The 80s called, and they want their foreign policy back
For real, as recent war games reveal:
Given the recent reductions in the defense budgets of NATO member countries and American pullback from the region, Ochmanek says the blue team was outnumbered 2-to-1 in terms of manpower, even if all the U.S. and NATO troops stationed in Europe were dispatched to the Baltics — including the 82nd Airborne, which is supposed to be ready to go on 24 hours’ notice and is based at Fort Bragg, North Carolina.
“We just don’t have those forces in Europe,” Ochmanek explains. Then there’s the fact that the Russians have the world’s best surface-to-air missiles and are not afraid to use heavy artillery.
After eight hours of gaming out various scenarios, the blue team went home depressed. “The conclusion,” Ochmanek says, “was that we are unable to defend the Baltics.”
[Hat tip: “Open Blogger” at Ace’s.]
For those who don’t get the reference in the title of this post, see this (I’ve cued it up to start at the right point; watch it from there till about minute 14:00):
That exchange has become even more bitterly ironic with the passage of time. It’s not just that Obama was wrong (or purposely duplicitous, or both). It’s that he was so spectacularly, comprehensively wrong, and that in his wrongness he excoriates Romney for his supposed wrongness when Romney is, in fact, completely right. It’s that Obama accuses Romney of errors that are actually Obama’s own (if in fact they are errors at all, versus intentional acts), and describes himself as doing the opposite of what’s he’s doing. It is an almost perfect bizarro world, where everything is backwards.
And it’s not just that, either. It’s the way Obama does it. Mean-spirited, disrespectful, condescending, snarky. Meanwhile, Romney is the consummate gentleman, although he’s fairly tough in his response.
Of course, no liberal pundit seems to want to hark back to this moment. They flush it down the memory hole. But forgive us conservatives for not quite trusting Obama’s perspective on the Iran deal, since he’s proven himself to be such a fine, fine prognosticator.
Oh, and those who didn’t vote for Romney in 2012…are you reconsidering whether that move was wise?
Obama’s affect is even more more offensive when it’s not in split screen. This is how it looked in real life:
I have an idea. I think that whoever the Republican nominee ends up being ought to take some excerpts from these videos and make them into an ad. Even though neither Romney nor Obama will be running in 2016 (at least, I hope not), a point could be made about Republicans vs. Democrats, and about who’s been right and who’s been wrong. It might also be tied into Hillary Clinton or Biden’s role as supporting Obama’s disastrous policies, whichever one of them ends up as the nominee.
Actually, if it ends up being Biden, there’s one that’s practically ready-made:
That’s such an Obama move, patting people on the back (including people who are much much much better than he is) like he’s bestowing a big favor.
Events overseas are important to liberals only as counters on the board game they are playing here to acquire power. Syria is not real. China is not real. They are places to visit like Disneyland. The people there are likewise just photo-ops from National Geographic. The only real places are DC, NYC, LA, SF. The only Real People come from or move there.
I exaggerate only slightly.
Oh, I don’t know about Obama not being involved.
First, I have a hard time believing that he won’t try and insert himself into the campaign as often as possible. Running ads making him look like an idiot might make him rethink that idea. Second, the Dems are *still* getting mileage out of blaming Bush.
The only real places are DC, NYC, LA, SF. The only Real People come from or move there.
—————–
Even Los Angeles is arguable, unless you live there. A couple of decades ago, I read an article that pointed out that if a movie is set in New York, then chances are that Big Important Things are happening. If a movie is set in Los Angeles, then Bad Things(tm) are probably happening.
Been telling you all about this since it started years ago… old news basically with a recent update based on outcomes..
but the trick is to notice things way before you get to the point that this kind of thing is reported.
let me translate that paragraph:
regardless what happens we do not have enough forces to protect any country, let alone several
NATO is dead… obama has implemented another point in suskind list of items as goals of the soviet union.
now… here is the kicker
if we dont have enough troops to oppose anything, then how do we have enough to defend ourselves in a crisis which would require troops to fight and troops to organize the people in a bad situation?
good thing the women are to be drafted to fill the gaps (and body bags), or else what?
Neo: “It might also be tied into Hillary Clinton or Biden’s role as supporting Obama’s disastrous policies, whichever one of them ends up as the nominee.”
About that, I suggest interrogating them on their respective roles in what happened with Iraq.
See:
OIF senior advisor Rick Brennan on the “bungling of the Iraq exit”:
http://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/142204/rick-brennan/withdrawal-symptoms
OIF official and senior advisor Emma Sky:
http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2015/04/obama-iraq-116708.html#.VSP3pbt0x0t
US Ambassador to Iraq Chris Hill (who succeeded Ryan Crocker but fell woefully short of his predecessor):
http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2014/10/how-the-obama-administration-disowned-iraq-111565_full.html
Hill:
junior: “Second, the Dems are *still* getting mileage out of blaming Bush.”
For several years, I’ve commented here that it’s critical for Republicans to rehabilitate President Bush’s record in the popular zeitgeist.
Because the demonization of Bush, especially regarding Iraq, is the cornerstone of the Democrats’ political advantage. It was not contained to Bush’s reputation when he left office. Even when the particular details are not at hand, the themes cultivated in the anti-Bush narrative are underlying premises that typecast Republicans generally.
As Neo has done well to show over the years, the anti-Bush narrative is usually false. With a better activist capability, Republicans could have employed the facts to counter the Democrats’ narrative and, better yet, flip it with issues like Iraq where the actual truth clearly favored Bush and discredited his Democratic critics, including the current president.
Yet, instead of engaging the narrative contest for the zeitgeist of the activist game, Republicans ran away from the anti-Bush narrative, thus conceding it and multiplying the damage to the GOP and the nation by extension. At times, Republicans have even stipulated it in misguided attempts to ‘get past the issue’, eg, the GOP presidential candidates’ response to the Megyn Kelly “knowing what we know now” hypothetical.
The Republicans’ error in conceding the anti-Bush narrative rather than counter it vigorously in the activist manner has compounded. Among Trump supporters today, it’s not uncommon to find parts of the anti-Bush narrative in their opposition to “establishment” GOP.
“in his wrongness he excoriates Romney for his supposed wrongness when Romney is, in fact, completely right. It’s that Obama accuses Romney of errors that are actually Obama’s own (if in fact they are errors at all, versus intentional acts), and describes himself as doing the opposite of what’s he’s doing. It is an almost perfect bizarro world, where everything is backwards.”
A tried and true tactic of evil.
“Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!” Isiah 5:20
Such people are not interested in any ideal, only in the acquisition of power. Nothing is beyond such men. To utterly dominate is all.
I exaggerate only slightly.
Which is why in Fourth Generational Warfare, guerilla insurgencies, hitting the Center of Gravity is all important.
Where are we in your war ? Pre-war? !st generation? 4th generation?
Where is the center of gravity?
Frog,
The short list is Mecca, Medina, Qom, Riyadh, and Tehran. The list of secondary centers of gravity are too long to list in a short post. Sleep well, stay cocked and locked.
I thought the complete reference concluded with BO being the number one best seller at the Jerk Store.
Where are we in your war ? Pre-war? !st generation? 4th generation?
Where is the center of gravity?
The center of gravity is where an enemy is weak or cannot defend themselves as well. It is one where if you hit them, it hurts, far beyond what a normal hit would do.
In human bodies, the center of gravity is somewhere along the spine, between the hips and the back. This often changes slightly due to movement in the gravity well.
When a target is immobilized on 5 points, hitting them in the center of gravity will shatter them, because they have no where to funnel the energy or do damage control.
For a Leftist, their center of gravity generally revolves around their feelings of inadequacy, hostility, weakness, and guilt. That is why defending against the Left never works. Defending yourself against Jihad doesn’t work in the long term. They will never stop until you punch back and do 1000 times the damage they did to you.
The Leftist alliance has mobilized at least 15% of their total strategic assets for the war on humanity they have been fighting for some decades now. What is the current mobilization strength of the Western non Leftists?
“Obama’s…proven himself to be such a fine, fine prognosticator.”
I’m really shocked by this, Neo. You’re such a fine writer. How could you have so badly misspelled prevaricator?
:~)
Neo’s sarcasm is light and not very cutting, in a sense. Some people take advantage of that.