I really wanted to like this book, being sympathetic with the author’s thesis that a greater level of accountability level is needed in US foreign affairs as well as a lack of comfort with the strength of the US executive branch.
However, despite an introduction purporting to offer a non-partisan work, the book is baldly partisan and a polemic that lays the current US foreign policy squarely on the conservative leaders of the last two generations. Nowhere do we find a balanced assessment of the impact of US adventurism through the Kennedy-instigated Vietnam war, the weak foreign policies of Jimmy Carter or the blind reaction of the Clinton presidency to Al Qaida through cruise-missile-diplomacy in the Sudan. Instead, we find a one-source vilification of the “crazies” of the conservative movement and a poorly attributed quote on never letting a good crisis go to waste at the feet of the Republican party. FYI Jeremy, Winston Churchill said it first and Rahm Emanuel has said it most recently. Realpolitik knows no creed.
[quote]SexMachine wrote:
This reviewer sums it up pretty well:
I really wanted to like this book, being sympathetic with the author’s thesis that a greater level of accountability level is needed in US foreign affairs as well as a lack of comfort with the strength of the US executive branch.
However, despite an introduction purporting to offer a non-partisan work, the book is baldly partisan and a polemic that lays the current US foreign policy squarely on the conservative leaders of the last two generations. Nowhere do we find a balanced assessment of the impact of US adventurism through the Kennedy-instigated Vietnam war, the weak foreign policies of Jimmy Carter or the blind reaction of the Clinton presidency to Al Qaida through cruise-missile-diplomacy in the Sudan. Instead, we find a one-source vilification of the “crazies” of the conservative movement and a poorly attributed quote on never letting a good crisis go to waste at the feet of the Republican party. FYI Jeremy, Winston Churchill said it first and Rahm Emanuel has said it most recently. Realpolitik knows no creed.[/quote]
Don’t know about that. All of the events covered in the film were current-administration atrocities. Can’t recall “conservatives” getting blamed for the various massacres and drone strikes.
And SexMachine, perhaps every once in a while you might try reading a book by an author whose political leanings are different from your own. You may not enjoy it, but it might be interesting all the same.
[quote]Varqanir wrote:
And SexMachine, perhaps every once in a while you might try reading a book by an author whose political leanings are different from your own. You may not enjoy it, but it might be interesting all the same.[/quote]
In terms of US foreign policy I’ve read a great deal from many perspectives. I dislike the reckless and naive policies of the neocons and the revisionist blame America first leftists too. My opinions are grounded in my knowledge of history and human nature.
[quote]jjackkrash wrote:
Varq, any chance Berghahl is actually a U.S. spook? [/quote]
Any chance the moon is made of green cheese?[/quote]
That’s a pretty snarky comment. I am not saying he is, but the whole deal with this guy seems fishy and who the fuck knows what the CIA is up to. The whole deal with the Kabul station chief getting outed by mistake a week ago is also a little strange.
[quote]jjackkrash wrote:
Varq, any chance Berghahl is actually a U.S. spook? [/quote]
Any chance the moon is made of green cheese?[/quote]
That’s a pretty snarky comment. I am not saying he is, but the whole deal with this guy seems fishy and who the fuck knows what the CIA is up to. The whole deal with the Kabul station chief getting outed by mistake a week ago is also a little strange.
[/quote]
I agree that the whole thing is fishy but:
A) there is no reason to suspect that Bergdahl is a spook
and
B) there are many reasons to believe he is not a spook
[quote]jjackkrash wrote:
Varq, any chance Berghahl is actually a U.S. spook? [/quote]
Any chance the moon is made of green cheese?[/quote]
That’s a pretty snarky comment. I am not saying he is, but the whole deal with this guy seems fishy and who the fuck knows what the CIA is up to. The whole deal with the Kabul station chief getting outed by mistake a week ago is also a little strange.
[/quote]
I agree that the whole thing is fishy but:
A) there is no reason to suspect that Bergdahl is a spook
and
B) there are many reasons to believe he is not a spook
[/quote]
I agree with B. A, I’m not so sure about, but your probably right. I do know I smelled a spook den at Benghazi right out of the box as well; fish stink just seems to follow the CIA around.
[quote]ZJStrope wrote:
Obviously none of us knows shit. There’s definitely a reason behind the trade and it sure as hell isn’t something we’ll figure out from random shit thrown about by emotional politicians, soldiers, press, etc.
Certainly on the surface this seems odd which should speak more to what we don’t know rather than what we do.[/quote]
I have no longer have any confidence in what I see in the news. Everything is processed and wrapped in disinformation to the point where nobody knows which end is up.
Chances are good that we will never know the entire real story, yet it is a polarizing topic like we have never seen before.
[quote]jjackkrash wrote:
Varq, any chance Berghahl is actually a U.S. spook? The whole thing seems like a cover story to me. [/quote]
You know, as unlikely as it is, that actually crossed my mind. Probably because the whole “Jon Snow gets captured by the Wildlings and pretends to join Mance Rayder but really he was spying on them the whole time” story arc from Game of Thrones was still fresh in my mind.
Sure, it’s possible, hell, anything is possible. But what a stupid way to do espionage. Even if he was able to infiltrate a single unit of Taliban insurgents, what deep insights into the master plans of the organisation could he have derived, which were worth sacrificing five actual Taliban ringleaders (not to mention the lives of six soldiers who went looking for him, or the untold damage caused by the “improved” IED construction and placement techniques he taught the Taliban) in order to secure his release?
I’m actually hoping he was a spy, because if he was, it would demonstrate the thorough incompetence of this administration better than almost anything else I can think of.
[quote]jjackkrash wrote:
Varq, any chance Berghahl is actually a U.S. spook? The whole thing seems like a cover story to me. [/quote]
You know, as unlikely as it is, that actually crossed my mind. Probably because the whole “Jon Snow gets captured by the Wildlings and pretends to join Mance Rayder but really he was spying on them the whole time” story arc from Game of Thrones was still fresh in my mind.
Sure, it’s possible, hell, anything is possible. But what a stupid way to do espionage. Even if he was able to infiltrate a single unit of Taliban insurgents, what deep insights into the master plans of the organisation could he have derived, which were worth sacrificing five actual Taliban ringleaders (not to mention the lives of six soldiers who went looking for him, or the untold damage caused by the “improved” IED construction and placement techniques he taught the Taliban) in order to secure his release?
I’m actually hoping he was a spy, because if he was, it would demonstrate the thorough incompetence of this administration better than almost anything else I can think of. [/quote]
What if the five Taliban leaders where bugged with some type of micro tracking device that will lead soldiers to there hiding spots? DUN…DUN…DUN.
Seriously though why has that not been done is that not possible? Capture people chip them and have them lead soldiers to where they operate.
[quote]jjackkrash wrote:
Varq, any chance Berghahl is actually a U.S. spook? The whole thing seems like a cover story to me. [/quote]
You know, as unlikely as it is, that actually crossed my mind. Probably because the whole “Jon Snow gets captured by the Wildlings and pretends to join Mance Rayder but really he was spying on them the whole time” story arc from Game of Thrones was still fresh in my mind.
Sure, it’s possible, hell, anything is possible. But what a stupid way to do espionage. Even if he was able to infiltrate a single unit of Taliban insurgents, what deep insights into the master plans of the organisation could he have derived, which were worth sacrificing five actual Taliban ringleaders (not to mention the lives of six soldiers who went looking for him, or the untold damage caused by the “improved” IED construction and placement techniques he taught the Taliban) in order to secure his release?
I’m actually hoping he was a spy, because if he was, it would demonstrate the thorough incompetence of this administration better than almost anything else I can think of. [/quote]
Haha. I’m certainly not ruling out stupid tactics.
As an aside, while talking GOT, note to self: when you have a giant on the ground in a battle to the death, don’t get fucking cute for the audience. Bad things happen.
As an aside, while talking GOT, note to self: when you have a giant on the ground in a battle to the death, don’t get fucking cute for the audience. Bad things happen.
[/quote]
An aphorism as applicable to GWOT as it is to GOT.
[quote]jjackkrash wrote:
Varq, any chance Berghahl is actually a U.S. spook? The whole thing seems like a cover story to me. [/quote]
You know, as unlikely as it is, that actually crossed my mind. Probably because the whole “Jon Snow gets captured by the Wildlings and pretends to join Mance Rayder but really he was spying on them the whole time” story arc from Game of Thrones was still fresh in my mind.
Sure, it’s possible, hell, anything is possible. But what a stupid way to do espionage. Even if he was able to infiltrate a single unit of Taliban insurgents, what deep insights into the master plans of the organisation could he have derived, which were worth sacrificing five actual Taliban ringleaders (not to mention the lives of six soldiers who went looking for him, or the untold damage caused by the “improved” IED construction and placement techniques he taught the Taliban) in order to secure his release?
I’m actually hoping he was a spy, because if he was, it would demonstrate the thorough incompetence of this administration better than almost anything else I can think of. [/quote]
What if the five Taliban leaders where bugged with some type of micro tracking device that will lead soldiers to there hiding spots? DUN…DUN…DUN.
Seriously though why has that not been done is that not possible? Capture people chip them and have them lead soldiers to where they operate.[/quote]
Maybe however the current administration dropped the ball with fast and furious
[quote]jjackkrash wrote:
Varq, any chance Berghahl is actually a U.S. spook? The whole thing seems like a cover story to me. [/quote]
You know, as unlikely as it is, that actually crossed my mind. Probably because the whole “Jon Snow gets captured by the Wildlings and pretends to join Mance Rayder but really he was spying on them the whole time” story arc from Game of Thrones was still fresh in my mind.
Sure, it’s possible, hell, anything is possible. But what a stupid way to do espionage. Even if he was able to infiltrate a single unit of Taliban insurgents, what deep insights into the master plans of the organisation could he have derived, which were worth sacrificing five actual Taliban ringleaders (not to mention the lives of six soldiers who went looking for him, or the untold damage caused by the “improved” IED construction and placement techniques he taught the Taliban) in order to secure his release?
I’m actually hoping he was a spy, because if he was, it would demonstrate the thorough incompetence of this administration better than almost anything else I can think of. [/quote]
What if the five Taliban leaders where bugged with some type of micro tracking device that will lead soldiers to there hiding spots? DUN…DUN…DUN.
Seriously though why has that not been done is that not possible? Capture people chip them and have them lead soldiers to where they operate.[/quote]
As part of the deal for their release, the five Taliban leaders are mandated to remain in Quatar for a year. They will undoubtably be under heavy US intelligence surveillance.
[quote]SexMachine wrote:
In terms of US foreign policy I’ve read a great deal from many perspectives. I dislike the reckless and naive policies of the neocons and the revisionist blame America first leftists too. My opinions are grounded in my knowledge of history and human nature.[/quote]
I’d be interested to see a list of works that played a significant formative role in your views of world politics. Truly.
