Just a few stories this week from a world grown increasingly terrifying . . .
Liberia has closed its border, quarantined many communities, and has seen even top experts stricken with the dreaded Ebola virus. Sick officials made it onto international flights despite stringent precautions by the Liberian government. West Africa has seen the most serious outbreak of the extremely contagious disease yet. No end in sight.
Libya faces its worst violence since 2011, causing several nations to shut down their embassies there. The country's "fragile government and fledgling army" currently struggle to keep control of the capital's international airport.
War continues in Gaza. Secretary of State John Kerry continues to undermine the cease fire agreement supported by Egypt, Israel, and the Palestinian Authority in an effort to kowtow to Hamas extremists.
Boko Haram crossed the Nigerian border, raiding Cameroon. The terror group best known for kidnapping hundreds of young girls seized the wife of Cameroon's vice prime minister. Cameroon has suffered three attacks from the terrorist group.
European Jews, particularly in France, are fearful of a continent wide spike in active anti-Semitism. Could this produce an exodus from Europe to Israel and the United States? An ambassador appointed by Hungary to represent that nation in Italy resigned after criticism of his "raging" anti-Semitism.
US intelligence officials released images that seem to show Russian artillery firing into Ukraine in support of separatists there. This threatens to escalate the conflict into a full scale war between two of the European continent's largest nations. With Ukraine the home of some of Europe's most productive farmland, a full scale war could disrupt food supplies for millions.
While the female mutilation edict attributed to ISIS may be fake, Christians have fled areas under its control by the thousands. Islamicist officials have imposed prejudicial sanctions on Christians which have not existed in Iraq in generations. Islamic State officials also ordered the destruction of the tombs of Jonah and Daniel, figures holy to the Jewish, Christian, and other faiths.
Meanwhile China, which has threatened the neighboring countries of Japan, Vietnam, and the Philippines in recent years, has accelerated its naval program. Iran also continues its quest for more effective weapons capable of hitting Europe and North America.
Showing posts with label Libya. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Libya. Show all posts
Monday, July 28, 2014
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
A Crisis of Confidence
The United States and key players in the world community have a crisis of confidence. Not in America itself, but in Barack Obama.
The past two weeks have shown us just how much the sitting president is in over his head. He has been seen most conspicuously playing golf, predicting the NCAA Men's Tournament, and going to Rio de Janiero to dance and see the sights. Meanwhile Japan is still reeling from natural and nuclear disaster, Egypt is still in an uproar, and we have just launched air strikes against Libya in coordination with our NATO allies. Well, semi-coordinatiion because we are arguing publicly with Britain over whether or not Moammar Ghaddafi is a legitimate target for removal. And his own party is screaming because Congress received not so much as a courtesy call about the attacks.
Obama does not have the ability to lead a church bingo game, much less the country in a world of crisis. So why doesn't he hand things off to Hillary Clinton? She may have wrong headed ideas about a lot of things, but she is more capable and experienced than the basketball prognosticator in chief. Obama would never be able to handle any form of Clinton accomplishment because she remains the number one threat to his renomination.
Hillary Clinton herself posed the question. Who would you rather have answering the phone at 3 AM with the world in crisis. I wish Obama would stay in Rio, or on the golf course, or wherever he'd rather be this week than working his main job, and let Clinton answer the phone. She and Bill are not my top choices to respond in a crisis, but they are better than anyone else the Democrats have right now.
Who ever thought that this guy was a great intellect was sold a bill of goods. Sorry America. You've been had.
The past two weeks have shown us just how much the sitting president is in over his head. He has been seen most conspicuously playing golf, predicting the NCAA Men's Tournament, and going to Rio de Janiero to dance and see the sights. Meanwhile Japan is still reeling from natural and nuclear disaster, Egypt is still in an uproar, and we have just launched air strikes against Libya in coordination with our NATO allies. Well, semi-coordinatiion because we are arguing publicly with Britain over whether or not Moammar Ghaddafi is a legitimate target for removal. And his own party is screaming because Congress received not so much as a courtesy call about the attacks.
Obama does not have the ability to lead a church bingo game, much less the country in a world of crisis. So why doesn't he hand things off to Hillary Clinton? She may have wrong headed ideas about a lot of things, but she is more capable and experienced than the basketball prognosticator in chief. Obama would never be able to handle any form of Clinton accomplishment because she remains the number one threat to his renomination.
Hillary Clinton herself posed the question. Who would you rather have answering the phone at 3 AM with the world in crisis. I wish Obama would stay in Rio, or on the golf course, or wherever he'd rather be this week than working his main job, and let Clinton answer the phone. She and Bill are not my top choices to respond in a crisis, but they are better than anyone else the Democrats have right now.
Who ever thought that this guy was a great intellect was sold a bill of goods. Sorry America. You've been had.
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
The Constitutionality of the Attack on Libya
Obama's belated decision to launch attacks on the Libyan regime of Moammar Ghaddafi has sparked some debate on the home front over the constitutionality of his action.
Hate to say anything that defends Obama, but I would argue that the president does have a constitutional and legal authority to deploy the armed forces into a conflict despite the lack of a declaration of war. First of all, Congress does have the option to cut off funding for U. S. military actions at any time. Because of that, the legislative branch does have power and leverage over a protracted, but undeclared war.
Secondly, there is the precedent set by the Founding Fathers themselves. I will skip over John Adams' deployment of the navy in an undeclared war against France and Thomas Jefferson's attacks on Tripoli which were also undeclared. Neither one of these men had anything to do with the creation of the Constitution. James Madison, as president, in 1816 deployed the United States Navy against Tripoli and the other Barbary Pirate states. Since he was the man who more than anyone else drafted the Constitution and its first ten amendments, it is reasonable to assume that he did not intend for a president's decision making power over war to be limited to formal declarations.
Of course Barack Obama himself argued that military strikes ordered unilaterally by the president were unconstitutional during the Bush Administration. Liberal and left wing Democrats have tried to remind him of that stance lately. It was incorrect, but it is interesting to watch Obama once again enrage his own base. They can't be happy that Guantanamo Bay is once again in the same mode as under President Bush.
That all being said, I still am of the opinion that we should have recruited a country such as India to play a role here. That way this action could not be perceived as neo-colonialism. With active conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan and North Korea rattling its sabre, we cannot afford to get seriously invovled in Libya. Let Europe, if no one else is available, take the lead and the griping that comes with it.
Hate to say anything that defends Obama, but I would argue that the president does have a constitutional and legal authority to deploy the armed forces into a conflict despite the lack of a declaration of war. First of all, Congress does have the option to cut off funding for U. S. military actions at any time. Because of that, the legislative branch does have power and leverage over a protracted, but undeclared war.
Secondly, there is the precedent set by the Founding Fathers themselves. I will skip over John Adams' deployment of the navy in an undeclared war against France and Thomas Jefferson's attacks on Tripoli which were also undeclared. Neither one of these men had anything to do with the creation of the Constitution. James Madison, as president, in 1816 deployed the United States Navy against Tripoli and the other Barbary Pirate states. Since he was the man who more than anyone else drafted the Constitution and its first ten amendments, it is reasonable to assume that he did not intend for a president's decision making power over war to be limited to formal declarations.
Of course Barack Obama himself argued that military strikes ordered unilaterally by the president were unconstitutional during the Bush Administration. Liberal and left wing Democrats have tried to remind him of that stance lately. It was incorrect, but it is interesting to watch Obama once again enrage his own base. They can't be happy that Guantanamo Bay is once again in the same mode as under President Bush.
That all being said, I still am of the opinion that we should have recruited a country such as India to play a role here. That way this action could not be perceived as neo-colonialism. With active conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan and North Korea rattling its sabre, we cannot afford to get seriously invovled in Libya. Let Europe, if no one else is available, take the lead and the griping that comes with it.
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
Obama, Japan, Libya
I'm surprised that Kanye West has not accused Obama of hating the Japanese.
Obama's days since Japan was hit by a devastating tsunami have been filled with activity. These include being filmed while filling out his NCAA brackets for ESPN camera crews. For most of the past few years, I've found myself too busy this time of year to fill mine out. Oh to have the spare time of a president.
Obama also has a strange reaction to natural disasters and death. During the Icelandic volcano and the funeral of the president of Poland, Obama could be found on the links, working on his golf game. He has been filmed recently, again, playing golf. One pundit counted up sixty-one times that the president has played golf since he became president.
When he took office, and these quotes come from the leftist blog "Red, Green, and Blue," Obama promised a new era of responsibility and accused Bush of ineptitude over his response to Katrina. Bush's main mistake lay in choosing to do what he could as president to stem the crisis, i.e. making sure that oil supplies around the world remained stable as the Gulf wells went offline. He did not "appear" to care enough. Obama ignored the Gulf oil spill until his poll numbers started dropping. He also did not learn from the harsh public reaction to his yawn over the tragic death of the Polish president that foreign crises matter too. The president's response to Libya has also raised eyebrows. Obama does not haveto tour the rubble himself, but at the very least he could go without golf for a little while and do some work. Of course he has his next vacation to plan for, so....
Dwight D. Eisenhower also golfed a lot, but his World War II experience assured many Americans that he was on task. Warren Harding loved to golf as well. His inexperience and lazy attitude towards the office of president got him into trouble. I wonder which of the preceding presidents makes us think more of the current administration?
Obama's days since Japan was hit by a devastating tsunami have been filled with activity. These include being filmed while filling out his NCAA brackets for ESPN camera crews. For most of the past few years, I've found myself too busy this time of year to fill mine out. Oh to have the spare time of a president.
Obama also has a strange reaction to natural disasters and death. During the Icelandic volcano and the funeral of the president of Poland, Obama could be found on the links, working on his golf game. He has been filmed recently, again, playing golf. One pundit counted up sixty-one times that the president has played golf since he became president.
When he took office, and these quotes come from the leftist blog "Red, Green, and Blue," Obama promised a new era of responsibility and accused Bush of ineptitude over his response to Katrina. Bush's main mistake lay in choosing to do what he could as president to stem the crisis, i.e. making sure that oil supplies around the world remained stable as the Gulf wells went offline. He did not "appear" to care enough. Obama ignored the Gulf oil spill until his poll numbers started dropping. He also did not learn from the harsh public reaction to his yawn over the tragic death of the Polish president that foreign crises matter too. The president's response to Libya has also raised eyebrows. Obama does not haveto tour the rubble himself, but at the very least he could go without golf for a little while and do some work. Of course he has his next vacation to plan for, so....
Dwight D. Eisenhower also golfed a lot, but his World War II experience assured many Americans that he was on task. Warren Harding loved to golf as well. His inexperience and lazy attitude towards the office of president got him into trouble. I wonder which of the preceding presidents makes us think more of the current administration?
Thursday, May 28, 2009
Words Fail Us
Words failed us.
Not four months after Obama took office, his diplomacy of apologies starts to bear fruit. He and his secretary of state felt compelled to apologize for the United States so bluntly and brutally enforcing international law and ruffling the feathers of Europeans that traded with murderous monsters such as Saddam Hussein.
Now Iran has weapons grade materials. North Korea has exploded nuclear devices and launched more test missiles.
These developments drastically increase the chance that terrorists will get a device to explode in Tel Aviv, Madrid, or New York City. They also heighten the possibility that Iran or North Korea will try to bully their neighbors or even launch against the United States.
Obama will talk and try to get at the real problem through negotiation. I remember that Bush talked too. Then he acted. Bush's actions convinced Libya to abandon their nuclear program and join the community of peaceful nations. We didn't even threaten them. Bush leaves office and now the kiddies can come out and play with reckless abandon. Of course also on Obama's watch a known nuclear power is falling dangerously close to collapsing in the face of the Taliban.
The issue is bigger than just nukes. If Pakistan goes Taliban, India will be frightened and may take action. We can rest assured that Israel will act against Iran. North Korean belligerence scares Japan. If Japan rearms that provokes China, which could cause a chain reaction of fear and arming throughout Asia. American power and firm resolve have kept a lid on all of this for some time. Now that we have a president who does not even have the resolve to fill the jobs in the Executive Branch, the world is in a little more peril.
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