Finding common cause in supporting the Contra death squads in those days was Reverend Moon, owner of the Washington Times, whose right-hand man cut the $100,000 check that opened Oliver North's "Freedom Fund."...
Further note on the Nicaragua Freedom Fund: NFF co-chairs included Michael Novak (American Enterprise Institute, among others) and William Simon (former Olin Foundation president and Nixon administration Treasury Secretary, among others). Arnaud de Borchgrave (Washington Times editor in chief) announced the formation of the NFF in 1985.
Oliver North had requested the NFF be established (reportedly with then National Security adviser Bud McFarlane's blessing) to route "humanitarian aid" to the Contra's.
Later, Ronald S. Godwin (Moral Majority and Washington Times) would help secure funding for North through the Interamerican Partnership, which, as Common Cause Magazine described it in 1993, was "a fore-runner to North's own Freedom Alliance."...
Ronald S. Godwin? Godwin was former executive director of Jerry Falwell's Moral Majority and became a chief executive officer at The Washington Times following Moon's assisted bailout of Falwell's Libery University in the early 1990's. That's why Jerry Falwell always has that creepy smirk on his face."
Read it all.
More on Moon and Abrams here .
More on Moon's purchase of influence among the NeoTheoCons here.
Democracy-hating fascists of a feather flock together.
Sunday, February 13, 2005
Saturday, February 12, 2005
Why the So-Called Liberal Media Stopped Being Liberal
For one thing, it's hazardous to your health .
The bin Laden family hearts General Electric
No kidding.
Now an international conglomerate, the family business has 50,000 employees worldwide and annual revenues estimated at $5-billion. Its enterprises include construction, engineering, telecommunications, book publishing and manufacturing that ranges from motor vehicle parts to crystal chandeliers. Its business partners include General Electric, Nortel, Snapple beverages, Motorola and CitiBank. The conglomerate had a corporate office in Rockville, Md., that was dissolved last year, and several family members own homes in the United States. One of them, Khalil bin Laden, has a 20-acre vacation estate in Winter Garden.
You know GE. They bring good things to life and war to Iraq. General Electric hearts Carlyle, too, cause they've both made lots of money fighting these evil terra'sts.
Thanks to Alice for the heads up.
Now an international conglomerate, the family business has 50,000 employees worldwide and annual revenues estimated at $5-billion. Its enterprises include construction, engineering, telecommunications, book publishing and manufacturing that ranges from motor vehicle parts to crystal chandeliers. Its business partners include General Electric, Nortel, Snapple beverages, Motorola and CitiBank. The conglomerate had a corporate office in Rockville, Md., that was dissolved last year, and several family members own homes in the United States. One of them, Khalil bin Laden, has a 20-acre vacation estate in Winter Garden.
You know GE. They bring good things to life and war to Iraq. General Electric hearts Carlyle, too, cause they've both made lots of money fighting these evil terra'sts.
Thanks to Alice for the heads up.
If you aren't with them, you're against them
Digby comments on the curious tendency of the hard right to accuse progressives of actively supporting the terra'ists, when the facts present a rather different picture.
I especially enjoy this accusation of the libertine, decadent elitist left being in cahoots with the gay hating, women oppressing Islamic fundamentalists. Because when you think about it, isn't it much more likely that there are those on the Right who find common cause with religious radicals?
And he not only goes to show it's more likely- because they have.
Federal documents reviewed by the Weekly show that [Dana] Rohrabacher maintained a cordial, behind-the-scenes relationship with Osama bin Laden’s associates in the Middle East—even while he mouthed his most severe anti-Taliban comments at public forums across the U.S.
From the top echelon of the Carlyle Group, to the Bu$hCo White House, to the machinations of the NeoTheoCon spear carriers, there have associations of the fascists and zealots of the East and West for the last 40 years that I know of.
To accuse the opponents of the Corporate takeover of America with supporting terrorism is worse than simple projection, it's an attempt to rally the misinformed against the people trying to make America the nation we all used to be proud of.
This quote comes to mind:
First they came for the communists, and I did not speak out--
because I was not a communist;
Then they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out--
because I was not a socialist;
Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out--
because I was not a trade unionist;
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out--
because I was not a Jew;
Then they came for me--
and there was no one left to speak out for me.
I especially enjoy this accusation of the libertine, decadent elitist left being in cahoots with the gay hating, women oppressing Islamic fundamentalists. Because when you think about it, isn't it much more likely that there are those on the Right who find common cause with religious radicals?
And he not only goes to show it's more likely- because they have.
Federal documents reviewed by the Weekly show that [Dana] Rohrabacher maintained a cordial, behind-the-scenes relationship with Osama bin Laden’s associates in the Middle East—even while he mouthed his most severe anti-Taliban comments at public forums across the U.S.
From the top echelon of the Carlyle Group, to the Bu$hCo White House, to the machinations of the NeoTheoCon spear carriers, there have associations of the fascists and zealots of the East and West for the last 40 years that I know of.
To accuse the opponents of the Corporate takeover of America with supporting terrorism is worse than simple projection, it's an attempt to rally the misinformed against the people trying to make America the nation we all used to be proud of.
This quote comes to mind:
First they came for the communists, and I did not speak out--
because I was not a communist;
Then they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out--
because I was not a socialist;
Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out--
because I was not a trade unionist;
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out--
because I was not a Jew;
Then they came for me--
and there was no one left to speak out for me.
Dis Information
A note from a friend asks me what I think of Ward Churchill.
Ward Churchill should not be taken as representing a progressive viewpoint. Even if he gets a few things right, he makes many mistaken conclusions. A much better perspective is given by Emmanuel Ortiz here.
Not that both Bushes, Clinton, Albright, and others don't deserve slamming for a lot of reasons, some of which do include the deaths of several hundred thousand civilians in Iraq.
Beyond that I have some real problems with Churchill's position.
First, he reinforces the fallacy of assuming the 9/11 terrorists were acting in retribution for what's gone on in Iraq.
There wasn't a single Iraqi terrorist. They were mostly Saudis, whose government hated Saddam's and on whose Wah'habi religious fanatics despise secular humanist Islam as much as secular humanist Christianity. Their organization was originally trained by the CIA in the covert war against the Russians in Afghanistan.
The CIA may still be feeding that kitty.
Second, he makes the fallacy that American civilians in the World Trade Center and the Pentagon were guilty of sinning by omission, that their inability to stop the mega corporations from plundering the earth made them as guilty as any other mass murderers.
That is illogical. The entire world is interconnected. Connection does not confer control.
Otherwise I could personally send Bu$hCo to jail.
One might as well assume Ward Churchill is just as guilty himself, since he no doubt obtains his food and clothing and shelter and his internet access from the same corporate mechanism that supported the innocent victims of 9/11.
One might as well assume the innocent Iraqi civilians are guilty of Saddam's atrocities.
Or that we are, since our government supported Saddam while he was gassing the Kurds.
Ward Churchill is guilty of some correct but some very confused thinking. He's right that the people at the top of the government are all making piles and piles of money off the middle eastern situation, Wrepublican or DINOcrat. But he's wrong about the motivations behind the 9/11 attack.
He's done more damage to the antiwar movement than good because of his tendency to blame the ignorant but innocent for the sins of the corporate manipulators.
Innocents are innocents, here or there or on any side.
It's our task to educate the ignorant, because without their enlightenment the cycle of retribution and violence won't end.
Of course, those who profit from the Blank Check for Endless War don't want the ignorant educated.
Of course, Bu$histas like to portray Ward Churchill as a typical liberal- which he isn't.
Ward Churchill should not be taken as representing a progressive viewpoint. Even if he gets a few things right, he makes many mistaken conclusions. A much better perspective is given by Emmanuel Ortiz here.
Not that both Bushes, Clinton, Albright, and others don't deserve slamming for a lot of reasons, some of which do include the deaths of several hundred thousand civilians in Iraq.
Beyond that I have some real problems with Churchill's position.
First, he reinforces the fallacy of assuming the 9/11 terrorists were acting in retribution for what's gone on in Iraq.
There wasn't a single Iraqi terrorist. They were mostly Saudis, whose government hated Saddam's and on whose Wah'habi religious fanatics despise secular humanist Islam as much as secular humanist Christianity. Their organization was originally trained by the CIA in the covert war against the Russians in Afghanistan.
The CIA may still be feeding that kitty.
Second, he makes the fallacy that American civilians in the World Trade Center and the Pentagon were guilty of sinning by omission, that their inability to stop the mega corporations from plundering the earth made them as guilty as any other mass murderers.
That is illogical. The entire world is interconnected. Connection does not confer control.
Otherwise I could personally send Bu$hCo to jail.
One might as well assume Ward Churchill is just as guilty himself, since he no doubt obtains his food and clothing and shelter and his internet access from the same corporate mechanism that supported the innocent victims of 9/11.
One might as well assume the innocent Iraqi civilians are guilty of Saddam's atrocities.
Or that we are, since our government supported Saddam while he was gassing the Kurds.
Ward Churchill is guilty of some correct but some very confused thinking. He's right that the people at the top of the government are all making piles and piles of money off the middle eastern situation, Wrepublican or DINOcrat. But he's wrong about the motivations behind the 9/11 attack.
He's done more damage to the antiwar movement than good because of his tendency to blame the ignorant but innocent for the sins of the corporate manipulators.
Innocents are innocents, here or there or on any side.
It's our task to educate the ignorant, because without their enlightenment the cycle of retribution and violence won't end.
Of course, those who profit from the Blank Check for Endless War don't want the ignorant educated.
Of course, Bu$histas like to portray Ward Churchill as a typical liberal- which he isn't.
Friday, February 11, 2005
Never forget
They knew it was coming.
The Bush administration has blocked the public release of the full, classified version of the report for more than five months, officials said, much to the frustration of former commission members who say it provides a critical understanding of the failures of the civil aviation system. The administration provided both the classified report and a declassified, 120-page version to the National Archives two weeks ago and, even with heavy redactions in some areas, the declassified version provides the firmest evidence to date about the warnings that aviation officials received concerning the threat of an attack on airliners and the failure to take steps to deter it.
Among other things, the report says that leaders of the F.A.A. received 52 intelligence reports from their security branch that mentioned Mr. bin Laden or Al Qaeda from April to Sept. 10, 2001. That represented half of all the intelligence summaries in that time.
Tenet's CIA warned them. Tenet's CIA was ignored. They knew.
They let it happen.
Why?
Look all around you.
Look who has the money and power now.
That's why.
The Bush administration has blocked the public release of the full, classified version of the report for more than five months, officials said, much to the frustration of former commission members who say it provides a critical understanding of the failures of the civil aviation system. The administration provided both the classified report and a declassified, 120-page version to the National Archives two weeks ago and, even with heavy redactions in some areas, the declassified version provides the firmest evidence to date about the warnings that aviation officials received concerning the threat of an attack on airliners and the failure to take steps to deter it.
Among other things, the report says that leaders of the F.A.A. received 52 intelligence reports from their security branch that mentioned Mr. bin Laden or Al Qaeda from April to Sept. 10, 2001. That represented half of all the intelligence summaries in that time.
Tenet's CIA warned them. Tenet's CIA was ignored. They knew.
They let it happen.
Why?
Look all around you.
Look who has the money and power now.
That's why.
Thursday, February 10, 2005
North Korea has the Bomb, and threatens to use it.
Exactly how did this happen?
In a surprising admission, North Korea's hard-line Communist government declared publicly today for the first time that it has nuclear weapons.
It also said that it will boycott United States-sponsored regional talks designed to end its nuclear program, according to a North Korean Foreign Ministry statement transmitted today by the reclusive nation's wire service.
Pyongyang said it has "manufactured nukes for self-defense to cope with the Bush administration's undisguised policy to isolate and stifle" North Korea, and that it will "bolster its nuclear weapons arsenal."
And Japan doesn't care. Their response is:
"At first, we should make economic sanctions," Shintaro Ishihara, Tokyo's conservative governor said in an interview this afternoon, just before North Korea's nuclear weapons vow was made public.
"At the second stage, let them bomb Japan with that nasty missile," Mr. Ishihara taunted with sarcasm in his voice as he spoke in his office, in Tokyo's tallest building. "Their missile cannot load a nuclear warhead." Asked what Japan would do in response to a missile attack, Mr. Ishihara merely smiled.
You don't suppose our friends in Japan have a Godzilla buster or two of their own?
So exactly how did this happen? Nattering nabobs of negativism about Dear Leader weakening our image abroad? Liberal media? Bill Clinton?
In order to do nuclear work, you have to have hardware for nuclear reactors. Who would sell such things to the North Koreans? Who would be so irresponsible?
Up steps Free Enterprise to take the credit. It makes me proud to be an American.
Rumsfeld was also on the board of the multinational, Swiss-based company Asea Brown Boveri (ABB), a key contractor in several controversial development projects like the Three Gorges Project in China and the Bakun Dam in Malaysia. (8) According to Swiss Radio International, in 2000, while Rumsfeld was still on the ABB board, the company won a $200 million contract with Pyongyang to deliver equipment and services for two nuclear power plants. The reactors are part of deal that was struck between the United States and North Korea in 1994 in an effort to end Pyongyang's nuclear weapons program.
Interestingly, in 1998, Rumsfeld, one of the Bush administration's hardliners on Korea policy, chaired a congressional commission (the Rumsfeld Commission on the Ballistic Missile Threat) that argued that the Clinton administration erred when it made the 1994 deal with the North Koreans. Yet, while wearing his corporate hat, Rumsfeld was profiting from this very deal. He claims that the Korean reactor deal never came up in any of the ABB board meetings he attended.
To be fair, redRum sfeld's profiteering is only a drop in the ocean.
Because some pretty big fish are in this sea. Halliburton has sold nuclear detonators . So if Carlyle is swimming there, no one knows exactly how deep the water goes. But it's no wonder Bu$hCo couldn't be bothered to worry about them in the lead up to Iraq.
For one thing, it would be bad for Business.
You can't get a Blank Check without Endless War.
The problem for Dear Leader and Bu$hCo is that if the Big Ones start to go off, they might cash in before they can fully ca$h out.
In a surprising admission, North Korea's hard-line Communist government declared publicly today for the first time that it has nuclear weapons.
It also said that it will boycott United States-sponsored regional talks designed to end its nuclear program, according to a North Korean Foreign Ministry statement transmitted today by the reclusive nation's wire service.
Pyongyang said it has "manufactured nukes for self-defense to cope with the Bush administration's undisguised policy to isolate and stifle" North Korea, and that it will "bolster its nuclear weapons arsenal."
And Japan doesn't care. Their response is:
"At first, we should make economic sanctions," Shintaro Ishihara, Tokyo's conservative governor said in an interview this afternoon, just before North Korea's nuclear weapons vow was made public.
"At the second stage, let them bomb Japan with that nasty missile," Mr. Ishihara taunted with sarcasm in his voice as he spoke in his office, in Tokyo's tallest building. "Their missile cannot load a nuclear warhead." Asked what Japan would do in response to a missile attack, Mr. Ishihara merely smiled.
You don't suppose our friends in Japan have a Godzilla buster or two of their own?
So exactly how did this happen? Nattering nabobs of negativism about Dear Leader weakening our image abroad? Liberal media? Bill Clinton?
In order to do nuclear work, you have to have hardware for nuclear reactors. Who would sell such things to the North Koreans? Who would be so irresponsible?
Up steps Free Enterprise to take the credit. It makes me proud to be an American.
Rumsfeld was also on the board of the multinational, Swiss-based company Asea Brown Boveri (ABB), a key contractor in several controversial development projects like the Three Gorges Project in China and the Bakun Dam in Malaysia. (8) According to Swiss Radio International, in 2000, while Rumsfeld was still on the ABB board, the company won a $200 million contract with Pyongyang to deliver equipment and services for two nuclear power plants. The reactors are part of deal that was struck between the United States and North Korea in 1994 in an effort to end Pyongyang's nuclear weapons program.
Interestingly, in 1998, Rumsfeld, one of the Bush administration's hardliners on Korea policy, chaired a congressional commission (the Rumsfeld Commission on the Ballistic Missile Threat) that argued that the Clinton administration erred when it made the 1994 deal with the North Koreans. Yet, while wearing his corporate hat, Rumsfeld was profiting from this very deal. He claims that the Korean reactor deal never came up in any of the ABB board meetings he attended.
To be fair, redRum sfeld's profiteering is only a drop in the ocean.
Because some pretty big fish are in this sea. Halliburton has sold nuclear detonators . So if Carlyle is swimming there, no one knows exactly how deep the water goes. But it's no wonder Bu$hCo couldn't be bothered to worry about them in the lead up to Iraq.
For one thing, it would be bad for Business.
You can't get a Blank Check without Endless War.
The problem for Dear Leader and Bu$hCo is that if the Big Ones start to go off, they might cash in before they can fully ca$h out.
Wednesday, February 09, 2005
Catching Up on Old News From the Chocolate-Making Countries
Part III : Methods and means of warfare -- Combatant and prisoner-of-war status #Section II -- Combatant and prisoner-of-war status
Article 47 -- Mercenaries
1. A mercenary shall not have the right to be a combatant or a prisoner of war.
2. A mercenary is any person who:
(a) is specially recruited locally or abroad in order to fight in an armed conflict;
(b) does, in fact, take a direct part in the hostilities;
(c) is motivated to take part in the hostilities essentially by the desire for private gain and, in fact, is promised, by or on behalf of a Party to the conflict, material compensation substantially in excess of that promised or paid to combatants of similar ranks and functions in the armed forces of that Party;
(d) is neither a national of a Party to the conflict nor a resident of territory controlled by a Party to the conflict;
(e) is not a member of the armed forces of a Party to the conflict; and
(f) has not been sent by a State which is not a Party to the conflict on official duty as a member of its armed forces.
Employing mercenaries is a violation of the Geneva Conventions.
It's a good thing we use private contractors.
Article 47 -- Mercenaries
1. A mercenary shall not have the right to be a combatant or a prisoner of war.
2. A mercenary is any person who:
(a) is specially recruited locally or abroad in order to fight in an armed conflict;
(b) does, in fact, take a direct part in the hostilities;
(c) is motivated to take part in the hostilities essentially by the desire for private gain and, in fact, is promised, by or on behalf of a Party to the conflict, material compensation substantially in excess of that promised or paid to combatants of similar ranks and functions in the armed forces of that Party;
(d) is neither a national of a Party to the conflict nor a resident of territory controlled by a Party to the conflict;
(e) is not a member of the armed forces of a Party to the conflict; and
(f) has not been sent by a State which is not a Party to the conflict on official duty as a member of its armed forces.
Employing mercenaries is a violation of the Geneva Conventions.
It's a good thing we use private contractors.
Tuesday, February 08, 2005
Extraordinary Rendition
"The bottom line is getting anyone off the streets who is involved in acts of terrorism is a worthwhile activity...
"The practice of capturing people and taking them to second or third countries arose because the Executive assigned the job of dismantling terrorist cells to the CIA.
"When the agency came back and said 'Where do you want to take them?' the message was 'That's your job'."
He added: "The idea that this is a rogue operation that someone has dreamt up is just absurd. I personally have no problem with doing any operation as long as it's justified legal by my superiors."
So when they start using their new hired hands here in the Homeland to round up "risks", do they have to ship said risky business all the way to Egypt, or will Gitmo contract out again?
And how to assess legal treatment of said detainees if the "superiors" don't know where they're kept?
Thanks to Michael Moore.
"The practice of capturing people and taking them to second or third countries arose because the Executive assigned the job of dismantling terrorist cells to the CIA.
"When the agency came back and said 'Where do you want to take them?' the message was 'That's your job'."
He added: "The idea that this is a rogue operation that someone has dreamt up is just absurd. I personally have no problem with doing any operation as long as it's justified legal by my superiors."
So when they start using their new hired hands here in the Homeland to round up "risks", do they have to ship said risky business all the way to Egypt, or will Gitmo contract out again?
And how to assess legal treatment of said detainees if the "superiors" don't know where they're kept?
Thanks to Michael Moore.
On the Nature of Evil
Evil occurs when people forget they are human.
Humanity is a psychological construct that differentiates us from the jackals.
We make ourselves humane.
People are not intrinsically evil, no matter what the experts and pundits and clergy say.
Even Bu$hCo is not so.
But there is a point in every person's development whether they choose to adopt the mindset of humane behavior.
I submit that Evil is a result of a lack of humane empathy.
Whether Evil is due to nature or nurture or both depends on the world the person makes, and the person the world makes.
Thanks to Lambert at Corrente.
Humanity is a psychological construct that differentiates us from the jackals.
We make ourselves humane.
People are not intrinsically evil, no matter what the experts and pundits and clergy say.
Even Bu$hCo is not so.
But there is a point in every person's development whether they choose to adopt the mindset of humane behavior.
I submit that Evil is a result of a lack of humane empathy.
Whether Evil is due to nature or nurture or both depends on the world the person makes, and the person the world makes.
Thanks to Lambert at Corrente.
Monday, February 07, 2005
Signing Bonus
The Pentagon is planning to offer $150,000 bonuses in an expensive attempt to keep members of its elite Special Forces – Navy Seals, Green Berets and specially trained Air Force squads – from jumping ship to take more lucrative civilian jobs with U.S. contractors.
I know that's what I want my taxes to go for: training the Best of the Best to serve in Halliburton's own private army.
I know that's what I want my taxes to go for: training the Best of the Best to serve in Halliburton's own private army.
"Life imitates art"
The film Seven Days In May is one of my all-time favourites. The gripping 1964 drama, starring Burt Lancaster, depicts an attempted coup by far rightists in Washington using a top-secret Pentagon anti-terrorist unit called something like "Contelinpro."
Life imitates art. This week, former military intelligence analyst William Arkin revealed a hitherto unknown directive, with the Orwellian name "JCS Conplan 0300-97," authorizing the Pentagon to employ special, ultra-secret "anti-terrorist" military units on American soil for what the author claims are "extra-legal missions."
In other words, using U.S. soldiers to kill or arrest Americans, acts that have been illegal since the U.S. Civil War.
Thanks to Truthout for the link.
Life imitates art. This week, former military intelligence analyst William Arkin revealed a hitherto unknown directive, with the Orwellian name "JCS Conplan 0300-97," authorizing the Pentagon to employ special, ultra-secret "anti-terrorist" military units on American soil for what the author claims are "extra-legal missions."
In other words, using U.S. soldiers to kill or arrest Americans, acts that have been illegal since the U.S. Civil War.
Thanks to Truthout for the link.
Sunday, February 06, 2005
A Private Contractor Army in the War on Terra
What I've just read from the business press the last couple of days probably reflects the thinking in Washington and London: "Uh well, okay, we'll let them have a government, but we're not going to pay any attention to what they say." In fact, the Pentagon announced at the same time two days ago: we're keeping 120,000 troops there into at least 2007, even if they call for withdrawal tomorrow...
[conscription] is going to be a last resort. The reason is the Vietnam experience. The Vietnam experience, I think, is the first time in the history of European imperialism that an imperial power tried to fight a colonial war with a citizen's army. I mean the British didn't do it, and the French had the Foreign Legion ... In colonial wars, civilians are just no good. [Colonial wars are] too brutal and vicious and murderous. You just can't take kids off the street and have them fight that kind of war. You need trained killers, like the French Foreign Legion.
-Noam Chomsky
And like an old friend pointed out to me: Sunnis mention the Central Intelligence Agency for promoting suspicious bombings; Shi'ite militias used in the leveling of Fallujah; peshmerga (paramilitaries) used to fight Arabs in Mosul; and the possibility of the Badr Brigades being called back. In a civil war, the Americans would divide Iraq in three parts - the juicy ones attributed to US corporations, the rotten ones controlled by warlords.
Who would be our Foreign Legion, paid for by the US taxpayer?
Carlyle provides the model for the financing of Security organizations here and in Iraq. It owns proxies like the Vinnell Group that arm and train mercenaries- or rather, since mercenaries are prohibited by the Geneva Convention, "private contractors". Such guards have been working in Saudi Arabia- employed by Carlyle and the House of Saud for the last 30 years .
Carlyle has promoted DynCorp in Iraq- a group of private contractors involved in the cocaine and white slavery trade, or Department of Defense computing, depending on where the money is.
And in the War on Terra, there's plenty of money to be made in lots of different ways.
There's Aegis and Blackwater, of course- the people whose actions touched off the Iraqi innsurrection.
There's CACI and Titan, with their specialized interrogation techniques. Soon to open a center near you.
Because you see, the Colonial War isn't just in Iraq/ Iran/ Syria/ wherever there's oil.
You see, even with the books being cooked, near half of 'Murika voted like the Blue states. You see, there's a Cultural War going on for the Soul of 'Murika. And it's only a matter of time before Homeland Security demands action.
CACI will know what to do to root out the Infidels.
[conscription] is going to be a last resort. The reason is the Vietnam experience. The Vietnam experience, I think, is the first time in the history of European imperialism that an imperial power tried to fight a colonial war with a citizen's army. I mean the British didn't do it, and the French had the Foreign Legion ... In colonial wars, civilians are just no good. [Colonial wars are] too brutal and vicious and murderous. You just can't take kids off the street and have them fight that kind of war. You need trained killers, like the French Foreign Legion.
-Noam Chomsky
And like an old friend pointed out to me: Sunnis mention the Central Intelligence Agency for promoting suspicious bombings; Shi'ite militias used in the leveling of Fallujah; peshmerga (paramilitaries) used to fight Arabs in Mosul; and the possibility of the Badr Brigades being called back. In a civil war, the Americans would divide Iraq in three parts - the juicy ones attributed to US corporations, the rotten ones controlled by warlords.
Who would be our Foreign Legion, paid for by the US taxpayer?
Carlyle provides the model for the financing of Security organizations here and in Iraq. It owns proxies like the Vinnell Group that arm and train mercenaries- or rather, since mercenaries are prohibited by the Geneva Convention, "private contractors". Such guards have been working in Saudi Arabia- employed by Carlyle and the House of Saud for the last 30 years .
Carlyle has promoted DynCorp in Iraq- a group of private contractors involved in the cocaine and white slavery trade, or Department of Defense computing, depending on where the money is.
And in the War on Terra, there's plenty of money to be made in lots of different ways.
There's Aegis and Blackwater, of course- the people whose actions touched off the Iraqi innsurrection.
There's CACI and Titan, with their specialized interrogation techniques. Soon to open a center near you.
Because you see, the Colonial War isn't just in Iraq/ Iran/ Syria/ wherever there's oil.
You see, even with the books being cooked, near half of 'Murika voted like the Blue states. You see, there's a Cultural War going on for the Soul of 'Murika. And it's only a matter of time before Homeland Security demands action.
CACI will know what to do to root out the Infidels.
Friday, February 04, 2005
War! What is it good for?
Oil, baby.
None of this Absolutely Nuthin' stuff.
More on What They’re Not Telling You About the “Election” from the source.
So most of the Sunnis didn't vote. And the Shiite's that did vote want a theocracy.
But the Administration's Iran hate fest has started, although they're being nice in front of the allies.
That's just a facade: at the same time Kindasleezy Rice "said the United States would continue to rebuff European requests to participate directly in offering incentives for Iran to drop what is suspected of being a nuclear arms program."
Bait and switch. Don't listen to what they say. Watch what they do.
There's no way they'll give this to Iran Shiites.
None of this Absolutely Nuthin' stuff.
More on What They’re Not Telling You About the “Election” from the source.
So most of the Sunnis didn't vote. And the Shiite's that did vote want a theocracy.
But the Administration's Iran hate fest has started, although they're being nice in front of the allies.
That's just a facade: at the same time Kindasleezy Rice "said the United States would continue to rebuff European requests to participate directly in offering incentives for Iran to drop what is suspected of being a nuclear arms program."
Bait and switch. Don't listen to what they say. Watch what they do.
There's no way they'll give this to Iran Shiites.
Thursday, February 03, 2005
The Progressive Response
Bush ended with a quote from FDR. I’m reminded of FDR’s 1941 State of the Union, known as the Four Freedoms Speech. That night, FDR said:
The basic things expected by our people of their political and economic systems are simple. They are:
Equality of opportunity for youth and for others.
Jobs for those who can work.
Security for those who need it.
The ending of special privilege for the few.
The preservation of civil liberties for all.
The enjoyment of the fruits of scientific progress in a wider and constantly rising standard of living.
These are the simple, the basic things that must never be lost sight of in the turmoil and unbelievable complexity of our modern world.
Looks like we have our work cut out for us.
Thanks to Atrios for the link.
The basic things expected by our people of their political and economic systems are simple. They are:
Equality of opportunity for youth and for others.
Jobs for those who can work.
Security for those who need it.
The ending of special privilege for the few.
The preservation of civil liberties for all.
The enjoyment of the fruits of scientific progress in a wider and constantly rising standard of living.
These are the simple, the basic things that must never be lost sight of in the turmoil and unbelievable complexity of our modern world.
Looks like we have our work cut out for us.
Thanks to Atrios for the link.
Tuesday, February 01, 2005
Your Tax Dollars at Work
...to hire foreign nationals as mercenaries .
Thanks to Holden at First Draft for reminding me about this.
Thanks to Holden at First Draft for reminding me about this.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
