NRT: Least preferred option

Written By: - Date published: 5:33 pm, November 17th, 2014 - 40 comments
Categories: International, iraq, us politics, war - Tags: ,

no-right-turn-256Reposted from No Right Turn

Back in September, John Key said that sending the SAS to Iraq was his “least preferred option”, “at the very outer edge of what we’d be wanting to do”. Today, he’s changed his tune:

New Zealand’s elite Special Air Service (SAS) could be deployed to Iraq to protect Kiwi troops sent to train local forces.

Prime Minister John Key confirmed that was one option under consideration as the government continues to weigh up its response to the rise of Islamic State (IS) n Iraq and Syria.

[…]

Speaking to Fairfax on his way to the G20 summit in Brisbane at the weekend, Key said the Government was still weighing up the shape of its contribution, and said he could not rule out deploying the SAS.

[As Pablo points out at Kiwipolitico, deploying the SAS even for “protection” will inevitably see them used in a combat role].

Do we need any more evidence of Key’s deceit over this? He knows kiwis do not want to see our troops in Iraq, but the US has snapped its fingers, and so he offers up some human sacrifices. The last two months of prevarication and slow escalation have been about selling that decision to us. In the process they’ve made it perfectly clear that our government works for foreign masters, that we cannot trust anything it says, and that they view us as subjects to be lied to rather than citizens to obey.

Wouldn’t it be nice to have a government which served us, rather than the US?

 Poodle belly scratch

40 comments on “NRT: Least preferred option ”

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  1. emergency mike 1
    17 November 2014 at 5:49 pm

    Key is a corporate manager. We are being managed, which is a long way from being served.

  2. ianmac 2
    17 November 2014 at 5:57 pm

    Fairly typical of Key. Creepy really in that he hints at something and then creeps the idea forward a tiny bit at a time until we get used to the idea and presto! We are quite happy that the SAS is doing their thing.
    Had he started with the SAS being in Iraq we would have risen up in protest but the frog is boiling now.

    • Murray Rawshark 2.1
      18 November 2014 at 2:52 am

      Guarding training grounds is not actually the SAS’s thing. It would be a total waste of their capabilities and I doubt the generals would agree to it. I don’t believe that’s what he wants to send them for.

      Normal infantry are quite capable of defending themselves. A lot of the SAS work is behind enemy lines. They’re not just soldiers who are a bit harder, they’re a finely honed blade for a totally different role, and none of our troops should be going anyway.

      FJK. Once more he lies to us and fools think “Wow. Our SAS!! Best in the world! And they can do a haka!”

  3. ropata:rorschach 3
    17 November 2014 at 6:31 pm

    Key was boasting about the same slow parboiled approach to selling down NZ assets to the G20 or some other international meeting. What a self justifying weasel.
    (reported on Nat Rad yesterday)

    Found the link: http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/political/259474/key-talks-privatisation-with-queensland-premier

    Here’s another example of National party deceit: deliberately running down state housing and taking excess profits before sale: http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/political/259489/housing-nz-readied-for-sale-labour

    • felix 3.1
      17 November 2014 at 7:01 pm

      What a disgrace.

      Is anyone in the media going to ask John Key where he got the idea that his job is to convince us to let him do things we don’t want him to?

      Anyone?

      Nah, just report it as if it’s as normal as Kim Kardashian showing her bum.

  4. vto 4
    17 November 2014 at 6:49 pm

    John Key is a known lying prick and anyone who is surprised by this is a fool

    • Hanswurst 4.1
      17 November 2014 at 10:17 pm

      Yeah, but if the Left were in power, they would be lying too. They might be lying about something else just as big, or something bigger, or something smaller, or nothing at all, but at the end of the day, most New Zealanders will see this for what it is, which is a smear campaign from the leaderless Left just after an election that they’ve resoundingly lost.

      • ropata:rorschach 4.1.1
        17 November 2014 at 10:29 pm

        Hey sausage breath

        Care to make an intelligent comment about the issues raised in this post rather than gloating and slagging off? Nah didn’t think so.

        A vote for Key is a vote for a failed economic model, a country divided, and a government that serves the USA not NZ. Discuss

        • Hanswurst 4.1.1.1
          17 November 2014 at 10:50 pm

          Whoosh….

          • ropata:rorschach 4.1.1.1.1
            17 November 2014 at 11:02 pm

            ??
            Was your previous comment a joke? It was so realistic…

            • Hanswurst 4.1.1.1.1.1
              17 November 2014 at 11:06 pm

              The clue is in the direct contradiction, “… they would be lying too. They might be lying about… nothing at all…”. Also, an actual rightie who was stupid enough to parrot Key’s spin lines wouldn’t be smart enough to replicate his turn of phrase.

              • emergency mike …
                17 November 2014 at 11:22 pm

                Ok… I you’re not an idiot. But if you’re going to make a comment where you pretend to be dumb RW tr0ll making a dumb RW tr0ll comment, I don’t think you can criticise others for mistaking it for a dumb RW tr0ll comment if looks identical to a dumb RW tr0ll comment.

                Your ‘clues’ might make sense to you, but I think they overestimate the argumentative style, and underestimate the stupidty of, the dumb RW tr0lls who love this place so much.

                • Hanswurst …
                  18 November 2014 at 12:42 am

                  It was aimed at people with the subtlety, inclination and time to read it critically. If you don’t fall into that category and decide to post nuclear comments in response, I don’t see it as my problem.

      • emergency mike 4.1.2
        17 November 2014 at 10:33 pm

        “…but at the end of the day, most New Zealanders will see this for what it is, which is a smear campaign…”

        Wow you’ve done gone and internalized the BS that excretes from John Key’s mouth pretty completely huh? Good boy.

        Ackshully, you’ve gone a BS step further from Key’s resounding, “But Labour did it too!” excuse for every arsehole thing they do to “But Labour would do it too!” Yeah, that hypothetical Labour governement that exists only in your mind gets up to some bad stuff eh? What else did you find out about them??

        Real smooth job sliding in the Labour leadership issue plus a ‘u lost har har’.

        You’re a complete idiot.

        • ropata:rorschach 4.1.2.1
          17 November 2014 at 10:38 pm

          Every criticism offered by the Opposition will now be treated as a “smear campaign”, because what the sensible villagers of Parnell and Epsom really want is unquestioned rule by the elite class.

          • Hanswurst 4.1.2.1.1
            17 November 2014 at 11:11 pm

            Every criticism offered by the Opposition will now be treated as a “smear campaign”

            That has already been going on for quite some time. It’s a stupid statement, and the only reason why it works is because the MSM don’t question it persistently, or even usually at all. I imagine that most people are smart enough to see that it is a flimsy statement backed up by nothing at all, but equally, most people don’t have enough time to do much more than assume that there’s probably more to it, that journalists would follow it up, and therefore that the background has probably been reported (or will be reported) elsewhere.

            • framu 4.1.2.1.1.1
              18 November 2014 at 7:52 am

              you do spot that your calling yourself stupid here hanswurst?

              • Hanswurst …
                18 November 2014 at 9:55 am

                No. Please enlighten me.

                • framu …
                  18 November 2014 at 10:03 am

                  you
                  “most New Zealanders will see this for what it is, which is a smear campaign from the leaderless Left just after an election that they’ve resoundingly lost.”

                  ropata
                  “Every criticism offered by the Opposition will now be treated as a “smear campaign”, ”

                  you
                  “That has already been going on for quite some time. It’s a stupid statement, and the only reason why it works is because the MSM don’t question it persistently”

                  • Hanswurst …
                    18 November 2014 at 10:11 am

                    If you read above, you will see that I was taking the piss. If you don’t believe me, look back over my comments on The Standard to see how many variations you can find on “John Key is a dick”.

                    • framu …
                      18 November 2014 at 10:25 am

                      “If you read above, you will see that I was taking the piss.”

                      how? Seriously, point it out!

                      how about you put a sarc tag in

                      if your making a joke it shouldnt require someone to know your comment history or go back through old comments to figure out what your saying

                    • Hanswurst …
                      18 November 2014 at 12:33 pm

                      how? Seriously, point it out!

                      Well, for a start, by reading the conversation that had already played out by the time you first weighed in.

                      if your making a joke it shouldnt require someone to know your comment history or go back through old comments to figure out what your saying

                      No, I said you could feel free to look over my posting history if you didn’t believe me, not so that you could get the joke. If you get it, you get it. If you don’t, it can’t be helped, regardless of whether it’s your fault or mine.

                    • framu …
                      18 November 2014 at 1:04 pm

                      so you wont point out what clearly denotes your words as a taking the piss, and in order for me to believe you, you wont bother to do anything?

                      seeing as you cant be arsed why the hell should i?

                      in light of that im going to consider your words as 100% true opinion from you – ergo you just called yourself stupid

                  • emergency mike …
                    18 November 2014 at 1:02 pm

                    framu, as Hanswurst has patiently explained, the clues to getting that his comment at 4.1 was a sarcastic fake tr0ll were a) that it contained a logical inconsistency, tr0ll comments are always logically rock-solid, and b) that he repeated Key’s spin so danged accurately, a real tr0ll couldn’t do that despite the fact that they repeat his spin seven ways from Sunday on this site all the time.

                    If that makes as little sense to you as it does to me, then it means that you just don’t get the high level of subtlety that Hanswurst’s humour is operating on. Don’t sweat it, I get the feeling that Hans is smarter than a whole lot of people who often fail to fully appreciate the really clever things he/she says.

                    /sarc

  5. RedBaronCV 5
    17 November 2014 at 8:38 pm

    Heigh ho heigh ho looks like gun happy Johnny goes off to war -pity he doesn’t seem to be doing it in person. hope the media grill him when he gets back – is he boasting to foreign leaders?

  6. Zolan 6
    17 November 2014 at 9:56 pm

    And by “serving the US,” we don’t even mean the American people, which would provide some sliver of decency, but only endorse the disservice against them by their own politicians.

  7. adam 7
    17 November 2014 at 11:36 pm

    I tell you, I don’t like this, with so many SAS retiring at the end of the Afghan war mark, I lost count. They don’t really get to retire people.

    So is Mr, I’m a banker and know jack about combat Key is going to recall all these men to active duty? If so, I am opposed, these men have served a long time in a active combat zone, not getting the rotations away from front line service they deserve.

    Will we also get more of the bullshit from the herald, releasing pictures of the SAS on active duty? Heads should have rolled on that one. But hey what the hell, lets send the SAS into another combat zone, possibly fatigued, all the while living with the possibility some stupid journalist will take a photo of them. So is anybody going to say to Key, maybe just maybe, our SAS is too good to waste on a two bit operation, so you can score some points with the yanks?

    • Murray Rawshark 7.1
      18 November 2014 at 3:07 am

      See 2.1
      I don’t believe what he’s said about their mission.

    • Ortvin Sarapuu 7.2
      18 November 2014 at 9:40 am

      “So is Mr, I’m a banker and know jack about combat Key is going to recall all these men to active duty?”

      So you’re arguing only Prime Ministers with combat experience should be allowed to deploy the armed forces?

      • Murray Rawshark 7.2.1
        18 November 2014 at 8:29 pm

        That’s actually not a bad idea. Most people who’ve been to war never want another one, except for the psychopaths. Oops.

  8. philj 8
    18 November 2014 at 6:11 am

    And if any of Defense personel are killed in this mess in Iraq? Will you, John Key, give their families and loved ones the same assurances as thePike River families? I can see the blood stain now.
    Haven’t you learnt from history JK?

  9. Sable 9
    18 November 2014 at 2:34 pm

    Is anyone surprised. The Yanks overlords say jump and the little quisling asks how high.

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