Author Archives: Barry Kelly

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About Barry Kelly

Author of "Justice Beyond Law," "Justice Without Mercy," "Shades of Justice," "Justice Without Mercy," and "Run to Freedom," as well as two ,"nonfiction books ,"INSIGHTS-The Transforming of America," and "INSIGHTS-Stepping Stones to Tyranny. He also is the author of the blog "8 Decades of Insights." Barry Kelly is no stranger to the world of espionage, counter-terrorism, weapons, deep cover, and the inner workings of the governmental security apparatus. His immersion in the Cold War began with enlistment in the U.S. Navy during the Korean War. Following his discharge, he earned a BA from the University of Pittsburgh and a master’s degree from Duke. His career in the CIA included deep cover operations and overseas experience, primarily in South and Southeast Asia. He has been awarded the Certificate of Merit with Distinction, the Intelligence Medal of Merit, the Cross of Gallantry with Silver Star, the Distinguished Intelligence Medal and the Intelligence Officer of the Year Award. After retiring from the CIA, Kelly served as a special assistant to President Reagan. He holds a first dan black belt in hap-ki-do. Visit www.factsandfictions.com or find the author on Facebook.

INSIGHTS 156 — BOOTS IN THE SKY OVER SYRIA

The thunder over Syria is a victory for President Obama’s diplomacy. Maybe he has more insights into Muslim politics than other foreign policy areas.

infoplease.com

infoplease.com

No matter what or how, this is one of those rare win-win events.  America gets very welcome cover for air attacks against Muslim targets. Muslim nations flying combat missions with our planes also will give Putin pause before he does something rash to protect President Assad in Syria. Putin may be happy to maintain and defend his naval base in Syria and leave the air war uncontested by Russian threats. Iran also may not be willing to militarily confront a powerful Sunni military and political coalition. I’m sure one of the prices we paid for Saudi, U.A.E., Jordanian, Qatar and Bahrain’s support is our agreement to defend them against external attacks.

In any agreement, it’s always instructive to understand the strategic and tactical goals of your allies. Our allies in the air war against ISIS have clear goals. They do not want a powerful Sunni radical nation on their borders. Many of the  Muslims butchered by ISIS were Sunnis. Some of the ISIS military units were once funded by members of our new Muslim air war allies. King Saud and the U.A.E. have been funding and equipping a proxy war against President Assad’s Syrian Shiite  regime for a few years. They have fighters on the ground. Now they have the freedom to provide air support for their fighters. The same Muslim air sorties can also punish any units that have double-crossed them and joined ISIS. It seems the U.A.E. has command and control to direct the Muslim air war. They have better intelligence on the ground where their fighting units are engaged with Assad then we do. It is still a win-win but getting rid of Assad’s Alawite (Shiite) Regime may rank higher with our Muslim air coalition than defeating ISIS in Iraq.

Bringing Saudi Arabia into the air war against ISIS is a very big deal. President Obama must have upgraded his foreign policy team. Openly talking about bringing Iran into the war against ISIS was a brilliant move. Nothing would make the Saudis move faster than the possibility of an American/Iran alliance in their front yard. We don’t have boots-on-the-ground but the military and diplomatic war against ISIS has moved several squares forward.

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Filed under Barry Kelly, Conservative views, foreign policy, Intelligence & Politics, Obama, Putin, Shiite, Sunni

EIGHT DECADES OF INSIGHTS: The Progressive Plan

InsightsFor the next few blogs I’m going to publish excerpts from my book, ISBN 978-1-941069-09-7 “INSIGHTS: Transforming America — Is this what we fought for?” This book is now out in paperback and on Kindle or Nook. I’ve kept the price low because I want this message to get to as many people as possible. Please pass these blogs on to your friends and contacts. For those of you who have read my book, you needn’t read again the same words, but please pass them on. I’ll respond to as many comments and questions as I can. If you’ve had difficulty understanding this president, reading “INSIGHTS” will help you understand Obama and explain what is happening to your family and friends, conservatives or not.

 

Seizing power and re-distributing wealth is the holy grail of progressivism and its followers will champion whatever “issue” they need in order to destroy the opposition.

For the progressives in the end, even election fraud is a legitimate means as long as the goal is the transformation of the existing society. Lying to the people, using the civil service, especially the IRS and Justice Department, to work for progressive goals is the right and even the moral course of action.

If you don’t have a crisis to frighten the people into accepting a progressive transformation of their nation, a crisis must be created. People who are unemployed, failing to support their families, seeing their savings vanish, losing trust in the government, believing they must take part in class warfare, losing hope for the future of their children and nation, will, in their fear and desperation, be willing to accept the false solutions of the progressives.

What is the progressive plan? Let’s start with The Affordable Care Act or Obamacare. Here the plan is not to give the people better medical care. The real intent is to take control of seven percent of the American economy. Alinsky followers believe that if you control health care, you control the people. Insurance companies must become part of the government under control of the progressive elite.

People will lose their existing health care insurance and be forced to pay for “better” health care provided by Obamacare. The “better” health care insurance will be more expensive with much higher deductibles. The health care providers will not be able to cover the population with adequate insurance coverage. Millions will have no coverage. Others will be struggling to pay for health care. Out of the shambles of the Affordable Care Plan, America’s health care will be in chaos. The opposition, the Republican Party, has no answer or solution. This is perfect for the progressive leadership. Suddenly, the progressives put forward a single-payer plan or true socialized medicine as the only possible solution. With the choices seen as between chaos or a single-payer system where Obamacare covers everyone and higher taxes pay the bill, the people will vote for a single-payer system.

Written by the author of “Insights: Transforming America — Is This What We Fought For?” available now as an ebook, in paperback or hardcover on Amazon.com or BN.com. Follow the author on Twitter @factsfictions80. If you think this message is important, please share it.

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EIGHT DECADES OF INSIGHTS 153

OBAMA’S SCORECARD – PART 1

washingtontimes.com

washingtontimes.com

It will soon be six years since Barack Obama was elected president of the United States. The traditional way of evaluating a president is to judge how he has done as a leader to solve problems concerning the economy, national security, and foreign policy. We could do that here, but that wouldn’t be addressing what President Obama has been doing. To be fair, he should be scored on what he has been working to accomplish. To do that, we have to use the tasks relevant to progressive goals, for those are what is important to President Obama and his legacy.

President Obama’s overall goal is the transformation of America. That term means very little unless you examine the steps that are required in the process of transformation. The first step is to marginalize his opposition, the Republican Party, by a skillful manipulation of issues. Remember, the progressive mantra is “the issue is never the issue.”  In short, that means you don’t try to solve problems or issues, you simply use every issue to instead attack the opposition. Changing sides on issues or lying about what you said previously about the issue doesn’t matter and happens often. To progressivesthe end justifies the means as long as your intent is to seize power and wealth from those who have it and give to the have-nots. This goes for both individuals and nations.

Domestically, Obama has done this by:

  • increasing taxes on the top earners
  • instituting death taxes so families cannot pass on wealth to heirs
  • put forth regulations to hamper business expansion
  • raised minimum wages
  • increased unemployment benefits
  • expanded food stamp recipients
  • Obamacare
  • internationally signing treaties in the area of climate change
  • taxes on burning  carbon
  • providing payments to the United Nations and other groups and nations that do not share our goals.

Obama, so far, only gets a “C” for his redistribution of wealth goals, but he is making progress.

Another progressive goal is to weaken America in the international arena among its allies and adversaries. A major task in this goal is to destroy America’s ability to project power outside our borders. The value of our word in foreign affairs is at a very low point. No one, enemies nor allies, believes us. They see our will and resolve as non-existent. Our unwise withdrawal from Iraq, Obama’s haste to get us into Afghanistan and then withdraw on a meaningless time table, redlines that disappear and negotiations that have no substance have been effective in reducing our world power.  In the president’s drive to diminish American power and prestige internationally, he deserves an “A.”

Stay tuned for part 2 of this blog, coming later this week, which will score Obama on increasing government control; expanding the executive branch; and weaken the U.S. military.

Do you like and understand what you’re reading? Share it with your friends and leave me comments here or on Amazon. I read them! You can also visit my Facebook page or follow me on Twitter. This content and more is available in my latest book, “INSIGHTS: Transforming America.” 

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Filed under Barry Kelly, Conservative views, Eight Decades of Insights, Intelligence & Politics, Obama, Obamacare, Politics

EIGHT DECADES OF INSIGHTS 152

InsightsFor the next few blogs I’m going to publish excerpts from my book, “INSIGHTS: Transforming America — Is this what we fought for?” This book is now out in paperback and on Kindle or Nook. I’ve kept the price low because I want this message to get to as many people as possible. Please pass these blogs on to your friends and contacts. For those of you who have read my book, you needn’t read again the same words but please pass them on. I’ll respond to as many comments and questions as I can. If you’ve had difficulty understanding this president, reading “INSIGHTS” will help you understand Obama and explain what is happening to your family and friends, conservatives or not.

WHY DOESN’T HE GOVERN?

 

The president’s devotion to socialism and the teachings of Saul Alinsky prevent him from working to solve important national and international issues. President Obama can only see issues as opportunities to be used to destroy his opposition. The destruction of the opposition clears the way for the building of a one-party government with an equal opportunity society where wealth is distributed by a centralized government, just like Alinsky preaches in his book, Rules for Radicals.

Alinsky is a brilliant revolutionary, but he was never president. His teaching may have guided Obama to the presidency but surely does not help him govern where issues are real. If you don’t solve them, you are held accountable. Cute messaging and flip-flopping on nearly every issue — such as raising the debt, setting red lines, refusing to recognize the nation is at war with terrorism, or that the economy is in bad shape — are hurting the president’s ability to govern.

Recall his vote against raising the debt during President Bush’s tenure because he thought raising the debt ceiling was being unpatriotic.  Inconsistency and the loss of respect for your word diminishes any leader. This president just doesn’t seem to understand that historical lesson. 
He doesn’t care about how the Affordable Care Act affects the people as long as it puts seven percent of the economy under government control. Nor does he worry about the number of people out of work, the insecure national borders, foreign affairs, nor the increasing cost of welfare.

All these issues bring more people under the care of the central government. To maintain the momentum of people coming under government care he must keep spending beyond the nation’s income. An economic crisis will enable him to nationalize more of the economy. His plan won’t work in the long run but it will cause great damage to the nation and the American safe harbor for individual freedom, which is the hope and bedrock for a free people everywhere.

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EIGHT DECADES OF INSIGHTS 150

SHAPE THE BATTLEFIELD

Image: U.S. President Obama walks to speak about the Affordable Care Act at the White House in Washington

President Obama read the polls and decided he should address the nation on the ISIS threat. But he didn’t say a word Wednesday night about how his past policies have made it necessary for America to go to war again in Iraq.

He claimed to have a small coalition of nine NATO nations and Australia who have not committed ground troops. That’s a bit smaller than the last time we went into Iraq, when we were supported by 29 nations who committed ground troops. President Obama did as well as he could from the foundations of his foreign policy over the last nearly six years. Let’s not poke anymore holes into his speech about ISIS.

As commander-in-chief, he needs to be clear on a few critical points. The first is call the threat what it is. It is radical Islam. Within those circles which include most of the Islamic world, it is a good thing to kill infidels/nonbelievers. Where are the moderate Muslims? The Saudis have funded radical madrases/schools all over the near, middle and far east for at least two decades. Money from Saudi Arabia, the Gulf States, Kuwait, and Pakistan have poured resources into the Taliban and other radical Islamic organizations for years. Nearly all the World Trade Center bombers were Saudis. In Egypt the more moderate military is nearly fully occupied dealing with the Muslim Brotherhood that Obama backed against Mubarak. Libya doesn’t seem too moderate, nor does our old ally, Turkey. Pakistan is not a moderate Islamic nation. Good luck, Mr. President, in finding moderate Islamic states to join your coalition with real help and commitment. They may not continue to support ISIS but I doubt they will stand up with a Christian nation against ISIS. Their only interest is keeping ISIS away from their territory.

The second point is that competent boots on the ground are necessary to win any military campaign. Obama’s examples of his strategic success in fighting terrorism in Yemen and Somalia are not even relevant. The relevant bit of recent history is the Bush Administration defeating the Taliban in Afghanistan with approximately 500 American boots on the ground, all military or civilian special forces warriors and, of course, thousands of tribal fighters from the Northern Alliance. Enough fighters to push the Taliban into massing to defend against attack so the U.S. Air Force, flying no holds barred missions, including B-52s, destroyed the defense positions of the Taliban down the length of  Afghanistan. The air strikes were guided to the kill zones by American civilian and uniformed Special Forces. That is a proven tactic. The problem is that skilled fighters like those of the Northern Alliance have yet to be identified.

With a clear broad view of the strategic battlefield, victory is possible without large U.S. combat units, but small units on the ground will be needed. First the Kurds will fight and can fight as soon as the Obama Administration recognizes the Kurds will fight for their own homeland. We need to accept and welcome Kurdistan into the alliance. As of last week they reported that had not received any arms shipments from the U.S. Our in the box thinkers had to send all aid to the Kurds through Baghdad which is the same as not sending any. Shiites don’t send weapons to Kurds.

The next tactic to hurt the heads of our people struggling to put Iraq back together again is to rekindle our Special Forces relationship with the Sunni tribes. They will not go back into a Shiite-dominated government so recognize that, and tell the humpty-dumpty bureaucrats trying to patch together a phony country to cease and desist. The Sunni tribes, if promised their own land and given weapons, will fight and take care of the ISIS forces in Iraq. The next step is easy. Let the Shiites retreat south of Baghdad until they decide they will stop and fight for their own land, Shiiteville. All we have to do then is separate the not so bad guys from the really bad guys in Syria and work with them to get rid of the Assad tyranny. All this can be done in less than a year with very few American WIA or KIA. What was Iraq is now nearly the same as it was before arrogant western diplomats drew unreal lines on a map and created the nightmare of Iraq. None of this can be done unless the president gets out of the way and lets the Pentagon and CIA run the war on terror and radical Islam.

Written by the author of “INSIGHTS: Transforming America — Is This What We Fought For?” available in hardcover, paperback, and ebook formats from Amazon and Barnes and Noble. You are encouraged to share this message and follow the author on Twitter @factsfictions80.

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Filed under Afghanistan, Barry Kelly, Conservative views, Eight Decades of Insights, foreign policy, Intelligence & Politics, Kurds, Obama, Shiite, Sunni, Terrorism