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Guest Post: Central Asian Setback For The U.S. Military
Submitted by John C.K. Daly of OilPrice.com
Guest Post: Central Asian Setback For The U.S. Military
The last few weeks have seen the U.S. Department of Defense suffer a number of setbacks in its effort to retain military influence overseas.
First came the startling announcement on 21 October, when President Obama announced that all American troops would be withdrawing from Iraq by 31 December under the terms of the Status of Forces Agreement. Accordingly, 39,000 U.S. soldiers will leave Iraq by the end of the year.
The deal breaker?
Washington’s demand for continued immunity for any remaining U.S. troops, and the Iraqi government of President Jalal Talibani couldn’t, or wouldn’t, deliver.
Now the handwriting’s apparently on the wall further east, as Kyrgyz president-elect Almazbek Atambaev firmly told the United States on 1 November to leave its Manas military air base outside the capital Bishkek when its lease expires in 2014.
Atambaev, the former Prime Minister, won Kyrgyzstan’s 30 October presidential election. Speaking to journalists in the wake of his victory Atambaev said, “When I was appointed Prime Minister last year, and again this year, I warned employees and leaders of the U.S. embassy and visiting representatives that, in 2014 and in line with our obligations, the United States should leave the base. We know that the United States very often participates in various military conflicts. It happened in Iraq, in Afghanistan and now there is a tense situation with Iran. I wouldn’t want any of these countries one day to make a return strike on the military base.”
If Atambaev carries through with his pronouncements, then assuming that the U.S. military effort in Afghanistan extends beyond 2014, the Pentagon’s efforts there will be impacted, as the Manas facility remains the sole U.S. military base in Central Asia outside of Afghanistan. While the Obama administration has promised to fully withdraw all troops from Afghanistan the same year that the lease for the Kyrgyzstan base expires, 2014, next year’s presidential elections could upend that scenario.
But, roiling beneath the surface, it is the Pentagon’s close relationship with the former presidential administrations of Askar Akayev and Kurmanbek Bakiev that stoked populist resentment against the Manas facility, especially the cozy fueling agreements, details of which are only slowly coming to light, but which apparently provided both presidencies with a massive “off the books” cash flow. Key to the Pentagon’s efforts were murky agreements with the fuel entity Mina/Red Star, which provided fuel for Manas so off the record that when it was awarded a no-bid renewal contract in 2009 worth $729 million over three years journalistic inquiries were met with a stony “national security” defense to deny particulars of the agreement.
The presidency of interim president Roza Otumbaeva raised the stakes in 14 January, when Kyrgyz government representatives presented U.S. officials and Mina Corp. executives with the proposal to pay $55 per ton of fuel in excise tax, or else volunteer to pay $100 per ton of fuel directly to the state budget. Under the terms of the existing basing agreement for Manas, the U.S. government and its contractors were exempted from all local taxes.
Washington’s response was immediate and predictable. U.S. embassy spokesman Christian Wright in Bishkek said the exemption from excise tax is “vital” to the U.S. military’s ability to operate at Manas, offering the legalese, “Under the bilateral 2009 Agreement for Cooperation, the acquisition of articles and services in the Kyrgyz Republic by or on behalf of the United States in implementing the agreement is not subject to any taxes, customs duties or similar charges in the territory of the Kyrgyz Republic. Such articles and services include all fuel provided to the Manas Transit Center, including fuel supplied by sub-contractors.
This is standard practice around the world. The U.S. government has similar agreements with many countries throughout the world for fuel to be delivered free of all duties and taxes. The exemption from fuel taxes is a vital part of our ability to carry out the mission of the Manas Transit Center.”
Having thrown the dice to continue to operate Manas on the cheap, the Pentagon seems to have lost significant position on the grand Central Asian geostrategic chessboard. What is most extraordinary is that this represents the third time around for Washington wrangling over Manas and its attendant costs. After Akaev was ousted by the March 2005 “Tulip Revolution,” Washington quickly refashioned similar agreement with the new administration of President Kurmanbek Bakiev, who was subsequently ousted by popular unrest in April 2010.
For the Kyrgyz, the Russians are the devil they know, the Chinese are the devils flush with yuan, and the Americans, two decades after the collapse of the USSR, are the tight-fisted guys all too willing to cut a deal corrupting the previous presidential administrations of Akaev and Bakiev while delivering lectures about democracy. To quote some of the acerbic critics of former U.S. President George W. Bush, “all hat, no cattle.”
The Pentagon has lost yet another opportunity to expand its global footprint, but to use an American baseball metaphor, “three strikes and you’re out.” It’s not as if anyone except the most tone-deaf in Washington couldn’t see it coming.
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relocate them bases to the people's republic of europe
What is the difference between contractor/mercenaries and American Troops? My understanding is that the fomer will continue on in Iraq numbering in the thousands.
American troops are now mercenaries.
"Are now?"
Two things; first, if you read enough history you will understand the US Military has waged war for politics/profit on many occasions. The big boss is the CIC, so take it up with him, he runs the show.
Second, the all volunteer force is the best in the world for a lot of reasons. Many take an oath for fundamental beliefs and have outstanding qualities (i.e. they choose service over college or private opportunities).
Don't confuse the piss poor leadership with the outstanding quality of the average oath taker.
Regards,
Cooter
Out-fucking-standing sir, thank you for drawing the distinction.
Indeed, service versus student debt and unemployment is a no brainer these days.
Let the other nations handle thier own military needs. And relocate/rest our troops for the next fight.
Bollocks. The most worrisome aspect of having US troops behind your arse is that they were more than likely to shoot it principally because they aren't capable or professional enough to make the distinction between friend and foe. Face it you can't go anywhere without the British because you just don't have the expertise to do even moderately difficult tasks on your own.
Your recent successes against old and outdated armies has been in lobbing standoff missiles from relative safety, which cost too much money in anything but a fiat economy and without them your as fucked and incapable as any other military.
This is the truth about the US empire. You stay until you're told to leave and then you go, meekly and without a fight because there was never any empire, just a great deal of real estate made valuable with US money. The world stands aghast at how many personnel it takes the US military to do the simplest of tasks.
Harlequin....you sound British....what are you reading..The New York Times....our military was the best in the world...during Bush...now that we have Obama..he will cut it back so we will lose a lot of our power and expertise...but we still are the best in the world...and I would take ANY GI Joe over a Liberal arts degree anyday..oh by the way...we have bullets too..unlike the Brits
youngman. It takes more to be the best than to simply say it. Whilst I appreciate your patriotic sentiment the reality is that the US military has always been too big and as with all things too big, too unspecialised and difficult to train. That's why wars involving conscripts always end up as trench warfare. The are too many troops to be trained well enough to carry out complex military maneuvers.
Even under Bush, the US military was too inexperienced and incapable of low level bombing in Iraq and Kuwait. Despite your state-of-the-art fighter jets US forces were confined to top cover above 2,000 ft because they were just no use down in the weeds. It took the RAF to do that with Tornado's and since small arms fire is ineffective above 2,000 ft, that's why the Brits lost so many aircraft and the US didn't. I can assure you it wasn't because you had better pilots.
US pilots aren't capable of managing all the systems on an aircraft yet still being adequately aware of all the other things going on around them, like who's pointing in which direction. That's why British Warrior APC's got shot up by US aircraft despite being clearly identifiable as coalition forces. The world feels distinctly nervous when the US stands behind them. Your transport helicopter fleet was a joke at best; sure it could get airborne but how the hell it ever got back was beyond us and the ability of American pilots to turn what was a very expensive super stallion helicopter into a fucking shed was astonishing. If there's one phrase that summed up the US military rather well it was 'all the gear and no fucking idea'. Like I said, the US won't go anywhere without the British; you need the expertise, and let's not forget the political clout.
Me, British? I'm not saying anything old stick, because obviously if I told you that I'd have to shoot you...
I remain for now an international man (or woman) of mystery...
CC: Please don't mistake my analysis of the situations under which our troops, volunteer or otherwise, have been forced to engage in combat and on whose behalf, with a dig on the quality of the solider. US troops are part of one of the most well-oiled fighting machines in history, in large part thanks to the quality of the individual.
My comment was directed at the fact that our troops going all the way back to Smedley Butler's day (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_is_a_Racket) and continuing on to our massive base constellation across the Pacific and Europe, are merely providing military force in exchage of cash from the host countries who have found it cheaper to employ their own in more productive capacities while essentially paying the US to guard them.
My career is dedicated to support of service men and women on military bases across the world so I know of what I speak. And I can tell you many are becoming aware of their "tool" status as are looking to move out. I hosted a party at my house recently that was attended exculsively by disgruntled currently serving members. They aren't pissed about tough working conditions, bad food, tough/weird superiors - the usual stuff. These veterans are deeply upset at a much deeper and philospohical level about what they're being asked to do and why. I wasn't around for Vietnam to compare, but the level of existential angst among many of these combat veterans is alarming in its implocations for future morale, retention, and efficacy.
I got hung up on the "are now" ... it seems we are in agreement.
Regards,
Cooter
Hooyah Vlad
I guess that would explain the suicide rate, hmmm ...
http://battleland.blogs.time.com/2011/08/12/army-suicide-rate-hits-new-h...
But what's a volunteer tool to do when s/he realizes war is ultimately about imperial comfort and not freedom?
Bullshit.
Second rate fuckin illiterates who join the army for an education. 'Prime beef"; a US military unit dedicated to putting up fucking tents, for christs sake!
Well oiled? Fuckin' pissed if you ask me...
While I agree that our troops are better for many different reasons, most however, take the oath because the miliary is the ONLY opportunity they have to be employed. I am not downgrading the moral quality of our troops, I am however, stating the truth.
In addition, at some point in time our military personel (primarily enlisted) are going to have to realize that they are being used as "tools" for iligitimate purposes. This opinion comes from a former US Army Military Police Officer! If we really gave a darn about our troops, we would do a better job of NOT sending them into other countries to die or to kill innocence people for the sole purpose making bankers and the elite richer!
Horseshit. Most take the oath because they want to serve in some capacity.
In addition, political decisions are in the hands of civilians voted into office by the US citizenry. In many of the places that US troops deploy there is no banker angle, I know, I've been to those shitholes. Do they also deploy to protect US 'vital' interests which are clearly economic? Sure, but that again is on the orders of civilian leadership elected byt the US citizenry.
This opinion comes from a former US Marine who has been there and done that. Then again maybe that's the difference...
Now might be a good time to highlight the 'many different reasons' why US troops are better...
We always found the majority of them to be relatively illiterate and uneducated.
Really, and what would that experience that you have had with US troops be?
and of course I'm going to spew that out on these pages aren't I? Please...
"relatively illiterate and uneducated" ???
definitely not in my experience from visiting US warships - a surprising amount of Mexicans in the lower ranks (eager to gain citizenship), yes, but sure not what you are describing
The majority of American troops are resourceful, responsible, trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, kind, courteous, courageous, and clean.
of course they are... as sure as I stand here on this horse...
Let me guess, they went to Iraq and held tea parties for the locals, only interrupted now and then as some smiling GI jumped up to help some little old arab lady cross the road...
One can only sit back and wonder why they hate you...
and they aren't stupid enough to take photo's of prisoners being interrogated are they?
No..., they're not that fuckin stupid...
"I am however, stating the truth."
No you are not..you are stating what you heard from some leftist....they think you must be dumb to join the military....its the opposite..the military tests and most people can´t pass the required tests...lol....best medicine...best machines..best computers...lol...dumb to join...but a liberal arts degree is the King´s shit I guess...
Right Cooter, they're just following orders right? Where have I heard that one before? Nobody is disparaging the military but their role nowadays is really nothing more than mercenaries for oil and global corporate interests and we all know it.
Was it really ever any different?
Another pair of uber gaaay posts
US troops are interns. once we've funded enough of their training they go to Xe at 5x the cost.
10 x the pay???
?? posed the question:
The pay rate of mercenaries/contractors is at least triple that of American troops, their families aren't on food stamps, and their homes aren't foreclosed on by TBTF banks while they're deployed overseas.
relocate them bases to the persian republic.
There, fixed it for you.
Regards,
Cooter
UPDATE: strike through apparently doesn't render in the post thread ...
Waste of money and a waste of lives. The whole thing is pretty pointless hwne a muslim is in the white hut and the borders are wide open. America is so much like Rome before the fall it is amazing.
So Romulus Augustus was a Mooooslem...fascinating.
Beware of Cajus Julius Caesar - because he is a member of German parliament (Bundestag).
http://www.bundestag.de/bundestag/abgeordnete17/biografien/C/caesar_caju...
No, dude,
Put them in California, New York, Texas, Illinois, New Jersey, Michigan, Ohio, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, and other interesting places that do not need tax revenues-----
Let the people of the US see their pride and glory boys up close and personal
Europe is not a violent place, but the US is and deserves a strong military presence at home to keep peop----oops, to defend us from external enemies, right?
You remember all those armed attacks on the US by our enemies, don't you?
Bring'em home and let these fighters for freedom and get to work where they are needed
OK, all in sarcasm if not just a little bit serious, also
I think it might help us define foreign and domestic policy better, if we had similar problems that we send to the rest of the world
not personal, Ahmeexnal----you just happened to trigger something I have wanted to say for a long time
love to you, brother om
But if we relocate the bases, we'll never reach the Kyrgyz Light...
Bravo! I last read Gravity's Rainbow in 1982, but the term has stuck with me all this time. You're a rare bird, Frosty.
I always get lost after about 200 pages - I've read those 200 pages about 5 times though, and love them!
relocated them to pre-apocalypse USA, that's where they will be needed soon
Ask Yourself: If the troops are following the law/rules of engagement, why is Washington’s demanding continued immunity?
Because of Sharia law...our troops are not Muslim......learn yourself
Because the laws, justice system, rules of evidence, etc. are differenet in other countries - do you think that US troops should be subject to Islamic Law? Just like diplomats have immunity in a foreign country so do our troops (and British troops, and the other militaries that were deployed there). If we heve a permanent basing agreement there is normally a system worked out for prosecution. It is standard practice and keeps your people from being used as political pawns on trumped up charges as well.
I call your bolding and raise you italicizing...
Fair enough. So what about the murdering of innocent citizens in their country by US troops and drones? Am sure those US troops are subject to laws in one country or another... right?
Americans don't commit war crimes, dude. If the Gestapo tortured partisans for attacking German troops, that was a war crime. If we do it, it's a regrettable necessity, no foul. If European powers attacked weak countries and took their resources, it was colonialism. If we do it it's energy security, a strategic interest.
Everything we do is good, because we're good. You're good, aren't you? Of course you are. This is all you need to know. I hope it's all clear to you now.
The Iraq story is BS to make Jalal Talibani look good and save face. We were leaving anyway.
The other one, however, is another example of the corrupting force of the US.
Ron Paul wouldnt have made the deal to begin with and the people of Kyrgyz would have, at worst, been ambivilent toward us.
Now we just have another enemy.
Ron Paul would never have fought these fucking wars.
Neither would have Goldwater, whom I remember.
Good olde fashioned conservatism from the way-back days did not support foreign engagements, expansive federal government, an over arching security apparatus and did dwell for specific reasons upon the key phrases found somewhere important about all men being "created equal and endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights" found to be enshrined amongst "the laws of nature and nature's God".
The whole world has become mad.
Wisdom Knukles!
You're right on target again.
Goldwater did not have to.... the US was the largest producer of oil in the world when AU+H20 was relevant.
The US has been a net importer of oil since the '50s.... The game has changed, just look at those net imports compared to production....
Who is going to take crappy dollars for their oil if not at gunpoint?
yeah, and we've had 60 years since to get alternatives, or more fuel efficient technology - so what do we do,... that's right we burn corn [a precious food source, and the amount of energy and water per acre to produce a pathetically poor octane level, makes it worse than a zero sum game] - and our nukes [?] - we use uranium that can 'melt-down' as in 3-mile, russia, and now japan, whereas we've had thorium reactors going on-line in india for a couple of years now that are proven 'melt-down-safe' - zippo, can't melt down , just goes off-line and shuts down by itself - totally failsafe,... but no, who wants that!
remember cheney going to our pathetic supreme court blocking the knowledge of attendance for public viewing as to who participated - what happened shortly after - can you recall
30 years is more realistic.... US peaked in 1970... only became obvious to all but the cornucpians in 1980 or so...
Thorium reactors still need work...
"Thorium reactors still need work..."
Has "work" in the USA begun?
The highly influential crypto-zionist neo-con faction of the Republican party subverts national interest to serve misguided Israeli agendas. You can't tell the players without a program. Check the roster.
Neo-cons, in sharp contrast to traditional or paleo-conservatives, are statists, big believers in the Hobbsian leviathan state. Neo-cons are essentially traitors to authentic national security. At best they are war machine profiteers, corporate parasites snuggling up to government in true fascist style. At worst they are fifth-columnists, Zionist infiltrators intent on compromising America's future for the benefit of international Jewry.
Zeig Oy!
Jesus H. Christ, you sound just like some Bolshevik hack in a Stalinist era documentary about the origins of the Peoples Revolution circa: 1908 or else you cut and pasted from the "The Battleship Potemkin"
Vent your anger, but you gotta do better that that...
The tone is grad-schoolish, I admit, but the content? Refute it, Flakmeister.
I'll go with you on a lot of what I think you think you are talking about...
I draw the line at Zionist, the term Zionist is the most abused term out there followed by Socialist and Marxist....
Like really, what the fuck is a "Zionist"... I don't think any two Zero Hedgers tinged with anti-semitism could agree on a coherent definition if they spent a day in locked room.
Like really, what the fuck is a "Zionist"...
Here you go. This is: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NLLb2MAulfg
Which this straight-talking Jewish gentleman describes in detail: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qMGuYjt6CP8&feature=related
Major Avital Leibovitch (IDF Airforce) is an excellent example of the worst sort of one-eyed zionist nationalist warmongering murdering joo-ess psycho-bitch ... with 2000lb schmarty-bombs.
And she is more than willing to use them against any number of children. I'm not going to call them Arab or Joo children ... they are just children. Because that's what they are.
She's just straight out evil ... in living flesh.
Avital Leibovitch and Dick Cheney ... same archetype ... different gender ... same result ...
There are as many twisted people out there as there are labels for them...
The use of the term "Joo" gives you away...
What's the matter? Did Fagin kill your pet puppy when you were a child?
Zionism is not Judaism, though Zionists implictly conflate the two. A religion and a political entity are two different things.
Here you go, from Torah scholars.
www.nkusa.org/
The religiion of money garnishes the most patriotic sacrifices.
Truth is counter-productive.
we need legislation that requires, no congressman may vote on any military action except if their children are active military ground troops who will be 'first to the fight'.
yeah baby - i ain't no senators son -
'creedance clearwater revival', and j.c.fogarty
wow, we might save 50 billion a year on pentagon welfare!!!!!
Lets hope more countries come to their senses.
and here is a list of the top pentagon welfare recipients:
http://www.warisbusiness.com/top-150-warcorps/
Jesus H Kito! Thanx
We could save $250 billion a year by having a draft... see how the American people really feel about involvements overseas....
and $1.6 billion to MIT, 600 million to Johns Hopkins!
I am curious as to why this was junked.... There are people out there that like the idea of outsourcing our Military, passing on the profits to insiders?
Holy shit, $2 billion on propaganda?
BOOZ ALLEN HAMILTON INC $2,272,314,245.36Yeah, but they didn't include Hollywood or the computer game industry in that.
Status of Force Agreements are extraterritoriality by another name. And just as insulting to sovreignty.
All I see here is the demise of the USD as world reserve currency......
The USD is the reserve currency because it is the currency that oil is predominately traded in. You are correct in that the loss of the Kyrgyzstan base does not help the US military "reinforce" that USD-oil connection....
And for those calling for the collapse of the USD (inevitable, but not quite yet) the game does not end until you see international oil priced in other currencies, perhaps even gold...
Putative US gold reserves buy ~1 year of imports....
Yep the dollar is going to reign supreme and unchallanged for at least ten more years.
Because of triffins dillemma no one is all that eager anymore to be THE reserve currency. The europeans aspired to it, but are now permanently out of contention.
Yes... damned if you do, damned if you don't...
For those not familiar, for an introduction, check out
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triffin_dilemma
Not to be confused with triffids, which also proliferate.
Not to mention Tribbles...
Edit: Euuuh!, I have a new member in my fan club.... talk about a gratuitous drive by junking. I bet you are afraid to show your face....in other words a pathetic chickenshit.
TCTroll - Starfleet concurs with your analysis. If fiat currency does not self-destruct as a paradigm, the US will continue to rule the economic seas for the indefinite future.
...and the rate of fiat printing will exceed the reproduction rate of tribbles on viagra.
We're sorry, currency via replicators are not valid.
pffft OIL priced in GOLD, give us all a fucking break already with the absolutely most stupid comment i have seen all year
Ultimately, he who controls a thing controls the terms of settlement...
Muad'Dib
Especially if the thing he holds is a weapon.
The whole this is pretty foolish with kids getting killed. We have huge reserves of nat gas now. Probably endless oil, shale oil and coal disesel on federal land. China is about to tap probaly a few billion barrels of oil between Cuba and Florida. Meanwhile Florida politicians want to go all in for casinos.
A lot of those troops acting as penny arcade shooting gallery bears in Afghanistan could be employed in the energy industry. Sadly the idiots in the USA voted for the muslim.
Yep... care to impress us with more wishful bullshit about the state of the American fossil fuel prospects and industry???
Yep "endless" energy on gubbmint lands... tres riche,
Don't bring a pea shooter to a gun fight...
Wouldn't you rather pay the Arabs $100 oil now and sell them $1000 oil in 10 years?? Domestic oil and gas will be the best slow play trade in history for the USA. Exporters by 2025.
The only way the US is a net exporter of oil in 2025 is if they use the same export model as the English did for potatoes during the Irish Famine....
That being said, owning cashflows on domestic oil production is an awesome investment to have along with your physical PMs....
I do wish I had a North Dakota farm with mineral rights right about now, you're right about that.
Simplistic fantasy, Freddie.
and guess whose our biggest exporter of coal - you got it "china"
As a fraction of its coal production, US net exports are about 5% or so.
http://mazamascience.com/OilExport/
Click on coal and USA
Maybe just as well. It might be cheaper to just stir up shit and have the locals fight each other.
The Battle for the "Istans" is a well kept 'off the radar' event here in the US...I find it difficult to believe we will just pack up and go home...Lots of nomads over there...Anything can and will happen...
Imperial overreach, and the eventual contraction of military influence and the withdrawal of occupation forces, is SUCH a bitch for arrogant warmongers.
Thinking of Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, the Project for A New American Century, and the innumerable other post-WWII neocons and their fellow travelers and devotees of aggressive American military interventionism around the world, I bask in the warm glow of some well-deserved Schadenfreude.
Most real Americans dont want to be the worlds policeman either.
Because any intervention is usually a rich man's war, but a poor man's fight.
Here here.
Here's to hoping Atambaev sticks to his word and kicks the US out of Kyrgyz ahead of time. The US military and all of its tentacles are a pox upon the world - I hope more and more countries kick the US out for good.
It sure would save us americans a lot of money if they would.
What we should be doing is relocating our bases along the border with Mexico. Put up a fence, push up a berm, and post 300 meters as a free fire zone.
Now that would need roughly 260,000 for the length of the border 24/7
Anyone who is concerned about the US debt or has read Kennedy's work THE RISE AND FALL OF THE GREAT POWERS would understand that bringing our troops home is a good thing. In order to move into those asian or middle eastern bases, Bush/Cheney et al usually had to buy in. The 9/11 goodwill was squandered by the neo-cons within a year or two. The rest of the world are not children. Perhaps it might be prudent to let them deal with their own problems, especially given the strained US resources.
The US OVERPAID for use of that shithole 'base' in Kyrgistan, its the ONLY $$$ coming into the area. Outside the base looks like the shithole that is depicted in COD(Call of duty) Chernobyl. We should tells the Kyrgs that THEY can get the FO and that WE are not supplying them with our precious US $$ any longer.
You're trying too hard.
It may be a shithole, but it's their shithole.
Hmm - It *could* be one of the locations where they stacked the fallout from Chernobyl - who cares about them overpaid and underworked Americans sucking down some rads?
All those lives, both American, NATO and innocent civilians... All that cash... down the sewer with NOTHING to show for it. Nice job, Georgie and Devil Dick and Toxic Rummy... what lies, what corruption, you lit the fuse on the end of America as we knew it... financial disaster, system collapse. May you all burn in the bowels of hell with all of your generations.
Mission accomplished if Pentagon vendors turned a profit. It costs a million a year to keep one US soldier in Afghanistan. 95% goes to vendors.
Have you been reading Bill?
http://dailyreckoning.com/a-perversely-perfect-war/
Hey! Share the love, man..
Don't forget which dual-citizenship born Kenyan-American-in Chief juiced troop levels in Afghanistan to 100K.
Are covert operations in our future?
Our massive military complex seems to be prone toward obsolescence.
They're very much in our present.
http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2009/12/the-special-ops-comm...
http://www.airforce-magazine.com/MagazineArchive/Pages/2010/June%202010/...
http://prairiepundit.blogspot.com/2011/06/special-ops-tempo-of-operation...
Correct.
Thanks for the links!
So, a number of countries are going to give us walking papers, at a time when we need a steep haircut to federal outlays. Serendipitous? I think not. Need to start a pool on what country will be next in the eviction chain.
How bout the U.S. evicting itself from the U.S? I.O.W. no more military state.
Sorry, all those evicted have to be dumped somewhere. Their papers say U.S.A., so look for an expansion of USNORTHCOM. Gotta subdue the restive locals.
I don't know... the VA's will need subduing first.
Vlad says Turkey.
Does anybody know how many U.S. military bases are on Mars?
It's classified.
i just spilled my drink,...my laugh for the day do i appreciate :-))
How expensive is land in Greece these days?
One reason Greeks towns and dwellings are ugly is that owners get tax breaks if the house is unfinished. Consequently, you see rebar sticking up everywhere through cinder block where there should be a finished roofline. Scam, and and an ugly one at that, a tribute to regulation. If the average Greek will live in an ugly, unfinished-looking home to avoid tax, how easily can the government collect taxes to balance a budget? Pull a sheet over the corpse.
Oil...Rare Earth Minerals...The Women...Why are we there again?
can the muslim brotherhood be happy there?
it doesn't sound democratic enuf there, to me...
Do we still need an empire? Does America really need to be the world's policeman? I'd rather close some bases and expand our already bloated navy; adding a few more aircraft carriers.
You mean the ones the Chinese can hit with kinetic ICBMs?
Gutle Schnapper, wife of Mayer Amschel Rothschild, was once quoted as saying-- “If my sons did not want war, there would be none”
+ a google
This is the only comment that is relevant. The Rothschilds (and their extended family) run the empire through the BIS, IMF, and the central banks. The US is merely a puppet as are all other nations on the planet. They want a world currency, so the Triffen paradox plays into their hands.
This navy is not BLOATED.
Go back to Task Force 58 among many more in world war two and then translate that power into today's terms.
Then you may understand what a true fleet can do.
Those carriers are 5 acres of sovereign US Territory. Something not many Nations can do or are willing to do.
This "4th Turning" is gonna be somethin'...Nobody on the planet is safe and anybody could be a victim...Now that's progress!!!
Let it turn.
Got me a lady, smoke and drink right here on the levee. Where are you gonna run? Hmm?
mixed metaphor at the end of that article
The record's stuck, the record's stuck, the record's stuck....
Has Kyrgyztan no regard for how its decision will impact on the unemployment situation in the USA? Or how it might damage the corporate earnings of Halliburton and friends?
Or have they already made plans to move towards Iran?
Where and when will this all end? Or is Kyrgyztan simply posturing for a rental increase?
The school yard bully is starting to get scared as the other children grow bigger and stronger. They can all smell it, and are developing their confidence to stand up against the mur-dering, rap-ing tyrant that has oppressed them all for so long.
Read:
http://www.amazon.com/Simple-Wealth-Mr-Andrew-Costello/dp/1463523017/ref
Whether the US should have gone into Iraq is an old argument. What matters is that every Iraqi party except the crazy Sadrists wanted a continued US presence and it would have been in the US interest to be on the doorstep of a rising power like Iran. This is a deal that could have been done. Instead, the WH played public hardball on a sensitive issue and it's a fact that the first time Obama talked to the Iraqis in person was when he announced we were leaving.
More of that smart diplomacy we were promised, I guess.
Idiots.
The way I see it,setbacks are good for these world terrorist.
The whole war should have been fought with drones ! Outsource the drones to South Korea and Taiwan for $2,000 a pop ! What do we currently pay ? $50,000 or is it $500,000 a pop for a model airplane with a Mac PC ? No boots on the ground....no IEDs....no convoys through Pakistan....no Nation Building.....no Billion Dollar Embassies....no Shrillary Clinton ! Monedas 2011 Comedy Jihad Facts Are Fun
"Model Airplane?"
I. Think. Not.
There are people who commute to war in the morning in Vegas and go home when the shift is over flying those things around the world.
You get a + for 'Shrillary'
US troops are undeniably the most well-oiled fighting machine in history bar none. Then why is it the United States is always getting greased on it’s ROI for nation building?
Our first Liberal Dream Team politically correct, compassion fashion, we want them to love us, kumbaya WAR ? Monedas 2011 "Wars are to kill people and break things !"....EIB
New documentary: Four Horsemen
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wLoB1eCJ93k&feature=player_embedded
The Middle East is now called Central Asia? What a ruse. Call it what is is - and stop trying to mask Islam with visions of the Orient. The Middle is is not Asia in any sense of the word, geographically or culturally.
From what is it "middle east"?
Jerusalem
I would trade any overseas military base for another base here in the states. Let our soldiers spend their paychecks in the US.
Sun Tzu would go for the US jugular right about now. Look how weak the US is. The dollar is only still the reserve because Europe has such large scale debt problems. The military is only functioning because of the dollars continued reserve status. Oil is only precured because of the military.
The US is about to lose. How do I know? Because everyone is distracted and talking about Europe. Call it a contrarian trade, call it what you will. America is about to lose.
And it may take a month, a year, a few years even, but the fact that America is so extremely dependant on oil, it has no industrial base, no exports, and its currencie isn't worth the paper it is printed on, means the US is done. I know, so is China, so is Europe, fine, but who has the most to lose from an economic collapse? This is the old game, "King of the Mountain" and the US has the furthest to fall.
sun tzu is going to lay a trap in persia.
Agreed. Persia will be Fatal Terrain for the USA.