Thursday, November 19, 2015

The Paris Attack Mastermind Is Dead...

...according to this German language news source. This is apparently old news but I've been out of the loop for a day. I'll leave it to you to find the equivalent English language story.

One interesting aspect I can't help but point out is the German language word for "mastermind." The word is "Drahtzieher" which, literally translated, means "string puller" as in the puppet/marionette metaphor.

17 comments:

Chip Ahoy said...

I don't care for the term mastermind either because it insinuates a masterful mind where simple deranged psychotic planner is apt.

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

I read yesterday that the cost of the attack is estimated at $10,000 dollars.

Does thriftiness count for anything anymore?

bagoh20 said...

Now see, that terrorist is no longer a threat. We don't have to decide where to put him, how to try him, or figure out his motivation. Just bury him in bacon fat, and target the next one.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

ah. Obama and Kerry will light some candles.

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

That time when every possible choice we make is fraught with uncertainty.

While the terrorists plot, plan and pounce away.

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

I heard somewhere, it might have been Fox, that there is a strategic political advantage for Obama to keep ISIS alive.... body and soul.

ISIS keeps the perceived failure in Iraq fresh in the minds of the voters.

The same political strategy applies to immigration.

As long as the issue is alive, it can be used against his political enemies, whom, in the end, is all that really matters to the president.

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

The question is will Parisians now think "mission accomplished" and declare victory.

That's a rhetorical serious question.

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

"Body and soul"

I lifted that.

bagoh20 said...

The failure in Iraq was leaving the hard earned success unprotected, and that's 100% Obama. What we accomplished there was incredible, and it cost us a lot of brave Americans - thrown away, like yesterday's trash. When we do something like that, we shouldn't walk away. Germany and Japan are two of the most successful turnarounds in history - from destructive murderous enemies into two of the most peaceful, and successful nations on earth who are now indispensable allies. The difference is we stayed and insisted on not throwing away what we accomplished, and we didn't ask their permission.

bagoh20 said...

Didn't Obama do a "mission accomplished" speech when we left Iraq?

bagoh20 said...

If we had stayed in Iraq, we could have prevented ISIS from ever constituting in the first place, we could protect the Kurds, we could provide safe zones for refugees, and we could have made Syria go whichever way we wanted.

Everybody knows know that we don't have the stomach for a fight and that the President's threats are pure bluster at best. We haven't been this weak since Carter. Giving your enemies that kind of confidence is not gonna save us money or lives over what it cost to just stay strong.

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

In that long article I excerpted from the other day, the writer explained how ISIS is not like Al Qaeda. In order for ISIS to remain as a viable entity, what they call a "caliphate", they need to hold territory.

We (a new coalition of the willing) take their territory away, no more ISIS.

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

In my estimate, for a new coalition to go after ISIS to form, we would have to be attacked repeatedly... like a battered woman, several more times. And unfortunately that would include several attacks on US soil.

Short that, ISIS is with that to stay.

ampersand said...

The heads of ISIS reside in palaces in Saudi Arabia. Qatar and Kuwait. Want to kill the snake? Cut off it's head. The world, not just the US or Europe will have to come to this decision eventually if it wants to live in peace.

edutcher said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
edutcher said...

Wonder how he felt when all those virgins really turned out to be just 72 white grapes.

bagoh20 said...

Didn't Obama do a "mission accomplished" speech when we left Iraq?

Several. He can never say "I", "me", "mine" enough.

deborah said...

Agree, ampersand, but we should start immediately with economic sanctions. I know. Money talks.