Neocon Oroubourous

Man, the rats aren't just leaving the ship, they are moving to another continent. First we conquer Iraq, then we colonize Africa. First time tragedy, second time farce: first time the Brits, second time the Ledeens (pere et fils)?

Africa Beckons [Michael Ledeen]

We're off to Africa in a couple of hours, to two fairly remote sites, one in South Africa, the other in Congo. They promise wifi, and assuming that's true I'll try to send pretty pictures. Marine Capt. (Reserves) Ledeen is coming along, and he knows how to get the pics from the camera to the computer. We were just talking about all those people who thought Anbar Province was hopelessly lost to al Qaeda, back when "the war" was on the front page every day...and how life is full of surprises. Of course, McCain isn't a Marine, but he's a fighter, and I still have my doubts about the "all is lost" crowd, as I did when just about everyone thought the war was lost. Africa has often been written off as a doomed continent, but nowadays Africa's doing much better, in no small part because George W. Bush has sent a lot of American money, expertise, and medicine there. It's one of the really good things he's done, and while I am second to none in my criticism of his failure of strategic vision in the Middle East, I am full of admiration for his work in Africa.

arrivederci.

Masters of War

Michael Ledeen is psyched:

Since so many of the injuries [suffered by American troops in the Middle East] involve violent explosions (think IEDs and their successor bombs and mines), we have a considerable number of amputees who need artificial limbs. And the Pentagon went to the people who developed the Sedgway scooter and said, in essence, if you guys are so smart why don't you make prostheses that move like real arms, hands, legs and feet? And they did. Fast, even. Have a look at this terrific video. I think I may have posted it before, but it's worth a hard, proud look. And it even sounds like one of my faves, robocop...

Sedgway inventor Dean Kamen's next project?--a Republican guilt stimulator. We can rebuild them. We have the technology. We have the capability to build the world's first guilty Republicans. Better than they were before. Better, responsible, moral.

Update: Maybe I should add that I have significant expertise in both upper and lower extremity prosthetics, that I can tell you Dean Kamen is wildly exaggerating his team's successes and that Michael Ledeen is, as usual, pretty much completely full of shit. The notion that any of the heroic amputee victims of his Iraq adventure will ever resemble a Hollywood special effects "robocop" is a cruel and selfish pipe dream.

Why Do Republicans Hate the Troops, Part MDCCLXXIII

To pick up where Tom left off, below, Michael Ledeen is all puffed up over prosecutions under a silly new law:

Anti-Hero of the Day [Michael Ledeen]

A guy convicted in New York under the "Stolen Valor Act" (great name, eh?) for posing as a decorated Special Forces hero in Vietnam. Turns out he was a mere private...no medals...

04/03 11:31 AM

Yes, this is the same Michael Ledeen who just last year published this troop smear in the National Review:

We’ve got lots of soldiers sitting on megabases all over Iraq. They should be out and about, some of them embedded, others just moving around, tracking the terrorists, hunting them down. I don’t know how many guys and gals are sitting in air-conditioned quarters and drinking designer coffee, but it’s a substantial number. Enough of that.

It's the same Michael Ledeen whose beloved president impersonated a conquering hero in staging his "Mission Accomplished" and his "Bring it on" troop-killing pratfalls. It's the same Michael Ledeen who has pushed/pulled the same fool president through 4,000 unnecessary troop deaths in the Iraq fiasco. It's the same Michael Ledeen who proudly joined in as his troop-humping Republican brethren swiftboated the valorous John Kerry and carried their utter failure, their AWOL poser, their phony hero to another term in the White House.

What this country needs is a Patriot Impostor Act. And a healthy sense of shame.

Republicans=Misogynists?

Over at The Corner, Michael Ledeen shares some words of wisdom with the world:

Clintons=Obamas? [Michael Ledeen]

Think about it this way: each couple has a charming, talkative, charismatic husband and a smart, nasty, hyperambitious wife. It just struck me.

02/29 10:25 AM

You cannot fool Michael Ledeen all the time, no-siree Bob. Ledeen then turned his full attention back to Iran=Iraq! warmongering.

[Rearranged post slightly because of diminished IQ.]