Notes From a Grumpy Old Man: US - Iran Proxy War In Iraq, Colorado's Republican Ballot

"After the election, the G.O.P. did its best to shout down all talk about how we got into the mess we’re in, insisting that we needed to look forward, not back. And many in the news media played along, acting as if it was somehow uncouth for Democrats even to mention the Bush era and its legacy." - Paul Krugman

“In the case of the Pentagon, they have been living very fat and very happy for so very long that they’ve almost lost touch with reality,” - Gordon Adams

"I don't think I've ever said that I was for getting rid of the Department of Agriculture and if I did say that, that's not my position. But I don't think I've ever said that." - Rand Paul

The European Union agreed on sanctions against Iran, aimed at its energy sector. There are French and Russian companies helping to develop Iran's natural gas industry. Instead of packing it up and going home, the employees will now work as consultants for locally set up Iranian shell companies. Whether they will be allowed to get away with this kind of work-around remains to be seen.

Iran's plans to waltz into Iraq after the US troops leave may have been thwarted by recent announcements by the US State Dept and General Odierno: "Administration officials are holding intense consultations with UN Secretary Ban Ki-Moon for the US detachment staying on in Iraq to be reclassified as international peacekeepers. This means that not all the American troops due to withdraw in six weeks will in fact do so." If this happens, only about 25,000 troops will return to the US, leaving about 50,000 to guard against attacks by pro-Iranian Shiite militias... "General Odierno named the three Iraqi pro-Iranian militias preparing for attack as Ketaib Hizballah (the Iraqi branch of the Lebanese Shiite terrorist group); Asaib Ahl al-Haq -The League of the Righteous; and the Promised Day Brigade... US officials have confirmed that the Iranian Revolutionary Guards' elite Al Qods Brigades are training and funding the three militias."

By switching caps, from US troops to NATO troops, they could also help enforce both US and European sanctions against companies dealing with Iran. The other move in this chess match is the presence of US warships and submarines in the Persian Gulf, helping to distract and drive Iranian officials crazy. If Obama can convince both al-Maliki and al-Allawi to form a jointly controlled government, then the Iranian chess moves will have been neutralized. To be intimidating, there have been bomb and missile attacks in Iraq every day for the last two weeks, making al-Maliki look weak and unable to protect citizens, and only al-Sadr can be effective.

The ultimate goal for the US is a regime change by implosion, replaced by a slightly more liberal one without such a paranoid outlook. Iran could become a major player through friendliness and economic ties, but they are stuck in the stale role of battling against The Great Satan... Hopefully, we can defuse the next Iraqi war, because iran would rather use Iraq and Lebanon as proxy battlefields instead of anything taking place directly on Iranian soil... you know, like the US is doing in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan...

Thinking that sanctions are a good idea, the US has announced sanctions aimed at Taliban leaders. If the Pakistani banks go along with this, bank accounts will be frozen in Lahore and in Europe. Mullah Omar responded in retaliation by issuing new rules of engagement aimed at attacking and killing civilians who work with US and NATO troops.

The other item that is causing a lot of international debate is the UN's international court ruling that Kosovo's 2008 declaration of independence from Serbia and did not break any international law. It avoided saying that Kosovo was a legal entity as a country, keeping open that can of worms. Kurdistan may be the next to declare independence from Iraq and Turkey, they are building up funds by selling over 1000 tanker trucks of oil and gasoline to Iran per day, ignoring all sanctions. Tibet, Mongolia, and a few of the satellite terrotories still in Russian control will also attempt a declaration of independence, after all, what have they got to lose?

I got my Ballot in the mail for the Republican primary in Colorado. I don't think I'm going to vote for many people this time. I was hoping that our local parties would open up their tent and bring in some younger people with fresh, new ideas, but that certainly won't happen for many years to come. Ken Buck and Jane Norton are making ads over who gets to wear the high heels instead of talking policy. Since neither has much thought out in advance, and there's not much difference between them, their campaign has devolved into Ken making sexist statements and Jane trying to turn the joke into her advantage. Ken said that we should vote for him because he doesn't wear high heels. He prefers flat pumps when he cross-dresses, evidently.

Jane makes ads saying we should vote for her because she was Lt Governor at a time when budget cuts were made. This is supposed to give her expertise in making future budget cuts in the next few years in Congress, when all she did was hang out and act like a conservative while the legislature dealt with the budget. She didn't get involved in any nuts and bolts issues, Bill Owens took care of that...

So, I won't vote for a Republican candidate for Senator, neither will I vote for the candidates running for governor, as they have trust and reliability issues that they haven't addressed very well in public. I thought that my Representative, Doug Lamborn, couldn't run again because of term limits, but it looks like either the law has suddenly changed or he's decided to ignore it and hope nobody notices. Doug may be way too conservative for me, he joined Michelle Bachmann's tea party caucus, and he's too narrow minded in his views and would never consider changing them. But I will give him credit for being one of the more honest Congressmen, who hasn't received much in the way of lobbyist bribes. Of course, many lobbyists may see him the way that I do and haven't offered much on purpose...

As long as we have people who take Tom Tancredo seriously, and feed into his naked desire to be the candidate for governor, then the Republican Party in Colorado will end up folding its tent and slinking off into the night, somewhere around 2012...