Moogie's Blog

This is nuts.  Jeremiah Wright looks like a girl scout compared to this anti-semitic extortionist.  Please tell me if I am wrong !

Note:  In parts of Africa where Muslims, Christians, animists and others vie for power, accusations of "witchcraft" are often bandied about.  Children of the "wrong persuasion" are often banned from schools, families are run out of town, women (like midwives) are accused of witchcraft (remember Salem, anyone?).     I see no improvement over or difference between these practices and voodoo.  PLEASE TELL ME IF I AM WRONG !

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RKEpsrwyiLk&NR=1

 

 

To review, we read in the documents attached to part 1 that Osama bin Laden had been an outsider in Afghanistan who was, in part, funded by the United States as part of the “Taliban” so-called resistance to Soviet occupation. 

 

Bin Laden then returned to Saudi Arabia and formed a reason to hate the United States.  If his hate had been somewhat vague before, now he could pin it on the influence held by the United States over the Saudi kingdom.  We can comprehend the reasons he gives for his hatred, and we can guess at the real reasons.  

 

What had he seen, heard, and experienced to give him such self-justification for his by-now irrational emotions? 

 

We may need to go back and re-learn a little history. 

 

Afghanistan was never much of a place.  It is landlocked and dry, with hardly any natural resources (except opium poppies).

 

 

 

                         

 

 

 

But it was a stepping stone between two prizes vied for by the British and the Russians…India, and Iran.

Afghanistan understands its role as a chess square, and had accepted Soviet military aid since 1918 (at some times the United States had refused to supply such aid).  Therefore, the military was somewhat aligned with the Soviets.

A somewhat corrupt (okay, more than somewhat) king was overthrown by his cousin in the 1970’s.  The cousin abolished the monarchy and attempted to unify the Pashtun tribal groups, among other things.  His actions actually isolated Afghanistan more, because Pakistan closed its border in response to the gestures toward their Pashtun population.

 

This isolation forced a growing dependence on the Soviets.  Marxist groups thrived in Afghanistan during this period.  One can read about the details and intervening events, but this is enough information to bring us to the point that the United States became worried.

 

In 1979, an alarmed President Jimmy Carter responded to an idea by his national security advisor, Zbigniew Brzezinski, to subvert the pro-Soviet regime, using pro-Islamist forces.  

 

What?

Read the brilliant reasoning here:  

 

Q: And neither do you regret having supported the Islamic fundamentalism, having given arms and advice to future terrorists?  

 

Brzezinski: What is most important to the history of the world? The Taliban or the collapse of the Soviet empire? Some stirred-up Moslems or the liberation of Central Europe and the end of the cold war?  

 

What indeed.  Okay, want context, read this article please. 

Okay.  So now we know the background--why the United States did nothing when the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan took place.  It is because we provoked it, to bring the Soviets into their own Viet Nam, weakening their morale and the economic system.  All because Zbig (who is a brilliant man!)  wanted central Europe (which we generally call eastern Europe) “liberated.”  Let’s guess where he’s from, shall we?

Hey, I am leading up to something, but its going to take a few tries, and sometimes I get distracted by other things.

Are you with me?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The hijackers of the planes that crashed into the twin towers (and PA, and the Pentagon) were Muslim men who gained hatred and distrust of the United States from exposure to Al-Qaida.  What was Al-Qaida?  It was a post-Soviet era outgrowth of the “old” Taliban.  The Taliban had, first, sprung up as an answer to the famous Afghan bandit/extortionists, but during the Soviet era it had morphed into a vehicle for resistance and had been largely funded by the U.S. 

After the Soviets departed, the banditry returned, and Taliban recruits returned from Pakistan to police the newly opened “ Central Asia Road”… a longed-for outside link for landlocked Afghanistan.  Osama bin Laden, who had been funded by the U.S. through the Saudis, was at one point a “guest” of the Taliban, fighting alongside his Afghan recruits to resist the Soviets.

 Source:  US DOD Defense Intelligence Assessment, July 1999.

USFOIA released with excisions, National Security Briefing Book 97,

September 11, 2003. 

 

When he temporarily returned to the kingdom of Saudi Arabia, bin Laden formed a mistrust of the monarchy, like many Saudis.  However, the monarchy is supported by their greatly cultivated friendship and trading relationship with the United States. 

 

The first “Gulf War” only exaggerated and cemented the U.S. military presence in the region.  Look at the chart above and see where that event, in 1990, fits into the bin Laden chronology.

 

After the 1998 bombings in Kenya and Tanzania, an Afghan (Northern Alliance) commander named Ahmad Shah Massoud began to voice discomfort with the presence of bin Laden in Afghanistan. (2).

 

Sometime in 2001, the above-named commander gained knowledge of a planned operation to take place in the United States.  He spoke of this plan in front of the European parliament in April.  On September 9, 2001, Ahmad Shah Massoud was assassinated by two killers disguised as journalists.  Two days later, the 911 attacks took place.

All this to say, the U.S. has every reason to go after bin Laden and also after any who would support or shield him.  

 

This is a lot to digest.  More later. 

 

See these sources for in-depth information.

 

1.Theories on origin of the Taliban (and if you read more intelligence analysis, you will see competing theories).

 

http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB97/tal3.pdf

 

2. On the presence of Bin Laden as a “guest” of the Taliban:

 

http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB97/tal26.pd
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What other resemblances do you see? 

Saturday Night Live has got to be lovin this candidacy !

 

What did you think of Mrs. Clinton's speech at the convention?

I am not a fan of Hillary.  Nevertheless, I feel that her speech was good.

It contained enough pre-digested nursery school rhetorical pablum to appeal to the non-questioning followers of the Clintons.

What will her ringing endorsement of Obama accomplish?

It will keep her politically viable.  Republicans are better at being Republicans than Democrats are, and they are almost better at being Democrats than Democrats are.  The two parties are too close together.  The pendulum, instead of swinging, has become a dead weight.  If Mrs. Clinton is able to swing her followers decidedly toward the Obama/Biden ticket (ooooh, that sounds good !) she will seem powerful. 

As James Carville once said, "It's like herding cats!" 

Can Hillary bring the stray cats back to the party?  She left the porch light on, and a bowl of food out.

 

PS.  We need a political earthquake. 

My first suggestion was a constitutional convention, but hardly anyone listened. 

 

The first leg of the "war on terror" was begun in Afghanistan.   That war is almost seven years old.  Osama has not been caught.  The Taliban is resurging. 

One of the dead in the recent upsurge in violence is identified as Staff Sgt. Edgar A. Heredia, 28, of Houston.  He was assigned to 2nd Marine Special Operations Battalion, U.S. Marine Corps Forces Special Operations Command.  SSgt Heredia was killed in an ambush in Farah province on May 26th, according to DefenseLink.

I have blogged my brains out since May of 2006 (not here until more recently)  on the medical treatment which our veterans deserve and do not receive.  My concern has been that our military and Veterans Affairs will again go into denial about the existence of PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder), about Gulf War syndrome, and other as-yet-unknown physical and mental disorders which will surface due to many being deployed once, twice, and three times to our two ongoing war zones.

Since that time, news has broken about the criminally bad conditions at Walter Reed (which was pressed into service at a time it had been slated to close).  On a more optimistic note, the "Fallen Heroes Fund" has opened its $50 million rehab facility in Texas (what a shame we taxpayers have not funded one or two in each state--the budget for two weeks of the war would pay for them!)

Now the question has hit home.  In the same ambush in which SSgt Heredia was killed, three or more Marines received traumatic injuries.  One of them is my cousin, who was hit from above by fire (the bullet traveled beneath his body armor and exited his lower back).  He (being a medic) continued to administer care to one in his unit who had sustained a leg injury.  As a Humvee approached them to carry them to safety, its driver stood up to spray ammo widely to shield the group from further gunfire.  That driver was shot in the head.  There may have been more injuries.  More details will emerge as the days go by.

All three of the injured Marines I have described are being cared for at Bethesda Naval.  All three appear to be making good progress, but we must not forget them or any of our injured and maimed....please. 

 

Forget gas stations !  If you have a natural gas line, you can refuel for under $2.00 per gallon.  Just need an adapter ( http://www.myphill.com/installers.htm)  and the right car.

Thank you all for your suggestions about an Obama administration. 

Here is the consensus, so far, among respondents, including the banter on GDLA.

For:

VP                                  Colin Powell

Secy of State                Bill Cohen

           Secy of Defence         Joseph Biden           

(also remains under consideration for Secy of State)

Secy of HHS                 Marv

Secy of HUD                craftyguy

Atty General                 Brendan Sullivan

Don't give up now people, the ball has just started rolling!  Dasvics, myself, and some of our other faithful friends, even the ones who are voting for McCain, will continue cogitating concerning this matter.

Unfortunately, the election will not be as exciting without our election guide,

 

Tim Russert.

RIP good sir.

Let's speculate about the choices Senator Obama, and later, President-elect Obama, would have to make about the people surrounding him.  It is important that they be pure, untainted by scandal, smart (educated would be nice too), non-combative (with rare exceptions).

Of course the outstanding question right now is

"Who will be his running mate?" 

And many think it should be Senator Hillary Clinton. 

I think maybe a military man from the South.

Colin Powell is from the South Bronx. 

I have some other ideas, but I want to hear your's first. 

Please also feel free to nominate his cabinet--Secretary of State and so on.

Let's be serious.

Okay, let's not.

Key phrases that indicate Hillary is not conceding:

 

"18 million popular votes" (out of 35 million cast in the Democratic primaries)

"Crucial swing states"

"Your vote is a prayer"

"From the Alleghenies, to the Ozarks, to the Everglades"

"Little girls on their daddies' shoulders"

"I sounded the alarm on the home mortgage over a year ago."  (while she was avoiding sniper fire??)

"This has always been your campaign"

"Go to my website at HillaryClinton.com"

 

I'm still listening to her speech...................................

Election campaigns are like parties.  There are the invitees, there are those you invite because you "have to"  and there are the party-crashers. 

We had a bunch of contenders for the nominations of both political parties.  Some we liked, and some we felt we had to invite.  Hillary belongs in the latter category.  Barack Obama is sort of like a party-crasher.  The good guests, the ones you really enjoy, circulate, socialize,  and go home.   You always wish they could have stayed longer.   The "have-to" invitees seem to consume way too much food or alcohol, talk too much and too loud, and stay too long.  Once in a while, one of the party crashers has a fascinating story that I want to hear, but that is usually the story that is overwhelmed by some boring discourse. 

In the next few weeks, we shall see Hillary over-staying her welcome.  It is a symptom of not having sensitivity.  I am not saying she won't get the nomination, she very well may still pull something out of the air. 

What I am talking about is this tendency of politicians to just assume they are the center of the universe.  Hillary thinks it is "her turn."   That is why politicians are not in entertainment.  They haven't learned "always leave them wanting more."  Who said that?  It is never anyone's "turn." 

I think Hillary has her eyes on re-stocking her bank account somehow with the hundreds of thousands of $10 contributions that have been sent to Mr. Obama.  Don't do it please Mr. Obama.  Those people didn't send their $10 to her.  They sent it to you to run against her. 
If she's so interesting and full of ideas, she can write another book.  Of course, maybe we've had enough.

There's a Persian saying "It's better to have a smart enemy than a stupid friend."  I was praising Mr. Obama for having enough sense to stay away from Al Sharpton (a smart man), and Jesse Jackson (a hypocrite), but Reverend Wright does not grasp which side of the bread to which to apply the butter. 

It is not the side on which the bread is going to land when it is dropped.  Ok dumb dumb? 

Evidently Reverend Wright (I hope I spelled his name right) does not fear a John McCain Presidency, or else he is having his pockets relined at a New York tailor shop !

I haven't owed a car since 1990 when the fun Porsche 914 (that was purchased used from a little old lady who worked at the savings and loan and who only drove it to the beach) decided that air was not sufficient coolant and decided it never wanted to be driven again. I drive a company car when I have to, but soon I want to purchase a car.

My best friend has helped me along and even test drove some for me...here are (I think) my top candidates.  I seem to want a goofy looking semi-boxy hatchback, with AWD.  Pretend price is no object.

Here are my top contenders, in some kind of order.

VW R-32 (top reason, AWD)

Scion X-D (top reasons, reasonably priced and fuel-efficient)

Scion X-A (2006 model used) (drawback, weak engine)

VW GTI or Golf

Toyota Matrix (can't quite make myself like it)

Dodge Caliber (losing ground fast)

Jeep Compass

BMW 1 series (2009 debut)

Suburu sounds like an obvious choice, doesn't  it???  I will research those soon.

Does anyone have anything bad to say about any of these vehicles?  

Car selling is such a racket !

 

Thanks !

 

 

Funny, old Ralph is at the spoiler game again. He is known to be a Hillary-basher, so one would have thought he would choose to support an opponent of hers who now has a chance at defeating her. He will hand the Presidency to John McCain, won't he?

Ralph's followers are misinformed, in most cases. Ralph does not own a car, or real estate, it is true. But he is smart and well-provided-for, so what is true on paper is not the true picture. Wake up, wanna-be warriors !

Ralph claims to live on $25,000 per year. I know many people who could manage that, if their housing were FREE, meals were FREE, transportation were FREE. That leaves clothing (FREE?) and with $25,000 free money I would feel like a millionaire-ess!

Obama supporters may be starry-eyed, Hillary's may be determined, but Ralph's are delusional !

PS Thank you, hard working and underpaid Ralph-led researchers, who over the years have made cars safer!

What does everyone think of the ongoing political process? 

I would like to point out that Senator Obama's body language is very expansive and authoritative.  Senator Clinton, with her shorter stature, cannot match him on this point.  She seems rigid.  

Someone also dressed her like a bell hop. 

   Do I mean bell hop, or car hop?

On a matter of substance, I would also like to

THANK YOU SENATOR OBAMA,

for pointing out that then-First Lady Hillary Clinton probably actually

 DERAILED comprehensive health care reform because of the

SECRETIVE and DEVISIVE way

she mishandled the one important duty she was handed during her husband's administration. 

But, if Senator Obama makes any mis-steps, I am on the volunteer list to drive Senator Biden to Denver.