The base. Plus: The Toon

From the NYT:

In a major shift of focus in the battle against the Islamic State, the Obama administration is planning to establish a new military base in Anbar Province, Iraq, and to send up to 450 more American military trainers to help Iraqi forces retake the city of Ramadi.

The real purpose of this base is obvious: Special Forces. Not that you can expect the Times to admit such a thing. We know that this base is not really going to be used to train Iraqis because, as The Hill notes, the Iraqis aren't using the American training facilities that they already have.

All of the administration's anti-ISIS efforts are devoted to recapturing the oil fields of Iraq; the U.S. will not impede ISIS in Syria. If we were really serious about destroying ISIS, then we would do something to stop the ramped-up support that the jihadis are receiving from Saudi Arabia and Turkey. (At the very least, the administration could condemn that aid in public.)

The excellent Common Dreams article at the other end of that last link contains some quote-worthy passages:

This could change, however, because the Obama administration is divided on how deeply it wants to get entangled in Syria. If Washington decides to supply anti-aircraft weapons to the Army of Conquest, it will mean the United States has thrown in its lot with Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar — and that the “war on terror” is taking a backseat to regime change in Syria.

Not that the Americans are overly concerned about aiding and abetting Islamic extremists. While the U.S. is bombing the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, the Obama administration is also training Syrians to overthrow Assad, which objectively puts them in the extremist camp vis-à-vis the Damascus regime. Washington is also aiding the Saudis’ war on the Houthis in Yemen. Yet the Houthis are the most effective Yemeni opponents of the Islamic State and the group called Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, against which the United States is waging a drone war.

The article goes on to predict a new Israeli strike against Hezbollah in Lebanon. The usual trumped-up casus belli will apply -- "rocket attacks." It's pretty easy to send a false-flag force out into the wilderness to set off a few firecrackers. The real purpose of the attack on Lebanon will be to kill a lot of civilians in order to make the Lebanese turn against Hezbollah, which is aiding Assad.

But why is the Israeli military talking about a war with Lebanon? The border is quiet. There have been a few incidents, but nothing major. Hezbollah has made it clear that it has no intention of starting a war, though it warns Tel Aviv that it’s quite capable of fighting one. The most likely answer is that the Israelis are coordinating their actions with Turkey and Saudi Arabia.

This next bit is of particular interest:

Tel Aviv has essentially formed a de facto alliance with Riyadh to block a nuclear agreement between Iran and the P5+1 — the United States, Russia, China, Britain, France, and Germany. Israel is also supporting Saudi Arabia’s attack on Yemen and has an informal agreement with Riyadh and Ankara to back the anti-Assad forces in Syria.

Noam Chomsky still argues that the United States is the dog and Israel is the tail and that the dog wags the tail, not the other way round. But something else seems to be going on here.

Israel, the Saudis, Qatar and Turkey have constructed "their own reality" (as Karl Rove once point it). They are an empire now -- a secret empire -- and they can discipline this administration, or any other, if it dares to pursue an independent course.

Guccifer. You will recall that Guccifer is the nomme de guerre of a Romanian cab driver named Marcel Lazar Lehel who developed some hacking skills and went traipsing through the emails of powerful Americans. He's the fellow who discovered the communications between Hillary and Sidney Blumenthal. He also got into George W. Bush's private stash and revealed to the world that our former president has been wasting oil paint. (Old Holland, I bet. Wealthy no-talents always buy Old Holland.)

Lehel/Guccifer also hacked into an email account owned by the head of the Romanian secret service, a stunt that earned the hacker a stint in the pokey. His recent letter from prison contains some surprises:

From the Facebook platform of the American secretary I kept pictures, and took screen captures from the email account of Dorothy Koch Bush, the only sister of President George W. Bush. Including pictures in which Bush wears a KU-KLUX-KLAN hood!!

This photo was discussed, but not revealed to the public, back in 2013. Bottom line: It seems likely that the hacker drew a foolish conclusion from an unclear image of Bush as seen in a window reflection.

Guccifer festoons his missive with inane references to Freemasons and "pagan holidays;" he also believes in the mythical Illuminati. In short: We're dealing with a wacko whose brain has been rewired by all sorts of "sleazo inputs" (if I may borrow Ed Sanders' useful term).

The man's essential silliness should be kept in mind as you read his blather about the "Clintonian crime syndicate" and Sidney Blumenthal's status as a "C.I.A. covert agent." Lehel/Guccifer seems to think that Blumenthal is a neoconservative Zionist. There's no proof for any of this, of course.

In the nineties, as first counsellor of Bill Clinton, Blumenthal contributed actively to covering up the Whitewater affair, an investigation started by the FBI against the Clintons. In 2009, Hillary tried to introduce Sid B in President Obama's staff, but the White House chief of cabinet, Rahm Emanuel, vehemently opposed. Blumenthal, though his attacks against Barack's person, in the election campaign of 2008, had brought grave damage to his image.

Considering what "Barack" showed himself to be, Blumenthal comes out smelling like a rose. It's hilarious to read the analysis of someone who thinks that Blumenthal has a CIA background but Barack Obama doesn't. (I beg to differ.)

I would like to propose a new code name for Lehel. He is no longer Guccifer; he is now The Toon.

The Toon's idea of a shocking email exchange between Hillary and Blumenthal reads like this:

There's no doubt: Hillary Clinton, as state secretary, was reading daily the briefings sent by the clandestine network. Thus Hillary tells B:

"I got your message a few days ago"

As an answer to Blumenthal's email from 8 FEB. 2013:

"Just so you know (FYI), I will continue to send you relevant reports" wrote Blumenthal to Hillary.

How are we supposed to react to this? I think that the Toon wants us to shout: "Oh my GOD! This is it, people! WE ARE BEHIND THE LOOKING GLASS!"

Everything revealed here conforms to what we already knew: Drumheller and Blumenthal were part of a business concern seeking opportunities in post-Khaddafy Libya. The situation proved to be too chaotic and paranoid for any actual business to take place, but Blumenthal was able to glean some important information from his contacts in that country.

Although Lehel would appear to be a Jewish name, the Toon talks like a genuinely racist anti-Semite, and not just an opponent of Israel's treatment of the Palestinians. For example, he refers to Sidney Blumenthal as a "Jewish Fixer." And get this:

The eight hours were sufficient to extract the "sap" from the safe-box of information of Vicious Sid. If I had a frustration, it was that I hadn't managed to also penetrate the Yahoo account of his son, Max, a young lizard, maker of dirty games, journalist and blogger, "righteous heir" of his father's, known whippersnapper in Chicago's high-life.

Yes. This fool seems to think that Max Blumenthal, author of Goliath, is some sort of deep-cover Mossad agent.

What can one say in response to such idiocy? If Lehel/Guccifer really believes that Max Blumenthal is toiling on behalf of a devious pro-Israel conspiracy, then Lehel/Guccifer must be the tooniest toon in Toontown.