BULLY BOY PRESS & CEDRIC'S BIG MIX -- THE KOOL-AID TABLE
OH, THE HORROR!
LUIS HAS BARRY'S VARSITY JACKET AND HAS BEEN PINNED BY BARRY (IN EVERY WAY IMAGINABLE!) BUT TOUGH TIMES FOR LOUIS BECAUSE, AS THE SONG GOES, "HE GAVE HER HIS CHILD BUT WOULDN'T GIVE HER HIS NAME."
AND LUIS IS LATE.
HE HASN'T GOTTEN A PERIOD!
COULD HE BE THE NEXT NUT CASE TO FOLLOW IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF ROBERT PARRY?
WILL HIS CONSTITUENTS PUT UP WITH HIM PLAYING GOSSIP GIRL INSTEAD OF USING HIS TIME TO ADDRESS REAL ISSUES?
LUIS-LUIS, YOU GOTTA GO NOW.
Alsumaria reports US Marines -- about 3,000 -- are now on the ground in Iraq to participate in the upcoming effort to seize control of Mosul (which the Islamic State has controlled since June). 3,000 is not being reported in the US.
Zero is being reported in the US.
In fact, when even the possibility is floated, MSM outlets tends to avert their gaze and turn their heads. Jason Ditz (Antiwar.com) notes, "US officials are now saying that the offensive against the ISIS-held city of Mosul will be supported by the US, with both airstrikes and “if necessary” US ground troops backing the Iraqi military."
Ditz links to the only MSM outlet noting US troops possibly being involved in an assault to take back Mosul, NBC News' Jim Miklaszewski who opens with:
Iraqi military forces backed by U.S. airstrikes and possibly American ground troops could launch an assault to wrest control of the city of Mosul from ISIS as early as April, a senior U.S. official told NBC News on Thursday.
Paul McLeary (Defense News) also cites an unnamed CENTCOM official as his source for these numbers, "Approximately 20,000 to 25,000 Iraqi and Peshmerga troops will move on the city to retake it from an estimated 2,000 IS fighters -- an attacking force that will include five Iraqi Army brigades, three peshmerga brigades, and former Mosul police forces, tribal fighters, and Iraqi Counter Terrorism Service troops."
If you're thinking this is a source Paul has cultivated and worked . . .
You're wrong.
This was not a private conversation.
It was a background briefing.
Here's how that works, the Pentagon is the john insisting on his fantasies being played out and the press are the whores working to make the fantasy come true.
At least Nancy A. Youssef (Daily Beast) provides some context when repeating the words the Pentagon wants the news to carry:
That the Pentagon would announce the makeup, time frame, and goal of a military campaign is unusual, particularly against a group considered to be one of the world’s most lethal. Indeed, ISIS stormed Mosul (and took control of it on June 10) in large part because the Iraqi forces stationed there ran away from their posts. ISIS’s swift sweep through Mosul sparked the U.S.-led military campaign.
[. . .]
The CENTCOM official said he was announcing the details of the upcoming operation to demonstrate “the level of commitment… to this upcoming operation.”
Press Association notes that the effort will begin in March . . .
or . . .
. . . April.
The Pentagon's not sure which.
Doesn't exactly build confidence, does it?
Zero is being reported in the US.
In fact, when even the possibility is floated, MSM outlets tends to avert their gaze and turn their heads. Jason Ditz (Antiwar.com) notes, "US officials are now saying that the offensive against the ISIS-held city of Mosul will be supported by the US, with both airstrikes and “if necessary” US ground troops backing the Iraqi military."
Ditz links to the only MSM outlet noting US troops possibly being involved in an assault to take back Mosul, NBC News' Jim Miklaszewski who opens with:
Iraqi military forces backed by U.S. airstrikes and possibly American ground troops could launch an assault to wrest control of the city of Mosul from ISIS as early as April, a senior U.S. official told NBC News on Thursday.
Paul McLeary (Defense News) also cites an unnamed CENTCOM official as his source for these numbers, "Approximately 20,000 to 25,000 Iraqi and Peshmerga troops will move on the city to retake it from an estimated 2,000 IS fighters -- an attacking force that will include five Iraqi Army brigades, three peshmerga brigades, and former Mosul police forces, tribal fighters, and Iraqi Counter Terrorism Service troops."
If you're thinking this is a source Paul has cultivated and worked . . .
You're wrong.
This was not a private conversation.
It was a background briefing.
Here's how that works, the Pentagon is the john insisting on his fantasies being played out and the press are the whores working to make the fantasy come true.
At least Nancy A. Youssef (Daily Beast) provides some context when repeating the words the Pentagon wants the news to carry:
That the Pentagon would announce the makeup, time frame, and goal of a military campaign is unusual, particularly against a group considered to be one of the world’s most lethal. Indeed, ISIS stormed Mosul (and took control of it on June 10) in large part because the Iraqi forces stationed there ran away from their posts. ISIS’s swift sweep through Mosul sparked the U.S.-led military campaign.
[. . .]
The CENTCOM official said he was announcing the details of the upcoming operation to demonstrate “the level of commitment… to this upcoming operation.”
Press Association notes that the effort will begin in March . . .
or . . .
. . . April.
The Pentagon's not sure which.
Doesn't exactly build confidence, does it?
"we are not at war with Islam" says Obama. But he is at war in 5 Islamic countries (Afg, Iraq & drones in Yemen,Pak & Somalia)
74 retweets 56 favorites Good point. We noted the remark and the perception in yesterday's snapshot and also pointed out:
Today, he decided to speak on behalf of Muslims.
And he's not a Muslim.
How do you think that plays in the Middle East?
The man who's bombing Iraq, the man whose drones are killing civilians in Yemen and Pakistan and elsewhere, this man declared today -- this non-Muslim -- what is and isn't Islam, what is and isn't the proper practice.
How do you think that plays out?
There's a good chance that Barack put his big foot in his big mouth yet again and only did more damage.
How do you think it plays out, Barack lecturing the Muslim world?
If you're still pondering that, All Iraq News reports:
The head of the Supreme Iraqi Islamic Council, Ammar al-Hakim, denounced the "double standards of the US towards fighting terrorism, considering these double standards as "helpful factor for encouraging terrorism."
In his speech at the weekly cultural Forum he holds in his office in Baghdad, al-Hakim said "We heard reports over killing a Muslim family in the US for racist reasons but we did not hear any denouncement for this crime," noting that "Even the US President took many days to issue a denouncement for this crime which is considered a clear evidence for double standards."
That's not Moqtada al-Sadr, cleric and movement leader, speaking. Moqtada? The press loves to call him "radical cleric" because he opposes US forces on Iraqi soil and always has and because he's repeatedly called out the US government.
No, that's Ammar. Ammar who, like his late father, has always been a friend to the US government.
Ammar who many administration officials were saying should be named Iraq's new prime minister (instead it was Haider al-Abadi).
Ammar felt the need to call out Barack.
The xenophobia of the White House is matched only by its hubris.
Again, there are times when, if you're smart, you learn to shut your mouth.
I know Bill Clinton, I like Bill Clinton. So you can dismiss this observation if you need to. But when Bill Clinton hosted events -- like Barack's summit this week -- he was more than happy to let others shine. He was more than happy to let others speak.
By contrast, Barack's got to be the center of attention, the one who knows everything and can't stop talking. It's a 'summit' in name only. The entire purpose for everyone to assemble and listen to Barack drone on.
The world did not need non-Muslim Barack explaining what was and wasn't Islam. In a world in which Muslims are repeatedly persecuted, the last thing needed was a non-Muslim standing up and trying to be the voice -- the single voice -- of a group he's not even a part of. Pompous doesn't begin to describe it. And it was and it is offensive.
Mr. Know It All
Well ya think you know it all
But ya don't know a thing at all
Ain't it, ain't it something y'all
When somebody tells you something 'bout you
Think that they know you more than you do
So you take it down another pill to swallow
-- "Mr. Know It All," written by Brian Seals, Ester Dean, Brett James, Dante Jones, first recorded by Kelly Clarkson for her album Stronger
Barack chose to grand stand and lecture yesterday. Today, Ammar al-Hakim had words for Barack. You can be sure others in the Middle East felt even more strongly than Ammar.
RECOMMENDED: "Iraq snapshot"
"Stalker"
"The AUMF"
