Ok, follow me, it may start slow and tedious but we'll get there...
Now, the Arab Spring has recently not only resulted in a temporary windfall of freedoms but also in the rise of Islamic populist self governance, which is just a nice flowery way of saying the genesis of the next incarnation of religio-bully government. This trend is sweeping select Middle East and north African countries... Yemen, Syria, Egypt and Libya to name just a few, but there are others that are just simmering, steaming under pressure, creeping up a fissure just under the surface (like Mount Saint Helens in the hours before its May 18, 1980, eruption). Al great deal of them are just spectating; waiting to see how it goes with their neighbors and friends, to see what WE and the rest of the world do, or fail to do.
This administration supported some of these revolutions, and I say REVOLUTIONS because they are just that, bloody and ugly conflicts of internal civil and governance matters and they are NOT psychdelic, flowery, Woodstock conventions of peaceful, hash smoking and around the May pole debates as the term Arab Spring implies. Some are being supported openly with military action, as well as/ or in lieu of military advisory and logistical support.
Specifically in Libya, Mr. Obama exhorted our NATO allies to take the lead in policing their Mediterranean neighbor to the south and then he obligated U.S. military forces to support the interventions under Presidential authority (which allows him to commit troops up to 90 days without having to have a Congressional vote of war or to enact hostilities)... My problem with this, as well as many others concerning Mr. Obama., is that HE also had diplomatic and military relations with the former Ghaddafi government routinely previous to and leading up to Mr. O's implied alliance with the Libyan rebels.. Therefore, legally speaking through precedent, "O" legitimized Ghadafi's regime, ignoring the "atrocities and civil rights abuses" that he and his Progressive cronies are NOW up in arms about in their zeal to sprinkle the Arab Spring fairy dust all over Washington.
Vexing me, and it eventually leads to the quirky title of this blog post and rant, as I take you on this jungle trail of thought (or maybe lack of thought, you decide), is this:
Flash back 2009: Why, Mr. Obama, if Moammar's regime was so evil and abusive that we have to spend millions of dollars a day to have an American aircraft carrier BATTLE GROUP on station in the operational area, either striking Ghadafi loyalist targets in Libya or flying a CAP and having patrols armed and ready to strike... why did you authorize the sale of tens of billions of dollars worth of weapons and military logistical items, items that were previously RESTRICTED to those nations? Billions with a B, to Middle Eastern and other nations, two of the beneificiary of that sale being Libya and Egypt...
What was included in those sales? I'll tell you what, let's explore that:
MANPORTABLE SURFACE TO AIR MISSILES, yep! Which by the way is a main ingredient of the Islamic fundamental terrorist and anarchist cookbook. The same type of class of missiles that are being used to effectiveness against American troop helicopters in Afghanistan (except those are OLDER less technological versions than these newer ones). Oh and THANK GOD, our administration wasn't at least STUPID enough to sell them the best, Stinger technology, that our troops currently carry as portable light anti-air defense. But they did sell them something that is still very VERY effective against unsuspecting CIVILIAN helicopters, light planes and commercical airliners... These "Red-Eye" anti-aircraft missiles use infra-red and passive heat seeking to find and damage or destroy air targets.
OK, now that you understand the capability, let explore the quantity shall we? How about wrapping your head around this ---> WELL OVER 30,000 units to Libya alone... Are you picking up what I'm laying down so far? Good. Now this was less than two years ago in 2009. Sorry Nancy Pelosi and Barbara Boxer and the rest of the San Francisco Democrats in other states, you can't blame this one on George Bush! Therein the foundation of my outrage has been laid.
Ok, flash forward, 2011:
Queue the lights, cameras, and ACTION! Enter Stage Right: Arab Spring... Remember how President Obama encouraged the European allies along with our military aircraft to strike at Ghadafi loyalists? Yes, right? Good. Now, what constitutes a Ghadafi loyalist? Apparenty, you were wearing an actual uniform of the Libyan military... Soooo, we attacked their bases and depots... Guess what's in ammunition depots and who usually guards ammunition depots? If you guessed Ammunition and ordnance and guarded by soldiers in the uniform of their country you are smarter than a 1st grader! Now, if you were a soldier, wearing a uniform of your country's military and guarding a target would you stick around that imminent catastrosphe? HELL NO, not if you are a Libyan soldier! Soooo, the unguarded ammunition depots were looted and now there is a CONSERVATIVE estimate that OVER 20,000 shoulder-fired anti-aircraft missiles are missing and that they could be sold to Al Quaeda and used against soft targets such as civilian airliners, small planes and helicopters...
Ok here's where my head spins like Linda Blair in the Exorcist... Upon this being discovered and reported to the media the the twin towers of the California Democratic brain trust, Boxer and Pelosi, want to supply and equip civilian airliners with the same technology that US military planes use to defeat these types of anti-aircraft missiles AT GOVERNMENT EXPENSE to the starting estimate of over $6 BILLION... And knowing that nothing involving the government ever meets the estimate, nor is it ontime, nor it is ever well thought out when its reactionary to cover up and quell further discussion on how we arrived at this dilemma... My favorite quote of this whole debacle is the one about why we sold all this restricted hardware to all these countries that are not exactly on the A list of America's Super Friends:
"If you cut off arms sales, a client would go straight to U.S. competitors like Russia or China," he said, adding that "American monitoring of private defense sales is more systematic than most other nations."
Matthew Schroeder, an arms expert with the Federation of American Scientists.
Really?! The Democrats are like the Private First Class who just got his first checking account and thinks, "I GOT CHECKS I GOT MONEY..." Except that they go a step further with, "Well we got checks, we can PRINT MORE MONEY TOO!"
I give up trying to figure them out, I am typing this closing with only the aid of my medulla oblongata and nerve spasms to my fingers because my brain melted and that is the only thing keeping me breathing and going at this point. These Progressives are just clueless. Really??!! Yeah, really! Good morning, good evening and good night.
http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2011/03/11/us_arms_sales
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/44685978/ns/world_news-mideast_n_africa/
