Category Archives: Sunni

by Barry Kelly | December 7, 2015 · 8:37 pm

INSIGHTS 241 — THE ADVISOR CRITICIZES THE PRESIDENT’S SPEECH

By his first comment, the Advisor could tell he had hit a presidential nerve. In an angry voice, the President said, “What do you mean I live in a different universe?”

“Simply judging by your last speech on the terrorism incident in San Bernardino, California. You focused on gun control, said don’t blame Islam, touted the success of your existing strategy against ISIS or ISIL and the effectiveness of your multination coalition, and the arming of Sunni and Kurdish forces with more Special Forces support and a continuation of the bombing of ISIS targets and the need for patience. Are you not aware that no one believes any of this?” The Advisor waved one of his arms across the table.

The President sat back in his chair. “You are so wrong. All my advisors, those who don’t live in a cave, tell me my speech was near perfect. I know my transformation program is going well. I’m close to closing Guantanamo Bay and issuing an executive order to strengthen existing gun regulations.”

The Advisor paused. “I don’t believe any of that has anything real to do with the threat from Islamic jihadists. Your statement that the Islamic religion has nothing to do with terrorist attacks is neither accurate nor believable by anyone living in the modern world. Of course, not all Muslims are terrorists, but nearly all of today’s terrorist attacks are carried out by Muslims in the name of Islam. Moderate Muslims are not speaking out against jihadists and are not helping to prevent the radicals from taking control of the Islamic world. What do you think the Caliphate ISIS is establishing is all about? Closing Guantanamo Bay and more gun control regulation actions make people wonder what you are thinking about and why aren’t you focusing on the real problem of terrorism being exported from Islamic safe havens?”

“Well, is this the real Advisor exposing his true beliefs? You just don’t understand. Your ancestors never suffered under British colonialism. My grandfather and father both lived under the British boot. They were persecuted for their beliefs.”

“I cannot give you the advice I think you can use without injecting my own set of values and historical information base. No, my ancestors did not suffer under British colonialism. My ancestors were slaves brought from Africa in American and European ships loaded with Africans captured and sold to them by Arab Muslims and some Muslim-Africans with Arab names.

“American blacks fought for and won legal and actual freedom. Freedom wasn’t given to us. We fought for it. That is something you don’t understand about black history in America. You and your Kenyan family never were part of the King crusade. I don’t know about your white mother.

“We blacks have and have had our problems with equality and opportunity in America but we are proud to be Americans. We built a large part of this nation and are just in the last generation coming into enjoying our share in the American dream. Islamic terrorism is not just a threat to wealthy white America, it is a threat to all Americans of all classes. Under rule by the Progressive Party, do you think a boy from your background could become president of the United States? Isn’t that a real example of social mobility between economic classes in America?”

Instead of answering, the President stormed out and slammed the old vault door.

The Advisor thought, he might not come back and at this point, I really don’t care. I’ve no more advice I can offer. It is probably time to make my last entries and close my journal.

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Filed under Barry Kelly, Conservative views, Eight Decades of Insights, ISIS, Kurds, Middle East, Obama, oil, political solutions, Progressives, Shiite, Sunni, Terrorism

Tagged as current-events, iraq, ISIS, Islam, Obama, speech, Syria, terrorism, transformation

by Barry Kelly | November 20, 2015 · 7:22 am

INSIGHTS 239 — IMMIGRATION, A KEY PART OF TRANSFORMATION

The President could hardly wait to see what the Advisor thought of his plan to bring thousands of Syrian refugees into the United States. He toyed with his coffee cup, lit a cigarette, and said, “Well old man, what do you have to say about my immigration plan?”

“Nothing you do not already know. Let’s see if I have it right. First, it is a great issue. You can use your impressive political messaging skills to bash the Republicans and the renegade Democrats who worry about national security issues. What is really impressive is that you, single-handedly, caused the migration of people out of the Syria and Iraq and no one is even blaming you for creating this nightmare. You can now use the refugees to spread your ideology of transforming the Western world and the Middle East. The financial burdens on the already shaky economies of Europe will be enormous.

“They will be forced by their own morality to take in and care for people who will not assimilate into the cultures of France, Germany, and Scandinavia. Instead, the Muslim refugees will establish their own enclaves with their traditional way of life and Sharia law. The redistribution of European personal wealth will be one of the results. High taxes will be required, as will a growth in the size and scope of government, to cope with the problems of immigration and failed integration of the diverse cultures. The natural course of these factors will lead to a single-party system run by an elite group who will make decisions once left to the people and local government.

“America is better equipped to deal with refugees and the numbers they take in will not stress the economy to the same extent. But the federal government will grow to cope with the problems of immigration of groups of people who do not want to be assimilated into American culture. Nevertheless, the immigrants will increase the polarization of America.

“Your messaging will ensure the immigrants support your progressive party. The progressives will drive hard to give these people a quick path to citizenship. With the black, Hispanic, and Muslim votes, the progressive party will thrive and establish deep roots. You have never failed to use issues to destroy the opposition and this one is handmade for you. Your only danger is you cannot stay in office long enough to make all this happen. Without your destroy-America philosophy and political skills, the transformation process will not be able to continue. The test will be if you can uphold your veto of any legislation stopping or limiting the immigration of Syrian refugees and, at the same time, convincing Americans that your administration can and will vet each and every refugee, male and female.”

“You know, this is a weird scene. Here, I, the President, of what was the most powerful nation in the world, is sitting in a furnished underground cave discussing my plans with someone whose name I don’t know and yet, you know more about me than any of my closest staff. Your description is right on. I don’t think anyone else really understands. Of course I caused the breakdown of the Middle East, the rise of Iran, the disintegration of Iraq, the chaos in Libya and the constant push of the Muslims against the false state of Israel. Not to mention the replacement of American imperial influence in the area by the Russians. Thousands of angry devout Muslims were the real power of change.

“I wish I had more time to destroy the entire Sunni power structure. And I am very thankful you are powerless to warn anyone. Not that anyone would believe your story. Even I doubt you really exist, locked down here in the caverns beneath the White House. I may come down again, but don’t count on it. Don’t get up. Save what energy you have left. My last joy will be doing a victory lap down here in your cave.”

This is an account written by a fictional advisor who doesn’t exist but should.

Check out the latest Jack Brandon mystery suspense novel at your local bookstore. Follow the author on Twitter @factsfictions80.

INSIGHTS 212 — THE ADVISOR AND THE PRESIDENT’S “HIDDEN’ LEGACY

Advisor's vault door

The Advisor wasn’t pleased with the way The Council controlled and published his essays. They took far too much time to publish them and many had been censored or slightly rewritten. At times, they said, his essays were so unique that people would wonder about the sources of the essays. The title under which The Council published his essays had grown upon him. EIGHT DECADES OF INSIGHTS wasn’t bad and the web page was very well done. It came right up when he Googled it. The pages of the website made it sound as if a group of elderly scholars sitting around a gentleman’s club had pooled their collective wisdom and published it for the benefit of the American people. The images used called up the deep roots of American history and their fierce rallying around the banner of freedom. Actually, it was better than he could have done. If only they weren’t so fearful and bureaucratic.

He busied himself with tidying up and getting ready for the president’s sudden notice that he would come down after ten o’clock tonight. At ten he heard the coffee finish brewing and a few minutes later his screen showed the president and Chris, his Secret Service escort, coming down the subterranean passageway. Like most people, the president was a creature of habit. He always sat in the same chair, pulled the ashtray a bit closer, and lit his cigarette with the same series of steps, the tapping of the pack to get a single cigarette to pop out of the pack, a few quick taps of the cigarette’s tobacco end, a strike of the wooden matches he liked to use, and the deep satisfied inhale of the blessed nicotine-filled smoke. Only then was he prepared to talk.

“Tonight, I want to go over my accomplishments going into my last phase of the presidency. I know nothing I say will leak out of here, unlike my above-ground world where everyone is thinking ‘spin and leak.’ My first goal was to seize as much of the economy as I could from the private sector and bring it under the control of the central government. The first big move was the Affordable Care Act where I brought nearly 7 or 8 percent of the economy under government control. I chose Cabinet officers who would follow my lead without question and begin to craft and disseminated a deluge of regulations to destroy capitalism and the free market. Nothing as big as my health care move but perhaps more effective due to the incremental steps of agencies like the EPA, Treasury, the IRS, and Energy.

“Most of my moves went unnoticed by most but they have been very effective in inhibiting national energy production. The constant delay of the Keystone Pipeline, even against the wishes of organized labor, has sent a clear message. Now we have to kill the recent surge of natural gas and oil, through fracking and drilling in privately owned land. I don’t want the United States to become energy self-sufficient. Nor do I want to use America’s potential to be a major exporter of natural gas, gasoline or crude oil be used to further American nationalistic foreign policy objectives. I want to end Western domination and change the existing world order. Iran and Russia are pleased and the Sunni old world order is very unhappy. Good!

“My efforts to further spread America’s wealth through international agreements on climate change and international trade agreements needs more pushing but they are progressing. Both of these measures will enhance the strength of the United Nations and world law. I will continue in the next year to support Iran, China, Russia, and Cuba in ways that level the world playing field and re-distribute wealth.

“The last, large, and most important step in diminishing America’s power to project selfish nationalistic goals is still incomplete. Even though I have severely weakened the American military, it is still far too strong. In what’s left of my tenure, I will continue to weaken America’s military so that they cannot do anymore evil in the world.

“You have been very quiet. Any comments?”

“No, Mr. President. I believe you are aware that your goals are unique for an American president in our history.”

“Yes, I am and am proud to be doing what so many have neglected. I’ll be happy to discuss this with you next week. Now I have to go.”

“Goodnight, Mr. President.”

The above is a fictional account of the writing of a legendary but fictional Advisor.

“ISIS: Quiet Justice,” a new Jack Brandon novel by Barry Kelly dealing with ISIS in America, is now available nationwide from your local book store, This is the fifth novel in the “Justice”series. Follow the author on Twitter @factsfictions80.

INSIGHTS 209 –ADVISOR AND A NEW STRATEGY

The Advisor knew the president wanted to talk about domestic policies on his next visit and that would be easy for him. He knew what the president wanted and how he was going about it. The president’s only problem with his domestic policies is that he is running out of time and losing influence in his party, he thought. If you follow the news reports and are intelligent and skeptical enough to read between the lines, it is apparent the president, who is a political genius in the tactic of changing direction and misdirection, is turning to things he can do with or without Congress.

Hence the turn to ISIS, or ISIL, as the president prefers as it enables him to continue denying that the foundation for a radical Muslim state is already in place. The president’s basic plan will remain the same, even if the words change. His policy is to avoid the use of American military or economic power to achieve nationalistic objectives. In his mind, the world has seen enough of American dominance through capitalism and the use of military power to intervene in world events. The president seems to believe that his one great foreign policy or international accomplishment is in the prevention of American power to solve international problems. Like no other leader, foreign or American, he has driven the U.S. out of the Middle East. The remaining bastions of Western presence in the Middle East will gradually dry up and wither away, much like the last castle strongholds of the Crusaders. The president believes a progressive new world order will emerge to create a better life for all the victims of colonialism and racism. This much he has said right to my face in this very room.

The Advisor paused his musings long enough to pour himself a fresh cup of Sumatra roast coffee and sit back down at his desk. He took a long sniff of the fresh brew and sat back in his chair, the mug warm against his hand.

The president is not a dumb man but neither is he a wise one. His strength comes from his deep commitment to the redistribution of wealth and the destruction of American world dominance. His new strategy for ISIS will not be new. Just different words. Nothing in his new strategy will adjust to ground-truth reality, but it will avoid even the slightest offense to Iran. The president knows what many of the Pentagon’s analysts have said, but he has no intentions of following any of their advice.

It is clear many foreign policy and military analysts know how ISIS can be controlled. First, Western statesman have to recognize that the Western creation of Iraq after the fall of the Turkish Empire has failed. Iraq has always been an artificial state held together by vicious and cruel dictatorial leaders. Keeping the Kurds and Iraqi Sunnis individually weak pleased two Western Cold War allies, Turkey and Iran under the Shah. Even today, neither Turkey nor Iran want to see the United States arm and support either the Kurds or the Sunnis. But any American foreign policy that fails to arm and aid the Kurds and Sunnis will fail. The world has changed. Iran is now a deadly enemy and Turkey is becoming more and more driven by a radical Islamic fervor. Both of these old allies fear the establishment on their borders of a Sunni Caliphate made up of major parts of Iraq and Syria .

Rather than arm the Kurds and Sunnis with effective weapons, so far military aid to either of them has been in the form of words, the president will be guided by Iran and Russia’s alliance with Iran and not by what is in America’s interests. Give up on Iraq as a viable nation. Forget about bringing Iran into the family of nations. Let the Kurds and Sunni tribes establish their own borders. Employ American air power at several times the current level and deploy 10,000 combat and support troops. By combining these changes with a real effort to arm the Kurds and move the Sunni tribes away from ISIS by immediate military and economic support could still be successful, but the president would have to turn his back on Iran and follow American strategic goals. That he will not do.

The Advisor shook his head and sighed heavily, then took a long sip from his mug. If only the president would listen, he thought.

The above is a fictional account of the writing of a legendary but fictional Advisor.

“ISIS: Quiet Justice,” a new Jack Brandon novel by Barry Kelly dealing with ISIS in America, is now available from your local book store, This is the fifth novel in the “Justice”series. Follow the author on Twitter @factsfictions80.

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Filed under Barry Kelly, Conservative views, Eight Decades of Insights, foreign policy, Intelligence & Politics, Iran, ISIS, Israel, Kurds, political solutions, Russia, Shiite, Sunni

Tagged as Iran, iraq, Kurds, Middle East, Obama, politics, sunnis, turkey

by Barry Kelly | May 27, 2015 · 7:48 am

INSIGHTS 208 — THE ADVISOR CORRECTS A FALSE NARRATIVE

During one of the long intervals between presidential visits to The Advisor’s underground office, the Advisor thought to himself: if no one else will get history right and correct the false narratives circulating from the White House and the liberal press, my journals and my Facebook account will contain a clear report of what was happening during my term as the Advisor.

The Bush regime won the war but paved the way for a failed Iraqi government when they destroyed the Iraqi army and the Bath party of Saddam Hussein. None of the existing infrastructure every government needs was left. To make matters worse, the Advisor thought, shaking his head, the Bush administration failed to understand a Shiite/al-Maliki government would never be a check to the Shiite nation of Iran. Instead, the Iranians ended up owning Maliki who preceded to further weaken the Sunnis and the Kurds. For all the American blood and treasure the Bush administration spent in Iraq, little was left for Obama to work with, especially given his primary motive to get out of Iraq as quickly as possible. I doubt President Obama, or either of his inept secretaries of state, ever saw the real geo-political problem a Maliki government would cause. You would think that President Obama, who leans hard in the direction of supporting Sunni Muslims, would have recognized the growth and consequences of Shiite power in Iraq. “Some would argue that he didn’t care about Iraq, his sights were set on using Iran to transform the traditional world order in the Middle East,” he said aloud to no one. “And I am one of them.”

The Advisor sat down at his desk and continued musing. You didn’t need timely intelligence, which Obama claims he never received, to see the Sunni Islamic radicals that joined the rebellion against Syrian Shiite President Assad could easily cross the border into Sunni areas of Iraq. The Sunni tribes alienated by Maliki were ready to provide support in the form of manpower, logistics, weapons, and money. Borders mean nothing if they are not defended.

The result of the ISIS invasion of Iraq is that tribal and religious areas no longer follow the lines drawn by western diplomats after World War I. All remnants of the Shiite/Maliki government are being forced to fall back into Shiite populated areas, primarily south of Baghdad. A realistic map of Iraq will soon show Sunniland, Kurdistan and Shiiteland. The Sunnis and the Kurds will never go back into a centralized Shiite-run government. That failed experiment is over. Only more American blood and treasure could delay the collapse of Iraq, and for what? Our government needs to stop believing an Iraqi centralized government is possible. It is not.

Our policy should be to support the Kurds with modern weapons and monetary aid until their own fighters get properly equipped and to persuade the outside Sunni world to help bring the ISIS under some restraint. In the meantime, use unfettered air power and required boots-on-the-ground to break the advance of ISIS and stop their atrocities against the Christians and other religious groups ISIS is now slaughtering. Some massive evacuations of endangered refugees may be necessary. All because two administrations failed to see the Middle East as it is. Hawks and doves are equally to blame.

With this president’s commitment to Iran. I don’t believe he will allow his administration to support the Kurds or Sunnis in Iraq. They certainly have not sent needed supplies to the Kurds despite their statements to the contrary.

The Advisor sat in silence for a few moments before picking up his pen and putting his thoughts down on a fresh page in his journal.

The above is a fictional account of the writing of a legendary but fictional Advisor.

“ISIS: Quiet Justice,” a new Jack Brandon novel dealing with ISIS in America, is now available from Amazon and Barnes and Noble in print form and nook and Kindle formats.This is the fifth novel in the “Justice”series. Follow the author on Twitter @factsfictions80.