Tag Archives: syria

10/11/19

The Best Exit Strategies Entail An Actual Exit

The situation in Syria has been FUBAR (fucked up beyond all recognition) since its inception during the Obama admin when we armed parties whose primary merit was that they opposed the evil, cruel, murderous regime of Bashar al-Assad, a second generation murderer who has used poison gas against his own people.

This is the “the enemy of my enemy is my friend, even if they are a little suspect” theory of foreign relations. This is the kind of thinking you get when the leadership has slept through history class and made “D’s” in summer school when they had to take it a second time.

This clown on the right, with the ringmaster from Russia (ever notice what a little shit Putin is), is Bahar al-Assad, who is an eye doctor educated in England. Couple of first rate assholes. [Pardon my profanity.]

You may recall that President Obama courageously “red-lined” Bashar, threatened to retaliate against him if he used chemical weapons. Then President Obama, famously, punked out and did nothing, thereby emboldening Bashar.

Shit, shit, shit, shit. Pardon me. I hate stupid. I hate bullshitters. Shit. I hate poseurs as much as I hate fakirs. Sorry, I’m over it now.

President Trump came into office and did the same thing — threatened Bashar with massive retaliation if he used chemical weapons. President Trump, however, kept his promised threat and struck Syria twice — the first time knocking out an airfield and twenty percent of Syria’s air force, and the second time destroying the headquarters and infrastructure of the Syrian chemical effort.

Well played, President Trump. I like a guy who keeps his promises.

This settled things down a little in Syria. But, we are no longer in the regime change mode.

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12/24/18

Generals v Politicians

Big Red Car here on a sunny Christmas Eve awaiting Christmas and the Prince of Peace which brings me to the subject of generals, politicians, and wars.

As a soldier (combat engineer officer), I spent a lot of time around generals. As a class of the species, they represent the top 0.1% of any year group of officers. The road to the top is a meritocracy and a very tough one. [Sure, there are some political generals, but as a general assessment they are the best of the best — if they remember to stay in their lane.]

Generals are at the top of their profession which is to wage war against the enemies of the United States and WIN.

Trump: Mattis out as of Jan. 1; deputy to be acting chief

Resigned Secretary of Defense James N Mattis, former USMC General.

The part about winning is an essential element in the General business.

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04/8/17

Sarin and Chemical Warfare

Big Red Car here with a belly full of tacos from Taco Deli — where one goes to get breakfast tacos on a Saturday morning in the ATX. Hard to make the transition to sarin, but here goes.

So, the Syrian butcher, Bashar al Assad used sarin gas against civilians and killed men, women, and children — babies. He is a ruthless, heartless butcher who makes war against civilians and has now killed 500,000 of his countrymen as well as displacing 6,000,000 persons internally and 5,000,000 refugees.

He is a bastard and he is the manifestation of evil on earth. How does the world tolerate such a butcher?

He is allied with Russia, Iran, and Hezbollah. The Chinese have spoken out in his favor, also.

When he used sarin previously, President Obama threatened him with retaliation — the Red Line Threat. Of course, when it became apparent he used it again, in 2013, President Obama went to the US Congress pretending to seek authority to retaliate.

President Obama did nothing and from that nothingness the sarin attack of last week was born. Look at the picture below and know these babies are dead because of the ineffectiveness, incompetence, and fecklessness of President Obama.

Chemical gas victims

April 4, 2017: Abdul-Hamid Alyousef, 29, holds his twin babies who were killed during a suspected chemical weapons attack, in Khan Sheikhoun in the northern province of Idlib, Syria. [Chicago Tribune picture]

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04/7/17

Syria — Messaging and Collateral Damage

Big Red Car here pondering the fallout from America’s fifty-nine Tomahawk cruise missile strike against the Syrian airbase from which Bashar al Assad launched the airborne Sarin gas attack against his people earlier this week. President Trump took it out without telegraphing the punch and without talking it to death. Ahh, that’s refreshing, no? Syria!

Last night at 8:30 EDT, the Trump administration gave the world an insight into how this President will conduct the affairs of America’s foreign policy.

Trump speech

This guy is now in charge. He is a guy who favors action over words. New foreign policy. New military awareness. New outcomes?

Today, the world will be sorting out the message delivered. The Big Red Car will help y’all with that.

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10/16/15

Syria — Putin’s Coming Out Party Part Two

Big Red Car here on a glorious Friday — sunny, clear, crisp but going to warm up this afternoon just the way we like it in the ATX.

So, Vlad the Pute is turning the Russian military loose in Syria to strut its stuff. Keep your eye on this development as it will be a huge change in the future of the Middle East. No conjecture here — this will be huge. Count on it.

The Russian military has historically been held in very low esteem by professional observers. It was once a brute force that overwhelmed its enemies (most famously in World War II) with sheer numbers and material rather than expertise, strategy, and tactics. It was always thought of as being a little technologically backward particularly when compared with the Americans and NATO. Continue reading →

09/8/15

Syria’s Civil War — a Monumental American Foreign Policy Cockup

Big Red Car here. It is the day after Labor Day and the Big Red Car turns serious for a few minutes.

In the hysteria of The Donald’s hair and Presidential aspirations, Hillary’s dissembling about all matters pertaining to her decision to use an unsecured email server, and the surfeit of hot dogs — you may have missed that the Middle East is aflame and that the fires are burning particularly hot in Syria which enters its fourth year of blood in the streets. Continue reading →

09/23/14

Bombing Syrian ISIS Targets

Big Red Car here in a cloudy ATX. Going to be sunny and mid-80s today. Just need an hour or so to burn it all off. Ahhh, the best time of year in the ATX.

So we’ve begun to bomb ISIS targets in Syria. A good move and hats off to the President for pulling the trigger so to speak. Continue reading →