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#Trump recruiting terrorists

Sending Blackwater to Afghanistan is like fucking for virginity. #Trump has no sense of history, failure, cover up. #Mercenaries are not the answer to anything but Taliban/ISIS/Qaeda recruiting. We already have over 6 thousand troops and 12 thousand contractors there. #Resist this attempt to escalate violence in the name of...what, Peace? a safer U.S.?

In the face of what we know about radicalization, this path is illogical. In the face of what we know about civilian casualties, this path is heartless.

Obama's terrorist negotiation dreams are far from reality.

Unlike the Algerians (whose people are being held for ransom) and many other nations who refuse to negotiate with terrorists, Obama has chosen, at the worst possible time, to negotiate with the Pakistani supported Taliban of Afghanistan.

Anti-terror-craft wisdom says one should not negotiate with terrorists unless they are psychologically and physically weak and see no other option than to come to the table. It is inadvisable to negotiate unless the other side of the table is strong. It is dangerous to negotiate when the terrorists can garner political gain from the talks.

Obama blew it on all three counts. He negotiates with the Taliban at a time when their power is increasing.The 'other side' is not only weak, but Karzai is about to leave office and no promises he makes to the Taliban are guaranteed once he is out. The beautiful Qatar building housing the Taliban representatives was dubbed the home of the "Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan", immediately giving the Taliban an image of legitimacy they did not have before.,

The Taliban's disdain for Obama and his ideas was clearly demonstrated hours after the Qatar office was opened. They launched suicide and weapons attacks on both the heart of the Karzai government (the Presidential Palace) and and the local CIA offices. The clumsy rush to get America out of Afghanistan is a betrayal of Obama's promise to help rid Afghanistan of the Taliban.

Actions based on dreams and simplistic solutions only hurt the innocent civilians suffering in the conflict. Those advising Presideent Obama need to be removed and replaced with people who are at least in touch with the realities of dealing with terrorists.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Choosing who should die: Obama plays God

Caught between Iraq and a hard place, President Obama has chosen to select who to arm and who should die.

Viet Nam, Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan, and the hundreds of drone sites attacked all left a legacy of innocents killed and increased hatred for the United States.

Dear Mr. President: the Assad opposition is riddled with actors who are not on our side. Arming them strengthens our enemies. Don't take the politically easy way out. Please decide not to send more arms and ammunition to anyone. Your policies have already strengthened al-Qaeda's recruitment song.

May you have the courage of thr right path to more peaceful tomorrows without the delusions of short-term solutions. Inshallah

June 18, 2013 by Bruce Wallace, 121Contact

 

 

 

 

 

U.S. Policy and Terrorism:

Governments don’t like political justifications for terrorism. They prefer to focus on almost any cause other than dissatisfaction with American action. It’s much easier to deal with putting the blame on psychosis, religion, fanaticism, and irrational acts. Add ethnicity, nationalism/separatism, poverty, economic disadvantage, and globalization to the mix. Just don’t mention America's violent, deadly operations undertaken to fulfill policy goals.

    One might take a moment to listen to the rhetoric of terrorist organizations and the arguments they use to recruit new members. There is often a logic (sometimes twisted) and a factual basis (often unattributed) in their professed viewpoints. Their vision may be skewed, but it effectively persuades many to radicalization, and some to violence. Revenge for politically based military action is a common theme, as is the slaughter of innocents. President Obama’s drones and the innocent civilians they kill are often mentioned.

    A "special edition" of Azan magazine, publiched by fighters in the Afghan-Pakistan region, glorified the bombings in Boston, Massachusetts, on April 15, 2013, and considered them retribution for America's "war crimes" in Muslim countries. The 4-page issue was uploaded on a file-sharing website on May 8, 2013, and does not appear to have been officially released as yet. Referring to the attack as a "drone in America," the authors thanked the bombers for bringing "coolness to the hearts of millions of oppressed families worldwide," and justified it as revenge for the US military invasions in Afghanistan and Iraq, America's support to Israel, and its alleged insults to religious sanctities like the Qur'an and the Prophet Muhammad. 

Here's what they wrote about President Barack Obama's pledge to bring the perpetrators [of the Boston bombings] to justice:

    "Is it 'just' that you oppress the rest of humanity and feel a right to be secure? What are YOU doing in Afghanistan? Why are your soldiers here? Who started this war? Certainly, YOU Mr. President and your predecessors and cronies who pretend to be the harmonious protectors of the world – indeed, you deserve to be put in the court of justice… But not any man-made court of justice… You are a criminal in the Court of Allah… So, let the world rejoice at the destruction that befell the great tyrant. And let America fear for more…"

    What may appear as mere hype actually works to convince some to join the violent jihad against the 'criminal' forces of Obama. This is especially true in regions where people have been directly affected by drones, and where the population has little access to views other than the terrorists themselves. It also works to stimulate rage in people far away, who sympathize with the plight of those innocents being attacked.

    You either agree with them or you don’t, but ignoring them is a mistake. And shaping counterterrorist policy without paying attention to foreign policy is a deadly mistake.

 

The Afghan Taliban’s version of Inspire Magazine: "Azan"

 Azan Issue #2 is out, but I’m a bit behind in my reading. A quick look at Issue #1 pointed to, yet again, a major weakness of Obama’s droning our way to peace.

    There are 6 pages devoted to religious justifications for jihad. There are 5 pages devoted to drones as a justification for the indiscriminate killing of innocent civilians. Blowback anyone? Droning for Peace is like drinking for sobriety. It just doesn’t make sense.

    Azan uses the drones in an appeal to the Reader’s attribution bias, painting the U.S. military as heartless cowards and the American government as lying, hiding facts, and operating outside the law (or making law up as it sees fit.) These are not difficult arguments to make. Using authority figures to convince the Reader, they find supporting articles and reports written by prominent members of Western governments, respected Middle East scholars, and talking heads. UN reports are also referenced in the mode of ‘Hey, if you don’t believe me then check these respected guys out.’

    No one has yet proved that reading Inspire or Azan forces one to become a terrorist, but it’s easy to see how they could influence, support, and create a sense of self-justification in a wannabe Boston Bomber. And we keep supplying the ammunition.

 

 

 

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Drone Folly Continues as U.S./Saudi Arabia Competition for Terrorists Continues

The race is on. Ahmed Abdullah Saleh al Khazmari al Zahrani, who is better known as Abu Maryam al Zahrani probably made it to the U.S. ‘kill these guys’ list today. He’s been on the Saudi list of wanted terrorists since 2009, mainly for acts committed in 2007 and his ongoing propaganda work for al-Qaeda. Membership in al-Qaeda is a crime in Saudi Arabia.

There is a difference in the lists. The U.S. designation blocks all al-Zahrani's property interests subject to U.S. jurisdiction and prohibits U.S. persons from engaging in transactions with or for the benefit of al-Zahrani. It may also move him up as a candidate for ‘targeted strikes.’ If we find him we’ll probably kill him in another cowardly act of murder by Obama. It is the President of the United States who actually signs off on the kill list when we are in doubt about our ability, or willingness to put American lives at risk, to capture accused terrorists.

The Saudis, on the other hand, want to bring him to trial. It sounds like the Saudis take a more Rule of Law path than the U.S. policy of “kill first, defend the action later.” Our drone enforcement policy is drag on our reputation in the international community and should be halted. Being afraid to execute an arrest warrant is no excuse for extrajudicial murder.

This past year the Saudis have tried over 100 al-Qaeda operatives and extracted a great deal of information from them. The U.S. drone justice has killed hundreds in over 333 strikes in Afghanistan alone and learned nothing from them.

If we had the courage of our stated convictions we would bring more terrorists to trial and murder fewer innocent civilians.

January 25, 2013 by Bruce Wallace, 121Contact

and away goes tax money, down the drain...are the contractors worth it?

In case you were wondering if the U.S. is still, after all those reports, charges,  and convictions, heavily invested in mercenary forces as part of our foreign policy:

[these are DoD Numbers]

                         Contractors         U.S        non-U.S      Host Country

                                                      Military      Mil.            Mil.

 

Afghanistan          109, 564          31,814       39,480           38,270

Iraq                             9,000            2,314           4,621            2,065

Other
Countries                 18,843            8,764           9,297               782

TOTALS             137,407        42,892      53,398         41,117

And then we started wondering  about just what those ‘other country’ 28,000 are doing…and who they are doing it to…and what are we getting out of it…

Taxpayer monies are going down the drain into the sewers of the manufacturers of weapons and private ‘security’ companies.  And the result:  the number of terrorist attacks, globally, is rising, not falling. In some places, like Pakistan, the number of terrorists acts has risen in proportion to the military aid we deliver.

Maybe it's time to test a new theory. Less military spending will reduce overall violence.

Retreat without victory: Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan deja vu all over again.

The U.S. used to spend about $10 billion a month in Iraq. We thought that taxpayer money would be better spent on health, education, infrastructure (to create jobs), and other people positive projects. We might as well have flushed that cash.

Well, we don't spend those dollars in Iraq anymore. But we don't funnel them to 'good' projects, either. Last year we flushed aboout about US$10 billion a month down the Afghanistan toilet.

Our investment in Iraq brought us nothing but death and destruction of American lives. We lost whatever influence we had in the region and are now ridiculed by Islamic extremists for our folly. We didn't do much good for Iraqis, either. Our investment in Afghanistan brought us nothing good of lasting value. We're about to retreat without victory. It's Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan deja vu all over again.

But wait a minute, there, fella. We didn't flush the cash. It went somewhere...oh, yes. There is a group of people getting rich while our soldiers die and we destroy whole cultures. They have little interest in ending these seemingly useless conflicts. In fact, these wars are making them richer and richer. At a million a pop (some cost a lot more) for the bombs and missiles it makes sense to keep using them. Drones aren't cheap, either. Mercenaries are still raking it in.

Yeah, retreat without victory, but there are some real winners here. In the drone wars alone you are looking at enormous profits. Northrop Grumman and General Atomics (huge political contributors, of course) sell about half of the unmanned flying machines and pull in about $2 billion a year from our follies. Of course they're not alone in this business. The list of war profiteers is long and it will only continue to grow and suck up taxpayer cash that could be better spent unless we push towards more peaceful tomorrows. Some of the Dronesters:

AAI Corporation
Advanced Technologies and Engineering (ATE)
Aeronautics Defense Systems
AeroVironment
Aerovision
Alenia Aeronautica
American Dynamics Flight Systems
Aurora Flight Sciences
BAE Systems
Baykar Machine
Bell Helicopter
Blue Bird Aero Systems
Boeing Defence, Space & Security
Cassidian
Cyberflight
Dassault Aviation
Denel Aerospace Systems
DRS Technologies
EMT
Flight Solutions
Flying Robots
General Atomics Aeronautical Systems

 

a shonda: U.S. Continues Support of Al-Qaeda

We helped build the Taliban in our effort to push Russia out of Afghanistan, and now we fight them.We chased  al-Qaeda after 9/11 and then we partnered with them in Libya to oust Gaddafi. Now we partner with al-Qaeda in Syria in our 'covert' attempt to get rid of Assad.

Is there no one we will not dance with even after they have killed our sons and daughters?

January 4, 2013 by Bruce Wallace, 121Contact