BULLY BOY PRESS & CEDRIC'S BIG MIX -- THE KOOL-AID TABLE
NO, NOT A KITTEN.
FADED CELEBRITY BARRY O.
HE'S LIKE A KITTEN UP A TREE.
We'll start with this Tweet.
Iraq -- US F-18 fighter jet refuels from a U.S. Air Force KC-135 Stratotanker aircraft over northern Iraq
Thursday, the State Dept's Brett McGurk Tweeted, "Today in #Iraq, US air strikes against #ISIS terrorists destroyed four armed vehicles, a humvee, tank, construction vehicle, & checkpoint." AP notes this was the 106th US bombing in Iraq since August 8th.
Cedric and Wally emphasized the financial cost on Friday noting that a cost of $7.5 million a day means at least $555 million through Friday which would be over a half-billion dollars.
That's not coming out of US President Barack Obama's pocket, the US tax payer is footing the bill.
It's a bill that continues to grow.
The US taxpayer didn't authorize the bill and certainly wasn't consulted about putting more money on the tab.
They're not even informed what the plan is because there is no plan. Karen DeYoung (Washington Post) reports:
Amid conflicting congressional demands, impatient Arab allies, and public concern that he will do too much or too little, President Obama made bluntly clear Thursday why he has not yet implemented a comprehensive U.S. response to the Islamist insurgency that is rapidly spreading across the Middle East.
“We don’t have a strategy yet,” Obama said, in response to questions about when he is prepared to begin military action in Syria, and, if not, why not?
White House spokesperson Josh Earnest has made the media rounds insisting that Iraq is not without a strategy, just Syria.
That's spin, not truth.
The White House continues to link Syria and Iraq so, if they have no plan for Syria, then they have no plan for Iraq.
The White House presents the Islamic State as darting back and forth between Syria and Iraq -- which share a border -- and doing damage in both countries as part of a larger, coherent plan to implement a fundamentalist state.
Is that correct?
Who knows. They've never backed it up.
Asked why what is taking place is taking place, from the State Dept to the White House, they can't provide concrete answers. They can talk 'barbaric' and other rhetoric. They can assert that the entire Middle East is at risk and, more recently, that the US mainland is at risk.
It's a cute little fear fantasy.
It dissolves a bit if you apply common sense to it.
Syria and Iraq share a border.
Syria also shares a border with Turkey.
Is the Islamic State somehow intimidated by Turkey?
Or by Israel or Jordan?
Syria borders Iraq, Turkey, Israel and Jordan.
And just off the coast of Syria, to its west, you have the Republic of Cyprus.
If you were a terrorist group intent on taking territory -- which really seems more like the goal of a group of invaders (and historically we've not referred to such groups as terrorists) -- wouldn't Cyprus be your first target?
It's small. It's an island -- meaning you could monitor incoming and outgoing traffic much easier than with landlocked countries.
It's a bit of a resort island which, for most people, would say 'soft target' -- especially when contrasted with a large country.
Syria's not responsible for Iraq but the US government has wanted war with the Syrian government for some time. They wanted it under Bully Boy Bush -- remember the diplomatic tiffs -- and they want it under Barack.
A connection that Syria and Iraq do have -- that can be established factually -- is that Sunnis and Shi'ites are going into both countries to fight. In both countries -- and this is what has given IS its power -- Sunnis feel persecuted.
You can argue whether they are or not.
That's really pointless.
The perception is they are being persecuted.
That perception is strong and growing.
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