Category Archives: Military
Isis Leader al-Baghdadi is al-Baghdead
Click image to enlarge
Trump is pulling out of Syria. But on Sunday U.S. Special Forces doubled back to Isis leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi’s Syrian compound. The operation was years in the making. And now the austere religious scholar is al-Baghdead.
Cold Blooded Politics
Click the bloody hand to enlarge the image.
It looks like Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman knew about the Kashoggi murder. The CIA says he ordered it. But President Trump says, “Maybe he did and maybe he didn’t.”
Trump has MBS’s back because the Saudis buy a lot of stuff from us. He bragged that he did “$450 billion in commercial deals” on his trip to Saudi Arabia.
Cold Blooded Politics
WSJ editors think Trump is crass. But they also thinks the Saudis are important allies in a “dangerous war against Middle Eastern terror supported by the mullahs in Iran.” The editorial page calls it “Trump’s Crude Realpolitik.”
And the barbaric murder of a journalist is crude. But not as crude as 3,000 murders on 9/11. Columnist Holman Jenkins claims the 15 Saudi hijackers may have had the support of members of the royal family:
If Saudi royals crave an airing of this dirty laundry, they know what to do: Keep MBS in power. Undoubtably among the interested would be the 9/11 families who managed to win, over President Obama’s veto, sweeping bipartisan support for their lawsuit to hold the Saudi government accountable for the murder of their loved ones on 9/11.
If the Saudis think President Trump can (or wants to ) protect MBS against all that would follow, they should think again.
Update 11/28: The Washington Post’s David Ignatius says there’s a power struggle going on within the royal family. And he has an interesting story about captive family member Turki bin Abdullah and “his closest adviser, Saudi businessman Tarek Obaid.” Obaid is hiding out in Switzerland and may have barely escaped the same fate as Kashoggi. Obaid says, “There was clear abuse of power by incompetent thugs, but I don’t believe that the crown prince’s instructions were for these events to play out as they did.”
Invading Caravan
Click the image to enlarge.
President Trump ordered “roughly 5,800 troops” to the Mexican border. And he says “they have built a very beautiful fence.” But the real mission: stop a Central American immigrant invasion force. The invading caravan crossed Mexico with Patton Third Army-like speed. And now they’re advancing toward American lines outside Tijuana. So stay tuned.
9/11 Book Seventeen Years Later
My how times change… Here are a few cartoons from my 9/11 book published in 2002. Click on any of the images to get a readable image in a new tab.
Click to enlarge
Click to enlarge
Click to enlarge
Click to enlarge
Hanoi Hilton Guest
Click St. Pete to enlarge
Can’t speak for Senator McCain but I have to think his finest hour – actually his finest five and a half years – was his time at the Hanoi Hilton. The North Vietnamese shot him down and captured him with two broken arms, a broken leg and a broken shoulder. When they found out his father was an admiral they offered to release him. McCain refused, denying the North Vietnamese propaganda points. His refusal earned him more torture for the next five and a half years in prison.
