Odds And Ends

Just a couple of random thoughts.

Everyone in the Death to the Infidels world is watching the success ISIS and slapping their foreheads, exclaiming, "Now why didn't we think of that?" What works gets repeated and it's pretty obvious that going straight to genocide without any warm up activities is the way to win in the long run. Even if the West suddenly discovers traces of a spine, by the time we do away with the obvious parts of ISIS it will be too late. There will be no people to replace them, all others having been killed. The future belongs to those who show up. You can't show up if ISIS beheaded you.

Russia is sending a convoy of 280 trucks with humanitarian aid to Donetsk. More than humanitarian aid, it contains a whole bunch of triggers. That is, if the Ukrainians bungle things and threaten the lives of a bunch of Russian "humanitarians," Putin will have an excuse to go in to rescue them. It won't be an invasion, it will be protecting his citizens. See the difference?

A couple of fighter bombers off an aircraft carrier aren't going to have any more effect on the outcome of the ISIS war than the ME-262 did in 1944-5. However, those couple of F-18s will allow President Obama to say, "I did my best, but the rest of you disappointed me. Again."  See also: Libya, Syria, ObamaCare, Crimea and Green Energy Subsidies, presidential excuses for failures of.