexico) apparently is operating deepwater rigs in the Gulf. India and China and of course Cuba considering (if not already are) drilling in the Gulf in the Cuban economic zone. Agreements have been signed by Cuba and Russia also. So if these countries are to drill deepwater then our nation still is at great risk to having unabated petroleum foul the Gulf and wash up on our shores. Will the moratorium on deepwater drilling affect the aforementioned nations? Not at all. Can the U.S. force a deepwater moratorium on foreign interests. Not legally. Our government could I suppose invoke a bastardized version of the Monroe Doctrine to enforce compliance. That may of course require military coercion - something that will not happen. The naval forces of Mexico are pretty darn good, with anti air and ASW capabilities, are probably close to top notch for a third world nation, but would be swept from the ocean in a matter of hours by the sea power of the U.S. Cuba has no navy to speak of any more. A few Osa class missile boats I believe are the only naval forces left functional. Not a threat. The diplomatic and military outcome of tampering with Russia, China or India over Gulf oil rigs would be problematic. No any military response to foreign deepwater drilling in the Gulf is out of the question. So what good does a moratorium on deepwater drilling do in reality? Very little. If it be temporary, so be it. A time out if you will and probably a good idea. However, the moratorium may be a first step in the dismantling of an industry that is of vital importance to the nation. That is what scares me. Fundamental change you see.



Now let us examine another subject. The assault of illegal immigration upon this nation's sovereignty. This is a national defense issue of great importance. There is at this time a war being fought on our southern border that is every bit as dangerous as the conflicts in the Middle East and Afghanistan. What are we doing to protect our citizenry in the border states and beyond? Very little it seems. Some border patrolmen, county deputies, small town cops, state troopers, etc etc. are not enough to stop the invasion nor prevent the war from spilling over into our southern counties. We will hear some leftists complain that the border violence is a direct result of drug consumption by those in the U.S. They have a valid point here, but in reality that does not matter. What does matter is that the border and even interior Mexico are becoming more and more anarchic and that violence will and has found its way over the border. This does not even include the possibility of Mohammedan terrorists crossing the border. Does national defence not matter? Seal that border and do it now and with any means necessary. This would seem the most rational policy. Instead what we have are attempts by states to control the problem that will be hampered by the same federal government that is required to protect this nation. A very scary (and perhaps treasonous) scenario indeed.



I guess now we should discuss Mohammedan terrorism, both state sponsored and "independent." There is no doubt that this nation and our allies are still in grave danger from the spectre of Islamic terrorism. It has been near a decade since the horrible attack on our country. We are not the only nations so affected. There have been attacks in Spain and the U.K. Troops from all over the globe have been killed in the war against "the religion of peace." Oh sorry, we are not in a war with Islam? Excuse me. History shows otherwise. Now again there are those, mainly from the left (Pat B. and some right wing radicals like Dr. Duke excepted), who insist that our support of Israel and our "exploitation" of Mohammedan resources are the main factors of the conflict. They insinuate that if we would just drop our support for the "Zionist entity" and remove our boot from Muslim lands then all would be forgotten and we could all live in harmony. Perhaps they have a valid point, but that matters little. At any rate, does a cop concern himself with the socio economic background of a criminal when making an arrest? No. We as a nation need not concern ourselves too greatly on why we are hated by most Mohammedans either. It is enough for the cop to make an arrest based on criminal action as well it should be. It should also be enough for us in this nation not to concern ourselves to greatly with the "whys" in the conflict with Islam. It is enough that we are in conflict and should fight the battle without one hand tied behind our back. In a sane world there would be no such thing as an Iran, Al Qaeda, Hamas, etc. etc. The problem would have already been resolved satisfactorily. The fact that it is not scares me.



What else. Well for one thing this country needs to take a look at some sort of education reform. The classic liberal education (not politically liberal) does not seem to be working for us any longer. Our nation's children are falling behind. Curriculum is dumbed down and this is detrimental to our national security. Of course children should be taught history, social studies, English literature, etc. etc. but a greater emphasis should be placed on mathematics and the hard sciences. There is a lot of fluff in the public school systems that do very little to educate kids for the real world. There are a lot of kids who are not, as the say, "college material." There is no shame in this. Some kids just are not interested in college and in reality some are not "geared that way." There should also be some real world vocational training in the systems that can teach a kid to frame houses, work on automobiles, start small business, food prep training, etc. etc. Some districts have this already of course, but a great many rely solely on a "college prep" curriculum for all. It wastes a good deal of time for those not so inclined to further their "formal" studies.
The federal government probably should have a role in education of course, but the majority of the decision making needs to be at the local level. Of course there are a great many school districts that struggle financially just to provide the basic "readin, writin and rithmathtic." This is a huge problem and we in this nation need to find a solution. Quickly.

These are just a few of the problems this great nation faces but we need to start somewhere to get this nation back on track. We will surely go the way of the Roman Empire if we do not begin the process now.

For the first time in my adult life I am truly afraid for our future.

Balance of Power: Essential for the Safety of Democracy

Balance of Power is a doctrine that appears to be forgotten and perhaps even repudiated by many in the forward movement toward the disaster called "Globalism." I am no expert on international business or foreign affairs, but it seems to me that we should take a closer look at the "BOP" theory to better ensure the well being of our nation and allies. Those advocates of complete "free trade" in the international business community are perhaps in the forefront leading political theory and practice at this time, and I would suspect the doctrine of "BOP" is anathema to them. Realists on the other hand know damn good and well that the world is a dangerous place and major conflicts and wars have occurred in the last century regardless of economic entanglements. Our enemies and potential adversaries must be contained economically, geographically, and militarily if possible.

There are many levels in the Machiavellian game of ensuring balance of power. Our nation should look to our own interests in this game and ensure that a potential adversary does not; can not; achieve a level of regional supremacy that allows it to escape "regionalism" and become a major player on the world scene. At this time there are nations that threaten the free world and are on a quest for global competitiveness and perhaps dominance. The following are some trouble nations that threaten our country. There is urgent need to keep them contained by military and economic competitors.

The second invasion of Iraq may or may not have been a wise idea on the part of the United States and partners. It is undeniable that Saddam was an evil dictator and was a threat to regional stability. Attacking and occupying Iraq the second time had to have been a tough call. If there were indeed weapons of mass destruction or if the Iraqi government was a sponser of Mohammedan terrorism, then it was probably necessary to destroy the regime. I fear, however that the major long term effect of our military venture will be to strengthen the hand of Iran in the region. In the 80's Iran/Iraq war both nations fought each other to a near stalemate, and while this was horrific, it worked to the advantage of the free nations. The war ensured that neither nation would gain the upper hand in the region and threaten our "allies" in the area thus putting our necessary petroleum at risk. In the First Gulf War, the coalition left the Iraqi regime in power, with just enough of a military to remain a counter to Iran. It does appear that then President Bush had some understanding of the importance of a military balance in the region. The current situation is very different. We are in fact, but not in name, occupiers of Iraq but will not stay for the long term. What will happen is simple for any observant person to predict. We leave and various factions in the country begin a campaign of butchery directed at their political and religious adversaries. Why? Because this is what they do. Iran will then step in and dominate Iraq and thus strengthen her hand in the region. At this time the coalition has become the counter balance to Iran and this fact will tie down troops and naval forces for a long time to come; playing the role that Iraq played under Saddam to some extent. This is physically dangerous to our forces as Iran very well may have the capability to conduct missile strikes on the Western Naval Fleet that is required in the region. It might be argued that it would have been better to leave Iraq alone, but as I noted, it was and is a double edged sword.

China is a potential, no not potential, a factual adversary of the United States and like minded nations. Her march toward economic dominance and military parity is very apparent and is ironically being aided by the international business, globalist community in the United States and other nations. That unfortunately will not change in the foreseeable future and I fear it will be extremely damaging to free nations everywhere. It is imperative that the democratic nations contain this threat before it is too late. Luckily at this time China does not have the military potential, or more accurately, the force projection capabilities, to seriously threaten her ocean seperated neighbors, exclusive of nuclear strike. We should endeavor to keep this a fact. China is historically frightened of Japan and for good reason. Look at the history between the two nations. We should ensure that Japan and China distrust each other and foster our relationship with the Japanese nation to keep this so. The Republic Of China is a thorn in the side of the Peoples Republic and we should ensure that she stay well armed and continue to be a "pebble in the shoe" of China. The Republic of Korea is useful in containing China as well. This is offset to a great extent however by North Korea. North Korea serves a useful purpose to the Chinese by being a proxy military threat to the Republic of Korea, Japan to some extent, and as an annoyance and potential military threat to the United States. More than one can play the "Balance of Power" game.
India, another developing nation that bares watching, also serves a useful purpose as an economic competitor and potential military threat the China. We should foster our relationship with this nation, although realize that her potential to become an adversary is not out of the realm of possibilities. Her naval forces could become a problem in the future. It is hoped that it will be used for containment of the Chinese threat, but that is not a given.
Even the small country of Vietnam serves the purpose of being somewhat of a "pebble in the shoe" of the dangerous Peoples Republic, and as much as it would be unpopular, it is important to foster relations with this small nation.
It is doubtful that Russia, at least at this time, will play a role in containing China. There is historical animosity, but Russia will most likely willingly come under Chinese dominance and become a threat again to Western Democracies and their allies around the globe.
Other nations in the region also look upon China as a potential threat and should be considered as playing a part in keeping the PRC contained.

The nation of Russia has thankfully been neutralized for the most part. She is now surrounded by potential adversaries which are populated by people who hate her. This works to the advantage of the Western and allied nations. Her access to a warm water port is now severely again restricted and it can be seen that she continues to endeavor to have this access with recent overtures toward Syria. If necessary she could forcibly take Ukraine to have further military access to the Black Sea, but would still be confronted by the Turkish nation that may deny her access to another constricted ocean. This is not a bad scenario for the free world to find Russia in at this place and time in history. It is imperative that she not gain access to warm water to again become a major naval power. It is further imperative that she continue to be surrounded by those who hold animosity toward her. This most likely pushes her into a subservient partnership with China, but that is a price that probably must be paid to ensure that she stays relatively weak.

We now come to extreme Mohammedism. This has of course proven to be very dangerous to Christendom and Hinduism and nations so subscribed. It is not however, a culture altering threat. They can and will continue to conduct terrorist operations, but they are no threat to destroying the democratic way of life. They are a dangerous annoyance much like a rattlesnake to the hiker. Keep a sharp watch and crush them before they strike. It can also be argued that extremists can be useful in the containment of our adversaries. They are at this time a cause for concern to both China and Russia, as well as a concern for their "brethren" in Iran. The United States, after all, utilized Muslim extremists to cause severe difficulties for the Soviet Union in Afghanistan with satisfactory results. Unfortunately we are now currently fighting these same Mohammedans.

Balance of Power is unfortunately a real world "solution" to dangers present and future. It is not without some moral issues that again unfortunately, must be overlooked. There is and will be a time when unsavory characters must be supported and if necessary supplied to contain the greater threat. That is a shame from a moral standpoint, but it can be, will be, and is a necessity to defending our nation and like minded states.