Saturday, February 05, 2011

US Tells Russia Britain's Nuclear Secrets

How many more ways can this administration screw this country's traditional friends and allies? Alas, imagination knows no bounds in this area:
The US secretly agreed to give the Russians sensitive information on Britain’s nuclear deterrent to persuade them to sign a key treaty, The Daily Telegraph can disclose.

Information about every Trident missile the US supplies to Britain will be given to Russia as part of an arms control deal signed by President Barack Obama next week.

Does Obama Dishonor the UK on Purpose?
Defence analysts claim the agreement risks undermining Britain’s policy of refusing to confirm the exact size of its nuclear arsenal.

The fact that the Americans used British nuclear secrets as a bargaining chip also sheds new light on the so-called “special relationship”, which is shown often to be a one-sided affair by US diplomatic communications obtained by the WikiLeaks website.

Details of the behind-the-scenes talks are contained in more than 1,400 US embassy cables published to date by the Telegraph, including almost 800 sent from the London Embassy, which are published online today.
Sadly, we asked Great Britain for permission to divulge this information, Britain refused, yet we used an underhanded method of supplying information anyway:
Although the treaty was not supposed to have any impact on Britain, the leaked cables show that Russia used the talks to demand more information about the UK’s Trident missiles, which are manufactured and maintained in the US.

Washington lobbied London in 2009 for permission to supply Moscow with detailed data about the performance of UK missiles. The UK refused, but the US agreed to hand over the serial numbers of Trident missiles it transfers to Britain.

Professor Malcolm Chalmers said: “This appears to be significant because while the UK has announced how many missiles it possesses, there has been no way for the Russians to verify this. Over time, the unique identifiers will provide them with another data point to gauge the size of the British arsenal.”

Duncan Lennox, editor of Jane’s Strategic Weapons Systems, said: “They want to find out whether Britain has more missiles than we say we have, and having the unique identifiers might help them.”
This is positively shameful. Great Britain has been a loyal ally for many generations and the Obama administration has given them the back of its hand at every opportunity. We're treating them a lack of respect that even our foes are not afforded by this president.

As an American, I'm increasingly embarrassed by the arrogant and obtuse actions of President Obama, particularly in the area of foreign policy.  This particular incident is a breach of confidence and an abject sell-out of one of our dearest friends.  One must question whether this continued shabby treatment of the UK is calculated on the part of the President and his administration.  If that's the case, and you consider yourself an ally of the United States, you would be advised to watch you back for the foreseeable future.

Thursday, February 03, 2011

Dennis Miller On Fire!

I have a bit to do today, but for those of you who haven't seen Dennis Miller's recent HBO special, The Big Speech, I'll leave you with what may be the best 10 minutes that you'll spend all day.

Dennis has become a national treasure.

(NOTE: "Colorful" language warning)

Wednesday, February 02, 2011

Is There Nothing That Global Warming Cannot Do?

It would appear that the answer is "no"; Global Warming can make it warmer, or it can make it colder. If you don't believe me, just ask Al Gore:

Last week on his show Bill O’Reilly asked, “Why has southern New York turned into the tundra?” and then said he had a call into me. I appreciate the question.
As it turns out, the scientific community has been addressing this particular question for some time now and they say that increased heavy snowfalls are completely consistent with what they have been predicting as a consequence of man-made global warming:

“In fact, scientists have been warning for at least two decades that global warming could make snowstorms more severe. Snow has two simple ingredients: cold and moisture. Warmer air collects moisture like a sponge until it hits a patch of cold air. When temperatures dip below freezing, a lot of moisture creates a lot of snow.”

“A rise in global temperature can create all sorts of havoc, ranging from hotter dry spells to colder winters, along with increasingly violent storms, flooding, forest fires and loss of endangered species.”
Well, there you go. If it's unseasonably cold, with heavy snowfalls, it's because of Global Warming. On the other hand, if it's unseasonably warm, with little snowfall, it's also due to Global Warming.

Note the last statement:
“A rise in global temperature can create all sorts of havoc, ranging from hotter dry spells to colder winters, along with increasingly violent storms, flooding, forest fires and loss of endangered species.”
Literally every physical phenomenon can now be traced to, and presented as evidence of, Global Warming. Really, how friggin' stupid do they believe that we are?

Tuesday, February 01, 2011

What The Hell is Wrong With Obama?!

This Egyptian "unrest" has been going on now for more than a week. The administration has performed, as expected, like a windsock. First they did the old "deer in the headlights" routine, then cautiously supported Mubarak, then they threw some support to the protesters and "democracy". Now this:

But the Muslim Brotherhood must renounce violence and support democracy, the White House says.

Reporting from Washington — The Obama administration said for the first time that it supports a role for groups such as the Muslim Brotherhood, a banned Islamist organization, in a reformed Egyptian government.

The organization must reject violence and recognize democratic goals if the U.S. is to be comfortable with it taking part in the government, the White House said. But by even setting conditions for the involvement of such nonsecular groups, the administration took a surprise step in the midst of the crisis that has enveloped Egypt for the last week.

The statement was an acknowledgment that any popularly accepted new government will probably include groups that are not considered friendly to U.S. interests, and was a signal that the White House is prepared for that probability after 30 years of reliable relations with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.
Exactly what part of "Islamist" does this president not understand? He has already thrown Israel under the bus on numerous occasions, now it seems that he intends to run over them a couple of times. Geez, The Muslim Brotherhood are the very people that have brought us Hezbollah, Fatah, Hamas, and our old friends, al Qaeda - they're figgin' terrorists! In fact, they are the very people behind the whole Islamic terrorist movement! Expecting them to "renounce violence and support democracy" would be laughable were it not so tragic.

Remember the lamentations about Obama's lack of experience during the Presidential Election?  This is exactly why.  I will allow some time for any president to become oriented and "learn the ropes".  Alas, it's been two years now and his inexperience has blossomed into full-blown incompetence.

Yes, we can only do so much, but President Obama seems to have been caught unaware by this entire crisis and has yet to catch up.  He and his administration were virtually silent for days, then proceeded to issue what seemed to be pre-canned comments.  Our position has been incomprehensible because we have had none; we have chosen reaction to the status quo as our policy, whatever the status quo is at the moment.

We cannot allow this to play out like Iran in '79,  but we seem on course to do just that.  Many have called The Obama administration "Jimmy Carter's second term" and that characterization is looking more prescient by the day, including the loss of yet another Middle East ally.