Instead of drumming up a war to meet the needs of the political moment, B.O. is trying to drum up a fake temporary “peace(?)” or something that could pass for it to the undiscriminating.

Now, what could be the motivation for THAT? Hmmmm. Oh, here it it, right in the article:

Under the proposed deal, Israel would not attack Iran until 2013, after US elections in November this year.

Such a deal for Israel. Yeah, right!

Ever wonder how much a Tomahawk missile costs? How about 110 of them? And what effect will those prices have on GOP attemps to trim the budget? Those are the questions that many are asking as American involves itself in yet another international conflict. And the answers aren’t too settling.

Well, DUH! Fighting even a limited high-tech war is an expensive business, in any sense of the word!

The question that remains unanswered is what in the world are we really trying to accomplish with this one. There’s info out there that the best organized eastern Libyan opposition to Qaddafi is our old fave al-Qaida. Not wouldn’t THAT be an improvement to Muammar? (NOT!)

We would be better advised to husband our resources, and not be involved with this one….Like, if you’re hiking down the trail and come upon a scorpion dueling with a rattlesnake, would you choose a side and get involved? No thanks!

Having been mugged by reality enough times, the Euros, in spite of political correctness, are getting the point:

Authorities in Europe are calling the shooting at a Frankfurt, Germany, airport that claimed the lives of two U.S. servicemen an act of Islamic terrorism, though U.S. investigators said it is too soon to tell.

Too soon to tell? If one starts shooting at US troops while shouting the jihadi battle cry, what else is needed, besides a willingness to actually engage in thought? This is commented on more fully:

Obama’s state of Islamic denial
Note to Barack: ‘Allahu akbar’ is a Muslim war cry

U.S. troops are gunned down by a shooter who screams “Allahu akbar!” before opening fire. Official statements are rushed out: The perpetrator was a lone wolf; his motive was unclear; there are no links to terrorism. Sound familiar? It should, because when Islam is the cause of American tragedy, President Obama hides his head in the sand.

Methinks this commentator is too generous in his description of B.O.’s stance. The Chief would say that at best, his head is somewhere else where the sun doesn’t shine.

…the White House still obstinately refuses to discuss the jihadist motives of the terrorists involved. [emphasis added]

The Obama administration’s knee-jerk instinct to deny reality in hopes it will go away is clearly not working. How many Americans have to die before Mr. Obama at long last admits the nature of the Islamist threat that killed them?

Or, to think the unthinkable, does B.O. have a higher loyalty than to the United States that dictates his feckless and pusillanimous response to the state of war that has been declared against us by the international Islamist movement?

House Panel to Vote on ‘Disapproving’ Net Neutrality

The congressional assault on network neutrality regulations adopted by the Democratic-led Federal Communications Commission in December continues Wednesday, when the House Energy and Commerce Communications and Technology Subcommittee votes on a “resolution of disapproval” designed to derail the requirements, which prohibit the blocking or degrading of online competitors.

So, what’s so bad about this? Imagine you build a railroad, so you can make some money delivering freight to the locations along your line. A would-be competitor decides this is unfair, since his delivery via truck is much more expensive, and not as efficient. So…should he be given the right to use YOUR line to deliver HIS freight, with exactly the same cost and priority as you do? That could be called “freight neutrality”…sort of reminds me of something out of Atlas Shrugged, when stated in those terms.’

When put in terms of the interned, it becomes “Net Neutrality”, additional regulation of the most free and open part of the economy, which will inevitably result in degradation of the net, as elaborated on by House Speaker Boehner commenting on the same issue, as well as the problem of the ballooning national debt:

Boehner rips bid to regulate Internet
Debt likened to Sputnik threat

House Speaker John A. Boehner lashed out against efforts to regulate Internet traffic before an audience of evangelical Christian media leaders and pointedly responded to President Obama by comparing the challenge of the burgeoning national debt to the Sputnik-era space race.

In a speech to religious broadcasters that received a sustained ovation at his conclusion, he said free expression is under attack by a power structure in Washington populated with regulators who have never set foot inside a radio station or a television studio.

“We see this threat in how the FCC is creeping further into the free market by trying to regulate the Internet,” Mr. Boehner said. “The last thing we need, in my view, is the FCC serving as Internet traffic controller, and potentially running roughshod over local broadcasters who have been serving their communities with free content for decades,”

Sounds about right, as does this:

But, the Ohio Republican warned, one threat “dwarfs others in terms of the danger it poses to freedom and our children’s future.”

“You may recall President Obama, in his State of the Union address, talking about a ‘Sputnik moment,’ the moment that shocks our generation into getting serious. In my view, America’s ‘Sputnik moment’ is our shocking national debt,” he said.

Boehner also commented on another fundamental communication issue that has been under some discussion recently:

Mr. Boehner also inveighed against any effort to reinstate the so-called “Fairness Doctrine,” whose 1987 elimination led to the rise of a vibrant talk-radio industry.

“Our new majority is committed to seeing that the government does not reinstate the Fairness Doctrine,” he said.

Mr. Boehner said Rep. Greg Walden, Oregon Republican, “has teamed up with another former broadcaster, Congressman Mike Pence of Indiana, to introduce legislation to help keep the airwaves free. I expect the House to act on this measure as well.”

Can you say “poor situational awareness”?

“It’s 3 a.m. and your children are safe and asleep,” it began. “But there’s a phone in the White House and it’s ringing. Something’s happening in the world.

“Your vote will decide who answers that call. Whether it’s someone who already knows the world’s leaders, knows the military, someone tested and ready to lead in a dangerous world . . . Who do you want answering the phone?”

Now we know the answer: neither of the above.

Unfortunately, the current administration is proving to be as incompetent in the Middle East as was that of Jimmy “Peanut” Carter. It’s hard to decide which was worse…Carter had that ultimate example of fecklessness that was the Iran hostage crisis, but on the positive side, he DID deserve some propers for the Camp David Accords. B.O. on the other hand has not YET had a disaster on the scale of the hostages, but then too, he hasn’t accomplished anything worth while, either.

One can only hope that as the Egyptian situation settles out that the Muslim Brotherhood doesn’t get power and cancel the treaty that resulted from the Camp David meetings.

No negative result of B.O.’s foreign policy activities would be too much of a surprise at this point.

The Muslim Brotherhood, Egypt’s largest opposition group,is in talks with other anti-government figures to form a national unity government without President Hosni Mubarak, a group official told DPA on Sunday.

Although the Muslim Brotherhood is officially banned from running for elections for parliament, some movement members have presented candidacy for parliament as independents.

This would NOT good for the U.S., indeed or for Western Civilization itself:

The process of settlement [of Islam in the United States] is a “Civilization-Jihadist” process with all the word means. The Ikhwan [M.B.] must understand that all their work in America is a kind of grand Jihad in eliminating and destroying the Western civilization from within and “sabotaging” their miserable house by their hands and the hands of the believers so that it is eliminated and God’s religion is made victorious over all religions. Without this level of understanding, we are not up to this challenge and have not prepared ourselves for Jihad yet. It is a Muslim’s destiny to perform Jihad and work wherever he is and wherever he lands until the final hour comes, and there is no escape from that destiny except for those who choose to slack. [This description was in a Dallas Morning News piece by Rod Dreher, but is apparently no longer accessible there.]

For a bit more up to date explanation and treatment go here. This link includes an instructive look at one of the previously noted apologists ostriches.

Administration mouthpieces, and others who are currently downplaying any threat from the Muslim Brotherhood, either have a severe case of poor situational awareness, or some other agenda than the national interest and survival of United States constitutional principles.

China used downed U.S. fighter to develop first stealth jet

China was able to build its first stealth bomber using technology gleaned from a downed U.S. fighter, it has been claimed. Beijing unveiled its state-of-the-art jet – the Chengdu J-20 – earlier this month. Military officials say it is likely the Chinese were able to develop the stealth technology from parts of an American F-117 Nighthawk that was shot down over Serbia in 1999.

I know that imitation is supposed to be the sincerest form of flattery…but in this case it would be better if that honor could have been avoided.

The PRC is the new USSR as far as the US is concerned.

Iran is planning to place medium-range missiles on Venezuelan soil, based on western information sources[1], according to an article in the German daily, Die Welt, of November 25, 2010. According to the article, an agreement between the two countries was signed during the last visit o Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez to Tehran on October19, 2010. The previously undisclosed contract provides for the establishment of a jointly operated military base in Venezuela, and the joint development of ground-to-ground missiles.

The Chief recently finished reading Michael Dobbs’ One Minute to Midnight, his engaging, authoritative, and detailed account of the 1962 Cuban missile crisis, and how we were able to avoid a thermonuclear war largely due to the fact that grown-ups (Kennedy and Krushchev) were at least nominally in charge, and in spite of a spontaneous flow of negative events were able to engineer a mutually tolerable conclusion to the situation. (By the way, the book is a great read…sort of Tom Clancy for real!)

Unfortunately one doubts that with Obama, Hugo Chavez, and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as the players today, that the character and level of rationality available will prove to be adequate to maintain sanity, to say nothing of national security.

The situation that is unfolding in Venezuela has some resemblance to the Cuba crisis of 1962. At that time, Cuba was acting on behalf of the USSR; now Venezuela is acting on behalf of Iran. At present, the geopolitical situation is very different: the world is no longer ruled by two superpowers; new nations, often with questionable leaders and the ambition of acquiring global status, are appearing on the international scene. Their danger to the free world will be greater if the process of nuclear proliferation is not stopped. Among the nations that aspire to become world powers, Iran has certainly the best capabilities of posing a challenge to the West.

Back in the 1962, thanks to the stern stance adopted by the then Kennedy administration, the crisis was defused.

Nowadays, however, we do not see the same firmness from the present administration. On the contrary, we see a lax attitude, both in language and in deeds, that results in extending hands when our adversaries have no intention of shaking hands with us. Iran is soon going to have a nuclear weapon, and there are no signs that UN sanctions will in any way deter the Ayatollah’s regime from completing its nuclear program. We know that Iran already has missiles that can carry an atomic warhead over Israel and over the Arabian Peninsula. Now we learn that Iran is planning to build a missile base close to the US borders. How longer do we have to wait before the Obama administration begins to understand threats?

Pray.

Julian Assange poses a clear and present danger to American national security. The WikiLeaks founder is more than a reckless provocateur. He is aiding and abetting terrorists in their war against America. The administration must take care of the problem – effectively and permanently.

…the Obama administration refuses to stop Mr. Assange. His previous document dumps disclosed the names and identities of foreigners working with the United States in Afghanistan and Iraq – individuals actively involved in defeating al Qaeda and the Taliban. Their exposure could lead to many of them being killed, tortured or targeted by insurgents. Mr. Assange is directly responsible for endangering their lives. He is an active, willful enabler of Islamic terrorism. He is as much a threat as Osama bin Laden or Ayman al-Zawahri. In short, Mr. Assange is not a journalist or publisher; rather, he is an enemy combatant – and should be treated as such.

Kuhner’s piece has more to say on this all, with more gory details on the damages as well as the near total fecklessness of the B.O. administration in its failures to deal with national security issues:

Mr. Obama, however, could not be bothered with any of this. For him, foreign policy is a distraction – something to be crammed into his schedule as he seeks to transform America into a multicultural social democracy.

The United States is paying a severe price for Mr. Obama’s negligence. This is the greatest diplomatic crisis since the late 1940s, when communist agents in the U.S. government provided atomic secrets to the Soviet Union. The world is witnessing the absurd, almost surreal spectacle of the American superpower standing helpless in the face of a lone hacker. Her diplomatic secrets are no longer safe; her allies and friends are being betrayed; and her cyber-enemies are free to roam with impunity. America is no longer feared or respected.

Rope, hacker, tree.  Some assembly required.

Even with a jaded expectation that this spectacle is inevitable given the nature of the beast, a report from India that 34 US Naval combat ships are yet another part of the plans broke through the Chief’s shell of cynicism, and caused him to catch his breath in amazement due in part to the Naval connection, and the realization of exactly what is taking place.

34 warships sent from US for Obama visit

The White House will, of course, stay in Washington but the heart of the famous building will move to India when President Barack Obama lands in Mumbai on Saturday.

Communications set-up and nuclear button and majority of the White House staff will be in India accompanying the President on this three-day visit that will cover Mumbai and Delhi.

He will also be protected by a fleet of 34 warships, including an aircraft carrier, which will patrol the sea lanes off the Mumbai coast during his two-day stay there beginning Saturday. The measure has been taken as Mumbai attack in 2008 took place from the sea.

Oh yeah, there were a few boats with outboard motors that moved into Mumbai an dropped off the Islamoterrs in ’08. A carrier battle group plus other deep-water combattant ships is just the ticket to stop something like that from happening again? NOT.

Admittedly, given that B.O. (or any President) is visiting overseas, security, communications, etc. is of necessity huge…hence the Chief’s initial lack of getting exercised about the entourage…but this? Just to add a bit of historical and military perspective:

FDR was able to travel to Newfoundland aboard a single Navy cruiser during the height of the N. Atlantic U-boat war to meet with Churchill. He later traveled to Casablanca, Cairo, and Teheran to meet with foreign leaders during the war. Casablanca at the time had been recently seized from Vichy France, and French troops had recently been involved in combat against the U.S. concerning that issue. Neither Cairo nor Teheran were exactly noted as being completely stable places: Teheran was available since the Persian Shah was elsewhere…after playing diplomatic footsie games with the Nazis. Roosevelt somehow thought he might be able to survive with fewer than 3,000 staff plus additional military security forces. (He was right!)

Another perspective is the 34 Navy ships. According to the US Navy web site as of today there are 288 deployable battle force ships as of today. As this is written, there are 147 ships underway (away from home ports), and 110 ships on deployment. SO…about 1/3 of the total US deployed Naval force, or 12% of the total US combat fleet will be at Mumbai to defend B.O.

Seems a bit much, at least, especially when deployments and operational commitments have been placing a heavy load on the ships and personnel, but what does THAT matter to His Eminence? Not much.