Foreign Policy

A couple of weeks ago, the GOP contenders in the “Koch Primary” had to audition and kiss the ring ass of the Koch brothers for their billion dollar campaign war chest.

This past weekend was the “Adelson Primary” in Las Vegas.  The GOP contenders had to audition and kiss the ring ass of Sheldon Adelson, the corrupt casino magnate worth billions from casinos in Las Vegas and Macao. Sheldon Adelson’s Sands Corp. admits to violation of Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.

Nice company these guys keep, dontcha think?

The New York Times reports, Republican Contenders Reach Out to Sheldon Adelson, Palms Up:

In a country wary of dynasties, former President George W. Bush said he could be a liability for his younger brother Jeb, a likely presidential candidate.

But he will never be a liability for the 700 Republican Jewish donors he spoke to in a ballroom here Saturday night. And especially not for Sheldon Adelson, the owner of the Venetian hotel and casino, where the Republican Jewish Coalition held its spring meeting, and the most sought-after donor in the contest for the Republican presidential nomination.

President Bush remains hugely popular with Mr. Adelson and other conservative members of the group, which has seen its numbers swell as tensions have increased between the Obama administration and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel.

That is good news for Jeb Bush. He has an extra hurdle to clear to win over members of the group, particularly Mr. Adelson, who spent at least $100 million to back Republican presidential candidates in 2012 and helped Mr. Netanyahu win re-election in March, and who is thought among donors here to be especially fond of Senator Marco Rubio of Florida.

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“Tony: It’s no use, the man is a complete idiot.

Village Idiot: If only. Now my father, he was a complete idiot. I’m still a half-wit.”

– TV Mini-Series “The 10th Kingdom” (2000)

This is the only memorable line I ever remember from this TV show, but I am reminded of it every time I hear that village idiot Aqua Buddha, Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), open his mouth to speak.

Aqua Buddha, like his “complete idiot” father Rand Paul, has burnished his credentials as a non-interventionist if not an isolationist in matters of foreign policy.

That was until Aqua Buddha convinced himself, with the cajoling of Beltway media villagers who share his devotion to Ayn Rand and Libertarianism, that he is somehow a credible candidate for president (actually he is just continuing his father’s business of shaking down the rubes for money every four years).

Now this non-interventionist/isolationist wants a declaration of war against ISIS, or ISIL, or IS, or whatever the hell the media is calling them today.

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On Thursday evening, there was a CD 2 GOP candidate debate sponsored by the Greater Vail Chamber of Commerce and the League of Women Voters of Greater Tucson. The candidates responded to questions put to them by students from the Valley Academy and High School.

Keep in mind that these are high school students. Several of them will graduate and will volunteer to serve in the U.S. Armed Forces. Some may even attend one of our military academies. All of the male students will have to register with the Selective Service (draft) for their 18th birthday.

Recent wars and the threat of wars were clearly on their mind. When the candidates were asked about recent events in Iraq, all three GOP candidates for CD 2 expressed no reservations about sending some of these students off to fight and die in a sectarian civil war in Iraq that even the Iraqis do not fully comprehend. These students are to fight and die in the sandbox of Iraq so that GOP politicians can pound their chests and talk tough about American military power. Clearly, no lessons have been learned by these candidates over the past 13 years of war.

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Back in 2006, then Senator Joe Biden proposed to decentralize power in the new Iraqi government. Decentralize, don’t divide:

President Bush does not have a strategy for victory in Iraq. His strategy is to prevent defeat and to hand the problem off to his successor. Meanwhile, the frustration of Americans is mounting so fast that Congress might end up mandating a rapid withdrawal, even at the risk of trading a dictator for chaos.

Both are bad alternatives.

There is a third way. The idea is to maintain a unified Iraq by decentralizing it and giving Kurds, Shiites and Sunnis their own regions. The central government would be left in charge of common interests, such as border security and the distribution of oil revenue. Everything I’m proposing is already in Iraq’s constitution.

My plan would guarantee the Sunnis a proportionate share of oil revenue. It would tie economic aid to the protection of minorities’ and women’s rights. It would require a regional non-aggression pact. And it would allow us to responsibly withdraw most U.S. forces from Iraq by 2008 — enough time for a settlement to take hold.

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