BULLY BOY PRESS & CEDRIC'S BIG MIX -- THE KOOL-AID TABLE
FAILED JOURNALIST AND PRESIDENTIAL MISTRESS ROBERT PARRY HAS GROWN WEARY OF WHAT HE SEES AS "DEAD BEAT FATHERING FROM THE WHITE HOUSE."
IN AN ATTEMPT TO FORCE THE HAND OF FADED CELEBRITY BARRY O, PARRY IS GOING PUBLIC WITH DETAILS OF THEIR LIFE, THEIR LOVE LIFE.
"THE PRESIDENT HAD ME LIKE SO MANY LAYS POTATO CHIPS AND HE HAD ME IN THE CALVIN COOLIDGE ROMPUS ROOM IN THE EAST WING. WE MET MANY LATE NIGHT HOURS. HE HAD ME ON MY BACK, HE HAD ME ON ALL FOURS, HE HAD ME ON MY BELLY AND HE HAD ME WITHOUT MY DRAWERS," PARRY DECLARED PAUSING TO DAB HIS EYES WITH A LARGE BEACH TOWEL.
GATHERING HIS WITS, "HE USED TO CALL ME BUTTERCUP AND THE LITTLE PONY HE LOVED TO RIDE BUT I GUESS HE'S FORGOTTEN ALL OF THAT NOW."
THE WHITE HOUSE HAS A CALVIN COOLIDGE RHOMPUS ROOM?
NewsinEnglish.no reports, "Norway’s government has confirmed plans to send a total of 195 military personnel to Iraq and Afghanistan as a contribution to the US-led international efforts to combat terrorism. The decision announced Thursday was critizised by some left-wing politicians, but the opposition Labour party said it supported the move." Steven Chase (Globe and Mail) reports, "Canadian warplanes are poised to start striking targets in Iraq, with the government saying bombing of Islamic militant forces should begin very shortly." Emily Kent Smith (Daily Mail) reports England's gearing up to provide Apache helicopters to Iraq and "If Apaches are sent to Iraq - which are piloted by the Army Air Corps - it would mark the first British Army involvement in a conflict role in the country."
For those who've forgotten who else is bombing Iraq, the US Defense Dept helpfully notes, "Among the coalition nations conducting airstrikes in Iraq are the United States, France, the United Kingdom, Australia, Belgium, Denmark and the Netherlands. Coalition nations conducting airstrikes in Syria include the United States, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Jordan and Bahrain."
That's a lot of countries and so many more lining up for their chance to destroy Iraq.
The US Defense Dept boast, "Separately, officials said, U.S. and partner-nation military forces conducted two airstrikes in Iraq yesterday and today, using attack, fighter and remotely piloted aircraft against ISIL terrorists. [. . .]
In Iraq, an airstrike near Bayji struck a small ISIL unit and destroyed an ISIL vehicle, and an airstrike west of Ramadi struck an ISIL checkpoint."
Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel has been on the defensive recently about the strategy to take on the Islamic State. American warplanes have been bombing targets in Iraq and Syria, but militant fighters are still on the move.
"We have made it very clear, I have and President Obama has, that this is a long, difficult effort," Hagel said.
Difficult, some critics say, because the U.S. military is not bombing enough targets and is not deploying any U.S. ground troops in the fight. There are also critics who say the U.S. does not have effective partners on the ground and is not training a sufficient number of local troops or militias.
"This sounds like a Goldilocks approach. We're looking for a solution that's just right," said Fred Hof, who worked in the Obama administration on Syria policy.
Greg Miller (Washingon Post) adds, "The magnitude of the ongoing migration suggests that the U.S.-led air campaign has neither deterred significant numbers of militants from traveling to the region nor triggered such outrage that even more are flocking to the fight because of American intervention."
If you're not grasping what a failure US President Barack Obama's 'plan' has been, Xinhua reports, "A total of 255 tribesmen and local policemen were executed by the militants of the Islamic State (IS) after the group took them from their villages and towns in Iraq's western province of Anbar, a provincial security source said on Thursday."
Here's the thing about little boys and their war toys, it stops being a fun game quickly. They end up like gamblers at black jack, they just can't walk away.. They're losing but they keep betting because now they've lost face, now everyone's looking at them. And they know they're not doing anything different and they're not planning to do anything different, but if they keep bluffing, surely (they hope) their luck will change.
Luck is all Barack's hoping for at this point to save his 'plan.'
Al Arabiya News notes, "Islamic state of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) militants executed 46 people and besieged 500 families in the Iraqi city of Heet, Al Arabiya News Channel’s correspondent to Anbar reported on Wednesday." Sameer N. Yacoub and Sinan Salaheddin (AP) add, "Hit was captured by Islamic State militants earlier this month after heavy clashes with the government security forces and tribal militias." Earlier this month.
When you're losing cities, you aren't making "gains." Even if you retake them, you are not making "gains." The Pentagon keeps labeling this and that "Islamic State propaganda" but the Defense Dept isn't averse to circulating its own propaganda.
Loveday Morris (Washington Post via the UK Independent) provides the reality that the Defense Dept keeps glossing over:
But a visit to the Sunni settlement this week laid bare the huge cost of that victory. The town is now emptied of its 80,000 residents, and building after building has been destroyed – by air strikes, bombings and artillery fire.
After four months of battles between the Isis and the Iraqi army, about 10,000 pro-government Shia militiamen were poured into this area in Babil province for a final push, according to Hadi al-Amiri, who leads the Iranian-backed Badr Brigade and co-ordinated the operation.
Defeating the militants involved clearing out all the residents and leaving the town nearly flattened, underscoring the challenge the Shia-led government faces in areas where demographics do not work in its favour.
And that's what the Pentagon -- and White House -- insists is a 'success.'
RECOMMENDED: "Iraq snapshot"
"Ebola"
