The Fruit of Man

10 Liberal Rules of War 
1)  Avoid conflict at all cost, appeasing the enemy as much as possible and for as long as possible.

2)  Do not fight if Europeans are opposed. At minimum, get support from France.

3)  If forced to fight, do not call it a war.

4)  Announce publicly what you will and will not do.

5)  Try to avoid putting "boots on the ground." "Boots in the air" or "boots on boats" are OK.

6)  Aim for proportionality; i.e. do not kill more enemy soldiers than they have killed, do not destroy more of the enemy's weaponry than they have destroyed, etc.

7)  No matter what, after a set period of time begin withdrawing while declaring: "It's time to do some nation-building at home."

8)  If a Republican president has taken the country to war, blame him every time that a serviceman or woman is killed in the line of duty.

9)  If a Republican president has taken the country to war, immediately begin asking: "What is the exit strategy?"

10) If a Republican president has taken the country to war, call all Republicans "chickenhawks."

And then there is always: Blame Bush and Cheney


Who Ya Gonna Believe?
His innate cautiousness is now actually a reassurance that he’ll fight this war sensibly, partnering with allies in the region, in a way that doesn’t needlessly exacerbate the United States’ problems with the Muslim world. (David Ignatius, Washington Post, 9/11/2014)

Democrats have a habit of accusing George W. Bush of going it alone in Iraq. According to the Center of Military History of the U.S. Army, Bush had 37 nations with us. They sent more than 25,000 troops. So far, Obama has a coalition of nine: eight NATO members plus Australia. How many of those — or of the much touted Arab coalition behind us — do you think will contribute any troops at all? (Charles Krauthammer, Washington Post, 9/11/2014)

Krauthammer versus Ignatius is just not a fair fight!


Vexed Out
Senator John McCain was one of the earliest advocates of American military action against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria. So it has been vexing for Mr. McCain to be battling persistent — and false — Internet rumors that he not only helped invent the group but also knows its leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the self-proclaimed caliph of the Muslim world and America’s latest Public Enemy No. 1. (New York Times, 9/12/2014)

The New York Times gives prominent coverage to an obvious fringe issue smear of John McCain. Guess they did not like McCain's complete dismantling of former White House press secretary Jay Carney during the latter's CNN debut. If the Times wants to report on Internet rumors, perhaps they could dig into that question of Obama's birth certificate....