Tuesday, December 15, 2015

What The Hell Are We Doing?


If America would ask its young men — and now women — to fight a war, the rest of us must be willing to go all-out to win it. If we’re not, it’s immoral to send them. Soldiers and citizens must understand what’s at stake and have confidence in our commander-in-chief to defeat the enemy. Half-measures won’t suffice. War is all hell, as General Sherman said, and when you’re going through hell, don’t stop until you come out the other side. Go all-out or don’t go.
So, are we going to defeat ISIS or not? It’s not clear. President Obama promised to degrade and destroy ISIS more than a year ago, but admits he doesn’t have a strategy. He’s been bombing ISIS for a year, but not most of the oil trucks carrying oil from ISIS-controlled oil fields, and then only after he drops leaflets first giving them a 45-minute warning! After the ISIS attack on Paris, France bombed hundreds of these trucks and that left Americans wondering. If we’ve been bombing ISIS for a year, why are there so many trucks left for the French? Where are those oil trucks making deliveries? There are only a few possibilities given that they are, after all, trucks.
When ISIS set off a bomb aboard a Russian passenger jet, and Turkey shot down a Russian fighter plane, Russia accused Turkey of buying oil from ISIS. Could that be true? Turkey is allied to the United States. It belongs to NATO. The Obama Administration insisted Turkey is not buying ISIS oil, but ISIS makes $4 million per day selling it and there are only so many places a truck can go, right? Turkey is right next door.
Last month, the UK Guardian reported that: “Turkish businessmen struck lucrative deals with Isis oil smugglers, adding at least $10m (£6.6m) per week to the terror group’s coffers.” The Jerusalem Post’s Caroline Glick reports that: “For nearly two years, we have known that Turkey is Islamic State’s major arms supplier. And for six months we have known that they are their partners in oil exports.” The Daily Beast reports that fifty US intelligence agents filed a formal complaint with US Central Command that intelligence reports were being doctored by senior intelligence officials in the Obama Administration for political reasons. When America special forces killed an ISIS finance guy, they seized his computer with information on ISIS oil sales to Turkey.
Monroe Mann

Monroe Mann, one of my former students, returned from northern Iraq where he’d been a US Army intelligence officer working with the Kurds. He delivered a presentation to all five of my US History classes and his esteem for Kurdish soldiers as allies of the United States was enormous. After Obama was elected, he pulled all US forces out of Iraq and the Kurds were on their own. Today, most analysts recognize them as the only effective opposition to ISIS on the ground — but Obama won’t send them military aid. Why? Because Turkey doesn’t want him to. Historical Kurdistan overlaps Syria, Iraq, Iran, and Turkey — and Turkey is afraid of a Kurdish independence movement. So are the other countries.
Confused yet? It gets worse. After Obama allowed Bashar Assad to overstep his red line on chemical weapons, Russia moved in to support Assad. Iran supports him too. Obama has walked on eggshells negotiating his ill-advised nuclear treaty with Iran and didn’t want to upset the mullahs by undermining their ally Assad. Even though Obama declares over and over that Assad has to go, he has no strategy to accomplish that either. Meanwhile he’s overseeing feeble military efforts against both Assad and ISIS while Russia and Iran openly support Assad and Turkey secretly supports ISIS. Should we be sending any US soldiers into a conflict in which we’re not sure who we’re fighting for or against? When we don’t know who our enemies are or who our friends are?
“War is the locomotive of history,” said Bolshevik commander Leon Trotsky. Teaching US History, my approach was to analyze each war’s causes, major battles, and most of all — its effects, after which students were tasked to consider whether it was worth fighting. Then I’d tell them to imagine themselves as 18-year-old males during each war and ask themselves if they would have volunteered to fight in it. I also taught current events and we followed Desert Storm, the Afghanistan War, and the Iraq War as they happened. Like Monroe Mann, many went on to fight. Some still are.
They’d ask me what I’d have done, but I’d defer until each had taken a position and defended it. If I were teaching about the situation in Syria and Iraq today, I’d have to tell them I would stay home until we figure out what the hell we’re doing.

34 comments:

Anonymous said...

Now that women are part of all aspects of the military, I think we have stepped up one more stair to equality. However, will the women embrace the equality and sign up for the SSS?

Great article Tom.

Unknown said...

There was a day when America destroyed the enemy, remember Germany, WWII ? Ringing any bells ? We didn't degrade or "marginally disrupt" them. We killed them. We're the country that dropped a nuke on Japan. Coincidentally, violence is also how we gained our independence..

"Violence is the gold standard, the reserve that guarantees order. In actuality, it is better than a gold standard, because violence has universal value. Violence transcends the quirks of philosophy, religion, technology and culture. People say that music is a universal language, but a punch in the face hurts the same no matter what language you speak or what kind of music you prefer. If you are trapped in a room with me and I grab a pipe and gesture to strike you with it, no matter who you are, your monkey brain will immediately understand “or else what.” And thereby, a certain order is achieved." ~ Jack Donovan

80% of Millennials feel we should go to war, less than 15% of that number would actually join that fight. Worst.Generation.Ever.

You ask "What are we doing" , I'd say we are reaping the results of ever increasing liberalism. We've become a nation of weak individuals who think "every child should get a trophy for participating".. we've become so hell bent on not hurting anyone's feelings, it's like we've castrated an entire generation. I know it sounds extreme, but while our children are learning to "coexist" the enemies children are learning to hate & kill us.

Am I saying we should adopt this behavior, teaching children how to kill ? NO! What I am saying is, we'd better start teaching them it's OK to stand up for what you believe in & to defend what's yours. But that will never happen as long as we have a "Total Pussy" ( Col Ralph Peters ) as POTUS.

I'd say this is a dilemma America has never faced before.


Unknown said...

Ya, and that's part of the problem. Equality. The military has one job. To defend the nation, Period. The military IS NOT a social experiment. It's a place where you shut up & do what you're told. I was in the Marine Corps infantry for 5 years. it's a rough existence. Violent at times, even during peacetime. Why ? Think about it, you have a bunch of Alpha Male types, all wanting to be the top dog. It's a constant struggle to be on top or close to the top. How do women factor into that environment.
When I was a young Marine I got hit in the jaw by a superior, with the butt of an M-16. Six stitches later, I was back on the job. I can tell you this, I never made that same mistake again. What civilians fail to realize how violent this culture really is. It's no joke. How do women fit in to this ? Does this man a woman can get punched in the face, just like the men do ? We're doing the same job ? You & I both know, there will be dbl standards and spike in NJP's & Court Martial's.

How is a 130-140 lb woman going to haul my 200 lb wounded ass 200 meters to safety ? Does that mean I get to die, because she can't move me ? It's a bad, very bad idea that will only destroy unit cohesion. If you've never served in a forward infantry unit, you have no say in this. Period.

Brian said...

Well, I'm pretty much with you on this one, Tom.

But you sure did run away and hide from tough questions on the last post! It is hard to defend nonsense, huh?

Unknown said...

Great one Tom & thanks to Dan for spot on comments Jan

Tom McLaughlin said...

He didn't say it so I will. Dan Barrett is another former student. Thanks for your service to our country, Dan, and thanks for the excellent feedback.

Merry Christmas too. It's okay to say that on this blog.

Brian said...

Just to stop your fantasy of the liberal war on Christmas....


MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL!!!

Brian said...

As for women in combat, I would say a simple solution is to just give all soldiers a physical test....make sure they can do things like haul Barrett's wounded ass to safety. If they can, they are in...man or woman. If they can't they are out... man or woman.

Oh, and participation trophies suck.

Tom McLaughlin said...

I like Jack Donovan. Where can I find more of what he says?

Anonymous said...

Jack Donovan..wasn't he the "Macho Man" from the Village people. I was curious about that, so I looked him up and found a review of his book, which said:

"for those who want to serve in the military, sleep in barracks with hordes of other men, and get a kick from following orders from their superiors"

Yeah, it was probably him.

Anonymous said...

Where can you hear more of Jack Donovan? For crying out loud Tom, weren't you in front of a computer when you typed that?

Psst...a little secret...."google"

Anonymous said...

Dan is clearly a product of Tom's "teaching". Thank god all his students didn't turn out to be so vile. (cue the "he fought for your right to call him vile")

Sami Gay said...

"Merry Christmas too. It's okay to say that on this blog".

You are a stupid and petty little man, with your fabricated "War on Christmas".

Unknown said...

I AM a product of Mr. McLaughlin's teaching, and proud of it. Also several others, who all helped make me the man I am today. It's nice to see the libtards still resort to name calling when they have nothing else. Weak, very weak. "Vile" indeed ...

Tom McLaughlin said...

I'll be deleting and blocking two of the above commenters -- Sami Gay and that anonymous above him -- if these pointless comments continue. If this is the kind of stuff they want to post, they contribute nothing and only use this site to spread their noxious bile. I can see their IP addresses, their locations, and their operating systems from my stat counter. I also see that they hover over this site visiting several times a day.

I'll let their comments above stand as examples of what not to do here. This is the only warning they're going to get.

Anonymous said...

Are we to understand that tolerance of intellectual "mismatch" simply drags the level down to a Least "common" denominator?
Will, "I know you are, but what am I?" discourse be relegated to more...um..."popular" sites?
Yay. Keep hammering.
CaptDMO

Anonymous said...

Dan,

Your posts remind me of a comedy sketch performed by Bill Maher. You may find it interesting. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x64cy3Bcr98

Thank you for your service.

Brian said...

Dan, if you think calling names when you have nothing else is weak, then you either hardly ever read Tom's columns or you think he is very weak. And by your "libtard" comment, I guess that puts you smack dab in the weak man category yourself.

And Tom, if you really don't want to be hounded by homo harpies, I would suggest a few things. Stop your fascination with all things gay, especially pictures.

Plus, when you come out and say that you like Jack Donovan, I suggest you actually do a little googling on him first.

https://www.reddit.com/r/TheRedPill/comments/195vzr/jack_donovan_ask_me_anything/

Keep reading until the part he speaks about coming out of the closet.

Hmmmmm......

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Tom McLaughlin said...

If it keeps up, anonymous, I'll learn how to block your IP address.

Anonymous said...

WHAT? There was NOTHING in my post that went over any line whatsoever.

You block my repeating of somebody else who did not get blocked?

Anonymous said...

"I'll learn how to block your IP address."
Gosh, SOME folks keep DEMANDING you 'look up" and include THEIR findings on The World Wide Web.
I suspect that all you need to know about blocking (or doxing, but I don't THINK that's your style) specific IP addresses, for "weren't doin' nothing" by a site administrator, is "on the web" for free.
Anytime "the administrator" want's to know the character, behind the content, of the AIM open ID generated gobbledy-gook address, ALWAYS followed with a unique signature in the body, (except when I forget), let me know.
I'll happily abide with the site's host's choice if my "wit and wisdom", intellectual "credentials", and place in the local "sphere" of MWV AND the internet, are worthy of the continued anonymity of a unique (and ONLY one)nom de plume.(or nom de keypad, as it were)
CaptDMO

Tom McLaughlin said...

You're fine, Capt. I don't know what "doxing" is.

Anonymous? Go away.

Phil said...

Hey, at least trump is dropping truth bombs. His implication that Israel is funding Isis on a recent Morning Joe interview is groundbreaking. It was overlooked because of the focus on his kebab removal plan, but it was obvious who he was calling out. It isn't exactly a secret either. You can ignore it all you want but the facts are the facts...so what are all the Israel worshippers gonna do when the shit hits the fan? Cry "anti-Semite" and keep on pretending they aren't completely screwing us over?
Isn't it time to employ some critical thinking and connect some dots here? The corporate mainstream media is absolutely pathetic anymore. They are in fact incompetent. Thank god the internet lets one at ,east pice together some real information...

This isn't about religion or Jews either. It's about these insane zionists who will do anything they can get away with to further their insane agenda. Including using the American people's money to foot the bill!! This has to end, it's madness!

Go Donald!!

Rick said...

Trum dropping "truth bombs"? He sure is steering clear from this trut, as is the "mainstream" media:

http://freebeacon.com/blog/exclusive-bombshell-exposed-the-secret-muslim-connection-donald-trump-doesnt-want-you-to-know-about/

Anonymous said...

Really, Tom? It is not allowed to gently tease somebody for being blatantly hypocritical? Is your "macho" friend really that sensitive that he needs your protection? How cute.

It seems I have hit some sort of nerve with you. I will say no more about that because I realize it is a very sensitive area.

ok, thats it, I promise to leave you in peace.

Merry Christmas!

Alex said...

Anonymous, don't intrude on their "Safe Space," or they'll host a sit-in to demand your resignation.

Anonymous said...

See #3. Social Justice Warriors ALWAYS project.
NPR(adulterated from The Blues Brothers script)

No, I didn't. Honest... I ran out of gas.It's Bushes fault... I... I had a flat tire. I didn't have enough money for cab fare. My tux didn't come back from the cleaners. An old friend came in from out of town. Someone stole my car. There was an earthquake. A terrible flood. Locusts! Republicans have NO alternatives. IT WASN'T MY FAULT, I SWEAR TO GOD!

CaptDMO

GenWTF said...

Does anybody ever know what the heck CaptDMO is babbling about?

Anonymous said...

Good point.
ONLY folks who saw Mr. Obama's last interview of the year, just before he, and his entourage, left in TWO jets for another Christmas vacation in Hawai'i, and are ALSO old enough to remember a movie called The Blues Brothers, AND are familiar with Amazon.com's top ten list of (actual) Political Science/"social" issues books, could be expected to recognize the pattern, OR the (freely admitted) adulterated plagiarism.

ALL of THAT can be "looked up", WITHOUT using suspect hyperlinks, supplied by me.
Otherwise, I'll TRY to lower my assumptions about expectations of comprehension.
Unlike our host, I have no knack for teaching to a certain "level".
I'll type slower next time.
CaptDMO

GenWTF said...

SO...your "post" is meant just for YOU. Frankly, this post was one of your more intelligible, keeping the obnoxious and pretentious CAPS and "quotations" to a minimum.

"PERHAPS" you might "try", instead of typing slower, to THINK more about just WHAT it is you are "TRYING" to communicate, and then attempt to channel that into something that makes sense to those not living in your "BRAIN".

"M"eRr"y" CH"r"Ist"M"aS!

Erik said...

The Daesh (ISIL) terrorist group is a US funded mercenary organization trained in CIA bases in the Middle East to overthrow the Syrian and other sovereign governments, an American scholar and radio host says.

The US government and its allies in the region “armed, trained and organized” ISIL to oust Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, said Dr. Kevin Barrett, a founding member of the Muslim-Jewish-Christian Alliance.

ISIL was created by Zionist elements in the US and Israel to defend their geostrategic interests and destroy independent governments in the Middle East, Barrett told Press TV on Monday.

Barrett, who’s also an editor at Veterans Today, said US Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton is part of that Zionist agenda promoting terrorism and genocide.

During the Democratic presidential debate on Saturday, Clinton blamed the rise and growth of ISIL on Assad after calling him a “reformer” four years earlier when she was secretary of state.

“We have people in power in this country who are comparable to the very worst despots and mass murders in history and Hillary Clinton is one of them,” Barrett said. “She’s not any better really than the Republicans.”

“I’m afraid the United States is essentially heading for the proverbial dustbin of history as its empire crumbles,” he added. “The quality of leadership we have these days is so abysmal that I wouldn’t be surprised if it crumbles in a horrible way sometime in the next few years.”

“I’m not sure we’re actually going to get through another presidential administration post-2016 without a complete societal collapse and civil war here in the United States and the reason is the absolute lack of integrity of people like Hillary Clinton.”

Brian said...

Dr. Kevin Barrett? What more do you need to know then him saying:

"The New World Order banksters introduced the Euro on 1/1 of 1999. Note that the digits “999″ are not just “666″ upside down, they also contain “99″ which is a multiple of 11…and not just any multiple! 1/1/1999 does seem to bear an uncanny resemblance to 9/11, which a few years later became the biggest, most emotionally powerful numeric symbol in human history.”

Ooooh...secret codes! Sounds like something the Joker would do! I can see why Derik has fun with this stuff!!

Where Barrett stops being fun is when he does not accept the Holocaust as fact, saying that it is "legitimate topic of historical debate."

That's your boy, Derik! Screw all those killed and all those that lost friends and family. Screw anybody that stands in the way of your little conspiracy fantasies, right? We can't let little dead children, or anything else get in the way of our fun.

P.S. NOBODY died i the Paris attacks - they were STAGED! You moronic sheep with your mainstream press can't get that through your heads!!

Brian said...

Hmmm, let's examine when Eric made his post>

12/22/15, 9:42 AM

The digits all add up to 28. Turn that upside down and you have an upside down 2 and an 8!



8 - 2 + 6! Take an upside down 2 away from 6 and you have a sideways 4.

What do these numbers mean?

Well, let's put it out there that the zip code for Newtown, CT is 06482

Coincidence?? I think not!!