Five months on, Benghazi killers back to work and business as usual

[DinoDoc]

..intelligence agencies don't tend to wander around publicly releasing details of ongoing intelligence operations to the general public, because that would be pretty ****ing stupid of course.

This Admin leaks like a sieve if it makes the President look good. Witness the Stuxnet leak Zero Dark Thirty and the very fact you know about the drone program.

There we have it, a 'client state'. Put down the cold war manuals and the Tom Clancy books for ****s sake, that America died a decade or more ago.

You mentioned influence in an earlier post. What good is preserving influence (giving a state money and arms) if you don't use it?

[kentonio]

This Admin leaks like a sieve if it makes the President look good. Witness the Stuxnet leak Zero Dark Thirty and the very fact you know about the drone program.

Stuxnet matters why exactly? Same with Zero Dark Thirty, it's information about events leaking out after the fact, which has happened about exciting cool **** for basically ever. This stuff propagates more now not because this administration is particularly 'leaky' but because the internet age continues to make hiding things a lot harder.

As for drones, how exactly would you expect to keep it a secret that America is bombing the crap out of targets in neutral/friendly countries? You think no-one was going to notice?

You mentioned influence in an earlier post. What good is preserving influence (giving a state money and arms) if you don't use it?

I'm all for using influence, but all that 'client state' stuff is so overwhelmingly arrogant and stupid as to defy belief. Considering the massive destruction of pro-American sentiment under Bush, you'd think that kind of language would be safely locked back away in the cupboard.

[DinoDoc]

Stuxnet matters why exactly?

It along with the bin Laden leak and Obama's Drone Kill List were classified programs leaked by the White House in order to make the Administration look good.

I'm all for using influence

Then why the earlier histrionics when people make noises about using those levers of power in order to get a state to do what they want?

[MOBIUS]

Today Egypt is hanging by a thread. The Muslim Brotherhood, who won last year's elections have a President who's been caught attempting to seize more power than he's entitled to and he's being challenged by more liberal elements in Egyptian society. Yes, by all means let's interfere in Egypt's growth process and set them back another decade.

I was in Egypt the other week. The rank and file people that voted for him are massively disenchanted - the are petrol shortages and rationing as well as other kinds of unrest.

[MOBIUS]

What good is preserving influence (giving a state money and arms) if you don't use it?

You mean like Israel? Talk about the tail that wagged the dog...!

[kentonio]

It along with the bin Laden leak and Obama's Drone Kill List were classified programs leaked by the White House in order to make the Administration look good.

Oh gosh, that's never happened before in every administration in history..

Then why the earlier histrionics when people make noises about using those levers of power in order to get a state to do what they want?

Because there's a huge difference between using influence carefully and diplomatically to further your nations goals, and throwing around terms like 'client state', insulting countries that are basically friendly, and acting like a global bully who can get everything they want by threatening everyone else. That cold war mentality is fundamentally self-defeating, and just leads to everyone hating you. You might not care now, but no-one stays on top forever and at some point those kinds of chickens always come home to roost.

[Sava]

It's fun to watch DD repeat the whiny GOP talking points.

[Zevico]

Ken throws a hissy fit about the words "client state." He's not against using money as influence. But the terminology is so scary. I understand. I withdraw the usage.

I maintain my position. The Americans have aid to give. There are strings attached. This should be one of them.

Strangelove thinks we shouldn't interfere with the Egyptian growth process. We are interfering in favour of the person being protested against. I agree: let's not interfere. The Egyptians aren't meeting their side of the deal. They're preaching war and killing protesters. They're not giving Americans access to a member of a terrorist militia. Let's not send the Egyptians aid this year at all.



Damn neocon chickenhawk Egyptian protester.

[kentonio]

Ken throws a hissy fit about the words "client state." He's not against using money as influence. But the terminology is so scary. I understand. I withdraw the usage.

I have a problem with a mindset that led to us propping up brutal dictators for decades. The idea of returning to that kind of thinking is frankly mindboggling.

[MOBIUS]

Ken throws a hissy fit about the words "client state." He's not against using money as influence. But the terminology is so scary. I understand. I withdraw the usage.

I maintain my position. The Americans have aid to give. There are strings attached. This should be one of them.

Strangelove thinks we shouldn't interfere with the Egyptian growth process. We are interfering in favour of the person being protested against. I agree: let's not interfere. The Egyptians aren't meeting their side of the deal. They're preaching war and killing protesters. They're not giving Americans access to a member of a terrorist militia. Let's not send the Egyptians aid this year at all.



Damn neocon chickenhawk Egyptian protester.

Talking of chickenhawks, too ***** to address my points as well...?