A Whole Lot of Republicans and Democrats Voted Against Arming Syrian Jihadists

syria-al-qaida

So Obama asked Congress to vote for a bill arming and training Syrian rebels, even though he had already authorized arming and training Syrian rebels long before… and was already doing it.

Why did Obama decide to take the bill to Congress when he invades entire countries without asking them? Because he wants to spread the responsibility for the inevitable terrorist attack carried out by terrorists we armed and trained.

The bad news is that the bill passed. The good news is that a lot of Republicans and Democrats voted against it.

114 Democrats and 159 Republicans voted for it. 85 Democrats and 71 Republicans voted against it.

It’s oddly telling that more Democrats than Republicans voted against a request that Obama had personally asked for and that more Republicans than Democrats voted for it.

But the Dems are an adaptable lot. Two years from now arming the Syrian Jihadists will just be some Republican idea and Politfact will call it half true on a good day. All true on a bad day. (See Sequester, The)

Still the No votes are interesting.

You’ve got career leftists like Mike Honda and Zoe Lofgren voting against, but also more middle of the road types like Carolyn Maloney. Pelosi voted for it, but Charles Rangel voted against it. So did a number of other CBC’s, which makes me wonder why.

Maybe they just assumed it was a Republican idea and voted against on autopilot.

Tea Party Republicans like Bachmann and Gohmert voted against it. Arguably this was one of those decisive splits between establishment Republicans and rebels. Huelskamp, Nugent and Palazzo all voted against.

To some extent opposition came from the outliers, but not always. Some career lefties voted for it. So did Paul Ryan.

The defining division may be between those who are better informed over what is going on in Syria than those who aren’t.

  • truebearing

    Paul Ryan continues to toboggan downhill in the estimation of conservatives, or people who have a clue. Is it any wonder contempt of Congress is nearly universal? In the early 1940s would he have voted to supply torpedos to the Nazis?

  • Pete

    The so called “moderate” rebels are losing Aleppo. When they do they will be non players.

  • Una Salus

    What a disaster

  • snaketrapper

    Politics is a puppetshow for fooling & fleecing the sheeple and to make them bleed and die in wars they are forced to pay for! Here’s how to make the puppets get real jobs and pay back the loot: mises.org/story/2874

  • http://ebbenmaradtunk.tumblr.com/ Pensiveus

    Remember, what happened the last time, when the US trained and armed the so called rebels?

    • ObamaYoMoma

      It depends who the rebels are. If they are not Communists or Muslims and indeed share our values of capitalism, freedom, and liberty, then no problem. Meanwhile, if they are Communists, Marxists, Socialists, or Muslims, then heck no. (I couldn’t use the word I needed to use because that word is stupidly banned by Discus)

      • http://ebbenmaradtunk.tumblr.com/ Pensiveus

        I meant the mujahideen guerillas in Afghanistan. That wasn’t a good idea either. Since then civilised people should know: don’t arm the muslims. They’re more than enough trobuble even without it.

        • ObamaYoMoma

          I meant the mujahideen guerillas in Afghanistan. That wasn’t a good idea either. Since then civilised people should know: don’t arm the muslims. They’re more than enough trobuble even without it.

          In the case of the old Soviet Union, at that time they represented a major threat to the free world that was far more enormous relative to the threat emanating from the scourge of Islam today. Thus, arming the mujahideen jihadists that were fighting the jihad against the old Soviet Union and Communism, which was a clash between two competing forms of totalitarianism, was a wise thing to do, because it went a long way in the Cold War and it helped tremendously to bring down the old Soviet evil empire. By the way, it wasn’t a partisan thing, as Carter first started it and then it was carried on subsequently by Reagan.

          Not to mention that if you naively believe that it somehow led to the 9/11 violent jihad attacks, the resurgence of Islam as an evil force in the world today, and now the manifestation of ISIS, then you are sadly mistaken and also obviously either a mentally incompetent self-hating leftwing loon or otherwise a mentally incompetent self-hating Ron Paul kook.

          Back then no one understood the evils of Islam, as it had almost ceased to exist as an evil force because it had been tremendously weakened by the abolition of the Caliphate in 1924 and by the subsequent dividing up of the Islamic totalitarian world into individual nation states. Indeed, the first clue we had that it was about to reemerge as an evil force to plague the world from dormancy again was the over throw of the Shah of Iran and the subsequent establishment of an Islamic totalitarian state in Iran by the Shiites. It was only a matter of time subsequently until the Sunnis would eventually show up on the scene as well, and, of course, they did with a bang.

          Nevertheless, we weren’t attacked because we armed the mujahideen jihadists in Afghanistan, or because of our interventionist foreign policies, or because we abandoned Afghanistan after the Soviet’s defeat, or because of poverty and despair, or because of greedy American Imperialism. Instead, we were attacked simply because we are infidels, as subjugating all infidels and all religions into Islamic totalitarianism is the sole fundamental purpose of mainstream orthodox Islam through both violent and non-violent stealth and deceptive jihad and the eventual imposition of Sharia, which is draconian Islamic totalitarian law, to ultimately make Islam and its followers supreme throughout the world.

          • http://ebbenmaradtunk.tumblr.com/ Pensiveus

            I didn’t said that arming the mujahideen directly led to 9/11, but it’s a fact, that Afghan veterans created “The Base”, to train terrorists. It was a long way from there to 9/11 indeed.

            It’s hard to beleive, that Carter or Wilson doesn’t understood the evils of Islam, neither that they were weak that time. Until ’79, Israel fought three bloody wars against the muslim dirt, and even had to bomb Saddam’s nuclear plant in ’81. I don’t know about Wilson, but I think Carter was simply bought, and paid by the MB. (What he did with those poor bastards at the embassy in Teheran, was unforgivable.)

            But nevertheless, maybe we can say that they thought, arming the mujahideen against the commies is a good idea, but since then we know that it wasn’t. In light of this, now arming and training the muslims (not to mention that the so called moderate islam is a hoax) is a suicide.

          • ObamaYoMoma

            I didn’t said that arming the mujahideen directly led to 9/11, but it’s a fact, that Afghan veterans created “The Base”, to train terrorists. It was a long way from there to 9/11 indeed.

            Muslims are not terrorists. They don’t kill innocent civilian infidels because they are terrorists and because of what infidels do or do not do. Instead, they kill innocent civilian infidels because they only employ “total warfare” tactics per the dictates of Sharia and because making Islam and its followers supreme via the subjugation of all infidels into Islamic totalitarianism is the fundamental sole purpose of mainstream orthodox Islam.

            As a matter of fact, all Muslims are waging jihad in one form or another, which is a “holy” war waged by ALL MUSLIMS in the cause of Allah against ALL INFIDELS to ultimately make Islam and its followers supreme. Thus, all Muslims are jihadists, i.e., mujahideen (holy warriors), in one form or another, as opposed to only a few radicals and extremists that perpetrate terrorism here and there because of what infidels do or do not do.

            Thus, whether Muslims are veterans of the Afghanistan jihad or not, they are all nonetheless jihadists in one form or another, whether it is of the violent variety as in ISIS today, or whether it is of the non-violent variety as in the millions of Muslims that have migrated to America to wage jihad intentionally non-violently and by stealth and deception. It really doesn’t matter.

            Furthermore, the jihad being waged by the Islamic totalitarian world against the Soviets in Afghanistan had already been on going when the USA decided to arm them with stinger missiles, and it would have manifested regardless even if the USA had never decided to arm them with stinger missiles. Thus, to conclude that our actions in Afghanistan somehow led to the explosion of global jihad manifesting today is not only wrong but also incredibly ludicrous. Just because the USA armed some mujahideen in Afghanistan doesn’t mean it is now reaping what it sowed. Indeed, 9/11 wasn’t our chickens coming home to roost!

            It’s hard to beleive, that Carter or Wilson doesn’t understood the evils of Islam, neither that they were weak that time.

            Hey, Carter believed that Ayatollah Khomeini, because he was a man of religion, would be a vast improvement over the Shah of Iran. In other words, he didn’t have a fricking clue, and still doesn’t have a fricking clue to this day. Meanwhile, everything I’ve read about Charley Wilson also indicates that like most American politicians to this day, he was also oblivious of the reality of Islam.

            Nevertheless, arming the mujahideen in Afghanistan was the right thing to do. Especially when you consider the fact that unlike Carter, Reagan did it in conjunction with securing an agreement from OPEC to dramatically lower the price of oil in order to destroy the Soviet’s economy, and in which it did.

            Until ’79, Israel fought three bloody wars against the muslim dirt, and even had to bomb Saddam’s nuclear plant in ’81.

            The Muslims waging jihad against Israel used to be the extent of their global jihad waged against all infidels in the world to ultimately make Islam and its followers supreme. There global jihad dramatically expanded though after the 1973 Yom Kippur War with Israel, when the Islamic totalitarian world got the precursor to the European Union to sign the Euro-Arab Dialogue later on in 1973, where Europe not only agreed to open the flood gates to mass Muslim immigration with all of its excess baggage, which is really stealth and deceptive jihad waged intentionally non-violently, but also agreed to dump Israel under the bus, in return for an uninterrupted flow of oil.

            But nevertheless, maybe we can say that they thought, arming the mujahideen against the commies is a good idea, but since then we know that it wasn’t.

            With all due respect, that’s utterly absurd. It was a good idea because Reagan was able to secure an agreement from OPEC to dramatically lower the price of oil in return for arming the mujahideen, which inevitably led to the destruction of the Soviet’s economy and their eventual collapse.

            Moreover, whether we armed the mujahideen or not, it doesn’t really matter because the global jihad manifesting today would have emerged either way. Indeed, the jihad being waged against the Soviets in Afghanistan wouldn’t have stopped all of a sudden just because the USA hadn’t agreed to arm some mujahideen in Afghanistan. That notion is ludicrous, as is the notion that arming the mujahideen in Afghanistan was somehow a bad thing is ludicrous. It wasn’t a bad thing because it worked like a charm to accelerate the collapse of the Soviet Union and had absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with the expansion of the global jihad subsequently, and any insinuation that it somehow did is also ludicrous, because that expansion would have occurred either way regardless of our past actions in Afghanistan.

            In light of this, now arming and training the muslims (not to mention that the so called moderate islam is a hoax) is a suicide.

            I agree. There are no such thing as so-called moderate Muslims as all Muslims are jihadists in some fashion or another, or otherwise they are executed for apostasy, blasphemy, or both per the dictates of Islam. Indeed, far more than anything else, Islam is a very draconian form of totalitarianism that seeks to make itself supreme, as opposed to being just a so-called religion. Thus, just like in the old Communist Soviet Union where all non-conformers were sent to the Soviet Gulags, in Islamic totalitarian society all non-conformers are summarily executed for apostasy, blasphemy, or both according to the dictates of Islam.

  • Theodore

    I listened to the reason the radical libs cited for voting against it, they felt it was a ‘slippery slope’ to war.. Honda reasoned ‘this plan is rushed’ ‘need an informed discussion’

  • ObamaYoMoma

    I assume that Daniel is referring to the bill to arm the Free Syrian Army because according to Obama and many Republicans they are so-called moderate Muslims. Well in reality they are about as moderate as ISIS is comprised of radical Muslims that perpetrate terrorism as opposed to mainstream orthodox Muslims waging violent jihad. In other words, like ISIS members and the millions of Muslims we have living over here in the USA for the purpose of stealth jihad, they are neither moderate nor radical, but mainstream orthodox Muslims instead.

    In addition, the Republican vote, 159 Republicans voted for it, is proof positive that when it comes to protecting America from the scourge of Islam, the Republican Party is just as incompetent as the Dhimmicrat Party, and this all stems back to the enormous amounts of misinformation that is being proliferated throughout our universities and news medias, and including over here at FPM. It’s amazing how often I’m attacked by other posters when I simply point that out and demonstrate it. Today’s Republicans don’t like the truth as much as the Dhimmicrats, and beware that the bearer of that message, i.e., the messenger, will be attacked because of their message.

    No wonder so many Republicans stupidly consider GWB’s fantasy based nation building mission in Iraq to lift up Muslims, (the eternal mortal enemies of all infidels), out of poverty because according to GWB “poverty and despair” are the “root causes” of terrorism, to be a great military victory that Obama somehow squandered away by pulling our troops out of that Iraqi hellhole. They would have preferred instead to have left behind a residual force to routinely be sniped at, killed, and maimed, even though the Iraqi government was clearly already an Iranian poodle even before we exited.

    Not to mention that protecting America from the scourge of Islam should not be a hot button political issue, but it is.

  • ObamaYoMoma

    I assume that Daniel is referring to the bill to arm the Free Syrian Army because according to Obama and many Republicans they are so-called moderate Muslims.

    Well in reality they are about as moderate as ISIS is comprised of radical Muslims that perpetrate terrorism as opposed to mainstream orthodox Muslims waging violent jihad. In other words, like ISIS members and the millions of Muslims we have living over here in the USA for the purpose of stealth jihad, they are neither moderate nor radical, but mainstream orthodox Muslims instead.

    In addition, the Republican vote, 159 Republicans voted for it, is proof positive that when it comes to protecting America from the scourge of Islam, the Republican Party is just as incompetent as the Dhimmicrat Party, and this all stems back to the enormous amounts of misinformation that is being proliferated throughout our universities and news medias, and including over here at FPM.

    It’s amazing how often I’m attacked by other posters when I simply point that out and demonstrate it. Today’s Republicans don’t like the truth as much as the Dhimmicrats, and beware that the bearer of that message, i.e., the messenger, will be attacked because of their message.

    No wonder so many Republicans stupidly consider GWB’s fantasy based nation building mission in Iraq to lift up Muslims, (the eternal mortal enemies of all infidels), out of poverty because according to GWB “poverty and despair” are the “root causes” of terrorism, to be a great military victory that Obama somehow squandered away by pulling our troops out of that Iraqi hellhole. They would have preferred instead to have left behind a residual force to routinely be sniped at, killed, and maimed, even though the Iraqi government was clearly already an Iranian poodle even before we exited. Those Republicans haven’t quite figured it out yet that ALL MUSLIMS are the eternal mortal enemies of all infidels because waging jihad in the cause of Allah is compulsory in Islam.

    Not to mention that protecting America from the scourge of Islam should not be a hot button political issue, but it is.

  • Shadowwind

    The idea that our government (particularly the State Department) can accurately determine which “rebels” are moderate is completely laughable. Such a task could only make sense to noted intellectuals and truth-tellers like John Kerry (D-Heinz).