The way Western Nations deal with radical Islam will fail because we treat the problem/threat as if the perpetrators were sane/rational. This is why certain cities in our own country are being overrun by homeless. These people have overwhelming mental issues and Jimmy Carter closed mental facilities because drugs had been developed to address/control/ameliorate their problems but, of course, they did not take them.
Radical Islamists have been fed a consistent diet of hatred towards the West. Their beliefs have been honed by a mass of tribal contradictions and they have been indoctrinated with extreme politicized religious beliefs.Their antipathy has been financed by a West dependent on their energy resources. The radical Islamist goal is to infiltrate the world, physically attack anyone who opposes them and do so by accusing those as racist. Their extremist culture is based on teachings that do not embrace Western values and their goal is not assimilation.
This is a succinct generalized recap of why, in my opinion, we will lose the battle if we continue to coddle, embrace a PC attitude of misplaced tolerance and yield to their demands which contradict and/or imperil our own freedoms.
Because our own nation once enslaved those we brought over, and even after being freed segregated them, some elements of our own black population align with various radical groups within our nation's ranks. That is what the Black Lives Matter Movement is all about and where it connects with its roots. It is financed by the likes of those who are radical and benefit from social and economic chaos and Soros quickly comes to mind.
Opposing a disparate culture bent on destruction and total defeat of your own takes enormous resources, dedication and resolve and intellectual ingenuity. This is why I am pessimistic about our success because we have become increasingly suspect of our own motives and have bought into the accusation/charge that we are the racists. Hitler and other tyrants have said 'in order to defeat me you will inevitably become more like me.' Terrorism cannot be fought by putting on kid gloves. Great challenges must be responded to with equally great efforts. Efforts that lend themselves to getting out of hand as well - Orwell understood this and wrote about "Big Brother."
I fear the West is not up to the challenge beyond sporadic and ineffectual responses. I also believe N Korea and Iran will be allowed to go Nuclear, Russia and China will rise, both politically and militarily, and the West will shrink as it abdicates nationalism, protection of its borders and embraces dictates emanating from The U.N. In our own country, I fear it is only a matter of time before Sharia Law creeps into our own legal system and the unraveling of our Constitution accelerates. (Lebabon is a prime example of how we have allowed that nation to become totally subsumed by Hezbollah. See 1 below.))
The Intimidation Process has begun according to Kim Strassel and I believe she has documented it well in her recent book.
Trump and some family members may well have been involved in dealings which, in retrospect, are suspect but the effort to impeach him will prove more destructive to national security than anything he has/they have done. When our own intelligence community continues leaking that becomes a far greater threat than anything the Trump's have allegedly done.
Our history is replete with hypocrisy and double standards.That Sen. Ted Kennedy was never jailed for leaving the crime scene, the manner in which the Clinton's amassed a fortune and I could go on and on about events that were ignored and/or never allowed to be investigated to their end. Why, all of a sudden, have liberals, who ignored the threat from Russia, all of a sudden become so engrossed?
Attempting to overthrow an election legally won harks to what consistently takes place in dictatorships and regimes that are anything but democratic.
Renegade Democrats, who have taken over their party, are now hell bent on driving our nation to the edge of a dangerous precipice. If they are successful, based on evidence that escapes logic and a factual basis, we will allow another nail to be driven in our coffin. (See 1a and 1b below.)
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Dick
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1) Israel and Hezbollah: The Battle before the Battle
by Jonathan Spyer
During the 2006 war beween Israel and Hizballah, Israeli military actions were limited by the broader diplomatic situation. The expulsion of Syria from Lebanon had taken place a year earlier.
The government of then prime minister Fuad Siniora in Beirut was considered one of the few successes of the US democracy promotion project in the region. As a result, pressure was placed on Israel to restrict its operations to targets directly related to Hezbollah activity alone.
Ten years is a long time. Today, the view in Israel is that the distinction between Hezbollah and the institutions and authorities of the Lebanese state has disappeared.
But while the government of Lebanon is no longer a particular protégé of the US and the West, the position taken in Western capitals regarding the Lebanese state and, notably, its armed forces remains markedly different to that taken in Jerusalem. The Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) continues to be a major beneficiary of US aid.
This gap in perceptions reflects different primary security concerns. For Israel, altering this perception in the West before the next conflict with Hezbollah is a primary strategic task.
So what are the facts of the case? One of the basic expectations of a functioning state is that it exercise a monopoly on the use of violence within its borders.
What has happened in the intervening decade, however, is that Hezbollah and its allies, rather than simply ignoring the wishes of the state, have progressively absorbed its institutions. The events of May/June 2008 in Beirut finally demonstrated the impotence of "official" Lebanon in opposing the will of Hezbollah and its allies.From this point of view, the Lebanese state ceased to function some time ago. As the 2006 and subsequent events graphically demonstrated, Hezbollah and its patrons could operate an independent foreign and military policy without seeking the permission of the official authorities in Beirut.
Then, on the official political level, Hezbollah and its allies prevented the appointment of a Lebanese president for two years, before ensuring the ascendance of their own allied candidate, then-Gen. Michel Aoun, in October 2016. For good measure, the March 8 bloc of which Hezbollah is a part ensured for itself eight portfolios in the 17-person Lebanese cabinet. Of these, two are directly in the hands of Hezbollah.
So at the level of political leadership, it is no longer possible to identify where the Lebanese state begins and Hezbollah ends.
And the organization has long enjoyed a de facto, physical dominance, both within Lebanon and in terms of its actions across and beyond its borders (against Israel, in its intervention in the Syrian civil war, and in its involvement with other pro-Iranian militia groups in Iraq and Yemen).
What of the issue of security cooperation between Hezbollah and the Lebanese Armed Forces? No serious observer of Lebanon disputes that open cooperation between the two forces has increased over the last half decade.
The background to this is the threat of Sunni jihadist terrorism from Syrian Salafi groups engaged in the Syrian civil war. A series of bombings in Shi'a south Beirut and in border communities triggered the joint effort by Hezbollah and the LAF.
Of course, the bombings were taking place as retaliation by Syrian Salafi groups for Hezbollah's own involvement in the war in Syria on the regime side. The Lebanese Armed Forces and Hezbollah cooperated on the level of intelligence sharing and scored a number of successes in locating and apprehending Salafi cells on Lebanese soil.
As a result of the increasingly overt cooperation between the Lebanese Armed Forces and Hezbollah, Saudi Arabia ended its military assistance to the LAF, canceling a $3 billion pledge in February 2016. The cancellation was a tacit admission of defeat by the Saudis, an acknowledgment that their project of exerting influence and power in Lebanon through their clients had failed.
Lebanese Brig. General Manuel Kirejian (2nd from right) and US Ambassador to Lebanon David Hale (center) review a shipment of donated US armored vehicles and artillery last year.
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The US, however, has continued its relationship with the LAF, which was the recipient of $200 million in assistance from Washington last year. Last December, the US dismissed Israeli assertions that M-113 armored vehicles displayed by Hezbollah in a triumphant parade in the town of Qusayr in Syria came from LAF stocks. The Lebanese Armed Forces, according to a statement by John Kirby, then-State Department spokesman, has an "exemplary record" in complying with US end-use guidelines and restrictions.
A statement by President Aoun in February appeared to confirm the situation of cooperation between the forces. Aoun told the Egyptian CBC channel that Hezbollah's arms
do not contradict the state... and are an essential part of defending Lebanon. As long as the Lebanese army lacks sufficient power to face Israel, we feel the need for Hezbollah's arsenal, because it complements the army's role.
The difference of opinion between the US and Israel in this regard is of growing importance because of the emergent evidence of hitherto unreported Hezbollah activities. In particular, there is deep disquiet in Israel regarding revelations of an Iranian- supported, homegrown Hezbollah arms industry. This, combined with what may be the beginnings of a slow winding down of the Syrian war, raises the possibility of renewed tensions with Hezbollah.
This does not mean that war is imminent.
But from an Israeli point of view, the gap in understanding and perception between Washington and Jerusalem on the Lebanese Armed Forces, and by definition on the current nature of the Lebanese state, is a matter requiring urgent attention. It is currently one of the missing pieces in the diplomatic structure which alone can make possible the kind of war that Israel will be wanting to fight next time round, should Hezbollah attack or provocation come.
This is intended to be a war on a scale and dimension quite different from 2006.
The intention will be to dismiss any distinction between Hezbollah and the Lebanese state, and to wage a state-to-state war against Lebanon, on the basis that the distinction has become a fiction. This would involve an all-out use of military force that will be intended to force a relatively quick decision.
For this to be conceivable, a diplomatic battle has to first be won. This is the battle to convince the West, or at least the US, that an Iranian proxy militia has today effectively swallowed the Lebanese state, making war against the former, by its very nature, involve war against the latter.
This battle before the battle has not yet been won. It is part of a larger Israeli hope to focus the US and the West on Iran and Shi'a political Islam, in place of the current Western focus on the Sunni variety. Only thus will Israel be able to establish the strategic depth in the diplomatic arena that will enable, if necessary, its plans in the event of war with Hezbollah to be carried out.
Jonathan Spyer, a fellow at the Middle East Forum, is director of the Rubin Center for Research in International Affairs and author of The Transforming Fire: The Rise of the Israel-Islamist Conflict (Continuum, 2011).+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
1a) Maxine Waters and her lovely real estate.
How can a member of Congress afford a $4.5 million Los Angeles mansion that takes up half a city block in one of the most affluent neighborhoods in the country? Ask Maxine Waters.
Ask her about her other two homes as well, worth another approximate $850,000 to $1.1 million. Savvy real estate acquisitions for a public servant with a $174,000 House of Representatives salary. Whoops, almost left out Maxine's time share property in Palm Springs, California. Add that to her list.
Only one of her homes is located in the gritty Los Angeles congressional district which she was elected to represent. Her exclusive estate is miles north … well outside her congressional district … far away from Los Ageles' street crime, murder and the folks she is supposed to help. Apparently, Maxine has addressed concerns about help. A private company maintains her property and impressive manicured landscaping at the mansion.
Oh, we almost forgot this too. Maxine Waters' posh 6,000 square foot Los Angeles estate is protected with wrought-iron gates at the front doors and gates for driveways and patios on each side of the Mediterranean-style abode. And add a long brick wall that protects the side of the sprawling property. There are some gates and fencing in the back also, near the custom barbecue area and the detached structure that houses Maxine's newly built indoor pool. Or is the swimming pool in the main house? We'll have to ask the butler.
For someone who touts a wall-free society where illegal aliens can roam free, Maxine Waters sure seems concerned about gates and walls to protect her in the Los Angeles mansion. Perhaps she's worried the wayward homeless or DREAMers might pool hop or grille a Salisbury steak while she's busy on CNN railing about President Donald Trump or how she really cares about financially-strapped Americans struggling to make ends meet.
The Maxine Waters estate boasts large scale rooms touted as "perfect for gracious entertaining" in one Los Angeles - based publication. It includes a "stunning entry with a dramatic staircase … lovely pecan paneling in family room … guest house too!”
Who keeps an eye on the place when Maxine is on the east coast fighting world poverty and hunger? Her neighbors include the mayor of Los Angeles, singer Chris Brown, Norman Chandler, the owner of the Los Angeles Times, actor Neal McDonough, Lord Baltimore's Christian Audigier, among many others including the former Tudor Revival style mansion of deceased oil magnate J. Paul Getty. The mayor of Los Angeles resides in the former mansion of Getty. He's a Democrat too.
And all this time Maxine had America conned into believing she was elected to her Washington, D.C. post to help the downtrodden folks struggling in poverty-plagued inner cities like the one in her backyard. Well, not that backyard. That could get dicey. Those folks might want to get out of the sun and use the air-conditioned indoor pool area. What … your 100-year-old imported marble floors are too good for the homeless?
Wait, it even gets more ridiculous. We found approximately 17 building permits on file since Waters purchased this home in 2004. Waters had many additions built on the nearly 100-year old property, costing another estimated $1 million-plus, according to our math. Likely more. She commissioned the indoor pool built and even paid a plumber to pipe hot and cold water, as well as propane gas to her outdoor grilling area and custom kitchen. She added a pergola too, building records show and an additional 15’ X 18' custom patio cover. Hey, before you judge: It gets hot in Los Angeles and shade is a premium. Ask any homeless veteran.
Some of the building permits filed on the tony Windsor Square section home provided details like "Interior remodel in kitchen family room and master bathroom … addition of french doors and windows relocate windows remove interior walls … addition of shearwalls and beams at ground floor. Many other permits did not give explanations of the home improvement work.
Maxine Waters' house takes up the same geographic acreage as two of her neighbors' properties combined. That's an extra large carbon footprint, especially in Los Angeles.
A typical Democratic phony loaded with multiple homes, cash and the walls and iron to protect them from would-be troublemakers. Maxine Waters, who rails about President Donald Trump's financials and tax returns, filed her most financial disclosure form with Congress in 2015. She lists her approximate net worth in the $450,000 range. That's a mere fraction of the amount of the home improvements made to her Los Angeles estate. Maxine Waters lists the mortgage on her Los Angeles mansion at somewhere between $1 million and $5 million. What's a few million between D.C. friends?
Please tell us again, Maxine: Who should be investigated and impeached? Maxine rants about the plague of homelessness and the GOP's contribution to it. The irony is thick. It’s worth clicking and reading the story while she talks about poverty in America.
Built in 1924, Maxine Waters' Mediterranean-style estate is worth $4.5 million today.
Deadbolt gates on the front doors, gates on the driveways, patios. So much for carefree border-less living.
Flanked by a long brick and landscape wall that runs half a city block.
Main house, guest house, outdoor barbecue island and kitchen are seen here.
A view from Maxine's neighbor who also boasts a large and long wall.
The sprawling property dwarfs the two properties behind it.
East Coast digs. Maxine’s Washington, D.C pad across the street from the Albanian & Costa Rican embassies.
Spread this far and wide around the country to let everyone know what a
hypocritical crazy crook old mad Maxine is. How does this looney leftist pay
the taxes and maintain all the properties on a $174K gov't salary?
The obvious answer is that she cannot possibly maintain and pay the taxes on those properties on a $174,000 salary. She is obviously being fed money under the table through her vast corrupt, kickback system.
1b) Contrast Maxine Water's treed real estate empire with these female amputees and their lost limbs.
1b) Contrast Maxine Water's treed real estate empire with these female amputees and their lost limbs.
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