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Libya: Haftar Escapes Suicide Attack
Today's Headlines
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-Short Attention Span Theater-
This Day in History - the U-505
June 4, 1944 was a particularly auspicious day for the Allied forces in Europe. The Allies entered Rome, General Eisenhower decided D-day would not be June 5th, but June 6th, and the U.S. Navy captured the first enemy combat vessel since 1815, the German submarine U-505. By 1944, small aircraft carriers with several destroyer escorts formed hunter-killer groups to sink enemy subs. The group lead by the USS Guadalcanal not only wanted to kill subs, they wanted to capture one! The group understood the difficulty, knew the risks, but planned to overcome the obstacles.

After three weeks at sea without enemy contact, the group was running low on fuel and turned toward home. A few minutes later, they almost tripped over the U-505. The first destroyer literally overran the sub before getting ready to fire depth charges, while the carrier quickly launched two planes. The planes spotted the shallowly-submerged sub almost immediately and marked the position with machine gun fire. Depth charges brought the sub to the surface within six minutes, and the well-rehearsed plan went into action.

Almost immediately, the sub was under fire from three ships and two planes, using 50-caliber machine guns planned to preserve the structural integrity of the ship, but discourage a fight. The Captain of the U-505 quickly ordered his crew to abandon ship and the sailors promptly complied, leaving the sea strainer open to the sea, and a time bomb on board to assure the sub would not be captured.

Lieutenant (j.g) Albert L. David was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for leading an eight-man boarding party into the sinking submarine. The men gathered up code books, disarmed the demolition changes and located the sea strainer inlet cover and replaced it, which stopped the flooding and prevented the sinking of the German sub. The Navy sailors then disconnected the sub’s diesels from her motors, which allowed the propellers to turn the electric motors into generators, charging the sub's batteries. Then the sub’s pumps and air compressors could pump out the seawater and stabilize the boat.

The U-505 was thoroughly investigated (and her technology incorporated into US designs), kept secret until after the war, and then slated to be used for target practice. Shortly after the capture was revealed in 1946, a Chicago priest, who happened to be the brother of the Captain of the Guadalcanal, alerted Chicago’s Museum of Science and Industry – which had been planning a submarine exhibit since 1936. The people of Chicago raised $250,000 to help prepare the boat for the tow through the St. Lawrence Seaway and the Great Lakes to the Chicago beachfront – just a few hundred yards from the Museum.

In September 1954, U-505 was donated to the City of Chicago and dedicated as a war memorial and permanent exhibit. For 50 years, it rested just outside the huge Museum, which was built for the Colombian Exposition in 1893. In 1989, the U-505 was designated a National Historic Landmark. In 2004, it was moved into a specially-constructed, underground exhibit hall. The last time I visited the Museum, the line to see the U-505 was over two hours long, so if you go, be patient! Bobby

Posted by: Bobby || 06/05/2014 12:50 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:

#1  My understanding is that one of the enlisted crew of the boat became and American Citizen and kept an eye on his old wessell. U-Boat crew are not like much else, maybe old US Pacific Sub types. I guess it's the nature of the job. Glad I don't have to deal with 'em.

Posted by: Shipman || 06/05/2014 13:10 Comments || Top||

#2  The Captain of the Guadalcanal was Admiral Dan Gallery; he wrote a very good account of the history and capture of the U-505 (as well as the sub war in general). He also wrote several hilarious collections of his adventures in the Navy - all extensively embellished and exagerrated; I recommend them all.
Posted by: Glenmore || 06/05/2014 15:02 Comments || Top||

#3  The last German off the sub who set the demolition charges and removed the strainer so the airpocket in chamber 7 would dissipate allowing the sub to sink, thought the Americans who entered the sub to save it were either extremely brave or crazily insane. The enigma codes were broken because of the capture but they hid the sub so the Germans would not know they had the codes.

The American in charge of the sub hunter group almost got court marshaled for saving the sub, quite a twist. U-505 is a great war story in many ways.
Posted by: Bubba Graiting8281 || 06/05/2014 16:14 Comments || Top||

#4  The enigma codes were broken because of the capture
I think you mean the U-boat variation on the code. Enigma was being peeked at for awhile thanks to the Poles and various screaming queens.

Posted by: Shipman || 06/05/2014 16:46 Comments || Top||

#5  The people of Chicago raised $250,000 to help prepare the boat..

Before there was Kickstarter...

$250K in 1946 in today's dollars $3,201,222.52 (Annual Inflation: 3.82%, Total Inflation: 1180.49%)
Posted by: Procopius2k || 06/05/2014 17:26 Comments || Top||

#6  The U505 was towed to Bermuda after capture. At the submarine school in Connecticut, the call went out for submariners who could read German. Somebody in the Navy wanted to try to sail the U505. The men from Connecticut said, "We are not sailing on that death trap!" End of that idea. (My dad was one of the German-speaking gobs from sub school).
Posted by: mom || 06/05/2014 18:09 Comments || Top||


Relentless Incompetence: Americans Are Giving Up on Obama
Posted by: DarthVader || 06/05/2014 12:34 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I'll believe it when there are large demonstrations for him to resign.
Posted by: DarthVader || 06/05/2014 12:35 Comments || Top||

#2  CNN was cooking the books; in champ's favor.
Posted by: Squinty || 06/05/2014 12:40 Comments || Top||

#3  Only a small and insignificant minority are doing this. The rest are watching sports, the Kardashians, etc. & "getting on with their lives".
Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 || 06/05/2014 13:15 Comments || Top||

#4  Most of the world has given up on him. He has a complete disregard for the constitution and our nation. What upsets me more it the people responsible in our balances of power are complacent, lethargic, or complicit in his destruction of the trust between the leaders and the people of this nation.
Posted by: 49 Pan || 06/05/2014 13:41 Comments || Top||

#5  We (America) Gave up on his lies year ago.
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 06/05/2014 14:04 Comments || Top||

#6  As Commander in Chief he has done more FOR the enemies of his troops than for his troops. (VA scandal, etc.). He must be removed from office on grounds of gross negligence. Period.
Posted by: Bubba Graiting8281 || 06/05/2014 16:24 Comments || Top||

#7  I have inside info that says MadMen isn't really ending, it's a trick by the Kardashians. I am not sure how much credence to give to this.

I do know that the Senior Senator from Nevada has still not refuted the numerous allegations bestiality allegations against him and his chicken coop.
Posted by: Shipman || 06/05/2014 16:50 Comments || Top||


Africa North
Analysis: Rocky Road ahead for Egypt President-Elect Sisi
[AnNahar] Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, who romped home in Egypt's presidential election after crushing Islamists, faces a tough task to restore stability and revive a battered economy amid fears of a return to autocracy.

On Tuesday, the electoral commission declared Sisi won 96.91 percent of the vote on turnout of 47.5 percent, nearly a year after he toppled the country's first freely elected leader, Islamist Mohammed Morsi
...the former president of Egypt. A proponent of the One Man, One Vote, One Time principle, Morsi won election after the deposal of Hosni Mubarak and jumped to the conclusion it was his turn to be dictator...
The crushing victory over leftist leader Hamdeen Sabbahi had never been in doubt, with many lauding the retired field marshal as a hero for ending Morsi's year of divisive
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: trailing wife || 06/05/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:


Europe
Europe Living In Denial
[Ynet] Despite warning signs about Islamist invasion on one hand and radical rightist reaction on other, European establishment still refuses to accept reality.

"Multiculturalism has utterly failed," German Chancellor Angela Merkel
...current chancellor of Germany. She was educated in East Germany when is was still run by commies, but in 1989 got involved with the growing democracy movement when the Berlin Wall fell. Merkel is sometimes referred to by Germans as Mom...
ruled in October 2010. It was just a year and a half after David Cameron
... has stated that he is certainly a big Thatcher fan, but I don't know whether that makes me a Thatcherite, which means he's not. Since he is not deeply ideological he lacks core principles and is easily led. He has been described as certainly not a Pitt, Elder or Younger, but he does wear a nice suit so maybe he's Beau Brummel ...
harshly criticized the liberal immigration policy of then-British Prime Minister Gordon Brown
... the hapless former British PM ...
, stating: "We let in some crazies, and didn't wake up soon enough."

But a brief moment after concluding her remarks about multiculturalism, Merkel went to the trouble of softening the message and paying the required lip service, explaining that "Islam has become part of Germany." Cameron was forced to go on the defensive and express remorse when his comments were published almost two years after they were made.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: trailing wife || 06/05/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Hell, it's been 60 years since the last time the continent was laid waste. They must have achieved nirvana; all is perfect.
Europe is like a balloon; it blows up til it pops. If it doesn't pop sooner, it pops later and louder.
Posted by: ed in texas || 06/05/2014 7:45 Comments || Top||


Fifth Column
No, Prisoner-of-War Bowe Bergdahl Did Not Get Americans Killed
True, Americans died while on operations that directly and indirectly supported the military's prolonged efforts to find Bergdahl. But that doesn't mean soldiers would not have died if Bergdahl had not wandered off.
Mmmmmmmmmmmm-k.
Posted by: Uncle Phester || 06/05/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Depends on what you mean by "if".~
Posted by: Squinty || 06/05/2014 0:22 Comments || Top||

#2  Speaking as your Actuarial Advisor, all those guys would have died eventually, so no harm, no foul, right?

Posted by: SteveS || 06/05/2014 0:44 Comments || Top||

#3  This guy is suffering from the same logic delusion that Hillary Clinton is. Unbelievable this guy is in print.
Posted by: 49 Pan || 06/05/2014 1:16 Comments || Top||

#4  Yeah. I'm kind of impressed that anyone is willing to say something that stupid in public.
Posted by: SteveS || 06/05/2014 1:35 Comments || Top||

#5  Wow! Its TRUE! Its on the internet! Not everyone can have a blog ya know... This garbage should be linked to the Russian Troll's post. Seems to be the same crap different day
Posted by: AnyoneCanBlog || 06/05/2014 1:40 Comments || Top||

#6  What a pile of disingenuous shit. I suppose this guy things our Ambassador wasn't murdered because he would have died of smoke inhalation anyway.

1. BF Bergdahl deserts.
2. Immediately they send out high risk patrols WITHOUT the usual prep and support, due to urgency, taking far more risks due to our personnel needing rescue.
3. Said personnel are wounded and some die.

The moron writing this has no conception of field operations and the difference between planned patrols and ops, and urgent contingency actions - the risks are FAR different. Someone please post that douchebags military experience.
Posted by: OldSpook || 06/05/2014 2:08 Comments || Top||

#7  How many died capturing the 5 taliban that got released? Those should also be added to the count.
Posted by: BrerRabbit || 06/05/2014 5:19 Comments || Top||

#8  They’re wrong. And shame on them for heaping scorn on a man who undoubtedly has suffered enough for any crime he may have committed.

"He has suffered enough," a theme, which will no doubt be heard often in the coming months. In other words, 'credit for time served.'

Some of the deepest raids and prisoner snatches into enemy held territory in the history of military operations resulted in very few friendly casualties. Son Tay, Cassinga, Entebbe, Abbattabad, are some examples.

If U.S. SOF knew where Bergdahl was and did not go get him, there was a reason, and that reason was not the fear of casualties.
Posted by: Besoeker || 06/05/2014 5:59 Comments || Top||

#9  It was not Bowe who killed them; it was those damn guns. Guns are the real killers I hear it everyday on the news.
Posted by: Airandee || 06/05/2014 6:45 Comments || Top||

#10  Obean depends on these kinds of people.
Posted by: gorb || 06/05/2014 6:53 Comments || Top||

#11  'War Is Boring' seems to lean towards this mindset. They act 'strategically misinformed".
Posted by: ed in texas || 06/05/2014 7:20 Comments || Top||

#12  Written by someone who has absolutely no comprehension of the military culture, as distinct as any color, race or creed. You don't not fight and die for mom, apple pie, or the flag (BTW, mom's getting a government funded sex change operation, the label on the apple pie lists apples as one percent of content, and the flag is imported from China). You fight and die for each other. You have each others back. Your lives depend upon that. The toad's action was a betrayal of that fundamental trust. It's a concept as alien as the dark side of the moon to the author of this tripe.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 06/05/2014 8:00 Comments || Top||

#13  WEATHER WARNING #06-02

REQUEST WIDEST DISSEMINATION TO ALL UNITS IVO THE INTERNETS

SHIT STORM WARNING

VALID TIME: 140602/1330D (140602/0900Z) – 140602/1930D (140602/1500Z)

FORECASTER: CWO WEINER/METOC/TACC/DSN: 357-6666

HIGH SPEED SHIT STORMS ARE OCCURRING OR ARE FORECASTED TO OCCUR WITHIN 10NM OF TWITTER, FACEBOOK, AND ALL ASSOCIATED SOCIAL MEDIA. FORECASTED WINDS ARE FROM 230°V290° AT 12-18 WITH GUSTS TO 23-27KT ISOLD 30KT. THE POTENTIAL FOR VISIBILITY REDUCED TO LESS THAN 5SM BUT GREATER THAN 3SM EXISTS DURING PERIODS OF BLOWING SHIT. TAKE PRECAUTIONS THAT WILL PERMIT ESTABLISHMENT OF AN APPROPRIATE STATE OF READINESS.

SALSA NIGHT AND THE DAVE ATELL / CLEVELAND BROWNS CHEERLEADERS (THE BROWNEYES) USO SHOW ARE MOVED TO HANGARS 4 AND 6 DUE TO INCLEMENT WEATHER.

A LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM OF JOURNALISTS REPORTING BOWE BERGDAHL AS AN AMERICAN HERO IS EXPECTED TO CRASH INTO A POWERFUL STORM OF SOLDIERS WHO SERVED WITH HIM AND CALL HIM A DESERTER AND TALIBAN COLLABORATOR.

FECAL MATTER IS EXPECTED TO ECLIPSE ALL OTHER NATIONAL SECURITY ISSUES, THE VETERANS ADMINISTRATION DEBACLE, THE ONGOING WAR ON TERROR, F-35 ACQUISITION, OUTED CIA CHIEFS, IRS SCANDALS, ABANDONED DIPLOMATIC MISSIONS, PENDING ECONOMIC COLLAPSE, AND ANY MENTION OF FALLEN SOLDIERS OR DEAD VETERANS.

TAKE COVER. THIS IS A WARNING. TAKE COVER NOW.

Courtesy of the DuffleBlog.
Posted by: Bangkok Billy || 06/05/2014 8:50 Comments || Top||

#14  It's now POW Bergdahl? The people closest to him on the battlefield most likely have it right.
Posted by: JohnQC || 06/05/2014 11:46 Comments || Top||

#15  The thing that strikes me I that 6 (7?) members of his platoon died looking for him. That's a very high fatality rate for 1 platoon on 1 tour in the 'stan.

While it's true the unit might have suffered casualties anyway if it had been conducting other ops, all you have to do is look at casualties / tour for other paratroop platoons and the delta is the number of troops who died because of Bergdahl.

P.S. the number of dead winds up being slightly less, but it is still too high for a worthless sack of s***. And the cost is still rising, given that the 5 Taliban have yet to kick in.

Posted by: Frozen Al || 06/05/2014 11:47 Comments || Top||

#16  This is a meme started by the NY Slimes. I heard it on the radio, credited to the Slimes, then I read it in the Dallas Morning News, which credited the Slimes at the end of the article. Let's see how far it goes.
Posted by: Bobby || 06/05/2014 13:09 Comments || Top||

#17  Seems like it should be POS Bergdahl from what I've been reading lately.
Posted by: rjschwarz || 06/05/2014 14:46 Comments || Top||

#18  FoxNews:Bergdahl's hometown cancels 'Welcome Home' ceremony amid questions
Published June 04, 2014

HAILEY, Idaho – This small, central Idaho city of about 8,000 is wilting in the international spotlight brought by what was supposed to be a joyous occasion, and a much-anticipated celebration welcoming back a long-lost son has been canceled...ut the jubilation that followed his release has given way to confusion and fear, as questions about whether Bergdahl was a deserter have surfaced. City Hall has been inundated with angry letters and emails from around the country. The long-planned "Welcome Back, Bowe" celebration, planned for June 28 in Hop Porter Park, was canceled Wednesday amid growing claims by Bergdahl's fellow soldiers that he deserves no honor.

“This man deserves no welcome," reads one of the many emails City Administrator Heather Dawson has fielded at City Hall. "His reward is being alive, unlike the brave soldiers who actually followed their orders and continued to search for him knowing full well he had deserted his post.”

“You and anyone else involved in organizing this farce of a celebration should be ashamed of yourselves,” reads another.
Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 || 06/05/2014 15:01 Comments || Top||

#19  by David Axle. Now who does that remind me of... someone famous for orchastrating astroturfing campaigns....

I wouldn't be surprised if this wasn't being all orchestrated from the WH or the NYT on the WH's behalf.
Posted by: CrazyFool || 06/05/2014 15:33 Comments || Top||

#20  I think these guys are making the arguments they've been ordered to.
Posted by: Thing From Snowy Mountain || 06/05/2014 15:48 Comments || Top||

#21  If U.S. SOF knew where Bergdahl was and did not go get him, there was a reason, and that reason was not the fear of casualties.

Bergdahl was needed as a convenient fig leaf to cover the release of the Taliban.

Even now, the misdirection is working as the public is discussing the imperfections of the fig leaf and not paying attention to the real scandal which is the release.
Posted by: Elmerert Hupens2660 || 06/05/2014 16:06 Comments || Top||

#22  That is what I'm starting to think. I read an article the other day where the process for releasing GITMO prisoners was discussed and the WH has been trying to get these 5 released practically since day one. But the pentagon and CIA always said no. This time the president (and State department) bypassed the process and basically told them to suck it up and salute. *That* process bypass isn't being discussed at all - instead what is being discussed is that congress wasn't 'notified'.

I think the real goal was to get the 5 released and not to get the deserter returned - that was a side 'benefit'.

Oh and does this tinfoil hat make my head look fat?
Posted by: CrazyFool || 06/05/2014 16:33 Comments || Top||

#23  Dead on CF. Bergdahl was simply a tool. Champ wants to empty GITMO, possibly end the lease with Cuba and turn it over to Raul and or the Russians.
Posted by: Besoeker || 06/05/2014 16:47 Comments || Top||

#24  Yawl watch, this slimer will be on the cover of People within a year.
Posted by: Shipman || 06/05/2014 16:52 Comments || Top||


Home Front: WoT
Why Are We Releasing Terrorists Who Kill Girls Because They Go To School?
[TheFederalist] This cynical deal marks Obama's final abandonment of any scintilla of concern for human rights. It's a declaration that he and his administration don't really give a damn what happens to the people of Afghanistan a year from now when we bug out.

Yes, I know, American foreign policy is not simply a humanitarian operation, and we can't set out to relieve all the world's suffering. But if we're going to engage in this kind of cynical trade, we'd better get something in return that's pretty damn important for our interests. So what did we get by releasing these Afghan wolves back amongst their prey?

Maybe the administration thought it would be good domestic PR, and they certainly seem to have expected military families to rally around a deal that brought back a POW. Except that the POW turned out to be a deserter who reportedly renounced his US citizenship before leaving his post.

But there is an even worse motive suggested by a report that US special operations knew of Bergdahl's location but chose not to mount a rescue operation because they considered the risk too high and didn't want to sacrifice elite troops for the sake of a deserter. The administration had opposite priorities. An intelligence official told the Washington Times that "the deal turned out the way it did because 'the administration wanted to close the door on this no matter what the price was.'"

Now, why would they want to do that?

Bergdahl had to be brought back because he was a loose end cluttering up the administration's withdrawal from Afghanistan. President Obama has to have everyone back so he can end US military operations in Afghanistan completely without being accused of abandoning a POW.

The Berghdal trade is part of a strategy, not just to end the war in Afghanistan, but to get the US completely out of the Afghanistan-Pakistan theater. So no wonder we're willing to send back Taliban leaders, so long as the Emir of Qatar can arrange for a one-year delay. We don't care what happens when the Taliban's boys get back in town, because we're going to be gone.

This is Obama's way of foreclosing any continuation of the war by a future administration, because once we're out, when things go wrong it won't be easy to get back in. This is Obama's attempt to make his policy of total disengagement from the War on Terrorism permanent.

Does anybody remember when Afghanistan was the good war, the war of necessity as opposed to our "war of choice" in Iraq? Well, it turns out that every war is a war of choice--so long as you don't have qualms about choosing a really horrific outcome. The administration's choice is to release monsters in support of a policy that says we're no longer going to fight them.
Posted by: Beavis || 06/05/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: Taliban

#1  War on women?
Posted by: Wheretle Grundy2884 || 06/05/2014 0:22 Comments || Top||

#2  Yep.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 06/05/2014 8:01 Comments || Top||

#3  ...no matter what the price was.

Obama's presidency in a nutshell.
Posted by: Raj || 06/05/2014 10:21 Comments || Top||

#4  Why did we elect someone as president who would do things like this?
Posted by: Iblis || 06/05/2014 10:57 Comments || Top||

#5  Because we're a racist society that judges a man on the color of his skin, not his merits.

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.

Martin Luther King, Jr.


MLK's dream was sold out by the Left. Power first, power last. Play that race guilt card.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 06/05/2014 11:46 Comments || Top||

#6  #4 Why did we elect someone as president who would do things like this?

Mass Derangement Syndrome, a stuffed ballot box, and widespread corruption.
Posted by: JohnQC || 06/05/2014 11:57 Comments || Top||

#7  Do the Paks/Qatar/Saudi/UAE still want the Taliban in charge of Afghanistan?

If so the war in Afghanistan is a waste of time and lives!
Posted by: Slinelet Pelosi7787 || 06/05/2014 12:10 Comments || Top||

#8  When you hear a liberal talk about negotiating with the Taliban, replace "Taliban" with "mafia". Now, how do you think that will turn out?
Posted by: Squinty || 06/05/2014 12:37 Comments || Top||

#9  ...for the Left, it's a feature, not a bug - see Chicago.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 06/05/2014 15:34 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
Analysis: Altaf Hussain, Losing The Plot
[Dawn] This article was first published in The Herald Annual issue of January 2014.

Altaf Hussain must have felt untouchable when the British government decided to grant him a burgundy passport in 2002, a decade after he bravely ran away from Pakistain to seek political asylum from the "brutality" of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif
... served two non-consecutive terms as prime minister, heads the Pakistain Moslem League (Nawaz). Noted for his spectacular corruption, the 1998 Pak nuclear test, border war with India, and for being tossed by General Musharraf...
's first government.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: trailing wife || 06/05/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [7 views] Top|| File under:


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Analysts: Cracks in U.S.-Israel Ties Widening
[AnNahar] A row over the new Paleostinian government is driving yet another wedge into already shaky ties between Israel and the U.S. as the once sacrosanct relationship comes under severe strain, analysts say.

Barely had the State Department said it would work with the new "interim technocratic government," just hours after it was sworn in Monday by Paleostinian president the ineffectual Mahmoud Abbas
... a graduate of the prestigious unaccredited Patrice Lumumba University in Moscow with a doctorate in Holocaust Denial...
, when Israeli rage roared across from the Levant.

In what has become a predictable pattern of emotional and angry invective in recent weeks, the Israeli government said it was "deeply disappointed" by the U.S. decision, which means aid will also keep flowing to the Paleostinian Authority (PA).

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was feeling "betrayed and deceived," Israeli public radio said, as Secretary of State John F. I was in Vietnam, you know Kerry
Former Senator-for-Life from Massachussetts, self-defined war hero, speaker of French, owner of a lucky hat, conqueror of Cambodia, and current Secretary of State...
had promised him Washington would not recognize the new Paleostinian government right away.

Another Israeli official was quoted by the Israel Hayom freesheet as saying it was "like a knife in the back."

But one Israeli commentator writing in Haaretz daily suggested the Israeli cabinet had merely rushed into "a sophisticated trap" laid by Abbas in the hopes of driving Israel and the U.S. further apart, and should have just waited to see what happened as Paleostinian elections loom.

Ties between the two countries have frayed under the administration of President Barack Obama
Because I won...
. He and Netanyahu have had a notably frosty personal rapport despite a fence-mending visit to Israel by the U.S. president last year.

The collapse of the latest U.S. bid to broker peace between Israel and the Paleostinians left Washington bloodied and frustrated, and even warier of wading back into the Middle East quagmire.

For their part, Israelis were deeply angered when media reports quoting an unnamed U.S. official -- widely believed to be chief U.S. negotiator Martin Indyk -- laid the blame for the failure of Kerry's peace quest squarely at Israel's door.

State Department deputy spokeswoman Marie Harf sought to temper the angry reaction Tuesday, saying "the United States and Israel have a long, historic and unshakable friendship, period, over many, many decades, over many administrations, through a lot of difficult times."

And she repeatedly stressed that Washington's position on Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason,, which is outlawed as a terrorist organization, has not changed.

"The United States does not and will not provide it assistance per long-standing U.S. policy," she told news hounds.

"We do not have any contact with Hamas. No members of Hamas and no ministers affiliated with Hamas, as I said, are part of this government."

- Fight brewing in Congress -

But Middle East expert Marina Ottaway said the U.S. decision to work with the new Paleostinian government just drove "another wedge" into the relationship.

"The B.O. regime is showing yet again that it is essentially willing to challenge Israel on certain issues," Ottaway, senior scholar on the Middle East at the Wilson Center, told Agence La Belle France Presse.

The question was whether Obama would be "able to stick to his guns" with a furor already building in Congress, she said.

"There's no guarantee that Obama is going to have the last word on this," she said, predicting the powerful American Jewish lobby would be going into overdrive to whip up a campaign in Congress.

In a sign of a possible new fight with politicians, Republican Senator Marco Rubio told AFP Tuesday: "They're making a mistake... I'm very disappointed with the administration's position on this."

"I think we should follow the law and cut off aid. The law is pretty clear: they don't recognize Israel's right to exist, they shouldn't be receiving U.S. aid."

Democratic Representative Eliot Engel agreed, saying: "The United States is under no obligation to give a dime to the PA as it reconciles with a known terrorist group."

Israel was already infuriated by Washington's decision to press ahead with negotiations with Iran to try to rein in its nuclear ambitions, warning loudly that the regime of President Hassan Rouhani was just a "wolf in sheep's clothing."

And Kerry has been the target of bitter insults by Israeli ministers for suggesting that without a peace deal, Israel could see itself increasingly isolated on the international stage.

He was forced to backtrack in April when he was caught warning that Israel could become "an apartheid state with second-class citizens." Tellingly while he admitted he had used a poor choice of words, he did not publicly apologize for what he said.
Posted by: trailing wife || 06/05/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Thanks Obama, Hildebeast, and JFnK for this brilliant bit of strategy (SARC). Our best and only democratic ally in the Mideast got thrown under the bus?
Posted by: JohnQC || 06/05/2014 11:51 Comments || Top||

#2  State Department deputy spokeswoman Marie Harf sought to temper the angry reaction Tuesday, saying "the United States and Israel have a long, historic and unshakable friendship, period, over many, many decades, over many administrations, through a lot of difficult times."

Which the next Republican president will have to spend an inordinate amount of time trying to repair. Between that, begging Great Britain to return the bust of Winston Churchill, and writing Executive Orders to cancel all the champ's Executive Orders there won't be time for much more in that first year.
Posted by: Squinty || 06/05/2014 12:52 Comments || Top||


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Analysis: Iran at Crossroads 25 Years after Khomeini
[AnNahar] A quarter of a century after Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini's death, Iran remains at a crossroads in navigating its way out of economic and diplomatic troubles, against a backdrop of political infighting.

Wednesday marks 25 years of the Islamic republic without its founder, the charismatic spiritual and political leader who remains ever-present on bank notes, portraits in public offices and countless posters.

Khomeini is held in awe by the revolutionaries for toppling a U.S.-backed dynasty, with the stated mission of ridding Iran of what he deemed Western decadence and poisonous corruption in government.

The Islamic state that was founded in 1979 on a vision of establishing a Moslem democracy lives on, but the country faces daunting challenges, analysts say, as it grapples with major economic pain.

Dina Esfandiary, an Iran expert at the International Institute for Strategic Studies, believes Tehran's regional influence has taken a beating, with support for its traditional ally Syria, which is engulfed in a civil war, proving exhausting.

Paleostinian Islamist movement Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason, is also distancing itself, she said.

Iran's power in the modern Middle East stemmed from its steady economic growth in the late 1990s and early 2000s, the fruit of policies implemented by two presidents before Mahmoud Short Round Ahmadinejad.

Accused of economic mismanagement, Ahmadinejad, who was in office from 2005 to 2013, wrenched backwards. His populist policies and distribution of Iran's wealth took the form of cash handouts in a controversial scheme that slashed subsidies.

That practice severely weakened the economy, Tehran-based analyst Saeed Laylaz said, prior to the strengthening of a harsh sanctions regime by world powers designed to coerce Iran into curbing its disputed nuclear drive.

"With no strong economy comes no geopolitical influence," Laylaz said.

- Fixing the economy -

When Khomeini died in 1989, the country was grappling with the aftermath of an eight-year war with Saddam Hussein's Iraq, during which Iran's economy was isolated.

Tehran was also trying to find a role on the international stage after descending on a path hostile to Western countries, particularly the United States, aggravated by dismay at their military support for Storied Baghdad.

Today, President Hassan Rouhani faces a similar task in mending fences with the world after eight years of Ahmadinejad's destructive foreign policy, which drove Iran into diplomatic wilderness and close to the edge of war.

Rouhani says the solution to Iran's woes lies in bolstering a stagnant economy, which is struggling with double-digit unemployment and inflation, by resolving the decade-long nuclear standoff and proving to the world that Tehran's atomic program is peaceful.

"Inflation has steadily slowed down and Rouhani's technocratic government is... tackling the task at hand. But he will need to secure significant sanctions relief for his policies to work," Esfandiary said.

Iran's self-declared moderate president must also overcome domestic critics of reconciliation with the West and those who view any sort of compromise on what Tehran says are its nuclear rights as a red line.

In a traditionally state-organised gathering to commemorate Khomeini, thousands of faithful from across the country will be at his shrine south of Tehran on Wednesday to listen to his successor, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Setting the direction Iran takes and holding the final say on all major state affairs, Khamenei normally uses the event to speak about major domestic and foreign policy matters.

In addition to navigating frictions within the multifaceted political system, Rouhani is also treading a fine path in implementing a promise of more social freedom, which helped him win the presidency last summer.

While Khomeini rejected the technical means of Western civilization, Khamenei has warned against the "invasion" of Western cultural values, which he says pose a threat to those of the Islamic republic.
Posted by: trailing wife || 06/05/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [9 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iran


Home Front: Culture Wars
'The New York Times' and Israel
By Gilead Ini

[Jpost] A six-month study found the New York Times
...which still proudly displays Walter Duranty's Pulitzer prize...
consistently downplays Israeli views while promoting Paleostinian perspectives.

Continued on Page 49
Posted by: trailing wife || 06/05/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Long history of this sort of thing. Buried by the Times is a book by Laurel Leff that argues that the NYT buried articles about Nazi atrocities against Jews in the back pages. Apparently the publisher, Arthur Hays Sulzberger, was conflicted about his Jewishness. Maybe something he had in common with Hitler.

Fiction writers couldn't make this stuff up.
Posted by: Squinty || 06/05/2014 12:03 Comments || Top||

#2  The really sad thing, from my perspective, is that my mother's first husband -- the one who died from cancer contracted as a result of volunteering as a medic on the first ship that got to Japan, which meant that he was medicking in Hiroshima and Nagasaki as soon as they were secured -- was a first or second cousin to one of the NYT's board members at the time of the war. Long and winding story short, said board member was privy to the reasons Mama's first husband and his parents fled Germany, and the varied stops they made to get to America, where my would-have-been father volunteered for the Navy in order to secure safety in America for his parents.

So it wasn't that they didn't know, at the top levels of the New York Times, newspaper of record. It's that they were safe, and they pulled the ladder up after them so that their safety would not be threatened.
Posted by: trailing wife || 06/05/2014 18:26 Comments || Top||



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Two weeks of WOT
Thu 2014-06-05
  Libya: Haftar Escapes Suicide Attack
Wed 2014-06-04
  At Least 120 Dead in Clashes in Yemen
Tue 2014-06-03
  Somali gummint claims to have whacked 74 Shaboobs
Mon 2014-06-02
  5 Gitmo Terrorists Arrive in Qatar "With No Sign They Are -- Under Custody"
Sun 2014-06-01
  Bowe Bergdahl, Army Sergeant Held by Taliban Since 2009, Is Released
Sat 2014-05-31
  U.S. Confirms American Carried Out Syria Suicide Bombing
Fri 2014-05-30
  Syrian Regime Rains Barrel Bombs on Aleppo as ISIL Executes 15, including Kids
Thu 2014-05-29
  Top Iranian officer beheaded in Syria
Wed 2014-05-28
  Wanted Hizbullah Commander Killed in Syria
Tue 2014-05-27
   23 Terror, Religious Extremism Groups Busted In Xinjiang
Mon 2014-05-26
  New leader of Caucasus insurgency threatens "crushing blows"
Sun 2014-05-25
  Toll from Syria rebel attack on Daraa rally up to 37
Sat 2014-05-24
  Militants attack Somali parliament
Fri 2014-05-23
  Militias stream into Libyan capital, Tripoli
Thu 2014-05-22
  Benghazi's Saiqa Special Forces join Hafter's 'Dignity Operation'


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