Barry Kelly | Facts and Fictions | Author | Facts and Fictions

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.

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Filed under Conservative views, Eight Decades of Insights, foreign policy, Intelligence & Politics, Iran, ISIS, Kurds, Obama, Shiite, Sunni

Tagged as bush administration, Iran, iraq, Middle East, muslims, Obama, politics, Shiite

by Barry Kelly | May 22, 2015 · 7:04 am

INSIGHTS 207 – THE ADVISOR EXPOSES A FALSE NARRATIVE

For months, the Advisor had been requesting the INSIGHT COUNCIL to approve his application to establish a Facebook page. The approval was finally granted but the Facebook page would be established and controlled by the Council. They reminded him that the only reason they were allowing this breech of protocol is because they are convinced he is facing a unique problem due to the very real conflict between the traditional mission to advise the president and the overriding need to protect and defend the nation and its unique Constitution.

The Advisor thought, the first thing I want to take on are the false narratives that flourish in people addicted to ‘sound bites’ and the last thing they heard from anyone. False narratives are a danger because with the constant bombardment of information that might improve rating numbers, media outlets will knowingly or unknowingly accept the false narrative and use it over and over. Used very much like past and present totalitarian regimes employed and employ the big lie. Repeat it enough and people will begin to believe the false narrative is the true story.

One of the Advisor’s pleasures was to sit down at his keyboard and let his fingers convert thoughts into text. There was a kind of beauty in the process that he couldn’t see when using his fountain pen to write in his journals.

The false narrative now sweeping the country, especially when interviewing presidential candidates is, “If you knew what we know now, would you have sent troops into Iraq during the second Bush presidency?”

The first candidate to respond to this query gave an incredibly stupid answer. No one could have known or even guessed that Americans would elect a man with Barack Obama’s ideology and transforming American program to the White House. Under a normal president, either Republican or Democrat, we would not have totally abandoned the fledging government in Iraq. In the vacuum Obama created, the Iraqis turned to their Shiite neighbor, Iran. It all went downhill from there. We were once the dominant power in the Middle East. No more. We have abandoned Israel and our Sunni allies in favor of Iran. In the years to come, historians will wonder how one man could have caused so many deaths and so much chaos in six years and he isn’t done yet.

And that is not the end of the false narrative. The truth is that getting rid of Saddam Hussein with his genocide policies against Iraqis of different political and religious beliefs was a good thing. Did we forget his invasion of Kuwait? Did we forget that he had used poison gas against the Kurds and the Shiites and our troops found tens of thousands of chemical protection suits and gas masks for Iraqi soldiers? Isn’t poison gas a “weapon of mass destruction?” Did we forget he was funding research into the development of biological weapons and nuclear weapons? The number one terrorist in the world, Abu Nadal, was living in Iraq. A terrorist training site with the shell of a large jet for trainees to practice hijackings with an adjoining military barracks was discovered during the invasion.

Did the Bush Administration make several serious mistakes? Yes! And so did Obama. Did those mistakes cost American and Iraqi lives. Yes! Is this a subject for national debate. Yes and Yes! If Iraq was today a struggling infant democracy with conflicts among the Kurds, Sunnis, and Shiites held in check by an American presence and power, would such a question have been asked? I don’t think so.

CIA Headquarters has the words, “THE TRUTH SHALL MAKE YOU FREE” inscribed on their wall. The other side of that inscription is “ACCEPTING FALSE NARRATIVES WILL MAKE YOU SLAVES.”

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 book store, This is the fifth novel in the “Justice”series. Follow the author on Twitter @factsfictions80.

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Filed under Conservative views, Intelligence & Politics, Shiite, Sunni, totalitarianism

Tagged as Iran, iraq, Middle East

by Barry Kelly | May 17, 2015 · 7:59 am

INSIGHTS 206 — THE PRESIDENT TALKS TO THE ADVISOR ABOUT AMERICA

The president smiled and said to Chris, his Secret Service escort, “I can’t wait to tell this guy what is really going on. He must belong to some old geezer cult to be willing to spend his last days underground. Or maybe he is just on the last stage before he really goes underground.” The president grinned at his witticism and so did Chris, but his grin was faked. His thoughts were real: What was I thinking when I volunteered to take a bullet for this man? I truly don’t think he really cares about anyone.

The president put his palm on the ancient iron door and as it swung open, he was greeted by the Advisor who escorted him to the conference table and poured the coffee brewed to the president’s taste.

“I know I said I would give you the thinking that has led to my domestic policies, but would you mind asking me a question or two so I can fill in the gaps in your understanding?”

“Of course not, Mr. President. What are your core beliefs about America?”

“Going right for the hard stuff, are you? Okay, that’s a good place to start. I hope you realize that I can speak without reading from a teleprompter. Some people doubt I can. I have a very objective view of America for I did not grow up in America so I wasn’t brainwashed by years of propaganda from kindergarten through high school. With what my parents and their friends told me, I was able to see through all the hysterical ranting of the bigoted conservative American politicians about the greatness of America and its role as a ‘shining city on a hill’. The truth is that the world today would be a lot better if America never existed. You see, the real vision of America is that of a ‘polluted city on a hill’ churning out products to make the rich richer. The people making those products they cannot afford, can’t even feed or clothe their families.

“The populous ‘have-not class’ in American society is doomed to remain there and the middle class is conditioned to recognize their proper place to keep from falling into the lower class. Your churches, schools, and capitalist organizations all preach a philosophy that ensures the stability of the status quo. There is no free market and capitalism is the chain that holds this nation stagnant. Your history is shameful.

“From the very start, the colonists put property over people and the individual rights of the rich founders above the rights of the masses. Your wars from the Revolutionary War and the Civil War, to the World Wars, Korea, Vietnam, and the Middle East have all been to gain economic power and further riches for the one percent. Let’s not forget the slave labor that built your economy and is today still second-class citizens oppressed by the police and confined to ghettoes in the big cities. How can you be proud of that heritage?

“I have laid the groundwork to destroy what I inherited. If I had another eight years this nation would be an example of fairness to all. Where everyone would have a fair shot and the playing field would be at last level. There would only be one class: the one hundred percenters. My only problem has been to get all the old Democrats to recognize my goals and to help me achieve them. In the future this nation will take its law and guidance from the United Nations.

“Tell you what, the next time I come to see you, I’ll listen to your response. Now I have to go. My wife thinks I’m in the gym or sneaking a smoke.”

“Goodnight Mr. President,” the Advisor said to a closing door. He muttered to himself, “Did I just hear what I heard?”

The above is a fictional account of a president meeting with 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. Follow the author on Twitter @factsfictions80.

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Filed under Barry Kelly, Capitalism, class warfare, Conservative views, Eight Decades of Insights, Intelligence & Politics, Obama, political solutions

Tagged as american, heritage, values

by Barry Kelly | May 12, 2015 · 7:00 am

INSIGHTS 205 — THE PRESIDENT LECTURES THE ADVISOR

As the President walked with Chris, the Secret Service chief of his detail, he was anxious for the chance to put the Advisor straight. For all his cultured ways and knowledge, the Advisor is living in a different world, the president thought. He is no revolutionary. He might be black but he doesn’t understand how American blacks are truly the victims of capitalism, colonialism, and white supremacy. Left to people like him, blacks would still be second-class citizens. My mission is to not only transform America but to fix it so that it will never be a world power again. Capitalism, the free market, individual rights and freedoms, and the two-party system will be replaced by a progressive elite that knows better than the masses what the people need. The last thing I do will be to weld this damned old iron door shut with the so-called Advisor inside.

Chris said, “Mr. President, we are here.”

“Yes. I won’t be long.”

The President pressed his right palm against the copper plate and the door slowly opened without a sound. The president wondered, how does this door move so quietly? The old man must have a daily schedule to lubricate the hinges. I’ll give him credit . Everything he does is impeccable. His manners are so correct they piss me off. Somewhere he learned the fine art of brewing outstanding coffee. Damn recipe probably extends back to the days of the founders. He may revere them but I surely don’t. Their system of government was designed to protect property and enable the rich a way to become richer and more powerful, thereby perpetuating the class system.

“Good evening, Mr. President. I’m anxious to hear your response to our last session. If you will take a seat, I’ll pour you a cup of my special blend. It is not much different. But it does have a deeper aroma and a pleasant after taste.”

The President put his nicotine gum in the waste basket and lit up a real cigarette. “It is almost worth coming here just to have your coffee with a cigarette and with no one looking at me at me for smoking. A president has to have a few personal perks. I tell you, I have precious few. Between my wife, my main above-ground advisor, and a bunch of whining bureaucrats, I don’t have much free time. Playing golf, coming here, and speaking at fundraisers are my only getaways.

“I take issue with your comments from last week. No matter what happens after my transformation process, America and the existing world order will never be the same. The world will be a much better place for all but the current rich and powerful. They, along, with the twin evils of capitalism and individual freedoms, will be gone. And so will all the complicated self-serving alliances, treaties, and subtle forms of modern colonialism. Both on the national and international stages the principle of ‘to each according to need and from each according to ability’ will govern. There is not a better guiding theme in any religion or governing scheme.

“I favor Islam for its no-nonsense legal system of Sharia law and its historical hatred of capitalism and all things Western. The religions of the West all support western political goals and objectives. Just look at the death and destruction the Crusades caused. From within Islam I’m a supporter of the great civilizations of the Persian Empires. They embrace the Shiite form of Islam rather than the radical and harsh Sunni version of Islam. Also, the Sunnis have sided with the West, especially America, and that is not good.

“I want the Iranians to have nuclear weapons. The world playing field needs to be leveled and the West has told us for decades that ‘Mutual Assured Destruction’ is a peaceful principle. For when everyone has the bomb, no one will use it. If they do use it, my transformation of the world order will still take place. A new and more just world will rise from the ashes of the past.”

The room grew silent. The Advisor sat quietly. Finally, the president said, “I’m through. Any comments?”

“Yes. One main one. Your goal is not new. Others have tried Marx’s principle. All have ended up in mass deaths, prison camps, and rule by an elite that quickly takes the riches and prerogatives of the wealthy class they replaced. What has ended up are inefficient governing models, a shrinking of economic growth, a harsh and stagnant rule by a group that is not elite but only serves the people in power with no checks on their rule. Individual freedoms, hopes, social mobility are gone. What remains is not a beautiful, better world but an ugly totalitarian rule by believers in a utopia that does not exist and never will.”

“I didn’t think you would understand.”

“On the contrary, I understand all too well.”

“At least you are honest. I’ll come back because I want to tell you about the next two years on the domestic front.”

The president signaled for Chris, drained his cup, and walked to the door. Over his shoulder the president said, “You might not know it but the weather outside is beautiful, gardens are blooming, beautiful women are walking the streets, the rain is soft and warm, it is a real delight to wander around my Rose Garden. You should try it sometime.”

“Thank you, Mr. President, but my place is here as long as I can physically do my duty. I look forward to our next visit.”

The above is a fictional account of a president meeting with a legendary but fictional advisor.

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Filed under Barry Kelly, Capitalism, class warfare, Conservative views, Eight Decades of Insights, Intelligence & Politics, Iran, political solutions, Shiite, Sunni, totalitarianism, Utopian

Tagged as Islam, Middle East, transformation

by Barry Kelly | May 8, 2015 · 7:47 am

INSIGHTS 204 — The Advisor’s Core Facts of the Middle East

The Advisor had no trouble putting together the realities of the Middle East, but he spent extra time deciding how to present a picture that would not cause the president to walk out on him during his presentation. The president was intelligent but had a very thin skin for such an accomplished political campaigner. Perhaps, he thought, it is because the truth had no place on his campaign trails. On the campaign, the ends for him clearly justified whatever needed to be done or said to weaken the opposition. The president had taken on board the Saul Alinsky rules totally. The issue is never the issue is his guidance for all his policies and speeches. The man is remarkably consistent and, for his followers, he is brilliant. He can avoid and ignore issues that any previous president would have believed he had to take on.

As he mused over his dilemma, the Advisor worked to stay within his historic guidelines. He had to advise his president to the best of his ability. The fact that he thought this president was clearly focused on destroying the political and economic structure he inherited was a problem, for his responsibility was to advise the president in his role to protect and improve the life of its citizens. If he could be just a little dishonest, he could rationalize that the president wanted to improve America. But in the process of socialization, great harm would be done. Freedom and the ability to rise above the norm would be lost as long as socialism, communism, or progressivism prevailed. He just couldn’t, or more honestly, wouldn’t follow that path.

At that moment, the Advisor’s only phone rang, with the only person he ever spoke to, outside the president, on the other line. Chris Hammond, the chief of the President’s Secret Service detail, said the president would late, somewhere near midnight. Good, he thought, that will give me time for a nap, a shower, and a frozen Indian curry dinner.

It was almost midnight when the Advisor put on a fresh pot of Sumatra dark roast. He was just getting ready to pour himself a cup when the faint alarm sounded and the president entered.

“Welcome, Mr. President. You must be able to smell fresh coffee brewing.”

The president chuckled. “When the coffee is as good as yours, I could smell it for miles, even when it is coming from an underground cave. Your existence is even more constrained than mine. I suspect you have learned to take pleasure in small things.”

“Yes, I have. That is very perceptive of you. There doesn’t seem to be much instant gratification in your life.”

“No, there isn’t. And I think I won’t get much in the next hour or so. Shall we begin? Surprise me.” The president sat back in his seat at the conference table, a cigarette already between his fingers.

“First, some basics. You know most of these but they are important in any discussion of the Middle East, no matter the subject. The people of the Middle East have a past they are proud of and a present they are not. Tribal allegiance is still a very important factor. Mobility up the social chain is much harder than it is in America where education is the key to improved status. In the Middle East it is religion and revolution. For reasons beyond my understanding Asian and Middle Eastern people have a very long and usually patient view of the time/progress ratio. Americans are only comfortable with instant gratification plus a decade.

“Then, there is the history of religious wars and colonialism when troops from the West with superior weapons and technology subjugated people of the Middle East and attempted to impose Western culture and even religion in the conquered areas. As a result the people of this historic crossroad both admire and hate the West with its superior technology.

“After World War I, diplomats from the West drew national boundaries that failed to consider tribal loyalties, religious affiliations, and the hunger of people for their own homeland. The situation of present-day Kurds is an example. The destruction of Saddam Hussain’s Iraqi ’empire’ created a vacuum that the Iranians are filling after noting the West had abandoned the region.

“Iran is the dominant single nation in the Middle East today. For decades, they have been working to take control of Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, and Yemen by creating and funding Shiite terrorists groups in all these nations. The West has been ineffective in thwarting the Iranian drive to hegemony in the Middle East. Now the Iranians want to solidify their gains and they need to be a nuclear power to do so. Unless they are presented with strong military and economic resistance, they will not be deterred in achieving nuclear status with an ICBM capability. They cannot be trusted to honor any agreement or treaty that stands in the way. Nor will they stop the funding and equipping of proxy terrorist organization to further their dominance of the Middle East. Nothing in Iran will change for the better in Western terms without a regime change. I know you have other reasons for negotiating with the Ayatollahs but there will be a terrible price to pay in human terms.”

The president sat still for a moment, then took a final drag on his cigarette before grinding it down on the table. “There were some surprises but you gave the speech I expected. I have to go, but this is interesting. I’ll give my response at one of our next meetings.” He left without another word or without a look back, per usual.

The Advisor found himself already impatient to hear the president’s response.

The above is a fictional account of a president meeting with 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. Follow the author on Twitter @factsfictions80.