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(H/T to Wonkette for the photo. Classic stuff.)
Tell me the one about George Bush being the Decider again, because I think it's about time someone started asking lots of questions about the end results of his deciderating:
Somalia may be the place that best illustrates a trend sweeping across the African continent: After Sept. 11, 2001, the United States concluded that anarchy and misery aid terrorism, and so it tried to re-engage Africa. But anti-American sentiment on the continent has only grown, and become increasingly nasty. And the United States seems unable to do much about it.
A number of experts on Africa trace those developments to a sense not of American power, but of its decline — a perception that the United States is no longer the only power that counts, that it is too bogged down in the Middle East to be a real threat here, and so it can be ignored or defied with impunity….
"The actual ability of the U.S. to influence circumstances on the ground in Africa has declined dramatically," said Michael Clough, a former director of the Africa program at the Council on Foreign Relations. "But the symbolic significance of the United States is still there. So we become the perfect target."
For proof, please see Sudan, Congo, Eritrea, northern Nigeria to a lesser extent, and even South Africa….
"We learned that we don't need the Americans anymore," said Lam Akol, Sudan's foreign minister. "We found other avenues."
Another reason is Iraq. The ceaselessness of Baghdad's bloodshed has greatly undermined the United States' credibility, fanned anti-American feelings in Muslim regions like the Horn of Africa, and drained resources that might otherwise have been available to address other problems.
"There is significant blowback coming from our catastrophic decisions in Iraq that is affecting our ability to do anything about Sudan or Somalia," Mr. Morrison said….
Nothing like conducting our foreign policy based on a view of the world as George Bush wants it to be, and not how it actually is.
Here's some reality for you, George: under your watch, American influence is steadily declining. Other nations do not trust you, and so they have found a way to work around you — in Europe, in Africa, in Asia and even in North and South America. Our military is stretched so thin that Somalia can see through it, despite all the gizmos and gadgets and top-dollar whizbangs, we still need people in uniform to man them…and we're having enough trouble that you are contemplating recruiting outside the US for non-citizen soldiers to fill the depleted ranks. China is making friends and influencing nations while you are clearing shrubbery on your pig ranch this week and trying to decide what we should do in Iraq — because, you know, having been there more than three years now…it's about damned time.
Heckuva job, Bushie.
That coasting you've been able to do with your rubber stamp Republican buddies who didn't provide any Congressional oversight? It is over. The American public has decided that that some tough questions need to be asked, and asked, and asked again until they are fully answered by you and your Administration. And that changes need to be made for the good of us all.
It's called accountability, George. You might want to look it up in the dictionary before January — because you'll need to do a lot more than just lawyer up and pay some mouth for hire to plant media stories. Because, come January, you and your Administration have a whole lot of 'splaining to do to Mssrs. Waxman, Leahy, Levin, Conyers and company. And I, for one, am looking forward to it.
(Hat tip to eRiposte of The Left Coaster for the link to the Herald Tribune article. Also, Ian has a bit more on the Somalia/Ethiopia conflict.)
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Christy!
My 2nd zero in three-four months!
fitz
Fitz and Waxman!
It’s Gerard Depardieu’s Birthday!
Don’t overeat.
Morning gang — seemed like just the sort of day for taking stock of some of the failures of the Bush Administration. And for laying responsibility for those failures where it belongs — on George Bush’s doorstep, and at the feet of all those conservative thinkers who have held his hand all along the way. If this is what conservatism gets us, I will pass, thank you very much.
Bush has pigs on his ranch?
Poor pigs.
Thanks for the post, Christy. Yeah: It’s a sad state of things when Ethiopia is fighting a proxy war for the US in Somalia. And Ethiopia is not really a paragon of democracy, the spread of which, we’ve been told, was one of the reasons we went into Iraq. You really can’t make this stuff up.
“Accountability, Anyone?” Accountability, everyone! ;)
OMG Christy!
My 1st thot, not even to the words yet, wondering why this silly picture again. Then I noticed the training wheels!
LOL
Sure needed that. Now I can plunge back into the doldrums again, but with a purpose. Thanks much!
It’s really almost unimaginable the extent to which he’s screwed EVERYTHING up.
Fallout from the Bush era will still be coming down decades from now.
Christy, I find this attack on our president unwarranted.
David Ignatious said that Bush is quite broken up about this whole war thing that was thrust upon him.
He is an introspective Decider who feels the weight of history now.
-GSD
morning, Redd – 2nd pot of coffee has started… January 4th can’t come soon enough.
Jordanian Prime Minister Marouf al-Bakhit said Tuesday that a former Iraqi Cabinet minister who escaped from a Baghdad prison this month had arrived in Jordan on a U.S. plane.
Ayham al-Samaraie, a former minister of electricity with dual U.S. and Iraqi citizenship, was serving time for corruption when he escaped in mid-December.
Lou Fintor, spokesman for the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, said the U.S. government was not involved in al-Samaraie’s escape “in any way.”
The turd King-everything he touches turns into shit. It’s his life story. This guy would fuck up a 2 car funeral parade.
wasn’t Ayham al-Samaraie a contributor to the Bush campaign?
But we can always rely on England, Israel and the Marianas Islands for back-up.
-GSD
Christy, you forgot to photoshop the police getting run over into the picture.
George W. Bush, The Turd.
-GSD
Twisted at 18 — well, since I snagged this pix from Wonkette, and the police weren’t in it, it’s not something that I’d be able to photoshop anyway…but it would have been a very amusing touch. *g*
SteveNS @
11
A very apt analogy.
It is as though a bomb has ripped through America.
Bush and his enablers have scattered shit from hell to breakfast.
We might well never get back to where we were.
More on China. We’ve talked a little bit at FDL recently about China. World War 4, the war of globalization, is being fought on two fronts: the military war on terror, which Bush is distracted from at the moment; and the economic and diplomatic, which China is winning.
Hey egreg.
Thanks for wonderful comments downstairs.
Sun’s out here(!) ‘ere – have a cup ‘r three.
Winter solstice is past. Day’s ‘r gettin’ longer already. Always like to remind myself.
(((peace)))
Sander @ 7
Do you mean the neocons?
GSD @ 12
The WaPo editorial page today has a couple of pieces of buffoonery in it. These so called pundits need to be held accountable, too.
I just learned, from msnbc, that Ford thought the Reaganites were “right wing nuts”
There is an article over at Bloomberg about how difficult it is for foreign travelers to get into the USA.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/…..refer=home
That is $31 Billion … in lost revenue which translates into jobs and taxes. It also isolates America more and more.
Great Going George….
If we nuke anyone in the Mideast, what will China and Russia do?
as a long time reader and infrequent poster, i always look for and appreciate your posts and perspective christy, not just in matters of law but in the value you place on the sanctity of life amidst the chaos of living.
a second thanks for leading me to pharyngula!!!! so invigorating.
now, a question…initially (november after election) impeachment seemed to me to be a distraction from the business of getting the country into better order but recently, bush’s apparent inclination to ramp up agression in Iraq and Iran makes me fearful of what he “can” do to put the world into a catastrophic situation… is bush fit to hold office? has his pathology made him dangerous to all? is impeaching him necessary to preserve us all? am i sounding paranoid????
aine
ps. on huffington there is a Wade Davis essay that speaks eloquently to the situation that exists in this reality based place called planet earth.
Oklahoma kiddo @ 28
There is a supposed invisible line that has been drawn around Iran by Russia and China. If the US crosses it, it could be really big trouble.
-GSD
Everything the Decider decides, is wrong. All his life, he has trusted his gut and his gut, all his life, has been a disaster. His family and friends have continually had to bail him out. Wouldn’t you think, if he’s allergic to any kind of introspection, he would at LEAST do what George Costanza did when he realized he’s always making the wrong choices – and that was to do the opposite of what his instincts told him he should do?
The tragedy of this whole mess is that unless the incoming Democratic majority take a firm stand then things will go along as they have been. Everything I see points to a continued and expanding presence in Iraq which has been the PNAC goal all along. What enemy are we facing that requires an even larger military that everyone is calling for? The New York Times this weekend has basically bought into the whole permanent war scenario and now that they have shifted all the blame for the screw-up in Iraq to Rumsfeld they are making like it is time to get serious about this. We are at a crisis and if we see someone like McCain as President in 2008 we will be at war for the foreseeable future. We are facing Permanent War regardless of what the electorate wants.
As to Bush strategery.
Sounds stupid to start flooding US troops into Iraq just in time for a big Sunni/Baathist backlash if the execution of Saddam goes on as planned.
The question is will that serve as a bookend for the Samarra mosque bombing….meaning that it gives the Sunnis the feeling that they are about to be liquidated in kind and they are better off in open revolt.
You know, questions that mooks in NH ask, not the joint chiefs or George Bush.
-GSD
GSD @ 30
You mean, like in, really, really, big?
Mitt Romney Skunked Again!
Well, I don’t think Russia or China want to start lobbing nukes around…….but they also don’t want the US to continue on its path unfettered.
They can both play hardball without resorting to nukes. That tends to end the game rather quickly.
-GSD
A Sunni Arab, al-Samaraie was a member of the transitional government set up after the 2003 U.S.-led invasion and led by former Prime Minister Ayad Allawi.
He was convicted on one of 13 charges of corruption earlier this year, but the conviction was thrown out on appeal a few days before his escape. He still faces trial on the other 12 counts. The charges concern an estimated $2 billion in missing funds for contracts on rebuilding the country’s electrical infrastructure.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/200…..d_official
Jordanian Prime Minister Marouf al-Bakhit said Tuesday that a former Iraqi Cabinet minister who escaped from a Baghdad prison this month had arrived in Jordan on a U.S. plane.
Ayham al-Samaraie, a former minister of electricity with dual U.S. and Iraqi citizenship, was serving time for corruption when he escaped in mid-December.
Lou Fintor, spokesman for the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, said the U.S. government was not involved in al-Samaraie’s escape “in any way.”
Regarding Somalia, I heard an eye (ear?)-opening interview on the BBC last night with Herman Cohen, the former Undersecretary of State for African Affairs under Bush I. He came very close to outright condemnation of the Bush II administration’s reflexive aversion to the Islamic Courts Union. As he explained, the ICU has deservedly won great support among the Somali people because they kicked out many of the warlords that no one else (certainly not the US; cf Blackhawk Down) were able to dislodge. Although fringe elements of the ICU have been causing trouble, Cohen explained, condemning the entire ICU is a grave error. Yet, he pointed out, the current administration’s myopic obsession with terrorism (and its conflation of all things Islamic with all things terroristic) is preventing a rational approach to Somali internal reconciliation.
Extremely level-headed analysis, and from a guy named Cohen, no less.
I could find no links to the interview I heard last night, but if Cohen pops up in press coverage on Somalia, I recommend that you perk your ears.
The Chinese control our economy…one little squeeze and we won’t know whether to shit or wind our watches. Iraq will be the least of our problems at that point.
I doubt that Bush cares about any of that. What he does care about are the family trust funds and those have grown very nicely during his time in office.
They harder the administration pulls the pendulum to the right, the faster and harder it will swing to the left. Like Lakoff says, we want to swing all parties to the left to support progressive values.
As bad as things are, I have a lot of hope. Keep Bush in office, sure, we have decades to spend cleaning up the mess, but we will have a shining example of why it is necessary.
Click here for the results of my 2008 candidates poll.
At some early point in the New Year it would be useful to host a discussion here on how the United States can plausibly minimize the very great damage to our overall foreign policy that will result from the inevitable defeat in Iraq. Perhaps Christy and Jane could induce Joe Wilson to work through an increasingly likely worst-case scenario. This is a chess game, and although most of us are just casual observers, as citizens it is essential that we have some idea of where all the pieces are, and, given the rules of the game how they can be moved.
Beyond the upcoming investigations and likely Constitutional crisis resulting from them, I think this discussion of our foreign policy is the most important task we face in the New Year. We can’t just sit back and see how the catastrophe unfolds without trying to understand it.
This whole thing is such a mess. And every time I try to think about the steps going forward, I keep coming back to how much of a painful mess things are going to be…and I keep asking myself “and for how long?” The answer that keeps coming back is “for a very long time,” and that alone is far too worrisome. For my child and every other child who will inherit the whirlwind that George Bush will leave behind. Far too long.
I would surmise if George continues to misbehave and do bad things in the Middle East and be particularly abusive to Iran, that Pakistan, India, Israel, China, No. Korea, Egypt, Syria, Russia and perhaps some other countries could produce a volatile mixture as a result.
One of the other massive problems obscured by all the crap and detritus that is this administration is a burgeoning energy war.
It’s already begun, Iraq being but a single front in that war. As GSD says, Russia and China have drawn a line — but that line is not bounded by a rather arbitrary national border, but on access to energy.
While we are absorbed by the debacle that is Iraq, the Russians are engaged in extortion across what used to be the northern Ottoman Empire; Georgia and now Belarus have been pressured to accept new pricing terms from Russia. Turkey (an ally of the U.S. to date) is supplying an alternate source of gas to Georgia as a hedge against Russia’s threat to cut off natural gas. Turkmenistan, whose president recently died unexpectedly (and conveniently?), is a major player in natural gas having the second largest supply next to Russia’s; how Turkmenistan will fit in this context remains to be seen.
And of course, the Ethiopia-Somalia conflict has implications on petroleum supplies.
We are engaged in an asymmetrical war of a global nature, and we can’t even see it, proverbially blind to the forest for all the trees.
edit: Oh yeah, forgot to point out that one Valerie Plame worked for a “business” that covered much of the turf affected by this spreading energy war.
Sander @ 7
I believe the pigs are there to make dub look good. Doesn’t work . . .
THAT is a priceless picture!
Knut at 43 — That’s a great idea — we are working on perhaps having some more of those sorts of chats in the upcoming year — not just on foreign policy, but on other issues as well. Any suggestions on who would be a great candidate for such discussions and on what topic would be greatly appreciated — and we’ll see if we can work out logistics and scheduling.
Twisted Martini @ 39
China has about $800 billion in US treasury bonds sitting in the Bank of China. Most if not all of that are reserves from the staggering trade deficit, the result of the undervalued Yuan. China pegged the Yuan to the dollar at about 8 Yuan to $1 USD. The Yuan is much more expensive than that. So Chinese products are much cheaper than US ones.
In any event, the $800-plus billion in treasury bonds sitting in the vaults in the Bank of China means the US owes China at least that much. Yes, if China decides to cash that, that is, make those bonds liquid, yes, then we’re in deep doodoo, to quote my father-in-law. The way global economy works, though, China can’t afford to do that either.
To parody the wingnut “stern father” lecture directed to Saddam Hussein in 2003:
Georgie, mommy and daddy left you home alone unsupervised for 6 years, and now look what a mess you’ve made. You have to ‘fess up, and if we’ve found that you’ve been a really bad boy, you won’t get to keep your country any more.
China is making friends and influencing nations while you are clearing shrubbery on your pig ranch this week and trying to decide what we should do in Iraq.
Ah, this reminds me of a HK movie a friend of mine and I were watching. My friend was convinced that some of the characters were allegorical, e.g. The charmingly corrupt seductress= HK, The Grand Eunuch=Great Britain. . . I guess it’s America’s turn now.
Biodun @ 49
If we want to fuel our economy and get out of the U.S. debt to China, Japan, Britain and other countries, we could just have a really big war. That might work.
GSD @ 36
Not to worry, China has it’s priorities. It wants to get rich. China wants to restore itself to ancient glory and China is turning a little nationalistic, but they want fuel to expand the economy most of all. We have Aramco. Why can’t they have Iran? See the logic.
Christy Hardin Smith @ 44
Don’t worry about the future . Whenever I do crisis calls, I always tell people to slow down, you don’t have to do anything today except make a commitment to seeing the truth. That’s where the American people are right now. Because I truly believe that right knowledge begs right action. Just keep shining the light on truth, and the country will follow.
AEI’s Dynamic Duo strike @ WaPo Op/Ed pages:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/…..00773.html
Slipping Into Darkness
(despite solstice)
Pretty soon you’re going to pay.
-GSD
Biodun @ 22
Here’s my philosophy though. It all weighs out. China reaches out and has always been imperialistic, but it always gets bitten in the arse in the end. See Russia, Vietnam. Also the debt deals with Africa may not work as well (it looks like funny business). Please rest assured that China has only been slightly more well-equiped leadership than the U.S. to be a much-loved superpower.
The fundamental problem with Bush, Cheney and some other select individuals around them, might be that these guys really believe a nuclear war is winnable.
a surge of at least 30,000 combat troops lasting 18 months or so
Do they say where these 30,000 combat troops will come from? If not, then they’re just blowing hot air (from both ends).
OK,
That is one of the reasons why the latest Bush obsession with Truman scares me. He seems to be consumed by the analogy and the most important thing in Bush’s sponge-like feeble mind is the fact that Truman dropped atomic bombs on people.
That is one heckuva job in Bush world.
-GSD
My impression of the military, from the time that Jack Murtha spoke out was that they were really strapped and the continued force numbers would bleed them and break them.
Bush’s answer is to help them break faster by increasing the commitment.
Again, if there is a wrong way to do it, Bush will do it.
The Reverse King Midas, George W. Bush, The Turd.
-GSD
Speaking of China:
Published on Wednesday, December 27, 2006 by the Agence France Presse
Dire Warnings from China’s First Climate Change Report
Temperatures in China will rise significantly in coming decades and water shortages will worsen, state media has reported, citing the government’s first national assessment of global climate change.
P J Evans:
Somebody else (rereading, that would be GSD) hit it…but here’s more:
In a short span of time we’ve moved ISG ‘off the table’ to arguments countering a ’surge’
which one is withdrawal/disengagement?
which one is ‘escalation’?
mui @ 57
In 2002, I spent 8 months teaching in Chengdu, in Sichuan Province. My students were very confident that with thousands of years behind it, Chinese civilization is strong and deep enough to absorb capitalism and overcome its limitations. Living in China these days is seeing a living history of capitalism. Anywhere you go in the city, you see various stages of capitalism. And there’s construction everywhere, day and night. As they say, the crane is the national bird of China.
One result of all this is pollution. Of the 20 most polluted cities in the world, Chinese cities have 10 of them. They’re now talking of green technologies to engage the whole development.
We’ll see (or our kids will see) how things play out.
The question is, if Bush is determined to fight bigger and perhaps more wars, and he’s out of soldiers, what then does he fight with?
“China is making friends and influencing nations while you are clearing shrubbery on your pig ranch this week…”
Exactly. This is the heart of the matter for me: We wane while China exerts influence.
Oklahoma kiddo @ 62
That’s where Asia is very weak. Environmental stuff. T**wan makes the air quality of America’s highways seem pristine and pure.
1,377 DAYZ AND THE KILLIN’ GOEZ ON AND ON AND..
Citizen Twisted Martini and Firepup Patriots:
“The turd King, everything he touches turns to shit…”
Yes indeed, King Turd…but it doesn’t matter what we call ‘im or how distorted our economy gets from here on, the baby has been drowned in the bathtub. The federal government is now weaker than the corporate oligarchy… the federal treasury and all the institutions, including the military, that were established for the purpose of protecting the people against the consolidation of power by an oligarchy are now gone. America is now a third world colony with corrupt ruling families at the beck and call of the Chinese and the Saudis. The corporatists are runnin’ candidates for President in BOTH parties and the two leading Democratic candidates, Mrs Clinton and Barak O’Lieberman, are wholly owned subsidiaries of the corporations.
Our only hope outta this tub of shit is for the investigations of the new Congress to expose the whole, rotten, inbred herd of these bastards and for Al Gore to become the consensus candidate for a national unity government.
Look at the Democratic Party field right now…Barak O’Lieberman, Mrs. Corporate Consolidation Clinton, Joe MBNA Biden and chargin’ in from the left (are you kiddin’ me??!!) Christopher fuckin’ Dodd!!!
We’re screwed here folks and nobody has even unzipped yet…
KEEP THE FAITH AND PASS THE AMMUNITION, THEY’RE MULTIPLYIN’ LIKE GOD DAMNED RABBITS!!
Not that this is a burning issue, but does this look photoshopped to you folks?
Supposedly a snub of John Kerry by US troops in Iraq.
The photo looks odd to me.
-GSD
Rayne @
46
damn, it’s no wonder Iran isn’t allowed to expand any non-petro(nuke) electric/energy generation. It would be bad for business.
It occurs to me that China is fast-forwarding the entire Industrial Revolution thru Technological Revolution (and perhaps beyond) in a span of about 50 years.
With what a population of, what, 1-2 billiion. That’s remarkable. And bound to have eddys that turn into tsunamis. FOr instance, ‘The Information Society’ is problematic, at present.
Pollution another. But, I’m almost certain Beijing air will be acceptable for Olympics/’08.
Biodun @ 64
It’s sad too because a cabbie once complained of the demolishing of old neighborhoods in Shangh**. The old neighborhoods look shabby to us, but mean something and have a history to the locals. And the local bird is the crane.
All of Asia has/or is going through the stages of capitolism as far as I can see. Why they are so slow with the environmental stuff is really, really alarming. Especially when it contributes to natural disastors. Also the workers’ rights as well. *Sigh* A friend of mine (Chinese) always says “give them a couple of hundred years to reach civilization again. Perhaps the melding of Confucianism with capitolism is not such a bad idea.
P J Evans @ 59
The problem with a temporary escalation is that, like eventual withdrawal, any anticipated reduction is simply waited out. Simply calling it temporary defeats it’s purpose.
The question to pose for escalation supporters is what number of casualties can we tolerate…15,000?…25,000?…40,000?
ctnd@72
A friend of mine (Chinese) always says “give them a couple of hundred years to reach civilization again.”
My friend meant that in a loving way though. For him capitolism without checks for the little people like ye old Confucianism spells disastor.
GSD @ 69:
That picture’s so dark that Kerry could have people on both sides and you wouldn’t know. I wonder if they darkened it to highlight Kerry and hide anyone close to him (notice the right edge is brighter, in front of whoever Kerry’s talking to). In any case, the source makes it suspect in my mind.
The American Prospect has a story on the troop situation:
Surging to Disaster
Want to break the back of the U.S. military while failing to accomplish anything new in Iraq? Send in more troops.
By Lawrence J. Korb and Max Bergmann
Apparently we have no more combat-ready troops. But those @#$%^&* in DC think we have 20 or 30 thousand to send in and escalate things.
Kos diary – The Surge is a lie
Using the word “Surge” violates Lakoff’s rule … “Do NOT use their language.
Call it what it is….. an Escalation of the Iraq War.
Gerald Ford was a decent person, unlike George W. Bush.
let’s go a smidge further;
one of the tools conducting war and foreingn affai is our ability to broker a treaty and reasonably expect the signtor’s close adhearance to that treaty
by unilaterally rewriting the treaty from geneva it becomes exponentially more difficult to expect signator’s to follow any treaty we broker
they will use the president’s unilaterla “redifining” and unilateral “clarifying” of treaties as their precence to do the same
Christy Hardin Smith @ 44
My second thought on the morning of Sept 11 was
“My poor daughter”
My first thought was for the people in the towers.
And I had no idea how bad Bush would fuck up.
No idea at all.
You are absolutely right;
this mess will take far longer to clean up,
and the American public has not shown a propensity for thanking people for this kind of clean up.
Blank Kludge @ 71
China could have taken their cue from what T**wan, HK and other Asian places went through. Instead they are speeding rather recklessly, IMHO.
W has left us hanging near Chad.
perris @ 78
since I didn’t want to lump these two thoughts into one post I am obligated to quote myself for the next point
the only method I can think of that will regain some if not most of the international presitige, respect and world standing would be to hold those that have ignored the interest of the international responsible for what they themselves did.
I’m serious;
I believe all we can do is allow the president held to trial at either an international trial or the same tribunal he had saddam tried.
he should be quite willing since he himself gives that tribunal credibility and sine he himself claims what he has done is justifyable, he should be quite anxious to make his case before America and the world
rumi @ 73
The numbers don’t matter to them since those numbers will never include their relatives or friends.
Are today’s Republicans too busy gathering plunder to step up and stop the maddness of George W. Bush? His father, George H.W. Bush was part of the group that stopped Nixon. Why won’t he do so now?
In re “The Surge”
Congress’ duty is to ask
What do you intend to do with the resources and what results are expected when?
In absence of good answers, they should deny funding.
Plain and simple.
Accountability.
Clearly defined goals.
End of story.
“Success” and “Win” are not clearly defined goals.
Nor have they happened.
A little more on China: The gap between rich and poor is enormous. There is an emergent middle class. And also the contrast between cities and countryside is striking, especially with the first-tier cities on the east coast: Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou. Soon there will be a labor shortage because of the one-child policy that’s been in place for decades and in spite of the 1.3 billion population. The world factory is in the process of transforming itself into a consumer society, the biggest market in human history.
And then there’s the problem of trying to pull off something unusual: the development of capitalism without democracy, which is a great recipe for corruption. The communist regime may eventually buckle under pressure from the market and the growing middle class. But all that is speculation at this point.
punaise @ 81
arf
is Pach around? via Jesus’ General – seems they are now fingerprinting babies – American citizen babies, no less in our concentration camps…
follow the links through – this report seems to be coming from Austin, TX…
oh, fer cryin’ out loud!
Badwater @ 83
I really want someone in media to ask a politican that supports this “surge” to ask where those 40,000 troops are comming from, and not stop there, to ask “are you willing to leace the other arenas and theatres of engagement short handed in order to accomodate that surge”
and then “how long do we keep these soldiers in Iraq since were taken from areas they were needed?”
and “how many times is it ok to foce another tour of duty on a soldier that has served with honor and esteem”
katymine @ 76
An escalation of the liberation against the Iraqi people…
…we know it also as Fubar.
GSD @ 36
Re prospective screwup in Iran:
International trade sanctions against the U.S. and a refusal to buy up any more of our debt might finally get the administration’s attention.
I have friends and family who are likely headed back to Iraq and/or Afghanistan if this escalation becomes the next policy choice. I’ve seen friends and family go through the strain of multiple tours over there, up close. It is very, very difficult. Machinery breaks down and is replaced with something new — but soldiers keep getting thrown into the heat of the fire, without any hope of replacement. How can anyone possibly ask them to keep up this madness without any relief in sight? Honestly, how?
OT – The death of prominent Monterey Bay (CA)activist lawyer/journalist Paul Sanford has been attributed to probable suicide. Colleagues, friends and admirers throughout California are expressing great shock and disbelief as officials are attributing his death to probable suicide.
He joined the White House Press Corps in 2005 and was the first reporter to confront the WH press secretary Scott McClellen if the leaking of CIA agent Valerie Plame was an act of treason. Sure hope the national media is paying attention to this –
Initial report in the Monterey County Herald here: http://www.montereyherald.com/…..326502.htm
perris @ 89
Why is it that no one ever asks Bush why his family members won’t serve? Are they part of the cut-and-run crowd?
Just went out to get my mail. Woo hoo — it’s spring seed catalogue season. Yay — flower and veggie photos in my mailbox. Just what I needed today.
Biodun @ 86
Weaking central gov., etc. It’s a little bit like watching an ice skater teeter totter on the ice I think. And it’s a reason why I always argue engagement over aggression & paranoia.
I do hope (tree-hugger that I am ) where we can reach a good place globally and share resources without war. Wishful thinking I know. But I am forever hopeful.
Badwater @ 83
yeah, I understand that but it might force the issue out to the public more. It’s my opinion that the casualty numbers have been severely manipulated to avoid public outrage. Most Americans aren’t even considering losses in those numbers as possible, but they are. GW1 and the Iraq death tolls have given the public a false sense of invincibility.
rumi (70) — it might be that simple; if Iran gets nuclear energy (not WMD, mind you, but the energy they say they want), then any of the countries of the former Ottoman Empire could get it as well.
It’s a two-fer, really; not only do they get nuclear energy and freedom economically from Russia (or the U.S.), but they have the capacity to weaponize if a deterent is necessary. The spread of nuclear enegy becomes proliferation.
Were our government less incredibly f*cking stupid, selfish, self-centered and greedy, it would have invested heavily in green technology development that could have freed these same countries economically from Russia (and the U.S.), while reducing the chance of nuclear proliferation.
Stupid. We have already lost many battles in this energy war because we went to war with the president we have, and not the president we
wantededit: NEEDED.Oklahoma kiddo @ 52
Hyperinflation: the answer. Except for screwing the public. Think they care?
I support the troops 100%. I want to bring them home now. And I have close family serving in the military who have been to, and will again go to Iraq. But even if I didn’t I’d want:
Out of Iraq!
Actually I take it back that we shouldn’t be worried using China as a comparison. While other countries are trotting along into the 21st century, we’re being taken back to the Neocondeanderthal days.
Christy Hardin Smith @ 92
Phoenix Air America show “About Face” hosted by Veterans for Peace had a caller whose son was being sent for their 5th rotation. AZ has many units well past their third and going on their 4th in January.
What I see is a game of Russian Roulette, that revolver is loaded, single round in the chamber and if the first doesn’t get ya, or the second, or… well you get my drift. It goes with the stories found in the news of military members committing suicide when they are notified of another rotation. One was a mother of three who had completed her second and notified of a third.
Or you have Flagstaff soldier killed self after protest
“She refused to participate after only two nights working in the unit known as the cage,” stated the KNAU report.
They lied about the cause of her death to her family too… Pat Tillman and now Alyssa Peterson, the third woman killed in Iraq.
Christy @ 92 and mui @ 96:
Let’s hope for peace on the planet in our lifetimes, and yes, this King George madness needs to stop.
Badwater @ 94
it’s really bizzarre not one friggin reporter has asked the president;
“why is it nobody in your family thinks your policy is worth fighting for in our armed forces?”
and
“have you asked your twins to defend America and enlist?”
and
“what about laura, does she pressure your children to support your decisions and enlist?”
man, I would nominate that reporter for pullitzer just for the question
katymine @ 102 is in moderation…
perris @ 103
I think it is understood by the press corp now that a question like that might have you haveing a fall…like paul sanford
Bush’s speech to the nation will have him
looking in your eye and saying that Iran
has WMD’s, or something to that effect…
The build up is not about Iraq, it’s about Iran.
Jack
OT — kind of, sort of…a friend just sent me this list of suggested bumper stickers. Hadn’t see this before, wonder if it’s a continuing bellweather.
Saw the first one on a sweatshirt just this morning. I took it as a good omen.
Rayne @ 98
It’s a damn shame that nobody got a receipt for the president we have.
no paper trail..no refunds, no returns.
I remember reading a few years ago when Russia was shutting off gas to Georgia (I think it was) but many survived through a reciprocal deal with Iran to swap energy needs from winter to summer for need rather than profit. It was at this time that Iraqis were suffering from less electric availability on a daily basis but Iran’s offers to help were shut out.
As I have said ,we hit Iran,and we get to see what the inside of a {greater} depression looks like.Had a near yelling match with 2 brothers,and a in-law…they have already bought into this trip that it is “necessary” to whack Iran….as I carefully expained that they will cut the supply of oil..and then all economic hell will break loosehere.What flipped me out was a sis-in-law,saying,”well,we will just figure out some othe way of doing things”……Oh sweet jesus.If this is the attitude that the rest of middle america has we are toast.
Fresh thread, everyone.
rumi (108) — which is what makes all the press we are reading now about Iran so suspect.
We had a dialogue with Iran after 9/11; Flynt Leverett’s redacted op-ed and full, unredacted paper on which it was based made it clear that we had a relationship with them. What the hell changed? Certainly there are the demands of the neighboring countries that could have interfered, but to the point of another war? There’s something about the entire situation that stinks worse than Perle-ist disengagement like that with North Korea; if Iran was already dealing in energy that it wasn’t using for its own electricity production, there’s definitely more going on than meets the eye. Was Iran selling natural gas for currency that nuclear energy production couldn’t produce? Does this come back to the question of trading energy in euros rather than dollars? How does Russia fit in the currency storyline?
And was the assasination of Litvenenko not only to silence a dissident, or to stop the dispersion of negative information about a double-agent operating between the FSB and the oligarchs, but to tell certain entities to back the hell off their position in the energy war or they would be dealt with?
Messy. VERY messy.
edit: added link above. Hmm.
The US is spinning out of control – Gerald Ford gone when we need him the most.
Iran oil exports could decline to zero by 2015. Polar Bears Seen as Threatened. Current costs of the Iraq War are $200 million per day. Life at the Ramadi Outpost.
For counterinsurgency to pacify Iraq and control the oil supply, the Sunni have to be ethnically cleansed, the slums flattened to kill the Shiite Mahdi Militia, and the survivors placed in concentration camps.
As the dollar declines the only way the multinational companies can control peak oil sources, is by outsourcing the fighting to mercenaries and foreign born nationals who aren’t morally constrained from doing what they have to do.
Rayne @ 111
Some of the same IranContra nimrods that were allowed to survive unscathed have been reportedly at the center of many same controversies like the Niger forgeries, plot to derail Brewster-Jennings, Iraqi exiles in bed with small groups in both Iran and Israel….we need to see Ledeen under oath.
My uneducated opinion is that an escalation in Iraq will have as many troops in place as possible to respond to a perceived attack by Iran…that’s the neocons best hope.
FWIW a link to some energy assessments in that area in 2004 that discuss the energy swap.
The Caucasus Region, comprising the newly independent states of Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia, is important to world energy markets as a transit area for oil and natural gas exports from the Caspian Sea to Europe. Although the region has been beset by conflict, regional leaders hope that the development of several oil and natural gas export pipelines will bring peace and prosperity to the Caucasus.
Note: Information contained in this report is the best available as of December 2004 and is subject to change.
snuffy @ 106
I agree. What happens if there is a draft? Will the elites children be drafted? Will the feminist demand to be treated equally and demand that women be drafted and put into the same combat positions as men? or will they just go back to wanting all the benefits of equality but not the responsibility like they have in the past. What about the illegal aliens? Will they be drafted?