This ain't Hell, but you can see it from here

Category: Foreign Policy

  • Yeah, It Was Ransom. The State Department Now Admits It.

    Something curious happened last week, on Thursday.

    Asked by a reporter if the U.S. wouldn’t have paid the money until the prisoners were released, State Department spokesman John Kirby replied, “That’s correct.”

    Hmm.  From Merriam-Webster

    ransom:  a consideration paid or demanded for the release of someone or something from captivity

    Seems pretty clear to me that the US State Department has now contradicted the POTUS’s (and its own) prior public statements regarding the Iran payment.  Above, State now plainly admits that the USA paid ransom to Iran for the return of some of our citizens.  Previously, the “party line” was that the timing was “a coincidence”.

    “Coincidence?”  Yeah, right.  The payment was ransom, plain and simple.  Anyone with half a functional brain could see that.

    The media’s reaction to this admission has also been interesting.  While in a rare display of responsible journalism the New York Times apparently gave this story the Page 1 treatment it deserves, some       pernicious “Progressive” propaganda purveyors      mainstream media outlets did not.  The Washington Post and USA Today each chose to bury the story deep inside their respective Friday editions.

    But the fact that at least some of the media would try to bury this isn’t surprising, either.  Most of the US media has been de facto cheerleaders for the political left for virtually my entire life.

    The only surprising parts of this disgusting incident are that this “most transparent administration in history” actually admitted the sordid truth here – and that at least some of the media didn’t try to hide that fact.

  • More “Iran Nuclear Agreement” News

    Remember that “Nuclear Deal” with Iran that was negotiated by the current        gang of fools who want to give away the farm      Administration?  You know, the one that was going to “put the brakes” on Iran’s nuclear program and ensure they never developed a nuke?

    Well, it seems that Iran has announced the construction of two additional nuclear plants.  They’re going to spend a total of $10 billion to do so – of which, 17% ($1.7 billion) was recently paid to Iran in cash by the US as       ransom for US citizens held by Iran       a “settlement” of outstanding financial issues dating back to the Iranian revolution.  In effect, we provided Iran the down payment for this nuclear expansion.

    So, the current Administration is aghast at this development – right?  They’re pulling out all the stops to keep Iran from doing this?

    Hardly.  In fact, the US Administration approves of it.  They say that the two new plants are permitted under the agreement.

    The Washington Free Beacon has an article giving more details.  Their story is IMO worth a read.

    Yeah, that “nuclear agreement” is really a great deal.  For the Iranians, anyway.

  • Can You Say, “Ransom?” Sure. I Knew You Could.

    And apparently, so can the current Administration.  From the Wall Street Journal:

    U.S. Sent Cash to Iran as Americans Were Freed

    Predictably, the current       gang of naive tools in DC       Administration says that there was no “quid pro quo” involved.  It was merely a “coincidence” that $400M worth of cash procured by the US government from European central banks was airlifted in an unmarked cargo plane to Tehran at the same time 4 Americans held hostage by Iran were released.

    The article linked above gives more details.  IMO you should read it.  Prepare to get angry.

    I really wish the current Administration would quit insulting our  intelligence by peeing on our legs and claiming it’s raining.  I can’t speak for others – but I can certainly tell the difference between the two, thanks.

    This wasn’t rain.

  • Just More “Turkish Democracy”

    I wrote the other day about the     boneheaded idiocy exhibited by the current gang of fools in DC     current Administration’s reaction to the recent failed Turkish coup and its aftermath.  Well, it looks like the other shoe is about to drop.

    Turkey is continuing in it’s support for “democracy”.  It appears that the Turkish     Sultan     President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, has decided to order 130 media organizations shut down.  Among those ordered closed were 45 newspapers, 23 radio stations, 16 TV stations, 15 magazines, and 3 news agencies.

    But not to worry, friends.  We’re merely “supporting the democratic government” of Turkey via supporting     Sultan     President Ergodan!

    That must be the case.  Our POTUS said so!

  • So, We “Supported Democracy” In Turkey? Yeah. Right.

    Headline pretty much says it all:

    Turkey seizes more than 2,200 institutions
    as post-coup crackdown intensifies
     
    Many of the institutions seized were “social, educational or health-care institutions and facilities”.  The stated reason for seizing them?  “National security.”In a related matter, Turkey has announced it will hire 20,000 teachers to replace those fired in purge which followed the coup’s failure.  During that purge, a total of 13,000 have been jailed; more than 50,000 have been fired from all fields of employment because of being suspected “coup supporters”.

    Oh, and did I mention that 62 of those arrested for treason in Turkey are schoolchildren between the ages of 14 and 17? Or that they’ve issued arrest warrants for 42 journalists linked to a Turkish expatriate living in the US who opposes the current Turkish regime? Well, yeah – both of those are true too.

    But don’t worry.  According to the current      gang of feckeless, naive idiots running US foreign policy      Administration, that’s just the Turkish democratic process at work. Hell, it must be – the President publicly pledged to “support the democratically elected government of Turkey” after the coup failed.

    Meet the new boss
    Same as the old boss

    “Democractic process” my ass.  Here, the “old boss” referenced had the title “Sultan”.

  • Ever Wondered What This Administration Would Do If US Forces Were Attacked?

    Well, we now have an answer.  Apparently Russian aircraft bombed one of our facilities in the Middle East last month.

    Twice.

    So, what did we do?  Apparently, we sent Vladimir Putin et al another “strongly worded protest” concerning Russia’s behavior.

    Seriously.

    After this, I’m thinking that the current administration’s self-assessment of “Most xxxxxxxxxxxxx Administration in history” may well be close to correct.  But in my view, for it to be truly accurate you need to replace xxxxxxxxxxxxx with a different word than they used in describing themselves.

    After all:  “transparent” isn’t a synonym for either “incompetent” or “cowardly”.

  • Even Stevie Wonder Saw This Coming

    Remember that Iranian Nuclear Deal?  You know, the one that would convince Iran to give up its nuclear ambitions via the “Kumbaya Principle”?  That agreement that was so good it had to remain classified so that the American public wouldn’t know what their leadership was signing up to do?

    Well, the German domestic Intelligence agency recently released a report concerning Iran.  Here’s the BLUF:

    . . . . Iran has a “clandestine” effort to seek illicit nuclear technology and equipment from German companies “at what is, even by international standards, a quantitatively high level.” The findings by the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, Germany’s equivalent of the FBI, were issued in a 317-page report last week.

    So much for “give up its nuclear ambitions”.  I guess the        gang of rank, naïve amateurs and idiots in DC        current Administration never got the memo explaining that the “Kumbaya Principle” is a religious and/or fantasy concept not generally applicable to foreign relations.

    In other “good news”, the same German report indicated that over 1,000 associates of terrorist groups backed by Iran are also living in Germany.  It further goes on to opine that some may be “working on behalf of Iran and other terror-sponsoring states.”

    Gee – ya think?

    So how is Iran funding this effort, you ask?  Well, the nuclear agreement released $100 billion in financial assets that had been frozen after the Iranian Revolution to Iranian control.

    Money is fungible.  You can probably figure it out from there.

    At least Esau got dinner (the proverbial “mess of pottage”) when he sold out.  All the current Administration seems to have gotten when it sold out US security is an “agreement” that even Stevie Wonder could see was worthless and would soon be broken.

    And the American public still doesn’t know what else in in that agreement.

    Wonderful.  Just freaking wonderful.

  • Same Old Song and Dance – Part III

    Remember Benghazi?  You know, that little incident in North Africa that left a US Ambassador and three others dead?  The one that the current Administration tried initially to blame on an “inflammatory Internet video” that nobody had ever heard of?  The incident about which someone famously later asked, “At this point, what difference does it make?”

    Well, the House Select Committee on Benghazi has finally released its report on Benghazi.  And here’s the “money quote”:

    “None of the information coming directly from the agents on the ground in Benghazi during the attacks mentioned anything about a video or a protest. The firsthand accounts made their way to the office of the Secretary through multiple channels quickly . . . ,” the report concluded.

    That’s not all.  Apparently the SECSTATE e-mailed her daughter that the attack was due to an “al Quaeda-like (sic) group”.  So yeah – she knew “up front” that Benghazi wasn’t about any damn film.

    However, the beginning of the “spin campaign” regarding Benghazi started that very evening.  A White House meeting held that day – roughly 3 hours after the attack – focused on tying the attack to the famous video blamed for it.  Fully half (5 of 10) of the action items from that meeting referenced the video alleged later to have spurred the attack.

    Now that seems kinda strange to me, considering that no one on site mentioned a protest or a video in their SITREPs.  You’d think they’d have mentioned something like that – if it occurred.

    In fact, it almost looks like they were already looking for an excuse to blame the film for something – and Benghazi provided the excuse.  But maybe that’s just me.

    And yeah – the SECSTATE was at that meeting.

    Fox News has a good article giving more details concerning the report.  IMO It’s worth a read.

    Or, if you like, you can read the House Select Committee Report here.

    Yep – your leg’s wet.  And regarding Benghazi, it’s been wet since 2012.