Category Archives: Iraq
Isis Oil Crisis
President Obama is so green it’s tough to get him to take his own side in a fight.
Former CIA Director Michael Morell told Charlie Rose the reason President Obama refused to bomb ISIS oil facilities was to save the environment.
Really.
Obama was also reluctant to bomb ISIS oil trucks because he didn’t want to harm the drivers. When the trucks finally were bombed, we gave 45 minutes advance warning by dropping leaflets telling the drivers to run away.
Dick Morris thinks this is “loony”. ISIS pays its jihadis with the $2 million a day it makes in oil sales. Here’s what Morris had to say about the environmental cost of putting a stop to that:
This kind of environmental fantasizing was in vogue during the Gulf War, when Saddam Hussein’s destruction of all of Kuwait’s oil fields was thought to be likely to cause huge damage. Paul Crutzen, a noted atmospheric scientist, predicted that a “nuclear winter” might ensue with a cloud of smoke covering half the Northern Hemisphere for at least 100 days. Carl Sagan argued that the effects of the destruction of Kuwaiti oil fields could be comparable to the explosion of the volcano Tambora in 1815, which produced “a year without summer.”
It never happened.
Widows and Orphans
In the wake of the ISIS attacks on Paris, the leader of the free world retaliated vigorously against his enemy – Republicans. He struck hard against anyone who questioned whether terrorists might surf a wave of Syrian refugees into America.
His weapon of choice was sarcasm:
“Apparently they are scared of widows and orphans coming into the United States of America,” Obama said of the GOP. “At first, they were too scared of the press being too tough on them in the debates. Now they are scared of three year old orphans. That doesn’t seem so tough to me.”
Widows and Orphans
Hours later, as French security forces closed in on a terrorist hideout, a woman outfitted in a suicide belt blew herself up.
The head and spine of Europe’s first female suicide bomber flew through a window and landed on the street outside when she blew herself up during the siege of Saint-Denis.
Veterans Day
Camp Arifjan Kuwait
Thank you to all who’ve served, from my 92 year old father-in-law in the greatest generation, to all the men and women I’ve met overseas this year. 
Since it’s Veterans Day it seems like a good time to reflect on two trips I made this year to visit troops in Kuwait, Djibouti, Turkey, and Iraq. The trips were sponsored by the USO and featured members of the National Cartoonists Society. We were there to draw and help build morale.
Our visits were promoted in advance so we’d often arrive at a facility with people lined up waiting for us. Each person took a seat at tables opposite a cartoonist. Then we drew. 
Good Morning from a guy who teaches Arabic to our troops
My method was to talk to the person while observing facial features. I’d try to get to know something about his or her background while trying to provoke a smile or frown. All the while I was drawing in ink and processing the information I was getting. If all went well I ended up with a caricature in a gag cartoon that had something to do with the person’s real life. And if it really went well I didn’t have to ask to be reminded of the guy’s name. Then I signed the cartoon to him, with thanks for his service.
Usually they love it. 
They told me all kinds of stuff, mostly about family at home, what their jobs are in the service, and what they hope to do when they get out. Sometimes they’d whip out an iPhone with pictures. I’ve drawn whole family portraits from cell phones and iPads. One guy asked me to draw a picture of his little boy born in Spain, except his wife lives in England. Whatever makes ’em happy.
It’s an intense process requiring serious concentration from an easily distracted cartoonist. It’s also really rewarding. For the most part these are special people doing a hard job they volunteered for far from home. They don’t get much recognition and they don’t complain. At least not to the cartoonist.
Veterans Day
So this Veterans Day I’d like to thank all who’ve served, especially the ones who took time to talk to me. 
Obama 60 Minutes Interview
I was in Kuwait and Iraq last week – more on that later.
While I was gone I noticed president Obama made another 60 Minutes appearance with his go-to guy, Steve Kroft.
60 Minutes
In the past Kroft has served up fat softballs to the president. Here’s a link to a joint interview he did with Obama and Hillary Clinton after the 2012 presidential election. (Click on Connor Friedersdorf.)
This time, instead of softballs, Kroft offered a few change of pace questions that annoyed both the president and the far left media. During one of the president’s rambling responses Kroft told him he felt like he was being filibustered.
Obama’s comment on “local Sunnis” is one Kroft didn’t follow up on, so I did it for him.
Putin’s Quagmire
Vladimir Putin is in Syria killing people and breaking things. He told the US to get out of the way. Putin’s the new cop in the Middle East. He says Russia is part of an alliance to stop ISIS, like the alliance to stop Hitler. But he seems more interested in stopping the revolt against his guy, Bashar Assad.
Quagmire
Barack Obama is flexible. He showed no sign of humiliation. He even welcomed Putin but warned him about be getting into a quagmire. Then he got out of the way.
