Posted on 09/09/2013 12:11:01 AM PDT by JohnHuang2
President Obama will begin an intensive public and private lobbying push this week to win congressional support for a limited missile strike against Syria, but even some of the strongest supporters on Capitol Hill for military action are pessimistic that the White House will succeed.
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Back in 2011, eager to show he rightfully deserved his Nobel Peace Prize, Obama went to war against Libya to oust Gaddafi because -- from the point of view of liberals -- he had become dangerously too cozy and chummy with the U.S., such as handing his WMDs to the Great Satan after the Iraq war. As in Syria, liberals publicly pretended the only reason they were bombing a sovereign nation which wasn't a threat to us was to 'save lives'. 'Saving' Libyan lives was apparently worth going to war for, as opposed to saving the lives of an American ambassador and three other brave Americans, who apparently weren't worth lifting a finger for. Obama had too much on his plate, such as going to bed that night.
So, after Obama lied us into war against Libya, how swimmingly are things working out these days there? The "government" -- if it can even be called that -- is largely populated by the Muslim Brotherhood. No, not the one in D.C., but the one in Libya. The economy is in such shambles, Obama would call it a 'recovery'. Libya was ranked as one of the top five fastest developing nations before Obama's stimulus package via bombing fixed everything.
Authority is crumbling throughout the country. Chaos is everywhere. No constitution adopted yet, two years after Obama 'liberated' Libya into the mess it's in. The Interior Minister called it quits last month. In Obama's shining foreign policy 'success', violence is escalating everywhere. Tribal warfare rages even in Tripoli. Militias held the Justice and Foreign ministries earlier this year. Civilians who dare to protest against the militias are shot dead. In yet another sign of Libya's peaceful transition to "democracy", the chap officially in charge of probing assassinations was recently assassinated, via car bomb. Or, as Obama would say, via 'workplace violence'.
The French embassy was bombed. In eastern Libya, a wave of political assassinations has taken the lives of 51 people. No one's been prosecuted for these killings. Kidnappings are common. Libyan 'security forces' recently kidnapped the daughter of Gaddafi's former spy chief from the custody of another police unit. Southern Libya's proudly on its way to becoming al-Qaeda's main regional base, after being kicked out of neighboring Mali during the French intervention there.
In fact, al-Qaeda's using Libya as a nifty training ground for foreign Islamist jihadis, then funneling them to Syria to join Islamist jihadis battling the Assad government there, as even U.S. intelligence agencies admit. In Benghazi and neighboring Darnah, the same Thomas Jefferson-loving, U.S.-Constitution-cherishing Ansar al-Sharia group that carried out the Sept. 11 attacks in Benghazi is running the training camps for foreign terrorists, offering the nice lads basic training in the art of Bishop-hostage-taking and emptying their weapons indiscriminately into civilians, in preparation to joining the ranks of Syria's al-Nusra Front, all part of a network of killers being piped into Syria to keep its "endogenous" civil war going. All of which convinced John Kerry that Syria's armed opposition "has increasingly become more defined by its moderation" and "more defined by its adherence to some, you know, democratic process," unlike the ruthless beasts who "randomly shot at civilians, razed villages in a manner reminiscent of Genghis Khan" in some, you know, other war.
Libya's oil exports have plunged, running at a fraction of their pre-war level of around 1.2 million barrels per day. During those bad ol' Gaddafi days, total production stood at around 1.6 million. Oil fields and oil terminals are currently being blockaded by armed groups, joined by defecting soldiers, protesting the Muslim Brotherhood takeover in Tripoli. Ali Zaiden, Prime Minister of the Muslim Brotherhood-dominated government, has threatened military action to take back the striking ports. (He then abruptly announced he'll seek congressional authority and denied he drew any 'red lines' ... oh, wait).
In western Libya, gunmen have closed down three pipelines. Homes and hospitals in Tripoli are plagued by water shortages after a tribe, in retaliation for the kidnapping of the aforementioned spy chief's daughter, who's a member of the same Megraha tribe, cut the power that runs the pumps.
Now the Obama administration is keen to replicate Libya's glorious success in Syria, by bombing Syria. They can't wait to bomb, even as the U.S. government is about to run out of money. John Kerry recently told Congress that Arab oil Sheiks would pay for most of the cost of attacking Syria. The rest could be borrowed from his wife.
In response to all the chaos and turmoil in Libya, the gutsy watchdog media have relentlessly not covered it. Or only in itty-bitty pieces now and then. Even the murder of a U.S. ambassador couldn't pry the media from the 'nothing-to-see-here, move-along' template, except for the occasional stray story. Even whistleblower Gregory Hicks barely rated 15 minutes. Something terrible happened to the ever-evolving Benghazi talking points when they got sucked into a black hole. On Fox News Sunday, Juan Williams bragged that Benghazi's "gone, baby." Back away, old chum, it's old news. That's the stateside media. In contrast, Libya's merciless collapse gets well-covered in the foreign press, the only place where investigative journalism is still being perpetrated. Should Obama similarly pull off another ruinous misadventure in Syria, and the whole joint goes south, the media's useful Libya template goes into effect.
As for the pending Syria vote in Congress, Obama's mouthpieces -- by which I mean the media -- argue hysterically that a 'no' vote will politically cripple the presidency, but I'm all for politically crippling the presidency, if it means the first branch of government at long last curbing the excesses of the second branch. Obamacare waivers. Blanket DREAM amnesty granted on the fly. Cap and trade via EPA. Illegal executive appointments. The Libya war. NSA domestic spying. You name it. And given President Way-in-over-his-head's penchant for clumsiness, ineptitude, and fecklessness -- qualities you always cherish in a leader -- reining him in would arguably constitute a favor, to him. Indeed, speaking of being way in over his head, even the administration's stated casus belli -- that Assad gassed his own people in a manner reminiscent of Genghis Clinton in Waco -- lacks " irrefutable, beyond-a-reasonable-doubt evidence," admits Obama's own chief of staff, Denis McDonough. The White House can't even get the number of gas attack victims straight. Obama says 1,429 people died. But the authoritative Syrian Observatory for Human Rights can only confirm 502 dead. If degrading Assad's leadership was the goal, the Peace-Prize-winning Warlord has already inflicted a fair amount of it -- to himself.
Anyway, that's...
My Two Cents...
"JohnHuang2"
Monday-morning ping! Have a great week, y’all!
That’s an excellent column right there.
Oh my goodness where have you been? Haven’t seen you in awhile!
for a limited missile strike against SyriaThat is so Nobel of him.
1. distract us from stopping the Amnesty bill
2. To help Islamic radicals(alqueda) take over Syria
Obama ,democrats and the media . what is the common denominator? they are democrats and part of the democrat party
Trying a wee bit too hard for my comfort. No good can come from this. I believe he’s triggering WWIII, and on purpose.
The Syria war bs is put out there to distract us from the Amnesty bill that is coming up. It’s to get us thinking about syria while they pass the amnesty bill behind our backs So we don’t lobby our congressmen to not pass amnesty
call Congress . tell them no immigration related bill from the House as any could be merged with the Senate amnesty bill. Focus people
Focus on stopping the amnesty bill and call out crap like the syria crap.
99% of the media news stories are to distract us from what the government is doing or to advance the socialist/democrat agenda. it’s not news
I’m imagine the literary and dramatic worlds caught on fire by the new play: “Genghis Clinton at Waco”. Great image!
Excellent column JH2.
Sad but true, John. Another good two cents!
SOS, John Kerry misspeaks at British press conference. Lies about Reagan, Lockerbie bombing and USA attack on Libya. Gets everthing upside down. Certified lie spinner and full fledged moron!!!
Exactky....what happens in Syria will NOT STAY in SYRIA!!!
MISSPEAKS??? LIES!
Big lies for big payoffs
> As for the pending Syria vote in Congress, Obama’s mouthpieces — by which I mean the media — argue hysterically that a ‘no’ vote will politically cripple the presidency, but I’m all for politically crippling the presidency, if it means the first branch of government at long last curbing the excesses of the second branch. Obamacare waivers. Blanket DREAM amnesty granted on the fly. Cap and trade via EPA. Illegal executive appointments. The Libya war. NSA domestic spying. You name it.
Most transparent administration ever. Worst POS president in U.S. history ever.
yes the case being made privately to our congress idiots and the people of color and guilty libs the UN, is that not giving obama his war “cripples the US presidency”
as if the despots and tyrants of the world will see the “US presidency” as “serious” if the congress approves giving a stupid naive petulant race-monger a billion arab-supplied dollars, 60 days (extendable)and a thousand US military sorties against a sovereign nation in civil war that didn’t attack us and doesn’t threaten us
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