The Democrats' Great Betrayal on Iraq

At FrontPage Magazine:

Editor's note: GOP presidential primary candidate Jeb Bush is once again boldly telling the truth about the Iraq War and putting the focus on those who sabotaged it: President Obama, Hillary Clinton and the Democratic Party. In recent remarks at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, Bush not only highlighted the Democrats' indefensible abandonment of a once-stabilized Iraq, but explained how this disastrous decision gave rise to a new, formidable terror threat: The Islamic State. In light of Bush's statements, Frontpage is publishing David Horowitz's introduction to his book "The Black Book of the American Left, Vol. III: The Great Betrayal," which lays out the true history of the Iraq War and the Democrats' policy of defeat. Read the introduction below.

*****

The Great Betrayal is the third volume of my collected writings that make up The Black Book of the American Left. Its chapters focus on events beginning with the Islamic attacks of 9/11 and culminating in the Iraq War. They describe what can now be seen as a tragic turn in our nation’s history that has already profoundly and adversely affected its future.

The effort to remove the Saddam regime in Iraq by force was initially supported by both major political parties. But in only the third month of fighting the Democratic Party turned against the war it had authorized for reasons unrelated to events on the battle- field or changes in policy. This political division over the war fractured the home front with crippling implications for the war effort itself and, beyond that, America’s efforts to curtail the terrorist activities of other regimes in the Middle East, most pointedly Syria and Iran. The internal divisions were greater than any the nation had experienced since the Civil War, and the betrayal by the Democrats of a war policy they had supported was without precedent in the history of America’s wars overseas.

The internal divisions at the end of the Vietnam War were not at all commensurate with those over Iraq. The 1972 McGovern presidential campaign, which called for an American retreat from Vietnam, was launched after ten years of fighting with no result, when both parties had already conceded the war could not be won. The conflict between the two major parties was over how to end the war and over what the war had become, not—as in Iraq—over whether the war was illegal and immoral to begin with and should never have been fought. The Democrats’ opposition to a war they had authorized, represented a betrayal of the nation and its men and women in arms that has no equivalent in American history.

The domestic divisions over both wars were initiated by a radical left whose agendas went far beyond the conflicts themselves. In the decades that followed their efforts to bring the Vietnam War to an ignoble end, the left had made ever deeper inroads into the Democratic Party until, in 2008, the party nominated a senator from its anti-war ranks who became the 44th president of the United States. Of far greater significance than the successful candidacy of one anti-war spokesman, however, was the path the entire Democratic Party took in first abandoning a war its leaders had approved, and then conducting a five-year campaign against the war while it was still in progress.

I have written two previous books about this defection and its destructive consequences. The first, Unholy Alliance: Radical Islam And the American Left (2004), documented the emergence of the post-9/11 anti-war movement, its tacit alliance with the jihadist enemy and its malign influence on the Democratic Party’s fateful turn. The second, Party of Defeat: How Democrats and Radicals Undermined America's War on Terror Before and After 9-11 (2008), was written with Ben Johnson and focused on the sabotage of the war effort by leaders of the Democratic Party, by progressive activists and by a left-leaning national media. This chorus of opposition took advantage of American missteps to conduct a no-holds- barred propaganda campaign worthy of an enemy, even going so far as to leak classified information that destroyed vital national secu-rity programs and put all Americans at risk. Political opponents of the war attacked the moral character of the commander-in-chief and the mission both parties had endorsed. This assault on America’s role in the war dealt a devastating blow to American power and influence from which they have yet to recover.

It is customary and natural for human beings to identify with the communities they inhabit, and on whose health and security their lives depend. This is the foundation of all patriotic sentiment. But once individuals become possessed by the idea that political power can be “transformative” and create a fundamentally different human environment, they develop an allegiance to the idea itself and to the parties and entities in which they see it embodied. Such individuals come to feel alienated from the societies they live in but are determined to replace, and finally to see their own country as an enemy because it is the enemy of their progressive dreams. This is how generations of leftists came to identify with the Communist adversary and its cold war against the democracies of the West. When the Communist empire collapsed, I was curious to see whether this progressive reflex would survive the fall. Lacking the real world instantiation of their dreams Soviet Russia had provided, would progressives continue to volunteer as frontier guards for America’s enemies, even the most reprehensible among them? The answer was not long in coming.

On November 9, 1989, the Berlin Wall came down, liberating hundreds of millions of captive people from their Soviet prison. The following August, Iraq’s sadistic dictator ordered his armies into Kuwait and erased that sovereign nation from the political map. Unlike the Soviet rulers who paid lip service to progressive ideals, Saddam Hussein was a self-identified fascist who did not pretend to advance the cause of “social justice” or liberal values. Even by 20th-century standards, Saddam was an exceptionally cruel and bloody tyrant. But he was also an enemy of the United States, and that proved enough to persuade progressives to lend him a helping hand. When America organized an international coalition to reverse Iraq’s aggression, the progressive left opposed the action as though America rather than the Saddam regime were at fault.

At the time, the only reason there were no large protests against the war over Kuwait was because progressives were freshly demoralized by the Soviet debacle and still in disarray. But their mood changed over the course of the next decade. As the millennium approached, leftists began to regroup, organizing a series of large and violent demonstrations against “globalization,” the term with which they re-labeled their old nemesis “international capitalism.” When Islamic fanatics attacked New York and Washing- ton in 2001, leaders of the globalization protests re-positioned their agendas to focus on the new American “imperialism” in Afghanistan and then Iraq. Eventually, millions of leftists at home and abroad participated in protests to prevent America and the coalition it led from removing Saddam Hussein. Without overtly supporting the Saddam regime as they had the Kremlin, progressives resumed their role as frontier guards for the enemies of the United States...

Michelle Malkin Slams Environmental Protection Agency on Animas River Contamination

Michelle was unusually fired up yesterday.

At Twitchy, "‘Make it stop!’ Michelle Malkin pounds EPA for unwelcome response to river contamination."

Only on rare occasions that I spell this out, but it's necessary. Fuck you @epa #environmentalpollutionagency ==> https://t.co/lksq2Vs75P

— Michelle Malkin (@michellemalkin) August 12, 2015

Plus, watch, at RT America, "RAW: Aerial view of wastewater contaminated Animas River."

And at Blazing Cat Fur, "WATCH EPA Chief Finally Apologize (Not Really) for Toxic Colorado River Spill." Be sure to click through for the Ezra Levant commentary at the video.

Eagle Takes Out Drone

It's like a war on drones, including animal armies, heh.

At CNN, "Eagle knocks drone out of sky."

Progressive Policies Drive More Californians Into Poverty, Especially Blacks and Hispanics

California's a far-left Democrat Party state, and apparently the disenfranchised poor are down with that.

Keep in mind who's really doing well amid that the state's economic recovery: the Silicon Valley types (in West L.A., the O.C., and San Diego too), and the Burbank-Hollywood entertainment industry, i.e., affluent leftists not dependent on welfare state transfer programs.

From Joel Kotkin, at the O.C. Register, "Progressive policies drive more into poverty":

Across the nation, progressives increasingly look at California as a model state. This tendency has increased as climate change has emerged as the Democratic Party’s driving issue. To them, California’s recovery from a very tough recession is proof positive that you can impose ever greater regulation on everything from housing to electricity and still have a thriving economy.

And to be sure, the state has finally recovered the jobs lost in the 2007-09 recession, largely a result of a boom in values of stocks and high- end real estate. Things, however, have not been so rosy in key blue-collar fields, such as construction, which is still more than 200,000 jobs below prerecession levels, or manufacturing, where the state has lost over one-third of its employment since 2000. Homelessness, which one would think should be in decline during a strong economy, is on the rise in Orange County and even more so in Los Angeles.

The dirty secret here is that a large proportion of Californians, roughly one-third, or some 3.2 million households, as found by a recent United Way study, find it increasingly difficult to keep their heads above water. The United Way study, surprisingly, has drawn relatively little interest from a media that usually enjoys highlighting disparities, particularly racial gaps. Perhaps this reflects a need to maintain an illusion of blue state success. If Republican Pete Wilson were still governor, I suspect we might have heard much more about this study.

State of Poverty

The United Way study – “Struggling to Get By” – delves well beyond even the recent Census Bureau analysis, which, by factoring in housing costs, already established California as the state with the highest percentage of poor people, at roughly one in four. United Way expanded this percentage by calculating what the charitable organization called the “Real Cost Budget,” which includes not only rent but also costs for child care, medical, health and transportation.

By United Way’s calculation, roughly one in three Californians can barely make ends meet, despite the state’s relatively generous transfer payments, subsidies and general assistance. Latinos and African Americans, as one might expect, fare worse, but roughly one-in-five non-Hispanic whites and 28 percent of Asians also are deemed struggling.

Roughly half of Latino households fall into this condition of poverty or near-poverty, as do a similar share of African American households. Those who do worst generally are poorly educated single mothers and their children. Poverty and near-poverty are greatest among Latinos, who also are bearing the majority of children. It is hard to imagine a more urgent wake-up call.

Not surprisingly, many of the foreign-born, the source of much of California’s population growth in recent decades, have fared poorly. Only 25 percent of households headed by native-born Californians fall below the United Way “Real Cost Budget” line for economic distress, but it’s 45 percent for those headed by the foreign-born, and nearly 60 percent for families headed by a noncitizen. The highest percentage is among Latino households headed by a noncitizen – a staggering 80 percent fall below the minimal level...

Keep reading.

Interesting thing about Kotkin is that he's a former leftist, or so they say.

Hat Tip: VDare, "The Collapse of California."

Courtroom Sketch Artist Jane Rosenberg Draws Patriots Quarterback Tom Brady

And hilarity ensues.

At LAT, "Courtroom artist defends her unintentionally hilarious sketch of Tom Brady."

Courtnie Quinlan Page 3

Hmm... I think she's new to Page 3.

RT'd by Alison Webster, on Twitter, "Stunning @CourtnieQ is today's Page 3 online. 😍 Shot by @Page3photog."

BONUS: On Vimeo, "Courtnie Quinlan and Rheanna Duffield — Behind the Scenes with Chris Conway Photography."

Alexandra Tyler, Playboy's Miss April 2015, Wants to Show You Her Instagram (VIDEO)

Maybe I should be on Instagram, heh.

Watch: "Alexandra Tyler, Miss April 2015, Show You my Instagram — Playboy."

Seattle Bernie Sanders 'Black Lives Matter' Protester Interview on MSNBC: 'Blacks are in a state of emergency...'

Race-baiter Tamron Hall's got the interview.

The protester, Marissa Johnson, apparently took a lot of flak for shutting down Sanders.

Watch: "Presidential candidate Bernie Sanders was upstaged at his rally in Seattle by “Black Lives Matter” protesters for not taking action to save black lives, they say. Co-Founder of the Seattle chapter Marissa Johnson explains on NewsNation."

Carly Fiorina Emerges as GOP Weapon Against 'War on Women' Charge

I have to admit, I'm fascinated just listening to her talk.

At the New York Times, "Fiorina Emerges From Pack After Trump Remarks":

This week, Donald J. Trump said that listening to Carly Fiorina, the only woman competing for the Republican presidential nomination, gave him “a massive headache.”

It was music to Mrs. Fiorina’s ears.

For months, the former Hewlett-Packard executive has tried to gain traction by pointedly attacking Hillary Rodham Clinton. But Mrs. Fiorina’s candidacy did not start to sizzle until her performance at last week’s second-tier Republican debate, where viewers realized that as the sole woman in a 17-candidate primary field, she was singularly qualified to stand up to Mr. Trump.

It is not a role Mrs. Fiorina necessarily wants to emphasize. “I don’t spend very much of my campaign time talking or thinking about Donald Trump,” she said in an interview Wednesday. But it is one she has embraced with the same fervor that she has employed against Mrs. Clinton, the Democratic Party front-runner.

It is not a role Mrs. Fiorina necessarily wants to emphasize. “I don’t spend very much of my campaign time talking or thinking about Donald Trump,” she said in an interview Wednesday. But it is one she has embraced with the same fervor that she has employed against Mrs. Clinton, the Democratic Party front-runner.

“Women understood” that Mr. Trump’s attack the day after the debate on the Fox News anchor Megyn Kelly, making a reference to bleeding that many people thought was an allusion to menstruation, was sexist, Mrs. Fiorina told a visibly squeamish Jake Tapper of CNN. “I’ve had lots of men imply that I was unfit for decision-making because maybe I was having my period. So I’ll say it, O.K?”

In a crowded Republican field, Mrs. Fiorina has delivered the most forceful and succinct denunciation of Mr. Trump’s comments, which sent a shudder through a party concerned that it would reinforce perceptions that it was increasingly out of touch with female voters.

Now, many Republicans, preparing to potentially confront Mrs. Clinton in a general election, are looking anew at Mrs. Fiorina, who rose from being a secretary to running the giant technology company HP, as the party’s weapon to counter the perception that it is waging a “war on women.”

“People feel Carly has clearly demonstrated she is a very powerful operator, has a lot of strengths of conviction and is willing to take Hillary — and now even Trump — on very directly,” said Katie Packer Gage, a political strategist who focuses on helping Republicans connect with women.

Asked whether she was willing to play the role of telegenic poster girl of the Republican presidential field, Mrs. Fiorina said, “I know Hillary Clinton wants to paint the entire Republican Party with the broad brush of Donald Trump’s comments, but it’s not clear to me that Donald Trump is a Republican.”

Keep reading.

It's been pointed out, on Twitter, if I remember correctly, that Fiorina's soft on Islamic jihad, that she's praised Islam as a great civilization. I vaguely remember something like that from some time ago. Recall, I didn't support her in the California Senate race in 2010. Of late, she's spoken quite forcefully on how we must destroy Islamic State, and she's criticized the administration. I'd like to hear more from her on these topics. She's a fabulous candidate.

Until then, see Tabitha Korol, at Gates of Vienna, "A Mythical, Deceptive Tale by Carly Fiorina."

Donald Trump on Obama Administration's Iran Nuclear Deal: 'We're Going to Have a Nuclear Holocaust...'

Yeah, that's what all the regional powers are worried about.

Here's more of Donald Trump's interview with Sean Hannity, at Fox News, "Trump on Iran: 'They will know I am not playing games'."

Rare White Humpback Whale Spotted Off Australia's Gold Coast (VIDEO)

He's a celebrity down there, it turns out.

At the Brisbane Times, "White whale spotted off Gold Coast may be Migaloo."

Kylie Jenner Bikini Pics!

Dang, this young lady's got some curves!

At London's Daily Mail, "EXCLUSIVE PICTURES: Just like Kim! Kylie Jenner shows off her curvaceous derriere in purple bikini as she continues birthday festivities with pals in Mexico."

Fisherman Hooks Drone Flying Over Crystal Pier in San Diego (VIDEO)

Now that is wild!

At Gizmodo, "Watch a Fisherman Catch a Drone in Flight."

Watch: "Drone Fisherman."

Mayor Eric Garcetti Releases 20,000 'Shade Balls' Into Los Angeles Reservoir on Monday (VIDEO)

I imagine there are kookier things.

At LAT, "Shade balls in the L.A. Reservoir," and "Q&A Millions of shade balls helping protect California's precious water."

And watch, at CBS Evening News, "To fight drought, Los Angeles turns to 'shade balls'":

Los Angeles dumped 96 million plastic balls into a reservoir as a way to combat the drought. The balls protect the water and slow the rate of evaporation, reports CBS News correspondent John Blackstone.

Swedish Prosecutors to Drop Sexual Assault Investigation Against Wikileaks Founder Julian Assange

The statute of limitations has done run out, heh.

And the freak Assange is still holed up in the Ecuadorean embassy in London.

The fucker's gonna skate like a bird now.

At the BBC, "Julian Assange case: Sweden to drop sex assault inquiry."

Also at Euronews, "Sweden to drop sex assault investigations into Wikileaks founder."

Fellow Inmate Kills Notorious Member of 'San Quentin Six' During Riot at Folsom State Prison (VIDEO)

Man, this is hardcore!

Now that's some Folsom Prison Blues!

At the Sacramento Bee, "Notorious member of 'San Quentin Six' killed in New Folsom prison riot."

Female Suspect Still at Large After Falling from Bay Bridge While Evading Police in Stolen Car Chase (VIDEO)

This is actually kind of hilarious. Sometimes you gotta give it up for the gangstas, heh.

At the San Francisco Chronicle, "Stolen car suspect falls off Bay Bridge evading police":

The bizarre getaway — reminiscent of a scene from “Mission: Impossible” — unfolded shortly after 2 a.m. when CHP officers heading west on the bridge saw a Nissan Maxima spin out and crash on the eastbound side of the span.

The officers turned around, found the Nissan abandonedand saw three women walking east on the bicycle path adjacent to the bridge.

One of the women, believed to be the driver, began climbing onto the rail and “exhibited erratic behavior,” leading the officers to believe she would jump, CHP officials said. She had on a black dress and no shoes.

One of the officers grabbed her to try to pull her back over the railing. But she struggled, and after a minute and a half, “she pulled out of his grip and fell into the water below,” CHP officials said.

The woman, who is in her mid-20s, splashed in the water about 70 feet below, in between the new bridge and the old eastern span, authorities said.

Some motorists reported seeing a woman, soaking wet, standing on the north side of the bridge near the toll plaza trying to flag down traffic...

Reports say she's still at large, lol.

Progressive Education: 13-Year-Old Deaf Student Raped as Part of Riverside Public School 'Sex Club'

This is horrible!

Here's the school's website, on the State of California server, "California School for the Deaf."

This is rape culture. Leftist progressive rape culture, where allegedly hundreds of "sex acts" were performed by children.

At ABC News 7 Los Angeles, "DEAF STUDENT ALLEGEDLY RAPED AS PART OF RIVERSIDE SCHOOL SEX CLUB":

WEST LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- Phobias, nightmares and acting out. That's how baffled parents described the behavior of their once joyful 13-year-old boy. He is deaf and could not explain. Then came the call from his school.

"My son was raped. He was forced to participate in oral sex," his mother Geneva White-Sosanya said.

She and her husband Tunde Sosanya have filed a lawsuit claiming negligence.

They had enrolled their son at the California School for the Deaf in Riverside, an institution that brings special-needs students from across the state to live on campus. Supervisors used computerized surveillance to help monitor students, especially at night.

"My son was bullied. He was forced. He was drug from his bed at night and this happened while the randomized computer checks were in place," said the distraught mother.

The parents were especially disturbed by how long the school waited to notify them of the attack. They were contacted three months after it happened and had not been present to comfort him when he was questioned by investigators. The school told the parents that seven other students were also involved.

"Gut wrenching," the boy's father Tunde Sosanya said. "I was with my wife when we got that news. My wife broke down crying."

Because the state operates the school, the California Highway Patrol and Child Protective Services were called to conduct a criminal investigation into what the Sosanya's attorney says was a sex club.

The alleged ringleader was a 15-year-old student named in the lawsuit as "John Roe." Investigators said they were unable to obtain enough evidence to press charges. They reported some acts may have been consensual, a finding rejected by the couple's lawyer.

"The issue about consent or not? These kids are 13, 14, 15-year-old boys. There is no consent," attorney Candice Klein-Pereira says.

The suit portrays "John Roe" as the classic bully.

"He would threaten them and then tell them, 'If you don't say it was consensual, I am going to say that you are the one who did that, you are the one who is performing these acts, that you are the one who is doing this," Klein-Pereira said.

It has been a nightmare for the West Los Angeles couple who adopted their son as a baby, knowing he was deaf.

"He was a gift to us. We adopted him at seven days old," Tunde Sosanya said.

Among their questions now: were other vulnerable special-needs children victimized?

"This investigation has uncovered hundreds and I am not even exaggerating -- hundreds of different sexual acts between these boys. So if the school is allowing this many events to take place, where is the protection?" asked Klein-Pereira...

Still more.

The case for home schooling is looking better all time, man.

Bwahaha! #Ferguson Protesters Charged with Assault, Damaging Car, After Blocking Traffic on I-70 (VIDEO)

Following-up from Monday, "Protesters Shut Down Interstate 70 in St. Louis."

Here's the video, "Protestors block Interstate 70 in St. Louis #Ferguson #MoralMonday Action."

At at St. Louis Magazine, "Car Plows Through Ferguson Protesters; Protesters Charged With Assaulting Driver, Damaging Car."

Added Bonus: They're lesbians.

On Monday, protesters commemorating the anniversary of the Michael Brown shooting shut down Interstate 70 during rush hour, forming a human chain across the roadway. Undeterred, a woman in an SUV pushed her car through the crowd, knocking protesters aside.

Now, charges have been filed, but not against the driver—against two of the protesters.

Brittany Ferrell, 26, and Alexis Templeton, 21, prominent protesters who founded the group Millennial Activists United, were arrested yesterday in Clayton. Ferrell has been charged with first-degree property damage, first-degree trespass, and peace disturbance. Templeton has been charged with third-degree assault, first-degree trespass, and peace disturbance.

“The charges stem from the efforts of the defendants to block traffic on Interstate 70," says County Prosecutor Bob McCulloch. "Templeton is accused of punching the victim as our victim attempted to drive past the defendant. The victim suffered an eye injury as a result. Ferrell kicked the victim’s car as she passed causing nearly $5000.00 in damage.”

They're hate criminals, lol.

More.

And idiot leftist are shocked that Ferrell and Templeton were charged, and not the driver. Heh, from the numbskulls at Daily Kos, "Angry driver plows into protesters on I-70, police file charges against protesters for SUV damage":

This video has been gnawing at me since the moment I saw it being livestreamed on YouTube by St. Louis American. During the livestream of the I-70 highway shutdown by Black Lives Matter protesters, an angry driver plowed directly into a line of protesters. The video bothered me on a number of fronts and made me question whether a St. Louis police officer might have even given the go-ahead for the SUV driver to run directly into the protesters. If you watch the video, you can see the driver motioning to a police officer, who comes over and has a very brief conversation with her. We don't have any idea what was said, but you can clearly see in the video that from the moment the police officer began to walk away, the driver of the SUV began to drive directly into the protesters. The officer even looks back and sees the SUV driving into the line of people. More protesters gathered and stood in front of the SUV and then the driver punched the gas, pushing protesters to the side and dragging a "Ferguson is everywhere" box sign with it. A few protesters can be seen banging on the car to get the driver to stop.

I watched with a mix of horror, anger and relief. Horrified that the driver had willfully driven into a group of people. Anger that the officer actually looked back at the vehicle, saw it plowing into the people and kept walking away. Relief nobody was seriously injured...

Oh, the horror! Bwahaha!!

At Least 13 Dead as Massive Explosion Rocks Chinese Port City of Tianjin

Here's the Guardian UK, "Explosions in Chinese city of Tianjin kill at least 13 and injure hundreds."

Also at Zero Hedge, "Massive Explosion Rocks Chinese Port City, Martial Law Declared (13 Dead, 400 Hospitalized)."

This clip shows the most spectacular angle of the blast. You can practically feel it exploding out of your screen, "Caught on camera Massive gas station nuke like explosion Tianjin."

More at Russia Today, "RAW: Massive blasts worth tons of TNT rock Tianjin, China."