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<channel>
	<title> &#187; &#8220;Soft Power&#8221;</title>
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		<title>The Operational Plan Becomes Clear</title>
		<link>http://www.therosistance.org/2009/03/the-operational-plan-becomes-clear/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=the-operational-plan-becomes-clear</link>
		<comments>http://www.therosistance.org/2009/03/the-operational-plan-becomes-clear/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 11 Mar 2009 19:49:16 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>editor</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA["Soft Power"]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Acrimony]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Assault on The Constituion]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Call to Action]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Domestic Policy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Financial]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Military Policy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Politics]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Tax Policy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[ARRA]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Bank Bailout Money]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Fiscal bailout]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Obama]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Regulation]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.therosistance.org/?p=273</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[It&#8217;s not all that transparent, I suggest. Banks are &#8220;getting it&#8221; and want to give the money back. Why? Does any thinking being have to wonder why, when Porkulus 1 money hasn&#8217;t even been barely distributed, they are already calling for Son of Porkulus? Here&#8217;s the deal: Unaccountable bureaucrats will tell you how you will [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>It&#8217;s not all that transparent, I suggest.  Banks are &#8220;getting it&#8221; <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/11/business/economy/11bailout.html?scp=1&amp;sq=banks%20want%20to%20retrun%20money&amp;st=cse">and want to give the money back.</a> Why?</p>
<p>Does any thinking being have to wonder why, when Porkulus 1 money hasn&#8217;t even been barely distributed, they are already calling for Son of Porkulus?</p>
<p>Here&#8217;s the deal:  Unaccountable bureaucrats will tell you how you will handle everything in your life, or the money will stop flowing.</p>
<p>All under the guise of making sure the taxpayers money isn&#8217;t being mis-appropriated&#8230;like for that fat laden Big Mac, the soda with sugar and caffeine, the &#8220;nasty&#8221; second hand smoke producing cigar, or&#8230;how much you drive your car (oh, and what kind it is) instead of taking light rail and the bus and where you send your children to school.</p>
<p>They want everyone to sign on the dotted line now, and then, the &#8220;fine print&#8221; reading will be way too late.  As pointed out in an article on banks trying to return the money, it was noted that the Government can change the conditions in the future.  So, consider what that portends for anyone taking Government assistance.  The basics:  Unintended consequences, based on unforeseen regulations, without the benefit of a legislative process to vet them.</p>
<p>Tea Parties are a start.  More push back will be needed, or we shall all be drones of the state, working to give to the Federal Government, so they can hand some of it back, with massive restrictions, and new restrictions they can apply at the whim of anyone in the heap of civil servants between you and the President.  Interesting how it works:  They take our money, then pay off a bunch of civil servants, hand us back some of the leftover funds and tell us we have to respect the rights of all other taxpayers for taking it.  Yep, I hope that makes your head explode, because it stupid at the core, and the thinking person knows it.  Side note:  what does that say about those who we voted into office who can&#8217;t stand up and say &#8220;This is not only stupid, it&#8217;s immoral!&#8221;</p>
<p>And:  Just think, the news this very day is <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/11/business/11madoff.html?scp=1&amp;sq=madoff%20gulity%20plea&amp;st=cse">Bernie Madoff may have to serve life in prison for his $65B ponzi scheme.</a> Think about the bailout/stimulus/America Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) and all such permutations as a huge money laundering scheme.  The difference is when the power of the Congress and the Executive is behind it, it is somehow legal.</p>
<p>The Government takes our wealth in taxes, then drafts up a mountain of conditions, then places the money on the table in front of us, with the tomes of &#8220;conditions&#8221; and a pen.   The Government representative, or their proxy by the chain of money distribution, will say &#8220;Sign here&#8221; and then put a fork in you, you&#8217;re done.  You know how desperation works:  If you&#8217;re hanging on by a thread, you sign without &#8220;reading the contract.&#8221;</p>
<p>I spent a few decades where my part of my duties required me to be a steward of taxpayers funds as an end user, not as a bean counter.  Near the end of my time, I directly handled $11M and oversaw a total of $34M of federal expenditures.  A portion of my time, as a department head in a large software maintenance organization was spent ensuring the funds allocated by a DC office was spent in accordance of the guidelines, which extended all the way from the Congressional Budget.  There was single year money, multi-year money, all with specifics of under which projects the funds could be expended.  The &#8220;rules&#8221; were that the person who last touched it was accountable for where it was spent, even if an error in the funding lines may have been altered by accident up the chain somewhere in the &#8220;accounting data.&#8221;  The strings attached to this money were lengthy and very specific, including the legal outcomes if you did the wrong thing.  Moral of that paragraph:  No seat of the pants spending allowed.</p>
<p>Puppets.  We shall all become puppets if we are not mindful of the serious danger of President Obama&#8217;s ingrained punishment mentality, bred into him by the radicals who were his mentors and role models.</p>
<p>The bottom line:  He wants to be able to tell each and every citizen how they will live their life, and he will keep telling you it&#8217;s to make sure the taxpayer&#8217;s money is spent right.</p>
<p>The almost final thought:  no wonder the President hasn&#8217;t had time to deal with the pressing issues of foreign affairs.  First he needs to gain a massive degree of control of the populace, using this sort of end around of The Constitution first.  With such control he&#8217;ll be much more able to control the conversations that should go on in a republic.</p>
<p>The final thought:  Didn&#8217;t we get here by Government mandating who got money and who didn&#8217;t and how and where it would be doled out?  How&#8217;d that work out for us so far?</p>
<p>Mark my words.  This theme will play out in the Consumer Safety Protection Act, gun control (think localities taking money being told that a condition is &#8220;reasonable regulation of ownership&#8221;), and a variety of other social, legal and even moral issues (can you say no protesting abortions?).  Take a moment and envision the &#8220;unintended consequences&#8221; that shall follow the money from the halls of Congress and trhe Desk in the Oval Office.  I trust you are reasonably horrified.  I trust you will let your elected officals know how you feel about this.  It is time for &#8220;feelings&#8221; to come to the forefront.</p>
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		<title>I Have a Plan&#8230;Not a Good One, But It Will Save Money</title>
		<link>http://www.therosistance.org/2009/02/i-have-a-plan-not-a-good-one/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=i-have-a-plan-not-a-good-one</link>
		<comments>http://www.therosistance.org/2009/02/i-have-a-plan-not-a-good-one/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 14 Feb 2009 17:38:08 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>editor</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA["Soft Power"]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[1st Amendment]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[22nd Amendment]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Acrimony]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Assault on The Constituion]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Call to Action]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Domestic Policy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Financial]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Foreign Policy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Military Policy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Politics]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[black humor]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[diane feinstein]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[harry reied]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Humor]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[nancy pelosi]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[national security]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Obama]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[political satire]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[rahm emmanual]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[satire]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Terrorism]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.therosistance.org/?p=215</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[and time and bloodshed  for the Death to America™! Campaign. I&#8217;m just in the mood for a little &#8220;black humor&#8221; this morning. I have an answer. Not a palatable one, but, it&#8217;s a plan to reach the end game without wasting anymore time, which, seems to be where the Obama Administration is taking us, and [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>and time and bloodshed  for the Death to America™! Campaign.</p>
<p>I&#8217;m just in the mood for a little &#8220;black humor&#8221; this morning.  I have an answer.  Not a palatable one, but, it&#8217;s a plan to reach the end game without wasting anymore time, which, seems to be where the Obama Administration is taking us, and taking us before we can even read it.  I&#8217;m a cut to the chase sort of personality.  Do it now, for God&#8217;s sake, if that&#8217;s the plan.  Grow some, ObamaVader, and don&#8217;t prolong the pain, unless, of course, you like to pull the wings off of flies.</p>
<p>Not even a month into the Presidency to bring America together guy, who will make sure the voices will be heard (notice:  not stated to be listened to), we are about to deplete the collective financial reserves of every working man, woman and teenager in America, so the non-productive and the special interest groups get their paybacks, but more importantly, so President Obama (and I think that&#8217;s even more important then the Democrat party) shall remain in charge in perpetuity.  I&#8217;m sure the voices will begin to whisper about the 22nd Amendment soon, and grow stronger.  We&#8217;re trashing The Constitution and the Bill Of Rights daily, so why stop before it&#8217;s all gone?</p>
<p>Anyhow, <a href="http://www.nasdaq.com/aspxcontent/NewsStory.aspx?cpath=20090212\ACQDJON200902121520DOWJONESDJONLINE000674.htm&amp;&amp;mypage=newsheadlines&amp;title=US%20Intelligence%20Chief:N%20Korea%20Nuclear%20Weapons%20More%20For%20Deterrence">this article regarding our Director of National Intelligence and North Korean nuclear weapons</a> just put me over the edge and caused me to begin thinking of this satirical method to just get it over with.  Think about even the last few weeks:</p>
<p>Diane Feinstein tells the open press we are flying Predators from inside Pakistan.  Bill Clinton, a few days ago, and President Obama a week ago, have used their bully pulpits to call for the silencing of &#8220;Talk Radio.&#8221;  President Obama, Harry Reed and Nancy Pelosi conspire to make sure the opposition party has such little access to the spending bill, in presence or time, that it will go through as written, directly silencing at least 45% of the population of citizens.  The effect?  Between cutting the salaries and bonuses of the &#8220;rich&#8221; and putting money into the hands of very specifically targeted groups, the money will specifically flow to those who will then continue to support the drain on capital from those who oppose the President and give it to those who do.</p>
<p>Now, after using the National Intelligence Estimate to discredit a President for lying to the public regarding Iran trying to construct nuclear weapons, all of a sudden, this Administration tells us they know Iran is doing it and there is little we can do to stop that process.  So we are now also to accept that North Korea feels threatened and needs nukes for self defense.  Yep, the nation that enslaves most of it&#8217;s population, randomly kills many through starvation (ala The Cultural Revolution of Mao), and has one of the largest standing armies on Earth.  Yep&#8230;and all the while President Obama wants to rid the world of nuclear weapons.  Notice:  We, the Russians and obviously Israel have to give them up.  Iran and North Korea need them.</p>
<p>My &#8220;take away&#8221; from this sort of behavior:  They earnestly don&#8217;t want America to survive as a sovereign nation.  Or, they are playing some childish, &#8220;me first&#8221; political game, all to see who can pee higher on the post, and are so ignorant, they cannot see, or lazy and will not exert the mental energy to envision the likely outcomes and consequences or their actions.  If they thought for one minute where they are taking us, against the will of 48% of the voter, we would never see any of this.</p>
<p>So, here&#8217;s my assistance, being the process and efficiency person I am, to help my Dear Leader get things done.  If you have additions/edits/changes/alternative suggestions, what the heck, post them in the comments and in a month, maybe we can ship them off to Rahm for consideration.  My &#8220;Death to America™!  Campaign (DATC) Accelerator Plan&#8221; Or just &#8220;DTACAP&#8221; for short reference:</p>
<ul>
<li>Immediately dismantle the entire Department of Defense and Department of Homeland Security.  Immediately force through shift of current and out year funds for direct DoD/DHS OMN and OPN costs to the Welfare system.</li>
<li>Put all military facilities up for auction, with the provision that the bidders must be 1) A group on the Terrorist list, 2) a nation listed as supporting terrorism, 3) China or 4) George Soros.  Establish top bid of $1USD.  Proceeds to be placed against the National Debt.</li>
<li>All military/DHS equipment likewise auctioned, but top bid allowed $.50USD.  Provision:  Computer networks will not be scrubbed of National Security/classified data and all passwords for access to same shall be provided to the winning bidder(s).</li>
<li>NASA and Department of Energy will be funded, with money taken directly out of the paychecks of registered Republicans, as common research and development office to promote the ability of Islamic Terrorist (only the registered ones on the list may participate) to develop, maintain, sustain, deploy and detonate nuclear weapons via guided missiles and rockets against all enemies of Mohammad, specifically in territory not already absorbed into the Caliphate, and within, if there is a danger of democracy and/or Woman&#8217;s (or even Human) Rights gaining a foothold.</li>
<li>All Radio stations will be nationalized, and then auctioned.  Top bid more for this, like maybe $1000USD, basd on the value of controlling the media.  TV news and newspapers will be nationalized, but retained for use by the White House Chief of Staff.  Reporters, anchors and researchers and producers/editors will be on nation wide teleconference (one way broadcast only, no questions allowed without prior submission) with the White House Chief of staff daily at 0700AM (Eastern) to receive &#8220;Talking Points&#8221; for the day.  All FCC functions will fall directly under the control of the WH CoS.  FCC post will be retitled to &#8220;Communications Puppet of the Puppet Master for Mind Control Operations in Support of the Dismantle America Project (DAP)&#8221; (a subset of DTAC)</li>
</ul>
<p>This will accomplish putting essentially all  Americans on the dole, while making sure the enemy sheds no more blood, and spend very little money, as reparations of the &#8220;oppression&#8221; since 622AD at the hands of those who refused to bow before their bloody conquests of Europe and Africa, before being pushed back from the Gates of Vienna.  Think about it:  President Obama can have his cake and be loved by the citizens of the World sooner, you know, because we don&#8217;t love him enough and I wonder:  Is Michelle now proud daily of America?</p>
<p>Update 2/14/2009:  Seems like part of the plan is already rolling out. <a href="http://israelmatzav.blogspot.com/2009/02/obama-to-drop-sanctions-against-iran.html">Obama lifts sanctions on Iran</a> because they didn&#8217;t slow them down.  So&#8230;I guess no sanctions are really gonna screw the Iranian plans to nuke Israel!  He&#8217;s a plant, or a pea brain with a good teleprompter speech.</p>
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		<title>Politics Above Nation:  President Obama at the Helm</title>
		<link>http://www.therosistance.org/2009/02/politics-above-nation-president-obama-at-the-helm/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=politics-above-nation-president-obama-at-the-helm</link>
		<comments>http://www.therosistance.org/2009/02/politics-above-nation-president-obama-at-the-helm/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 12 Feb 2009 14:47:16 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>editor</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA["Soft Power"]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[2nd Amendment]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[4th Amendment]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Acrimony]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Assault on The Constituion]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Call to Action]]></category>
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		<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[guantanamo bay]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Obama]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Terrorism]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[terrorists]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.therosistance.org/?p=197</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[The President of the United States, in an effort to fulfill promises to some of his supporters, has placed more people, here and abroad, in mortal danger. This statement is not made lightly, and it is supported by his own staff, and is based upon how the Nations non-military legal system works. He is a [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>The President of the United States, in an effort to fulfill promises to some of his supporters, has placed more people, here and abroad, in mortal danger.</p>
<p>This statement is not made lightly, and it is supported by his own staff, and is based upon how the Nations non-military legal system works.</p>
<p>He is a lawyer, who seems to not understand the law, or he is more concerned with keeping support of those who make dangerous and outrageous decisions, based on emotion, not reality or legal precedent, nor even common sense.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/feb/12/obamas-outrageous-oversight/">The manner in which he is closing the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba</a> also allows the detainess access to National Security Secrets:</p>
<blockquote><p>President Obama clearly didn&#8217;t do his homework before ordering the suspension of military tribunals to try terrorist suspects. We have learned that even his own legal counsel admitted that Mr. Obama erred in discussing details about terrorism with families of victims last week, and that the administration was ignorant of a key point that terrorists exploit to their advantage. In his rush to fulfill a campaign promise to his more fervid anti-war supporters, the president&#8217;s legal oversights risk the disclosure of some highly classified information to terrorists.<br />
[...]</p></blockquote>
<p>The Washington Times editorial, quoted above, calls this an &#8220;oversight.&#8221;  I would refer to it more appropriately as an &#8220;egregious error in judgment,&#8221; as that is more fitting.</p>
<p>Blundering ahead at full speed to make good on what he described, right after being elected as “Campaign Rhetoric,”  so as to continue to maintain a razor’s edge of majority of support for his ill conceived plans, he is oblivious to the consequences of the mis-use of his real powers.</p>
<p>Think about it:  Many of us were justifiable upset when the New York Times published stories about tracking terrorists by their cell phone signals, or the international money trail, or that some very hardened terrorists were kept in prisons elsewhere (a policy put in place by President Clinton and Leon Panetta, but blamed on President Bush (43)).  In this case, the legal process to &#8220;bring them to justice&#8221; will actually cause the Federal Government to hand over classified information to those who&#8217;s stated purpose is to destroy this nation.  It is a methodology that leads to national suicide.  Why?  So President Obama can wake up in the morning and say to himself in the mirror &#8220;I kept my promises&#8221; as he grows old and has left the White House.</p>
<p>Additionally, unlike those who believed the single human being named George W Bush was the origin and locus of all evil in the world, I comprehend that the President is supported by many, many staff people, who are picked for their understanding.  His decisions will, in many cases be directly formed as a result of the positions they present to him.  Analysis:  They, too are a bunch of zealots, and not thoughtful, experienced, intelligent people.  They, too, are unreasonable in their judgment, and it affects the people of the US and the entire world, when they fail to grasp the magnitude of their words to the President, written or spoken.</p>
<p>In thinking about the approach I have observed of the President since he took office, I thought back to his acceptance speech.  It all of a sudden struck me that a key word &#8220;hear&#8221; was used on the evening of November 4th, 2008 at Grant park, but it does explain much.</p>
<blockquote><p>And to those Americans whose support I have yet to earn, I may not have won your vote tonight, but I hear your voices. I need your help. And I will be your president, too.</p></blockquote>
<p>Think about it:  &#8220;I hear&#8221; your voices.  What if he had said &#8220;I will listen to your voices&#8221; and then added something like:  &#8220;so we may find the best course to take the Nation into the future in these challenging times.&#8221;  That would have implied that there are possibilities for good ideas to be formed on either or both sides of the aisle, while not surrendering his elective decision making status to just anyone with a voice from the opposition.</p>
<p>He cannot deny the voices are raised now.  He hears them alright, and responds by calling them &#8220;so called economists&#8221; and telling also elected officials of the Nation &#8220;I won.&#8221;</p>
<p>I credit his self-centered, dismissive attitude of no one can know except him in not gathering the rest of us to help him.  He slaps us in the face at every opportunity, then lifts his socialistic, union controlled, special interest groups into our faces and tells us they deserve to have access to an exceedingly large amount of capital the economy can produce.  How does he expect to get help in this manner?</p>
<p>He is doing exactly as he is saying, he is carrying out a slash and burn campaign against his political adversaries, and the economy of the nation, which impacts the economic underpinnings of the world.</p>
<p>I come back to this point:  bad judgment is not an option, as he has shown in the case of signing an Executive Order immediately upon taking office, which, puts us all at risk, himself included, and his wife and children.</p>
<p>On a cold winter day in January 1979, I stood on the bridge wing of a Navy replenishment oiler, preparing to get underway from the NATO fuel pier in Gaeta, Italy, with the position of Junior Officer of the Deck, and I had the &#8220;conn&#8221; (authority to issue rudder and engine orders).  The Officer of the Deck, LCDR Mike Hunt and I had already briefed the brand new Captain (Chance of command had been about two hours prior) on how we planned to maneuver the ship safely out of port.  Now we stood ready to put the plan into action, and the winds had changed.  Mike looked at me and said words to the effect:  &#8220;It&#8217;s a foolish man who sticks with the plan when the evidence says he needs to change it.&#8221;</p>
<p>That concept, while I don&#8217;t believe I have the exact wording, was clear.  A plan is great.  But with more specific knowledge, the wise person reconsiders and adjusts operations, before causing, in that case, our possible grounding of a major logistics asset for the 6th Fleet.</p>
<p>Can I ask:  Will we survive his ignorant/arrogance/stupidity, and that of his supporting staff, if this is the manner in which he will act as the leader of the most powerful nation in the history of mankind?</p>
<p>The &#8220;America First&#8221; crowd must step in the face of the &#8220;Politics First&#8221; mentality that has overrun the nation.</p>
<p>He is my president because I believe in The Constitution as the foundational guidance.  His acceptance speech wasn&#8217;t tossing me a life line, it was a statement of the obvious, placed to imply he was interested in unity.  He is not, he merely wants to eat his waffles, and he wants to eat them now and <a href="http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123440526764875671.html">someone agrees with me at the Wall Street Journal.</a></p>
<p>Update 2/12/2009:  Another view of <a href="http://www.evilconservativeonline.com/2009/02/how-president-obama-is-political.html">who&#8217;s the terrorist at The Evil Conservative.</a></p>
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		<title>Iranian War Plans:  Maybe They are Clear.</title>
		<link>http://www.therosistance.org/2009/02/iranian-war-plans/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=iranian-war-plans</link>
		<comments>http://www.therosistance.org/2009/02/iranian-war-plans/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 06 Feb 2009 18:32:54 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>editor</dc:creator>
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		<category><![CDATA[strategy]]></category>
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		<category><![CDATA[susanna]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.therosistance.org/?p=159</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[One ship was headed from Iran to Gaza, what about the one being held in Greece, headed to Iran, with components to manufacture surface-to-surface missiles? And, by the way, why is Iran (with Russia&#8217;s help) moving quickly to use nuclear power for domestic electricity production, when they have sufficient oil reserves for themselves? Hold that [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>One ship was headed from Iran to Gaza, what about <a href="http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1233304703801&amp;pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull">the one being held in Greece, headed to Iran, with components to manufacture surface-to-surface missiles?</a></p>
<p>And, by the way, why is Iran (with Russia&#8217;s help) moving quickly to use nuclear power for domestic electricity production, when they have sufficient oil reserves for themselves?  Hold that thought, I believe, while focusing on the oil transport issue, stumbled across a major puzzle piece of a war plan here.</p>
<p>And don&#8217;t forget <a href="http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123206759616688285.html">the push to develop a &#8220;domestically produced&#8221; nuclear weapon&#8230;</a></p>
<p>How will the President react, in the face of the Iranian leadership that shows it has no apologies for it&#8217;s efforts to strategically change the face of international relations?  How will the UN react?  Not to mention, <a href="http://archive.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2006/2/28/181730.shtml?s=lh">Iran has laid out this threat before,</a> with no significant response from the rest of the world.</p>
<p>One reaction already we can count on:  <a href="http://www.worldnetdaily.com/?pageId=87759">Obama &#8216;demands&#8217; a 10% military budget cut.</a></p>
<p>This is a major game changer, as is <a href="http://blog.wired.com/defense/2009/02/video-iran-laun.html">the recent launch of a satellite by Iran</a> (demonstration of the ability to employ tactical/strategic ballistic missiles).</p>
<p>In the case of the <em>Susanna</em>, the delivery of parts to make missiles in the category of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exocet">Exocet</a>/<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silkworm_missile">Silkworm</a>/<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing_Harpoon">Harpoon</a> will allow the Iranians to do what it has been attempting to for many decades:  Control the flow of seaborne traffic in an international strait.</p>
<p>The <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Law_of_the_sea_treaty">UN Law of the Sea Treaty (LOST),</a> which the US never signed, objecting to the provisions to share in the mining of sea bed minerals with all countries, is still followed for issues such as the free transit of commerce and warships of straits less that 24 NM wide, and respecting the distance of territorial waters as being 12NM from the coasts of countries.</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><img class="aligncenter" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/cf/Stra%C3%9Fe_von_Hormuz.jpg/250px-Stra%C3%9Fe_von_Hormuz.jpg" alt="" /></p>
<p>The <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strait_of_hormuz">Strait of Hormuz</a> is one such strait, bordered by Oman to the south and Iran to the north.  Strategically, in my former profession, we called this a &#8220;choke point.&#8221;  The sea traffic must, by geography, be funneled in such a manner as to make it vulnerable to attack from land bases.  If this is to be the choice of the offensive on the World&#8217;s oil based economy, then Iran is smart is importing more parts for missiles.  They will have to have a credible, survivable (via protection, or mass quantity) arsenal keep the world rocked back on it&#8217;s heels.  Shooting up a few tankers is a nasty disruption, but a recoverable condition, if the World masses the forces and eliminates a small inventory of weapons ashore.</p>
<p>Add to the issue that between 20 to 40% of the World&#8217;s crude oil transits this strait.</p>
<p>At the same time President Obama is re-imposing bans on offshore drilling (while Cuba and China line up to take out resources), and <a href="http://www.ibdeditorials.com/IBDArticles.aspx?id=318729267253108">the Department of the Interior closes 77 land parcels in Utah</a> (Oh, yes, they went for John McCain in 2008) to exploration and drilling for oil resources, Iran is stepping up its military capabilities.  Net result, if they are allowed to continue with this buildup?  Economics 101:  The price of a barrel of oil will rise, sharply, merely at the threat of the ability to destroy, or bottle up shipping in the Strait of Hormuz.  Or, the other reaction, as a result of, or to preempt, International Relations 101:  The military as a tool of diplomacy will be brought to bear on the situation.</p>
<p>This is an issue, where decisions of domestic policy, in this case regarding energy and the use of natrual resources can directly interplay with our foreign policy.</p>
<p>In this case, where I project the Iranians will employ international blackmail, they are, unlike the current terrorist movement, a sovereign nation with borders, a capital and established, recognized leadership, which puts us back into a regime of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laws_of_war">Laws of Warfare</a>, which is where our understanding is best, far better than how to combat a stateless movement with almost impossible to understand goals and demands.  As some background, this desire of the Iranians to &#8220;manage&#8221; the price of oil is nothing new.  Beginning in 1984, they employed military tactics in <a href="http://countrystudies.us/iraq/105.htm">in the &#8220;Tanker War&#8221;</a>.  As recently as this past year, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strait_of_hormuz#2008_US-Iranian_naval_dispute">the Iranian Revolutionary Guard has harassed US Navy ships in the Strait.</a> If you recall, <a href="http://www.forbes.com/2005/11/01/oil-prices-1861-today-real-vs-nominal_flash.html">during the early and middle parts of 2008, oil prices rose to well over $120/bbl,</a> with this issue being in the forefront of the economic markets.</p>
<p>A conflict with Iran, of a military nature, for us, or other nations is actually being encouraged by the decisions. or non-decisions, by President Obama.  If we enter the conflict, we will be in the very position President Obama told the world we were wrong for doing:  Dictating.  He will necessarily have to tell Iran what they will or will not do.  On the other hand, <a href="http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=CNG.073ba2ee2f1f00668848a4655420fedc.411&amp;show_article=1">I wonder if he &#8220;listened&#8221; to the snub he received from the Iranian leadership,</a> after news of a letter to open relations was in the works?</p>
<p>If President Obama declines to get his hands dirty, explaining away his lack of &#8220;America First&#8221; capabilities by telling us it would be wrong to direct how an nation, a single nation, takes control of a large part of the World&#8217;s energy economy, will the populace accept this &#8220;leadership,&#8221; while our cars sit idle in the driveways and industry grinds to a halt and power companies serve up brown and black outs, in winter and soummer high demand months?  Will he demands &#8220;rationing&#8221; while not even entering a war to secure resources, or wll he relent and turn inwards, tossing the &#8220;Global Warming&#8221; crowd under the bus, while letting us us what resources we have under our feet and near our shores?</p>
<p>Back to &#8220;peaceful&#8221; nuclear power.  If Iran accumulates/develops the ability to employ a massive offensive surface-to-surface missile capability in the Strait of Hormuz and effectively shuts off up to 40% of the crude oil market, and, in preparation, has built a set of nuclear reactors for energy, they will hold a significant trump card, when we attack.  We will, by our domestic policy decisions, be left crippled for energy use, which will affect our ability to effectively employ military power.  If they have also built protected launch sites and forward observation capabilities (necessary to effectively strike the correct targets over the horizon), it will be a war of attrition, with us using up a now finite amount of energy.  That will possibly bring us to another brink of nuclear warfare, as the ICBMs sit ready to launch, their potential energy already committed.</p>
<p>It seems at least one of the two major players in this game understand the need for &#8220;energy independence,&#8221; and not the one who thinks Congress can take over the design of domestically produced cars.</p>
<p>By the way, <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/newsMaps/idUSTRE51538A20090206">our &#8220;allies&#8221; are getting nervous, and looking for some, any approach by our leadership.</a>  Will &#8220;he&#8221; listen or refuse to be dictated to?</p>
<p>The magnitude of the tests, even in his third week in office are reaching gigantic proportions.  He had better be up to it, or the Stimulus will not be necessary&#8230;we&#8217;ll just be cut up and &#8220;sold&#8221; off to the highest bidding nation, like a corporation gone bankrupt.</p>
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		<title>President Obama&#8217;s Test Handed off to the UN</title>
		<link>http://www.therosistance.org/2009/02/president-obamas-test-handed-off-to-the-un/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=president-obamas-test-handed-off-to-the-un</link>
		<comments>http://www.therosistance.org/2009/02/president-obamas-test-handed-off-to-the-un/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 06 Feb 2009 15:25:06 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>editor</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA["Soft Power"]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Foreign Policy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Military Policy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Politics]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[cyprus]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Monchegorsk]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Obama]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[security concil]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[UN]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[UN Sanctions]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.therosistance.org/?p=155</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[The &#8220;crisis&#8221; moves forward.  See the links at the top of this post for my prior posts on the issue. The Monchegorsk, now in Cyprus, is presenting a dilemma for the host country (the supposed nation of the vessel&#8217;s flag): Monchegorsk, a Russian-owned cargo ship traveling under a Cypriot flag, is moored in Limassol, Cyprus. [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<div class='series_toc'><h3>Table of contents for The Voyage of the <em>Monchegorsk</em></h3><ol><li><a href='http://www.therosistance.org/2009/02/cyprus-offloads-aid-bound-for-gaza/' title='Cyprus Offloads &#8220;Aid&#8221; Bound for Gaza'>Cyprus Offloads &#8220;Aid&#8221; Bound for Gaza</a></li><li><a href='http://www.therosistance.org/2009/02/the-real-effect-on-international-relations-playing-out/' title='The Real Effect on International Relations Playing Out'>The Real Effect on International Relations Playing Out</a></li><li><a href='http://www.therosistance.org/2009/01/the-iranian-ship-that-should-have-been-escorted-to-a-port-and-offloaded/' title='The &#8220;Iranian&#8221; Ship That Should Have Been Escorted to a Port and Offloaded'>The &#8220;Iranian&#8221; Ship That Should Have Been Escorted to a Port and Offloaded</a></li><li><a href='http://www.therosistance.org/2009/01/test-1-fail-iranian-ship-sails-on/' title='Test #1:  Fail &#8211; Iranian Ship Sails On'>Test #1:  Fail &#8211; Iranian Ship Sails On</a></li><li>President Obama&#8217;s Test Handed off to the UN</li></ol></div> <p>The &#8220;crisis&#8221; moves forward.  See the links at the top of this post for my prior posts on the issue.</p>
<p>The <em>Monchegorsk</em>, now in Cyprus, is presenting a dilemma for the host country (the supposed nation of the vessel&#8217;s flag):</p>
<blockquote><p><em>Monchegorsk</em>, a Russian-owned cargo ship traveling under a Cypriot flag, is moored in Limassol, Cyprus. Its cargo includes substantial military materiel (exactly what remains a mystery), loaded in Iran.</p>
<p>Cyprus has asked the Security Council for guidance: Should it confiscate the cargo, and expose it to show the danger Iran poses to the whole region? Should it send it back to Iran, or let it go on its way?</p></blockquote>
<p>Wonderful.  The Council that can certainly write strongly worded sanctions (reference:  Iraq, and now Iran) and somehow never has the courage to enforce them, is asked to decide how to treat the blatant violation of Resolution 1747 against a nation that is on the brink of fielding a nuclear weapon, while telling the UN IAEA leader &#8220;it&#8217;s all for &#8216;peaceful&#8217; purposes&#8221; for years, will &#8220;decide&#8221; what to do with this war material contraband.</p>
<p>My prediction:  A strongly worded &#8220;don&#8217;t do that anymore&#8221; memo shall be issued, and the government of Cyprus will be told to let the ship sail as it wishes (probably being ordered to supply them with fuel and stores for any future journey, at the cost of Cyprus, so as not to display a &#8220;clenched fist&#8221; towards the Mullah&#8217;s or Iran.</p>
<p>I&#8217;m having a harder and harder time understanding how educated people cannot read their own writings and make the decision based on what was written.  It seems any set of words, produced at an extreme financial investment, means nothing, and when challenged, is quickly, and apoligetically reveresed if anyone had the determination to stand up and scream discrimination.</p>
<p>Maybe the US should try it.  Oh, I forgot, President Obama can&#8217;t confront people, he has to work in the dark, and through proxies in his political warfare..and saying &#8220;I Won!&#8221;</p>
 <div class='series_links'><a href='http://www.therosistance.org/2009/01/test-1-fail-iranian-ship-sails-on/' title='Test #1:  Fail &#8211; Iranian Ship Sails On'>Previous in series</a> </div>]]></content:encoded>
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		<title>Religious Discrimintion in Porkulus:  Yep, It&#8217;s in There!</title>
		<link>http://www.therosistance.org/2009/02/religious-discrimintion-in-porkulus-yep-its-in-there/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=religious-discrimintion-in-porkulus-yep-its-in-there</link>
		<comments>http://www.therosistance.org/2009/02/religious-discrimintion-in-porkulus-yep-its-in-there/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 06 Feb 2009 15:01:33 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>editor</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA["Soft Power"]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Call to Action]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Domestic Policy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Financial]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[aclu]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Congress]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[freedom of religion]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Jim DeMint]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Obama]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[religious discrimination]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[stimuls bill porkulus]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.therosistance.org/?p=151</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Did you know that the “Bail Out”/”Stimulus” money that would go to universities would have a condition attached? Any building that this money is used to repair/renovate/build could not be used for religious purposes? The question that comes to mind should be: “and just how does that stimulate the economy?” You don’t have to believe [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><!--[endif]--></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Did you know that the “Bail Out”/”Stimulus” money that would go to universities would have a condition attached?<span> </span>Any building that this money is used to repair/renovate/build could not be used for religious purposes?<span> </span>The question that comes to mind should be:<span> </span>“and just how does that stimulate the economy?”</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">
<p class="MsoNormal">You don’t have to believe me, you don’t have to go to <a href="http://www.snopes.com/">Snopes</a> (but you can if you’d like).<span> </span>Here is <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jCI2PZKtqgQ&amp;eurl=http://patriotroom.com/">a link to the YouTube video of Senator Jim DeMint (R-SC)</a> addressing Congress on what he found in the “Stimulus Bill,” which is being used to promote a variety of leftist and socialist agendas, as well as a vehicle to pay back Democratic supporters of President Obama, Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">
<p class="MsoNormal">That would mean a dorm building, if they redid the floors, could not be used to hold Bible Studies.<span> </span>A class building could not be used for theology classes…Student centers would be likewise prohibited from use for things like Campus Crusade meetings.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">
<p class="MsoNormal">Now, in case you think “Who would track where the money was spent and then sit around to monitor the future use of the facilities?<span> </span>Geez…they need a life!”<span> </span>Think the lawyers and their minions at ACLU.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">
<p class="MsoNormal">Consider this:<span> </span>Nancy Pelosi got caught and had to have her money for birth control pulled out.<span> </span>This situation, to choke off religious freedom, which, is in direct violation The Constitution, is the way of the people in Washington DC work now.<span> </span>They most likely have much more “hidden” in the bill, behind lots of language, knowing some things they want will get done will miss the scrutiny in the rush to get this bill passed.<span> </span>President Obama pushes daily, knowing the longer we actually consciously consider, with deliberation and respectful questions, the more of these sorts of insidious measure will be found out.<span> </span>I believe what happened over decades should not be fixed in a quick flurry of half thought out methods.<span> </span>The future is too important, and besides, look at how we are now seeing the aftermath of the TARP Bill of late last year, done in a rush, and now subject to waste, fraud and abuse at the billion dollar level…</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">
<p class="MsoNormal">I urge you to contact your senators immediately and voice your opinion on this issue, and be ready to act more opening in the coming days.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">
<p class="MsoNormal">Here is <a href="http://www.visi.com/juan/congress/">an easy link</a> to making sure you get the connection with your senators and representatives in Congress.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">
<p class="MsoNormal">I just found <a href="http://www.congress.org/">CongressNow.</a><span> </span>It has a variety of tools to keep you updated on issues, voting, status of legislation, and a method to directly contract those who represent you.<span> </span>I have no stake in the site, but it appears to be well laid out and informative.<span> </span>You can even sign up to have an weekly email on how your reps voted!</p>
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		<title>The Real Effect on International Relations Playing Out</title>
		<link>http://www.therosistance.org/2009/02/the-real-effect-on-international-relations-playing-out/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=the-real-effect-on-international-relations-playing-out</link>
		<comments>http://www.therosistance.org/2009/02/the-real-effect-on-international-relations-playing-out/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 05 Feb 2009 17:27:20 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>editor</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA["Soft Power"]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Foreign Policy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Military Policy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Politics]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[contraband]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[embargo]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Iran]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Monchegorsk]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Obama]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[UN Resolution 1747]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.therosistance.org/?p=140</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Previously on the tale of the &#8220;Iranian&#8221; cargo vessel&#8230; More today on what the Cypriot inspectors are finding in the Monchegorsk&#8217;s holds, but with more information regarding the effect of President Obama directing the US Navy to let this vessel sail on, despite being in specific violation of UN Resolution 1747 is discussed by DEBKA [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<div class='series_toc'><h3>Table of contents for The Voyage of the <em>Monchegorsk</em></h3><ol><li><a href='http://www.therosistance.org/2009/02/cyprus-offloads-aid-bound-for-gaza/' title='Cyprus Offloads &#8220;Aid&#8221; Bound for Gaza'>Cyprus Offloads &#8220;Aid&#8221; Bound for Gaza</a></li><li>The Real Effect on International Relations Playing Out</li><li><a href='http://www.therosistance.org/2009/01/the-iranian-ship-that-should-have-been-escorted-to-a-port-and-offloaded/' title='The &#8220;Iranian&#8221; Ship That Should Have Been Escorted to a Port and Offloaded'>The &#8220;Iranian&#8221; Ship That Should Have Been Escorted to a Port and Offloaded</a></li><li><a href='http://www.therosistance.org/2009/01/test-1-fail-iranian-ship-sails-on/' title='Test #1:  Fail &#8211; Iranian Ship Sails On'>Test #1:  Fail &#8211; Iranian Ship Sails On</a></li><li><a href='http://www.therosistance.org/2009/02/president-obamas-test-handed-off-to-the-un/' title='President Obama&#8217;s Test Handed off to the UN'>President Obama&#8217;s Test Handed off to the UN</a></li></ol></div> <p><a href="http://www.therosistance.org/wp-admin/post.php?action=edit&amp;post=130">Previously on the tale of the &#8220;Iranian&#8221; cargo vessel&#8230;</a></p>
<p><a href="http://patriotroom.com/article/gaza-naval-blockade-to-be-tested">More today</a> on what the Cypriot inspectors are finding in the <em>Monchegorsk&#8217;s</em> holds, but with more information regarding the effect of President Obama directing the US Navy to let this vessel sail on, despite being in specific violation of <a href="http://www.mideastweb.org/1747.htm">UN Resolution 1747</a> is discussed by <a href="http://www.debka.com/headline.php?hid=5896">DEBKA Files</a>:</p>
<blockquote><p>DEBKAfile&#8217;s military sources report that Tehran is preparing to send a number of arms vessels to break the blockade on Gaza, encouraged by the failure of the US, Egyptian and Israeli navies to confiscate the arms aboard the Cypriot-flagged arms ships now docked at Limassol.</p>
<p>The Iranians calculate that while not all the ships may get through the Israeli naval blockade, one would suffice. Our sources report that some are already on the way. They are expected to enter the Gulf of Suez and waters opposite Gaza over the weekend and try to drop their cargoes of weapons containers off shore. Israeli warships and spy planes are tracking them.</p></blockquote>
<p>It&#8217;s a &#8220;weak horse&#8221; sort of effect, as Osama bin Laden mentioned years back. President Obama is showing himself to be the &#8220;weak&#8221; and the Iranians are going to jump into the power vacuum left behind when President Bush, the cowboy left office.</p>
<p>Why did President Obama let the ship sail? <a href="http://www.menewsline.com/article-1150,2543-U-S-Releases-Iranian-Weapons-Shi.aspx">It couldn&#8217;t be determined if the weaponry aboard was bound for Gaza and Hamas.</a></p>
<p>Point of order:  The UN Resolution 1747 does not prohibit Iran from exporting arms to Hmams, but to any country of entity.  Quote paragraph &#8220;5. Decides that Iran shall not supply, sell or transfer directly or indirectly from its territory or by its nationals or using its flag vessels or aircraft any arms or related materiel, and that all States shall prohibit the procurement of such items from Iran by their nationals, or using their flag vessels or aircraft, and whether or not originating in the territory of Iran.&#8221;</p>
<p>If President Obama was a law professor, how could he have misinterpreted this directive from the UN.  He claims he wants to get world opinion on our side before acting.  There it was, and he still cannot manage to step up to the plate.  On the other hand, the UN themselves, obviously, woun&#8217;t get their hands dirty, either.</p>
<p>So who will protect the World, when there is no &#8220;policeman&#8221; who is willing to not turn a blind eye to crime on his beat or watch?  This is a major problem, and the adversaries, or not only us, but any western nation, now have been put on notice that we will actually observe an illegal act, and let ti go unchallenged.</p>
<p>I began this series describing how this was not a simple issue, but a major test of the Obama Administrations foreign policy,, and it is proving to be correct.</p>
<p>Isn&#8217;t it interesting how two of our Presidents, who, as history records, stood up to those who would want to conquer the world and held the line, or pushed them back are both &#8220;Cowboys.&#8221;</p>
<p>In the long run, I&#8217;d say history will record the result of those compared with the strong spirited men who tamed the west will be the ones who also protected much of the world from disaster.</p>
 <div class='series_links'><a href='http://www.therosistance.org/2009/02/cyprus-offloads-aid-bound-for-gaza/' title='Cyprus Offloads &#8220;Aid&#8221; Bound for Gaza'>Previous in series</a> <a href='http://www.therosistance.org/2009/01/the-iranian-ship-that-should-have-been-escorted-to-a-port-and-offloaded/' title='The &#8220;Iranian&#8221; Ship That Should Have Been Escorted to a Port and Offloaded'>Next in series</a></div>]]></content:encoded>
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		<title>Keeping Promises:  Direct Talks with Iran and the Long Term Affects</title>
		<link>http://www.therosistance.org/2009/01/keeping-promises-direct-talks-with-iran/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=keeping-promises-direct-talks-with-iran</link>
		<comments>http://www.therosistance.org/2009/01/keeping-promises-direct-talks-with-iran/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 28 Jan 2009 15:42:16 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>editor</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA["Soft Power"]]></category>
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		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.therosistance.org/?p=107</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Well, here we are in Week Two of the Change Presidency, and it&#8217;s changing the World alright. Count on it: If President Obama said it in the race to the White House, it will be done or pushed hard. Guess what? He really will hold direct talks with a nation that declared war on us [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Well, here we are in Week Two of the Change Presidency, and it&#8217;s changing the World alright.  Count on it:  If President Obama said it in the race to the White House, it will be done or pushed hard.</p>
<p>Guess what?  <a href="http://lawhawk.blogspot.com/2009/01/obamas-dangerous-course-of-action-on.html">He really will hold direct talks with a nation that declared war on us in 1979.</a></p>
<p>Just a few days ago, he told the Arab news interviewer that America has too often dictated to other nations.  Now, maybe in some warped emotion of &#8220;fairness,&#8221; President Obama wants to let other nations get their fair share of dictating to the rest of the World.  Look at it like &#8220;reparations of a diplomatic type.&#8221;  You know, Iran is all about telling us how we will do things with/for them <a href="http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5gxQ0rp4XSoKMXGIbJZIXd0ytLJKA">(basically dictating to the President that he will do as he said and change)</a>, while President Obama will set on &#8220;pre-conditions.&#8221;</p>
<p>I&#8217;m really wondering, just who got elected to the most powerful position in the World.</p>
<p>Note:  If you read down in the post at Lawhawk, you&#8217;ll note the other promise of President Obama mentioned:  Getting rid of Missile Defense Systems.  Now, just why do you think <a href="http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20090128/ts_nm/us_russia_usa_shield">the Russians have decided to offer to not put offensive weapons in place</a> to counter the missile defense systems President Bush was working to place in Eastern Europe, to protect that region from ballistic missiles fired from Iran?  Note:  <a href="http://samsonblinded.org/news/russia-delivers-s-300-to-iran-5318">Iran has contracted to buy Russian made S-300 anti-aircraft systems, and Russia has been assisting Iran in developing &#8220;peaceful&#8221; nuclear plants.</a></p>
<p><a href="http://samsonblinded.org/news/russia-delivers-s-300-to-iran-5318">Why would Russia back off after </a><a href="http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/europe/article4295309.ece">all the threats issued to President Bush?</a> My conjecture:  It gives President Obama &#8220;top cover&#8221; to slash the missile defense work out of the entire budget, saying the threat has evaporated.  Practically:  That leaves us, as well as Allies (which he says he wants to work with on world issues &#8211; I guess the MSM asked who he considered allies, and who he considered enemies, right?) out in the cold, while the Russians develop new generations of ballistic missiles and as Iran works towards longer ranged tactical ballistic weapons, and heads towards strategic ones.  And <a href="http://lawhawk.blogspot.com/2008/11/iran-continues-annihilation-rhetoric.html">Iran has called for the eliminatation Israel from the face of the planet.</a>  Words, just words, I guess.</p>
<p>Tell me, if our own President has made the decision to make sure he speficically and exactly fulfills his promises he made on the Campaign trail, and now in his Inauguration Speech, why would he dismiss that other world leaders/spokepeople wold not do the same, or will he pretend he is the only one who will be ture to his own words?</p>
<p>Is the connection all to clear here?</p>
<p>The major power players in the World, Russia, Iran, China and North Korea will see how this Administration handles this &#8220;test&#8221; and move forward accordingly.  The stage has just been set for the rest of the world to govern our every act, from energy consumed (energy policy tied to international Kyoto type treaties) to the use of our military (with the UN dictating to us when and where &#8211; count on the military staying in place as a arm of the UN to send troops to issue rations to starving nations, at the US taxpayers expense, but never being given the Rules of Engagement to actually defend anyone, let alone the US, our citizens, or commerce abroad.</p>
<p>Point of education:  Major military developments don&#8217;t come up to operational use with the snap of anyone&#8217;s fingers.  They take years of analysis, development, testing and then fielding.  Dropping the work on the missile defense will:  Cut jobs for skilled American workers (oh, yes&#8230;that&#8217;s already been called for by the new Secretary of Labor), and all the supporting industries that are involved in the support and supplying functions.</p>
<p>It won&#8217;t be long before the World celebrates our new found &#8220;domesticability&#8221; for them to come around and ask us to &#8220;Sit!&#8221;, &#8220;Lay Down!&#8221;, &#8220;Stay!&#8221; or&#8230;the favorite, I&#8217;ll predict:  &#8220;Play DEAD!&#8221;</p>
<p>And to toss another log on the fire, wasn&#8217;t it Candidate Obama who chastised the Bush Administration for going it alone and not working with our Allies?  <a href="http://daledamos.blogspot.com/2009/01/obama-does-change-include-snubbing-our.html">So, who does he think he is now?</a>  God&#8217;s gift to a world desiring to be peaceful at the wave of a hand?</p>
<p>Thank you, President Obama, for dooming present and future generations of Americans to serving the whims of dictators and tyrants around the world, while using their money to be subject to the abuse.</p>
<p>In the end of this course of action, President Obama will have turned his back on the countries we have been allied with and try to become allies with those who are our enemies.  Net result:  We will be alone, very alone in the geo-political world, with our necks bared to the wrath of those who hate anything &#8220;Western&#8221; and their knifes.</p>
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		<title>The First Test &#8211; Irainian Weapons Bound for Gaza</title>
		<link>http://www.therosistance.org/2009/01/the-first-test-irainian-weapons-bound-for-gaza/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=the-first-test-irainian-weapons-bound-for-gaza</link>
		<comments>http://www.therosistance.org/2009/01/the-first-test-irainian-weapons-bound-for-gaza/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 25 Jan 2009 15:08:09 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>editor</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA["Soft Power"]]></category>
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		<category><![CDATA[Assault on The Constituion]]></category>
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		<category><![CDATA[contraband]]></category>
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		<category><![CDATA[maritime]]></category>
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		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.therosistance.org/?p=82</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Vice-President Biden warned us a test for the President would come. I believe it is here and now. It will define the relationship President Obama forms with the most significant exporter of terror. It is a big deal, regardless of how small it appears. Players: Iran, Israel, the US Navy, Hamas, Egypt, and the Gulf [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Vice-President Biden warned us a test for the President would come.  I believe it is here and now.  It will define the relationship President Obama forms with the most significant exporter of terror.  It is a big deal, regardless of how small it appears.</p>
<p>Players:  Iran, Israel, the US Navy, Hamas, Egypt, and the Gulf States.  Toss in the pirates in the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea area, if you like.  It&#8217;s a very complicated matter, not for the faint at heart, or the international affairs inexperienced crowd (I count both the President and the Secretary in that group, and I don&#8217;t trust the judgment of Vice President Biden in such issues &#8211; he&#8217;s been wrong far too often)</p>
<p><a href="http://patriotroom.com/article/news-blackout--iranian-weapons-ship-in-us-control">Irainian Weapons Ship Under US Control.</a></p>
<p>A &#8220;merchant&#8221; ship, chock full of weapons, ranging from small arms and explosives, to rockets and rocket launchers, in plain view, and in &#8220;secret&#8221; welded shut compartments, as detected by the USCG boarding teams that ride US ships in the Indian Ocean region to provide the specific skill of &#8220;Visit Boarding Search and Seizure&#8221; (VBSS), making sure all the maritime legal rules are met.</p>
<p>So, here we have it:  We now are in control of the future of this vessel, which, as noted in the article sailed under one name, and later changed it (nothing to hide&#8230;).  The Navy shadowed it, and now controls it.  It has weaponry bound for the Hamas players, who are wantonly, and with evil intent, killing Israelis, mostly civilians, but happier, I&#8217;m sure to kill the IDF soldiers, too.  We, as a Nation have always been allied with Israel, however, President Obama&#8217;s first ever phone call to a foreign leader was to President Abbas, of the Palestinians authority of Gaza.</p>
<p>Who;&#8217;s side will we be on?  To let the ship proceed to it&#8217;s destination is to sentence more Israelis to death, with full knowledge of this fact.  To hold it, means we need to take it to a neutral port and have the contraband offloaded.  That triggers the second international issue, as noted in the article:  Where?</p>
<p>Like the confrontation with Libya in 1986, Europe, who was under threat of attack by Khadaffi, except for Italy, stopped all support for US forces involved in the Freedom of Navigation operations.  Now, Egypt, a Muslim nation, who doesn&#8217;t want the conflict between the Israelis and the Palestinians to go on is still&#8230;part of the Muslims.  To let their port be used makes them look like they are siding with the &#8220;Occupiers.&#8221;  They will most likely decline a port facility.  The Gulf Nations, are but a hop, skip and a short-range tactical missile (SCUD like weapons) from the originator of the shipment, Iran.  Even if they disagree with Iran&#8217;s involvement, they are within the &#8220;weapons envelope&#8221; of that nation.  Other countries?  Aden, Yemen, Sudan?  Basically lawless nations, in the best of cases, but in the worst, radicalized Muslim states.</p>
<p>So, for the new administration, via proxies and a maritime issue, President Obama can now see if he&#8217;s got the guts to step onto the World&#8217;s stage.</p>
<p>Options:  &#8220;Talk to them.&#8221;  Didn&#8217;t work for Jimmy Carter.  Didn&#8217;t work, in the long run for Bill Clinton.  Sanctions?  At least delayed some of it for both Bushs.  Strongly worded letters?  Good luck.  President Ahmadinejad could lose his head or be hanged from a construction crane or be stoned, as so ordered by the mullahs.  Do you think a personal phone call from President Obama has any leverage?</p>
<p>I think the Iraian leadership is having a big party right now, pre-celebrating their success of shoving weapons meant to directly be used in a conflict against our ally and we will not have the courage to take the difficult, step to stop it.</p>
<p>I predict President Obama will, via the media, but not directly in public, say this behavior is unacceptable, then and we&#8217;ll count on the Iranians seeing a new page has been turned, so we&#8217;ll let this count a &#8220;Strike One.&#8221;  The Navy will be ordered to pull the VBSS teams off and allow the ship to continue on it&#8217;s voyage.</p>
<p>He&#8217;ll call it &#8220;diplomacy.&#8221;  I call it &#8220;gutless.&#8221;</p>
<p>Update late 1/25/2009:  More AK-47s, SEMTEX and rockets are bad enough, under the circumstances, but what if there is <a href="http://ibloga.blogspot.com/2009/01/concern-in-intelligence-circles-that.html">a &#8220;dirty bomb&#8221; on another Iranian ship headed for Gaza?</a>  The stakes for the manner in which President Obama responds go way, way up.</p>
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