Bengazi!!!

[Gaspar]

Chicago style politicians never really retire.  They get retired when the seeds they plant start to bloom.

[guido911]

I found a story that stated Pelosi picked the dems to be on Gowdy's committee. Unfortunately, someone posted this pic along with that story. The horror..

[Gaspar]

Looks like we're gong to try and be ready this time.


Our domestic media should pick this up in a day or two after they clear it with the White House.
http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/africa/2014/05/27/U-S-deploys-warship-with-1-000-marines-near-Libya.html

The United States is deploying an amphibious assault vessel carrying 1,000 marines near the Libya coast in case the U.S. embassy must be evacuated, a U.S. defense official said Tuesday.

The USS Bataan was to be in the area "in a matter of days," said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

The move was described as "precautionary" in case conditions in Libya, where militia battles have plunged the country into anarchy, worsen and require the embassy's evacuation.

The State Department said last week that the embassy in Tripoli was operating normally despite an offensive launched against Islamist militias by a dissident general, Khalifa Haftar.

In addition to the 1,000 marines on board, the Bataan is equipped with several helicopters.



The United States also has available 250 marines, seven tilt-rotor Osprey aircraft and three refueling aircraft in Sigonella, Italy.

The precautions come amid ongoing controversy over a September 2012 attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi in which four Americans, including ambassador Christopher Stevens, were killed.

[Conan71]

Makes you wonder if Libya is in better shape after we took out Uncle Moamar a few years back.  Sure, he was a tyrant but was that better than anarchy for the common Libyan?

[Gaspar]

Makes you wonder if Libya is in better shape after we took out Uncle Moamar a few years back.  Sure, he was a tyrant but was that better than anarchy for the common Libyan?

Smashing a cockroach is futile, unless you intend to destroy the whole nest.

When you take out a tyrant, and leave a vacuum, other tyrants will move in.  We have no business being world police any more. We have no clear foreign policy.  We would be smart to close most of our remaining embassies in the Middle East/Africa. At least until we have some different leadership.

[heironymouspasparagus]

Makes you wonder if Libya is in better shape after we took out Uncle Moamar a few years back.  Sure, he was a tyrant but was that better than anarchy for the common Libyan?

Like I have said before, it is part of the plan of the powers that be.  We told him to sit down and shut up a couple decades ago and he did.  Then he started looking around and formulating a plan - he was working on an African Union along the lines of the European Union.  Which could have made the continent an economic powerhouse on its own rather than just colonies.   THAT could not be tolerated by the powers that be, so we helped in Libya.....helped the SAME people who were going to Iraq and Afghanistan to kill our kids - but in this, they were our good buddies....

[Elm Creek Smith]

OKC got a basketball team out of that.  Kudos to racist bigot Bush

Yeah, but OKC had to give it back. The good news was that they were able to buy Seattle's team.

Sent from my little slice of Heaven.

[swake]

Makes you wonder if Libya is in better shape after we took out Uncle Moamar a few years back.  Sure, he was a tyrant but was that better than anarchy for the common Libyan?

What about Iraq?

[Conan71]

What about Iraq?

I'm pretty sure the Kurds approve of the new leadership and I believe the political situation has stabilized quite a bit.  Either that or the media is ignoring all the massive anarchy and genocide still on-going in Iraq.

[guido911]

I'm pretty sure the Kurds approve of the new leadership and I believe the political situation has stabilized quite a bit.  Either that or the media is ignoring all the massive anarchy and genocide still on-going in Iraq.

I also think Israel is thankful that Saddam isn't around paying the families of Palestinian/Hamas suicide bombers.

[swake]

I'm pretty sure the Kurds approve of the new leadership and I believe the political situation has stabilized quite a bit.  Either that or the media is ignoring all the massive anarchy and genocide still on-going in Iraq.

Are you kidding me? Stable? The country is melting down. The Kurds are only being left alone because there's mostly open warfare now between the Shia and Sunni.

2 hours ago, 15 dead in bombing:
http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/attacks-iraq-kill-15-people-23953392

May 29th, 54 dead in bombings
http://rt.com/news/162132-iraq-violence-dead-bombing/

May 27th, 17 dead in bombing:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-27593159

May 27th The iraqi government is dropping barrel bombs on Shia strongholds in Fallujah (like what's happening in Syria) targeting even a hospital:
http://tvnz.co.nz/world-news/bombing-north-iraq-s-capital-kills-five-5974718

May 25th, 12 dead in bombing:
http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/car-bombing-liquor-store-north-iraq-kill-12-23859993

May 17th, 5 dead in bombing:
http://tvnz.co.nz/world-news/bombing-north-iraq-s-capital-kills-five-5974718

[Conan71]

Are you kidding me? Stable? The country is melting down. The Kurds are only being left alone because there's mostly open warfare now between the Shia and Sunni.

2 hours ago, 15 dead in bombing:
http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/attacks-iraq-kill-15-people-23953392

May 29th, 54 dead in bombings
http://rt.com/news/162132-iraq-violence-dead-bombing/

May 27th, 17 dead in bombing:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-27593159

May 27th The iraqi government is dropping barrel bombs on Shia strongholds in Fallujah (like what's happening in Syria) targeting even a hospital:
http://tvnz.co.nz/world-news/bombing-north-iraq-s-capital-kills-five-5974718

May 25th, 12 dead in bombing:
http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/car-bombing-liquor-store-north-iraq-kill-12-23859993

May 17th, 5 dead in bombing:
http://tvnz.co.nz/world-news/bombing-north-iraq-s-capital-kills-five-5974718

And it was better under Hussein's control?

The Sunni and Shia have been at war for 1300+ years.  I don't think there will ever be a long-term solution to this.  You can put whomever you want to in power in Iraq and there will still be a conflict between the varying factions of Islam.

At least with Hussein gone, they are not attacking nor invading neighboring countries.  At least not for now.

[heironymouspasparagus]

And it was better under Hussein's control?

The Sunni and Shia have been at war for 1300+ years.  I don't think there will ever be a long-term solution to this.  You can put whomever you want to in power in Iraq and there will still be a conflict between the varying factions of Islam.

At least with Hussein gone, they are not attacking nor invading neighboring countries.  At least not for now.

Yes, it was.

With Hussein gone, it means they are no longer attacking Iran.  Much better for us now....it's always good to have an unfettered/unrestrained Iran!

[swake]

And it was better under Hussein's control?

The Sunni and Shia have been at war for 1300+ years.  I don't think there will ever be a long-term solution to this.  You can put whomever you want to in power in Iraq and there will still be a conflict between the varying factions of Islam.

At least with Hussein gone, they are not attacking nor invading neighboring countries.  At least not for now.

You asked the question of Libya was better off under Moamar. Then a similar question needs to be asked was Iraq better off under Saddam with American sanctions and an enforced no fly zone. Iraq is exactly where I (and many others) predicted it would be. A thuggish Iran backed majority Shia government subjugating and taking some measure of revenge on the Sunni minority.  We did for Iran what they could never do themselves. Gave them a largely client state in Iraq. Go Us! Even HW Bush knew this was a likely outcome if Iraq was invaded. It's why he didn't topple Saddam in the 1990s.

Even better, the Iraq invasion was a pretext for Iran's hardliners to clamp down on power and was a powerful recruiting tool for Al Qaeda and the Talliban. IEDs started in being used Iraq and then spread to Afghanistan if you recall.

[RecycleMichael]

At least with Hussein gone, they are not attacking nor invading neighboring countries.  At least not for now.

Thank you President Obama.