What are the people to do?

Everybody’s cousin is commenting on the Republican Debate so here goes.  The prospect of terrorism upon America took center stage Tuesday evening magnified in the wake of the massacres in both Paris and San Bernardino, California, USA.  Americans can no longer hide behind the “it won’t happen here” attitude engineered by the politics of Barack Obama.  Those chickens have flown the coup and the people are left vulnerable, exposed to Islamic terrorism by the political correctness of the one person charged with the responsibility of protecting the American people.  Yes, the failed one is our homeless president.

The American people have landed in the soup of terrorism that we all would rather ignore.  Can’t do, we no longer can hide as if the 14 deaths and 30 wounded in San Bernardino are acceptable losses, as if they don’t matter.  All lives matter except the Jihadies.  The families and friends of those two should be prosecuted to the full extent of our laws and then sent packing to distant shores where they will surely find life more accommodating.  Gitmo would be a suitable situation.  How did our politicians arrive at the conclusion that America has to house all the bad guys in the world?

This tirade could go on and on but let me tell you what really ticks me off, comments such as those by Governor Christy at the debate when he said the people of America are scared as a result of Islamic terrorism.  Scared, really?  Our politicians do not know the people they are seeking to represent, scared?  The American people are angry, we have been insulted by pathetic human beings and our politicians portray us as huddled together like a group of nesting penguins in the Antarctic winds.  We Americans are angry, enraged and pissed off at the terrorists and our slippery politicians.

The gutless Democrats should be worried about the guns flying off the shelves of the gun shops because it says that we, the people, have awakened to the reality that the government will not defend our honor, they will not defend our borders or our lives, therefore, we must defend ourselves.

G.Goslaw

Landers, CA   

a strategy

It appears that no one has the slightest idea what to do to counter the mess in the Middle East, a mess dumped on the world by both Republican and Democratic presidents.  No one has a clue because the progressive left says do nothing and the right wants a repeat engagement in Iraq.  The American people do not have the stomach for either alternative so may I suggest a middle course of action or strategy for the Middle East.

Our military leadership surely has a long list of possible actions that would stem the tide of Isis but these possibilities are being ignored by the politic in the White House.  Allow me to be bold or arrogant enough to make an admittedly amateur suggestion. There may be a downside to this plan but it is designed to be pro American, no longer will we be dooped by conflicted Arabs.

The strategy is for an American permanent invasion and annexation of the Al Asad Airbase in Iraq.  No notice, no invite and no coordination would be given nor expected from the pitiful Bagdad government.  American troops would no longer defend Bagdad.  All decisions and authority would be American and Iraq would be forced to pay voluntary reparations or have their oil fields blown up. Other Arab counties who have a vested interest in the stability of the region must contribute financially or America would take no action in their time of need.

The mission at Al Asad Airbase would be  primarily to control the airspace for  500 miles in every direction. Nothing moves without American permission.  A secondary mission is the annihilation of all the violent gangs in the neighborhood.  Mercenaries would be hired to do most of the fighting, be they American, Sunni or whomever.  Regular American special forces would be imbeded in the assault teams for leadership.  All non American participants would be housed outside the inner sanctum of the airbase for security.

The long term mission would be to confront and dissuade Iran and their evil intentions all around the world. If Russia gives them a missile defense, we base stealth aircraft at Al Asad. If they insist on a nuclear arsenal, we bomb at will, with no notice and no quarter given. The nations of the Middle East who have been ravaged by sectarian violence would have a chance to organize for the betterment of the people but it would be their call.

Got a better plan, speak up.

G.Goslaw
Landers, Ca





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Nuclear terror

April 17, 2015

Israel no longer has a choice.  President O’Bama is unconcerned about Russian missiles going to Iran and any sane American would wonder why?  The protection that this missile defense will give to Iran will make any  bombing threat from Israel a joke.  O’bama is giving away all sanctions at the negotiating table and the day after Congress is united against his treason, the green light is given for Russia to give a missile defense to Iran.  It is unbelievable that an American president could be so inclined, O’bama, what are you doing …. as if we didn‘t know?

G.Goslaw
Landers, Ca

Extremism

Here we go again doing stupid stuff.  ISSIL is a Muslim extremist group the likes of which the world has not seen for hundreds of years, if ever.  Stupidly the peaceniks refuse to accept the world as it is with all the ugliness that we humans carry with us.  Somehow they doggedly cling to the assumption that all of humankind is essentially good and that condemnation of anyone is condemnation of all.  If we refuse to overreact, as the peacenik believes, the violent extremist will eventually understand their error and join the community of civilized humanity.  Be cool America, confrontation with ISSIL will only energize the violent and demean our civility.  If you believe this, stupid is the word.

The stupidity does not stop with the peaceniks for there are still those who believe that violent Islamic religious extremism can be destroyed.  The destruction language is a broken record.  The religion of Allah has been about world conquest for over a thousand years yet we in the twenty first century arrogantly believe we can destroy extremism?  Have we not gone to war for the last thirteen years to destroy Islamic extremism?  How has that worked out?  They are back with more violence than any civilized person can imagine.  Instead of advocating for the destruction of Islamic extremism we should be asking what are we doing wrong?    

O.K., what are we doing wrong?  We are not fighting smart and if the truth were told we are being damn stupid.  There are so many world leaders who can only manage to use the fear of the extremist as a political tool to divide.  We must do better than this for the threat will not go away, they win or we will thrive in the long term in spit of the threat of Islamic extremism.  Most importantly, we must thrive together and by that unity attract all the peoples of the world to a sane Godly treatment of one another. This can only happen in the world order if it is first happening at home, in our kitchens, our governmental policies and our courts.

Are we now, circa 2014, a country of equal opportunity and dignity for all?  Combating extremism begins with our willingness to combat our own selfishness.  Now is that not a long term project?          

G.Goslaw
Landers, Ca

Mulligan

There are those moments in life when a mulligan would seem appropriate.  On the first tee, with three anxious foursomes watching and waiting, with a big swing you hit a dribbler down the middle of the fairway at least eighty yards.  In our rule book of fair play, a mulligan, a do over is required of any respectable golfer caught in this situation.  In life most of us have made decisions, life changing decisions at pivotal moments that are worthy of such a mulligan but life rarely gives mulligans.  Because life is so ordered, the hindsight that the years force upon us make “what if” fantasies a part of our old age.  For this old man it is and was baseball.

Here we are, America in 2014 and we have been told that the threat of radical Muslim terrorism has been put behind us so we Americans can relax.  As sure as shooting, up pops ISIS.  We can trace their rise to power and attempt to assign blame but the big question remains, what will America do now?  Are we going to live in the fantasy land of denial until the killing bits us in the ass here at home?  Some of our leaders point to the polls that tell us that the American people are tired of war, tired of paying for a war and tired of sacrificing the best of us on the battle field.  These emotions from the people are real and grievously justified.

Hillary Clinton has now questioned the foreign policy of the Obama administration for a lack of guiding principles, their only foreign policy seems to be, at least in her own words, “don’t do stupid stuff”.  What she fails to mention is that as Secretary of State, “the don’t do stupid stuff” was all hers and it lead to the terrorist killing of four Americans in Benghazi, Libya.  Hillary’s responsibility in this affair does not change the fact that the Bush administration did lots of stupid stuff by going to war as it did in Iraq.  The Democrats fault President Bush for leading us into a ground war in Iraq but what they fail to mention is that many Democrats also voted for the war and President Bush at least took the war issue to Congress.  Few politicians are squeaky clean on the war..

The war was not stupid but an appropriate response to the twin towers killing of Americans.  We were attacked and we are not cowards.  Why Iraq?  We can second guess the choice but the biggest moments of human history have happened in this land.  The stupid part is how we fought the war and the stupid assumptions that made the war so costly.  The first incorrect assumption was that the occupation would be a short term venture that could be effectively managed from half way around the world.  The second assumption was that a taste of democracy would be embraced by cultures who had been killing each other for a thousand years. Finally, we assumed that the gifting of blood and treasure would instill loyalty and respect for we the American benefactors.    

Understanding the many failures of the past, what about ISIS?  They just beheaded a journalist for the world to see, they have murdered thousands Christians and are on the march to Baghdad.  We were not cowards in 2001, are we cowards now, can this Muslim religious menace be managed or must it be sanitized from the face of the earth?  The vacuum we have created by leaving the mid-east has left our friends Jordan, Turkey and Israel vulnerable.  There will be no mercy.  Strategically, our presence in Iraq for the long term will bring stability and be a buffer against Iran.  America .....it is time for an Iraqi mulligan, ISIS has called us out and we have no choice but to fight smart this time.  Fighting smart might look something like this:

1. Insist on a twenty to thirty year status of forces agreement with the government of Iraq.  2. All oil revenues are to be distributed through our consulate with a large percentage of these revenues to be repatriated to America.  3.  Forge a new alliance of  countries in and out of the Arab world to help pay the cost of the war and our safety zone.  4.  Establish a protectorate around the largest airbase in the country for the air campaign against ISIS and the training of Iraqi troops.  5. Direct combat against ISIS would involve some American boots on the ground but the Iraqi army must carry the fight.  6.  The Iraqi government will continue with their democratic experiment but with an advisory role on national security matters.

Will the above principles work?  If these conditions are rejected by Iraq, then we are not responsible for the future of the country.  That is their choice but we will not be made fools of again.

G.Goslaw
Landers, Ca