Obama Lied To Europe

Da bloom has done fell offa da rose.

Christian Schwägerl delivers a scathing opinion piece in today's edition of Spiegel Online. Indeed, it's one of the best editorials I've read in a long, long time. That it is from a 'global warming' kool aid drinker makes it especially sweet.

Obama Has Failed the World on Climate Change
US President Barack Obama came to office promising hope and change. But on climate change, he has followed in the footsteps of his predecessor George W. Bush. Now, should the climate summit in Copenhagen fail, the blame will lie squarely with Obama.

The folder labeled "climate change" that George W. Bush left behind for his successor on the desk of the Oval Office in January likely wasn't a thick one. Although Bush once said that America is overly-dependent on oil, he never got beyond that insight. He was too busy waging war on Iraq and searching for a legal basis for extraordinary renditions to pay much attention to the real threat facing humanity. "Forget the climate" seems to have been Bush's unofficial motto.

Still suffering from BDS, Herr Schwägerl?

But few people expected that the Barack Obama, of all people, would continue his predecessor's climate change plan. When he took office at the beginning of 2009, it was clear that the success of the UN Climate Change Summit in Copenhagen in December depended almost entirely on the US -- that America needed to take a clear leadership role on a problem that could shake civilization to its very core.

Only if the US manages to reduce its excessive energy consumption, commit itself to mandatory CO2 emission reduction targets and help finance the move away from oil for poorer countries, is there still a chance that countries like China and India will do the same and that a dangerous warming of the Earth can be stopped. On the weekend, Obama announced that there would be no agreement on binding rules in Copenhagen. It was the admission of a massive failing -- and the prelude to a truly dramatic phase of international climate policy.

Obama Lied to the Europeans

Barack Obama cast himself as a "citizen of the world" when he delivered his well-received campaign speech in Berlin in the summer of 2008. But the US president has now betrayed this claim. In his Berlin speech, he was dishonest with Europe. Since then, Obama has neglected the single most important issue for an American president who likes to imagine himself as a world citizen, namely his country's addiction to fossil fuels and the risks of unchecked climate change. Health care reform and other domestic issues were more important to him than global environmental threats. He was either unwilling or unable to convince skeptics in his own ranks and potential defectors from the ranks of the Republicans to support him, for example by promising alternative investments as a compensation for states with large coal reserves.

Obama's announcement at the APEC summit that it was no longer possible to secure a binding treaty in Copenhagen, is the result of his own negligence. China, India and other emerging economies have always spoken openly about the fact that the US, as the world's largest emitter of CO2, has to be proactive in commiting itself to targets agreed on by way of international negotiation. But that is not America's style. The US is quite happy to see itself as the leader of the Western world. But when it comes to climate change, America has once again failed miserably -- for the umpteenth time.
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And it gets better. Read the rest at SPIEGEL Online

UPDATE Dr. Rusty links. Thank you!

UPDATE The NoisyRoom links. Thank you!

UPDATE Don Surber links. Thank you!

Our German Allies in Afghanistan

Here are two stories concerning the same topic, German soldiers in Afghanistan. In one, their lack of fighting will led to the death of some British SAS troopers, the British equivalent of our SEALs or Delta force.

They both come from Der Spiegel, although via two very divergent routes.

Here is the first one.

German special forces had an important Taliban commander in their sights in Afghanistan. But he escaped -- because the Germans were not authorized to use lethal force. The German government's hands-tied approach to the war is causing friction with its NATO allies.

The NATO forces in Afghanistan are called ISAF, International Security Assistance Force, but in the eyes of at least one 10th Mountain division soldier it stands for "They Suck At Fighting".

Now here is the second story from a group who has no Rules of Engagement and who are very open about who the enemy is and want they intend to do to them.

SPIEGEL ONLINE: The three Germans killed weren't even combat troops, they were army employees in charge of purchasing refrigerators for the troops' kitchen.

Haqqani: It is not important what kind of soldiers they were. What's important is to kill and hammer out the Germans in Kunduz. The Germans are the most important enemy in the north and because they are stationed in Kunduz, the city will soon become the Kandahar of the north.

Haqqani is a Taliban commander in Afghanistan. To him all Germans are soldiers, just like all Israelis are soldiers to Hamas and Hezbollah.

Dear American citizen, do you have any doubt that they view you as enemy soldiers also? Barry O wants to just sit down down and talk to these folks and make everything all right and scare the bogeyman out of the closet.

If they are not going to let the German forces fight, then get them the hell out of the way. Take them back home so they can get fat on bratwurst and drunk on beer. Then when the radical Islamists in their midst go on a spree of spontaneous detonation we can see if they still believe in their limited rules of engagement.

'We View These Soldiers as Being the Stooges of the Americans and Jews'

Here's another one who'll probably have a sitdown and some dialogue with President Obama, who will weave his magical happy talk upon him and-- presto! --all will be well with the world.

Of course, given the opportunity, he'd hack Obama's head off, but let's not get too nuanced here.

Mighty nice of Der Spiegel to give this maniac an open forum. No wonder they and the New York Times are in partnership.

Here are some quotes from this human excretion called Qabir Bashir Haqqani.

SPIEGEL ONLINE: What is your primary goal for this year?

Haqqani: Our spring offensive, named "ABRAT" ("teach the enemy a lesson"), is still running and the results so far have been good. We have carried out seven suicide attacks in Kunduz and engaged in combat of varying degrees of intensity 150 times with German and Afghan troops. We are implementing new techniques. But it would not be prudent to tell the newspapers and magazines of the enemy about our secret military strategy. But the new weapons include IEDs, rocket-propelled grenades (RPG) and our own special weapons, the Faedayan (suicide bombers). They will have to carry many more bodies in coffins on their shoulders if they don't come to the realistic conclusion that their forces must withdraw from our country. We view these soldiers as being the stooges of the Americans and Jews.
...
SPIEGEL ONLINE: The Koran prohibits suicide. So how are you able to manage to convince large numbers of faithful to die for the Taliban cause?

Haqqani: The holy Koran forbids committing suicide, but it does not forbid the fedayeen. There is a huge difference. Suicide is when a person kills himself without any ultimate goal, but fedayeen strive for the ultimate goal, Islam. There are many examples of this in our history. The United States and international community are always talking about human rights. But what about Guantanamo and Bagram? Are the people there being treated according to these values? With the help of the holy Koran and important clerics, we have proven there is no doubt about the justification of suicide attacks.

I'm A True Democrat

Yep. That's how Soviet Russian president Vladimir Paranoid described himself during an interview that was published today in der Spiegel.