The announcement this morning of the death of ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi by Special Forces in Syria is a momentary positive for Donald Trump, as was the case with the death of Osama bin Laden in Pakistan on May 2, 2011 during the administration of Barack Obama.
It will certainly go down as an accomplishment that Trump can lay claim to, as Obama did with Osama bin Laden.
But it does not mean that America is safely isolated from the Middle East quagmire, and since so many ISIS fighters were released from prison as a result of the Turkish assault in Syria against Kurds in the past two weeks, one can be sadly assured that there will be a revival of ISIS under different leadership, ready to commit terrorist acts and torture people as they did from 2014 onward.
The likelihood of ISIS retribution for the death of their leader is certain, and will affect European nations but also the United States, making the idea of foreign travel by Americans not a good idea short term, and possibly, long term.
We can rejoice and congratulate Donald Trump on this, but the road ahead in international affairs in the year up to the Presidential Election of 2020 is impossible to predict, as to whether it will benefit Trump, or his Democratic opposition, all based on events we cannot forecast.
I had to wind up turning it off. I got sick of him bragging about it and going into all these gory details we didn’t need to know about.
Daily Kos sums it up perfectly –
Trump turns announcement of ISIS leader’s death into disturbing rant, says U.S. will take Syrian oil
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2019/10/27/1895417/-Trump-turns-announcement-of-ISIS-leader-s-death-into-disturbing-rant-says-U-S-will-take-Syrian-oil
Haha. Good tweet –
Barack Obama’s situation room pic is authentic. Trump’s situation room pic looks staged for publicity. https://twitter.com/sanosbo1/status/1188478345446604800
I like how Pete Souza puts his two cents in –
The raid, as reported, took place at 3:30PM Washington time. The photo, as shown in the camera IPTC data, was taken at “17:05:24”. https://twitter.com/PeteSouza/status/1188471757579194371
Princess Leia writes, “[‘Daily Kos’] sums it up perfectly – …â€
Since you mentioned “Daily Kosâ€â€¦
https://truth-about-kos.blogspot.com/2009/08/cia-trained-markos-moulitsas-plans.html?m=1
Thanks for that Leia. Trump’s sadistic glee was disgusting.
Ronald writes, “We can rejoice and congratulate Donald Trump on this, but the road ahead in international affairs in the year up to the Presidential Election of 2020 is impossible to predict, as to whether it will benefit Trump, or his Democratic opposition, all based on events we cannot forecast.â€
We are nearing the end of the decade of the 2010s.
People who were born between November 9, 1998 and November 3, 2002 will be eligible to vote for their first time in a United States presidential election that is scheduled for November 3, 2020.
The cost is in the trillions for the U.S. involvements in wars with the recent two decades. (Source: https://legionmagazine.com/en/2019/09/u-s-has-spent-5-9-trillion-on-wars-since-9-11-report-says/.)
This is now at a point in history in which U.S.-involved wars—pushed and supported by both major U.S. political parties—are big business.
These wars are big business for the corporations and the military industrial complex. (And the CIA.)
These U.S-involved wars are also normalized.
For the people who will be age-eligible to vote for the first time in a U.S. presidential election in 2020—this is what they, as United States coming-of-age citizens, have been forced into as their normal.
This is sick.
The fact that there are people—people who vote—who are also accepting of this…makes this not only sickening but also destructive.
Dear Professor: Given how many times You have recently personally called Trump a liar, and how many times “fact checking” has confirmed his Bullshitivity since Day 1 of the regime, on what possible grounds do You believe him when he tells You that US Special Operations Forces have killed ISIS’ leader?
If he is such a serial liar, why isn’t he similarly lying this time?
If it’s because You believed Obama when he told You that Navy SEALs had killed Osama, then i’ll ask the next obvious question. Knowing that this government lied about Saddam’s WMDs and his involvement in 9/11, thus justifying the Second Gulf War; knowing that this government lied about the Kuwaiti Incubator babies, thus justifying the First Gulf War; and knowing that this government lied about the Tonkin Gulf Incident, thus justifying the Viet Nam War… . Knowing all that, on what possible grounds did You believe Obama about Osama? And, by extension, Trump on al-Baghdadi?
Have You seen any even tangential evidence and proof that Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi was in fact killed as claimed by Trump and his Department of Defense? Of course not. How could and Why should You?
Did You ever see any even tangential evidence and proof that Osama bin laden was in fact killed as claimed by Obama and his DoD? Of course not. Again: How could and Why should You?
Especially when the SEALS conveniently “dumped the body at sea.” The only proof You have of Osama’s “death” is that foto-op in the White House Situation Room, with Obama looking slightly bemused sitting there in his Commander-in-Chief’s chair, and Hillary looking, well, positively Hillaryarian. That and the movie starring some of the actual, real SEALs themselves.
Did You ever wonder why the SEALs didn’t simply capture bin Laden and bring him in for interrogation [enhanced, as necessary], and ultimately, to stand trial for, among other things, the African Embassy bombings, the USS Cole, and, of course, 9/11? Wouldn’t that have been interesting; to say nothing of enlightening? Particularly as regards exactly when bin Laden stopped working for the CIA, eh?
And the “revival of ISIS under different leadership” won’t happen because “so many of their fighters were released from prison” during the Turk assault on the Kurds It will happen because ~ without ISIS ~ who would America have to wage War on in that part of the world?
The only people in SwampLand with a stomach for War with Iran are neoliberal/conservative corporate Republocrats and Demicans, their owners, operators, handlers, and script writers from the military-industrial complex and the petro-financial web, and those who think making POTUS XLV a War President will guarantee a place on the podium in front of the Capital dome come January 20, 2021.
The revival or ISIS and other mutant strains of al-Qaeda will happen as it is necessary to serve the purposes of those governments [and their respective military-industrial complexes and petro-financial webs] which benefit the most from their existence. The question is: And which governments might those be? Got any nominees?
It’s sort of like 9/11: When those who benefited most from 9/11-I determine that they stand to gain even more from a 9/11-II, who and/or what is going to stop them?
Also, Trump can no more claim al-Baghdadi’s purported death as an “accomplishment” than could Obama re Osama’s. All either of them did was sign the order, as ordered. And if the only price Americans have to pay for all this is to forgo foreign travel, i’d say we’re getting off pretty easily, wouldn’t You?
And finally, Doc: i see absolutely no reason whatsoever to “rejoice and congratulate” Corporal Bonespurs on the “success” of his Centurions’ escapade. Other than to note that, if nothing else, all that it has done is make his conviction [if not impeachment] even more unlikely.
The real question is: How many more deaths will al-Baghdadi’s declared death demand? And not just American or European, travelers or homebodies?
i also can’t help but wonder if we’ll have some sort of Victory Parade down Pennsylvania Avenue to celebrate this latest “Mission Accomplished” of the “greatest military force on the planet.” It could still happen by Veterans Day.
How do y’all plan to stop ISIS?
Jeffrey Moebus writes, “The only people in SwampLand with a stomach for War with Iran are neoliberal/conservative corporate Republocrats and Demicans, their owners, operators, handlers, and script writers from the military-industrial complex and the petro-financial web, and those who think making POTUS XLV a War President will guarantee a place on the podium in front of the Capital dome come January 20, 2021.â€
It’s nowadays a stomach for one war followed by the next with…Whoever. (Exceptions, of course, with U.S. political allies.) And the people who have a stomach for it are also people have accepted—and embraced—the normalization. It helps if you are “Vote Blue No Matter Who†or, and this may be a good one, “We’ll All Be Dead If You Don’t Vote Red.â€
D – Answer my question. How do y’all plan to stop ISIS?
‘John Conyers Jr., longest-serving African American congressman, dies at 90’
Updated October 27, 2019 @ 05:26 p.m. ET
https://www.wxyz.com/news/former-congressman-john-conyers-has-died-at-age-90
DETROIT (WXYZ) — “I’m deeply honored to have come to the Congress in 1965,†and it was an honor that would make him the longest-serving African American congressman in history.
He celebrated many victories in his lifetime.
John James Conyers, Jr. was born in Highland Park on May 16, 1929.
He graduated from Detroit’s Northwestern High School, served in the Korean War and went on to law school.
He initially turned down a job in the office of the late, legendary Congressman John Dingell, but then realized his mistake and pleaded for a second chance.
“He listened to me go through all this and put his arm around me and said let’s go down to Sanders and have a milk shake and that started me off working in his office,†Conyers remembered.
Conyers became active in the civil rights movement before making his own first bid for Congress and picked up some powerful support.
“I was endorsed by Martin Luther King, Jr. at Central United Methodist Church,” he remembered.
He often said he was flattered to be the only member of Congress endorsed by Dr. King.
Conyers held on to his seat even as district lines were redrawn. He held positions of leadership on powerful committees and was the only member of the Judiciary Committee to take part in
the impeachment hearings of both Presidents Nixon and Clinton.
The congressman also played a major role in more than 100 pieces of key legislation, including the landmark Voting Rights Act of 1965.
In 1968, 4 days after the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Conyers introduced the original bill for a King holiday. He kept pushing and 15 years later it was signed into law.
Conyers was also a driving force behind the Motor Voter Bill of 1993 and the Violence Against Women Act of 1994. He fought for universal healthcare and was a founding member of the
Congressional Black Caucus.
But for all of his success in Washington, he could not crack another political office at home.
Conyers lost two campaigns for Detroit mayor while still serving in Congress.
But voters sent him back to Capitol Hill time and time again. He even survived a petition dispute that threatened his place on the ballot in 2014.
John Conyers was the only African American lawmaker in history to mark a golden anniversary in office. But after 53 years on the hill, his career would come to a stunning and sudden end in 2017 when former staffers came forward with allegations of sexual misconduct.
He denied the claims. But the congressman who fought so hard for the rights of others did not think he could get a fair shake in his own battle.
He retired from congress the very day he issued this statement saying: “I cannot allow the great work of this body to be distracted from their important work or the goals of the Democratic Party to be distracted.”
Given the totality of the circumstance of not being afforded the right of due process and to preserve my legacy and good name…
“I hope that my retirement will be viewed in the larger perspective of my record.”
https://youtu.be/-aAhYe2YTOU
@ Former Republican: D – Answer my question. How do y’all plan to stop ISIS?
Heh. If the Pentagon, CIA, NSA, etc don’t have a plan for beating ISIS, how can You legitimately expect D to have one?
It’s like what The Pig Man told Madd Maxx after the revolution in Bartertown when Maxx asked, “So what’s the plan?!?”: “Plan?!?!?” he laughed. “There ain’t to [expletive deleted]ing Plan… .”
Once again, we are not against the FBI and the CIA. You are once again wasting your time here with anti-intelligence rhetoric here.
Again, he would enjoy it much better at: https://www.commondreams.org/
I suggest he goes hang out there.
Oh i do, Princess Leia. And they tell me i should hang out here. Or Briefbarf.
‘Democrats and Liberals Trust the CIA More Than Republicans’
By Dave DeCamp (October 11, 2019)
https://www.antiwar.com/blog/2019/10/11/democrats-and-liberals-trust-the-cia-more-than-republicans/
One of the many negative consequences of the Russiagate craze was the rehabilitation of U.S. intelligence agencies in the eyes of Liberals and Democrats. A new poll from Fox News shows that they are the group that trusts the CIA and FBI the most, compared to Republicans and Independents.
According to the poll 73 percent of Democrats, 74 percent of Hillary Clinton voters and 74 percent of liberals have confidence in the CIA. When it comes to the FBI, the agency of their patron saint Robert Mueller, its 77 percent across the board.
NBC News did a poll in December 2016 that showed Democrats favored the CIA more than Republicans since they started asking that question in 2002. That was around the time the CIA decided the Russian government interfered in the 2016 election.
During the George W. Bush presidency, the CIA came under scrutiny from Democrats for their black sites and torture programs. Under Obama, the CIA’s extrajudicial drone assassinations and covert operations in Syria and Libya were largely ignored by the same people. After the shocking loss of Hillary Clinton to Donald Trump, the Democrats quickly accepted these intelligence agencies as their ally in the fight against the orange man.
The newest hero for the Democrats to put their hopes in is the CIA “whistleblower” that came out about Trump’s Ukraine phone call. Another intelligence hero for the “resistance” to glom onto while a real whistleblower like Chelsea Manning sits in jail for exposing some of the worst war crimes the US government has committed.
ReThuglicans are in denial that Dumb Dumb Trump is a crook. These independents siding with them are obviously ReThuglican-leaning.
Haha! Trump got booed at a ball game yesterday! https://www.motherjones.com/impeachment/2019/10/enjoy-these-deeply-satisfying-clips-of-trump-getting-booed-at-the-world-series/
Good! He deserves to be booed!
Thanks for that, Southern Liberal. Trump got to see what it’s really like outside of the bubble of his rallies.
We didn’t like the Bush administration’s bad decisions and incompetence. However, we appreciate that Bush did not make personal insults about people.