BULLY BOY PRESS & CEDRIC'S BIG MIX -- THE KOOL AID TABLE
CRANKY CLINTON JUST ISN'T BELIEVABLE AS SOMEONE CONSUMED BY PASSION BUT AMERICA WILL BUY HER AS THE CRANKY FOOL SENDING OUT NATIONAL SECRETS IN HER E-MAILS.
REACHED FOR COMMENT, CRANKY DECLARED SHE WAS "POURING OVER SPREAD SHEETS. HA! I WAS UP TILL 4 THIS MORNING RUNNING ACTUARY NUMBERS! THAT'S THE SORT OF THING THAT GETS MY JUICES FLOWING, I TELL YOU! I THINK, FOR FUN TONIGHT, I'LL PULL OUT SOME PIE CHARTS."
What happens when an angry Frankenstein faces Congress?
That was this morning at the Senate Armed Services Committee hearing where Secretary of State Kerry, Secretary of Defense Ash Carter and Gen Martin Dempsey (Chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff) provided testimony.
Or in Kerry's case, theatrics and laughter.
When not impatiently clicking his pen throughout the hearing, Kerry basically glowered -- as if the Committee were villagers carrying torches.
"I see a real danger of a ground troop creep here converting this into not the region poliicing its own terrorism but like the air strike campaign that's 80% US, it's a US mission," declared Senator Tim Kaine in the hearing.
This resulted in a forced chuckle by Kerry.
It didn't result in any real answer.
Of course not.
Kerry can't even get honest that everyone in the administration is waiting on Gen Lloyd Austin's recommendation which the military chiefs expect will be for US troops in an on the ground combat role -- this was addressed -- again -- in yesterday's Senate Armed Services Committee hearing covered in Tuesday's snapshot. From yesterday:
Senator Lindsey Graham: Do you agree with me that the best way that you guarantee that you destroy and degrade ISIL is that you have some American ground forces to help the regional forces?
Gen Joseph Dunford Jr.: Senator, uh, right now, uh, I think it's critical that we provide US support. And I think, as you know, we're waiting for Gen [Lloyd] Austin to make a recommendation as to exactly what that support would be.
John Kerry found Kaine's question hilarious.
This despite the fact that Kaine's remarks are similar to what many leaders in the region have said and have told Congress. King Abdullah II of Jordan, for example, has noted this has to be a regional response and not a US dominated one. For it to work, it has to be a regional response otherwise it is the West again attacking Iraq which only helps recruit opposition forces.
King rightly points out that while Kerry and other US officials insist the current war on Iraq is a coalition effort -- a coalition working with the government of Iraq -- the reality is that 80% of the air strikes are carried about by the US.
So if they can't get honest about that, why should the same US government officials be trusted when they claim that any efforts on the ground would be a coalition working with Iraq?
Most likely, as King points out, ground forces would be US troops with a few Iraqis and a handful of soldiers from other countries tossed in.
Though he can't get honest, John Kerry can lecture and did so repeatedly.
"So as long as we continue to work on the integration," he said waiving his clutched and unclutched right hand throughout the air, "the internal inclusivity of Iraq and its government -- to help the Iraqis to be able to do this themselves, help the region feel empowered by it, that is a long term recipe for the United States not to have as much risk and not to have to put ourselves on the line the way we have historically."
But that hasn't been done.
Iraq's Haider al-Abadi became prime minister in August and there's been nothing but empty talk.
He did finally get a budget passed.
Iraq's Parliament passed the 2015 budget on January 29, 2015.
And in August, this was going to happen before the end of September.
Didn't turn out that way.
In fairness to him, there is no 2014 budget.
Former prime minister and forever thug Nouri al-Maliki was never able to pass a 2014 budget.
But that's really all Haider has to point to.
The State Dept attempted to sell an 'oil deal' between the central government out of Baghdad and the Kurdish Regional Government as proof that Haider was being more "inclusive" than Nouri and as movement towards resolving Iraq's many crises that led to the current state of affairs.
However, that 'deal' is still not implemented.
It's nothing more than empty words from Haider al-Abadi.
RECOMMENDED: "Iraq snapshot"
