Ah, yes.
Fresh off their man's Decisive Denver Drubbing, the Obamistas have cried out to "fact check" Governor Romney and demand that he provide more specifics. "We need the exact details of his tax proposals!" It seems that unless the Governor in his debates with the President doesn't describe in excruciating detail his tax proposals, well then, he is lying!
Hard to imagine a more phony issue coming from the same people who four years ago ran on the--ahem--slightly vague theme of "Hope and Change."
The Governor laid out a surprisingly detailed action plan at the debate on how to get the economy moving and address the government's ballooning deficit. It seems the Obamistas were not listening or had passed out as their great agent of "Hope and Change" hoped for a change of topic and for the debate to just go away, so they didn't hear the Governor talk about his plans for achieving energy independence, lowering tax rates, and getting government spending under control.
My question for them is when will the President reveal the specifics of his plan for the past four years?
It's getting a bit late. Now I know he is a "brilliant" Harvard man and all--well, I don't really know that, but the media keep telling me he is, so he must be--and that brilliant people need to reflect and cogitate and view things from every angle and decide which iron to use for that shot on hole 9 which can be a tricky one, and whether to see Beyonce before The View or after, and when to fit in Letterman, and then there's that Clooney invite, and then gotta go to Vegas, of course, and Michelle just absolutely needs to go to Spain, and then there's that speech in Cairo, then pick up that Nobel, and, of course, all that "noise" from those pesky Jews over in Palestine, and then there's that boring ceremony at Andrews to receive the bodies of those diplomats, whatever it is they do, and that silly debt clock just ticking away, and that Romney guy trying to take my job, and that smirk from that nasty Bill Clinton, and then got to play games with the jobless numbers, it's all so confusing and the time just flies . . .
I know, I know. It's been a busy four years. So I guess you're just going to promise to do over the next four years what you didn't do over the past four? Makes sense. Get the rubes to buy the same horse twice without ever actually delivering it even once!
He is brilliant!
Friday, October 5, 2012
Thursday, October 4, 2012
One More Thought on the Debate: Is Obama a Coward?
President Obama got demolished by Governor Romney. He came off as an inept, ideological, lazy second-rate tenured university professor who has no need for concern about his employment.
He also came off as a coward. Yes, a coward. He is used to having others do his hit jobs for him; used to hurling insults and slanders from a distance, and then retreating behind his "charm," smile, and silky voice. He is not used to face-to-face confrontation. He is not used to having the man he has insulted and lied about standing a few feet away. He was clearly intimidated by Romney, and let himself be dominated.
I think, my two cents, this is why he did not use the "47%" issue: he feared raising it directly with Romney and having to endure Romney's counterattack. He is a coward. He couldn't look Romney in the eye.
I kept wondering, what if instead of the genteel and civilized Romney standing a few feet away it had been the steely-eyed gangster Putin or the Iranian madman Ahmadinejad? Could we trust this man whom we have elected our president to show resolve against these sorts of enemies of our country? We already got a hint in his infamous "open mic" moment in which he assured the Russians that he would have "more flexibility" after the elections to give away the store.
Coward.
He also came off as a coward. Yes, a coward. He is used to having others do his hit jobs for him; used to hurling insults and slanders from a distance, and then retreating behind his "charm," smile, and silky voice. He is not used to face-to-face confrontation. He is not used to having the man he has insulted and lied about standing a few feet away. He was clearly intimidated by Romney, and let himself be dominated.
I think, my two cents, this is why he did not use the "47%" issue: he feared raising it directly with Romney and having to endure Romney's counterattack. He is a coward. He couldn't look Romney in the eye.
I kept wondering, what if instead of the genteel and civilized Romney standing a few feet away it had been the steely-eyed gangster Putin or the Iranian madman Ahmadinejad? Could we trust this man whom we have elected our president to show resolve against these sorts of enemies of our country? We already got a hint in his infamous "open mic" moment in which he assured the Russians that he would have "more flexibility" after the elections to give away the store.
Coward.
Last Night's Debate: Romney Proved Eastwood was Right
This picture, which I first saw in the Washington Examiner, says it all,
All three people in this post-debate photo clearly know who won the debate.
Why did Romney win?
Obama had to defend the indefensible, his record. His line about not looking at "where we have been" showed his desperation that Romney not talk about the past four years. Romney, however, refused to play along and kept the focus on these four miserable years. He reminded Obama of one little fact, i.e., that Obama has been president for that period, nobody else: all the things Obama was promising for the next four years, he could have done over the past four.
Romney was an encyclopedia. Obama could not bring up a subject on which Romney did not have an impressive array of well-organized facts. Romney presented an action plan to the American people to create jobs, generate revenue, reduce deficits, and seek North American energy independence. He would not let Obama get away with anything. Romney clearly decided--surprise!--that the debate would not be an Obama campaign stop. He was going after Obama's pet phrases about Romney supporting a tax cut for the rich, the nonsense about tax breaks for oil companies, and his support for "green" policies. Romney demolished Obamacare, and properly chastised the President for ramming through this project instead of working on creating jobs. Romney completely skewered the President's big line re "you get a tax break" for sending jobs overseas with a simple and brilliant "I don't know what you're talking about." From Obama's look of resignation right after Romney's rejoinder, it was clear that Obama did not know what he was talking about.
All three people in this post-debate photo clearly know who won the debate.
Why did Romney win?
Obama had to defend the indefensible, his record. His line about not looking at "where we have been" showed his desperation that Romney not talk about the past four years. Romney, however, refused to play along and kept the focus on these four miserable years. He reminded Obama of one little fact, i.e., that Obama has been president for that period, nobody else: all the things Obama was promising for the next four years, he could have done over the past four.
Romney was an encyclopedia. Obama could not bring up a subject on which Romney did not have an impressive array of well-organized facts. Romney presented an action plan to the American people to create jobs, generate revenue, reduce deficits, and seek North American energy independence. He would not let Obama get away with anything. Romney clearly decided--surprise!--that the debate would not be an Obama campaign stop. He was going after Obama's pet phrases about Romney supporting a tax cut for the rich, the nonsense about tax breaks for oil companies, and his support for "green" policies. Romney demolished Obamacare, and properly chastised the President for ramming through this project instead of working on creating jobs. Romney completely skewered the President's big line re "you get a tax break" for sending jobs overseas with a simple and brilliant "I don't know what you're talking about." From Obama's look of resignation right after Romney's rejoinder, it was clear that Obama did not know what he was talking about.
Obama is clearly bored and not interested in the actual job of President and that came through Lima Charlie. What we had on display was a contrast between a disciplined man and a lazy man, between a man who has lived in the real world, and, as I wrote last May 17, Chauncey Gardiner,
As with Chance the gardner, who eventually becomes Chauncey Gardiner, we have in Barry Obama a man with no discernible past, no apparent knowledge of the world except what he gets from television and movies, and the most banal, pedestrian, and foolish bromides imaginable. . . . Listen to his typical speech and you will hear the nonsense pour forth; the silly slogans about class warfare seem taken from some Hollywood movie or MSNBC documentary that runs endlessly in his head.More simply put, we saw Romney prove Clint Eastwood correct: Obama is nothing more than a empty chair.
Wednesday, October 3, 2012
Romney Does Great!
The best performance by Governor Romney I have ever seen.
In fact, I see Romney's opening statement as one of the most brilliant ones ever given in Presidential debates. His closing statement was also superb making the point that if Obama is re-elected we, of course, get more of the same that we have had over the past four years.
Romney gave Obama a lesson in economics, finance, and the role of government that should be taped and shown in schools all over the country. All Obama could do was string together disconnected talking points and try to seek some relief from Romney's assault by citing the areas where he and Romney agree. Obama was clearly rattled and disorganized. Romney was well organized, coherent, and on message throughout.
Romney 1
Obama 0
In fact, I see Romney's opening statement as one of the most brilliant ones ever given in Presidential debates. His closing statement was also superb making the point that if Obama is re-elected we, of course, get more of the same that we have had over the past four years.
Romney gave Obama a lesson in economics, finance, and the role of government that should be taped and shown in schools all over the country. All Obama could do was string together disconnected talking points and try to seek some relief from Romney's assault by citing the areas where he and Romney agree. Obama was clearly rattled and disorganized. Romney was well organized, coherent, and on message throughout.
Romney 1
Obama 0
The Media and Obama: Hitting The Disgust Quota
I never before have thought this way about an American president, not even the reprehensible Jimmy Carter.
I am disgusted with Obama. I can't think of another word that better captures how I think about this disaster of a president. I am, however, even more disgusted--if that's possible--with how an overwhelming percentage of the media cover for him. It is not just the overt editorial comments, or the spinning of the news, it is the outright lying on his behalf, such as the promoting false narratives and phony polling, and the stunning refusal to cover important stories that reflect negatively on his stewardship.
For any moderately informed person, the case against Obama is overwhelming. Any Republican president with a track record such as his would have been forced to decline a second term or faced impeachment.
The completely irresponsible nature of the media re Obama begins with his personal story. At a time when we know everything about Britney Spears, and, by the way, Mitt Romney, Obama's life remains off limits. Last August, I wrote that we are not allowed to ask how this self-admittedly mediocre, drug-using student from a highly dysfunctional family, raised in Hawaii and Indonesia, managed to attend exclusive and expensive schools. In addition, I noted,
Operation Fast and Furious is simply outrageous. As I wrote before, his Department of Justice engaged in an undeclared war on the people of Mexico which resulted in the deaths of hundreds of Mexicans and at least two US federal agents. This operation was not botched or flawed. It had one very clear purpose and one alone: enable the Obama administration to make a case for tightening US gun laws, for cracking down on lawful gun ownership in the United States. There was no other purpose for this operation. None. As part of this effort, the US State Department was instructed to push the line about "drugs flow north, guns flow south" and to support UN efforts to make legal trade in small arms virtually impossible. As I wrote some 15 months ago,
As I have written extensively before (here and many previous) Obama pursued a deeply flawed and unnecessary policy in Libya--and throughout the Muslim world. Giving in to EU pressure to act against largely defanged queen of the desert Qaddafi, Obama/Clinton got us into an absurd war in Libya. As I wrote eighteen months ago on Obama's Libyan adventure,
Everywhere else one looks abroad one sees the consequences of this misadministration's incompetence, delusions, and anti-Americanism. They turned victory in Iraq into defeat: Iran is now the predominant player in Iraq. They have done the same in Afghanistan, allowing the Taliban and AQ to reappear after the decisive defeat administered them. In Egypt, they sold out Mubarak, and got in exchange the Muslim Brotherhood. The Muslim world openly ridicules and attacks us. Israel increasingly fears for its survival as Obama refuses to stand up to Iran's mad pretensions. Obama has betrayed Poland and actively sought to undermine the UK in its confrontation with the Argentines over the Falklands. In Asia, the misadministration's fecklessness re Russia and China is having serious consequences for the global economy and for key US interests and allies in the region. The insane Communist monarchy in North Korea grows evermore aggressive and dismissive of the United States. In this hemisphere, we see a deliberate stiffing of our Canadian friends, and a policy of drift and disengagement that alienates allies such as Chile and Colombia, allows autocrats such as Chavez, Ortega, Correa, Morales, and Castro a free hand, encourages clowns such as Argentina's Cristina Fernandez to drive her economy into the ground, and has turned the OAS into an anti-American sounding board. The one effective policy the misadministration had in Latin America was the selling of guns to drug cartels.
At home, the story is the same. We have had years ofdeficit stimulus spending that was supposed to generate jobs and "jump start" the economy. It has done nothing even close to that, and, in fact, has put us on the path that leads to Greece. Unemployment remains at record levels, despite statistical legerdemain by the government; the national debt is exploding; we can expect a new wave of home foreclosures right after the elections; food stamp rolls have increased nearly 70% since Obama took office; we have yet to see the full financial and social consequences of the horrendous Obamacare law; via decree the misadministration circumvents Congressional authority over immigration; our military is scheduled for a wholesale gutting in January; and taxes will explode next year.
There is no energy policy: simple things that would have had immediate and positive effect have not been done for ideological reasons, to wit, approve the Keystone pipeline, lift the absurd restrictions on drilling, including "fracking" on federal lands, and end policies that put our coal miners out of work. As a consequence, gasoline prices have doubled; winter fuel prices will be through the roof; we continue to ship billions upon billions of dollars to hostile regimes; and our industry, commerce, middle class, and workers suffer. The media is silent on this scandal, preferring to blather on about gay marriage, contraception, global warming, and the horror of insulting Islam.
For this misadministration and its supporters everything is the fault of somebody else. Bush is to blame. Republicans in Congress are to blame. Insurance companies and evil white rich people are to blame. Some obscure Egyptian Christian in California is to blame. Blame it on the tsunami. Blame it on Europe. Blame it on the invention of the ATM. Blame it on the Tea Party.
The media ignores or sees as cute, Biden's "gaffes," utterances that would have terminated the career of any Republican politician. Now we see a video emerge in which Obama, in 2007, engages in his classic Chicago-style race baiting and lying--he outright lies about the assistance to New Orleans post Katrina. The media tries to ignore it. On CNN's website today, tucked in a corner we saw briefly--it's now gone--a link labelled "curious conservative video." The story goes on to claim that the video is an old story--tsk, tsk--and was heavily covered at the time Obama gave his speech. A complete lie--and, by the way, CNN has turned off the comments section on that story. It was not covered, and will not be covered. It doesn't fit the narrative.
So what can we say FOR Obama? Let me see. Well, he smokes, so that shows he doesn't buy his silly wife's health spiel. He, uh, has a couple of nice daughters, so that shows he doesn't favor abortion all the time. And, uh, well, he likes basketball which shows he's not completely against good relations with Canada, since the game was invented by a Canadian living in the US.
Now we head into the debates. I can't wait to hear the media spin tomorrow. It, however, won't affect me since my "disgust quota" has been fully met.
I am disgusted with Obama. I can't think of another word that better captures how I think about this disaster of a president. I am, however, even more disgusted--if that's possible--with how an overwhelming percentage of the media cover for him. It is not just the overt editorial comments, or the spinning of the news, it is the outright lying on his behalf, such as the promoting false narratives and phony polling, and the stunning refusal to cover important stories that reflect negatively on his stewardship.
For any moderately informed person, the case against Obama is overwhelming. Any Republican president with a track record such as his would have been forced to decline a second term or faced impeachment.
The completely irresponsible nature of the media re Obama begins with his personal story. At a time when we know everything about Britney Spears, and, by the way, Mitt Romney, Obama's life remains off limits. Last August, I wrote that we are not allowed to ask how this self-admittedly mediocre, drug-using student from a highly dysfunctional family, raised in Hawaii and Indonesia, managed to attend exclusive and expensive schools. In addition, I noted,
His political rise is shrouded in mystery. After Harvard, he suddenly moves to Chicago. Why? He becomes a "community organizer" there, and rapidly rises in the corrupt and crony-filled Democratic machine. He becomes the darling of gangsters such as Rezko, close friends with known terrorists and hate-mongers, and presto he is taking down opponents right and left and soon is in the White House. We can't ask anything about it all. To do so risks charges of racism. His ascendency is a liberal Hollywood fable and it must remain unquestioned and unexamined. He is our anointed leader. He is our Athena.The drive to cover for Obama continues. Not only does he escape blame for the disastrous and deteriorating state of government finances and of the economy after nearly four years of his prescriptions, but his administration has blood on its hands and the mainstream media refuses to call him out on it.
Operation Fast and Furious is simply outrageous. As I wrote before, his Department of Justice engaged in an undeclared war on the people of Mexico which resulted in the deaths of hundreds of Mexicans and at least two US federal agents. This operation was not botched or flawed. It had one very clear purpose and one alone: enable the Obama administration to make a case for tightening US gun laws, for cracking down on lawful gun ownership in the United States. There was no other purpose for this operation. None. As part of this effort, the US State Department was instructed to push the line about "drugs flow north, guns flow south" and to support UN efforts to make legal trade in small arms virtually impossible. As I wrote some 15 months ago,
Never mind Teapot Dome, Checkers, Chappaquiddick, Watergate, or Iran-Contra: "Fast and Furious" is arguably the greatest scandal in American political history. It most certainly is the greatest scandal never reported by the main media outlets. Obama's misadministration sought to launch an attack on the second amendment by "proving" that lax US gun laws led to Mexico's drug-fueled violence. It decided to "prove" that by providing the guns. It was the ultimate in cop weapon throw-down or evidence planting.
Imagine if the situation were the reverse. Imagine that the Attorney General of Mexico, in order to argue for stronger anti-drug laws in Mexico, decided as a matter of policy to provide drugs to the most powerful US criminal gangs. How would we react? Drone strikes on Chapultepec Castle, anybody? I must say that the Mexican reaction has been surprisingly muted to Obama's declaration of war against Mexico.The media, with the notable and worthy exceptions of FOX and now UNIVISION, ignored the story as much as possible, concentrating instead on how Republicans wanted to embarrass Attorney General Holder, and forgetting about the bodies piling up on and near the border. The media has allowed Obama to continue to portray himself as the great friend of the Mexican people when he is the president responsible for more Mexican deaths since Woodrow Wilson, another Democrat boob-hero.
As I have written extensively before (here and many previous) Obama pursued a deeply flawed and unnecessary policy in Libya--and throughout the Muslim world. Giving in to EU pressure to act against largely defanged queen of the desert Qaddafi, Obama/Clinton got us into an absurd war in Libya. As I wrote eighteen months ago on Obama's Libyan adventure,
For reasons known only to him and a handful of dopey advisors, he has blithely sent off America's superb military into an idiotic adventure on the shores of Tripoli with no thought given to what the purpose is, or how it will end. He does this without even the pretense of consulting Congress or bothering to make a case to the American people for sending their children and treasure into war in Libya. He could at least let us in on the secret: what is this war about? The two wars in Iraq, I understood; the one in Afghanistan, likewise, but this? What is it? We fight because, supposedly, the UN, the EU, and the Arab League say we can? Does that make sense? Is that worth killing and dying for? All this to create a No-Fly Zone so that a bunch of jihadist enemies of America can take out a cranky old gangster, who for the last couple of years has been our snitch inside the terror mafia?The removal of Qaddafi, who was cooperating with us against Al Qaeda, with no real thought to what would replace him created a chaotic situation in Libya that has greatly benefitted AQ's rebuilding efforts, and, by the way, resulted in the murder of the US Ambassador and three other diplomatic staff. I have written a great deal about the Obama misadministration's outright lies and incompetence when it comes to the attack on Benghazi and will not go over it all again. Suffice it to say, that this is a scandal of major proportions. Despite the media's best efforts to minimize the scandal, information continues to pour forth showing a president totally unconcerned with the murder of Americans on American soil by terrorists. He is informed of the attack at about 11 pm Washington time, and goes to bed--would George Bush have gone to bed? Doubt it. Next day he heads off to Las Vegas on a fund-raiser. Then his misadministration engages in a non-stop blitz of lies and evasions about what happened. The media is trying its best to ignore it all.
Everywhere else one looks abroad one sees the consequences of this misadministration's incompetence, delusions, and anti-Americanism. They turned victory in Iraq into defeat: Iran is now the predominant player in Iraq. They have done the same in Afghanistan, allowing the Taliban and AQ to reappear after the decisive defeat administered them. In Egypt, they sold out Mubarak, and got in exchange the Muslim Brotherhood. The Muslim world openly ridicules and attacks us. Israel increasingly fears for its survival as Obama refuses to stand up to Iran's mad pretensions. Obama has betrayed Poland and actively sought to undermine the UK in its confrontation with the Argentines over the Falklands. In Asia, the misadministration's fecklessness re Russia and China is having serious consequences for the global economy and for key US interests and allies in the region. The insane Communist monarchy in North Korea grows evermore aggressive and dismissive of the United States. In this hemisphere, we see a deliberate stiffing of our Canadian friends, and a policy of drift and disengagement that alienates allies such as Chile and Colombia, allows autocrats such as Chavez, Ortega, Correa, Morales, and Castro a free hand, encourages clowns such as Argentina's Cristina Fernandez to drive her economy into the ground, and has turned the OAS into an anti-American sounding board. The one effective policy the misadministration had in Latin America was the selling of guns to drug cartels.
At home, the story is the same. We have had years of
There is no energy policy: simple things that would have had immediate and positive effect have not been done for ideological reasons, to wit, approve the Keystone pipeline, lift the absurd restrictions on drilling, including "fracking" on federal lands, and end policies that put our coal miners out of work. As a consequence, gasoline prices have doubled; winter fuel prices will be through the roof; we continue to ship billions upon billions of dollars to hostile regimes; and our industry, commerce, middle class, and workers suffer. The media is silent on this scandal, preferring to blather on about gay marriage, contraception, global warming, and the horror of insulting Islam.
For this misadministration and its supporters everything is the fault of somebody else. Bush is to blame. Republicans in Congress are to blame. Insurance companies and evil white rich people are to blame. Some obscure Egyptian Christian in California is to blame. Blame it on the tsunami. Blame it on Europe. Blame it on the invention of the ATM. Blame it on the Tea Party.
The media ignores or sees as cute, Biden's "gaffes," utterances that would have terminated the career of any Republican politician. Now we see a video emerge in which Obama, in 2007, engages in his classic Chicago-style race baiting and lying--he outright lies about the assistance to New Orleans post Katrina. The media tries to ignore it. On CNN's website today, tucked in a corner we saw briefly--it's now gone--a link labelled "curious conservative video." The story goes on to claim that the video is an old story--tsk, tsk--and was heavily covered at the time Obama gave his speech. A complete lie--and, by the way, CNN has turned off the comments section on that story. It was not covered, and will not be covered. It doesn't fit the narrative.
So what can we say FOR Obama? Let me see. Well, he smokes, so that shows he doesn't buy his silly wife's health spiel. He, uh, has a couple of nice daughters, so that shows he doesn't favor abortion all the time. And, uh, well, he likes basketball which shows he's not completely against good relations with Canada, since the game was invented by a Canadian living in the US.
Now we head into the debates. I can't wait to hear the media spin tomorrow. It, however, won't affect me since my "disgust quota" has been fully met.
Tuesday, October 2, 2012
Baluchistan Road Trip, or What's in the Bag?
Good time as any to take another trip down memory lane. Hope nobody is offended.
This is a story about being on the fringes of war, and getting a glimpse of what war is about.
As mentioned before, I served in Pakistan years ago, splitting my time among the Islamabad Embassy, the Peshawar Consulate, and the road. I ran our refugee program, and, consequently, had my own official vehicle, driver, and travel funds, and a great excuse to travel all over the country to do my other job, Reporting and Analysis Program Officer. One day, as I got ready to return to Peshawar from Islamabad, the Ambassador asked me to visit remote Quetta in Baluchistan. He wanted an update on the refugee situation there, but, more important, he wanted me to accompany a couple of fellows coming from Washington who would arrive in Karachi, head to Quetta, and perhaps to Pishin and Chamen. They sought to meet representatives of a mujahedin group who wanted to prove their anti-Soviet credentials, and claimed to have knocked down a MiG-19.
Sounded like fun, so why not?
I sent off a hurried diplomatic note to the Foreign Ministry telling them I would go check on the UNHCR program in Baluchistan. The Pakistanis insisted we request permission to travel outside of Islamabad; we refused to ask, but agreed to inform. This policy lead on occasion to confrontation, but the Pakistanis generally backed down. I loaded the Chevy Suburban, a magnificent beast with a powerful V-8, and took as my driver Iqbal, who claimed to know the area well. The Embassy frowned on us driving official cars: better that a Pakistani run someone over than an American diplomat do so. The trip to Quetta from Islamabad involved a grueling 600 miles over fairly primitive roads cutting through extremely bleak countryside. We decided to push off before the ISI (Pakistani intel) stopped us. Somewhere near the town of Zhob, however, we got a flat tire. Put on the spare, but Iqbal rightly insisted we get the puncture repaired. That involved getting the tire "vulcanized," having somebody in Zhob pour globs of molten rubber into the puncture and let it dry. Now we were very late, and it was getting dark, but since we were "only" about 200 miles from Quetta, Iqbal convinced me to push on.
It got very dark, very fast. The headlights were not much use. The road was bad, and we had to go slowly. Then the wind picked up and threw sand, dirt, and debris at us. The gusts would make the big truck shudder. Iqbal was getting tired; his head would nod every so often. He was having a hard time staying on the road. In fact, it turned out we were not on the road; Iqbal did not know the area quite as well as advertised. I told him to pull over. We would sleep in the truck until daybreak. I crawled into the back bench, leaving the front to Iqbal. Although I wrapped myself in a sleeping bag, it was cold; the wind picking up and dying down only to rage again. Lots of odd sounds coming from the outside, but since Iqbal, under a pile of blankets, kept snoring, I figured we were OK.
At dawn, I was cold, hungry, hurting, and needing "to use the facilities." A weak yellow-brown light filtered in through the dirt encrusted windows. I could see nothing outside. We might as well have been buried. I began to open a door. Something large, brown, furry, angry, and strong shoved that door back at me. My foggy mind raced through the possibilities. A bear! A lion! A wayward Yeti! I fell back and fumbled under the seat for my beloved S&W .357. Coming from the pile of blankets in the front seat, Iqbal's laughter filled the truck.
"What is that?"
"Not danger. Camel. Kuchi camel."
I hate camels; they are big, nasty, smelly, arrogant, and look like Don Knotts. About 300 billion camels had nudged up against our Suburban to use as a windbreak. Well, maybe, not 300 billion, but a dozen or so, certainly. The Kuchi people, nomads of various ethnicities, ply their ancient trade over routes through Afghanistan and Pakistan, pay no heed to borders, and smuggle whatever is in demand. The Soviet war in Afghanistan had been rough on them. A group, according to the all-knowing Iqbal, apparently had camped near us.
I again pushed open the door, the camels began to get up and move a bit. I slid out, and landed among these four-legged Barney Fifes. I walked clear of them, and saw maybe a hundred or so yards away, the Kuchi camp. Then, out of some secret portal to hell, three enormous beasts rose up from the dirt and began to run towards me. The biggest dogs I had ever seen. "Dogs" does not begin to convey the look of these fiends. If Rottweilers were geckos, these guys were velociraptors. I ran like a madman, scattering camels, diving inside the truck, and slamming the door shut, just as these things hit the Chevy. Primitive, violent, snarling beasts--pure essence of dog before man sissified and prettified the race. Panting, heart racing, I could hear Iqbal laughing.
"Kuchi dogs. Very bad. We should make urination some other place?"
"Yeah, yeah, let's go, let's go."
Let me speed this up before you get too bored. We had trouble getting back on the main road as we had wandered off some distance--this would have implications later. We eventually got to Quetta, a pretty neat town; went to the motel; had no water in my room, but as compensation had a large rat for a roomie. Our Karachi contacts had been delayed, so having time to kill, I tried to get some sleep, but with no water, the rat, and the loud knock on the door it was tough to relax. A junior Pakistani G-Man came to my room with a couple of cops holding a non-laughing Iqbal between them. The G-Man accused me of having cleverly, James Bond-like, slipped the patrol sent to monitor us. Our inadvertent turn off the main road meant our "guardians" had lost us.
This crisis in US-Pakistani relations was resolved thanks to Scotland: I donated one of the three Johnny Walker Black bottles I had brought for this sort of emergency. Johnny Walker possessed magical properties in Pakistan; almost any problem could be solved with a bottle put into the right hands. A bottle of Red sold for over a hundred dollars on the black market in "dry" Pakistan, while Black could fetch three or four hundred. A diplomat, back then, could get a bottle of JW Black duty-free for about twelve dollars. Saudi, yes, Saudi, diplomats, in particular, were famous for selling Johnny Walker to their fellow Muslims.
"Mike" and "Jeff" arrived next morning, and said we needed to head to Pishin to meet the muj. Off we went, forty miles or so through some spectacularly rugged scenery. The town, about thirty miles from the Afghan border, was a dusty Wild West sort of place with lots of heavily armed characters walking around or driving stolen Soviet military vehicles. We went to a "restaurant" to await the men from Afghanistan. A small, dark, smoke-filled, and dirty place, with benches made of rope beds, charpoys, the restaurant served greasy goat meat and sweet tea.
I felt queasy, maybe from the smoke, the stench, the lack of sleep, the lack of a bath, the pounding from the road, the goat meat, or all of the above. The three of us sat saying little, sipping tea, and poking at the goat meat.
"Mike" said to me, "You don't look so good. You gonna puke or something?" I assured him that I just needed to rest a bit.
In walked three Afghans, two quite tall, the third, however, the leader, looking like a wizened garden gnome. "Mike" and "Jeff" got up and introduced themselves. I was feeling the room starting to spin, so I smiled weakly, waved, and remained seated. Very unusual for Afghans, they wanted to get right down to business. No sitting for tea and chit-chat. One of the tall Afghans gave "Jeff" a piece of metal with serial numbers; it apparently came from the MiG. The conversation proceeded along with the gnome saying, "We have more proof." He signaled the other tall Afghan to step forward and open the bag he was carrying.
Just as I was gamely standing up to join the conversation, "Mike" looked in the bag, visibly blanched, stepped back, and uttered in English, "Oh my God!"
He turned to me, and said, "If you're feeling sick, don't look in the bag. Just don't!"
"Why? What's in it?"
"Pilot's helmet. His head's still in it."
"Yeah, I don't think I want to see that right now."
I sat down without looking inside that dirty bag.
Suddenly, it wasn't that much fun.
This is a story about being on the fringes of war, and getting a glimpse of what war is about.
As mentioned before, I served in Pakistan years ago, splitting my time among the Islamabad Embassy, the Peshawar Consulate, and the road. I ran our refugee program, and, consequently, had my own official vehicle, driver, and travel funds, and a great excuse to travel all over the country to do my other job, Reporting and Analysis Program Officer. One day, as I got ready to return to Peshawar from Islamabad, the Ambassador asked me to visit remote Quetta in Baluchistan. He wanted an update on the refugee situation there, but, more important, he wanted me to accompany a couple of fellows coming from Washington who would arrive in Karachi, head to Quetta, and perhaps to Pishin and Chamen. They sought to meet representatives of a mujahedin group who wanted to prove their anti-Soviet credentials, and claimed to have knocked down a MiG-19.
Sounded like fun, so why not?
I sent off a hurried diplomatic note to the Foreign Ministry telling them I would go check on the UNHCR program in Baluchistan. The Pakistanis insisted we request permission to travel outside of Islamabad; we refused to ask, but agreed to inform. This policy lead on occasion to confrontation, but the Pakistanis generally backed down. I loaded the Chevy Suburban, a magnificent beast with a powerful V-8, and took as my driver Iqbal, who claimed to know the area well. The Embassy frowned on us driving official cars: better that a Pakistani run someone over than an American diplomat do so. The trip to Quetta from Islamabad involved a grueling 600 miles over fairly primitive roads cutting through extremely bleak countryside. We decided to push off before the ISI (Pakistani intel) stopped us. Somewhere near the town of Zhob, however, we got a flat tire. Put on the spare, but Iqbal rightly insisted we get the puncture repaired. That involved getting the tire "vulcanized," having somebody in Zhob pour globs of molten rubber into the puncture and let it dry. Now we were very late, and it was getting dark, but since we were "only" about 200 miles from Quetta, Iqbal convinced me to push on.
It got very dark, very fast. The headlights were not much use. The road was bad, and we had to go slowly. Then the wind picked up and threw sand, dirt, and debris at us. The gusts would make the big truck shudder. Iqbal was getting tired; his head would nod every so often. He was having a hard time staying on the road. In fact, it turned out we were not on the road; Iqbal did not know the area quite as well as advertised. I told him to pull over. We would sleep in the truck until daybreak. I crawled into the back bench, leaving the front to Iqbal. Although I wrapped myself in a sleeping bag, it was cold; the wind picking up and dying down only to rage again. Lots of odd sounds coming from the outside, but since Iqbal, under a pile of blankets, kept snoring, I figured we were OK.
At dawn, I was cold, hungry, hurting, and needing "to use the facilities." A weak yellow-brown light filtered in through the dirt encrusted windows. I could see nothing outside. We might as well have been buried. I began to open a door. Something large, brown, furry, angry, and strong shoved that door back at me. My foggy mind raced through the possibilities. A bear! A lion! A wayward Yeti! I fell back and fumbled under the seat for my beloved S&W .357. Coming from the pile of blankets in the front seat, Iqbal's laughter filled the truck.
"What is that?"
"Not danger. Camel. Kuchi camel."
I hate camels; they are big, nasty, smelly, arrogant, and look like Don Knotts. About 300 billion camels had nudged up against our Suburban to use as a windbreak. Well, maybe, not 300 billion, but a dozen or so, certainly. The Kuchi people, nomads of various ethnicities, ply their ancient trade over routes through Afghanistan and Pakistan, pay no heed to borders, and smuggle whatever is in demand. The Soviet war in Afghanistan had been rough on them. A group, according to the all-knowing Iqbal, apparently had camped near us.
I again pushed open the door, the camels began to get up and move a bit. I slid out, and landed among these four-legged Barney Fifes. I walked clear of them, and saw maybe a hundred or so yards away, the Kuchi camp. Then, out of some secret portal to hell, three enormous beasts rose up from the dirt and began to run towards me. The biggest dogs I had ever seen. "Dogs" does not begin to convey the look of these fiends. If Rottweilers were geckos, these guys were velociraptors. I ran like a madman, scattering camels, diving inside the truck, and slamming the door shut, just as these things hit the Chevy. Primitive, violent, snarling beasts--pure essence of dog before man sissified and prettified the race. Panting, heart racing, I could hear Iqbal laughing.
"Kuchi dogs. Very bad. We should make urination some other place?"
"Yeah, yeah, let's go, let's go."
Let me speed this up before you get too bored. We had trouble getting back on the main road as we had wandered off some distance--this would have implications later. We eventually got to Quetta, a pretty neat town; went to the motel; had no water in my room, but as compensation had a large rat for a roomie. Our Karachi contacts had been delayed, so having time to kill, I tried to get some sleep, but with no water, the rat, and the loud knock on the door it was tough to relax. A junior Pakistani G-Man came to my room with a couple of cops holding a non-laughing Iqbal between them. The G-Man accused me of having cleverly, James Bond-like, slipped the patrol sent to monitor us. Our inadvertent turn off the main road meant our "guardians" had lost us.
This crisis in US-Pakistani relations was resolved thanks to Scotland: I donated one of the three Johnny Walker Black bottles I had brought for this sort of emergency. Johnny Walker possessed magical properties in Pakistan; almost any problem could be solved with a bottle put into the right hands. A bottle of Red sold for over a hundred dollars on the black market in "dry" Pakistan, while Black could fetch three or four hundred. A diplomat, back then, could get a bottle of JW Black duty-free for about twelve dollars. Saudi, yes, Saudi, diplomats, in particular, were famous for selling Johnny Walker to their fellow Muslims.
"Mike" and "Jeff" arrived next morning, and said we needed to head to Pishin to meet the muj. Off we went, forty miles or so through some spectacularly rugged scenery. The town, about thirty miles from the Afghan border, was a dusty Wild West sort of place with lots of heavily armed characters walking around or driving stolen Soviet military vehicles. We went to a "restaurant" to await the men from Afghanistan. A small, dark, smoke-filled, and dirty place, with benches made of rope beds, charpoys, the restaurant served greasy goat meat and sweet tea.
I felt queasy, maybe from the smoke, the stench, the lack of sleep, the lack of a bath, the pounding from the road, the goat meat, or all of the above. The three of us sat saying little, sipping tea, and poking at the goat meat.
"Mike" said to me, "You don't look so good. You gonna puke or something?" I assured him that I just needed to rest a bit.
In walked three Afghans, two quite tall, the third, however, the leader, looking like a wizened garden gnome. "Mike" and "Jeff" got up and introduced themselves. I was feeling the room starting to spin, so I smiled weakly, waved, and remained seated. Very unusual for Afghans, they wanted to get right down to business. No sitting for tea and chit-chat. One of the tall Afghans gave "Jeff" a piece of metal with serial numbers; it apparently came from the MiG. The conversation proceeded along with the gnome saying, "We have more proof." He signaled the other tall Afghan to step forward and open the bag he was carrying.
Just as I was gamely standing up to join the conversation, "Mike" looked in the bag, visibly blanched, stepped back, and uttered in English, "Oh my God!"
He turned to me, and said, "If you're feeling sick, don't look in the bag. Just don't!"
"Why? What's in it?"
"Pilot's helmet. His head's still in it."
"Yeah, I don't think I want to see that right now."
I sat down without looking inside that dirty bag.
Suddenly, it wasn't that much fun.
Monday, October 1, 2012
Obama Endorsement Trifecta: Chavez, Putin, and Ahmadinejad
Seems as if we can cancel the elections.
Certainly no need for the debates.
It's all over.
President Obama has cleaned up in the endorsement sweepstakes!
Poor Governor Romney has to settle for anti-Communist hero Lech Walesa, the people of Israel, 42 Congressional Medal of Honor winners, and the small business owners of America.
President Obama, on the other hand, gets 90% of the pollsters and 90% of the US media.
Alas! There is even worse news for poor struggling Governor Romney!
President Obama also has gotten the golden trifecta of anti-US leader endorsements: first, he got that of the apocalyptic Iranian Ahmadinejad, then that ofthe head of the KGB President Putin of Russia, and now that of dying Venezuelan autocrat Hugo Chavez.
It's all over.
Turn off the lights.
Certainly no need for the debates.
It's all over.
President Obama has cleaned up in the endorsement sweepstakes!
Poor Governor Romney has to settle for anti-Communist hero Lech Walesa, the people of Israel, 42 Congressional Medal of Honor winners, and the small business owners of America.
President Obama, on the other hand, gets 90% of the pollsters and 90% of the US media.
Alas! There is even worse news for poor struggling Governor Romney!
President Obama also has gotten the golden trifecta of anti-US leader endorsements: first, he got that of the apocalyptic Iranian Ahmadinejad, then that of
It's all over.
Turn off the lights.
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