There was once a day, not so long ago...

... when a President of the United States would actually request network time to explain the use of US military force in a new venue--like the recent raid into Somalia.

The President would lay out for the American people his reasoning, discuss the importance of Somalia to US global policy, and even sketch for us the parameters by which he would continue to order such actions.

Sadly, those days no longer exist. Presidents, Democrat or GOPer, simply conduct foreign policy and order military interventions large and small without the slightest nod in the direction of public accountability.

Strangely enough, nobody even thinks this development is newsworthy anymore.

Comments

Anonymous said…

Can you find a real source that confirms that it wasn't a single helicopter raid taking out an al Qaeda suspect, but is actually a massive invasion? Thus far I can't...the AP blurb linked in that article is just a confirmation that the US launched an operation that resulted in this guy being killed. I'm pretty ambivalent about helicopter raids, but ground-taking invasions they ain't.

-3456

September 15, 2009 at 4:43 PM

Anonymous said…

Sorry wrong place.

-3456

September 15, 2009 at 4:45 PM

Steven H. Newton said…

The link in the post from the CS Monitor confirms special forces delivered via helicopter; you can find multiple links about them retrieving the body and DNA traces, which certainly means that there were boots on the ground.

September 15, 2009 at 5:35 PM

The Obligatory Libertarian Tax Day Post

The most disturbing factoid that I learned on Tax Day was that the average American must now spend a full twenty-four hours filling out tax forms. That's three work days. Or, think of it this way: if you had to put in two hours per night after dinner to finish your taxes, that's two weeks (with Sundays off). I saw a talking head economics professor on some Philly TV channel pontificating about how Americans procrastinate. He was laughing. The IRS guy they interviewed actually said, "Tick, tick, tick." You have to wonder if Governor Ruth Ann Minner and her cohorts put in twenty-four hours pondering whether or not to give Kraft Foods $708,000 of our State taxes while demanding that school districts return $8-10 million each?

New Warfare: I started my posts with a discussion.....

.....on Unrestricted warfare . The US Air force Institute for National Security Studies have developed a reasonable systems approach to deter non-state violent actors who they label as NSVA's. It is an exceptionally important report if we want to deter violent extremism and other potential violent actors that could threaten this nation and its security. It is THE report our political officials should be listening to to shape policy so that we do not become excessive in using force against those who do not agree with policy and dispute it with reason and normal non-violent civil disobedience. This report, should be carefully read by everyone really concerned with protecting civil liberties while deterring violent terrorism and I recommend if you are a professional you send your recommendations via e-mail at the link above so that either 1.) additional safeguards to civil liberties are included, or 2.) additional viable strategies can be used. Finally, one can only hope that politici...

More of This, Please

Or perhaps I should say, "Less of this one, please." Or how about just, "None of them. Ever again. Please....For the Love of God." Sunshine State Poll: Grayson In Trouble The latest Sunshine State/VSS poll shows controversial Democratic incumbent Alan Grayson trailing former state Senator Dan Webster by seven points, 43 percent to 36 percent. A majority of respondents -- 51 percent -- disapprove of the job that Grayson is doing. Independents have an unfavorable view of him as well, by a 36/47 margin. Grayson has ignored the conventional wisdom that a freshman should be a quiet member who carefully tends to the home fires. The latest controversy involves his " Taliban Dan " advertisement, where he explicitly compares his opponent to the Taliban, and shows a clip of Webster paraphrasing Ephesians 5:22 -- "wives, submit to your husbands." An unedited version of the clip shows that Webster was actually suggesting that husba...

Search This Blog