October 18, 2011

Africa Command

The news that the U.S. military is going to fight the Lord's Resistance Army in central African reminded me that the U.S. military has had, for a few years now, an organization entitled "Africa Command." For reasons that need not detain us here, the 2,000 personnel of Africa Command are actually based in Stuttgart*. But you have to admit that "Africa Command" is a pretty cool name. That sounds like a 1966 adventure show that would have come on right after "Johnny Quest" and right before "Daktari." If I were seven years old again, I would definitely watch "Africa Command."

* Ruling elites in Africa are jokingly referred to by less privileged Africans as members of the Wabenzi tribe, after their favorite brand of automobile, so perhaps Stuttgart was chosen for its extensive natural resources of Mercedes and Porsches?

81 comments:

Whiskey said...

There's considerable amount of people at Djibouti, on the Red Sea near the Horn of Africa. It is used to launch Predator Drones and the US is seeking an agreement which leaked out with Seychelles also for this.

Why?

Yemen is very close, as is Somalia, and both as well as Sudan offer havens to AQ and others. Obama has chosen the cheap way, which is whack-a-jihadi, with Predators since the press won't fuss about it and its cheap.

The Lord's Resistance Army doesn't matter a good god-damn, however connected Gulf jihadis with financing, access to state intel services (for training on say, how to conduct their own mini-UAV strikes) do matter. Obama's policy of killing lots of bad guys is as good as any given the constraints. It won't do spit however against Iran, which does not fear us. Guys sitting around in Yemen plotting the next 9/11 (probably Aum style if you know what I mean) do, and the more they keep their heads down the better.

Camp David Kwassa Kwassa said...

Reassuring how they display the Facebook/ WordPress/YouTube/Flickr icons on the home page there (with Javascript links that don't reliably work)

Assistant Village Idiot said...

Nah, if you were seven and it were after Johnny Quest, it would be after your bedtime, even on Fridays.

Anonymous said...

'Africa Command' - based in Stuttgart, Germany.

Pure comedy gold absurdity.

Steve Sailer said...

"it would be after your bedtime, even on Fridays"

Now that you mention it, that _was_ a source of discord around the Sailer household in 1966.

Fred said...

"There's considerable amount of people at Djibouti, on the Red Sea near the Horn of Africa."

That's Central Command, not Africa Command.

"Pure comedy gold absurdity."

Not really. It was set up mainly as a contingency command, for relief work and such. Establishing a permanent base in black Africa would have been problematic.

Similarly, Central Command, whose area of responsibility stretches from the Horn of Africa to Afghanistan, is based in Tampa, FL, since. prior to the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, establishing a permanent HQ in the region was problematic.

Anonymous said...

'Africa Command' - based in Stuttgart, Germany.

The US had a base in Libya but when Gaddafi came to power in 69 he kicked out the base:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wheelus_Air_Base#USAF_withdrawal

Matthew Walker said...

Agreed with Fred, above: Where in Africa could we put a permanent base?

But... TWO THOUSAND people? Seriously? I wonder how many Raffles or Clive would've needed?

Big Bill said...

"Not really. It was set up mainly as a contingency command, for relief work and such. Establishing a permanent base in black Africa would have been problematic."

So our "war fighters" set up "Commands" strictly to do social work.

The Africans see through the BS and make it "problematic" for us to plant military-cum-social work facilities there?

Do you really believe this? Isn't it a bit of early-60s Kennedy-esque world-wide do-gooderism? Did you get that from some recent DoD press release?

John Mansfield said...

This reminds me of a news conference with Donald Rumsfeld after some stir in Haiti. He was asked if the United States had plans to send the military into Haiti. Paraphrasing from memory, "No, we have no plans to go into Haiti. Let me correct that--we have plans for going into any place in the world you could think of and a lot of other places that you couldn't think of. However, we presently have no plans to use any plans to go into Haiti."

Anonymous said...

Amconmag warned, years ago, that obama might be worse than McCain and the neocons regarding wars of choice - but africa, not israel, would be his focus.


Funny side not, i think it was amren that had an article years ago about african warlords, that they give themselves 'powerful' names - one guy called himself mosquito because malaria was so deadly and his rival called himself 'repellent' or DDT or something like that.

Well, as Sailer said about iraq, I hope Ugandans have good food because we can expect some restaurants soon.

Automatic_Wing said...

Before AFRICOM got stood up, US European Command, also headquartered in Stuttgart, was responsible for sub-Saharan Africa.

I've always thought that AFRICOM was just an excuse to create another 4-star billet.

Anonymous said...

Bedtime was AFTER Rat Patrol and Combat...

Ah, the age of unambiguous portrayal of warfare!

Rainforest Giant said...

'Who, whom'? Who is benefiting from having combat soldiers on the ground in central Africa? This looks like Vietnam on steroids.

Kylie said...

I think it's "Jonny Quest", not "Johnny Quest".

Anonymous said...

How about a Friday night lineup of "Africa Command" followed by "The Rat Patrol." Wikipedia has an episode guide for The Rat Patrol that brings back some memories.

Dutch Boy said...

Stuttgart is the HQ of USAREUR (US Army in Europe)and the 7th Army, so they didn't have to double up on HQ facilities for AfriCom.

Anonymous said...

Afrika Korps sounds cooler.

Otis McWrong said...

I was a huge fan of Rat Patrol, back in the day. If us having Africa Command means I could a job hanging onto a .50 Cal Browning mounted to a Jeep, I say ramp up the funding. Wait, we ARE still dealing with Rommel right?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ZcbifYqpGc

josh said...

This recalls Ron Paul's well regarded definition of foreign aid:"Taxing the poor in rich countries to give money to the rich in poor countries." I guess O'B is jealous of all the um,Swedish influence that leads us into wars to protect,um,Sweden. He wants us some Affica wars! "Gimme some o' dem white men!"

DanJ said...

Since the Africa Command is based in Stuttgart, it would give a little local flavor to spell it "Afrika" instead. Perhaps "Afrika Korps" would be even better, and more likely to impress the natives.

Baloo said...

It sounds like something Captain Scarlet should be involved with.

The Anti-Gnostic said...

Whiskey - they're not sitting around in Yemen plotting the next 9/11. They are already in the US, plotting the next 9/11.

The Anti-Gnostic said...

When these advisors return home from the madness at the heart of Africa, I wonder if they will ever look at their fellow Americans of a darker hue in the same way again.

Anonymous said...

'Africa Command' - based in Stuttgart, Germany.

You meen Afrika Kommand, with the K's.

headache said...

Americans are so full of shit. They could have controlled most of Africa south of the Sahara by simply letting the whites in South Africa and Rhodesia get on with their lives. In fact had they entrusted southern Africa to the whites there, the EU, UN and US could have saved all that foreign aid. Whites in Africa know how to generate enough food and medical care for the continent to be self-sufficient. And they know how to deal with any pesky locals.

But holier-than-thou peacenicks were bent on fucking up the continent in order to then summon us all that we should save it. Its like a script from an asylum.

Anonymous said...

Of course if you set up an Africa command, it has to do something to justify its existence.

beowulf said...

"'Africa Command' - based in Stuttgart, Germany."

I wonder what the back story was on that. I thought Atlanta was going to get it, Ft. McPhererson was in the process of being shut down by the base closing commission, so they could have moved in at anytime to a US base that sits 5 minutes from Atl airport (where Delta flies direct to everywhere, including at least 4 African countries).
What kind of piss-poor congressional delegation does Georgia have that it lost out to... Stuttgart?!?

I've heard some politicians call it "Africom", which sounds like a cell phone company that targets black separatists.

Anonymous said...

'Africa Command' - based in Stuttgart, Germany.

Pure comedy gold absurdity.


Whereas United States Centrol Command - Centcom, currently running the war in Afghanistan is based, as one would expect, in Florida.

Robert Pearson said...

It's "Jonny" Quest. ladies and gnetlemen. And it's so damn cool to rewatch that me and my six-year-pld are on our third time around the original series with all the violence and Bandit-jokes.

What a beautiful Cold War cartoon for kids, with plenty of gunfire; we need a new one to train the boys on how to fight the jihadists.

NOTA said...

I strongly suspect that setting up an Africa Command has made interventions in Africa more likely over time, and that this probably wont end up benefitting either us or the people living in the places in which we intervene.

Anonymous said...

HOLY COW:


Obama: I married Michelle to improve my gene pool
By Peter Maer
October 19, 2011
cbsnews.com

Looking out at a sea of military personnel in battle fatigues, Mr. Obama admitted, "I hate following Michelle. She's so good."

To the laughter of the service people he added, "See for you men out there who are not yet married, let me explain. The whole goal is to marry up--to try to improve your gene pool."



Free Republic commentary here.

Charlesz Martel said...

Steve, did you ever read the Rick Brant series of boy's adventure books? There's a general feeling that Johnny Quest was "inspired" by them (numerous similarities). Just wondering....

milam command said...

In my job we've found that any place sounds cool if you put "Command" after it. "Montrose Command". "Astroworld Command." "Chuck-E-Cheese Command."

Anonymous said...

Is Samantha Powers behind this? So, is it now the white woman's burden?

Schnapps said...

Does AC have something to do with why Barrack "Out of Nowhere" Obama was made president?

Lugash said...

I am Lugash.

Is Samantha Powers behind this? So, is it now the white woman's burden?

It's the White Woman's Decision. The killing, dying and getting maimed is still largely the White Man's Burden.

I am Lugash.

Anonymous said...

There are so many hot spots in AFrica. Why Uganda? Does it matter? Of is it just a ruse for something else... such as Iran?

After 9/11, US went into Afghanistan and victory seemed swift and total. It seemed SO EASY that Washington figured Iraq should be next. That too would be a cakewalk. But, oh well... we know how that played out--and in the long run, Afghanistan didn't turn out so great either.

So, that dampened American interventionism(with roots in Neoconservatism and Wilsonian Democratic interventionism).

So, Gaddafi and his ilk felt safe. After the West got burned in Iraq, it would never dare get involved in another war in the Muslim world. But NATO went after Gaddafi, and though it took some time, it was indeed a cakewalk of sorts. Western troops didn't lose any men and Gaddafi regime crumbled in several months.

So, interventionism is back on the table as something 'doable', and the big big prize is Iran. And so, we had all the bogus noise about the Iranian Plot. Obama's handlers must also know war tends to unite the nation, which will make his reelection surer. Republicans support ANY war and liberals will remain mum cuz the black guy is president(and they learned from Johnson and Vietnam War that when liberals oppose a liberal-led war, conservatives gain).

But, it wouldn't look good if US and NATO decided to take on Iran right after Libya; it would be a case of WHITE CHRISTIAN NATIONS GOING AFTER YET ANOTHER MUSLIM NATION.

This is where Uganda is useful. It serves as a ruse that the US and NATO don't specifically target Muslim nations and fight only 'wars for Israel'.
By doing some token things in Uganda, it sends the message that the West is interested in humanitarian issues all around.
The Darfur issue was useful to Zionists for just that reason. NEW REPUBLIC is a Zionist rag that called for the Iraq War--aka war for Israel--, but its staff knew that calling for 'wars for Israel' didn't sound too good. So, NEW REPUBLIC ran story after story about Darfur, as if to say 'we Jews are not only concerned about Israel but for all of humanity'. But Darfur was just a ruse to feign evenhandedness.

So, this foray into Uganda could really be just a set-up for the bigger prize: Iran.
If US faces down Iran, some people will say, 'what? another war with a Muslim nation that serves Israel's interests?'
But US wil be able to say, 'but we also got involved in Africa, so we don't just target enemies of Israel'.

Anonymous said...

Well after Ashkenazi elites got Americans to fight wars in places like Iraq to protect Israel, it's about time a black elite was able to get the military to protect Africans. Way to go Obama! His IQ might be higher than I thought. And it's nice to see that the African Americans who voted for him are getting a genetic return on their investment (all peoples of subsaharan ancestry are genetically related, even bushmen) in sharp contrast to Clinton who exploited blacks for votes but let black prison rates rise, reformed welfare and let Rwanda go up in flames.

Anonymous said...

Actually, Anonymous, various sub-Saharan African groups are vastly less related to each other than any other groups of comparable proximity anywhere. Genetic diversity is always the greatest where a species originates. The family tree branched all over the place within Africa, going back hundreds of thousands of years, but only a small number of small groups ever left Africa. They left enormous genetic diversity behind, and brought very little with them. It's a fascinating story, and we're a long way from knowing everything about it.

But genetic diversity is easy to determine with absolute certainty these days, and you are mistaken in your claim about Africans being closely related.

Anonymous said...

"When these advisors return home from the madness at the heart of Africa, I wonder if they will ever look at their fellow Americans of a darker hue in the same way again."

No, they'll be advising the haute commanders, not the lowly goons.

Catperson said...

If you look at cavalli sforza's genetic distance tree, it shows all sub-saharans being pretty close together genetically which makes sense because the sahara desert was the great barrier separating the Negroid race from the Caucasoid race, so everyone south of the sahara were able to mix with each other but not so much with folks north of the sahara.

But even people with very distant ancestry can be genetically similar because of convergent evolution which is why Australian aboriginals would probably share genes and thus behave altruistically towards African Americans (and vice versa); indeed if we looked at non-neutral DNA we might even decide to lump australoids into the Negroid race even though neural DNA considers these groups genetically distant.

Anonymous said...

Dutch Boy...

USAREUR and 7th Army are in Heidelberg. They've been there since the mid 60's.

Anonymous said...

As I mentioned in your earlier post on this subject, the US military has been involved in training Ugandans since at least the mid-90s. I forget what acronym we used at the time, but the idea was to train African militaries to handle African problems (despite the fact, as we used to joke, no African country at the time had the logistical ability to project its forces much beyond its own borders). The training was supposed to take the burden of preserving peace in Africa off of the US and put it onto the Africans themselves.

That obviously didn't work and now we're actively supporting Ugandan military operations in the north. For what it's worth, Kony has done terrible things up there. I once spent a week in Gulu and saw some of it with my own eyes and had the chance to meet some of the victims. I don't know what we get out of this as US taxpayers, but without our assistance (and maybe even with it) the atrocities will probably continue for years.

If it's any consolation, the SF guys who used to come over loved it. Ugandans may not be good at fighting, but they are great people.

The Anti-Gnostic said...

Ugandans may not be good at fighting, but they are great people.

Is that so? I'm getting the impression that they are stupid, violent people who have to invite their former masters in to help them run the place.

Anonymous said...

We'll probably have to overthrow the Ugandan government to help the poor oppressed pederast community there.

Troy Tempest said...

I think "Africa Command" would really work as a Gerry & Sylvia Anderson Supermarionation tour-de-force like STINGRAY or Thunderbirds.

Mark T. Hitchcock said...

Remember in "Rat Patrol" how they all wore different, perhaps non-regulation headgear ? That was cool.

alt_caker said...

FYI -- Stuttgart is stud farm in German. Don't know if that is significant or, most likely, not.

stari_momak said...

"USAREUR and 7th Army are in Heidelberg. "

Heidelberg is often left on the 'grand tour' itineraries. But if you are in Europe for a bit, you have to see it.

Insightful said...

Catperson, cavalli sforza's work has become dated. Since his major studies the picture has become clearer. The latest in human genetic distance measurements show that Yorubans (west African bantu-related people) are genetically closer to the Han Chinese than to San Bushman even though the Yorubans are geographically closer to the San Bushmen.

Source: http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v468/n7327/extref/nature09710-s1.pdf

Table S6.2 from the source above
Genetic divergence
San Bush-Yoruba = 0.0913 x human-chimpanzee
Yoruba-Han = 0.0811 x human-chimpanzee

Also, that the genetic divergence dates of the Denisova paper are the “state of the art” as they are based on full genome sequences only recently available and which cavalli sforza did not have (see also Figure 1 of the Denisova paper (source) showing San as outgroup to other modern humans).

With regard to Australian Aborigines, they are actually closer to Eurasians than Sub-Saharan Africans are because both Aborigines and Eurasians share the same ancestors who departed Africa to spread around the world.

Anonymous said...

"That obviously didn't work and now we're actively supporting Ugandan military operations in the north. For what it's worth, Kony has done terrible things up there. I once spent a week in Gulu and saw some of it with my own eyes and had the chance to meet some of the victims. I don't know what we get out of this as US taxpayers, but without our assistance (and maybe even with it) the atrocities will probably continue for years.

If it's any consolation, the SF guys who used to come over loved it. Ugandans may not be good at fighting, but they are great people."

We get nothing out of it except blame for the mess. Africa is cursed.

Anonymous said...

"The whole goal is to marry up--to try to improve your gene pool."

I'm not going to knock him for paying a complement to his wife, but typically(90% of the time including this case) its the wife that marries up.

Anonymous said...

"Africa Command" will be sited in Stuttgart because it has slightly fewer Muslims and Blacks than Mogadishu.

Anon.

Reg Cæsar said...

So we send companies of our newly-outed gay soldiers to fight the Lord in Africa.

Later, we look the other way when their Ugandan hosts execute them for sodomy.

What's not to like?

Anonymous said...

We do have an African commander in chief.

Mr. Anon said...

"Anonymous said...

I don't know what we get out of this as US taxpayers......"

Streams of refugess from Uganda coming to our country. That's what we'll get out of it.

"If it's any consolation, the SF guys who used to come over loved it. Ugandans may not be good at fighting, but they are great people."

No. It is no consolation. If they are such a great people then why are they now engaged in a bloody civil war? Why do they have insane bandits like the LRA running around? Why did they have a President-for-Life who practiced ritual cannibalism?

To hell with them. I don't care what happens in Uganda. I don't want them here. And I don't want us there.

Kylie said...

"So we send companies of our newly-outed gay soldiers to fight the Lord in Africa.

Later, we look the other way when their Ugandan hosts execute them for sodomy.

What's not to like?"


Like it? I love it.

Unfortunately, a more likely scenario is that gay Ugandans are allowed to come to the US for "humanitarian" reasons.

Hopefully Anonymous said...

I don't know the veracity of this, but I heard Africa Command was located in Stuttgart because no African nation would accept it (I think earlier attempts were to locate it in Ethiopia or Ghana). Like I said this could be complete bullshit, but it's what I've heard.

Hopefully Anonymous

http://hopefullyanonymous.blogspot.com

Anonymous said...

Africa is a basketcase but rich in natural resources--much of it yet to be discovered. As China and India rise, there's gonna be more demand and competition for resources. Control of those resources could be vital to who controls the future.

Since WWII, there have been 6 main forces trying to maintain or win the heart and soul of black Africa.

1. US
2. USSR
3. China
4. France
5. UK
6. Arabs

During the Cold War, it was largely between US and USSR. When USSR and China split, Chinese argued that Asians and Africans should unite as non-whites against white imperialists(whether American, European, or Russian). UK and France were in the running but lost their colonies by the 60s. Arabs, especially in Algeria(following independence), Libya(under Gaddaffi), and Egypt(under Nasser) appealed to black Africa as fellow Africans(against Western imperialists).

In time, USSR lost the Cold War and quit Africa. Algeria and Egypt lost interest in leading Africa too. The only Arab sticking to the grand plan of leading and defining African unity and interest was Colonel Gaddafi, but he's been taken out too. UK and France, kicked out of Africa in the 50s and 60s, have used the humanitarian excuse to re-enter Africa.

So, with Arabs and USSR out of the great game, it's US/EU vs China. Perhaps by taking out the last Great Arab-African(Gaddafi), US/EU was sending a message to China that it has the real reach in global power. And the Arab-African connection has been severed for good.

Why We Fight - F.Capra said...

This tiny US intervention in Uganda against some obscure cult is propaganda.

The US has 369,000 troops in over 900 bases across 130foreign countries. Why single out this one nearly empty military intervention gesture?

Several reasons:

* Displace headline news on worsing financial situation and breaking US gun running scandal into Mexico/Attny Gen purgery

* Moral status seeking among elite libs (picking up the white mans' burden albeit very light and purposeless)

* Kill a few cult "Christians" (if but in name only) to offer at least one counter example to our ongoing series of wars against Islam (Iraq, Afganistan, Libya, Pakistan, Yemen, Sudan, etc)

Dutch Boy said...

Whoops - USAREUR is in Heidelberg (they used to be in Stuttgart) and the HQ is moving to Wiesbaden in a few years.

Anonymous said...

Insightful, the table you linked to provides genetic divergence dates which is different from genetic distance because bushmen still mated with other sub-saharans after they diverged, thus maintaining the unity of the Negroid race. Still, I'm surprised to learn bushmen diverged 595,000 year ago. That would seem to imply they are not human.

NOTA said...

Anon:

She married up in terms of intelligence and looks, he married up in terms of stabiliity and mental health.

Catperson said...

To the laughter of the service people he added, "See for you men out there who are not yet married, let me explain. The whole goal is to marry up--to try to improve your gene pool."

It almost sounds condescending when he says stuff like that, like he's being sarcastic. Michelle married up in terms of status and probably intelligence, but barrack married up in terms of height (since michelle is taller for a woman than barak is for a man) which makes up for it. Too bad all those height/IQ genes between the two of them were wasted on daughters who probably will have trouble getting married because it's hard for such impressive black females to marry up without marrying outside their race.

Catperson said...

She married up in terms of intelligence and looks. He married up in terms of stabiliity and mental health.

No barrack is more mentally stable. In fact one thing that makes the president seem so intelligent, mature and presidential is how clalm he is. He has the most vitriolic opponents you can imagine, yet he never loses his cool. Michelle by contrast looks like she could fly off the handle at any minute, perhaps because she has more black blood. Rushton argued that blacks have high rates of mental hospitalization partly because they diverged from the human evolutionary tree prematurely; kind of like how a premature baby will grow up to have issues, even as an adult.

Insightful said...

Anonymous, San Bushmen are not negroid. They are Africans, yes, but not negroid-bantu. They are more distinct from a bantu (negroid) than a European is from a Han-Chinese. Those are the facts.

Insightful said...

Oh, Anonymous, also Genetic distance refers to the genetic divergence between species or between populations within a species.

NOTA said...

As an aside, Juan Cole has been picking apart various bits of the alleged Iranian plot. Its worth reading his comments, which are different from those of most people paid to write editorials and op-eds about middle-eastern policy in that he actually knows what the f--k he's talking about, knows the history of the region, speaks several of the languages, etc.

The whole story sounds suspicious as hell. But that isn't a guarantee that it didn't happen--look at that clusterf--k of an operation the CIA ran in Italy to kidnap some suspected terrorist. (The James Bond wannabes who ran the operation did stuff like check into hotels with their own credit cards, and discuss the plot openly on their cellphones. As I understand it, everyone involved who didnt have diplomatic immunity is pretty much never able to travel in Europe again, thanks to outstanding warrants for their arrest.).

I imagine any number of intelligence operations are this clumsy and incompetent, but either dont get revealed to the public, or maybe succeed despite their perpetrators' incompetence. All sorts of stuff that does come out by mistake makes our intelligence agencies look rather like our elites generally--a mixture of some pretty smart and capable people, with a whole lot of folks badly out of their depth and more concerned with getting more power and fnding than with doing their alleged jobs. Secrecy and lack of oversight are not usually associated with efficiency and lack of waste.

Anonymous said...

"He has the most vitriolic opponents you can imagine, yet he never loses his cool."

True, but he's well-buffered from criticism by the media.

Anonymous said...

Media are his bodyguards.

Anonymous said...

Gadaffi lynched. Well, at least he fought to the end. He gets some points for that.

Some say Al Qaeda people may now take over Libya, but I wonder if this is a way to buy them off. If such 'terrorists' are given a stake in Libyan wealth and can make millions by selling oil to the West, they might drop the terrorism and go into business.
It happened before. Former Khmer Rouge thugs now run the tourist industry in Cambodia. Former Maoists now run capitalist enterprise. And Gaddafis dropped trouble-making when the West welcomed them with open arms after the invasion of Iraq.

Though some people give up riches for idealism/terrorism--like Osama did--, others will likely give up terrorism for profit. It's possible that the kind of people in Libya who'd joined Alqaeda did so cuz they were disenfranchised under Gaddafi. But if they're offered a slice of the pie in the new order, they might prefer to roll in the dough than roll sticks of dynamite.

Pinker has a point in this regard. If you offer most people a way to make some dough, they prefer peace than war(which disrupts business).
For every man who gives up riches for radicalism/terrorism, there are 100 who will give up radicalism/terrorism for a slice of the pie.

Anonymous said...

60s: Make Love, Not War.

2010s: Make Money, Not War.

Anonymous said...

...though, to be sure, the military industrial complex can make both war and money.

Baloo said...

Insightful seems to be right, at least that's the way I learned it. Carleton Coon first made the distinction, I believe. Google "Capoid race" for info.

Anonymous said...

Should Bush have done what Nato did in Libya? Give arms to Shiites and Kurds and provide them with air power to win a civil war while we stay out?

Anonymous said...

Irony. A man who promoted the great myth of Libyan resistance against Mussolini ended up dying like Mussolini. Well, a good thing since most Libyans seem to be happy.

I wonder... could Arab Spring--of which Libya was one(though it extended into a long hot summer)-- have been possible without the internet? Before the internet(and satellite TV), Arabs just got news from official sources(controlled by their tyrants) and couldn't communicate with one another. But through social networking, Libyans could send the message out all across Libya and to the outside world. To the extent that social networking sites are mostly run by American Jews, it could be seen as a Jewish-facilitated revolution, even if indirectly.
But the fact that a once powerless people could rise up and unite and topple a dictator who seemed invincible for 42 yrs gives all of us hope. If we use the internet creatively, we too can take on the Power Elite and create new movements in ways unimagined in the past.

The Libyan Revolution was bloody, but at least Libyans used social networking to take power for themselves against the corrupt thug Gaddafi. That's better than how 'youths' in America and UK use social networking: to loot and attack people.

A proud day for LIbyans. Euphoria will surely ebb away, but good riddance to Gaddafi.

hey said...

Can we get the base in Libya back now? What with all the huddled masses yearning to breathe free who have recently taken over, and their numerous Toyota technicals

Kylie said...

"In fact one thing that makes the president seem so intelligent, mature and presidential is how clalm[sic] he is."

To you, undoubtedly so. To me, his calm is just further proof that he's spent the last 50 years listening to white people tell him how wonderful he is.

"He has the most vitriolic opponents you can imagine, yet he never loses his cool."

Of course not, he's never directly confronted by them. That yo-yo shouting "You lie!" (who was roundly condemned for it) was about as close as he's gotten to have to face his critics.

And I certainly don't think his critics were any more vitriolic than Bush's. Maybe you've forgotten the public calls for Bush's assassination and the "Kill Bush" posters but I haven't.

Anonymous said...

Rise and fall of Gaddafi, a combo of PT Barnum and Shakespeare.

Georgia Resident said...

"Rushton argued that blacks have high rates of mental hospitalization partly because they diverged from the human evolutionary tree prematurely"

Source? I've never heard that before. As far as I know, Rushton explains most of the differences between whites, blacks, and Asians in terms of r-K theory.