Revolting

According to the BBC, ISIS burned 45 people to death today in a town near an Iraqi air base where 400 US Marines are stationed.

How Could You Tell?

Thank you Captain Obvious

 

60 Minutes

If you're watching 60 Minutes, good for you. Their story on ISIS is something you should be watching. It was disturbing to see former Sec of Defense Leon Panetta (2011-2013) say that he was against pulling our troops out of Iraq - for fear of exactly what happened in its wake. King Abdullah of Jordan is very articulate and a great interview subject, btw.

A Shooting in DC

At least 12 dead at the Navy Shipyard in DC; rumored to be two shooters, one or both still on the loose . . .

At least 3000 people in DC are being told to "shelter in place". CBS ID'd one of the gunmen as a Naval officer, then retracted the claim.

Arab Spring = False Hope

Internal violence has now spread to Tunisia, Sudan, Nigeria, Syria, Lebanon, Israel, India, and Germany. Al Qaeda is publicly urging attacks on U.S. embassies and lauding the murder of our ambassador. Iran is being Iran, to the point where Canada has broken off relations.

I said it - in print - at the time; the Arab Spring was not a cry for freedom, it was one group of bullies and thugs overthrowing another for control of the lunchroom. You may also remember that I STRONGLY objected to our use of force in Libya, stating we had no idea what instability the overthrow of that gov't would bring to that country 

This is not a partisan post. This is not an election post. This is the simple truth: aside from tossing a few drones at a problem, this administration has no comprehensive, proactive foreign policy in the Middle East. And American prestige and lives are paying for that gaffe.

Terror in Benghazi

RIP to American Ambassador Stevens and the other Americans killed in Libya yesterday, on the anniversary of 9/11 (how anyone could chalk the date up to coincidence alone is beyond me). Stevens is the 8th American ambassador killed in the line of duty.   I could spend the night commenting on the culture and people that promote such idiocy, or the lauded Arab Spring that was nothing more than the bad replacing the bad, but I'll respect Stevens memory enough to leave that alone for now. Again, RIP.

The Mass Shooting at the Local Sikh Temple

JSOnline reporting btwn 8 and 20 shooting victims at an Oak Creek Sikh temple . . .developing

UPDATE: JSOnline reporting up to 30 shooting victims with children being held hostage . . .

UPDATE: Think before you comment: on a post about the temple shooting, with news of 30 dead or wounded, children held hostage, etc . . smack dab in a back and forth of prayers and thoughts of the victims. someone posts that she hopes the guy she just started dating is ok (he works for Oak Creek PD). All respect for the cops on scene and I hope for their safety, but bleep your boyfriend; spend a second thinking about the victims and the kids, *at least* when they are the stated subject at hand.  

update: I see that my reaction itself was an emotional response to the tragedy and off the mark. She had every right to think of those she knew personally. 

UPDATE: js now confirming @ least 7 dead. For those outside Wisconsin, Oak Creek is a Milwaukee suburb near our home.

This is horrible. 

UPDATE: The final numbers were six dead (and the shooter, who killed himself after being shot by police) and 4 wounded (including an officer shot multiple times).  A seventh victim died in 2020 from his head wound after living with partial paralysis for years. 

Wildly Divergent Thoughts:

A) A summary of Slumdog Millionaires says it DOES end with the dance number I remember from the trailers; apparently it was edited for broadcast TV. B) Lisa says I was wrong about the apple cake and that it turned out perfectly. C) People need to STFU about the parents of that six year old killed in the Batman massacre. Whether the kid was too young to be out that late or not, the parents are no more to blame for the death than if he'd been the victim of a random home invader. The idiot with the gun is at fault, and NO ONE ELSE. Putting blame on the parents is just a backasswards way of blaming the victim.

News from Afghanistan

CNN is reporting the US Embassy in Afghanistan is "under siege" by the Taliban . . .

This is probably inconsequential in the long run, except that the press will seize on it as a Tet moment and start pushing for a quicker withdrawal, when of course it should generate the opposite approach. 

Facts

While the White House might think the War on Terror is winding down, the *77* US troops wounded today in Afghanistan might disagree.