Eric "Bring the Boys Home" Margolis tells us what to do about the debt

Okay, to be honest, Mr. Margolis middle name is not Bring the Boys Home.  Still, his column leads in that direction.  He does not say bring all the boys and now some lasses home, but the logic is inescapable.

"The United States has no serious strategic enemies that can be identified."

Like duh.  As we always say at the Neutralist, the Middle Eastern countries ain't getting into carrier fleets to invade the lower the "Homeland."

there are elements that see themselves as our enemies, but if we don't let them in here, they will probably just bother their neighbors.

It's more of a "we have met the enemy and he is us" situation.  So much money being spent on what we can't afford.  The amount spent on the military benefits us in almost no way.

We need a military only to defend the US.  Our bloated defense establishment does us no good chasing poor tribesmen around some benighted backwater.

You can read the whole column here.

Margolis vs. Lang on Egypt plus a better analysis

Two of my favorite writers on the web differ in their view of the current affairs in Egypt.  Eric Margolis  thinks the coup was planned by a deep state and the the MBs were fair and moderate.

Not sure how Col. Lang view the deep state biz, but he does not find the MBs to be completely savory.

Now these are two men who do not buy the official interpretation of events, but they differ in analysis.  Of course we come to the conclusion that the unfathomable aspect of events is even more reason to be a Neutralist.

Another article we are linking to is Egypt's Possible Civil War by 28 Sherman.  Opens up by observing the hunger aspect, which is not mentioned enough.  Egypt does not produce enough food for its population that vastly exceeds carrying capacity.  Thanks to all the unrest, the money is not being made to buy food.  Of course, guess who supplies a lot of the food?

Food and civil war, hmmm.  I vaguely remember reading that Rwanda was the most densely populated region on the continent and had hunger problems. 

 Maybe giving all that food on the cheap did not help the Egyptians plan for population control.

28 Sherman touches on the regional political situation regarding Egypt, Sudan and Ethipia.  As to managing it he writes, "The British did this so much better than us."  Yeah, well HMG don't have too many colonies these days.  There empire was a waste of time.  More reason for a neutralist FP.

The heavens cry out for this rule!

Just as the Syrian conflict seems to be entering a stage where the government has attained a commanding advantage, if not victory, John McCain crosses into Syria to appear the..... well, we are not sure what, but it must have been serious.  It was not all that Syrious though.

The opposition is, for the most part, Islamist radicals with the occasional nice guy fig leaf.  The recent finding of sarin gas in rebel possession should give pause to the American cheerleaders, but it doesn't.

As usual, if there is a possibility of bombing someone, The senator from Arizona is at hand.  I don't know if he was depressed, but if anyone could give our man heart, it's the Syrian Rebels.

Anyway, whether it's Georgia, Iran, Libya, Iraq, or now Syria, you can count on John being for buffoonery.  Our man is sort of an anti-North Star, always pointing the wrong way.  The Neutralist therefore posits the McCain Rule.  If John McCain is for something, it's not merely wrong, it's dopey.  Granted, dopey is not a kind word, but this is not the time for euphemism.

A couple of pertinent links.

THOSE OLD COLONIAL LUSTS

Did John McCain Provide Material Support for Syrian Terrorists?

World reaction to Turkey's retaliation does not pass the smell test

Pretend you're the president of a country embroiled in a civil war.  Let us also pretend that you are not completely insane.  In our what if scenario, let's also speculate that you have a neighbor to the north with a large and highly professional military.  Would you call up your troops on the border and say, "Okay lads, lob some mortar shells over the line and see if we can get those SOBs to retaliate.

So the western press is talking up how the Turks are righteously resisting those dirty Syrians.  The plot continues.  It continues....predictably.  One has to be naive beyond imagination not to suspect that this is contrived in the manner of, oh, maybe you want to look at the last post, "Since 5:45 a. m. we have been returning the fire..."

The fix is in, maybe.  Maybe Russia and China and Iran and Shiite Lebanon can hold things together for awhile.  If Saudi money and influence proves decisive, their will be a lot of dead Alawites and Christians and some Druze as well as a Kurd or two.

Then again, as a Neutralist, I don't see it as our problem.

For a more polished view of the situation, Eric is the man to read.