Towards a global perspective . . .

The Atlantic published a disturbing article this week, “The Point of No Return“, by Jeffrey Goldberg.  Goldberg  makes the case that, since Israel is guaranteed to initiate an attack on Iran by next spring, we should take the initiative and do it ourselves.  There have been a number of  interesting responses to the article, including one from the Leveretts and Gareth Porter.  These people provide, what I feel is a pragmatic and informed response from professionals in the field.   I don’t agree with their every assertion, but I absolutely agree with their shifting of perspective to a pragmatic and functional one.

The ‘War with Iran’ propaganda machine is running full throttle.  First, there are the grand statements of propaganda denouncing the government for terrorism, barbarism, supporting terrorism, meddling in the affairs of their neighbors, not having a free press and other undemocratic practices.  All this floats atop the assumption/insinuation that they have a nuclear weapons program which will come to fruition in the very near future as an international menace of intolerable proportions.   Then the spinners.   There are 50 comments after every article and post, arguing, elaborating, spinning a story where the details have been obscured by lies, threats and counter-threats, innuendo, histrionics and a high energy conflagration of information with misinformation.  Ultimately, it’s really hard to predict whether there will be a strike on Iran just because there is so much unconstrained energy in the issue, and so little recourse to reason in addressing it.

After reading the article, I find myself inspired to add a few words to the ongoing discussion to address an aspect of The Atlantic’s presentation that has so far gone unmentioned. Read the rest of this entry »

Our priceless friend and ally, Israel, has just assaulted a flotilla of supplies with 800 civilian activists aboard and several tons of building materials, food, toys and various necessities.   There was live coverage online from the lead ship, broadcast through a Turkish news station.    Live TV coverage of a war crime, this is today’s media.  This is our world.   Even so, as time will show, Israel managed to come up with a conflicting story and a video of their own to prove it, only a few hours later.  They are ingenious and persistent.

There were around 600 people on the lead ship where the most serious confrontation took place, all unarmed civilians.   Al Jazeera and the Turkish station have video of a stairway crowded with people with people in life jackets.  You can hear a loudspeaker in the background directing people to go to their rooms and wait.   The reporter from Al Jazeera says that at least two are dead and there are an unknown number of injured.  Speedboats race alongside and around the ship.  Helicopters hover overhead.  He says that he is going to join them, and the scene ends, but the Turkish coverage continues. Floodlights are flashing over the deck as uniformed soldiers board the ship from the air and the sea.     Read the rest of this entry »

In Afghanistan, the latest surge initiative is the cleaning up of the Taliban controlled town of Marjah. The fighting has been going on for about a week. Early in the week I saw the battle compared to the battle of Fallujah in Iraq. I was a little surprised because I thought we were in it to win ‘hearts and minds’, so totally destroying it while wiping out the adult male population and anyone else who got trapped there with them doesn’t seem like a recipe to win ‘hearts and minds’. An article by David Lindorff on Counterpunch Website entitled “The Battle of Marjah: Why the US has Already Lost” tells us that on the first day, 12 civilians were killed by missiles fired into their home by Marines. More civilian deaths have followed. . .  But, I suppose, we can be grateful it’s not another Fallujah.

This weekend, the Washington Post wants us to know that the US forces are already pondering the requisite effort to rebuild. Though the fighting continues in fits and starts as the Taliban have not been entirely eliminated from the area, they are canvasing the town, trying to meet with the townspeople, handing out goodies to children and talking to adults. Read the rest of this entry »

BUM bum BUM bum BUM bum . . . . . . . .

Left Right Left Right Left . . . Left . . . Left Right Left . . . Left . . .

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The US continues in it’s attempt to refocus the Yemeni Government on Al Qaeda.   Recently, Yemeni forces killed 50 civilians in an air attack on and Al Qaeda Compound.    You might think, with the big diversion to Al Qaeda,  the beleaguered Houthi rebels would get a break.  But, no.  The Houthi leadership declared a unilateral cease fire earlier this week, first with the Saudis, and then with the Yemeni Government.  In response, the Yemeni army continues to bombard their villages as well as their troops.    The Houthis have real complaints with the Yemeni Government which doesn’t show much generosity with any of the people of Yemen, but it has given nothing at all the the Houthis.  Because the Houthis belong to a Shia sect, the Iranians had been blamed for helping them, and this was one of the reasons given for Saudi interest.  Read the rest of this entry »

We are currently just about to sell big packages of high tech arms to Egypt, Jordan, UAE and Saudi Arabia .  Ha’aretz, says that the Israeli government is not happy about it.   We’re only supposed to sell these countries second class weapons, but now we’re giving them F15s and Hellfire missiles.  We’ve been protecting Israel through the years, by giving them an edge in the local weapons race.  And make no mistake, they are still getting the most assistance and the best of the best, subs capable of carrying nuclear warheads, missile defense shields and more.  Not only is Israel a seemingly familiar ally in a very foreign, often hostile world, but they are really good customers.  You sell them the weapons, and you know they will use them, probably on a target you approve of.  Even so, capitalism is prone to prostitution.  It’s the way of the world

Israel might well be concerned about the sale of these weapons to Egypt, recipient of the second largest amount of US aid,  because Mubarek is old and his son is not popular.   Who will control those weapons when he’s gone?  Read the rest of this entry »

I could have written more.  I should have written sooner.  But, here’s something now.

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Pakistan
The Pakistani army has balked at attacking yet another province.   Apparently, they don’t really want to wipe out the man who connects them with the Taliban.  With more than 2 million internal refugees created so far by doing America’s bidding, perhaps they are getting tired of destroying their own country.  The Kerry Luger bribe might not be enough to cover it.  The US has told the Pakistani Army, either clean up (attack) Quetta or we’ll send in the drones.  The message hasn’t been well received.   Apparently,  American Diplomats in Pakistan are being harassed, and there is resentment and even hostility towards their US benefactors in the Pakistani military. *

Meanwhile, Pakistani President Zardari has suggested that the membership in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization could help with their counter-terrorism campaign.**  Pakistani Prime Minister Gilani has also requested membership in the SCO for Pakistan and reached out to them with a vision of  “shared peace”.  ***  He is working hard to solidify alliances and trade agreements with the neighboring ‘Stans’ who comprise the core membership in the SCO along with Russia and China.   I don’t think they can join while there is a perception that America controls their military actions.   Even so, while the US operates with lump sums (big ones), the Chinese and Russians are doing an increasing amount of business on the ground in Pakistan.

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Afghanistan
President Obama has announced an expanded commitment to the ‘war’ in Afghanistan, committing 30K more troops in addition to the 20K troops he OK’d earlier this year.  The Generals say that we need even more troops.  And the Generals concede that there are only 100 Al Qaeda operatives on the Afghanistan/Pakistan border.  So what gives?  If this is the best ‘Jobs Program’ Obama can come up with, we have a serious problem.

Meanwhile, the Taliban have reached out to the SCO for support as well.  They promised not to mess with their neighbors.  They just want their country back. ****   Kyrgyzstan, an Afghan neighbor and full member of the SCO,  is looking into trading some of it’s national debt for assisting in Afghanistan. *****   I’d say China is teaching it’s children well.

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Yemen
The Yemeni government is fighting a civil war on two different fronts.  The Yemeni Government blames the Iranians and accuses them of arming the ‘insurgents’, but there is no confirmation for their accusation, and it’s an easy out for them to blame the Iranians for any failures they have.******   The Saudi’s have joined in the war on the Northern front, enthusiastically bombing Yemeni towns. *******  Now, the US has now engaged in Yemen.   It is rumored that a couple of recent strikes on Al Qaeda were perpetrated by Americans.   The Yemeni government insists that they are responsible, and you might say that’s true, whether their men our ours physically launched the missiles.  Certainly that’s how the Yemeni people feel.  And they aren’t very happy about it either.

A significant Al Qaeda operative was the target of one of the strikes, but he escaped though while ‘terrorists’ were apprehended and killed.   The other strike killed at least 30  civilians including women and children, causing significant upset in the population.   Could you call the murder of 10 civilians with Hellfire missiles ‘terrorism’?  What ever happened to police actions.  Now, it’s all armies.

The Yemeni-American preacher who had been in contact with the soldier who recently killed 13 people on a killing spree at fort Hood was rumored to have been at both sites.     Since he has repeatedly denied any connection with Al Qaeda (unusual for Al Qaeda suspects not in custody), it seems unlikely he would be hanging out with their leadership.    It seems he might have been the target of the second strike, which killed the women and children, and which may have be conducted by Americans.

If they wanted him for conspiracy or as an accomplice to the crime, one would think they could just ask the Yemeni government to pick him up and extradite him. . . . .  perhaps secretly, as in rendition, if there’s a public relations problem.   I’m not advocating the latter.  In fact, I’m not sure this guy would be convicted if given a fair trial.   But it would certainly be better than killing 30 innocent people with Hellfire missiles.

By the way, when did our war on Yemen begin?  Was it the reference in Obama’s Afghanistan speech?   Kind of like Bush’s references to the Axis of Evil?  Obama doesn’t even need to use hyperbolic language.  He just mentions a country, and that’s enough.   Of course, the Saudi’s were already there, softening things up.

I just watched Joe Lieberman on Democracy Now! (yes, it’s Monday) say that if we don’t act preemptively, Yemen will be tomorrow’s war.”  I’d say it’s a done deal.   Guess that answers the question as to whether we were on the scene in those recent strikes.   +

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Iran
The voices for change in Iran will not be silenced by brutality.  Ayatollah Montazeri, the rightful heir to Khomeini died this week.   He would have preferred a more muted role for the Welayat Faqih and for the clergy in the Islamic Republic.   I suppose it’s a waste of time to consider the ‘path not taken’ at this point.   Montazeri has been supporting the dissidents who have been in the streets repeatedly since the June election which the opposition claimed was fraudulent.  With his death so close to Ashura, renewed protests are assured.

Ashura falls on today, December 27th.   This is the day of atonement for the martyrdom of Imam Hussein, the Prophet’s grandson.   This is the most important Shi’ite holiday, when many people are in the streets.   Not surprisingly, there have been clashes between protesters and the police.   According to Al Jazeera, 5 protesters have died, including Mir Hossein Mousavi’s nephew, who is rumored to have been shot.  The Iranian police say that some of these people died in a car accident, and only one was killed by a bullet,but they don’t know how this happened, because the police weren’t using bullets.++   I don’t think that’s going to fly at this point.   On Democracy Now! this morning, Hadi Ghaemi said Mousavi’s murder was reportedly an assassination.  He was shot point blank.The chief of Police in Tehran said that 300 demonstrators were arrested Sunday.

In the US, Sanctions have once again been passed by Congress.  They are unilateral as China and Russia are critical of the use of sanctions to limit Iran’s nuclear program, and will not support them in the Security Council.  The US can enforce them by penalizing other countries that trade with Iran, not Russia and China, of course.  No, we can only penalize our friends.

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Palestine
Egypt is blocking the Viva Palestina Convoy, an International initiative to bring material assistance and moral support to Gaza from entering.  Of course, Israel isn’t a possible alternative point of entry.  Their vindictive and racist agenda is not open to question or debate.   Israel has allowed little in the way of building materials into Gaza since they bombed it to rubble a year ago.  There is little water and minimal food for survival.   Few are allowed out for medical care and medical supplies are inadequate within.   There is no fuel for cooking and heating.  Now Israel is building an underground wall to block the tunnels in Rafah that provide the inhabitants of Gaza with what little they have.  Then what?

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Israel
The deal to free Gilad Shalit from Hamas is slowly progressing.   The deal would have Israel trade 1000 prisoners for Shalit.   A significant portion of the Israeli public is not just in favor of the trade, but insistent on it.    They say there are a few Palestinian prisoners with ‘Israeli blood on their hands’ who are being disputed.   100 or 150 of the prisoner’s will be released only on the condition that they are barred from Palestine.   Last I heard, Marwan Barghouti is among those likely to be released, though his brother Abdullah is one of the handful who are likely to be rejected.   +++

Marwan is the interesting brother, though.  He’s a Fatah hero who ran for President of Palestine from prison in 2006.   Surely he will be on good terms with Hamas if they can free him along with 1000 others from Israeli prisons.  Seems like he might be just what the Dr. has ordered for Palestine.  A man who with good connections to both Fatah and Hamas, a man who is popular with the people, a revolutionary hero with political ambitions.   Perhaps the Israeli apartheid is finding it’s Nelson Mandela.

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Lebanon
Ha’aretz says US President Obama has suggested to the new Lebanese government that they should ‘crack down’ on Hezbollah ‘arms smuggling’.    It seems that he missed the point that the new government has integrated the Opposition, of which Hezbollah is a significant member, and passed a law to legitimize Hezbollah as a  necessary part of their defense infrastructure.   In that case, I’m not sure you can call it smuggling.  In the same article, they say refer, once again, to the pirate arms shipment from Iran that it supposedly confiscated last month. ++++     [see next post]

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The Kurds

There’s more violence in Kirkuk and Mosul.   I’ve been reading about the runup to the Iraq war, and the Kurds were in it up to their eyeballs.  Who can blame them, after the horrific abuse they have suffered from Sadam.  However, from an objective standpoint, it seems like the US could have supported them without destroying the rest of Iraq.  Even now, the contention over Kirkuk is complicated, but there is a paragraph in the constitution that says exactly how to handle it.  But, the Iraqi government isn’t willing to implement it.   The International Crisis Group says it could spark a civil war in Iraq to do so.

What could this awful ruling be?   Article 140 says that they will take a census in Kirkuk and have a referendum there to decide whether or not it is part of Kurdistan.  Since  Kurdistan is part of Iraq and, for now, no one is disputing that, it seems like a fair solution.  Maybe the loser will be upset, but as in any democratic action, the winner will have a measure of truth on their side.   On the other hand, not following through has Kurds once again talking about independence.

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The United States
Looks like ‘Conservative Democrats’ are urging Obama to shelve Climate Change and work on a much needed Jobs Bill instead.  I bet they can’t pat their heads and rub their bellies at the same time either.

• *              New York Times
• **            Pakistani Associate Press
• ***          The Nation
• ****        Pakistani Defense Forum, Global Military News, Xinhua
• *****      Central Asia News, Ferghana, RU
• ******    Glenn Greenwald interview with Gregory Johnson
• *******  Al Arabia News
• +               Democracy Now!  Headlines.
• ++            Al Jazeera
• +++         IBA, Jerusalem; Ha’aretz
• ++++      Ha’aretz

From The Times of India “Taliban’s Political Ace: A letter to Shanghai Group”

The Taliban sent a letter last week to the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, an Asian Co-Op headed by China and Russia, which includes the Stans as well as Iran, Pakistan, Afghanistan and India.   According to this article, the letter shows that “that the Taliban are functioning as a unified organization, with a definite leadership, and feeling strong enough to seek negotiations as a political body” and highlights “the general perception that the SCO is intended to keep the US out of the Central Asian region”.    The writers of the letter speak  as a De Facto government of what they call “The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan”, and the letter asks the SCO to come out against the “occupation” of Afghanistan and assist against would be colonialists.   In return they offer to mind their own business and make peace with their neighbors.

Also in the NY Times “As Afghans Resist Taliban, US Spurs Rise of Militias”

So, we are inciting a civil war in Afghanistan.  What else is new.   Given that most experts agree that the Taliban is more and more comprised of locals who are angry and frustrated by the behavior of the occupying forces, and the difficulties of training an “Afghan” Army and Police Force that isn’t infiltrated by Taliban, why not just encourage anyone who wants to fight them.   This may be a temporarily effective strategy to hurt our ‘enemies’, but doesn’t sound like a serious foreign policy to me.

Earlier this week in the NY Times:  The Tab says “Pakistani Successes May Sway US Troop Decisions”

But the article is actually titled “Pakistani Military Encounters Little Fight as Militants Flee”.   I’m assuming this doesn’t count as a ‘success’.   The Pakistani Military showed off the massive destruction they had wrought to the international press, but they only had 7 casualties in 5 days so our government is concerned that they didn’t fight very hard.   I wonder how the local people feel about this?   The article goes on to say that the US is ‘concerned’ that they will call it a day, declare victory and make deals with all the rest of our enemies (oops, the Terrorists), without incurring enough casualties to call it a war.  Apparently, the Empire has no use  for political solutions in Pakistan.

In Today’s NY Times, “US Fears Iraqis Will Not Keep Up Rebuilt Projects”

This article raises many questions, and for better or worse, gives no hint of what should be done about the problem.  The title refers to “rebuilt” projects, but the text talks about projects too sophisticated or expensive for the Iraqis to maintain.      It points to the Iraqi’s lack of money for financing the maintenance of these projects, and lack of engineering capacity to operate them.    Basic water and sewage projects don’t have to be too high tech for basic engineering competence.  Hospitals without antibiotics, disinfectants  and bandages don’t need high tech equipment and aren’t expensive.  Furthermore, if Iraqis had been involved in the planning and implementation of their own infrastructure rehab program, then the projects would have people involved capable of carrying them forward.  This is the result of bad planning and assistance provided without insight into what the problems really are.

Forget “We broke it.  We bought it”.   The oft repeated cliche is superficial and self centered.   The fact is that we broke it, but there is no way the Iraqis are going to allow us to take it home.  So, its time to start thinking about, and discussing with the Iraqis what a viable restitution would look like.

American Village in Kurdistan

I was reading a not very interesting post on one of the English language news outlest from Kurdistan when a saw the ad.   In Erbil, they are building an American style housing complex for the rich.   You can buy an American style home, a Hawlerian Home (Kurdish name for Erbil) or a Palace.  That’s a lot of wood construction in a place where it is previously unheard of.   As for American style housing, I wonder what the shelf-life of wood is in the desert.   I stayed in a beautiful part of Suleimaniya, but I saw people on the other side of town still living in piles of rubble, probably left over from the 80s.  One might think that would be the place to begin construction, but the Kurds want to be Capitalists so they can be rich like us.

All the more so,  in light of Mark Grueter’s recent post on Alexander Cockburn’s Counterpunch blog, Inside the American University of Iraq,  where he says that the University, which is located in Suleimaniya, Kurdish Iraq, is not as it appears on it’s sophisticated web page which presents a fully functioning university with a diversity of students studying a broad range of subjects on beautiful buildings.   Grueter says that in fact, there are only a few students, mostly Iraqis who meet in temporary shacks to study English so as to obtain the requisite skill for other learning.  He ought to know, as he works there.

I was in Suleimaniya, Kurdish Iraq last summer, and I can attest to the fact that the people really do want to learn English.  They want to be included in the world community, and they want access to the resources for learning that are in English.   However, they haven’t got their program together for completing civil service projects, as numerous unfinished construction projects will attest.  Furthermore, they have little access to basic resources for learning, like paper and pencils and working computers.   They have high speed wireless internet routers, but they generally don’t have access to computer software that is up-to-date and viable.   They get Windows knock offs from Syria, which fail when caught by registration drones online.   Textbooks come from Iran, or are composed on a computer in Sorani Kurdish, then copied off on the printer or using a Xerox style copier.   There is a mandatory public school system, which is great.  What they need now is access to basic teaching resources.

UPI (United Press International) has “Arabs Go For Air Power to Counter Iran”

This is the war machine sustaining itself on thin air.   The article says that Egypt, UAE, the Saudis and generally the ‘Moderate’ Arab states, as bizarre a misnomer as ever was spoken, are buying advanced airplanes, missiles etc to protect themselves from Iran.   Iran has not threatened any of these countries in a very long time, and it isn’t a threat to them now, given that they are already armed to the teeth with American and Israeli super weapons.   The article even says that Iran is no match for these countries in terms of air power, but goes on to say that they may need these weapons because Iran has a bigger ground force.

It occurs to me that the reason for Iranians substantial ground force, aside from the fact that Iran has a bigger population,  is that the Iranians are actually willing to defend their country without exception, while the oppressed populations of some of these countries are not.   But then it goes on to say that among the goodies they are going to receive are air to air missiles.  But how will those help against a country with an inferior air force?     I think, whatever we want to sell them, they’ll buy.

BBC Arabic (from Mosaic) reports  Abbas Complains that Israel is Negotiating with Hamas

In the clip, Abbas seems a little put out.   He is being thrown over, and the wolves are at the door.  But, it isn’t any secret in Israel that the government is negotiating with Hamas.  In September, Israel made a deal with Hamas to exchange 20 female Palestinian Prisoners for a video showing that captured soldier Gilad Shalit is alive and well.    In today’s Haaretz, they have “President confirms ‘real progress’ in Shalit talks“.   The talks in progress are securing a deal where Israel will trade 1,000 Palestinian Prisoners for Shalit.   The numbers aren’t so far out when you consider that Hamas will be trading their only Israeli prisoner for only 1/12 of those Palestinians held in Israeli prisons.

Not long ago, Der Spiegel ran the story How Israel destroyed Syria’s Al Kibar Nuclear Reactor. The story elaborates the incident a year ago where Israel bombed a site in the Syrian Desert.  It goes on to tell of the assassinations of Hezbollah leader Imad Mughniyah and Syrian  General Mohammed Suleiman, a senior Syrian intelligence officer, which it claims are related to the main theme.   Syria was not ready to go to war over the incident, which isn’t a big surprise given that Bashar Al Assad has shown no inclination to military activity since he became president of Syria, and Syria has lost badly in every military encounter it has had with Israel.   Israel played cat and mouse, first denying they did anything at all, then claiming they bombed a nuclear site.   Syria claimed it was something else and and issued a formal complaint to the UN.

The story that ran in Der Speigel  reads  like an action adventure novel, with Israel as the protagonist.   Read the rest of this entry »

It looks like the nasty drug dealer brother who has been ‘dragging down’ Hamid Karzai’s reputation is actually a CIA operative.  Here we all were feeling sorry for this guy.  What a family!  But, I guess that isn’t a big surprise.  It seems like the CIA has been in the drug business for years.  What caught my eye in the NY Times article is the fact that Karzai is renting Mullah Omar’s compound to the US Military.  So, how did Ahmed Karzai come to be the owner of Mullah Omar’s compound?   Or is he just a middleman?   I wouldn’t ask except that Mullah Omar and the Taliban were originally supported by the US via the CIA (through the Pakistani Military) just like Ahmed Karzai.

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On a more personal note,  I keep thinking about the health care bill coming together in Congress.    Read the rest of this entry »

Today I watched a film called The Tornado, a film made by Lebanese and Russians about the Lebanese Civil War.  It was released in 1992, is billed as a ‘devastating condemnation of war’, and has a pretty low rating on Netflix, probably because it is a ‘devastating condemnation of war’.   After watching I started to think about our attitudes towards the people of countries where these wars . . . I almost said ‘occur’, but I really mean, are instigated and/or perpetrated by other more powerful countries.    FreeSpeech TV ran a series made by some young producers from Democracy Now! about Israel’s 2006 “War” against Lebanon.   It was called Nothing is Safe.   Those are the words that came to mind as I watched the protagonist in this film, upon returning to his home, move through a completely alienated world with which he thought he was intimately familiar. Read the rest of this entry »