So writes in Island Dweller:

Your august majesty

It’s still very early in the game for detailed analysis of the House Armed Services Committee information released yesterday, and I have not read the entire 450-page screed, rather only a synopsis of the release – yet some disturbing questions come to mind. Either our senior military leaders made some stunningly poor judgment calls regarding events that might have happened on that September 11th, or we are indeed dealing with a hollow force, much worse off due to budgetary emasculation under Dear Leader.

I am not a military strategist, although I admit to having studied the mind-set of our enemies on a professional basis for a number of years. Knowing how they think and operate, some questions do come to mind:

• September 11th is a red-letter day among terror groups opposed to the United States. Knowing this, how could military management (not leadership) have an “elite 23-man counterterrorism unit” (no service affiliation given) going to school in Croatia on this anniversary, rather than being pulled from all activity and placed in an immediate-response mode during this period?
• You’ve got to wonder why the FAST team wasn’t stood up before the anniversary and sent to a location in the central Med, where they would remain on an alert status – rather than having to apparently rush to the transport aircraft at the last minute, only to be told by a State Department hack who was present to remove their uniform blouses because the presence of uniformed Marines in Libya would be most unwelcome by the local inhabitants – and, presumably, by the terrorists as well.
• Having been around military fighter aircraft in my youth, I know it’s a sweaty but simple matter to arm them and “cock” them for launch. It would be more telling if they were moved beforehand to that central Med location, along with their refueling assets from Britain and the AC-130s as well – again, before September 11th.

All these actions could have been taken on September 9th or 10th, and could have “wound down” on September 12th or 13th if an incident did not occur. Naval Air Station Sigonella, IT is perfectly placed to support such deployments but was apparently not used until the attack had actually occurred – and too late to have an effect on the outcome.

The entire coast of North Africa is a dangerous area for US interests to one degree or another. An incident could have occurred in any of those countries where these assets could have been used, and their response time would have been greatly reduced had some forethought (apparently) been applied. It was well-known beforehand the area was “hot.” If memory serves, repeated requests for additional security, including a US Marine security detachment (embassy guards), as well as State Department security, had been made by the now-deceased Ambassador and others on his staff prior to this incident but were apparently ignored. As this seemed to be the one area in the entire stretch of the North African coast where such dire requests were being made, would it not be logical to assume Libya would probably be where something would occur on September 11th?

Even if Libya weren’t where something eventually broke out on the 11th, Sig is still a darned sight closer to Africa than Aviano – or Britain.

As I said earlier, it’s early in the game to determine with any certainty why these decisions were made. One must bear in mind an examination of the involvement of the State Department in all this asset preparation and movement must be made as well. I hope this inspires more intensified digging in Congress as to DOS’s involvement in all this. Right now the military is left holding the bag, looking very bad in the public eye – and I am convinved there’s much more to this than has so far been reported.

The Czar thinks these are the key questions, but shares cynicism that any of this will be reported prior to November, 2016.

Indeed, based on our own longevity, the usual pattern is this:

1. A Republican will be elected president (2016? 2020? 2024?)
2. Former staffers will realize their chances of going further in politics were sabotaged by the Obama and post-Obama leadership.
3. Bitter and vindictive, you will see a series of tell-all books from these former staffers and previously snubbed members of the press that detail how horrific a president Obama was.
4. The surviving military, retired or active, will have little to fear from thin-skinned retaliation
5. Reports and books will come out distastefully revealing how repugnant a commander-in-chief Obama was, including all the terrifying things that happened in Benghazi a month before an iffy re-election.
6. Barack Obama, in order to “correct” the record, will write his memoirs basically pinning everything on other people.

This is a fine democratic tradition (Johnson, Carter, Clinton). As the Czar says a couple of time a year, history will not be kind to Barack Obama. You can tell by how glorious his future was when he was elected.

The Czar of Muscovy

Божію Поспѣшествующею Милостію Мы, Дима Грозный Императоръ и Самодержецъ Всероссiйскiй, цѣсарь Московскiй. The Czar was born in the steppes of Russia in 1267, and was cheated out of total control of all Russia upon the death of Boris Mikhailovich, who replaced Alexander Yaroslav Nevsky in 1263. However, in 1283, our Czar was passed over due to a clerical error and the rule of all Russia went to his second cousin Daniil (Даниил Александрович), whom Czar still resents. As a half-hearted apology, the Czar was awarded control over Muscovy, inconveniently located 5,000 miles away just outside Chicago. He now spends his time seething about this and writing about other stuff that bothers him.