Obama: brilliant or stupid

[Baruch]

Only America could screw up that big!  USA #1!  USA #1!  Thanks Harvard and Yale for all the great leaders you give us ;-(

[josephpalazzo]

Only America could screw up that big!  USA #1!  USA #1!  Thanks Harvard and Yale for all the great leaders you give us ;-(

Harvard and Yale are just the tip of the iceberg. When you have 42% of Americans believing in creationism, the hallmark of ignorance, there's something wrong much bigger than these two institutions.

[SGOS]

Harvard and Yale are just the tip of the iceberg. When you have 42% of Americans believing in creationism, the hallmark of ignorance, there's something wrong much bigger than these two institutions.

The first time I heard that figure, I was reading it in a newspaper.  I knew there were a few creationists around, but I was dumbfounded, and was certain the article had misprinted, or was biased somehow, I brought it up to one of my more intelligent friends.  He didn't say he had seen the data before (not that I recall now), but he wasn't at all surprised.  I felt like I wanted to scream.  We are truly fucked.  Mankind's future looks dim.  I don't know if the species will survive or not, but so what?  We will still be doing the same stupid stuff, killing each other and destroying our planet, and doing things like denying that hydrogen sulfide gas is a bad thing to be breathing, or whatever fucked up thing we managed to create at that time in the future.

[josephpalazzo]

The heat is rising.

Defense Secretary Ashton Carter said Wednesday that the Russian airstrikes in Syria appear to have targeted areas that do not include ISIS fighters, a development which Secretary of State John Kerry said would cause "grave concern" for the United States.

Kerry told the United Nations Security Council that the U.S. would not object to Russians hitting ISIS or al-Qaida targets but airstrikes just to strengthen the hand of Syrian President Bashar Assad would be worrisome.

"It does appear they were in in areas where there probably were not ISIL forces," Carter said of the Russian airstrikes, using an alternative acronym for ISIS. "The result of this kind of action will inevitably simply be to inflame the civil war in Syria."

Carter said he couldn't confirm reports that the Russian strikes may have hit civilians, but said, "if it occurred, it's yet another reason why this kind of Russian action can and will backfire very badly on Russia."

Carter's comments triggered a dismissive response from Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, who told reporters flatly, "Don't listen to the Pentagon about the Russian strikes" and referred them to the Russian defense ministry website.

The top national security officials spoke as Russia launched its first airstrikes in Syria targeting what it said were ISIS positions. On Wednesday, some U.S.-backed rebel groups claimed they were hit by Russian airstrikes but those claims could not be confirmed.

A key unanswered question, however, is what the U.S. will do if the Russian airstrikes target moderate Syrian rebel groups working with the coalition in the fight against the ISIS. Asked directly if the coalition would protect the U.S.-trained or aligned groups, Carter did not answer.

Instead, Carter said the strikes highlight a contradiction in Russia's approach. He said the Russians should not be supporting the Assad government, and their military moves are "doomed to fail."

http://www.dailysabah.com/mideast/2015/10/01/us-warns-russia-against-striking-non-isis-targets-in-syria-1443655644

[Baruch]

Once you lie, you can't stop lying.  The US presence in the Middle East is based on pathological lying ... they can't stop, or else admit who was on the grassy knoll.  ISIS won't stop, until its supporters, Turkey and Saudi Arabia, have been flattened by Russian forces.  If the common ally of Turkey and Saudi Arabia wants to do something about it, then they will be flattened too.  You can guess which common ally I mean, and maybe I mean both.

[josephpalazzo]

Russia has just bombed a rebel faction trained by the CIA; Russia says they bombed ISIS. The war of words has begun.

[Baruch]

Probably no difference.  I suspect the CIA has a time machine, and helped install Lenin ;-)  See, the inner core of any national security apparatus has to be maximally criminal and insane by its job description.  Once the Praetorian Guard takes over, it is Caligula all the way down.

[josephpalazzo]

Yes but it is our Caligula. Russian Caligula is a different monster, worse than ours...

[Jason Harvestdancer]

At the UN, the President declared that the US would be willing to work with Russia and Iran to solve the Syrian crisis.

Brilliant or Stupid?

Backed into a corner, cannot say no.  He doesn't want to do it but Putin left him no choice.

Putin is going to stomp out ISIS.  That's going to make the US look foolish in the sense of "look who gets things done."  That will move the Mid-East farther from the US and closer to Russia, the exact opposite of the purpose of the whole War On Terror.

The US gave tanks to Iraq.  The Iraqi army retreated, leaving the keys in the ignition of the tanks, and now they are ISIS tanks.  If the Russian tanks successfully blast the ISIS tanks, it will show that Russian armor can blast US armor.  That will be a major black eye to the US military.  This goes even more so for the jets both sides have been developing, with the US blowing the whole development budget on the F-22 and the F-35.  Russia will be embedding with Syrian troops.  The US allegedly wants to defeat both Syria and ISIS.  If the US hits Syrian troops and kills Russian embeds, that will be bad news and grounds for retaliation.  If their practicality in just improving existing models instead of coming up with junk such as the F-35 shows actual results, that will be another black eye for the US military.

Remember, the petro-dollar is backed by the US military.  Without it, one of the few major supports for the US dollar disappears.

So the US has two choices - directly confront Russia and engage in WWIII, or work with Russia.  Since WWIII is stupid, then obviously the only other choice is "brilliant" since there are only two choices.

[Shiranu]

On that note, I will be sure to never play a chess match against a Russian...

[SGOS]

On that note, I will be sure to never play a chess match against a Russian...

Bobby Fischer kicked the Russians asses at chess.  He was my hero.  But later, he turns out to be wanted by the FBI or the CIA for being a racist nutjob and anti-Semite.  I'm sure he'd have some thoughts about ISIS that he would like to share.

[Jason Harvestdancer]

On that note, I will be sure to never play a chess match against a Russian...

Yeah.  The US is playing poker, hoping to bluff and get another queen it its hand, not noticing that the Russian rook is about to take the US queen.

[Solitary]

I'm not comfortable with more countries having nukes, because if they are used all life on earth is destroyed, including my loved ones, is that being selfish, yes!

[Baruch]

Don't worry, biological weapons will kill many without damaging property values.  Your mortgage company that holds the note on your house should be fine either way ;-(

[josephpalazzo]

Don't worry, biological weapons will kill many without damaging property values.  Your mortgage company that holds the note on your house should be fine either way ;-(

If you watch action films, the fun is in seeing whole building being destroyed like Lego toys. That's why biological weapons are illegal, and bazookas aren't.