Who ever said it was in the first place?

Who the fark is saying it's enough?

Shrugging Atlas:Who the fark is saying it's enough?

Beat you by 3 seconds.

How can it be enough if diplomacy is flatly rejected in the first place?

Article is written by Krauthammer, hmm, I think I'll pass.

In some cases it is, and some it isn't.

Unconditionally, it never is. Someone needs to tell Barry this.

And may the subby please die in a thousand fires for a) linking to this Israel-first scum's article, and especially b) throwing the obvious tag on the biggest bullshiat theory floating around.

You assholes wants to kill millions of people and drive our economy into the ground for the baseless fear that Iran will nuke Israel. Here's a good idea: read up on Iran and try to understand their ambitions. You're pushing for the most calamitous event in sixty years and you can't even follow the farking rules made by Sun Tzu.

You think strawmen are enough to deal with hostile liberals? Reality would like to have a word with you.

He who controls the spice controls the universe.

Nestea Plunge:ZachF81:In some cases it is, and some it isn't.

Unconditionally, it never is. Someone needs to tell Barry this.

Barry Manilow? What can he do?

lol

Whoops, it's a krauthammer article. He needs his own tag, so I can stop accidentally giving a click to his articles.

guilt by association:Article is written by Krauthammer, hmm, I think I'll pass.

Bingo, I saw his name at the top while it was still loading and cancelled. I've read a lot of his crap, and I can never agree with any of it.

Soft speech. Big stick.

Nestea Plunge:ZachF81:In some cases it is, and some it isn't.

Unconditionally, it never is. Someone needs to tell Barry this.

Barry Manilow? What can he do?

He writes the songs that make the whole world sing, that's what.

Charles Krauthammer is a psychologically unhinged mental and physical cripple who is extremely angry at the world for his loss of mobility and it manifests itself in spitting nails at anything Middle East that would threaten his ACTUAL homeland Israel.

He is an "anything for Israel" neo-con of the first order and will sell this country down the river, send your boys and girls into battle and take us all into World War Three if it helps Israel.

He is a pathetic little chickenhawk.

Nestea Plunge:ZachF81:In some cases it is, and some it isn't.

Unconditionally, it never is. Someone needs to tell Barry this.

Barry Manilow? What can he do?

I hear he can write the songs that make the whole world sing.

I used to appreciate Krauthammer's essays back when I read Time like 20 years ago. I see the ravages of age have finally reached his brain.

Each of the trouble spots he highlights is a unique and complex situation. No single solution is sufficient to confront them. But diplomacy should be a component in all of those solutions - or at least the potential for it.

This column suffers from two fatal flaws:

- its premise is a black/white fallacy
- it conflates diplomacy with appeasement

Diplomacy is a much broader concept. It doesn't mean "roll over for the bad guys."

dammit

wolvernova:And may the subby please die in a thousand fires for a) linking to this Israel-first scum's article, and especially b) throwing the obvious tag on the biggest bullshiat theory floating around.

of course... a well-reasoned, well written valid challenge to some of the far lefts ideals...
And we have name-calling, cursing, etc...
Which is of course the only response available to them, as rebuttal is really not possible here.
The man's right.

Barry Manilow? What can he do?

I love barry manilow. My favorite Barry Manilow song is "Brandy".

Tor_Eckman:Shrugging Atlas:Who the fark is saying it's enough?

Beat you by 3 seconds.

/shakes fist

Upon her liberation, Betancourt offered profuse thanks to God and the Virgin Mary, to her supporters and the media, to France and Colombia and just about everybody else. As of this writing, none to the United States.

The gall of that woman. To thank her god, her home country, and the people who risked their lives to rescue her before thanking Uncle Sam. How ungrateful!

When reading the headline I thought "hmmm maybe there is something to this article" and then I opened it up and found:



the only bigger douche is



of course I'm only counting talking heads

It's not a substitute for armed conflict in every situation, but it sure could help prevent it in many cases. I just don't buy this whole "we won't sit down with you" then "american people, we did all we could and war is the only option left" approach.

stlbluez:wolvernova:And may the subby please die in a thousand fires for a) linking to this Israel-first scum's article, and especially b) throwing the obvious tag on the biggest bullshiat theory floating around.

of course... a well-reasoned, well written valid challenge to some of the far lefts ideals...
And we have name-calling, cursing, etc...
Which is of course the only response available to them, as rebuttal is really not possible here.
The man's right.

Actually, my point was that if diplomacy is not enough, the author implies (in the case of Iran) that military force should be used. Diplomacy is emphatically avoided with this administration, and the premise is bullshiat. My overall point is that Iran is not going to nuke Israel, so these batshiat crazy assholes need to STFU and DIAF.

Diplomacy with one's enemies is the only thing that makes sense. Negotiating with the enemy is the most important thing to try to do.

Before the Repubs get a knee-jerk aneurysm, this is not "appeasement," or any of the other "you hate America! Neville Chamberlain! Neville Chamberlain!" buzzwords and phrases you so pseudo-patriotically spout.

It is easy to keep the peace with friends. Trying to keep the peace with the enemy is the difficult part.

Talking with them is key. You have to at least try. It's the "bomb first ask questions later" BS that has gotten us to this latest low point in our history.

Charles Troutsniffer is a friggin idiot.

Headline: Think diplomacyunwarranted illegal war is enough to deal with hostile foreign governments and organizations? Reality Iraq would like to have a word with you

FTFY, you ignorant dickhead.

Using both is the key, as anyone who isn't a neo-con shiat-stain could tell you.

Sgt. Pepper:Upon her liberation, Betancourt offered profuse thanks to God and the Virgin Mary, to her supporters and the media, to France and Colombia and just about everybody else. As of this writing, none to the United States.

The gall of that woman. To thank her god, her home country, and the people who risked their lives to rescue her before thanking Uncle Sam. How ungrateful!

Nice job of selective editing. Really does a lot to further your credibility.

Previous paragraph (not cited)

"And so the innocent languish, as did Betancourt, until some local power, inexplicably under the sway of the Bush notion of hard power, gets it done -- often with the support of the American military. "Behind the rescue in a jungle clearing stood years of clandestine American work," explained The Post. "It included the deployment of elite U.S. Special Forces . . . a vast intelligence-gathering operation . . . and training programs for Colombian troops."

wolvernova:Actually, my point was that if diplomacy is not enough, the author implies (in the case of Iran) that military force should be used.

I didn't see that in the article.

wolvernova:Diplomacy is emphatically avoided with this administration

North Korea? Libya? Both disarmed/disarming. Not a shot fired.

FAIL.

BravadoGT:wolvernova:Diplomacy is emphatically avoided with this administration

North Korea? Libya? Both disarmed/disarming. Not a shot fired.

FAIL.

I'm talking about Iran:

Link (new window)

BravadoGT:"And so the innocent languish, as did Betancourt, until some local power, inexplicably under the sway of the Bush notion of hard power, gets it done -- often with the support of the American military. "Behind the rescue in a jungle clearing stood years of clandestine American work," explained The Post. "It included the deployment of elite U.S. Special Forces . . . a vast intelligence-gathering operation . . . and training programs for Colombian troops."

They collected intel, but it's still the Columbians who risked their lives to get her out. To whine about the US not getting enough credit here is astonishingly petty.

I don't think any intelligent, rational person thinks that the world is a nice place where only soft power and diplomacy should be used against the "bad guys." However, at the same time hard power must be used in an intelligent, rational way as well. You also only have so much hard power to use, even if you are the United States. Given this, you must choose wisely when and how to use hard power. That last sentence is where the Bush Administration has failed.

stlbluez:wolvernova:And may the subby please die in a thousand fires for a) linking to this Israel-first scum's article, and especially b) throwing the obvious tag on the biggest bullshiat theory floating around.

of course... a well-reasoned, well written valid challenge to some of the far lefts ideals...
And we have name-calling, cursing, etc...
Which is of course the only response available to them, as rebuttal is really not possible here.
The man's right.

I attempted a well-reasoned comment. But as you can see no one responds to those. You guys only acknowledge name calling and low blows.

The bitter, crippled, officious snob Krauthammer is NOT right. He's disguised his simplistic conclusion in his obvious awareness of world events.

WHISC

I didn't realize Monk was writing OpEds.

Let's see if we can put the clues together, shall we?

Charles Krauthammer is a member. Of the George C Marshall Institute, a 'think' tank.

How have they been funded?

* $50,000 from ExxonMobil Foundation in 1999 for "support for science and public policy education programs;
* $50,000 from ExxonMobil Foundation in 2000 for general support;
* $60,000 from ExxonMobil Foundation in 2001 for "climate change work";
* $80,000 from ExxonMobil Foundation in 2001 for "'global climate change program" in 2002; plus a further $10,000 for the Awards Dinner;
* $95,000 from ExxonMobil Foundation in 2003 for Global Climate Change Program
* $145,000 ExxonMobil Foundation in 2004 for "climate change" and a further $25,000 from Exxon Corporation for "Awards Dinner -- Climate Change Activities";
* $90,000 from ExxonMobil Foundation for, according to the Institute's IRS return, "climate change" and a further $25,000 from ExxonMobil Corporate Giving for "Awards Dinner and General Operating Support"; and
* $85,000 from ExxonMobil Corporate Giving for "General support and annual dinner" in 2006.


So we have a member of a think-tank that is funded by ExxonMobil, voicing the opinion that we should use "hard power". Sounds so butch. I wonder if he's been talking to Troy King. Anyway, he mentions this "hard power" strategy that the US has used in one breath, and in the next says that the Europeans have used "soft power", negotiation, especially when it comes to...

...someone the [f]right wing doesn't like, and he also has a shiatload of oil. Hugo Chavez. And says how we should have it as US Foreign policy going forward. Which means Iran. Another nation rich in oil that the US can't just have.

Well butter my buns and call me a biscuit.

I wonder if he's just one of these commentators that spends half his time flinging shiat about the opposition candidate and the other half telling us how we should listen to ExxonMobil's his energy ideas. Because, you know, envoronmentalists must be kept in their place with insults.

Let's look, shall we?

Friday July 11, 2008
The Altar of Soft Power - the most recent article. Note that he mentions Saudis, Venezuelans, and Russians.

Friday July 4, 2008
Obama Flips and Flops - yep. I was right.

Friday June 27, 2008
Obama's Long March - I'm right again.

Friday June 20, 2008
Critical Thinking on Energy - right again. This time, a two-fer at the end (attacking Obama for not siding with ExxonMobil him.

Friday June 13, 2008
Obama's Plan for Defeat - I'm right again.

Friday June 6, 2008
The Power of Four Dollars - again, he mentions those Saudis, Venezuelans, Russians...

Saturday May 31, 2008
Environmentalists Pick Up Where Communists Left Off - couldn't wait to start the article without the name-calling.

Friday May 23, 2008
A Gaffe, an Absurdity, and a Policy - another Obama attack piece. He'd previously written pieces called 'Obama's Changing Moral Equivalence' and 'The "Distractions" Of Obama's Character' within the previous 30 days.

---

No ideas of his own. No positive agenda of ideas that will start seeing anything this side of 2015 (new oil exploration). Just insults and sound-bites.

So let me do one of my own.



See that smirk? That's a PEDO SMILE.



Notice the telltale sign of a man who has a penchant for boy ass: the pedophile-smile or "pedosmile." It's part smirk, part grin, and all molester. It's like he's having a two-for-one sale on rape, no refunds or exchanges.

Upon her liberation, Betancourt offered profuse thanks to God and the Virgin Mary, to her supporters and the media, to France and Colombia and just about everybody else. As of this writing, none to the United States.

How dare she not kiss our feet! The nerve.

One of the main reasons Farc can exist is our drug interdiction efforts.

And also, hard power should only be used after you have failed at using soft power. Hard power should NEVER be the first option. Only if you haven't been able to succeed with the soft power should you resort to hard power. Soft power often takes more skill and intelligence than hard power. Again, only once you fail at that should you resort to hard power.

When dealing with authoritarian regimes and groups like FARC you do have to have the reserve of hard power to help "show them the way" when using diplomacy. The hope is, however, that you don't actually have to use force. For those pointing out Libya and North Korea as recent diplomatic successes, this is true. I also think it is true that the hard power potential in the background also helped a great deal in moving forward with diplomacy and the carrot approach.

That's why you need a kind word and a gun.

Fark Lord of the Sith:Soft speech. Big stick.

A wise Republican said this. Where are the wise Republicans now?

Am I the only one who is disgusted about the fact that Krauthammer is using the freeing of hostages after 6 years in captivity to support neocon politics?

krauthammer = israel's über alles.

farking neocon traitor douchebag.

Philip J. Fry:I didn't realize Monk was writing OpEds.

Haha.

Damn straight. We must attack Mexico and Canada at once to secure our borders!

You can't trust people that talk funny!

whoops. errant apostrophe.

i meant, "israel über alles."

This is good... Does anybody have any popcorn?

I can't think of any possible reason why we would not welcome open and/or clandestine engagement by the US military in South America.

On a separate note, how awesome is it to be a Jewish person with the surname "Krauthammer"?

hophead929:Fark Lord of the Sith:Soft speech. Big stick.

A wise Republican said this. Where are the wise Republicans now?

In the Democratic Party, I believe.

Diogenes:it conflates diplomacy with appeasement

This.