Turkey downs Russian fighter
Two Turkish fighter jets shot down a Russian fighter that, according to Turkey, violated their airspace, the first NATO member to do so. According to Fox News;
A U.S. official confirmed to Fox News that the Russian Sukhoi-24 was downed by an air-to-air missile north of the Syrian port city of Latakia. The official added that the Russian jet was warned three times to depart Turkish airspace.
The official told Fox News that the Su-24’s two pilots parachuted safely and were last seen attempting to evade capture. Two Russian helicopters were airborne to attempt a rescue mission.
They now report that one of the pilots are dead and the other has been captured by Syrians. Turkey claims that the aircraft entered Turkish airspace more than ten times and they’d been warned.
From The Guardian;
Tensions between Turkey and Russia have risen over Moscow’s bombing campaign against ethnic Turkmens close to the Turkish border. Turkey has repeatedly expressed concern over the attacks on the Turkmens, a Sunni Muslim minority whom many Turks regard as their kith and kin. Like the Ankara government, the Turkmens oppose Assad’s Alawite regime.
Category: Terror War
Fox is reporting that radar tracking data supports Turkish claims that the Russian jet was in Turkish airspace and had refused to leave despite repeated warnings.
http://www.foxnews.com/world/2015/11/24/turkish-f-16-shoots-down-russian-fighter-jet-near-syria-border/
NATO has also called an emergency meeting this morning.
Hang on to your hats, folks. This could get interesting.
As far as I can tell so far, unless you found a better source, the radar tracking data is Turkey’s own data.
And that alters the fact that US officials have stated that radar tracking data supports Turkey’s claims how, precisely? Or the fact that this statement by US defense officials provides implicit US endorsement of Turkey’s actions?
Did I indicate above that it was US radar tracking data that backed Turkey’s claim?
Sheesh, Taylor. For God’s sake, stop and think before you spout off here.
F16s have a digital flight data recorder and heads up display digital camera which would record cockpit voice, radio, GPS, airspeed and altitude, etc. It’ll be easy enough to verify. Unlike the fiasco in Ukraine
If he stopped and formed a cogent thought, it wouldn’t be Lars.
Face it, he is prima facia evidence that educated does not mean smart. And Lars, the UC system is selective, but hardly elite.
Cal is elite.
You might want to be a bit more specific there, Taylor.
If you’re talking UC-Berkeley, arguably.
If you’re talking the UC system in general . . . not universally. I’d hardly call UC-Merced – with an average incoming freshman SAT score of less than 1540 on the newer 2400 point scale – particularly “elite”.
“Cal” is UC Berkeley. It is the only University referred to as “Cal”.
I should have been more clear.
World wars have been started over smaller events than this. I’m sure that someone will want me to name one. Okay.
A Serbian student Gavrilo Princip shot and killed both the Austrian Archduke Ferdinand and his wife while they were driving in their car.
That’s a simplification of how it started, but WWI followed hard on the heels of that event.
Hell, Ex-PH2 – smaller wars have had far more absurd causes.
Like the War of Jenkins Ear. Or the Soccer War.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_of_Jenkins'_Ear
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Football_War
Hey, don’t forget the Pig War…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pig_War
Also don’t forget the War of the Oaken Bucket, the War of the Stray Dog, and the Emu War.
http://listverse.com/2011/12/16/top-10-bizarre-wars/
Isn’t there a list of silly wars? I know about ‘Jankin’s Ear’, but it seems to me that there were more than a few that really started over nearly nothing.
But the difference in this one is that all of the big boys are paying.
This could ugly, quickly.
Here’s to hoping cooler heads prevail.
True. I am as concerned that it may get worse before it gets better, also.
Obama used the word ‘Daesh’ in his speech. So much for his never saying that word, per the carp.
It does look as though things are heating up. The De Gaulle is still running air attacks, may be increasing the volume and number.
Good to hear he is using it.
Well, I’d prefer to hear everyone call them “those backwards and barbaric Islamic extremist terrorist a-holes”. But I guess “Daesh” is a small step in the correct direction.
Yes, but he keeps using ISIL, which even ISIS doesn’t use. I guess bad habits really are hard to ditch.
Well, same as when the Embassy was attacked in Libya, there is always, always, always a NATO E-3A in the air covering the Southern Quadrant. It’s in the MOU. So we know for certain, whether there is Turkish tracking data or not, there is USAF data. Why? Well, 62% of the aircrews are American. So, call Tinker AFB and see what they’re saying. Or Geilenkirchen AB. Or Incirlik, Konya, or you get the picture. Data won’t be compromised. Friggin Turks. Want a not so funny story? First 4 years for certain at GK, every year a Turk would kill a Greek. Every year, and go free. Always in the Sauna.
It was only a matter of time.
I expect things to get much worse before folks start to come to their collective senses.
We should give them the same support they gave us during the 1st Gulf when we wanted to use bases in Turkey to assist the Kurds.. That would be NONE .. Fuck em, they poked the Bear now they will have to deal with it !
That would work – except if push comes to shove, Turkey is a member of NATO. I think Article 5 of that treaty is pretty explicit about what we signed up for if things get nasty here.
There’s that Crimea thing …
The Ukraine is not a member of NATO. Turkey is.
Article 5 of the NATO Treaty is not applicable to the Ukraine (and thus to the situation in the Crimea). If invoked, it would be applicable in the event of a Russian attack on Turkey.
Why do we call it THE Ukraine? Why not just Ukraine?
for the same reason we call it The Hair…everyone knows immediately what you are talking about darlin..
Thank you. It’s always been a question that never had a real answer.
It’s like saying soda pop and a chocolate ice cream soda are the same thing, when they aren’t. There are some things you just know instinctively.
Probably the same reason we use The before United States 99% of the time.
For the same reason the five boroughs of NYC are Manhattan, Queens, Brooklyn, Staten Island, and The Bronx.
It’s an old habit from before the USSR fell, when “the” Ukraine was a region in the Soviet empire. When the Ukrainian people sought a nation independent of Russian domination, dropping the article was a way of asserting their self-determination. That’s the same reason the Russian media sources will always make sure the include the article; it is part of the Kremlin’s talking points.
http://time.com/12597/the-ukraine-or-ukraine/
http://www.businessinsider.com/why-ukraine-isnt-the-ukraine-and-why-that-matters-now-2013-12
I wonder if that has anything to do with the fact that as part of the Soviet Union, THE Ukraine was the breadbasket of the USSR, literally. When the USSR ended, Ukraine was no longer obligated to feed the rest of the Soviet Union and could engage in free trade.
Ukraine is supposed to be called “Ukraine” now as a recognition of its statehood since 1991. This has even been an official request by the Ukrainian government.
But everyone is so accustomed to calling it “the Ukraine” so we still do.
It was called “the Ukraine” for decades under the Soviets because it did not really have genuine statehood and it historically referred to a geographic region. We usually put “the” in front of countries that are also associated with a specific region. Such a “the Philippines”.
So, in modern grammar it technically is just “Ukraine” but few use it.
Another example is “the Netherlands”. Even the Dutch can’t decide what it is supposed to be with any consistency.
If memory serves Article 5 only applies to an armed attack upon a NATO member.
To my knowledge Russia has not attacked Turkey, while Turkey has attacked Russian jets.
Indeed Turkey has always been a problem, they are supporters of ISIS and other organizations that are the enemies of the west.
Turkey’s membership in NATO should have ended a long time ago. They don’t belong because they don’t share our ideals and long range goals of a peaceful stable world.
They supported our values just fine when we had nukes there during the Cold War. Bad form to just kick them to the curb now. As long as they stay on their side of the border then they have every right to defend their borders. If what Turkey is saying is true then screw pooty poot and the rooskies. They have been playing games like this for a long time and somebody finally got tired of their bully BS and thumped them.
You know what would work though? Turkey has authority to build 232 F-16’s with General Dynamics via our Arms Export Control Act. They built 274. They sold 40 to Egypt, which isn’t allowed at all. We could boot them from NATO for violations of USACA. Then, they could see what Russian hospitality is like at the point of a Spetsnaz shovel.
Was Bernath pretending to be a pilot again?
Nah, the Sukhoi had fuel in it.
Ha! 🙂
Anybody traveling this Thanksgiving? If you take me along, I’ll volunteer to operate the fuel nozzle. It’ll be a quick operation, and we’ll be on the road in no time. Any takers?
No, need gas.
If you didn’t get this message on your morning news, the State Department has issued a worldwide alert to travelers.
Here is the link to it:
http://travel.state.gov/content/passports/en/alertswarnings/worldwide-travel-alert.html
Also, on the local morning news, they repeated that advice: if you see something, say something.
What the reporter did not do, which she should have done, was add ‘Try not to cause a panic’.
if you see something, say something. Unless you are in Irving Tx, and dealing with a Muslim kid that takes apart a clock and installs it in a brief case because he is a technology buff.
You could then be part of a 15 million dollar law suit.
BUT if you are anyplace else, then say something.
/sarc.
Yeah, I thought they had moved to Qatar already.
The family found a firm of ambulance chasers, they don’t need to be present to win.
About 98% of lawyers give the rest a bad name!
It would appear that in addition to the Su 24, a Russian helicopter was also hit in Syria…
http://news.yahoo.com/syria-insurgents-hit-russian-helicopter-observatory-132047172.html?bcmt=comments-postbox
Just a bad day to be a Russian pilot I suppose…
I am certain our Commander In Chief has this well under control…
I admire your ability to lie with a straight face.
Almost Josh Earnest worthy!
Great! I’ve already got a big pot of soup going. What else can I fix for the troops? Sandwiches? French fries?
I said yesterday that more things were going to happen. I don’t always enjoy being right.
Plane was returning to a Russian base when it was hit.
It crashed in Syria, not Turkey.
Turkey warned Russia two days ago that there would be “serious consequences” if they did not stop bombing rebels in that area.
I personally do not believe Turkey’s account right now.
Turkey’s claim that it was in Turkish airspace when it was hit may be true, but based on the video it did not travel far from impact to crash and it was in Syrian territory when it crashed.
So for Turkey’s claim to be true Turkey would have had to hit the SU-24 while it was right at the Syrian border and traveling toward the border, so leaving Turkish air space and very near the border.
Why would Turkey do that? It increases tensions to an absurd level. It appears they were certain in was a Russian plane.
It was an absolutely absurd strategic decision that serves no purpose beyond following through with the reckless threat they made a few days ago.
Turkish actions in the fight against ISIS has been a persistent problem. They have attacked Kurdish fighters fighting ISIS several times and have refused to stop doing so. Most of the ISIS oil that is smuggled out of occupied areas are sold to Turkish buyers. Turkey has long been a supported of Al Nusra front and there is a significant amount of evidence to suggest Turkey has been continuing to support Al Nusra even after it merged with ISI for form ISIS.
Why don’t you call Erdogan up and ask him? Then you can amaze us with your ‘relationship’ with him.
More corn?
You just feel the compulsive need to make a stupid comment every time I post, don’t you?
You comment about a ‘relationship’ with Erdogan makes no sense in the context of anything I wrote. It was just petty and pointless.
*BURP!*
Lars,
Be nice to the lady!
You just feel the need to make stupid remarks and intentionally misunderstand what people say, don’t you?
Want some corn?
Good morning Lars,
You touch on a very real problem with the Turks, their tacit compliance and assistance with the ISIS fighters who use the Turkish border without repercussion to transport training materials, fighting materials and supplies.
There is a report circulating now that indicates the depth of Turkish involvement in helping ISIS recruit, providing intel and safe passage and even suggests that the Turks have been training ISIS fighters…
Turkey is not now and never really has been a true friend of the west. Erdogan is a zealot and Turkey’s current actions are a cause for concern and Turkey’s membership in NATO should be seriously questioned.
Excellent observations on our “allies” the Turks…more allies like that and we’ll be truly done in by our so-called friends.
Turks and Russians have a long and storied history of killing eachother, and those old Jarred’s haven’t really dimmed with time. And despite your seemingly confrontational reply to him above, you and Hondo both have a point. Neither Russia nor Turkey are really trustworthy to give an honest account of what really happened.
The Glorious Leader is in a difficult position, as we are obligated by treaty to support the assholes in Ankara, yet unlike them, Putin is actually throwing some real weight at IS (and everybody else that doesn’t want to see Russian hegemony in the region). Putin holds most of the cards here. If the Turks get really stupid, Comrade Vlad can kick their ass. If we and the rest of NATO don’t stand with the Turks in such a conflict (which would be World War Three), then NATO is a thing of the past, and Vlad the Impaler will have achieved what 75 years of communist militarism couldn’t.
The only question is whether or not Erdogan & co. will be that stupid.
“Old hatreds,” not “old Jarreds.”
Fucking smartphone…
Well those fucking Jarred pricks don’t exactly have clean hands either. I wouldn’t be surprised if they end up having ties to isis and the illuminati
And Subway
Not since his foundation was exposed as a sham and he pleaded out on child porn charges.
This writer’s assessment of what has happened in the past 3 years with Russia is worth reading. It points out quite clearly that Vlad is more than one jump ahead of the game, and winning.
http://blogs.reuters.com/great-debate/2015/11/24/in-syria-the-jokes-on-washington/
The Saudi king is planning to pay a visit to Moscow before long. And Obama is leaning toward making up with Putin.
This can become more interesting than I had anticipated.
If we don’t quickly get our heads out of our collective asses, we’re going to wake up one day and be on the wrong side of all of this.
It’s time we re-draw our alliances. It’s time for us to work with, and not against, the Russians.
Don’t give up yet, PN. Things are changing by the hour.
Ok, what the hell is going on here!? I find that I’m actually in agreement with you!! WTF just happened!? I think your observations are spot on (over the years, Turkey has become less secular) and let’s not forget that the average Turk on the street isn’t hiding their love of ISIS, anymore, either (the soccer game chanting should convince anyone who had doubts). Also, Up until the end of WWI, Turkey was part of the Ottoman Empire, which was an islamic caliph that was more brutal than anything seen today (1.5 million Armenians comes to mind)
Why would Turkey do that? It increases tensions to an absurd level. It appears they were certain in was a Russian plane.
Meh-Turkey essentially can’t lose in this (short term). Putin has enough on his hands right now with the Syria intervention and his Ukraine adventurism to do much against the Turks. Meanwhile they get to wink and nod at their Islamist clients that they have their back (without having actually done a whole lot) and send a message to Iran that they don’t want to see any of their aircraft snooping around. After all, if they aren’t afraid to shoot down Russian planes, why would they hesitate to down an Iranian one?
Anyway, why would Putin ramp up the tension with the Turks over this? They can still cut off the Bosporus if they so choose and that would isolate any ships he is keeping in port in Syria (which is a big part of the reason he decided to intervene there in the first place).
In the long term the Russians might be able to make the Turks pay a price (or they might quietly forget the whole mess), but-other than an ass chewing for the Turkish ambassador-I don’t think anything much comes of it.
You are a dumbass on such an absurd level!
An insult with no substance. Do you ever have anything intelligent to add?
Everyone relax, the French will have a parade for Putin in Paris, give him the two ships he wanted, Ukraine will collapse for lack of support, Syria will become a Cuba like state, Turkey will continue to be a pain in everyone’s ass, and “Refugees” will get a free pass to America.
All I ask is that the last American to leave NY brings the flag with them.
Islam is a disease of the mind.
Oh, for Pete’s sake, read the link I posted.
And fasten your seatbelt. It may become a bumpy ride.
For those who love the Warthog, here is an article from Reuters about it.
http://blogs.reuters.com/great-debate/2015/11/24/how-an-ugly-brutally-effective-warplane-won-the-battle-for-its-future/
Alas, not a very good article. It starts out by claiming the concept of the Hog came from WW2’s Stuka & Sturmovik. No, it came from experiences in Vietnam with the SPAD, along with the need to kill the thousands of Soviet tanks in Europe.
The article also approvingly mentioned that jackass Pierre Spey.
Finally the author called the Warthog a “fighter.” Sheesh.
…Sudden thought. Wouldn’t it be funny to have a “Warthog’s School of Wizardry and Air Support?” The sucker pretty much casts thunderbolts already. 🙂
Not worried about this or ISIS at all. Great Leader Barry and Valerie Jarrett are on top of it.
what about billary it’s such a expert at for— fund raising over seas
SMART POWER!!! SMART DIPLOMACY!!! BODAPREZ IN ACTION!!!
Why all the snide comments over Obama on the thread? This is was no caused by Obama and it is not an issue he can resolve unilaterally, so they are just cheap political shots at our President for no purpose other top into the partisan hate for Obama to score points with the community.
No one said it WAS caused by Obama, Lars. People can be snide if they want to about him. They can be snide about you, too, and they can be as snide as they want to about me, because I’m snide right back.
Obama is a lame duck president. He has appeared, for some time now, to be distancing himself from any and all responsibility for what happens next so that he doesn’t get blamed like Bush. So don’t start THAT argument, because it won’t work.
He’s done a lot of things to piss off people in general and they aren’t ALL conservatives, no matter what you think. Or do you simply ignore things like shutting down national parks just because he could in 2013?
You must have serious short-term memory loss. You should see someone about that. You could forget where you put the key to your front door.
I have mixed feeling about the president but the constant attempts to make comments about Obama or blame Obama in every single thread that has anything remotely to do domestic or international affairs is tiresome.
It just makes people seem petty and uninformed if all they have to say about most issues is something negative about the president.
Oh, but if he were GOP instead of democrat, you’d be doing the same thing. Tit for tat, so to speak. I’m sure you made plenty of snide remarks about the Bushes rustling in the White House.
no, I wouldn’t.
I have been alive and politically aware through enough presidents to know.
When did you lose your political awareness, if you had any back then?
Over at Live Leak are all the uncut videos:
1. Jet shot down.
2. Two fully deployed parachutes being shot at.
3. One of two rescue helicopters being destroyed with TOW missile.
4. One dead Russian pilot in hands of Syrian rebels.
http://www.liveleak.com/
I expect to see much more reaction from Russia within 24 hours, and I do not mean diplomatic reaction.
How long before this turns into a real shooting war? Anyone want to post odds on that?
If bodaprez is actually leaning toward agreeing with Vlad, it explains his speechifyin’ with nothing definitive included.
Oh, yeah – sKerry has used the term ‘Daesh’ about five times now. That could start cropping up elsewhere.
The video of the rescue helicopter allegedly being destroyed by a TOW missile strikes me as a little… strange.
The helicopter in question is sitting on the ground with its rotors completely stopped when it is hit. Would a CSAR bird in potentially hostile area actually land, shut down the engines completely, and just sit there like a sitting duck?
I know, this is Ivan we’re talking about, and Ivan could fuck up a wet dream. But still… it seems a little odd. I’d be skeptical of this video until some form of independent confirmation is received.
The report is that is was shot down and made an emergent hard landing in government controlled area. The film seems legit!
That would explain a lot.
Thanks.
We NEVER shut down the rotors on a Possible hot LZ. Takes to much time to wind the rotorblades backup to speed! From a old Nam crew chief. Joe
One way NATO and the US could gain more leverage over Turkey is for NATO to negotiate a means to remove a NATO member. Right now that is not within the framework of the Treaty.
The option available would be to begin negotiations as a signal to Turkey that their actions putting NATO at risk are not conducive to continued membership.
However, the precedent of establishing the ability to remove a NATO member would weaken the treaty pretty substantially since members could not be certain that NATO would come to their aid and not instead simply remove them. So the requirements would have to be very rigorous.
Turkey simply does not share the same strategic interests as NATO and this counter purpose is becoming difficult to manage in the current crisis with ISIS.
Basically, the situation is butts. Super-toilets.
Looks like you failed International relations.
Your department may want their TA money back.
You are the classic example of the liberal cross between bad anal sex and a diploma mill.
Shut your fucking mouth and hope this situation does not go south. And you wonder why we as a country are sliding? Look in the mirror.
Diploma mill? Weren’t you a Cal student? And even if you weren’t nobody could accuse Cal of being a diploma mill no matter how much hate someone might have for the institution.
You posted a lot of insults and no substance.
Turkey supports the Al Nusra front and through them ISIS. From the perspective of the current Turkish leadership the best possible strategic outcome for Turkey is Al Nusrah/ISIS defeating the the Kurds and toppling Assad. Leaving Turkey to influence Syria through their long established contacts with Al Nusra.
Defeating ISIS is not in Turkey’s strategic interests right now.
However, ISIS is currently the most immediate threat to NATO security (besides Turkish recklessness in dealing with Russia).
So NATO and Turkey do not currently share the same strategic interests.
If the ISIS operatives that had attacked Paris were not French and EU citizens France would very likely have called on the NATO treaty for a coalition effort against ISIS.
Turkey would have been a very unwilling ally in that fight, and would almost certainly have leaked intended targeting information to Al Nusra, which I suspect they are already doing before their own strikes against ISIS.
No, Green Thumb is NOT a UC grad.
He went to a much better school, as did I.
Which did you two go to?
None of your beeswax.
Are you familiar with the Dewey Decimal system?
If you give me a Title, I will whisper the number to you.
Really, Dave, that is SO lame.
Its an off day, I am feeling inadequate cause Mr Taylor is dating more than I am.
WTF happened to my world?
Pull yourself together. We still have Paris.
And I never said to kick NATO out of Turkey, but the provision to remove a member would help to limit a reckless NATO member dragging us into conflict.
“And I never said to kick NATO out of Turkey”
Obviously I meant “Kick Turkey out of NATO”.
Actually, it’s not all that obvious which you meant. Both are plausible.
Countries can kick NATO out. And have.
France under DeGaulle told NATO military forces in France to “take a hike” in 1966. Turkey could well do the same for the US bases at Incirlik and Izmir if they got p!ssed enough at NATO.
Actually, ‘kick NATO out of Turkey’ makes sense. Turkey may be part of NATO, but does not seem to want to honor its obligations or acknowledge its allegiance to that group.
Well, you did say something that made some sort of real sense.
It has gone south, GT.
Geez. Should I stock up on those special treats I like right now?
Again, Lars, you actually do have a good point (seriously, you should try doing this more often).
The only one who potentially could win in this situation (assuming everybody doesn’t lose) is Putin. Every possible non-Global Thermonuclear War outcome works to his advantage somehow. Turkey is picking a fight they can’t win with an opponent that not only can kick their ass but also hates their fucking guts. Obama is already a laughingstock on the world stage who can’t stand up to Putin, and now he can either reneg on a treaty obligation or get dragged into a war because he couldn’t get one of NATO’s most insignificant members to shut up and play ball. Either way, he loses (and so do we).
All we can do is hope that Erdogan isn’t as dumb as he looks.
Incoming shit sandwich.
With how often our government lies, turkey’s own Islamist inspirations, and Russia being Russia I don’t know who to believe.
Easy answer: None of them, and we’re probably all fucked.
This article about Ernest Hemingway’s ‘A Movable Feast’, about his time in Paris during the 1920s between the World Wars, is kind of poignant.
http://www.france24.com/en/20151124-france-earnest-hemingway-moveable-feast-sales-soar-after-paris-attacks
If you haven’t read it, get it and read it. You could also read ‘For Whom the Bell Tolls’, about the Spanish civil war. It would make Papa Hemingway happy.
Like Green Thumb, I truly do not want to see this get worse, but my intuitive reaction to these attacks is that it will get worse and worse and finally, become the worst case scenario.
Never was a Hemingway fan. Read “The Sun Also Rises” in high school, wasn’t impressed. The more I read about Hemingway’s life and personality, the more distasteful I found him. Plus, I’ve seen numerous accounts from GIs who met him during his war correspondent days in WWII who said he was a tremendous asshole.
You’re right. He was an asshole. So was Henry Miller. But some things are worth a read occasionally, even if you don’t like the author.
A Moveable Feast was a hoot. One of the better parts was when Hemingway goes on a roadtrip with a neurotic Scott Fitzgerald and has to deal with Fitzgerald’s moonbat wife Zelda.
In response to the incident Turkey’s ambassador to the United States, Serdar Kilic, tweeted: “Understand this: Turkey is a country whose warnings should be taken seriously and listened to. Don’t test Turkey’s patience. Try to win its friendship.”
I was incredulous when I heard he tweeted this. It was an asinine comment form a diplomatic point of view, plus it was over 144 characters.
But, it appears he did, it was under 144 characters in the original Turkish and this is a fairly representative and clear translation given the other translations I read.
___
A word on the value of Lars to this site, and yes, I said “value” of Lars.
Lars is a reasonably intelligent and a reasonably educated spokesman for the left who appears to hew to the party line for the most part. Why he chooses to spend so much time here representing the distaff view and being verbally abused is a mystery to me. It could be that he’s a masochist who gets off on being publicly flogged but more likely he’s just one of those irritating personalities who believes he knows more than anyone else on any given topic, much like the president he so admires. We all know people like that.
That said, Lars does add value to TAH by keeping us aware of the current thinking of the politically correct left. He is a reminder that no matter how much damage Obama has done to America and the world, there are those who still worship at his feet. That undying loyalty to Obama should serve as a reminder to us that regardless of how intelligent or how well educated many on the left are, they will defend Dear Leader no matter how badly he screws up the world. Their lives are guided by irrational fears and unreasoning loyalty to causes like Global Warming and world socialism, not logic.
Plus, there is the added bonus of watching Lars throw a keyboard temper tantrum when he gets caught short or someone here insults his alma mater, U.C. Berkeley. One thing that I’m curious about with Lars is his employment. does this guy have a real job? if so, how does he find himself with so much free time as to be constantly responding to articles and comments at TAH? Makes me wonder if his boss knows how much time Lars devotes to being the proverbial fly in the ointment?
Nonetheless, we should be thankful for Lars for the insights he provides to left-wing thinking and most of all for his entertainment value.
Take a bow, Lars.
A: How many UC Berserkely freshmen does it take to change a light bulb?
A: NONE, that’s s sophomore course!
That is funny!
Q: How many UC Berserkely sophomores does it take to change a light bulb?
A: Just one, and he/she/it gets three credit hours and a feel-good trophy for it!
How many Californians does it take to change a light bulb? Six. One to change the bulb, and five to share the experience.
Crap has value, too, Poetrooper, but I don’t need to see it multiple times daily to be reminded that it exists or that it is something disagreeable and to be avoided.
If you don’t like “crap” why are you always stepping in my posts?
—
Someone has to clean up the manure left behind by clueless “Occupy (whatever)” protesters. Lord knows they’re too “superior” to clean up after themselves.
Well, someone has to throw corn at you, lars.
Poetrooper, as much as I respect and admire your insightful opinion, the fact is that Lars’s girlfriend left him, for reasons one can only guess at. He probably can’t get anyone to let him sit at their table in the Student Union Building because he’s a colossal bore who thinks his is the only valid opinion, and inflicts himself on people even if that entire room is full of empty tables.
Basically, he has no one to talk to, he’s lonesome and probably needs to get laid, too. We could take up a collection to get him a ‘friend’, but I don’t think any hooker is really that desperate, or cheap.
Lars is such a colossal bore I bet even his hands turn him down for a date!
He’s a kundis.
that Lars’s girlfriend left him?
Which one, and which time?
I am dating two girls right now and both would likely make your heads explode.
One is Chinese, naturalized US citizen, the other is a Syrian student on a visa (Assad supporter – we don’t agree on Assad).
I think you are talking about the Chinese politics scholar. Yeah, we broke up, but still date. Seeing her tonight.
Translation:
“I’m not racist… see!? I prove it by telling you about the non-caucasian women I pretend to date.”
Typical lefty douche bag.
Dude WTF? I just like brunettes.
Rubber or vinyl?
Baaaa Baaaa
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41RZNr3JzrL._SX300_.jpg
The only reason I mentioned their ethnicity is because of all the hate/animosity on this board for “Communist” China, and Syrians.
Big doo-doo, I had Iranian, Japanese and Venezuelan girlfriends during my college days. Have you ever considered getting a life?
Getting a life?
You are at least a decade younger than me and you have been on this site for much longer, hours per day.
I also doubt you ever went to college. Online, maybe.
To be candid, for a while I suspected you are a stolen valor high school kid troll poser and most of what you posted about your service came from reciting stories your older brother told you.
NO, Jiffy-poo, not even close! 😀 If you acted like you do now when you say YOU served I think it’s a sure bet you were THAT GUY that Retention NCO’s and Officers looked at and said “NO, Uh-uh”. 😀
Seriously, you bawl and snivel like the Sick Call and PX Rangers i had to put up with, like the juvenile in my Platoon that ran his mouth and got choked out at least eight times a day, ok, kiddo? 😀
So be sure to tell your china date tonight that you tossed her ethnicity out there to show us your world view of China (and Syria) is better than ours. So romantic.
You don’t agree about Assad with the Syrian girl that actually lived under his regime and is ok with him?
Seems that she might have more insight as to his regime and leadership than any of us.
Disclaimer: I have no love or love loss for the Assad regime. But, things seemed more stable in the region before we started “fixing” it.
Assad tended to give significant favor to political supporters. For example; one of the catalysts of the destabilization was the granting of water rights to political supporters. With the drought it meant many small farmers were without sufficient water. It helped fuel the discontent and eventual revolt.
So support for Assad has a lot of factors, but your experience under the Assad regime was quite different depending on who your family connections.
Her family was well off under Assad.
Of course, given the civil war, it is clear most Syrians were better of with Assad. But that is the nature of revolutions, the government immediately following the revolution is usually much worse than the one being overthrown. We were lucky as a nation, due to more factors than can be put in a single post.
those are good points.
I have never been to Syria (very close on Iraq and Turkey sides, but never across the border)
I still think that even the folks on the non-supporting side feel like life was better before. I still wonder if they were as unhappy as they were led to believe by outsiders. Sort of like our own perpetually offended folks that really are fine with -(fill in the blank)- until an outside entity shows them how unhappy they should be.
I am not there and never was, so I am just guessing here, but it seems that all of the leaders and governments of the world are about to get a lot of people killed, and actually already have.
Get together, kill every ISIS fighter and supporter out there and make the world a better place.
“Ooh, Ooh, Mr. Kotter, I know why Sheldon’s, oops, I meant Lars’ girlfriend left him.”
She left him because she bumped up the temperature on the thermostat by two degrees and Sheldon, oops, once again, I meant Lars, had to invoke Paragraph 10, Subsection C of the Roommate Agreement.
And my wife is Cambodian and my brother-in-law is black. So what?
I never made this about race. I mentioned their ethnicity only because of the sentiment the board expressed in the past toward both China and Syrian refugees.
Hell, I am not event the one that brought up girlfriends in this thread.
You have an unfortunate habit of injecting stuff into everything you post, stuff that is NOT brought up by other people. If someone says ‘he’s lonely, wants someone to talk to’ you bring up ethnicity/race/what ever you want to label it, but YOU BRING IT UP.
YOU DO.
WE DO NOT.
You’re nothing but a hypocrite trying to hide under political convenience. Of all the frauds that have ever been featured here, you are the worst.
More corn?
Your post:
“Lars’s girlfriend left him, for reasons one can only guess at. He probably can’t get anyone to let him sit at their table in the Student Union Building because he’s a colossal bore who thinks his is the only valid opinion, and inflicts himself on people even if that entire room is full of empty tables.”
I didn’t bring it up, you did.
And like everything on these threads is topically relevant. Stop with the double standard just because you don’t like what I have to say.
I just reviewed you posts to find out about you education background and you shared a ton of off topic shit about yourself.
Babble,babble, babble. I bet you post and sit there for some time admiring your babbles thinking you actually posted something intelligent and factual, Jiffy-poo!
LIAR, LIAR, PANTS ON FIRE! Try reading for comprehension, you imbecile.
All I said was ‘girlfriend left him’.
YOU SAID SYRIAN AND CHINESE.
YOU SAID IT.
YOU BROUGHT IT UP.
YOUR NAME IS ON IT.
LIAR, LIAR, PANTS ON FIRE!
Hypocrite?
You are so completely full of shit.
YOU SAID IT.
YOU BROUGHT IT UP.
YOUR NAME IS ON IT.
LIAR, LIAR, PANTS ON FIRE!
Want some corn, carp?
‘I just reviewed you posts to find out about you education background and you shared a ton of off topic shit about yourself.’
So – what? Is that supposed to worry me? Are you gonna start stalking me now? Let me know, willya? I’ll start a file on you with the other one.
No, I was just highlighting the double standard you have when you complain about me bringing up stuff nobody else brought up.
I hav no desire to stalk, or even know you. It is just clear that you also bring up shit nobody asked you about at times. As do many people on this board.
Double standard? Moi?
You change the subject constantly to yourself. You hijack thread after thread to turn attention to Commissar. You accuse others of YOUR OWN behavior.
Project much, carp?
It appears to any reasoning person that you have fastened on me. I’d say that amounts to stalking me.
Now piss off. I’m out of corn.
My daughter-in-law is Chinese from Fouchou, China. What’s the big deal?
Let your inner racist come out Lars, we ready know about it.
I hear Chelsea Manning might be available…
So, now, Scrotum Shaver is doing the nah-nah-nah-nah-nah over the jet being knocked from the sky. (See Vlad, I told you you shouldn’t be helping Assad. What a Guy! What a Man! The classless, spineless, Mom’s-jeans wearing sissy mary.
Scrotum Shaver? More like Scrotum SNIFFER!
They are not mutually exclusive, API. He can shave his own and sniff another’s, if that’s his thang.
Y’all give Lars knoitthefuckall exactly wht he craves……attention. Personally I’m bored with him. So here goes the sickest joke of the week, the best I could do. No intention to offend anyone other than youknowwho.
What is the difference between Liars and Lars? Answer: For all I know and give a shit, Lars may be blind.
Told you so ahead of time.
Looks like one Russian Marine was killed in helo attack with likely others injured.
Putin is NOT going to take this lightly.
Retaliatory strike by Friday?
Ground troops in northern Syria?
The Pope was right about this situation – this could be the beginning of World War III.
Remember Turkey shot down the Russian jet.
US backed rebels shot at pilots under canopy.
US backed rebels took out rescue helo.
All no good!
Vlad will send a message… very, very soon. Some people will not like the message and may regret what they did to piss him off.
I said ‘another event between Wednesday and next Monday’. There are times when I really do not enjoy being right.
http://valorguardians.com/blog/?p=62927&cpage=1#comment-2732750
I think there will be much more, now and for the next 2 to 4 years. This is not a good thing.
If Obama is thinking of allying the US with Russia, what was his purpose in his noontime speech today with Hollande? Was that just another ‘feel good’ thing for him, or was he up to something else? I don’t think he’s that good a poker player. He quibbles.
This is The Guardian’s coverage of the event.
http://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2015/nov/24/russian-jet-downed-by-turkish-planes-near-syrian-border-live-updates
Russia says its radar shows there was no violation of Turkish airspace and that Turks crossed the Syrian border to fire at the Russian plane.
Если бы Обама не был бесхребетным слабаком, Путину не сходили бы с рук его грязные делишки.
Stop it!
пошел на хуй Путин ! этот ублюдок просто чмо уголовное !
Well, when you put it that way….
My Russian is not the best, but —
Он является такая баба.
ATTENTION: AN IMPORTANT PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT TO THOSE WHO JOINED US IN THE FIGHT AGAINST TERRORISM.
This report comes from Roubaix. It appears to be a bank robbery, not the other kind of thing.
http://www.france24.com/en/20151124-hostage-siege-gunman-taken-northern-french-town-roubaix
Still, rival jihadi groups are claiming the Mali hotel attack as theirs and squabbling about it.
I hope they carbomb each other to smithereens and leave everyone else alone!
It appears that it was merely a bank robbery. The hostages were let go. That’s a relief.
Well, it’s official. The POTUS has just told Russia to p!ss up a rope and sided with the Turks. Looks like we’re committed now, for better or worse.
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2015/11/24/obama-points-finger-at-russia-over-jet-shoot-down-by-turkey.html
As I’ve been saying about US involvement in Syria for close to 3 years now: “I’ve got a bad feeling about this . . . . “
And I thought lars was a kundis.
What is WRONG with this dimwitted clotheshorse, that he can’t see what this will lead to? Their Tsar Bomba was bigger than our Castle Bomba.
Sorry, that should be ‘Castle Bravo’. My bad.
Castle Bravo became the MK-17, with a yield of 15MT when weaponized. Big, but not our biggest. But the Tsar Bomba was indeed much bigger.
It was also bigger than our largest nuke, the US B-41 (25MT max yield). However, the B-41 was deliverable. The Tsar Bomba was only marginally deliverable using a specially-modified aircraft under ideal conditions; in war, that would have been a one-way trip and probably wouldn’t have made it to the target.
At max yield, delivering the Tsar Bomba (100MT; it was only ever tested at approx half-yield) was guaranteed to be a one-way mission. The plane delivering it would not have been able to get far enough away to survive the detonation.
Yes, Hondo, and please see the video I provided below.
The Castle Bravo test cost the US government $62++million in restitution for the side effects of the test.
Wonder if NATO AWACS E3A’s are flying there? That could be interesting if they are because the crew (cockpit and mission) is a mix of NATO members, including Turkey. In the past there have been some pissing contests on board between Turk and Greek crew members when over flying each other’s boundaries.
UNKLASSERFRIED:
You are not the only one!
### END ###
Yeah, Hondo, several of us have agreed with that “bad feeling” since the get go. I knew we were f’ed when President momjeans drew us into Syria way back when. He wanted the “Arab Spring” and now we get to deal with the aftermath.
Just in case anyone is unfamiliar with what happens during and after a ++ megaton nuclear explosion, here’s a little bit of history for you. Oh, and there are 30,000 intact nuclear warheads in the world, and all but 200 of them are in the US or Russia.
https://youtu.be/RNYe_UaWZ3U
I cut Lars much slack because I know he is actually Arianna Huffington.
In addition, if you have not been over at that Google thingy today, Lars (aka Arianna) is the little brown feller that is almost walking tall.
Hmmm, I always pictured “Pinky” Lars as some skinny zit-faced antisocial little hipster dweeb! 😀
I always pictured you as a pudgy little bigot E-4 who openly disliked anyone that is not part of his religious or ethnic group. An E4 with such poor judgement that the command has to assign you positions that have embedded supervision. Like CSM driver or supply.
Or at least you younger brother of said E4.
NOPE, you’re WRONG again, Larsie-parsie jiffy-poo! 😀 I’m an NCO who had to spend time dealing with thin-skinned candyassed Rudy-poos like you AND keep things running! 😀
Due to national security concerns and until further notice, MCPO NYC USN Ret. will not be commenting.
However, The Commentor’ Formerly Know as MCPO NYC USN Ret. will be commenting in as few words as possible.
OVER!
Russia has only one agenda; and it is not to defeat ISIS.
It is to secure Syria under Assad, including dislodging the Kurds, Free Syrian Army, ISIS/Al Nusra.
So I am positive the capture and death of the pilots and the attacks on the rescue helicopter will be used as justification for Russia to commit ground troops to Syria, and they are going to focus almost entirely on assisting Assad in rescuing the regime. Not targeting ISIS except to the extent necessary to secure Syria for Assad.
I can’t argue with that analysis.
I’m not sure Russia has enough troops to handle both Ukraine and Syria at the same time, except with very small groups.
Aircraft from Russia’s Air Space Force has attacked the Syrian and Turkoman forces which shot down the Russian bomber, killed the Russian pilots, blew up a Russian helicopter, and killed a Russian marine, with massive air raids to obliterate the Islamic ground forces.
http://cont.ws/post/153006
Turkey’s aircraft are grounded.
A Russian guided missile ship is sailing, with orders to destroy any threat to Russia’s forces.
Much of this information, with links, can be viewed at the FREE NORTH CAROLINA web site.
Apparently, the United States is secretly allied with Russia, for on Thursday 26 November 2015, Americans plan to destroy Turkey.
Groan……..Ok, I’ll give you that on, JR.
Is it because we are racists and bigoted? Or just because we are hungry for a victory?
John could be onto something. Erdogan sort of acknowledges that he poked The Bear and it backfired, per Medvedev’s response to the matter.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/11/25/us-mideast-crisis-syria-turkey-erdogan-idUSKBN0TE0QT20151125#mGAM27LwAChxJqUP.97
And this article says that Russia wants a joint command against the Islamic State with the USA, France, and others including Turkey.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/11/25/us-mideast-crisis-russia-idUSKBN0TE0RE20151125
One can draw comparisons between Pope Urban II’s call to arms at the Council of Clermont in 1095 and the same thing with al Baghdadi in Raqqah in 2014. It’s basically the same thing: use ideology to stir people to action.
Let’s just hope this does turn into several more centuries of warfare.
EEEEEEK!!! I meant DOES NOT TURN INTO SEVERAL CENTURIES OF WARFARE!
EEEEEEK!!! I meant DOES NOT TURN INTO SEVERAL CENTURIES OF WARFARE!
My bad! Sorry about that
Thanksgiving puns, anyone? (smile)
Not enough coffee yet, that’s my guess. 😉
Tea! Not enough TEA! It’s strong enough to stand alone.
The most obvious was on a NY based daily this morn. It read ‘Turkey Shoot’.