Saturday, April 14, 2018

The FreeThinke Owlette

TODAY at the DRUDGE REPORT









TODAY at LUCIANNE.COM

Allies Hit Three Facilities to Degrade Syria's 
Chemical Weapons Program 
(Washington Examiner) 

Huge Explosions’ in Damascus as AIRSTRIKES Fall on Syria After Donald Trump’s Announcement 
Daily Express [UK]



WHADDAYATHINK?

FreeThinke
Comments to This Post are Now Closed

110 comments:

  1. Do you agree with Rachel Maddow in thinking Mr. Trump is involving us in yet-another pointless, unwinnable war simply to DISTRACT from the trouble in which the LEFT has firly planted him?

    If you believe Rachel could be right, how does it affect your opinion of his presidency?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Wag the Dog Revisited?

      I remember very well that Conservative-Libertarians averred the same thing in response to Bill Cintin's decision to bomb Kosovo when he was up to his armpits n the foetid embrassment of the Moronica Lewinsky scandal and facing impeachment proceedings.

      Could Rachel have a point, or is she merely playing an all-too-predictable game of tit for tat?

      I also remember Darlin' DUBYA'S ill-advsied, ill-fated decision to invade Iraq to effect "Regime Change."

      Obama's apparent reticence to get involved in any more meddlesome military adventures in the Middle East led to disaster in Egypt and a horiffic bloodbath in Libya, because of the infinite wisdom of Hillary Clinton's guidance as Secretary of State and John Kerry's smilarly enlightened policies after Hillary's departure.

      I remember too –– ALL TOO WELL –– President Eisenhower's warning against the fearsome, ever-expanding power of the Military-Industral Complex, don't you?

      So, what IS happening to us right now?

      Is President Trump REALLY in charge, or are we once again –– as we appear to have been since JFK-LBJ got us into the tragic, wasteful disaster of Vietnam –– once again operating under the dictates of the ruthless, heartless, amorally acquisitive DICTATES of the Military-Industrial Complex –– an GLOBALIST coaltion of International Bankers, Industralists, and Suppliers of Raw Materials –– all FROFITEERS –– with allegiance to no entity other than ITSELF?

      IF so, who then is REALLY to blame?

      Delete
    2. Sure its wag the dog. It's been a US Presidential tradition for decades.

      I'm disappointed though. I knew he'd start bombing, its the American way, but I thought he would fire Mueller, Rosenstein and Mr Maggoo amid the hubbub.

      Delete
    3. Try to remember President Trump is very smart –– and very cagey. Certainly Nobody's Fool.

      That's why they hate him, and why they are so desperate to get rid of him at any cost by by any means fair or foul.

      I do wish he'd gotten rid of Weak Sister Sessions though. Should have dine that the moment nutless, gutless Sessions "recused" himself from the Russia Witch Hunt.

      Delete
  2. No, I don't agree with Maddow on this one. Because it involved the British and French, and they would not just do Trump's bidding without justification. This sounds like he listened to Mattis and did a justifiable attack on known chemical weapon manufacturing and dispersal facilities. It was a well planned and strategically sound attack, IMO. Maddow is usually correct, but not always. This time, I feel, she got it wrong.

    In the end, though, I don't feel it will deter anyone. Already, the chance that Assad would use more chemial weapons was small, given that, with the fall of Douma, he now controls virtually all of the major population centers in Syria. He'd have no more reason to use chemical weapons until or if the rebels retake major population centers. Using chemical weaponry in sparsely populated areas is pointless (also expensive) so the barely populated eastern provinces of Syria (where our troops are located) are not a candidate for assault by chemical weapons.

    The real question is: What, if anything, does this do to Russia and it's continued buttressing of Assad and his thugs?

    I don't put much past Trump, in all honesty, but in this I think he was correct in his actions.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Johnny Tremaine said

      Hey! Anonymous didn't write this I did.

      Oh well, I suppose imitation is the sincrest form of flattery, and it's not as if I was getting paid or anything but it is plagiarism any way you slice it.

      JERKS!

      Delete
  3. I believe that the gas attack was faked. Syria was winning the war. Why invite an American attack, just as they were planning to abandon the area? It doesn't make logical sense.

    It was a wag the dog, but NOT by President Trump. This is what the Palestinians have always done, create propaganda. I think we should arm the Kurds and Peshmerga, and get the 'f out.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. If, as you say, the attack was in fact a FAKE, why then were the British and the French involved in a coalistion with US?

      Or do you believe that that too is a lie?

      ALSO:

      Dare i ask it? –– don't you believe that sainted ISRAEL TOO is as capable as anyone else of generating self-serving propaganda?

      I DO! ];^}>



      Delete
    2. The British & French are in because GAS was WWI. It's like the nuclear issue is to Japanese. Sacred.

      And they'll willing to be misled. They LOVE being mislead and embrace it, like the Palestinian cause, with arms wide open.

      Yes, Israel, could have a hand in it. But the main culprits are likely Sunni, but non-Brotherhood types, like Saudi Arabia affiliated with al Qaeda.

      Delete
    3. The only actors I would 'actively' support are the Kurds.

      Delete
    4. Joe,
      The British & French are in because GAS was WWI. It's like the nuclear issue is to Japanese. Sacred.

      And they'll willing to be misled.


      Yep.

      **sigh**

      Delete
    5. Everythng in me bridles at the very idea of accepting such a cynical, hard-bitten interpretation of current events in the Middle East.

      It's too remiscent of the dispiriting sourness and bitterness inherent in Modern-post-Modern "French Thought," which next to the depredations of Bolshevism and its more insidiously evil sibling Cultural Marxism has done more to foster despondency and sloth among the once-great Western Powers than anything since The Crusades, the Religious Wars, the Persecution of the Inquisitim and the Black Death.

      Delete
  4. Unknown said

    Unwise, unnecessary. Russia has stated that there would be repercussions, and we have multiple locations where are forces are within Syria. That's the tactical response, for strategic, Russia could just decide to turn off the gas & electric spigot to Europe for a few days.

    All this for what?

    ~ The Cynical Eye

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. AN EXCELLENT QUESTION! WHY DON'T YOU ANSWER IT, YOURSELF?

      Delete
  5. BUNKERVILLE stated a AOW, who has posted today on the same topic as we:

    I" am more concerned as to if Assad was the one that used the chemicals. It makes little sense since this followed on the heels of Trump stating we were on our way out.

    "Have we forgotten about Iraq and their WMD's. After this nonsense with the FBI and CIA can we trust anything they say?"

    ReplyDelete
  6. The Town Crier said

    Mattis: Syria Strikes a ‘One-Time Shot,’ Further Operations Will Depend on Assad

    BREITBART NEWS

    by KRISTINA WONG

    Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said that whether the United States will launch further attacks against the Syrian regime will depend on whether Syrian President Bashar al-Assad uses chemical weapons again.

    “That will depend on Mr. Assad,” Mattis said at a Pentagon briefing Friday night, when asked whether there would be more military operations, following U.S., French, and British strikes against Syrian chemical weapons facilities.

    “Right now, this is a one-time shot. We believe it has sent a strong message to deter him from doing this again,” he told reporters. “Right now we have no additional attacks planned.”

    Briefing alongside Mattis, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Marine Gen. Joseph Dunford said Friday night’s strikes differed from those Trump ordered a year ago, after the Syrian regime conducted a chemical weapons attack in the Syrian town of Khan Sheikhoun.

    While last year’s strikes were done unilaterally, and hit one target — a Syrian regime airfield that housed about 17 percent of its air force – Dunford said Friday’s strikes were conducted with two allies on multiple sites and would “result in a long-term degradation of Syria’s capability to develop chemical weapons.”

    “Important infrastructure was destroyed. They will lose years of research and development data, specialized equipment, and expensive chemical weapons precursors,” he said.

    “The strike was not only a strong message that their actions were inexcusable, but it has inflicted damage without unnecessary risk to innocent civilians,” he added. ...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Shistolpot said

      Do we know how many of our missiles got through and whether they hit the targets?

      Delete
    2. Dame Harlotte Asquith said

      Sounds like there is a reasonable amount of evidence that Assad indeed used internationally banned chemical weapons. Given the location inside Syria, it´s unlikely to get definitive proof. What we know will have to do.

      In response, we have a unified strike effort of three major NATO allies. It was precision targeted at the chemical weapon facilities. It was a much stronger attack than last year. It is a proportional response.

      In spite of Putin´s blustering, it seems he was unable to deter the attack. This is typical of the bullies in this part of the world. They puff up and threaten but utterly collapse when actually confronted. If Putin wants to preserve some of his image, he better shut up and play nice.

      If the thugs in the world think Trump is too distracted by the silliness in Washington to pay attention to world affairs, they just got their wakeup call.

      In addition, the media is turning green as they report on this. It is an international story so they cannot ignore it. The facts are pretty clear so it´s hard to distort. It is an atrocity so it´s hard to soft sell it. And Trump took correct, reasoned, joint, forceful, and successful action and they have to (gulp) credit him for it. Their words must be ashes in their mouths. The nice and new and ´smart´ missiles did their job.

      The timing is also exquisite. While Comey and Brennan and others are being foisted on us claiming Trump has no business being president, real events show us the truth and expose these self serving and corrupt clowns as the venal actors they are.

      Once again, despite the media´s best efforts, the public is left with the image of a President that is doing his job very, very well. One might say "Presidentially".

      Delete
    3. Robinda Hoode saod

      your kidding right, Harlotte? there's reasonable amount of evidence that Syria and Assad had nothing to do with it and it was not an attack on us and it´s not our job to police the world. lying globalist hack warmongers.

      Trump lost a lot of support today..

      Delete
    4. We only know what the enemedia chooses to tells us, Shistolpot.

      I'm sure you'll sleep a whole lot better now that you know that, right?

      ];^}>

      Delete
  7. Torky's Mater said

    Why not just

    A
    S
    S
    A
    S
    S
    I
    N
    A
    T
    E

    ASSAD?


    Who care's if it's ILLEGAL if it would be EFFECTIVE in stopping the horror show?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It's usally better to deal with The Devil You Know, Torky than with a cmplete unknown.

      Delete
    2. IMO, assassinating Assad would ignite a nuclear war.

      Delete
    3. I can't imagine ANYONE being as stupid as THAT, AOW –– except the ISLAMANIACS, of course. It's hard to beieve the Syrians, thenselves, wouldn't feel tremendously relieved to be rid of him IF he's as bad as our warmongering class has him made out to be.

      I honestly don't know WHAT to believe anymore. We've been lied to and misled so often by the ENTRENCHED Power Structure [Globalist-Enemedia-Academi- Internatonal Banking-Super-Rich Megalomaniacs Complex] it's impossible to wrap our heads around ANYTHING those dirty bastards dish up.

      Delete
    4. FT,
      Like you, I don't know what to believe. Lies everywhere so much of the time.

      Delete
    5. LIES are the CURRENCYLof the LEFT. Mendacity is Meat and Drink to Leftists.

      Christianity ––– as a TEMPORAL, POLITICAL entity ––– has much to
      answer for, but the Decalogue, the Sernon on the Mount and much of the writings of St. Paul contain the Seeds of Salvation for anyone with ears to hear them in their purest form –– untainted by the cynical, convoluted "interpretations" imposed on them by anti-Christian "intellectals" whose main purpose seems to have been to make simple things appear obscure, unduly complex, and filled with hidden meanings apt to cause one to lose one's sanity if taken seriously


      "Strait is the Gate, and Narrow is the Way ..."

      Delete
  8. The human rights, support BLM and PETA liberals are OK with a dictator murdering thousands of their own people as long as we have DACA all is right with the world. Unlike obama the great, djt actually did something with the line in the sand and had support from other countries.
    Madcow would not approve of anything Trump did even if he came up with a cure for cancer.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. AMEN! and THANK YOU!

      Good to see you, Skud. Been too long a time.

      Delete
  9. CAUGHT ON ANOTHER WEBSITE and WORTH REPEATING:

    If the criteria for bombing is that an evil despot attacks innocent civilians in his own country to "send a clear message" because the world doesn´t stand for it, why have we not done EXACTLY the same thing to China, North Korea, Turkey, Venezuela and just about every country in North Africa?

    We have more evidence of despots murdering their own citizens in the listed countries than we have Assad murdering his.

    Also, are we now going to accept the absolute, proven-to-be LIES from Obama, the MEDIA, Kerry, Hillary, McCain, McConnell, Graham, the CIA, the NSA and of course the Marxists regarding there being ZERO, ZERO, ZERO chemical weapons in Syria since 2014?

    Is that the new diplomacy; we just fool ourselves and make ourselves UN-hear lies while we now claim we have "proof" Assad used chemical weapons? Sorry, but I refuse and choose not to be that utterly stupid and it´s NOT a petty argument and it DOES matter.

    Obama put over 1500 troops on the ground in Syria yet not a peep from Republicans about Obama´s LIE that he would NOT have American troops on the ground in Syria.

    Ib>I don´t care a RAT'S REAR END about ragheads and what they do to each other. The Europe, Turkey and the deep state approved regime that replaces Assad and who allows the gas pipeline to go through Syria WILL DO THE EXACT SAME THING TO those who now support Assad.


    YOU have not had to deal directly with Islamic people. I have. They kill each other for idiotic reasons. Our missiles "sending Assad a message" will NEVER stop them. They don´t "get" messages, ever.

    If EIGHTEEN years in Iraq and Afghanistan doesn´t make that clear, then move to Rio Linda where you belong.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Heinrich von Wittgenstein said

      That's about the most eloquent case against interventionism I've ever read. Why not feature it as your next blog post?

      Delete
    2. A good suggestion, Heinrich. I may do just that.

      Thank you for your thoughtfulness.

      Delete
  10. Thomas Clarence Stenchover sad


    WOW --- bombing with missiles --- a friend and ally of Russia. huh.

    I wonder how much more Trump would diss Putin if he really wasn´t in Putin´s pocket and being blackmailed by him. Use atomic bombs??

    And how does Putin feel now about getting Trump elected?? Some payback.

    This just highlights the stupidity of the Left and shows beyond doubt that the Mueller travesty is, in fact, a witch hunt only meant to destroy Trump and hamper his/our agenda.

    Lastly, #6 and others, it´s my understanding that the whole world condemns gassing people as it is so unfair and the victims can´t "get out of the way". Basically everything that is living gets killed --- whether innocent or guilty --- including soldiers, civilians, babies, old people, dogs, cats, bugs, mice, birds, fish, many plants and trees, etc. Truly anything that breathes. It is much like real hunters condemning and ostracizing someone who shoots "a sitting duck" swimming on a lake instead of one on the wing. It´s just too easy and the duck doesn´t have a ghost of a chance. That´s where the phrase comes from.

    And, of course, all the munition makers who sell guns & ammo don´t get a cut of the action because they don´t make gas. There´s that.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The caustic charm of your sarcasm was not lost on me, Thomas.

      };^)>

      Delete
  11. Drudge Link: "Trump Echoes Bush"

    Meet the new boss! Same as the old boss!

    S2D2 = Same Shit, Different Day

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It might look like that right now, but Mr. Trump is HELLUVALOT smarter than Doofus Dubya who with his Dear Old Dad was a closet Internationalist all along.

      The Bushes, the Clintons, and the Obamas were all working for the same anti-American, Globalist team. That became nakedly apparent in the last election cycle to all who were not deaf, dumb and blind.

      Delete


    2. I believe DONALD TRUMP worked unbelievably hard to get himself elected to do everything he could to SAVE us from being engulfed and devoured by the Davos Men, the CFR, the BILDERBERGERS, the BOHEMUN GROVE, SKULL & BONES and all the rest of that rotten, high and mighty corps of egomaniacal elitists who seem o believe they have an inherent right to become Masters of the Universe.

      Delete
    3. FT, I agree with you, but I'm struggling to see how Hillary would have done anything differently.

      We are still in Afghanistan.

      Delete
  12. This beautiful piece of musical satire got lost in the noise, and it must be recognized and appreciated.

    Ducky (to the tune of "Wendy")

    Composed and adapted by FreeThinke

    Who's peepin' out from under a keyboard
    Calling out names that blacken the air
    Who's mouthing' off producin' more blather
    Everyone knows it's Ducky

    Who's skulking in the streets of the city
    Scowlin' at everybody he sees
    Who's workin' hard to spoil a good moment
    Everyone knows it's Ducky

    And Ducky has stormy eyes
    That flash as he's telling lies
    And Ducky pulls wings off flies
    In front of crowds (in front of crowds)
    In front of crowds (in front of crowds)

    And Ducky has stormy eyes
    That flash when he's telling lies
    And Ducky pulls wings off flies
    In front of crowds (in front of crowds)
    In front of crowds (in front of crowds)

    Who's skulkin' in the streets of the city
    Scowlin' at every thing that he sees
    Who's reachin' out to rupture a rapture
    Everyone knows it's Ducky

    Repeat ad nauseam

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. If you/re determuned to quote me, please do it properly.

      MY version never said "DUCKY," i said :BLAH BLAH," instead because this particular "shoe" fis more than one "foot."

      Delete
    2. But thank you for the recognition of "merit" in my attempts to instruct and amuse simultaneously –– I think.

      Such recognition is exceedngly rare in these here parts.

      Delete
    3. We deplore smarmy, fulsome praise even more than we do outright castigation.

      Also people who attempt to walk on both sides of the road simultaneously arouse only our deepest suspicions.

      ];^}>

      Delete
    4. Terdella KrappenshittsApril 14, 2018 at 10:37 PM

      That song has Ducky written all over it. Bravo, FreeThinke!

      Delete
    5. Possibly, but I had a WIDE VARIETY of Leftist Trolls in mind when it came to me.

      Delete
  13. Dapper Diaper Dan Magrue said

    The Importance of Striking Syria´s Scientific Studies and Research Center

    PJ Media, by Claudia Rosett

    With air strikes on Syria´s chemical weapons facilities, carried out jointly with Britain and France, America has done the right thing. Leading from in front, President Trump is finally redrawing the red line that President Obama erased in 2013. Whatever the threats and criticisms that will surely follow, the world will be safer for it. The vital message is that America is no longer the hamstrung giant of the Obama era. Tyrants such as Syria´s Bashar al-Assad, and his patrons in Moscow and Tehran, have been served notice that it would be unwise to continue to assume that America will waffle, . . .

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Dripping Tallow Candles said

      This is an excellent article, I wonder if any of the lazy, stupid Enemedia "journalists" have any clue about this, or (especially because it is Trump) will even consider reporting on this, let alone actually doing it in a major news outlet?

      If you only get news from the Enemedia sources, you are misinformed, uninformed and disinformed. Thank goodness for alternative sources like PJ Media and many others.

      Delete
  14. The Thyrd Man said

    This is what happens when you cross red lines and Barry Soetoro is not the POTUS.

    This is why Kim Jong Un has decided he wants to talk. Even that lunatic has more sense than Assad.

    People who watch blacks kill each other by the dozens in Chicago every month and only shake their heads get upset when we go after a real monster should be horsewhipped.

    Mattis should not have made this comment. Assad needs to be watching the sky and looking over his shoulder every minute of every day.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Could be.

      Maybe "Mad Dog" Mattis is more "moderate" than we'd been led to believe? It's starting to look that way.

      If it had been up to me, I would have made sure we destroyed ALL of Assad's afsenal, capacity to produce not only CHEMICAL weapons, but ALL kinds of weapons, AND I would have destroyed his AIR FORCE, and his INFRASTRUCTURE all in one fell swoop, –– OR –– I would NOT have bombed Syria at ALL.

      Delete
  15. Mario Tedesca Mefistofelius said

    The al-Quaeda franchise near Damascus has their own Chlorine and nerve gas available. They are capable of using it on their own people to pull US back in. Putin tells us this attack was staged by the anti-Assad Islamists themselves. When we are rid of Assad what will we have? Libya.

    We should get along with Russia, a Christian country. Russia won the Syrian civil war for the anti-Islamist government that protects the few Syrian Christians left. By rights of war we should let them keep Syria just as we have let them keep the Crimea and Donbass victories. If Israel feels very strongly about it they should do their own policing themselves. The USA should get out of Syria, as promised.

    ReplyDelete
  16. The Town Crier said


    Nikki Haley: US ´locked and loaded´
    if Assad Uses Gas Again


    Washington Examiner, by Joel Gehrke

    President Trump is determined to authorize additional airstrikes against Syrian President Bashar Assad’s regime if Assad’s forces continue to use chemical weapons, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley declared Saturday. “I spoke to the president this morning and he said if the Syrian regime uses this poisonous gas again, the United States is locked and loaded,” Haley said during a U.S. Security Council meeting Saturday morning. “When our president draws a red line, our president enforces the red line.” Haley offered that warning in defiance of Russian complaints that the Friday night attack — a joint strike by . . .

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

      Delete
    2. Sorry, Vinnie, but we discourage the use of GRATUITOUS vulgarity.

      Delete
  17. ADRIENNE WROTE at HER BLOG:

    Missiles Over Syria... Good or Bad?

    It appears people are either violently opposed or just as violently in favor of lobbing expensive hardware all over Syria.

    I'm really neutral on this latest sucking up the air time event. There is a whole bunch of stuff I don't know - either about foreign policy, Syria, Assad, or what intel our military has in their possession.

    In view of the above, I'll just sit back and see what develops.

    Feel free to convince me otherwise - and thank you in advance.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. A RESPONSE from "SANE PERSON" who sounds a lot like ou friend KID:

      Much we don't know, which includes Laura Ingraham and the nutcase Jones. For me, I don't have a problem with it if Mattis and the UK and France was good with it. At our level, we have no knowledge of the important info.

      A comment I left over at Geez -

      Here’s all I got.

      – I think stomping cockroaches in the ME is a terrible waste of American life and limb. They don’t care that those people got killed, the dead are martyrs now. It’s a positive for them. Plus the cockroaches are easily replaced. Unless we’re going to kill all 3.5 billion then no, let’s stay out unless they do something we have to nuke them for.

      – If we’re focused on killing every ISIS person then yes. After investing 800 billion a year in the military, I don’t want to read about 12 yr old girls being stripped and nailed to wooden crosses to die or 5 yr old boys tossed into a metal cage and burned alive. If it’s just the shiites and sunnis and wahhabists killing each other then I really don’t care. Hell, let’s send them some good weapons so they can do it faster.

      – Given ‘syrian rebels’ are al querda (9-11-2001), we should be killing them and not the assad boys as a higher level interest.

      – Every time we take out a dictatort idiot like Assad, things get worse.

      – I think there is some element to standing up to Russia.

      – I think, given McCain and Graham’s voices who are heavily paid by the military industrial complex (weapons makers) – that profit fits in here somewhere.

      – There may be a larger strategic interest in play here. Then again, for the life of me I can’t understand any good reason for us being in Afghanistan and no one of the last 14 years has presented one.

      With Syria being the last bit of land along side Israel that isn’t populated with Israeli killing obsessed nutcases, Israel’s interests might be part of the reason.

      – I have to say it – what is the difference in gasing, bombing, or shooting kids ? I don’t see much of a difference honestly, other than chemical weapons gives a clear reason for coalitions to go kick some regardless of anything someone like Putin has to say. I wouldn’t mind us getting along with Russia, but as long as they support NKorea, Iran, and Syria, I’m opposed. Plus all the Russian people hate America, more the US government than citizen but still.

      Delete
    2. Annette Silberstein said

      THAT is far and away THE best comment on this whole thread.

      Way to go, Sane Person or Kid whoever you are.

      Delete
    3. I AGREE, ANNETTE! Kid is one our greatest underutilized resources. VERY bright guy –– and totally unpretentious.

      Thanks for your input

      Delete
    4. BTW, Trump has been getting a lot of heat for giving advance warning on the missiles.
      I think we gave advance warning so Russia could get any of their people out of the way, and also that assuming we had satellite coverage of Syria, we could recognize where people were running from - Oh look there's another target. :)

      Delete
    5. LINDA wrote THIS response to Adrienne:

      Since France and Great Britain did the same, there must have been evidence.

      I am just glad the Soviets didn't retaliate as they said they would.

      Delete
  18. Alton Rechtig Steinherzberger III said

    The al-Quaeda franchise near Damascus has their own Chlorine and nerve gas available. They are capable of using it on their own people to pull US back in. Putin tells us this attack was staged by the anti-Assad Islamists themselves. When we are rid of Assad what will we have? Libya.

    We should get along with Russia, a Christian country. Russia won the Syrian civil war for the anti-Islamist government that protects the few Syrian Christians left. By rights of war we should let them keep Syria just as we have let them keep the Crimea and Donbass victories. If Israel feels very strongly about it they should do their own policing themselves. The USA should get out of Syria, as promised.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thomas Sinclair Alexander Winthrop the FirstApril 14, 2018 at 9:12 PM

      This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

      Delete
  19. Pentagon Releases Pictures And Videos
    Of Early Morning Strike On Syria


    Daily Caller, by Ryan Pickrell

    The Department of Defense has released photos and videos of the early morning on strike on Syria designed to cripple the regime’s ability to produce chemical weapons.Coalition forces consisting of American, British, and French naval and air assets launched a strike on three Syrian targets associated with the regime’s chemical warfare operations Saturday morning (local time) in response to a deadly attack on civilians in the suburbs of Damascus last weekend. More than 100 missiles launched from American Arleigh Burke-class destroyers, Ticonderoga-class cruisers, and Virginia-class submarines, American B-1B Lancers, a French frigate, French Rafale and Mirage fighters, and British Tornado and ~ ~ ~

    ReplyDelete
  20. Calvin Krumm of Cucamonga said

    ‘Mission Accomplished’ in Syria, Trump declares on Twitter

    Associated Press,

    by Robert Burns and Jill Colvin

    Washington - Allied missiles struck at the heart of Syrian chemical weapons arsenal in a show of force and resolve aimed at punishing the Assad government for a suspected poison gas attack against civilians and deterring the possible future use of such banned weapons. “A perfectly executed strike,” President Donald Trump tweeted Saturday in the aftermath of his second decision in two years to fire missiles against Syria. “Could not have had a better result. Mission Accomplished!” His choice of words recalled a similar claim associated with President George W. Bush following the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq. Bush addressed sailors ///

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Flaxie Eglantine said

      Trump won because he won't lie down and take it from the enemedia if they try to make hay of the mission accomplished statement like Bush did.

      Delete
  21. Senorita Jalapena Calderone Velasquez said

    Obama and Other Senior Democrats DON´T Blame Me for Losing the Election by Reopening Hillary Email Probe, Says ex-FBI Director Comey

    Daily Mail (UK), by Rory Tingle

    Barack Obama and other senior Democrats do not blame James Comey for Hillary Clinton´s devastating election loss, the former FBI Director has claimed in his new tell-all book. In ´A Higher Loyalty´, Comey recounts sitting down with Obama in the Oval Office following Clinton´s loss to Donald Trump, which some put down to his decision to reopen the probe into her emails only to close it days later. Comey claims Obama choose to praise him rather than issue a reprimand, saying: ´I picked you to be FBI director because of your integrity and your ability. * * *

    ReplyDelete

  22. The United States and its allies waged up to 120 air strikes on Syria!

    Well Done USA, RAF and Armée de l'Air Française

    Not like the Aspirin Factory we bombed in Libya, or the pharmaceutical plant destroyed by American. cruise missiles in Sudan
    that Bill Clinton had us bomb.

    ReplyDelete
  23. Here’s all I got. (A comment I left elsewhere)

    – I think stomping cockroaches in the ME is a terrible waste of American life and limb. They don’t care that those people got killed, the dead are martyrs now. It’s a positive for them. Plus the cockroaches are easily replaced. Unless we’re going to kill all 3.5 billion then no, let’s stay out unless they do something we have to nuke them for.

    – If we’re focused on killing every ISIS person then yes. After investing 800 billion a year in the military, I don’t want to read about 12 yr old girls being stripped and nailed to wooden crosses to die or 5 yr old boys tossed into a metal cage and burned alive. If it’s just the shiites and sunnis and wahhabists killing each other then I really don’t care. Hell, let’s send them some good weapons so they can do it faster.

    – Given ‘syrian rebels’ are al querda (9-11-2001), we should be killing them and not the assad boys as a higher level interest.

    – Every time we take a dictatortot like assad, things get worse.

    – I think there is some element to standing up to russia.

    – I think, given mccain and graham’s voices who are heavily paid by the military industrial complex (weapons makers) – that profit fits in here somewhere.

    – There may be a larger strategic interest in play here. Then again, for the life of me I can’t understand any good reason for us being in Afghanistan and no one of the last 14 years has presented one.

    With Syria being the last bit of land along side Israel that isn’t populated with Israeli killing obsessed nutcases, Israel’s interests might be part of the reason.

    – I have to say it – what is the difference in gasing, bombing, or shooting kids ? I don’t see much of a difference honestly, other than chemical weapons gives a clear reason for coalitions to go kick some regardless of anything someone like Putin has to say. I wouldn’t mind us getting along with Russia, but as long as they support NKorea, Iran, and Syria, I’m opposed. Plus all the Russian people hate America, more the US government than citizen but still.

    ReplyDelete
  24. Just read the comments...

    Thank you so much FT and Annette !

    Kid and Sane_Person37 are one in the same.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You're more than welcome, Kid, and thank you for being so generous with letting others use your words.

      I just wish you'd post here directly more often.

      Delete
    2. I just happened on the other sites first.

      Delete
    3. We'd just like to see more of you here. That's all, Kid.

      Delete
  25. So,I guess that rather than support the ENTIRE COUNTRY and our TROOPS during a time of war against a mass murdering madman using chemical weapons against CHILDREN you Liberals/Progressives, start spewing your Trump hatred nonsense. Because I guess that you just don't know any better?

    Whose side are YOU on? Iran? Russia? Assad

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. To WHOM were you addressing that broadside, TRDM?

      I can't see how it could apply to anyone here.

      Delete
  26. I just realized the actual # is 1.5 billion... :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh what's a billion or two more or less, Kid? There's too darned many of them any way you slice it.

      };^D>

      Delete
  27. Last night, Robert Spencer posted these questions:

    1. Is it certain that Assad’s regime really used the chemical weapons? There is so much manufacture of atrocities in that region, it cannot be taken for granted that he has, especially since there is no clear benefit to him in doing so.

    2. What is the endgame? The removal of Assad? No doubt Assad is a scoundrel, but what replaces him is likely to be worse.

    3. Is it certain that the strikes will actually reduce the production of chemical weapons and end their use?

    4. Every U.S. intervention in the Middle East has been disastrous, as they were based on false assumptions. Will this one be different?


    Those same matters have been on my mind all day long today.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. 3. Is it certain that the strikes will actually reduce the production of chemical weapons and end their use?

      As Franklin so wisely said:

      In this world nothing is certain but Death and Taxes.

      Delete
    2. 2. What is the endgame? The removal of Assad? No doubt Assad is a scoundrel, but what replaces him is likely to be worse.

      As i said earier –– I believe at your blog, AOW –– It's probably better to deal with "The Devil We Know" than with a complete Unknown.

      That's a good general Rule of Thumb.

      Delete
    3. 1. Is it certain that Assad’s regime really used the chemical weapons? There is so much manufacture of atrocities in that region, it cannot be taken for granted that he has, especially since there is no clear benefit to him in doing so

      Again I'd refer you to Death and Taxes, but also the obviousness of the inherent ROTTENNESS of the entire region –– at least by OUR standards, which, we HAVE to continue to believe are superior to theirs if we hope to ensure ur OWN survival.

      If a thing TRULY becomes an "Us or THEM" situation, I'd have hesitation about choosing US.

      Unfortunately LEFTIST "INTELLECTUALS" have been busily sowing Seeds of Doubt about that since long before we were born.


      LEFTISTS are the moral equivalent of TERMITES gnawing away at the foundation and superstructure of everything we held dear, and everything that made us the once-great nation we were not so long ago.

      The Left knows that FAITH, HOPE, CHARITY, and SELF-CONFIDENCE are the mortal enemes of MARXIAN DIALECTICS.

      Why else do you imagine LEFTISTS have been fanatical in their determination to debase, demean, downgrade, dismiss and destroy everything that's lovely, noble, pure, simple, innocent, clean, kind, hopeful, constructive, inspiring of virtue, manliness, generosity, refinement and beauty?

      Delete
    4. 4. Every U.S. intervention in the Middle East has been disastrous, as they were based on false assumptions. Will this one be different?

      Not if we keep using half-measures that only prolong the agony instead of bringing it to a CONCLUSIVE end.


      The Globalist Warmongering class, of course, befis HUGELY from ENDLESS WAR.

      Unless we deal with THEM, we'll NEVER get out from under.

      I've realized for quite sime times that we are fighting the WRONG enemies.

      Delete
  28. Up on Cripple Creek she sends me
    If I spring a leak she mends me
    I don't have to speak she defends me
    A drunkards dream if I ever did see

    ReplyDelete
  29. Want to fix it.....put about 20 rockets directly into Assads palace and roast him

    ReplyDelete
  30. Thomas Sinclair Alexander Winthrop the FirstApril 14, 2018 at 10:33 PM

    The USA has been deficient at fixing things in the Middle East. Regime change has proven to be a failure.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. TRUE, but only because we haven't been anywhere near STRONG and RUTHLESS enough in FOLLOWING THROUGH after deposing rotten rulers.

      I, personally, don't recommend that. I think we ought to let backward , stupid, barbaric peoples fight their OWN battles, and resolve their internal conflicts THEIR way.

      Our attempt to Play God, and remake the world to suit OUR ideas of good, bad, right and wrong, etc. has led us straight down the Garden Path to imminent ruin.

      I'm not 100% sure, but I think something th.e Jews call TIKKUN OLAM may be at the bottom of it.

      WIKI says:

      Tikkun olam literally means, "repair of the world", alternatively, "construction for eternity," It's a concept in Judaism, interpreted in Orthodox Judaism as the prospect of overcoming all forms of idolatry, and by other Jewish denominations as an aspiration to behave and act constructively and beneficially.

      Documented use of the term dates back to the Mishnaic period. Since medieval times, kabbalistic literature has broadened use of the term.


      In the modern era, among the post Haskalah Ashkenazi movements, tikkun olam is the idea that Jews bear responsibility not only for their own moral, spiritual, and material welfare, but also for the welfare of society at large.

      To the ears of contemporary pluralistic Rabbis, the term connotes "the establishment of Godly qualities throughout the world". ...

      It should be easy to see how quickly –– and inevitably –– that could get twisted to inspire a notion the "WE have not only a RIGHT but a GOD-MANDATED DUTY to remake the world in OUR image –– i.e. "WE were CHOSEN by GOD to RULE the WORLD."

      Please don't forget that the Torah (OId Testament) is filled to overflowing with vivid descriptions of brutal wars of Aggression, Conquest, Subjugation, Theft and Annihilation of Israel's perceived enemies. All this we are told in the Scriptures, –– particularly Leviticus and Deuteronomy ––, occurred because of DIRECT ORDERS from GOD. That, of course covered all the blood, gore, looting, pillaging, wanton destruction, enslavement and infanticide, matricide, paricide, fratrici'de, –– GENOCIDE! –– in the CLOAK of RIGHTEOUSNESS,

      All that may have occured because of as much of a misunderstanding of "true" Judaism as the Crusades and the Persecution of Heretics were of "true" Christianity, BUT the fact remains that the RESULTS of these horrific misinterpretations of the Scriptures have proven to be DISASTROUS –– a true BLIGHT on HUMANITY.

      Delete
  31. "deficient"....then get the f**k out and let the kill each other or give the Jew enough ordinance to turn it into a sheet of glass

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. But Rusty, if you're suggesting nuclear weapons, Israel would end by turnung HERSELF into "a sheet of glass" as well.

      Wouldn't THAT be the irony to end all ironies?

      Delete
  32. Replies
    1. Only if it's strong enough, Rusty. I'm not sure what we did two days was anywhere NEAR strong enough.

      We should always seek to ANNIHILATE a sworn enemy.

      We haven't done that since Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

      Frankly, I think we SCARED OURSELVES when we dropped those two atomic bombs.

      Nuremberg and the creation of the UN (by leftists!) followed WWII. That was the beginnug of the end of USA, though we hadn't a clue at the time.

      Delete
  33. HEADLINES at DRUDGE TODAY, SUNDAY, 4/15/18:


    Trump, allies praise Syria strikes as Moscow seethes...

    'Mission accomplished'...

    Warship Ruse and New Stealth Missiles...

    RUSSIA FLOODS NET WITH MORE BOTS...

    New tests for Macron and May...

    Airstrikes Without Parliamentary Vote in UK...

    Erdogan welcomes move against Assad...

    Bolton's Big U-turn...

    RT MARCH 17: US training militants for false flag chemical attack as basis for airstrikes...

    Russia warns of 'consequences' for US-led strike on Syria

    Russia's ambassador to the U.S. warned there would be "consequences" for the strike on Syria, and that a "pre-designed scenario" was underway.

    In ordering strikes on Syria, President Donald Trump called out both Iran and Russia for their support of Bashar Assad's government.


    ReplyDelete
  34. Britain to Study Options if Syria´s Assad Uses
    Chemical Weapons Again - Foreign Minister


    Reuters, by Staff

    LONDON - Britain will study the “options” with its allies if President Bashar al-Assad again uses chemical weapons against his people in Syria, but as yet there is nothing planned, foreign minister Boris Johnson said on Sunday. Johnson backed Prime Minister Theresa May’s decision to join the United States and France to strike chemical weapons facilities in Syria on Saturday, saying it was the right thing to do to deter the further use of chemical weapons. “There is no proposal on the table at the moment for further attacks because so far thank heavens the Assad regime have not been so ...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Study study study study STUDY my PATOOT!

      BOLLOCKS!

      It's time either to EXCRETE or get off the BEDPAN.

      Delete
  35. War Crimes, as Defined by Leftists

    _____________ or ___________________

    ____WHAT'S SO BAD ABOUT____ 
    ____CHEMICAL WEAPONS?_____

    Apparently, it’s AOK 
    To mow ‘em down with bullets,
    But don’t dare try to kill ‘em off 
    By poisoning their pullets.

    It’s all right too when bombs 
    Rain from aloft or on the level,
    But when you kill with poison gas, 
    You’re in league with the Devil.

    Lock ‘em in a building,
    Then burn it to the ground.
    By judges at The Hague
    You’ll not be guilty found.

    Go drag them from their cells
    Into a courtyard to be shot.
    The World Court will not chide you,
    Nor tell you “Thou shalt not.”

    Take mothers, babies, toddlers ––
    Grandmas –– anyone who thrives,
    Then hack them with machetes 
    And bayonets to end their lives.

    Rape and loot and strangle,
    Garrote or stab at will ––
    Of you The World Community, 
    I promise, won’t think ill.

    Set ‘em loose in wood or field,
    Then hunt ‘em down like game;
    Let half-dead bodies lie unhealed.
    You won’t lose your good name.

    Rob and cripple, maim at will ––
    Dislocate their joints.
    Multiculturalists will know
    You must have your good points.

    Gouge their eyes out, slit each tongue.
    Sodomize, impale their young.
    Club ‘em down, then crush with tractors.
    Brussels won’t call you bad actors.

    BUT, urinate upon the corpse
    Who tortured your best buddy,
    And you’ll be tossed in the stockade
    With nose broken and bloody.

    And should you dare to wipe yourself
    With leaves from the the Koran,
    ‘Tis YOU The World Community
    Will call BARBARIAN!


    ~ FreeThinke

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. BRENT REGAN on CHEMICAL WEAPONS - Posted at Adrienne's Blog:

      Why is there a ban on chemical weapons? Because they are not "humane"?

      If so, then are weapons not banned humane?

      If you die from a nerve agent or by stepping on a land mine or being shot or..... are you any more or less dead?

      Is the horror of war somehow less horrible?

      How do you draw the line. Shouldn't war be horrible so that it is avoided?

      That has worked to prevent nuclear war since 1945. Chemical weapons are banned because they are cheap and effective.

      Wars used to be highly profitable. Raid your neighbor and take his stuff.

      Wars are still highly profitable, for the military industrial complex Eisenhower warned us about. We can't have people being killed with 10 cents of Chlorine when there are $1000 rifles that fire $300 worth of bullets per minute.

      Remember the Star Trek episode "A Taste of Armageddon"? Look it up. If you want continuous war, make war "civilized".

      Delete
    2. We must have constant, low-level never-ending war to PREVENT war....

      Delete
    3. Now get on the ship to Crete with Theseus and the other tribtes. The Minotaur's getting hungry.

      Delete
  36. Your Informant said

    Trump's Red Line

    American Thinker,

    by Clarice Feldman

    The Mueller Special Counsel appointment is predicated on the notion that President Trump’s campaign colluded with Russia to assure the defeat of Hillary Clinton -- a notion so ludicrous only a Democrat could fall for it. Dennis Miller sets it out simply so we can see how preposterous a notion this is: Dennis Miller?@DennisDMZ Obviously Trump is a Russian Agent. Sent to a Soviet Front military school in US and then from age 18 on chasing tail while becoming the quintessential capitalist billionaire. All for that moment at age 70 when Putin flipped the Red Queen and activated the Ghost in the Machine.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Mike Murphy said

      Great article. I loved learning that the Russians' vaunted missile defense system was never really activated and that Syrian anti aircraft forces didn´t react until AFTER our missiles hit their targets. Can it get any more embarrassing for Putin?

      Their system is a joke. What do you think that says about their "hypersonic" missiles that Putin was bragging about?

      I saw an article that claimed that 71 out of 103 missiles were shot down. Seems like NOT ONE was. The Russian and Syrian spin did a faceplant.

      If there had everf been Russian collusion to swing the election for Trump, Putin would be asking for his money back.

      I am at the stage where I want to let things play out with Mueller for a while. The IG is going to destroy Mueller's personnel and evidence chain. I

      want to see Mueller discredited.

      Trump has signaled that he will pardon people hounded by Mueller unfairly. Maybe he will wait until after reelection but he will pardon them. Mueller is going to spin himself into oblivion.

      Maybe after the midterms Trump can fire him if Mueller isn´t smart enough to wrap things up and go away.

      Delete
  37. Rock 'em On and OffApril 15, 2018 at 1:27 PM

    Although I am a Rushing Piano Player
    I admire Nikki Haley and the Indians

    Cattle in the street
    Sandals on your feet
    Clean up the hen doo doo
    Like the Hindu do!

    ReplyDelete
  38. Apologies for the off-topic, but much to my surprise, Clinton pollster Mark Penn wrote a pro-Trump article about the President's fight to the death with the Deep State:

    Comey's Last Stand for the Deep State

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. PART ONE

      COMEY'S LAST STAND for the DEEP STATE

      by Mark Penn

      THE HILL

      4/14/18

      They were among the most powerful men of the last decade. They commanded armies of armed agents, had the ability to bug and wiretap almost anyone, and had virtually unlimited budgets. They were the leadership of the FBI, the CIA and the director of national intelligence under President Obama. Each day, it becomes clearer that they are the real abusers of power in this drama.

      The book by former FBI Director James Comey and the daily hyperbolic John Brennan sound bites are perhaps the final reveal of just how much hubris and vitriol they had.

      Comey’s book, according to reports, contains nothing new of legal consequence to Trump (while suggesting that former Attorney General Loretta Lynch has something to worry about), but it unmasks the hatred that Comey had for Donald Trump from the beginning. It impeaches Comey’s fitness to have ever held high, nonpartisan office.

      Whether you are a Democrat who can’t stand Trump, a Hillary Clinton supporter who feels robbed by Comey, or a Trump supporter, any use of wiretapping and vast prosecutorial machinery against our political campaigns and sitting presidents always has to be viewed skeptically and should meet the highest standards of conduct and impartiality. The post-election actions of these former officials makes suspect their actions as officials.

      It was, after all, Comey who went to the president during the transition seeking a one-on-one meeting to tell him about the inflammatory dossier, but who critically omitted telling the president that the dossier was a product of the Clinton campaign and the Democratic National Committee. These facts, he knew, if revealed at that moment in January, would have ended further inquiry.

      This was no effort to inform the president and douse the fires of unverified and salacious information, but one to inflame the president and spread the stories everywhere.

      Unlike a murder or a robbery that has a specific trail of facts that can be investigated, Russia collusion is an allegation that could never be disproved.

      (CONTINUED_

      Delete
    2. PART TWO

      The accusation allowed special counsel Robert Mueller to investigate the entirety of the Trump campaign, every aspect of the presidential transition, and even interview 27 White House aides.

      When that did not bear fruit, the special counsel could start looking at every business transaction with Russians or foreigners who knew Russians. After all, collusion could be hiding anywhere — in a speech given years ago, a condo bought a decade ago by an oligarch — so he could search for it everywhere.

      he Mueller investigation bears all of the hallmarks of prosecutorial overreach: pre-dawn raids, denial of reasonable bail, threats to prosecute family members, investigations of unrelated business matters.

      He didn’t appropriately subpoena selected transition emails but collected every email in the entire transition without notice, prying them from holdover employees at the General Services Administration.

      Even Attorney General Jeff Sessions himself was secretly investigated. This is everything our Constitution and the Bill of Rights were set up to prevent. It’s the very reason the independent counsel statute was eliminated. ...


      (CONTINUED)

      Delete
    3. PART THREE

      This investigation has now devolved into a full-blown repeat of that 1998 investigation by bleeding over to the personal life of the president...

      Moreover, the double standards being applied here are undermining the rule of law.

      The payments to Fusion GPS and Christopher Steele, the former British spy hired to compile the Trump dossier, were concealed as payments to their attorneys, Perkins Coie, in what experts believe is a clear violation of campaign reporting rules on the use of “cut-outs.”

      While the Federal Election Commission complaint over millions of dollars of these concealed payments is making its way through administrative channels, the $130,000 payment to a porn star by Trump’s lawyer, Michael Cohen, prompted a very public search-and-seizure raids.

      Either both instances should be administrative matters or both should receive raids on their attorneys.


      The bank fraud and wire fraud charges being tossed around on Cohen are just prosecutor’s tricks. We are talking about Cohen’s home equity loan, not the laundering of Panamanian drug money.

      By the same logic, the undisclosed Perkins Coie payments to Fusion GPS would be money laundering and wire fraud since the payments became illegal when not reported properly.


      (CONTINUED)

      Delete
    4. PART FOUR

      Perhaps the last straw was the report in the New York Times that Mueller is investigating a $150,000 contribution to the Trump Foundation in exchange for a private video speech given by Trump in 2015, showing just how grasping this investigation has become.

      This is the same Ukrainian businessman who gave the Clinton Foundation $13 million.

      Nope, no double standard here!

      In addition, many of the moves of the prosecutors have been to generate publicity, not fight crime. Mueller indicted 13 Russians knowing there would never be any trials or questioning of their findings that were little more than a press release.

      The raid on Cohen was not geared just to get information. It was also a publicity stunt, –– exactly the opposite of how the Justice Department is supposed to carry out investigations in ways that protect the confidentiality of those under investigation.

      The first report from the inspector general of the Justice Department came out Friday and it documents in meticulous detail how the FBI’s former deputy director, Andrew McCabe, lied — on audio tape and under oath — denying a role in a self-serving leak that he, in fact, personally managed.

      McCabe's response?

      He may sue Trump for defamation!

      As these deep staters turn into paid talking heads profiting through books, speeches and clicks, they undermine any notion that they acted professionally instead of politically while in office, and the evidence continues to mount that the foundation for turning the country upside down for the last year was most likely two parts politically tinged hubris and one part sketchy evidence.

      [Mark Penn served as pollster and adviser to President Clinton from 1995 to 2000, including during his impeachment. He is chairman of the Harris Poll and author of the recently released book, “Microtrends Squared.”]

      Delete
    5. The deep state "nudges" politicians through leaks. Don't do what the deep state wants. Bang, a leak. Cross the deep state, they seize every document on you your lawyer has... leak, leak, leak. What brought down Nixon? An attempt to plug the leaks.

      Delete
  39. Behind his back FBI employees refered to Comey as The Cardinal, in other words they thought him to be a pompous ass.
    I thought it comical that Comey likened Trump to a "Mob Boss." I guess it would never cross Comeys mind that a successful commercial real estate developer in NYC would have had contact with a real mob boss. Don't think the cardinal is very bright.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Perhaps he fancied himself something more...Cardinal de Richelieu was often known by the title of the king's "Chief Minister" or "First Minister". He sought to consolidate royal power and crush domestic factions. By restraining the power of the nobility, he transformed France into a strong, centralized state. His chief foreign policy objective was to check the power of the Austro-Spanish Habsburg dynasty, and to ensure French dominance in the Thirty Years' War that engulfed Europe. Although he was a cardinal, he did not hesitate to make alliances with Protestant rulers in attempting to achieve his goals. While a powerful political figure, events like the Day of the Dupes (Jour des Dupes) show that in fact he very much depended on the kings confidence.

      ... a king MAKER.

      Delete
  40. FOUND at AOW:

    Ed Bonderenka
    April 14, 2018 at 12:14:00 PM EDT

    We did not decapitate Assad.
    We demo'd that we can.
    And that Russian MilTech can't stop us.
    Mission accomplished.

    ReplyDelete

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