TheCorinthian

I am not American, and I may never understand the motivation behind American foreign policy over the last 50-60 years, but I have to ask just one question :

 

Why do the American people allow the CIA to continue to derail the positive impact of their efforts overseas ?

 

In a conversation with an American recently, he told me that the CIA operates completely independently of the Congress - I can only assume that makes them 'accountable' to exactly one man. The man who, presumably, signed off on the genocide of the Hmong people on the Plain Of Jars in Southern Laos, with his advisors whispering in his ear that it was for the 'greater good'. The same man the CIA had killed in full view of the public in 1963, which might explain why no-one has tried to challenge their power since. Happy to hear otherwise.

A few points:

Who ever you were speaking to apparently knows next to nothing about the US System, but that is not surprising, and got most of that from movies.

The CIA reports to congress, specifically to the Committee on Intelligence and since 2004 the DNI. It is not true that they answer to "just one man." In fact, nothing in the US does that except for maybe some small companies. Even the president answers to the people as is evidenced by the one term presidents we have had and the extreme 180s of power we have now seen twice in the past 3 years.

Does the CIA fuck up? Hell yes. But everyone does that. The Dept. of Education and the Public Parks people screw up all the time, the difference if the expectation. It is just not fair to expect perfection esp in this area. Add to that that the group can not even announce a success, and anyone would look very very bad in public light.

The US MIlitary has mistakenly killed more people in the past 10 years than the CIA ever has in its history. But many of you that have been in the military know that yes.... we fuck up. It is almost never the intention. Things just fuck up sometimes and we try to learn and go forward. And when malice is shown, there is a huge investigation that convicts way more people than it ever lets go free. Again, this happens in CIA too... you just dont hear about it.

(Take any of us, only talk about the bad things you have done and none of the good and our neighbors would hang you from a light poll.)

I know about 20 serious and former serious players in this area. I know of 4 that have been ruined (Jail, financial penalties, cant get a job except at McDs) and deservedly so for over stepping their bounds. But again, the problem is that you still cant talk about it because that puts other operations and methods at risk.

 

Before 9/11/2001 we had a system that worked. It got us thru the Cold War.

 

But on 9/11/2001 it was like nothing was working. What was literally mathmatically impossible became possible.

I disagree. The system really broke about 1990 and 9/11 was the result. The system did not break on 9/11 because if it had worked before that... 9/11 would not have happened.

Clinton lied under oath in grand jury testimony.

Funny thing, he was acquitted of that!

"Has any president? "

 

Yes.

 

"I did not have sexual relations with that woman" Bill testified.

"Testified" means to give evidence in court, under oath. Bill did not do that.

Who the fuck is Ron? And why do we have this ridiculous thread on Thai360.com?

You're kidding right?

I dont think Ron ever actually testified. Has any president? The way I look at it is, delay them coming home a few hours or a few months for what? Ron in office? No way.

Ron was unpredictable and willing to blast you cowboy style and let everyone know it. Carter they could trust to do as little as possible.

That's another counter, Iran had more to GAIN with Carter than with Ron.

I never said there was / were any in 2003 and after. I just said our sensors keep detecting traces of it. In some areas we had to take the batteries out to get them to shut up.

But I did say, and can show you photos of buried jets. So I would not be around when they dig the foundation to your summer house in Al Abnar!

I lean toward the Hostage thing being a non starter for one very good reason.

There was tooooooo much to be gained by the Dems bringing it out in the 1984 election. If it had been true, they would have done it and Mondale would have whooped ass!

I'll get back to the hostage thing.

For WMD in Iraq, they for sure did have them. We have a few burned out northern villages as proof.

Did they have them any more in 2003? Not sure. I say that because our sniffing machines went of constantly in some places and never in others. So there was something there at some point in the recent (as in a year or two before the invasion) past.

Saddam buried fully working Mig's in the sand. No telling what else might be out there.

That's why I want to see facts.

You seem to have a distorted view of the reality of the October surprise...seems Old Ronnie arranged to have the hostages held a bit longer in excahnge for some "gifts" later on...but I won't bother you with facts and reality...

Show me this.

 

Now interestingly Ford wasn't Nixon's choice of VP, I used to think Nixon had no say in who the VP would be, but it turns out if the pres is alive he gets to choose the VP, Nixons choice was a Ex-Democrat from Texas, who was a tad to shonky/

You sure?

The first Presidential candidate to choose his Vice Presidential candidate was President Franklin Delano Roosevelt in 1940. The last not to name a Vice Presidential choice, leaving the matter up to the convention, was Democrat Adlai Stevenson in 1956.

Though there is this:

On October 10, 1973, Vice President Spiro Agnew resigned and then pleaded no contest to criminal charges of tax evasion and money laundering, part of a negotiated resolution to a scheme wherein he accepted $29,500 in bribes while governor of Maryland. According to The New York Times, "Nixon sought advice from senior Congressional leaders about a replacement. The advice was unanimous. 'We gave Nixon no choice but Ford,' House Speaker Carl Albert recalled later".

She's an idiot.

What happens to soldiers who don't cheer on command?

Nothing. You think their bosses like him much more than they do?

More government workers live in tents than there are prisoners in Az.

I think it was who? Montana who told the old turb ball to shove his highway aide, and they kept the spped limit t 70 and the drinking age at 18 until the $$ ran out.n Real Americans in my book...not the bullshitters we have today.

 

Yea, it was them. As much as I loved it when they did it.... a look at their highway death rate and DUI death rate was an astounding cost for ...that freedom.

Isn't that what I said?

It would be like an email trail. There are too many topics to put them all in one place and keep it all straight.

But I find it funny in an LOS forum, USA threads would dominate enough to warrant this type of request.

Ok it is not that odd. It is the same everywhere there is a P&R or News forum. Even in Pakistan forums.

In the cost vs time, still nothing beets chlorine but a salt system. (Which is still chlorine in the end.) But as far as I know, you can not switch from chlorine to the polymer with out a flush of the system and complete water replacement.

Also, there are a few more things you have to do to a pool other than chlorine to keep it fresh and clean. If you have serious concern and still want to use the pool, I would just buy your own 25k bin of Calcium Hypochlorite and dump it in your self. Go in with your neighbors, with the number of pools in LOS, it cant be too expensive.

At 4 am what would you be doing in a closed market?

 

I did not catch that part in the piece, but the question still stands.

I wonder how orginised it was, the attack that is?

Did they hurt anyone? If I or any farang had been there would we have been touched?