TRUTH IN POLITICS

Kick Them All Out                         by: Bobby Farrell

 

We can't throw all the BASTARDS OUT In one election – but we can damned sure start the process and guarantee the outcome.

 

Our mutual objective is to RESTORE the Constitution and all its Rights, Privileges and Blessings. RESTORING the Constitution alone –by making government at all levels OBEY it to the letter – will very quickly change our status in the world and return us to the Global Power of Freedom and Liberty we were BEFORE the institution and toleration of socialism brought us down to this current morally-bereft sewer.

 

Socialists have spared nothing: lies, bribery, thievery, blackmail, conspiracy, intimidation, evidence manufacturing, information suppression, illegal railroading of innocents, treason, wholesale murder, ad infinitum, to infest and infect every facet of our Culture and Nation. NOTHING of their destroy-America agenda is by accident or happenstance; all of it was – and still is – by deliberate design. And where do we find the greatest power base of infestation and support for all these damnations? Politically, in the Democratic Party, but that does NOT excuse the Republicans who have contributed more than their share; nor any of the other leftist-come-socialist-come-communist organizations, ACORN being a prime example.

The Main Stream Media, news, entertainment networks and cable services, are by and large openly COMMUNIST despite their claims of 'fairness,' and lack of religious and political bias. It isn't hidden, it's in plain sight 24/7/365, their misinformation propaganda being prima facie testimony against them. US Educational Systems have degenerated to incapable, drug-infested war zones or nests of Marxist vermin, with very few exceptions. High Finance Institutions, Disease Control and Food and Drug agencies and their governmental 'oversight' agencies are corrupt thieves and conspirators at best. Illegal Immigration is NOT a right, although the current administration is attempting to make it so, on the backs of United States taxpayers to financially support and uphold the failed MARXIST ECONOMY OF MEXICO in open and blatant Acts of Economic Espionage. This list of deviations and the deviates who man and support them is all-but endless.

 

THERE IS A CURE!

 

We, the People, WHILE WE STILL CAN, have the final word and the ultimate powers to not only UNDO all these socialist damnations, but to hold those responsible into full account. NO! We cannot trust 'the government' to do it; government IS the problem and can NEVER be the solution, until We, the People are again the government, armed, dedicated and dangerous to a Citizen.

 

Our first consideration for anyone seeking National elective office in 2010 is: "Where is the Birth Certificate?" They waffle on that, VOTE AGAINST THEM and make damned sure they KNOW you're going to do it! It's a Constitutional matter showing clearly where they stand on the Constitution. To impeach Obastard, will take months and even if successful will leave everything he's done intact. The proper Criminal Charges of this magnitude takes hours and puts his every decision OFF THE BOOKS including his Supreme Court nominees! At the same time we need to indict ALL his accessories to and after the fact, Pelosi, Reid, Hell-ary and Bill Clinton, the Emmanuels, the Cabinet, the

Czars, who ALL had to know. Failing that and the pus-willies are going to cause that failure. It's an UP-HILL fight all the way due to abject STUPIDITY of and by the Voting Electorate. Thousands turned out to cheer Hell-ary Clinton in front of hundreds of CLOSED factories and businesses in the Akron/Canton area, Ohio. ALL OF THEM TOO STUPID TO COMPREHEND IT WAS THE CLINTON NAFTA LEGISLATION THAT CLOSED ALL THOSE FACTORIES AND BUSINESSES! Such blatant stupidity cannot be called 'ignorance' even in polite company, but it does define a vital part of the nature of our endeavor to RESTORE the Constitution and the Nation.

 

We need to REPEAL virtually everything this COMMUNIST-CONTROLLED Congress has enacted into law: Health Care Reform, IRS-FED-FBI-CIA expansions, all bailouts and stimulus packages, Homeland Security in its entirety, warrantless intrusions, searches and confiscations, any and all new agencies regardless of under-what authority they were created or are supposed to be administered; and that list is extensive.

We need to AUDIT each and every government Department and Agency. Research, Police, Law Enforcement, Clandestine and Covert – including Congress.

We need to ABOLISH each and every stranglehold government Department and Agency. That list is too long to print here.

We need to ENACT Term Limits on ALL Judgeships and REPEAL the must-be-a-lawyer requirement. That would return ONE THIRD of our government – the Judicial Branch – to some degree of Citizen control, rather than being under the thumb of one 'educated' class! We're building more prisons than schools keeping that GRAFT MACHINE in operation.

We must put a STOP to any and all FOREIGN AID, especially to our enemies. The current Wiki LEAKS exposure clearly documents thousands of "whys" this must be a First

Congressional Term project.

 

We must BRING ALL OUR MILITARY HOME, the sole exceptions being Embassy and Consulate Military Staff. At best, we need only Garrison Operations staff at airfields, sea ports and intercept communications centers. The REST should be home – and stationed along our open borders!

We must START rebuilding our own infrastructure, roads, railroads, water/sewage treatment and waste disposal plants, bridges, airports, sea ports, and communications. Were we to refurbish our now-abandoned airfields and military posts into COMMERCIAL facilities, our economy would again go through the roof. First, in the jobs of doing the refurbishing; and second, in the investments and jobs provided by that commerce. Hard on the heels of this undertaking we MUST have all our 'trade' and 'tirade' treaties RE-NEGOTIATED to a level playing field or RESCIND them completely. DAMN the world's 'opinions' about us looking out for ourselves to our own best interests; the rest of the world doesn't give a damn what WE think – unless they're after our money!

 

We must RETURN the United States to a HEAVY INDUSTRIAL Nation rather than an information-handling economy. Example: During WWII, we built FOUR Bismarck-class Battleships: the Iowa, New Jersey, Wisconsin and Missouri. When the Iowa's Number Two gun turret exploded, all the cover-up and infighting as to the cause had NOTHING to do with the actual explosion, but to distract the public from the FACT the United States NO LONGER POSSESSED THE INDUSTRIAL CAPABILITY NECESSARY TO REPAIR THE DAMAGE! Between her date of commission, 22 February 1943, and the date of her disaster 19 April 1989 – 46 years, including War time - the United States had exported our HEAVY INDUSTRIAL capabilities to the point we not only could not, and cannot, duplicate the USS Iowa, we can't even repair her! The fact such Battleships are obsolete is beside the point: HEAVY INDUSTRY IS NOT OBSOLETE!

 

We need to ESTABLISH geo and thermo energy production – we have the technology, and every step of it loaded to the eyebrows with BLOCKING SOCIALISTS! There is no such thing as "clean coal" or "clean oil" – but the GRAFTERS are spoiling the land/seascape, cutting off entire mountain tops in Appalachia as 'overburden' to strip mine, and permitting FOREIGN companies to drill for oil off our coasts, when we can't! If utilized: Solar, Wind, Geo, Thermo and Hydro electrical production is more than sufficient for all stationary usages, homes, factories, businesses, et cetera, and come with their own detriments; but combined the will REDUCE the need for fossil fuels EXCEPT for MOBILE energy requirements. And THAT we can handle.

 

As for all the TAX THIS-TAX-THAT nonsense, our officials can start with the ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY-PLUS TAXES in a loaf of bread!

This is the SHORT list, and it's an absolute ZERO tolerance factor! No exceptions, no excuses and no compromises! NONE! Get it done, get it ALL done, or get prepared to be THROWN OUT with the rest of the Bastards.

 

HERE'S WHERE WE PICK UP THE PIECES AND BEGIN:

 

1. --- The first time ANY candidate, incumbent or otherwise, cuts you off short, talks down their nose, or FAILS to answer the question ASKED – VOTE AGAINST THE BASTARD! Elected Officials WORK FOR US and the sooner we show ALL of them WHO is really the boss, their attitude and competence at getting OUR demands met will change and improve accordingly.

2. --- At the ballot box. Sounds simple, actually it's anything but! As far as the electorate goes, we MUST convince them to VOTE THE ISSUES rather than any party or can't-possibly-win candidate regardless of how much we prefer them. This is NOT an election to "send a message" unless you're hell-bent on electing/re-electing the very Bastards who created this current National/Global mess! Splitting the vote is a sure and certain DISASTER that will only elect/re-elect the very COMMUNISTS who created the current and untenable situation. Permit that to happen and you might very well NEVER get to vote again! We came close to a no-future-election situation during the Rockefeller-Puppet James Earl Carter Reign; we dare not let that happen in 2010 or forever.

3. --- It isn't as simple as just voting. IT'S WHO COUNTS THE VOTES THAT MATTERS MOST! And the only way to protect against wholesale voter fraud like 2008 is to become an Election Official for the day. Contact the County/Parish/Borough Clerk, Bureau of Elections, and VOLUNTEER to work the polls. Several laws kick in, an equal number of PARTY Registered Voters as Officials in each precinct, et cetera. It's usually a PAID (minimum wage) position for a very-long day, and most districts provide FREE training. Not only can you be a Poll Worker (Clerk, Judge, Presiding Judge) there are also positions with the Election Staff and CANVASSING Boards. In any of these positions YOU are in-place to raise hell at any impropriety whatsoever! Should there not be any openings with the Election Board (investigate that) then contact your Party Headquarters and volunteer to be a Poll Watcher or Challenger. There's training and some are paid positions pending sufficient funds. Don't bust your guts to elect a worthy candidate and then GIVE the election away behind closed doors – be there and raise all the hell necessary – as there are some severe penalties for voting improprieties.

4. --- Be prepared to handle any intimidation efforts that law enforcement can't or won't handle for you. The Black Panther episode and the WHITEWASH it got in the 'judicial' system could, and should, have ended in a hospital or morgue as necessary. YES! I'M ADVOCATING THREAT OF VIOLENCE AGAINST THREAT OF VIOLENCE! This series of remaining Primaries and General Election is so critical to our Nation's survival that IF law enforcement can't or won't handle voter intimidation, THE CITIZENS MUST! And especially against law enforcement openly in-league with the intimidators. Be prepared for that too.

5. --- With respect to Religion, there can be no compromise nor any double standard. We simply cannot vote on a religious or doctrinal basis. We've all witnessed sufficient abominations from all religions to know that a faith or 'professed' faith isn't any qualification whatsoever for Public Office. And we must NEVER forget, the same Constitution that guarantees Freedom OF Religion, in the same words also guarantees Freedom FROM Religion; specifically but not limited to the current Muslim attempt in enact Sharia Law in this Country over and above any and all standing statutes. There are those in Public Office who support this Muslim cause in direct defiance of our separation of church and state provisions – and those advocates MUST be removed without exception.

 

POST ELECTION:

 

Despite our best efforts, we will have elected worthless, treasonous, lying bastards to some offices. We cannot, we dare not, permit them to endorse, support or vote FOR anything we elected them to vote AGAINST; or to permit continuance in whole or in part those bills and socialist damnations we elected them to REPEAL! And it's an absolute ZERO tolerance factor! No exceptions, no excuses and no compromises! NONE!

 

Some states and legislative districts DO NOT HAVE provision for re-call, some are specific to given offices and legally cannot be applied to others. DEMAND such legislation – during the immediate session – not later and not pusswilly and signed into law, effective immediately. RE-CALL is your first option to remove anyone who fails the Grand Test of Patriotism FOR the United States and/or its Sovereigns.

 

If RE-CALL is not an immediate option, remember, IT'S AGAINST THE LAW TO LIE and political promises are NOT exempt! Immediately start a publicity campaign AGAINST the traitor/liar and all law enforcement and judicial agencies that refuse to investigate and/or prosecute; and continue it until someone WHO CAN AND WILL replace them throws their hat into the electoral ring. Start early, make the register deadlines, have the fees in-hand, and once more THROW ALL THE BASTARDS OUT!

 

Tax Hikes One Step CloserTo European Welfare State

Yesterday the Senate voted 61 to 39 in favor of a $26 billion bailout for states,  government and unions  financed  mostly by an $11 billion tax hike that is destined to kill jobs at U.S. companies competing overseas. But worse than that, before a final vote was taken the Senate defeated two amendments by Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC) , that would have prevented the largest tax hike in American history. Earlier this month Vice President Joe Biden told ABC News that the only thing wrong with President Obama's first $862 billion economic stimulus was, it didn't borrow and spend enough.

The message to the U S economy's job creators is that this administration and Congress is clear, you can expect more  spending, higher taxes and larger deficits in the coming years. The Labor Department’s Bureau of Labor and Statistics released its monthly jobs report showing the economy lost 131,000 jobs in July as 143,000 temporary census workers lost their government jobs. The private sector managed to add 71,000 jobs with a loss of only 51,000 jobs over the past three months. The private economy appears stuck in first gear in spite of the job losses. The nation's unemployment rate didn't rise from 9.5% because more than 180,000 workers left the workforce. In all the U S economy has lost 2.5 million jobs since Obama signed his stimulus bill and his administration is 7.5 million jobs short of what he promised the American economy would have by 2010.

 Loss and Failure of Obama Administration

Faced with this loss and failure, the Obama administration wants to double taxes and spending policies by raising taxes on America's private sector. Research on past recessions shows that small businesses created about two out of every three new jobs during recoveries. But the $3.2 trillion Obama Tax Hike to be installed in January will hit these businesses the hardest.

While only eight percent of small businesses pay the highest tax rates, those businesses earn 72 percent of all small business income and pay 82% of all income taxes paid by small businesses. According to a study by the American Family Business Foundation (AFBF), stopping Obama's Death Tax hike would create 1.5 million jobs.

But lowering taxes and a more dynamic private sector is not the direction that Obama wants to take the country. Obama's economic direction is obviously not popular among conservatives, and is becoming less popular among independents and liberals. It is biggest failing Obama has had; he just can't be honest about the fact that he wants America to be more like Europe, but obviously he does. For two generations after post-war reconstruction, Europe and America have pursued different economic models and moved in different economic directions.

The American model was low tax, low spending and small government that promoted growth and income. The European model was high tax, large spending and big government. It favored fairness, equality and stability as its model, but that is no longer true. Under the Obama administration the unemployment is passing even Europe.

Paul Ryan (R-WI) said "This budget presents a choice of two futures and is more about more than specific programs or policies. It is really about the American idea and whether we want to move towards a European style welfare state." If the Obama tax hikes happen it will be a closer step toward that goal. Is this really the choice Americans for the future of America?

Beware of Government Agencies Bearing Grants                  

By: Jim Harbison

 At the most recent City Council meeting the Council passed several resolutions accepting various government grants from both Federal and State agencies.  Now on the surface this seems like a great deal for the City because after all it is free money.  Right?  Well not exactly.  
 

Many of these government grants contain conditions or restriction such as matching funds or other constraints on how the money can be used.  Not all of these conditions are necessarily consistent with the policies of the City Council.  This money is used by the Federal and State governments to implement policies or programs that may or may not match the needs or priorities of the City or more importantly the needs or desires of the citizenry.

One of the resolutions that passed concerned a Federal HUD grant of approximately $1 million which required the City to provide $500,000 in matching funds to the Affordable Housing Land Bank.  Another was a $758,000 grant from NMDOT to construct the 6-mile Outfall Channel multi-modal trail from I-25 to the Rio Grande River and requires the City to provide $252,000 in matching funds.  
 

Unfortunately, the City has not identified where these matching funds will come from.  In the case of the HUD grant the City may identify them in the 2011-2012 budget year.  Bottom line is that acceptance of this grant obligates a half a million dollars from next year’s budget and gives it a priority over other

City Projects Without Consideration of the Actual Needs of the City.

The Outfall Channel Trail was number 4 on the City’s list of unfunded projects.  Accepting this grant now moves it to the top of the list and circumvents the priority list established by the Council and City staff.  Councilor Sharon Thomas is the City’s advocate for walking paths and bicycled trails.  Obviously she was very excited about this grant and voted for its acceptance. 
 

There are several questions that should be answered before the City accepts these “gifts”.  First, what is the impact of the loss of the $252,000 from the current budgeted projects to suddenly fund an unfunded project?  Second, if there are other funding sources for the existing City projects, why weren’t they included in the creation of the original City budget?  Third, what is the impact on those projects that had a higher priority on the project list?

The various City departments will frequently state that matching funds do not need to be actual dollars but can be “in kind contributions”.  What are “in-kind contributions”?  As I understand it, it is where the actual value of work performed on the project by City staff can be considered as payment toward the matching fund amount.  Examples would include design work done by the Engineering Department or preparatory work performed by the Public Works Department or the Utilities Department.  

Sounds simple, right?  Well consider that this is work effort that is diverted from currently approved and funded City projects.    This may force the previously funded project to be delayed or even moved into the following budget year.  Ever wonder why your road isn’t repaired, or why your neighborhood continues to have drainage problems?  Perhaps it is because the City staff is working on in-kind projects because the City didn’t have the budget to fund these grant driven projects.

Remember, there is no free lunch and acceptance of grants can have consequences.  Let’s hope our City Council realizes this and does not jeopardize other projects.  They must not allow the Federal and State governments to divert the direction of the City Council by the offer of “free money”.

 

Hypocrisy of the City Council

By: Jim Harbison

Last year at this time Mayor Miyagishima had a revelation.  He had read “somewhere” that driving while using a cell phone was 20-times more dangerous than drunken driving.  He set out on a campaign to prohibit the practice in Las Cruces.  There was no overwhelming public outcry for this legislation.   Each Council member supposedly queried their constituents and determined that this activity was so dangerous and such a threat to the public safety that it was absolutely necessary to enact sweeping legislation to end this extremely dangerous activity.  So dangerous in fact that it would warrant up to 90 days in jail.

Ironically and coincidentally this was prior to the fall campaign season.  Did the Council pass this to convince their constituents they were truly looking out for their best interests?  Despite numerous citizen comments opposing this legislation they passed this “critical public safety measure”.  They imposed increasing fines for repeat offenses that included fines of up to $500 and 90 days in jail.  It also included mandatory appearance in court to insure the offender was sufficiently repentant (and inconvenienced).  The law went into effect in early 2010.

 That was then, this is now 

At the City Council meeting on July 19^th the Police Department presented a resolution to change the penalty structure from an increasing fine for repeated offences to a ”penalty assessment” of $126 for each offense.  This was driven, in part, by the inability of the police officer issuing the ticket to be able to determine if this was the first offense or a repeated offense.  In addition, by changing it from a progressive fine to a penalty assessment it would enable the offender to mail in the fine in lieu of the mandatory court appearance.  As an unintended consequence this has the positive effect of reducing the workload on the municipal courts.

 Under the current Code there are five levels of fines.  These  range from $56 for parking violations and inoperative equipment; $76 for minor moving violations including failure to use seat belts or child safety seats; $126 for more significant moving violations and excessive speed; and two other categories that had increments to nearly $300 which included reckless driving and driving under the influence.  The police department surveyed other cities to determine the fines charged for similar offenses.  Based on their study, and the fact that the fines would no longer be progressive with repeated offenses, they recommended a standard fine of $126. 

 Councilor Connor immediately objected saying this was too much and that her constituents could not afford that level.  She recommended that fine be equivalent to a parking violation of $56.  Only two of the current City Council opposed this.  Both Councilor Small and Mayor Miyagishima thought that the fines should be, as a minimum, equivalent to a minor moving violation fine of $76 which would be appropriate since under the ordinance the offender must be operating the vehicle (moving violation).  

 I find it extremely difficult to understand how this “critical public safety” law that the City Council felt was absolutely essential has been relegated to the equivalent of a “parking violation” offense.  What changed it from an extremely dangerous driving offense to a minor non-moving violation?   Was it originally necessary or was the Council then pandering to a group of vocal individuals?  Did the Council fail to do their due diligence prior to passing the legislation or was it just political theater prior to the fall 2009 election? 

 No matter the cause, the current penalty demonstrates the hypocrisy of the City Council and is just another embarrassment for them.

Will We go to War, or Will the Obama Administration Back Away

July was one of the deadliest months for our forces in Afghanistan while in Iraq political factions are continuing with a five-month squabble over who will lead the government of that country and the insurgent violence is mounting all the while. The Wiki Leaks info-dump of over 90,000 documents, is proving to the few who have not realized the United States is in so deep they cannot dig their way out, have shown that our ally Pakistan is collaborating with al-Qaeda and the Taliban, planning attacks on coalition forces in Afghanistan.

The Pentagon has enough on its plate without more war, but superpowers do not think this way. The U S has entered with Foreign Policy In Focus (FPIF) with the backing of Fran Shor who argues that an age of empirical overkill, on which we rely more heavily on our military to compensate for an ebbing social, cultural, ideology in other domains." We are being dragged down into our own web of crisis in southwest Asia, yet the Pentagon wants to make sure that other potential kings of the hill don't take advantage of U S preoccupation.

Over the last few months, the Obama administration has engaged itself in serious displays of force in Asia. Washington has tightened their hold on North Korea and gone head-on against China. The Pentagon may be signaling Pyongyang and Beijing that it can handle the additional fight if need be, but the U S could find ourselves halfway down up the road to war when it's too late to back down.

Ever since taking office, after North Korea's second nuclear test, the Obama administration has been unenthusiastic about confronting Pyongyang, but instead, has settled into a containment of the country. The sinking of South Korea’s ship, the Cheonan less than three months ago, which an international inquiry laid at the door of Pyongyang, made matters worse in the long run. Rather than proceeding with caution, the Obama administration was pulled into more dangerous waters, because of the South Korean government.

Hardliners in South Korea’s military and their administration under President Lee Myung Bak, bent on thwarting any possibility of dialogue with North Korea, has pushed relentlessly for a more confrontational attitude towards Pyongyang, looking for Washington to take actions that made the Obama administration very uncomfortable, according to CNN reporter Mike Chinoy.

These actions included last month's stepping up of naval exercises near the Korean peninsula, when the Pentagon added a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier to the exercises. The U S/South Korea exercise, with the show of force provided by 200 planes, 20 warships, and 8,000 soldiers, was put into play just after China and Russia managed to tone down a U N Security Council statement, condemning the sinking of the Cheonan by avoiding any mention of North Korea as culprit.
In the aftermath of this statement, North Korea pledged to return to the Talks and pursue both a peace treaty and denuclearization. But Washington remains in containment-plus stance, which could very well elicit the kind of North Korean response, such as a third nuclear test or another long-range missile launch or both, that will bring on another increase in tensions.

As it tightens the screws on Pyongyang with new financial sanctions and monthly U S/South Korean military exercises Washington is turning up the pressure on Beijing. True, at the last minute, the administration backed away from direct confrontation with China by deploying the carrier George Washington not to the Yellow Sea, as pushed for by South Korea, but farther away from China, in the Sea of Japan. It looks like the next time, in this month's exercises; the Pentagon will send the carrier to the Yellow Sea, even over the Chinese government’s objections. In other ways, too, the Obama administration seems to be spoiling for a fight. At the recent ASIAN summit, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton tried to pressure China to internationalize the multi-party territorial dispute in the South China Sea. This move required lining up the support almost a dozen countries in advance and caught China by surprise. Beijing would like to handle the dispute bilaterally with the super powers such as China or the United States who usually prefer to throw their weight around in one-on-one negotiations.

The Obama administration, like the Bush administration, engages China at the highest levels on economic issues; we depend on Chinese manufacturers, Chinese banks, and, occasionally, Chinese consumers, but we work hardest to contain China militarily. From Beijing all you see is the United States making allies, sending arms, or intervening militarily on Chinese borders while the wars in Afghanistan and Pakistan, the pacts with South Korea and Japan, the arms sales to Taiwan and India, continue to disturb China. We call it hedging, but they call it encroachment and where China has made strong alliances of its own with Iran, Burma and North Korea, we've done everything to disrupt them. Granted, China is siding with some rough and tough countries, but for equally pragmatic reasons; the United States cultivates some shady relationships, with the likes of Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and Israel. So China takes umbrage at the double standard and resists U S pressure to join in the sanctions and stranglehold on Iran and North Korea.

The Pentagon doesn’t want to go to war in Asia because North Korea could cause devastation in South Korea. A war with China, meanwhile, would cause global devastation. Nor does either Pyongyang or Beijing want to pick a fight with the world's largest military country.

But the United States is not willing to cede influence in Asia to a rising China, according to a recent report from a bipartisan panel of military experts, chaired by former U S officials Stephen Hadley and William Perry who recommend the U S embark on a major upgrade of U.S. naval capabilities in case of the need to confront China. This report, is couched in the language of long term and is appropriately diplomatic

The reality on the ground, or on the water, is something totally different. When we conduct military exercises at China’s front door, within range of a clearly antagonistic North Korea, we could be starting something that we neither want nor are able to finish. In the dualism of our decline, we can think only of showing our muscles or of relinquishing power; a use it or lose it attitude. We shouldn't be surprised when and if we meet similar behavior from our allies and enemies as well.

Meanwhile In the Balkans

It's been more than ten years since the wars in the Balkans ended. The conflicts that divided former Yugoslavia seem very 20th century in retrospect. As much as many writers attempted to picture the Balkan wars in religious terms; Orthodox vs. Catholic vs. Muslim, etc., they were mostly bloody struggles over territory and spoils of war, parochial in every sense of the word, but as FPIF contributor David Gibbs points out, the wars in the Balkans predicted the wars of the 21st century in one important way. They provided a rationale for U S military intervention that would later be set aside by both the Bush and Obama administrations. When intervention was first undertaken in Bosnia for instance, it mainly served to make the crisis worse, argues Gibbs in The Srebrenica Massacre, After 15 Years. There was a lot of  potential for a diplomatic solution to the Bosnia war and there is evidence that diplomacy came close to settling the conflict, thus preventing the Srebrenica massacre, but this was blocked by the United States.

Only little Slovenia managed to join the European Union, while the rest of the country was left waiting at the altar.