@AmPowerBlog ROFL more of the IslamoNazi entitlement syndrome ... How DARE you question me, kafir! @MsEBL
— darleenclick (@darleenclick) September 18, 2014UNITED NATIONS—The U.S. unleashed a barrage of diplomatic pressure on world leaders gathered in New York, imploring them to join an international coalition against Islamic extremism.More.
President Barack Obama, in a series of appearances throughout the day, outlined a very different U.S. approach to the Middle East than he did last year at the same forum—one that leans heavily on American military power and tightly focuses on ways to diminish Islamic extremism. He urged leaders in the region to do more to combat what he described as the most pressing threat to global progress.
In his sixth address to the United Nations General Assembly, Mr. Obama said "the cancer of violent extremism" embodied in groups such as Islamic State now dominates his foreign-policy agenda.
"The only language understood by killers like this is the language of force," Mr. Obama said. "So the United States of America will work with a broad coalition to dismantle this network of death."
While leaders met at the U.N., the Pentagon said U.S. and Arab warplanes carried out a new wave of strikes on extremist group Islamic State in Syria, emphasizing regional support for the latest expansion of the air campaign against the group. Heads of state recoiled at a new extremist video showing the beheading of a French hostage.
Despite the U.S. appeals, the scope and longevity of his coalition to fight Islamic State remained unclear.
Major European allies—France, the U.K. and Germany, so far all have declined to send their aircraft into Syrian airspace, in part, because of the lack of U.N. Security Council resolution authorizing the use of such force.
In Paris, French Prime Minister Manuel Valls reiterated the government's refusal. Instead, the French premier bemoaned how world powers had missed the opportunity to deploy air power over Syria in the wake of the alleged chemical attacks last year—when France believed there was a clear legal basis for intervention.
"We wouldn't be in this situation in Syria if the international community had intervened," Mr. Valls said.
British Prime Minister David Cameron is still smarting from the defeat he suffered last year when Parliament opposed his plans to join the U.S. in the airstrikes that Mr. Obama eventually called off. Although Mr. Cameron has the authority to launch military action unilaterally, lawmakers say the Syria experience makes it important for the U.K. leader to secure parliamentary approval before taking military action in Iraq.
On Wednesday, Mr. Cameron's government said Parliament would meet on Friday to debate a request from the Iraqi government for airstrikes against Islamic State in Iraq, but not Syria.
In his General Assembly speech Wednesday night, Mr. Cameron backed a U.K. military response in advance of the Friday vote, but left open whether it would entail a combat role against Islamic State militants.
"We should be uncompromising, using all the means at our disposal—including military force—to hunt down these extremists," Mr. Cameron said in his address, while adding in anticipation of criticism that the West should avoid the mistakes of the past in Iraq.
The president heralded the inclusion of five Arab states, including Saudi Arabia, Jordan and the United Arab Emirates, in the airstrikes in Syria this week. And the U.S. welcomed commitments by Belgium and the Netherlands to each deploy fighter jets for military operations.
However, a number of Washington's closest Mideast allies—particularly Turkey and Qatar—appeared to be on the fence in terms of how significantly to support the U.S. campaign, though four Qatari planes provided surveillance for coalition attacks on Islamic State Monday.
Look at the unadulterated Hate fest going on at the #stoprush vine... Good lord these people need help... They make my skin crawl.
— Beanfrompa (@BeanfromPa) September 25, 2014WASHINGTON—The first U.S.-led airstrikes on extremist groups in Syria hit militant leaders, training camps and control centers, U.S. officials said, promising this was only the start of a long campaign.More.
The attacks were conducted with the aid of Arab allies, but the U.S. carried out the bulk of the raids. After the first wave of strikes, the U.S. said it conducted follow-on attacks during the day Tuesday that hit two Islamic State armored vehicles in Syria.
The U.S. and its allies unleashed more than 160 missiles and bombs on targets inside Syria, disrupting infrastructure used by the extremist groups Islamic State and al Qaeda-linked Khorasan, Pentagon officials said in the first assessments of the impact of the strikes.
While it will be days before a definitive conclusion can be drawn, U.S. officials said they believe some leaders of both Islamic State and Khorasan were likely killed in the strikes on training camps and headquarters buildings.
The expansion of the military campaign against Islamic State from Iraq to Syria carries significant risks for President Barack Obama's administration.
Mr. Obama has spent his presidency extricating the U.S. from two long and costly wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Now there is the prospect of getting mired again in a protracted Middle East war.
Western-backed rebels fear U.S.-led airstrikes on Islamic State and other extremist groups inside Syria will ultimately tip the balance in the multi-sided civil war in favor of the Syrian regime that Washington opposes.
Also, Islamic State made a new threat against a Western hostage. The family of British captive Alan Henning, an aid-convoy volunteer being held by the group, said on Tuesday that they had received an audio recording of the prisoner pleading for his life.
Islamic State has released videos showing the beheadings of three Western hostages—two of them Americans—since the U.S. began airstrikes on Islamic State targets in Iraq in early August.
U.S. officials didn't provide estimates of casualties, though local residents said many were killed, including civilians. American officials said there were no indications of civilian casualties and promised to review any such claims.
The U.S.-led strikes will continue over coming days, U.S. officials said, though they cautioned that future waves are likely to be smaller than the opening round as the campaign quickly settles into a lower, but persistent beat.
"I can tell you that last night's strikes were only the beginning," said Rear Adm. John Kirby, the Pentagon press secretary...
Liberals are equating these pics. If you know anybody with a pet Styrofoam cup. Let me know. #tcot @michellemalkin pic.twitter.com/utPuu03IfI
— The People's Cube (@ThePeoplesCube) September 23, 2014Lady
Styx
8:50 AM
Whole Lotta Love
Led Zeppelin
8:45 AM
Lay It On the Line
Triumph
8:39 AM
China Grove
The Doobie Brothers
8:35 AM
Wrapped Around Your Finger
The Police
8:22 AM
More Than A Feeling
Boston
8:18 AM
Brown Eyed Girl
Van Morrison
8:15 AM
Everybody Wants You
Billy Squier
8:11 AM
Sara
Fleetwood Mac
8:05 AM
Bad Company
Bad Company
8:01 AM
Slightly Fewer Back #ISIS Military Action vs. Past Actions... http://t.co/7HhLopCl2Q pic.twitter.com/B0rXZzZfvB
— GallupNews (@GallupNews) September 23, 2014The tangled web of an injury-plagued and struggling Angels rotation grew even more convoluted Tuesday night, but for a good reason. Veteran left-hander Wade LeBlanc has thrust himself into the playoff picture.More.
LeBlanc, filling in for the injured Matt Shoemaker, allowed five hits over 5 1/3 scoreless innings in a 2-0 victory over Oakland that pushed the Athletics into a tie with the Kansas City Royals for the American League wild-card lead.
Combined with his 5 1/3-inning scoreless effort last Thursday against Seattle, LeBlanc, who was designated for assignment three times this season — twice by the Angels — has thrown 10 2/3 scoreless innings in two starts, allowing eight hits, striking out four and walking one.
With Shoemaker questionable for the division series because of a rib-cage strain and Hector Santiago getting shelled in his last two starts, LeBlanc has positioned himself to be considered for the playoff rotation. At the very least, he should earn a long-relief spot...
"For anyone who came of age after the millennium, war and economic decline are all we have known." http://t.co/N38aSTsoKn
— Sarah Kendzior (@sarahkendzior) September 23, 2014SARCELLES, France — From the immigrant enclaves of the Parisian suburbs to the drizzly bureaucratic city of Brussels to the industrial heartland of Germany, Europe’s old demon returned this summer. “Death to the Jews!” shouted protesters at pro-Palestinian rallies in Belgium and France. “Gas the Jews!” yelled marchers at a similar protest in Germany.Keep reading, but note: Once again, the mainstream press whitewashes Islamic anti-Semitism, raising the specter of "right-wing" parties, blah blah.
The ugly threats were surpassed by uglier violence. Four people were fatally shot in May at the Jewish Museum in Brussels. A Jewish-owned pharmacy in this Paris suburb was destroyed in July by youths protesting Israel’s military campaign in Gaza. A synagogue in Wuppertal, Germany, was attacked with firebombs. A Swedish Jew was beaten with iron pipes. The list goes on.
The scattered attacks have raised alarm about how Europe is changing and whether it remains a safe place for Jews. An increasing number of Jews, if still relatively modest in total, are now migrating to Israel. Others describe “no go” zones in Muslim districts of many European cities where Jews dare not travel...
Barack Obama is destined to be the greatest flop in American presidential history. He is, in every sense of the word, an utter failure.No, no ennobling qualities. He's a disaster from the get go. Yes, it's going to be a crushing November election, but then, we'll still have two more years of this f-king Democrat Party misery.
Consider first his signature achievement, Obamacare. Not only has Obama had to delay implementation, creating a perfect precedent for his Republican successor to do the same, but the law is more unpopular today than it has ever been according to all polling data.
Pew Research reports that 55% of Americans disapprove of Obamacare. A clear plurality of Americans believe that they will be worse off because of Obamacare. CBS News lists the “strongly approve” of Obamacare at 16%, while “strongly disapprove” is a whopping 47%. Every polling organization, no matter how the question is worded, shows the same public disdain for this law.
The fear conservatives had that a new entitlement will create a permanent constituency may not happen this time, because Obamacare, unlike Social Security or Medicare, helps almost no one and hurts a lot of people. Moreover, by foolishly rejecting a bipartisan reform, Obama and his party cannot claim broad support for his law.
This political hack, who had the power to do anything during his first two years, could think of nothing more imaginative than (1) spending federal dollars like water based upon the ancient and failed “stimulus” idea and (2) implementing an even greater failure – ask any Briton or Canadian – of nationalized health insurance simply, one suspects, because Barry had no keener mind or greater imagination than to pick up tired ideas of British Socialism eighty years old.
Obama, who “won” the Nobel Peace Prize almost as soon as he took office, is now officially a warmonger president – but one who leads from behind and rejects every attempt to form a national consensus policy, and whose utter haplessness in guiding national security is stunning. Syria, Libya, Ukraine, Iraq – everywhere in the world, really – Obama’s foreign policy has been almost comic opera.
Obama's White House staff seems almost as incompetent as he is, as anyone who has listened to Ms. Harf for more than a minute quickly grasps. Everyone around Obama simply reads talking points and denies, without any support at all, anything that challenges those talking points.
Has anyone around Obama, for example, confessed that the attack in Benghazi was not caused by an anti-Islamic film, and that any explanations to the contrary were simple invention? Has Barry or his “Not Ready for Prime Time Players” ever acknowledged any failure beyond the ubiquitous and meaningless mantra “I accept full responsibility”? Who truly trusts Obama anymore on national security issues, and who abroad relies on anything he says or any promises he makes?
Some presidencies that are successes in policy areas, like the Nixon presidency, are unwound by corruption and cover-ups. Has any administration been as marinated in lies about important facts in investigations as this administration? The IRS e-mail scandal surpasses anything Nixon did in Watergate. The destruction of documents by a Hillary State Department to hide information from Congress relating to Benghazi, if true – who, really, doubts that now? – would surpass any misconduct in presidential history.
Now Barry is on the verge of doing what no president has done: leading his political party into two consecutive midterm election debacles. Eisenhower and Nixon suffered heavy losses in their second midterms, but not their fist. Clinton did just the opposite. Reagan actually gained Senate seats in his first midterm, but he lost the Senate in his second midterm.
Even our worst presidents like their bright spots. Grant was a truly noble character and a war hero whose memoirs of the Civil War remain great history. Harding’s low-tax and pro-growth policies led to the Roaring Twenties, and Harding was a fierce champion of black rights. Truman, a courageous combat veteran in 1918, helped birth Israel and preserve South Korea. Nixon was brilliant, and his opening the door to China transformed the geopolitical world. Carter was an honorable man, a graduate of the Naval Academy who served on a nuclear submarine, however dreadful the Carter presidency was.
But Barry – has he really done anything at all? Does Obama have the slightest ennobling quality? Has he taken a single courageous stand on anything? Does our president do anything at all, really, except savor the perks of office and read his notorious teleprompter?
Soon, very soon, the utter failure of Obama will be a truth known by all his countrymen.
