Obama at West Point: speech panned by media; 25% standing ovation


More on the Obama west Point Speech!

StMA's avatarConsortium of Defense Analysts

On Wednesday, May 28, 2014, Barack Obama delivered his foreign policy speech at West Point, in which the President of the most powerful country in the world insisted “I am not weak” and argued for a contradictory foreign policy of American exceptionalism while he delegates authority to international coalitions.

"I am not weak" “I am not weak”

Jonathan Topaz reports for Politico that editorial boards at three major U.S. newspapers criticized President Barack Obama’s foreign policy speech at West Point on May 28 as incomplete and failing to recognize America’s international standing.

  • The New York Times editorial board, long supportive of Obama, wrote that his address “did not match the hype, was largely uninspiring, lacked strategic sweep and is unlikely to quiet his detractors, on the right or the left.” Obama “provided little new insight into how he plans to lead in the next two years, and many still doubt that he fully appreciates the leverage…

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Obama admin removes all battle tanks from Europe


I missed this when it came out, re-posted as prove that the dismantlement of the US military is why the bad guys are acting up!

StMA's avatarConsortium of Defense Analysts

Amidst the still-ongoing crisis in Ukraine, the Obama administration is moving the last U.S. battle tanks from Germany and, thus, from Europe.

At the same time, the Pentagon also is disbanding two of the U.S. Army’s heavy brigades in Germany. Last year, the 170th Infantry out of Baumholder disbanded, while the 172nd Separate Infantry Brigade at Grafenwöhr is in the process of doing the same.

Abram tank out of GermanyOne of 22 Abram battle tanks, bound for South Carolina, being loaded at the railhead in Kaisersalutern, Germany (photo by Alexander Burnett/U.S. Army). 

John Vandiver reports for Stars and Stripes, April 4, 2014, that the U.S. Army’s 69-year history of basing main battle tanks on German soil quietly ended last month when 22 Abrams tanks, a main feature of armored combat units throughout the Cold War, embarked for the U.S.

On March 18, the remaining tanks were loaded up at the 21st Theater Sustainment…

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US Marine Corps commandant openly blasts CIC Obama


As a former army officer I know how unusual this is and could lead to his being asked to give up his commission! It will be interesting to see if he joins General Stanley McChrystal in retirement.

StMA's avatarConsortium of Defense Analysts

USMC Gen. James AmosU.S. Marine Corps Commandant Gen. James Amos

On July 15, 2014, speaking at the Brookings Institute think tank in Washington, DC, the Commandant of the United States Marine Corps, 4-star Gen. James Amos, openly and publicly criticized Commander-In-Chief Barack Hussein Obama.

Reporting for The Fiscal Times, David Francis observes that “It’s highly unusual for a high-ranking soldier, let alone a high-ranking Marine, to publicly question White House and Pentagon policy. Yet that’s exactly what four-star Gen. James Amos, Commandant of the Marine Corps, did yesterday in Washington.”

Speaking at the Brookings Institute, Amos criticized the Obama administration for:

1. Paving the way for the emergence of the Islamic State of Syria and Iraq (ISIS) by completely withdrawing American troops in 2011. Amos said: “I have a hard time believing that had we been there, and worked with the government, and worked with parliament, and worked with the…

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Israel IDF ground forces attack Gaza


The ground offenses starts: IDF ground forces attack Gaza amid air, sea and artillery pounding. Half a million Gazans told to leave. Israelis around Gaza sent to shelters

Re-Post from DEBKAfile Special Report July 17, 2014, 10:44 PM (IDT)

Israel air, sea and artillery pounded the Gaza Strip Thursday night, July 17, as IDF ground forces embarked on a ground attack, just announced by Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu. debkafile reports a softening-up operation to prepare for the entry of armored and infantry units. The IDF calls on the half million Gazans of southern towns of Khan Younes and Rafah to leave their homes for their own safety. Palestinians in northern towns reeived the same message. Israelis living close to the Gaza border were advised to stay in bomb shelters.

The IDF spokesman reported that large infantry and armored units are operating across the entire area of the Gaza Strip.

The announcement from Jerusalem said: “The prime minister and defense minister have instructed the IDF to begin a ground operation tonight in order to hit the terror tunnels from Gaza into Israel.”

The IDF said: the ground attack has launched a new phase of Operation Protective Edge for striking a significant blow at Hamas in response to 10 days of attacks by land, sea and air and after repeated rejections of offers to de-escalate the situation.
See the earlier debkafile report below:

Hamas tried sending a commando team through a tunnel snaking under the Gaza border for a large-scale terrorist attack or kidnap early Thursday, July 17. As the group of 13-30 started coming to the surface inside Israel opposite the southern Gaza Strip, it ran into heavy IDF fire. Some were killed; the rest turned tail to escape through the tunnel and reach home. Israeli helicopters bombed the tunnel which exploded, and went on to scour the area around the Gaza Strip for more attempted incursions, through the honeycomb of secret tunnels Hamas has sunk for terrorist attacks and kidnaps.

debkafile quotes Israeli and Western military experts as estimating that the prospects of an Israeli ground incursion into the Gaza Strip are now more real than the chances of a ceasefire. There is little substance to the reports that Hamas and Israeli delegations are in Cairo to discuss various drafts of a ceasefire accord.

Our sources stress that the only real talks revolve around an ultimatum Israel has slapped down for Hamas, via the various would-be peacemakers: It has only days to halt its rocket offensive before Israel launches a ground invasion of the Gaza Strip.

The question being asked now is why, after 10 days of trading Israeli air strikes for Palestinian rocket attacks, the IDF has not destroyed the Hamas war room, the seat of its command and control center for directing the war and launching rockets, instead of striking the vacant homes of Hamas high-ups.
In the absence of a clear battlefield victory, headlines are appearing like this one: “Hamas Has Already Won Its Rocket War With Israel.”

Even IDF commanders are noting that the IDF, while hammering the Gaza Strip night after night, has not achieved a single tactical victory. Destroying the Hamas war room would serve this purpose.

debkafile’s military and intelligence sources note that finding and destroying underground structures is a daunting challenge, which is why Hamas has sunk its resources for fighting Israel deep below the surface. The war room in particular is a whole town complex, which runs under the surface buildings at the center of Gaza City, including the Shifa Hospital. This labyrinth accommodates top Hamas military personnel, the local social elite made up of Hamas bigwigs, affluent Gazans, foreign citizens and professionals like doctors or engineers.

It has a large and elaborate system of conference rooms, as well as control and command centers, outfitted with air conditioning, its own electricity and communications systems, security, and storerooms for food, drink and medicines to support the hundreds of top personnel operating and sheltering in the facility.

The Hamas underground city can function for weeks without outside help.

The various would-be European peace brokers, including foreign ministers and the Middle East Special Envoy Tony Blair, have been concerned to preserve the Hamas core stronghold, so as to leave the Islamist organization intact at the end of the current round of hostilities as a future negotiating partner and surviving government of the Gaza Strip. Our military sources say that this core stronghold is in fact Hamas’ sunken war room complex.
The Obama administration has been careful to keep its head down and make sure not to be seen or heard until Washington sees where this process is going.

Former Israel Air Force chief, Maj. Gen. Ido Nehushtan, who also led the planning team for a strike on Iran, hinted this week that if the air force and IDF had the capability for destroying the underground nuclear facilities at Fordo, they could also destroy the Hamas underground command center.

When Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu saw Wednesday that the cross diplomacy in Cairo had little chance of gong anywhere, he ordered a call-up of 8,000 military reservists in anticipation of the week ahead. The IDF spokesman said: The forces are prepared for ground action. After the Hamas tunnel terror bid was foiled Thursday, a ground operation was seen to be close, as the only effective measure against tunnel warfare.

Poor Obama, he just can’t get Iran to give up their Nuke


Not that many of us thought that Obama and Kerry were serious about stopping Iran from getting nukes but this is really ridiculous.  Extend the deadline because you are so far apart that you can’t even talk; obviously these clowns have never negotiated anything!

Re Post from Powerline by Paul Mirengoff Posted on July 16, 2014

The Iran nuclear negotiations — slow motion defeat for the U.S.

John Kerry reportedly is preparing to extend the deadline for negotiating a nuclear deal with Iran. Evidently, the two sides are too far apart to reach an agreement by the deadline date of Sunday, July 20. In fact, as Seth Mandel points out, they are sufficiently at loggerheads that they plan to stop talking before the deadline is reached.

Why are the two sides so far apart? Probably because Iran has no serious incentive to reach a deal.

America’s incentive to reach one is as strong as ever. Obama wants a piece of paper that he can tout as a foreign policy success. He also wants to preempt an Israeli attack against Iran by insisting that he has negotiated a satisfactory resolution. Israel is unlikely to put much faith in the piece of paper, but will be under immense pressure to “give peace a chance.”

By contrast, Iran’s incentive to reach a deal is now vastly diminished. The incentive that drove the mullahs to the bargaining table last year was the sanctions regime and its debilitating impact on the Iranian economy.

But thanks to the considerable relief President Obama granted Iran from sanctions last year, the Iranian economy has picked up substantially. Eli Lake reports that, according to a new study, Iran’s economy is now growing at a rate of about 2 percent per year. That’s a modest number, but a huge improvement over the 6.6 percent contraction of 2012-13.

The study estimates the value of Obama’s economic relief at $11 billion over the last six months. The value of the relief extends beyond the additional money Iran was permitted to obtain through oil sales and from the release of funds from global banks. According to Mark Dubowitz, author of the study, the de-escalation of sanctions has improved international sentiment towards the Iranian economy, thereby encouraging investors and bankers to risk doing business with Iran.

Dubowitz says that when these factors are taken into account, the overall value of the relaxed sanctions will likely exceed the $20 billion per year that he originally predicted.

With its economy recovering, Iran has little incentive to reach an agreement. In theory, Obama could try to revive the prior sanctions regime which, in theory, might reverse Iran’s economic recovery.

But Iran understands that (1) Obama is highly unlikely to walk away from the table, much less go back to square one with sanctions, since to do so would be to admit failure and (2) as we suggested at the time of the original deal, the old sanctions regime probably cannot be restored in any event given the need for international cooperation.

Thus it is not surprising that, in the words of a State Department official, “Iran has not moved from their—from our perspective—unworkable and inadequate positions that would not in fact assure us that their program is exclusively peaceful.” Why should they?

And so we’re left with the status quo, which is, by the State Department’s own admission “unworkable and inadequate.” As I said at the time the original deal was struck, “The mullahs got an easing of sanctions [and] retained their capacity to go nuclear in short order.”

Obama and Kerry blew it. Mandel concludes:

[They] had leverage: economic sanctions. They used up much of that leverage just to get the Iranians to the table, and now the Iranian leadership wants to run out the clock.

Thanks to the weakening of the sanctions, and the lack of stronger sanctions to begin with, they’re in a position to do so. And Kerry seems prepared to play along.