tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14140254117165683532024-03-18T03:55:07.139-04:00Shadowed Forest of World PoliticsFinding a moral foreign policy path through the shadowed forest of world politics...William deB. Millshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07103937881679464836noreply@blogger.comBlogger1183125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1414025411716568353.post-25446218228373711932012-12-29T09:25:00.002-05:002012-12-29T09:25:25.092-05:00NOTICE<br />
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This site, Shadowed Forest, has been rehosted on <a href="http://shadowedforest1000.wordpress.com/">Wordpres</a>s. Please join me there.William deB. Millshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07103937881679464836noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1414025411716568353.post-19711311704403734352012-08-27T14:25:00.000-04:002012-08-27T14:28:02.493-04:00The Algerian Warning<br />
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<span style="background-color: #9fc5e8;"><span style="font-family: "Arial Black"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Ignored
by the West at its peril, dismissed as a unique case of both Islamist and
regime viciousness, </span><st1:country -region="-region"><st1:place><span style="font-family: "Arial Black"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Algeria</span></st1:place></st1:country><span style="font-family: "Arial Black"; font-size: 10.0pt;"> can also be viewed as a
warning to the comfortable West of things to come: </span><st1:country -region="-region"><st1:place><span style="font-family: "Arial Black"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Algeria</span></st1:place></st1:country></span><span style="font-family: "Arial Black"; font-size: 10.0pt;"><span style="background-color: #9fc5e8;"> the neo-liberal showcase. </span><o:p></o:p></span></blockquote>
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<st1:country -region="-region"><st1:place><span style="font-family: "Arial Black"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Algeria</span></st1:place></st1:country><span style="font-family: "Arial Black"; font-size: 10.0pt;"> and the </span><st1:country -region="-region"><st1:place><span style="font-family: "Arial Black"; font-size: 10.0pt;">U.S.</span></st1:place></st1:country><span style="font-family: "Arial Black"; font-size: 10.0pt;"> are two sides of the
neo-liberal coin: the rich exist on a foundation of exploitation. While perhaps
true as far as it goes, that static perspective conceals a more threatening
reality: </span><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: blue;"><st1:country -region="-region"><st1:place><span style="font-family: 'Arial Black'; font-size: 10pt;">Algeria</span></st1:place></st1:country><span style="font-family: 'Arial Black'; font-size: 10pt;"> is the end point of
neo-liberalism, the </span><st1:country -region="-region"><st1:place><span style="font-family: "Arial Black"; font-size: 10.0pt;">U.S.</span></st1:place></st1:country></span></span><span style="font-family: "Arial Black"; font-size: 10.0pt;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: blue;"> in the 1970s the beginning.</span></span>
While certainly morally troubling, for Americans in the 1970s, that might have
imparted a somewhat reassuring message, but <span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: blue;">after 2008, </span></span></span><st1:country -region="-region"><st1:place><span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Arial Black'; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="color: blue;">U.S.</span></span></st1:place></st1:country><span style="font-family: "Arial Black"; font-size: 10.0pt;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: blue;"> citizens find themselves </span></span>in
a rather less encouraging position,<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: blue;"> visibly further down the road in the
direction of </span></span></span><st1:country -region="-region"><st1:place><span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Arial Black'; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="color: blue;">Algeria</span></span></st1:place></st1:country><span style="font-family: "Arial Black"; font-size: 10.0pt;">. With millions out of work
and more millions out of their homes while financial criminals receive taxpayer
bailouts and a “stay out of jail free” card, with a health care system designed
for profit rather than public health, with wages declining even as job security
and job benefits are evaporating, Americans are beginning to see in the
distance the impoverishment of society for the enrichment of the rich that
constitutes the only system any living Algerian has ever known.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<st1:country -region="-region"><st1:place><span style="font-family: "Arial Black"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Algeria</span></st1:place></st1:country><span style="font-family: "Arial Black"; font-size: 10.0pt;"> neither produces nor
invests, living off resource exports, <a href="http://lyesakramdz.blogspot.com/2011/10/le-destin-des-algeriens-sauver-letat-ou.html">Lyes
Akram</a> tells us, with the profits going everywhere except to the people, one
might add. With neither rule of law nor political institutions that protect the
people, “the situation could not be more dangerous.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial Black"; font-size: 10.0pt;">l’Algérie
est probablement le seul pays au monde dont l’économie est compréhensible aux
enfants de 5 ou 6 ans. Deux axes. On ne produit quasiment rien et on
n’investit pas. On importe presque tout et on exporte nos ressources qui sont
surtout épuisables. En outre, la rente n’offre pas une vie décente au
Algériens, à cause des rapines effrénées et de la corruption débridée. Même si
les Algériens voulaient, pour des raisons déraisonnables, oublier
l’illégitimité du régime, lui pardonner ses crimes passés et présents, il n’est
nullement dans leur droit de permettre des crimes à l’encontre des générations
futures. Puisque à l’évidence, la politique économique du régime, c’est
l’assassinat de l’économie et la dilapidation irréversibles des ressources.</span><span style="font-family: "Arial Black"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Défaillance
totale, ruine de l’économie, destruction du système éducatif, décomposition de
la société, mais aussi, rappelle Hocine Aït-Ahmed, « Cinquante ans après
la proclamation de l’indépendance nationale, nous voici face aux mêmes absences
: Absence d’un Etat de droit, absence de vie politique, absence de constitution
digne de ce nom, absence d’institutions légitimes capables de protéger le
peuple autant que le pays des abus et d’assurer son droit à vivre dans la
liberté et la dignité ». La situation du pays est on ne peut plus
dangereuse.</span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial Black"; font-size: 10.0pt;">While
the Algerian author does not appear to have been thinking about Americans, for
us <span style="color: blue;">to dismiss the plight of Algerians as irrelevant to the future of </span></span><st1:country -region="-region"><st1:place><span style="font-family: "Arial Black"; font-size: 10.0pt;"><span style="color: blue;">U.S.</span></span></st1:place></st1:country><span style="font-family: "Arial Black"; font-size: 10.0pt;"><span style="color: blue;"> society would be a
dangerous delusion</span>. </span><st1:country -region="-region"><st1:place><span style="font-family: "Arial Black"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Algeria</span></st1:place></st1:country><span style="font-family: "Arial Black"; font-size: 10.0pt;"> and </span><st1:country -region="-region"><st1:place><span style="font-family: "Arial Black"; font-size: 10.0pt;">America</span></st1:place></st1:country><span style="font-family: "Arial Black"; font-size: 10.0pt;"> are inexorably bound by our
thirst for their oil and the ease with which the Algerian military/intelligence
dictatorship (that is the polite description; some Algerians would choose the
word “<a href="http://lyesakramdz.blogspot.com/2011/10/la-situation-des-droits-de-lhomme-en.html">voyoucratie</a>” [thugocracy]) sell the line that only they stand between us
and the barbaric hordes of fundamentalist Islam/middle class democracy. (What
difference, after all, is there between revolutionary violence and true
democracy from the perspective of a repressive and kleptocratic elite? Either
way, if you are Pinochet or Somoza, you lose your privileges.)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial Black"; font-size: 10.0pt;">With the social contract defined by the New Deal now
being shredded--e.g., by the breaking of public worker contracts (in Wisconsin)
and retirement contracts (throughout the U.S.), the conspiracy theory that the
elite might intentionally impoverish the U.S. population—defining it as “<a href="http://shadowedforest.blogspot.com/2012/07/superfluous-people.html">superfluous</a>”—just
as the population of Algeria has, since 1992, been defined as superfluous, is
beginning to appear a bit less crazy. Perhaps it is time we reevaluated the
post-colonial experience of Algerians.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<st1:city><st1:place><b><u><span style="font-family: "Arial Black"; font-size: 8.0pt;">READINGS</span></u></b></st1:place></st1:city><b><u><span style="font-family: "Arial Black"; font-size: 8.0pt;">:<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial Black"; font-size: 8.0pt;"><a href="http://www.algerie-tpp.org/">Justice Commission for Algeria</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Arial Black"; font-size: 8.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: ArialUnicodeMS; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><a href="http://nationalinterest.org/commentary/the-ugly-truth-about-algeria-7146?page=show">The
Ugly Truth about Algeria</a></span>William deB. Millshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07103937881679464836noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1414025411716568353.post-6725221090519917222012-08-22T12:54:00.002-04:002012-08-23T12:02:57.023-04:00Israel Radicalizes U.S. Politics<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><b style="background-color: #a2c4c9;">Clearly, a war against <st1:country -region="-region"><st1:place>Iran</st1:place></st1:country>
would be bad news, but even if war is avoided, the crisis atmosphere being
generated by Israeli politicians is causing severe long-term damage to the
national security of all involved states – the <st1:country -region="-region"><st1:place>U.S.</st1:place></st1:country>,
<st1:country -region="-region"><st1:place>Israel</st1:place></st1:country>,
and <st1:country -region="-region"><st1:place>Iran</st1:place></st1:country>.</b></span></blockquote>
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<b><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=1414025411716568353" name="OLE_LINK2"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Many observers have
warned that a<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></span><st1:country _x002d_region="-region"><st1:place></st1:place></st1:country></a><st1:country -region="-region"><st1:place><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">US</span></st1:place></st1:country><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">war with<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></span><st1:country _x002d_region="-region"><st1:place></st1:place></st1:country><st1:country -region="-region"><st1:place><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Iran</span></st1:place></st1:country><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">would be a disaster far worse than the<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></span><st1:country _x002d_region="-region"><st1:place></st1:place></st1:country><st1:country -region="-region"><st1:place><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">US</span></st1:place></st1:country><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">occupation of<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></span><st1:country _x002d_region="-region"><st1:place></st1:place></st1:country><st1:country -region="-region"><st1:place><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Iraq</span></st1:place></st1:country><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">. Americans need to remember the lessons of the<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></span><st1:country _x002d_region="-region"><st1:place></st1:place></st1:country><st1:country -region="-region"><st1:place><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Iraq</span></st1:place></st1:country><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">war:<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></span><a href="http://mwcnews.net/focus/politics/20986-a-frankenation-in-iraq.html"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt;">we did not win</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">. Whether or not the<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></span><st1:country _x002d_region="-region"><st1:place></st1:place></st1:country><st1:country -region="-region"><st1:place><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">U.S.</span></st1:place></st1:country><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">was defeated outright in its attempt to conquer and occupy<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></span><st1:country _x002d_region="-region"><st1:place></st1:place></st1:country><st1:country -region="-region"><st1:place><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Iraq</span></st1:place></st1:country><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">may be argued; the ultimate outcome will not be known for
years. But<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></span><st1:country _x002d_region="-region"><st1:place></st1:place></st1:country><st1:country -region="-region"><st1:place><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">U.S.</span></st1:place></st1:country><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">forces were pretty clearly booted out. All those monster
bases designed to project<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></span><st1:country _x002d_region="-region"><st1:place></st1:place></st1:country><st1:country -region="-region"><st1:place><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">U.S.</span></st1:place></st1:country><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">military force throughout the region are now in the hands of
Iraqis, are they not? And those Iraqis are leaning pretty publicly to the side
of<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></span><st1:city><st1:place></st1:place></st1:city><st1:city><st1:place><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Tehran</span></st1:place></st1:city><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">, are they not? Aside from a handful of much richer
corporate CEOs, what American would call that “victory?”<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><st1:country _x002d_region="-region"><st1:place>Iran<span class="apple-converted-space"></span></st1:place></st1:country> </span>is a much
harder target than<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><st1:country _x002d_region="-region"><st1:place>Iraq</st1:place></st1:country>,
likely requiring far more blood and treasure. Clearly,<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><st1:place></st1:place><st1:country -region="-region"><st1:place><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Israel</span></st1:place></st1:country><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">'s efforts to provoke impressionable<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></span><st1:country _x002d_region="-region"><st1:place></st1:place></st1:country><st1:country -region="-region"><st1:place><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">US</span></st1:place></st1:country><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">politicians into attacking<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></span><st1:country _x002d_region="-region"><st1:place></st1:place></st1:country><st1:country -region="-region"><st1:place><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Iran</span></st1:place></st1:country><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">constitute a clear and present danger to<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></span><st1:country _x002d_region="-region"><st1:place></st1:place></st1:country><st1:country -region="-region"><st1:place><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">US</span></st1:place></st1:country><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">national security.</span><u1:p></u1:p><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">But<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></span></b><b><span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt;">even if no war occurs, the<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></span></b><st1:country -region="-region"><st1:place><b><span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt;">US</span></b></st1:place></st1:country><span class="apple-converted-space"><b><span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt;"> </span></b></span><b><span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt;">will still have suffered grievous harm from Israeli behavior.<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></span></b><b><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Regardless of whether or not<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></span><st1:country _x002d_region="-region"><st1:place></st1:place></st1:country></b><st1:country -region="-region"><st1:place><b><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Israel</span></b></st1:place></st1:country><span class="apple-converted-space"><b><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;"> </span></b></span><b><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">actually wants a war against<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></span><st1:country _x002d_region="-region"><st1:place></st1:place></st1:country></b><st1:country -region="-region"><st1:place><b><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Iran</span></b></st1:place></st1:country><b><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">, its politicians are generating dangerous war fever in the<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></span><st1:country _x002d_region="-region"><st1:place></st1:place></st1:country></b><st1:country -region="-region"><st1:place><b><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">US</span></b></st1:place></st1:country><span class="apple-converted-space"><b><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;"> </span></b></span><b><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">and are thus radicalizing US politics. The minimal result of
this is the<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></span></b><b><span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt;">strengthening of short-sighted, violence-prone extremists in
the<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></span></b><st1:country -region="-region"><st1:place><b><span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt;">U.S.</span></b></st1:place></st1:country><b><span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt;">, </span></b><b><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt;">provoking global instability and an
accident-prone </span></b><st1:country -region="-region"><st1:place><b><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt;">U.S.</span></b></st1:place></st1:country><b><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt;"> foreign policy.<span class="apple-converted-space"> Almost
certainly, this militarization of foreign policy will be accompanied by bigger,
more centralized, more elitist domestic government<span style="color: blue;">. </span></span>The second result of war fever is the<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><span style="color: blue;">long-term
strengthening of the military-industrial complex and the concomitant weakening
of US diplomacy</span>. The third result, flowing
from the first two, is that<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></span><st1:country _x002d_region="-region"><st1:place></st1:place></st1:country></b><st1:country -region="-region"><st1:place><b><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">US</span></b></st1:place></st1:country><span class="apple-converted-space"><b><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;"> </span></b></span><b><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">foreign policy is constrained, and, as<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></span></b><st1:country -region="-region"><st1:place><b><span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt;">US</span></b></st1:place></st1:country><span class="apple-converted-space"><b><span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt;"> </span></b></span><b><span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt;">flexibility decreases</span></b><b><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">, the<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></span><st1:country _x002d_region="-region"><st1:place></st1:place></st1:country></b><st1:country -region="-region"><st1:place><b><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">US</span></b></st1:place></st1:country><span class="apple-converted-space"><b><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;"> </span></b></span><b><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">will become weaker, less able to deal with the complex
international challenges it faces. Decision-makers under the pressure of public
war fever will plan less carefully, consider a narrower range of options, and
will inevitably find violent options easier to choose for short-term political
reasons even if those options are understood to offer little chance of
long-term success. Finally, as should be obvious, this whole process will, as
it strengthens those </span></b><st1:country -region="-region"><st1:place><b><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">US</span></b></st1:place></st1:country><b><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;"> political circles favoring militarism,</span></b><span class="apple-converted-space"><b><span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt;"> </span></b></span><b><span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt;">weaken </span></b><st1:country -region="-region"><st1:place><b><span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt;">US</span></b></st1:place></st1:country><b><span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt;"> democracy</span></b><span class="apple-converted-space"><b><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;"> </span></b></span><b><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">and undermine US civil
liberties for war fever and democracy are bitter enemies.<o:p></o:p></span><u1:p></u1:p></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">The actual dynamics of these changes provoked by war fever
are even more complicated and ominous than the above enumeration suggests, for
they interact, generating positive mutual feedback loops: i.e., the longer politics are radicalized, the greater the gap between any real justification for war and the degree of war fever. War fever becomes less and less a response to reality, more and more a result of the internal dynamics of political behavior: <span style="color: blue;">war becomes justified by war fever</span>. The more politics are
radicalized, the weaker become politicians advocating cautious, reasoned
evaluation of policy choices and the stronger become politicians willing to
exploit tension for personal gain, which instantly translates into the personal
gain of the leaders of the military-industrial complex. As this process
continues, those CEOs, in turn, do not only get richer but interfere in
politics, turning into advocates of the wars from which they benefit. Few will
be the citizens who point out the obvious conflict of interest. The stronger
the extremist coalition becomes, the more international tensions will rise for
other countries will react to the rising U.S. challenge, either by arming and
preparing to resist or, as is evidenced by the behavior of elites from Pakistan
to Paraguay, by cooperating with U.S. elites against the interests of their own
people, thereby provoking popular resistance, which in turn will lead to
violence that will be cited by U.S. extremists as “proof” that a foreign policy
based on war is required and as justification for curbing the domestic U.S.
civil liberties that are frequently the primary target of <a href="http://mwcnews.net/focus/analysis/20924-tools-of-the-rich.html">extremist U.S.politicians</a> in the first place. Expansionist Israeli politicians crying wolf about regional adversaries as a cover for their plans to colonize the West Bank provide, in turn, marvelous cover for rich Americans who want to transfer the funds of social service programs into their own pockets. The new partnership between the Israeli right wing and the U.S. super-rich stands on a foundation of solid gold.</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">The nuclear argument, not to mention the far more
fundamental general strategic argument, between </span></b><st1:country -region="-region"><st1:place><b><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Iran</span></b></st1:place></st1:country><b><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">, the </span></b><st1:country -region="-region"><st1:place><b><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">U.S.</span></b></st1:place></st1:country><b><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">, and </span></b><st1:country -region="-region"><st1:place><b><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Israel</span></b></st1:place></st1:country><b><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">, has many facets. Regardless of one's opinion of the
alleged Iranian nuclear threat, regardless of one's opinion of the quality of
Iranian governance, regardless of one's opinion of Iran's political challenge
to U.S. regional supremacy, the tactics being pursued by Israeli politicians
are causing profound long-term harm to U.S., and<a href="http://nationalinterest.org/blog/jacob-heilbrunn/defense-shimon-peres-the-debate-israel-over-bombing-iran-7363"> Israeli</a>, national security and
are poisoning the political culture of both countries as well. </span></b><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">In sum,<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></span></b><b><span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt;">even if no war with<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></span></b><st1:country -region="-region"><st1:place><b><span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt;">Iran</span></b></st1:place></st1:country><span class="apple-converted-space"><b><span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt;"> </span></b></span><b><span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt;">occurs</span></b><span class="apple-converted-space"><b><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;"> </span></b></span><b><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">and even if the feared
Iranian nuclear challenge evaporates in the noonday sun,<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></span></b><st1:country -region="-region"><st1:place><b><span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt;">Israel</span></b></st1:place></st1:country><span class="apple-converted-space"><b><span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt;"> </span></b></span><b><span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt;">will have caused severe long-term harm to<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></span></b><st1:country -region="-region"><st1:place><b><span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt;">US</span></b></st1:place></st1:country><span class="apple-converted-space"><b><span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt;"> </span></b></span><b><span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt;">national security and to<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></span></b><st1:country -region="-region"><st1:place><b><span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt;">US</span></b></st1:place></st1:country><span class="apple-converted-space"><b><span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt;"> </span></b></span><b><span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt;">political culture by its waving of the bloody flag.</span></b><span class="apple-converted-space"><b><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;"> </span></b></span><b><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">The endless public crisis atmosphere being generated by Israeli
politicians does not help protect<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></span><st1:country _x002d_region="-region"><st1:place></st1:place></st1:country></b><st1:country -region="-region"><st1:place><b><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Israel</span></b></st1:place></st1:country><b><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">; it hobbles Israeli and American decision-makers, who
cannot completely insulate themselves from public emotions. It also strengthens
radicals in<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></span><st1:country _x002d_region="-region"><st1:place></st1:place></st1:country></b><st1:country -region="-region"><st1:place><b><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Iran</span></b></st1:place></st1:country><span class="apple-converted-space"><b><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;"> </span></b></span><b><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">because public war fevers are contagious. Right-wing,
violence-prone politicians willing to exploit public fears for private
advantage on all sides are strengthened; <a href="http://www.haaretz.com/opinion/how-iran-strengthened-israeli-democracy.premium-1.459331">moderates are made to appear disloyal</a>;
decision-makers get tunnel vision; CEOs of military-industrial corporations and extremist politicians profit while the long-term security of all diminishes.</span><u1:p></u1:p></b><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Thanks,<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></span><st1:country _x002d_region="-region"><st1:place></st1:place></st1:country></b><st1:country -region="-region"><st1:place><b><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Israel</span></b></st1:place></st1:country><b><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">. With friends like you...</span><u1:p></u1:p></b><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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William deB. Millshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07103937881679464836noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1414025411716568353.post-57960039016835962502012-08-18T19:33:00.000-04:002012-08-19T18:10:03.574-04:00Israeli Settler Terror: It's Official<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<b style="background-color: #d0e0e3;">If Netanyahu's political allies in the West Bank are committing terrorism, the U.S. may still defend Israeli security, but why is it cooperating with the Netanyahu regime?</b></blockquote>
<br />
<br />
In a major step toward an honest public evaluation of Israel, the State Department has finally recognized the existence of organized violence against Palestinian residents by the (illegal*) Israeli settlers as "terrorism."<br />
One may sneer that the State Department was the last organization on earth to realize this, but that would be to miss the significance of the event.<br />
<br />
Washington tightly ties its foreign policy to the Netanyahu regime despite the fact that illegal encroachment on Palestinian territory by Israelis is at the core of Netanyahu's whole approach to governing Israel. For Washington officially to recognize that the settlers Israel is supporting include terrorists shines an embarrassingly bright light on the contradiction between Washington's claim that it opposes terrorism and its alliance with Israel.<br />
<br />
Admittedly, the State Department report went to great lengths to bury the admission, beginning the Israeli section by characterizing Israel as a "<span style="background-color: white; color: #252525; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 20px;"><a href="http://www.state.gov/j/ct/rls/crt/2011/195544.htm">resolute counterterrorism partner</a>," even though the characterization of behavior by political allies of Netanyahu as "terrorism" would seem to contradict that assessment. In addition, the report depicted settler terrorism as isolated acts rather than anything like a steady campaign. Moreover</span>, Washington has yet to come to grips with the degree to which the Israeli army and police (and therefore the Netanyahu regime as well) support not just the theft of land from Palestinians for illegal Israeli settlers but also the specific acts of terror that they commit as well. Nevertheless, State's recognition that it is indeed "terror" would seem to make it only a matter of time before the issue of Tel Aviv's attitude toward that terror also surfaces, and that will in turn put further cracks in the edifice of the U.S.-Israeli alliance...unless Tel Aviv can bring itself to crack down on the very domestic terrorists whose votes Israeli politicians so covet.<br />
_______________<br />
* Yes, illegal:<br />
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<div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px;">
A report by the Israeli human rights organisation, Peace Now, listed the many ways Israeli governments have been using to confiscate Palestinian land. It stated that over the years, Israel has been using various legal and bureaucratic procedures to confiscate Palestinian land and use it for building colonies. These included “seizure for military purposes; declaration of state lands; seizure of absentee property”; and “confiscation for public needs and initial registration.” This way, “Israel has managed to take over about 50 per cent of the land in the West Bank.”...</div>
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A comprehensive report by the Israeli human rights organisation, BeitSelem, concluded that the colonisation policy created in the Occupied Palestinian Territories is a regime based on discrimination “reminiscent of ... the Apartheid regime in South Africa.” [<a href="http://www.americantaskforce.org/daily_news_article/2012/06/18/legalising_land_theft">American Task Force</a>.]</div>
William deB. Millshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07103937881679464836noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1414025411716568353.post-54993007339828737212012-08-17T17:13:00.000-04:002012-08-17T17:13:42.199-04:00Tools of the Rich<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="background-color: #9fc5e8; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #333333; font-family: 'Arial Black'; font-size: 9pt;">The citizens of the U.S. are shortchanging themselves by allowing the super-rich to define taboos in order to prevent society from considering fundamental reforms that might preserve our democracy, enhance our security, and improve our lives...at the expense of constraining the ability of the super-rich to amass more wealth.</span></blockquote>
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<span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-family: "Arial Black"; font-size: 9.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Politics in the </span><st1:country -region="-region"><st1:place><span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-family: "Arial Black"; font-size: 9.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">U.S.</span></st1:place></st1:country><span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-family: "Arial Black"; font-size: 9.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">—at the level of<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "Arial Black"; font-size: 9.0pt;"><a href="http://shadowedforest.blogspot.com/2009/10/learning-to-governfrom-wolves.html"><span style="background: white; color: #29aae1; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">policy-making</span></a></span><span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-family: "Arial Black"; font-size: 9.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">—has a degree of rigidity, narrow-mindedness,
and short-sightedness that causes enormous harm to the security and quality of
life of Americans. These constraints are
self-imposed; more precisely, they are intentionally imposed by the elite to
constrain the voters from exercising their full legal democratic rights of
popular oversight. </span><span style="background: white; color: #000099; font-family: "Arial Black"; font-size: 9.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Accepted without a
second thought, these unstated and unreasoned taboos prevent Americans from
taking full advantage of their vast natural and intellectual resources. The
result is a set of interlocked policies that needlessly undermine American
security and worsen the general quality of life in American society.<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Arial Black"; font-size: 9.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><br />
<br />
<span style="background: white;">Taboos obstructing honest evaluation of
fundamental policy choices prevent American society from moving effectively in
new and desperately needed directions. The American system is based on open
debate to find answers to complex problems. That is the best system yet
discovered for resolving national problems, but it only works when society
faces its options honestly. New directions do exist for addressing this set of
challenges, but the roads will only be found if we are </span></span><span style="font-family: "Arial Black"; font-size: 9.0pt;"><a href="http://shadowedforest.blogspot.com/2009/10/war-recession-health-care-what-can-we.html"><span style="background: white; color: #29aae1; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">willing to look for them</span></a></span><span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-family: "Arial Black"; font-size: 9.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">.</span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Arial Black"; font-size: 9.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><br />
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<span style="background: white;">Ironically,<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span><span style="background: white; color: #000099; font-family: "Arial Black"; font-size: 9.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">these fundamental policy choices</span><span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-family: "Arial Black"; font-size: 9.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">—precisely the ones meriting the most
meticulous public debate—</span><span style="background: white; color: #000099; font-family: "Arial Black"; font-size: 9.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">are typically the
public policy decisions made with the least care, the least debate, the least
thought</span><span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-family: "Arial Black"; font-size: 9.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">. The results
include a foreign policy based on military force even when force intensifies
hostility; health care as a business rather than a right; environmental policy
favoring consumption now rather than preservation for future generations; and
an economic policy that has been enriching the super-rich by impoverishing the
rest since the Reagan era.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-family: "Arial Black"; font-size: 9.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Sure, everyone talks
about health care and foreign policy and economics and the environment, but</span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Arial Black"; font-size: 9.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"> </span><span style="background: white; color: #000099; font-family: "Arial Black"; font-size: 9.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">look at content of
the debates: it focuses on details</span><span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-family: "Arial Black"; font-size: 9.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">. Should we, perhaps, modify the degree of Wall Street regulation a bit
(while still leaving the main offenders in business)? Should we, perhaps, talk
to international adversaries (in order to get them to do what we previously
used the threat of violence to achieve)? Should we, perhaps, add a few soldiers
in uniform to your Muslim country of choice or should we use mercenary forces
out of uniform (but without altering our goal of suppressing dissent)? Should
we, perhaps, pass a new environmental protection law (but without holding
corporate executives criminally responsible for their cheating on the laws
already passed)? Should we, perhaps, add a sliver of the disadvantaged to the
rolls of those favored with health insurance (but surely without endangering
the massive profits of the health care industry)?</span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Arial Black"; font-size: 9.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><br />
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</span><span style="background: white; color: #000099; font-family: "Arial Black"; font-size: 9.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">The basic questions that address
fundamental direction are seldom voiced. They are taboo.</span><span style="color: #000099; font-family: "Arial Black"; font-size: 9.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"> </span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Arial Black"; font-size: 9.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><br />
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</span></span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Arial Black"; font-size: 9.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">A foreign policy of true compromise
with reformist Islam is a taboo subject.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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</span></span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Arial Black"; font-size: 9.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">A health care policy that rejects
socialism for the health care industry and institutes socialism for the
disadvantaged is a taboo subject.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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</span></span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Arial Black"; font-size: 9.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">An environmental policy that punishes
corporate polluters and preserves the environment (allowing economic functions
only within those constraints) is a taboo subject (the recent <a href="http://projects.nytimes.com/toxic-waters">New York Times</a> expose of
corporations polluting the nation’s drinking water notwithstanding).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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</span></span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Arial Black"; font-size: 9.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">A financial system that puts society
first, employing capital only as a tool for the common good by constraining
exploitation and stimulating responsible productivity is a taboo subject.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-family: "Arial Black"; font-size: 9.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Americans do have
certain cultural/political advantages. Perhaps the greatest is the consensus
that those who break taboos are not killed, so, yes, I can voice these
complaints in safety, something I would not be able to do in, say, China, Saudi
Arabia, or Iran. While I am grateful for this, it does not invalidate my
argument. Taboos work more subtly in the </span><st1:country -region="-region"><st1:place><span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-family: "Arial Black"; font-size: 9.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">U.S.</span></st1:place></st1:country><span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-family: "Arial Black"; font-size: 9.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">: those who violate them may speak; they are
simply ignored. In terms of having influence, if you challenge taboos, you will
be cut out of the debate, will no longer be heard, will effectively no longer
exist except as an official non-person, an “…ist,” as in “racist, socialist,
leftist.” In (we imagine) highly stable, albeit tenuous, Neolithic times,
banishment of those who broke village taboos by speaking out may have enhanced
group survival; in the contemporary rapidly evolving world, by precluding
flexibility, observing taboos invites disaster.</span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Arial Black"; font-size: 9.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><br />
<br />
<span style="background: white;">The </span></span><st1:country -region="-region"><st1:place><span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-family: "Arial Black"; font-size: 9.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">U.S.</span></st1:place></st1:country><span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-family: "Arial Black"; font-size: 9.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"> has an historic power advantage over its
adversaries (even after a decade of behaving like a rogue elephant), the best
higher education establishment on earth (albeit a very weak primary and
secondary education system), and enormous resources. These advantages give
American society an incredibly fruitful array of options. That is, Americans
have the collective power to do an unimagined range of different things...if
they can open their minds sufficiently to imagine taking new directions toward
a fundamentally more just and effective society.</span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Arial Black"; font-size: 9.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"> </span><span style="background: white; color: #000099; font-family: "Arial Black"; font-size: 9.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Whatever the route to a perfect society, we
will never find it (or even succeed in treading water in today's volatile
world) if we censor ourselves from discussing the basic options about the
fundamental direction of public policy.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-family: "Arial Black"; font-size: 9.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">These taboos do not
arise by chance. Examine these taboos and you will see that each prevents
discussion of an issue captured by the super-rich. We cannot discuss the <a href="http://shadowedforest.blogspot.com/2012/08/democracy-or-war.html">fundamental
militarist posture of U.S. foreign policy</a> because that would call into
question the war profiteering of arms manufacturing corporations. We cannot
discuss the relationship between global overheating and energy policy because
that would call into question government favoritism toward Big Energy (in turn
of course not unrelated to a foreign policy based on force and <a href="http://shadowedforest.blogspot.com/2012/08/neo-liberal-crisis-threatens-peru.html">collaboration
with repressive third world regimes</a>). We cannot discuss the idea of health
care as a right because that would not just imperil the wealth of Big Pharma
but would start a chain reaction undermining the whole concept of putting the
incomes of the corporate elite ahead of the common welfare. We cannot discuss
the relative merits of a financial system for the purpose of accumulating
capital in private hands vs. a financial system for the social good because
that would bring down the whole class system in which Americans sadly do not
realize they exist…because the strengthening class system is the greatest taboo
of all. </span><span style="background: white; color: blue; font-family: "Arial Black"; font-size: 9.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Debate is the foundation of democracy; taboos are tools of
the ruling class.</span><span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-family: "Arial Black"; font-size: 9.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-family: "Arial Black"; font-size: 9.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">The most recent
example of how taboos cripple open debate of fundamental social issues is
Romney’s blatant effort to reinforce the insidious taboo against discussing
class in American society. The reason for this taboo is clear: as long as we
are forbidden from mentioning “class” (except to deny the relevance of the
concept for our uniquely perfect system), we cannot even ask if class
distinctions are getting worse or if the tax code is biased in favor of the
upper class or if the upper class (which cannot, by definition, even exist in
the U.S.) might possibly be destroying our democracy. And obviously the taboo
on discussing classes also conveniently prevents us from seeing the <a href="http://shadowedforest.blogspot.com/p/class-war.html">class war</a> that
the rich have been fighting with great success against American society for the
past generation. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-family: "Arial Black"; font-size: 9.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">To avoid all such
potentially embarrassing discussion, Romney is accusing Obama of running a
campaign based on “hatred.” It is way beyond curious that Romney could so
neatly have stuffed his foot in his mouth by raising the issue of politicians
who run campaigns based on "hatred" just as he decides to put the
most mean-spirited man in </span><st1:state><st1:place><span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-family: "Arial Black"; font-size: 9.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Washington</span></st1:place></st1:state><span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-family: "Arial Black"; font-size: 9.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"> a heartbeat away from the Presidency.</span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Arial Black"; font-size: 9.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><br />
<br />
Romney has handed <span style="background: white;">Obama his response on a silver
platter: "Yes," he should say, "this campaign is about
hatred." Depriving the most unfortunate while bailing out financial
criminals and engorging an obese Pentagon with grossly overpriced weapons
designed to defeat an empire that is only visible when Uncle Sam looks in the
mirror can go by no better name than "hatred."</span><br />
<br />
Hatred has its uses, and what Americans should hate includes<span style="background: white;">: immoral politicians on the take from the rich to
deprive the man in the street just to make the rich richer; big corporations
demanding welfare for themselves while denying decent wages to their own
employees; financial criminals on Wall St. taking bailouts while designing
schemes to defraud homeowners and investors; hypocritical politicians claiming
that fleecing the poor to enrich the rich is "patriotism;" war
profiteers making $25 million a year who take their corporate headquarters
overseas to avoid paying U.S. taxes on the profits they made fighting wars
harmful to U.S. national security...wars for which they campaigned.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="background: white;">And so, ironically, I reach agreement with
financial fat cat Romney. "Yes, sir. You are right. This election is about
hatred." And Obama needs to find the backbone to face the divide between
the radical right-wing Republicans (unfortunately, the only breed of Republican
still standing) and the American people.<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span><b><i><span style="background: white; color: #cc0000; font-family: "Arial Black"; font-size: 9.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">It has come to this: there is no longer room
for compromise. Our house cannot stand 99.9% slave, 0.1% free. We are at war--the
people vs. the super-rich, democracy vs. a class system. Those who equivocate
and respect taboos are lackeys of the super-rich. Obama needs to decide which
side he is on…or Americans need to vote for the <a href="http://www.gp.org/committees/platform/2010/index.php">Green Party</a>.</span></i></b><span style="font-family: "Arial Black"; font-size: 9.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
William deB. Millshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07103937881679464836noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1414025411716568353.post-66414708372701856502012-08-15T12:47:00.000-04:002012-08-15T12:47:46.202-04:00Romney Dares Refer to 'Hatred'?!?<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<b style="background-color: #a2c4c9;">Romney has accused Obama of campaigning on "hatred." Now that he has brought up that particular topic...</b></blockquote>
<br />
It is way beyond curious that Romney could so neatly have stuffed his foot in his mouth by raising the issue of politicians who run campaigns based on "hatred" just as he decides to put the most mean-spirited man in Washington a heartbeat away from the Presidency.<br />
<br />
Obama's response is handed him on a silver platter: "Yes," he should say, "this campaign is about hatred." Depriving the most unfortunate while bailing out financial criminals and engorging an obese Pentagon with grossly overpriced weapons designed to defeat an empire that is only visible when Uncle Sam looks in the mirror can go by no better name than "hatred."<br />
<br />
Here's what I hate: immoral politicians on the take from the rich to deprive the man in the street just to make the rich richer; big corporations demanding welfare for themselves while denying decent wages to their own employees; financial criminals on Wall St. taking bailouts while designing schemes to defraud homeowners and investors; hypocritical politicians claiming that fleecing the poor to enrich the rich is "patriotism;" war profiteers making $25 million a year who take their corporate headquarters overseas to avoid paying U.S. taxes on the profits they made fighting wars harmful to U.S. national security...for which they campaigned.<br />
<br />
And so, ironically, I reach agreement with financial fat cat Romney. "Yes, sir. You are right. This election is about hatred." And Obama needs to find the backbone to face the divide between the radical right-wing Republicans (unfortunately, the only breed of Republicans still standing) and the American people. <i><b><span style="color: #cc0000;">It has come to this: there is no longer room for compromise. Our house can no longer stand 99.9% slave, 0.1% free. We are at war - the people vs. the super-rich. Obama needs to decide which side he is on.</span></b></i>William deB. Millshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07103937881679464836noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1414025411716568353.post-19457639616031189862012-08-12T13:06:00.002-04:002012-08-18T17:32:41.791-04:00Peruvian Protests Against Mining Pollution Expand<br />
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As the tense stand-off between Peru’s Humala Administration and the population of Cajamarca
over central government support for <a href="http://shadowedforest.blogspot.com/2012/08/neo-liberal-crisis-threatens-peru.html#more">gold
mining against the wishes of the residents</a>, protests over misbehavior by
international corporations in Peru is spreading.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
On August 6, protesters in Yungay province, Anchash region
began taking action against a mining operation that is <a href="http://servindi.org/actualidad/69735">polluting Huascaran National Park
with cyanide</a>, with the local leader complaining that the Humala Administration
has shown “no interest.”</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
This is not the first problem in the Anchash region this
year with <a href="http://servindi.org/actualidad/57682">pollution by mining
corporations</a>. A pattern of central government cooperation with
international corporations at the expense of local residents is becoming
steadily clearer, and <span style="color: blue;"><b>the predictable result is rising instability as the
population struggles to be heard."</b></span><br />
<span style="color: blue;"><b><br /></b></span>
<span style="color: blue;"><b>_____________________</b></span><br />
<b>Points to Watch:</b><br />
<span style="color: blue;"><b><br /></b></span>
<br />
<ul>
<li><b><a href="http://www.eurasiareview.com/29072012-peru-government-criminalizes-protests-against-mining/"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Peruvian Policy Brutality</span></a></b></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Central Government Treatment of <span style="background-color: white; line-height: 23px;">Espinar mayor Óscar Mollohuanca -<a href="http://articles.boston.com/2012-06-14/business/32218177_1_anti-mining-protesters-xstrata"> illegal arrest</a>, <a href="http://www.radionacional.com.pe/politica/62289-alcalde-mollohuanca-pide-mas-tiempo-para-mesa-de-dialogo.html">returning to negotiating table after being released</a></span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><a href="http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/townsfolks-sickened-peru-toxic-spill-17020534?page=3#.UDACpallTmo">Peruvian Villagers Poisoned by Mine Waste 'Accident'</a></span></li>
<li>Cajamarca strike, Aug. 21</li>
<li>Centrral government treatment of <a href="http://peru21.pe/2012/08/15/actualidad/gregorio-santos-cajamarca-seguira-ejerciendo-derecho-protesta-2037684">Cajamarca regional president Gregorio Santos</a>, who is <a href="http://peru21.pe/2012/08/15/politica/piden-que-gobierno-tome-control-cajamarca-2037644?href=nota_rel">being threatened by officials favoring international corporate investment</a> as a troublemaker rather than a defender of the legitimate interests of the local people and being <a href="http://peru21.pe/2012/08/18/politica/san-martin-no-hay-que-permitir-que-gente-cerrada-impida-dialogo-2038157">marginalized to curry favor with international mining corporations</a></li>
</ul>
</div>
William deB. Millshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07103937881679464836noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1414025411716568353.post-78969210890825547072012-08-12T11:55:00.000-04:002012-08-15T13:11:13.408-04:00Policy Process Fairness<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglRYThynDhxOihXX895tA_6mLroEE-rR72V0mnRx31Ee_QcgSSOswqygRoMdKBV2FGPhKeRn1vu5JvMUHmPko6YcTBAC0DBvMf7QTorPXZ2iDRB4FccHwb5He1Bnq10udSqg25D-7iZaA/s1600/Governance.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglRYThynDhxOihXX895tA_6mLroEE-rR72V0mnRx31Ee_QcgSSOswqygRoMdKBV2FGPhKeRn1vu5JvMUHmPko6YcTBAC0DBvMf7QTorPXZ2iDRB4FccHwb5He1Bnq10udSqg25D-7iZaA/s200/Governance.png" width="200" /></a></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b style="background-color: #a2c4c9;">To make effective policy and to understand what game policy-makers are playing, <i>process</i> must be distinguished from <i>policy</i>. If the <i>policy</i> is a search for peace, but the <i>process </i>is seen by the adversary as intentionally designed to put them at a disadvantage, the result is likely to be violence.</b></span><br />
<a name='more'></a></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">One may imagine the landscape of
possible public policies by a state as a function of the fairness of the domestic
and foreign policy processes (theoretical introduction <a href="http://shadowedforest.blogspot.com/2012/08/democracy-or-war.html">here</a>). Such a model defines four quadrants, with the two
extremes being a quadrant in which process is totally fair (green, in the
figure) and a quadrant in which it is totally unfair (red, in the figure). In
the green space, policy is made democratically, through negotiation; in the
red, policy is made by force.<b> </b><span style="color: blue;"><b>If the “quality” of governance is defined as a
function of the degree to which the policy-making process produces positive-sum
outcomes</b> </span>(and thus stability, which is assumed to be greater over the long run
when all sides buy into the substantive decisions that are reached and have a
fair chance to promote their subsequent modification), <span style="color: blue;"><b>then the deeper into the
green sector, the better the quality of governance</b></span> (white arrow).</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglRYThynDhxOihXX895tA_6mLroEE-rR72V0mnRx31Ee_QcgSSOswqygRoMdKBV2FGPhKeRn1vu5JvMUHmPko6YcTBAC0DBvMf7QTorPXZ2iDRB4FccHwb5He1Bnq10udSqg25D-7iZaA/s1600/Governance.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglRYThynDhxOihXX895tA_6mLroEE-rR72V0mnRx31Ee_QcgSSOswqygRoMdKBV2FGPhKeRn1vu5JvMUHmPko6YcTBAC0DBvMf7QTorPXZ2iDRB4FccHwb5He1Bnq10udSqg25D-7iZaA/s320/Governance.png" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Before beginning an argument about policy substance,
attention should be paid to policy process: <span style="color: blue;"><b>setting up a fair process
facilitates inventing a mutually acceptable solution</b></span>. Politicians resistant to
this line of thinking are probably cheating, i.e., they do not want a solution.
Developing a scientific method of identifying fair process may prove somewhat
difficult, but even a minimal concept of fair process facilitates policy
evaluation and implementation. Deep in the red quadrant, the region of force,
lie economic sanctions, terrorism, cyber-warfare, and military attack. As one
moves toward the green region of diplomacy (internationally) and democracy
(domestically), one passes through a broad area in which preconditions are
attached to negotiations. This is a rich region for analysis, where the
well-armed always call for “peace” first to steal the best card
(e.g., demonstrations) in the hand of the weak. Thus, city governments across
the <st1:country -region="-region">U.S.</st1:country>
responded to Occupy protests not by listening to their substantive demands but
by trying to prevent or circumscribe the demonstrations. Similarly, the central
government of <st1:country -region="-region">Peru</st1:country>
is currently demanding an end to local anti-gold mining protests as a
precondition to compromise, as though such a concession by the weak rural
farmers would have no impact on their subsequent negotiating position. Moving
all the way into the green region, one reaches (at least theoretically) the
magical land where two adversaries sit down and (really) reason together.
Occasionally, innovative positive-sum solutions emerge from such open-minded
discussions.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Similarly, on the domestic side, one moves from police
violence and death squads at the dictatorial extreme to recalls and referendums
at the democratic extreme. While this may all be intuitively obvious,
formalizing the approach, even to the minimal extent laid out here, offers the
advantages of 1) sensitizing people to the dangers inherent in overlooking
biases in process while debating substance and 2) raising the issue of the
relative significance of various process biases. Concerning the latter, for
example, Americans have yet to face up to the seriousness of demanding Iranian
preconditions that amount to surrender as the entry price to negotiations. Why
would an adversary negotiate if it had given up all its bargaining cards in
advance? Perhaps a policy of forcing <st1:country -region="-region">Iran</st1:country>
either to surrender or fight is what the American people want, but <st1:country -region="-region">U.S.</st1:country>
policy-makers are certainly not presenting those as the choices, nor in reality
are they the choices. On the Iran issue, U.S. policy-makers are playing a different game, and<b><span style="color: blue;"> in a
democracy, the people have a right to know what the game their leaders are playing</span></b>.</span></div>
William deB. Millshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07103937881679464836noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1414025411716568353.post-80742493681493440402012-08-10T12:39:00.003-04:002012-08-12T12:55:33.512-04:00Neo-liberal Crisis Threatens Peru<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
</div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirfBEwYSvaSlQY-sqOXNfPQLFGK8yGPRarOk_mp_l0f-MFQ9p4MGRHzKAat9lFgKmsGeXwUEsG3sJcVsF8NVWOR0AftkLYkuP_y-zePW_pFnhGoDIR9Z1NGiWRx61jNL49awlLhDu5A3I/s1600/US+Futures.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirfBEwYSvaSlQY-sqOXNfPQLFGK8yGPRarOk_mp_l0f-MFQ9p4MGRHzKAat9lFgKmsGeXwUEsG3sJcVsF8NVWOR0AftkLYkuP_y-zePW_pFnhGoDIR9Z1NGiWRx61jNL49awlLhDu5A3I/s200/US+Futures.png" title="" width="200" /></a></div>
<span style="background-color: #a2c4c9;"><span style="font-family: "Arial Black"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Crisis
threatens </span></span><st1:country -region="-region"><st1:place><span style="font-family: "Arial Black"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Peru</span></st1:place></st1:country><span style="font-family: "Arial Black"; font-size: 10.0pt;"><span style="background-color: #a2c4c9;">, with presumed populist
Humala taking a corporatist stand. Rhetoric is hardening on both sides, and no
one appears able to define the struggle between the rural poor and international
gold mining interests in a positive-sum manner.</span></span><br />
<a name='more'></a><span style="font-family: "Arial Black"; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></blockquote>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial Black"; font-size: 10.0pt;">When
Ollanta Humala, who had presented himself as a populist who would put civil
liberties ahead of international corporate interests, won election as Peru’s
leader, Peru’s future seemed to be brightening, but his first year in power has
left the country facing a text-book neo-liberal challenge: people versus gold.
Despite local fears that a new gold mining project will destroy the population’s
water supply and strong regional government support for anti-mining
demonstrations, Humala has sided with the gold mining corporation and pushed
his administration into crisis.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial Black"; font-size: 10.0pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "Arial Black"; font-size: 10.0pt;">This <a href="http://servindi.org/seccion/actualidad">delightful video</a> shows the natural beauty of the Cajamarca region.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial Black"; font-size: 10.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial Black"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Following
two resignations from the cabinet, the Humala administration has shown signs of
a new willingness to listen to the people who elected him. Nevertheless, the
extension for another month of the <a href="http://www.peruviantimes.com/07/civil-liberties-to-remain-suspended-in-cajamarca-for-30-days/16460/">state
of emergency</a> in Cajamarca on Friday, a slap in the face of the head of the
on-going negotiations between the central government and the regional
government, suggests a continuing pro-corporate bias on the part of what was
supposed to have been a popular, democratizing regime. In protest over Humala’s
attitude, Cajamarca regional president Gregorio Santos, who now stands accused
of “rebellion” against Humala, is boycotting the negotiations and flatly
asserted on August 9 that at this point <a href="http://elcomercio.pe/actualidad/1453449/noticia-gregorio-santos-afirmo-que-levantar-estado-emergencia-cajamarcano-suficiente">lifting
the state of emergency would not suffice</a>: the mining corporation must step
back and the government must look into the deaths of the protesters. Speaking slowly
and thoughtfully, Humala called for an “end to hypocrisy” (</span><span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-family: "Arial Black"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Dejémonos de hipocresías.</span><span style="font-family: "Arial Black"; font-size: 10.0pt;">) on August 8 and warned
Humala not to “<a href="http://elcomercio.pe/actualidad/1453010/noticia-gregorio-santos-gobierno-no-puede-ocultarse-detras-sacerdotes">hide
behind the priests</a>” (ocultarse detras de los sacerdotes) serving as
mediators. The Humala Administration, however, is demanding the retreat of the
protesters before negotiations—assurances that there will be no more “</span><span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-family: "Arial Black"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><a href="http://elcomercio.pe/actualidad/1453428/noticia-gobierno-esperasenales-claras-cajamarca-levantar-estado-emergencia">actos
radicals</a>” before lifting the state of emergency, far from </span><st1:city><st1:place><span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-family: "Arial Black"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Santos</span></st1:place></st1:city><span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-family: "Arial Black"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">’ demand for action by the mining corporation.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial Black"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Despite
the deaths of five protesters and mediation by the Catholic Church, the central
government and the regional opposition to the mining project have not even
managed to agree on the terms for sitting across the negotiating table from
each other. Humala, seen by the elite a year ago as a troublemaker for his
outspoken opposition to their policies, now sits in their seat, evidently
expecting the same popular obedience the old elite once expected of him. His
accomplishments during his first year in office may be overwhelmed by the
controversy over gold mining:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial Black"; font-size: 10.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: 'Arial Black'; font-size: 10pt;"><i>Since taking
office a year ago, Humala has introduced a minimum monthly pension for the
elderly poor and grants for students while augmenting programs for infants and
families in poverty. He said the number of the people enrolled in some of the
programs would double during his term. </i></span><span style="font-family: 'Arial Black'; font-size: 10pt;"><i>Humala's approval rating fell to a
fresh low of 40 percent this month, according to pollster Ipsos, after a crackdown
on protesters opposed to Newmont Mining's $5 billion Conga project in the
northern region of Cajamarca that killed five people this month.</i> [<a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/07/28/us-peru-humala-idUSBRE86R0VZ20120728"><i>Reuters</i></a>
</span><st1:date day="28" month="7" year="2012"><span style="font-family: 'Arial Black'; font-size: 10pt;">7/28/12</span></st1:date><span style="font-family: 'Arial Black'; font-size: 10pt;">.]<o:p></o:p></span></blockquote>
<span id="midArticle_6"></span>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial Black"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Humala
plans a <a href="http://www.minerandina.com/en/president-humala-us-30-billion-in-mining-investments-will-materialize-in-the-next-5-years/">$30
billion expansion</a> of gold and copper mining over the next five years in </span><st1:country -region="-region"><st1:place><span style="font-family: "Arial Black"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Peru</span></st1:place></st1:country><span style="font-family: "Arial Black"; font-size: 10.0pt;">; how that will address the
quality of life of </span><st1:country -region="-region"><st1:place><span style="font-family: "Arial Black"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Peru</span></st1:place></st1:country><span style="font-family: "Arial Black"; font-size: 10.0pt;">’s rural poor remains
unclear.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial Black"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Rhetoric
on both sides is hardening, and protesters have called for a <a href="http://elcomercio.pe/actualidad/1451161/noticia-cajamarca-desafian-estado-emergencia-anuncian-paro-48-horas">strike</a>
on August 21 and 22.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial Black"; font-size: 10.0pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "Arial Black"; font-size: 10.0pt;"><u>Humala's Theoretical Error: Screwing the Lid on Tight Makes the Pot Boil Over</u></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial Black"; font-size: 10.0pt;"><u><br /></u></span>
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheG99gVLFaRkpdRrxg04gWg6kC_z6dLP1CEr7NcJBq-gFZrB0gfLCwgiR78KOGuyZEYbTG3-KYn4kcG8YsFx3K9jOB6kPgDTHikoy2NS5rDPzCYW-F4tJZ2SCh3hWyrQ1xABui7ZQALoY/s1600/US+Futures.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheG99gVLFaRkpdRrxg04gWg6kC_z6dLP1CEr7NcJBq-gFZrB0gfLCwgiR78KOGuyZEYbTG3-KYn4kcG8YsFx3K9jOB6kPgDTHikoy2NS5rDPzCYW-F4tJZ2SCh3hWyrQ1xABui7ZQALoY/s320/US+Futures.png" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial Black; font-size: x-small;">As a man of the people, Humala must know better, but once in office, he began to think he was, if not above the law, at least above the people. He has, as a result, discovered that top-down decision-making imposed upon the people, without gaining their buy-in generates exactly the chaos leaders want to avoid. By failing to show that residents would benefit from a new gold mine in their backyard, by failing to ensure that they would retain clean water, and most importantly of all by avoiding the short-term inefficiencies of democratic decision-making, he has provoked a deepening national crisis reminiscent of the decade-old Cochabamba water war against Bechtel Corporation and a Bolivian leader who made the same mistake...and turned Evo Morales into a national hero. More, he has thereby contracted a severe case of instability plus long-term counter-productivity, weakening himself both domestically and internationally while undermining his policy of befriending international mining corporations to boost Peru's economic prospects. </span><span style="font-family: 'Arial Black'; font-size: x-small;">Political processes are not linear: what works for a day may be the cause of failure by the weekend.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial Black; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial Black; font-size: x-small;">Humala had to play a two-level game (to simplify his reality), dealing with the international gold mining corporation and dealing with his countrymen. On the foreign policy side, he negotiated; in terms of domestic governance, he attempted a centralized decision-making process...thus landing, for this policy, solidly in the tricky blue arena where behavior toward domestic partners clashes with behavior toward international partners. Playing tough guy in the red arena of force might make a leader feared; playing nice guy in the green arena of conciliation might win a leader moral stature. Playing in the internally inconsistent blue arena makes a leader look like a push-over to foreigners and like a sell-out to those who voted for him.</span><br />
_______________________</div>
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<st1:city><st1:place><span style="font-family: "Arial Black"; font-size: 8.0pt;">READINGS</span></st1:place></st1:city><span style="font-family: "Arial Black"; font-size: 8.0pt;">:<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial Black"; font-size: 8.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial Black"; font-size: 8.0pt;"><a href="http://shadowedforest.blogspot.com/2012/08/democracy-or-war.html">The Impact of the Way Decisions Are Made</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial Black"; font-size: 8.0pt;"><a href="http://shadowedforest.blogspot.com/2012/07/globalizing-paraguay.html">Globalizing Paraguay</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial Black"; font-size: 8.0pt;"><a href="http://shadowedforest.blogspot.com/2012/07/the-meaning-of-being-pro-business.html">Neo-Liberalism</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial Black"; font-size: 8.0pt;"><a href="http://www.fpif.org/articles/humala_chavez_clone_or_washington_partner">Humala’s
First Six Month</a></span></div>
<br />William deB. Millshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07103937881679464836noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1414025411716568353.post-21654137700492005432012-08-09T18:50:00.000-04:002012-08-12T11:39:02.385-04:00Democracy or War?<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkLozmFB4RAsa7t0NcEhV33iRU0Mxlyl6q99O5dNk0R7heaBb0KuxuYVHG0R0zCqbO-MDAsa3fur65GsApTtY7KSsCt39cfILCT7sb14FADs2QGVCcCBkDuXDpgq0OownhUu3sJa8pbd4/s1600/US+Futures+-+A+centralized+policy.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkLozmFB4RAsa7t0NcEhV33iRU0Mxlyl6q99O5dNk0R7heaBb0KuxuYVHG0R0zCqbO-MDAsa3fur65GsApTtY7KSsCt39cfILCT7sb14FADs2QGVCcCBkDuXDpgq0OownhUu3sJa8pbd4/s200/US+Futures+-+A+centralized+policy.png" width="200" /></a></div>
<span style="background-color: #a2c4c9; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Attitude toward democracy and war seem critical factors in the evolution of the U.S., judging from four core trends currently evident: rising corporate control, rising corruption, rising elite preference for war over negotiation, and the strengthening of class divisions. (<a href="http://shadowedforest.blogspot.com/2012/08/from-american-dream-to-american-illusion.html">Part I of this series </a>on the future prospects of the U.S. discussed the four trends.)</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The four core trends in the socio-economic and political
evolution of <st1:country -region="-region">U.S.</st1:country>
society suggest a pair of <span style="color: blue;"><b>explanatory dimensions for evaluating the future
course of society: attitude toward democracy and attitude toward war</b></span>. “Democracy” refers not to sterile institutional forms (e.g.,
elections) but to a whole complex process of popular insistence on guiding and
judging the behavior of those <i>permitted</i>
to be national leaders. Democracy stands or falls on the dedication of the
population to defend it, as illustrated by the Occupy Movement, <st1:country -region="-region">Bolivia</st1:country>’s <a href="http://www.democracyctr.org/blog/2009/04/cochabamba-water-war-and-its-aftermath.html">Cochabama
campaign</a> for drinking water free from corporate control, and <st1:country -region="-region">Peru</st1:country>’s <a href="http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2012/06/2012614113713713304.html">Cajamarca
campaign</a> to control the behavior of international mining corporations. “War”
refers to the use of force—including
economic sanctions, political coups, state terrorism, as well as outright
military attack—to influence the
rest of the world, as opposed to negotiating positive-sum solutions.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Defined more formally, the result is a “governance” dimension, going from “democratic” (bottom-up) to “centralized” (top-down) and a “foreign
affairs” dimension, going from “negotiation” to “war.” Curiously, these two dimensions
both can be viewed as trading off the degree of confusion in the initial
decision-making process (with democracy and negotiations being the extremes of
confusion) for what may be the hope of stability over the long-term. War, for
example, is easy to start but a famously ineffective method of achieving the
desired long-term solution (WWI provoking WWII, WWII provoking the Cold War,
Israel’s 1982 invasion of Lebanon
provoking the rise of Hezbollah, the U.S. invasion of Iraq pushing Iraq into
Iran’s orbit, etc.). Perhaps the real
underlying dimension of significance should thus be society’s attitude toward long-term
solutions (i.e., how much effort a society is willing to make to achieve a
solution acceptable to all sides over the long-term as opposed to a quick fix
for the winner).</span></div>
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</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0nOs2DNwztNrXBHXWKOJnCpWiTrt-Ghr5WLxIK7gTBUWUpU2-BHXTjDFFauQxaSIVA8fSBZ2MBPBI5q9F3ec-guNeYZ8WQ-qzylWAxZo1sH6-3ag4ganvIS-MFZgwsagvDZ8LE2KtXhc/s1600/US+Futures+-+nature+of+solutions.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0nOs2DNwztNrXBHXWKOJnCpWiTrt-Ghr5WLxIK7gTBUWUpU2-BHXTjDFFauQxaSIVA8fSBZ2MBPBI5q9F3ec-guNeYZ8WQ-qzylWAxZo1sH6-3ag4ganvIS-MFZgwsagvDZ8LE2KtXhc/s320/US+Futures+-+nature+of+solutions.png" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Sticking, for now, with the original dimensions, they generate an
analytical landscape of four alternative scenarios. The green and red regions represent analytically clear alternatives: the green for a democracy that, while obviously negotiating domestic political solutions (by definition) logically does the same internationally and red a centralized regime that gives orders domestically to the repressed population and internationally seeks to do the same. The blue and grey regions represent intuitively illogical, albeit perhaps historically common (at least briefly), possibilities that seem likely to be unstable. The blue region would encompass dictatorships that work internationally for positive-sum solutions. The grey region would encompass aggressive democracies. To say that the green and red regions are analytically logical does not mean that they are in practice logical forms of governance. That is a more complicated issue--a function of leadership and circumstance. In general, however, one may hypothesize that the regimes in the green region will tend to generate policy slowly but reach relatively stable solutions: slow because they must be negotiated and stable precisely for the same reason, that the various parties freely agreed and therefore presumably saw some advantage in the agreement. Conversely, regimes in the red region see likely to make decisions efficiently but make policy that is relatively counter-productive over the long-term, provoking instability.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In addition to using this model to evaluate regimes, it can be applied to specific policies. It is obvious that democracies tend to become less democratic as a function of stress: with barbarians at the gate or cities leveled by earthquakes, decisions need to be made. More interesting are situations in which democratic regimes loudly proclaim their desire to do as the population wants even while carefully concealing what they are actually doing in order to implement micro-managed and highly dictatorial policy decisions. Graphically depicting a "green" state that happens to reach a "red" decision or implement a decision in a "red" manner is likely to facilitate communication and comprehension by getting past trivialities such as, "Oh, but we live in a democracy!" Living in a democracy and behaving democratically at every step are two very different things.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikEjHjIAZT57Hh_VeDHFGpD3H0e5ojE1YTg5EA5awGfcnbH-db_Ae_pVEq4G43tSohjelYWO82rfYImTwYVhKYsdZbvQSqdRcfW-binmLq6slbF9HgI80KlU-7UF9mDF1Nm5KtnRSx_7A/s1600/US+Futures+-+A+centralized+policy.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikEjHjIAZT57Hh_VeDHFGpD3H0e5ojE1YTg5EA5awGfcnbH-db_Ae_pVEq4G43tSohjelYWO82rfYImTwYVhKYsdZbvQSqdRcfW-binmLq6slbF9HgI80KlU-7UF9mDF1Nm5KtnRSx_7A/s320/US+Futures+-+A+centralized+policy.png" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">American citizens have very little influence over Washington's traditional tendency to support right-wing, militarist factions in Israel that talk peace while implementing anti-Palestinian repression. No referendum in the U.S. has ever asked which policy Americans would prefer, nor do decision-makers typically explain what they are actually doing; rather, they publicly proclaim an interest in resolving the situation while quietly blocking any effective steps to reach a positive-sum compromise, which would require historic transfers of land, water, and political power to Palestinians. Regardless of one's opinion of the policy, the strategy pursued on this policy is relatively opaque to the U.S. public. The policy is implemented in a highly centralized manner and presented as even-handed while in fact relying on force rather than serious negotiations (either with the U.S. public to formulate the policy or with Palestinians to work out the terms of the solution). <b><span style="color: blue;">Using the model encourages stepping back from the substance of a policy to ask probing questions about the nature of the policy, the likely impact of making or implementing policy of a particular nature, whether or not a policy of a particular nature is appropriate, and</span><span style="color: #cc0000;"> how often a state can design or implement top-down policies and still legitimately call itself "democratic."</span></b></span></div>William deB. Millshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07103937881679464836noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1414025411716568353.post-43038806861900034072012-08-08T13:09:00.000-04:002012-08-12T11:37:32.523-04:00From American Dream to American Illusion<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="background-color: #a2c4c9;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Rising government acceptance of corporate corruption,
intensifying corporate control over politics, rising preference in <st1:state>Washington</st1:state>
for a foreign policy based on force rather than diplomacy, and accentuation of
class divisions with rising inequality in the <st1:country -region="-region">U.S.</st1:country>
constitute a shift in direction away from the post-WWII growth of the middle
class and democracy. The decline in the prospects of the average American have
been so slow that most seem unconscious of the change, but in the space of one
generation, the American Dream has been transformed into the American Illusion.</b></span><o:p><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b> </b></span></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Four core trends have combined fundamentally to alter the
course of <st1:country -region="-region">U.S.</st1:country>
society over the last generation. Under the cover of a flood of elitist
propaganda equating corporate growth with social good and circus-like elections
with democracy, in one brief generation, the social, political, and economic
prospects of <st1:country -region="-region">U.S.</st1:country>
society have tragically dimmed. Individuals have reacted with resignation by
opting out of politics (precisely what the rich wanted) or self-defeating anger
by blaming Moslems or liberals for their own failures (again playing into the
hands of the rich), becoming increasingly focused on the present when careful
consideration of the long-term impact of our behavior and government policies
are the key to reversing the decline.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Corruption. </b>Corruption is rapidly eroding the quality of
governance in the <st1:country -region="-region">U.S.</st1:country>,
with a complacent Federal Government attitude toward <a href="http://www.stripes.com/mobile/news/us/blackwater-agrees-to-7-5m-fine-1.185136">war profiteering</a>, <a href="http://savethewater.org/2012/07/water-pollution-news-deepwater-horizon-oil-spill-disaster-update-oil-from-deepwater-horizon-disaster-entered-food-chain-in-the-gulf-of-mexico/">environmental</a>,
and <a href="http://billmoyers.com/2012/02/06/bill-black-on-financial-fraud-investigations/">financial</a>
crime leading the way. Most striking is the shift government behavior from the
1980s, when the FBI ran a vigorous and successful campaign following the
S&L crisis resulting in the imprisonment of hundreds of financial
criminals, to the Bush Administration’s
war against regulation and the Obama Administration’s refusal to bring to justice the financial criminals
at the heart of the 2008 Financial Crisis.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Corporate Rule.</b> The continuing popularity of the Corporate
Party and its strengthening chokehold on government in the aftermath of the
blatant misbehavior of Big Finance in 2008, even with the supposedly pro-people
party in power, attest to the growing shadow of corporate power over <st1:country -region="-region">U.S.</st1:country>
democratic institutions. With even the Supreme Court upholding the shockingly
anti-democratic principle of “one
dollar, one vote,” it is clear that
democracy is not just under attack but being soundly defeated.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>War Is the Answer. </b>The increasingly blatant use of violence,
open calls for aggression under the thin veneer of “preventive”
war, and the rising tendency of officials to brag about economic warfare,
terrorist attacks against foreign scientists, and drone bombings of individuals
whose identities may not even be known with the justification that the victims “may”
have been fighting against some pro-U.S. foreign regime all point to the
institutionalization of a policy of violence by choice as the preferred method
of solving all problems. The War Party remains nearly as powerful as it was
following 9/11 despite a decade of disasters that were incredibly costly to all
but the rich, and the <st1:country -region="-region">U.S.</st1:country>
currently pursues a belligerent policy toward not just <st1:country -region="-region">Iran</st1:country>,
<st1:country -region="-region">Pakistan</st1:country>, and <st1:country -region="-region">Afghanistan</st1:country>
but also desperately poor <st1:place>Latin America</st1:place> and <st1:place>Africa</st1:place>.
Gore Vidal’s characterization
of the <st1:country -region="-region">U.S.</st1:country>
party system as one party with two conservative wings seems more accurate every
day.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0wyfbPhWngWqzGGM2f943qWdq42Cd5Cesnju078ba_kLS1fya2VQMjGxZa4_CcjRtPlz_bqgWWOiorpu7O9YbauXEe_YJRXNvoBZAkEbDXhq_KXTG7GcAjHhPxJY38NiPnKTDmAWntKg/s1600/changeinshare.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0wyfbPhWngWqzGGM2f943qWdq42Cd5Cesnju078ba_kLS1fya2VQMjGxZa4_CcjRtPlz_bqgWWOiorpu7O9YbauXEe_YJRXNvoBZAkEbDXhq_KXTG7GcAjHhPxJY38NiPnKTDmAWntKg/s200/changeinshare.jpg" width="160" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Return from the Dead of a Class Society. </b>The post-WWII rise
of the American middle class to the point where Americans broadly felt that
they lived in a middle-class (i.e., a class-free) society has now clearly been
reversed and is well documented by the <a href="http://cbo.gov/sites/default/files/cbofiles/attachments/10-25-HouseholdIncome.pdf">Congressional Budget Office</a>. With home-ownership under attack by corrupt banks, jobs increasingly
part-time, contracts being broken by both corporations and governments, unions
weakened almost to the point of irrelevance, wages declining, pensions a dream
of the past, and a massive new class of unemployed people simply written off as
superfluous even as a new super-class of billionaire financial manipulators
arises, there can no longer be any doubt that the U.S. is evolving backwards
into a new class society that Marx would have no trouble recognizing.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Although Americans have of course always faced problems, <st1:country -region="-region">U.S.</st1:country>
society has been distinguished by “the
American Dream,” the belief that
progress toward equality, liberty, and peace would occur. <span style="color: blue;"><b>These four trends--government
acceptance of corporate corruption, corporate rule undermining democracy, the
international use of force rather than persuasion, and the return from the dead
of a class society predict the end of the American Dream. </b></span>The probability of
that sad prediction coming true is only strengthened by the evident <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Deliberate-Dumbing-America-Revised-Abridged/dp/0966707117/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1344453374&sr=8-1&keywords=the+dumbing+down+of+america">decline ineducation</a>; the alienation of Americans from participation in public affairs
(reminiscent of the stereotypic “long-suffering
Russian serf”) that hands
victory on a silver platter to the exploitative international corporate elite (prime
recipient of Iraq War largesse Halliburton, for example, is no longer a U.S.
corporation); and a general refusal in American society to think about
long-term consequences. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Given the wealth of the country (if not of the population)
and the historically demonstrated ability of U.S. society to rise to meet major
challenges, this last point—the
unwillingness of Americans to think about the long-term consequences of their
behavior—may be the most serious weakness
of all.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">All of the four trends identified above are--from the
perspective of a society that thinks only about the present, sneers at history,
and forgets almost everything more than a few years old—very much long-term processes. Other fundamental
threats to American security, most obviously global warming, are considerably
longer-term processes. If one cannot even remember the S&L crisis, how can
one see the shift by <st1:state>Washington</st1:state>
toward acceptance of financial crime? In a few years, will Americans have
forgotten that diplomacy used to be the method of choice for exercising
influence in the world? Will Americans be watching drone warfare in our own
skies as the whole world copies the <st1:country -region="-region">U.S.</st1:country>
innovation of illegally bombing with drones wherever it wants? Will corporations
be openly handing voters envelopes filled with cash to make “democracy” function “properly?”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Before Americans can figure out how to correct this decline
in their fortunes, they will have to recognize the nature of the decline that
has occurred over the last generation so they can see the impact of current
behavior on future prospects.</span></div>
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<br /></div>William deB. Millshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07103937881679464836noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1414025411716568353.post-85591819477591175152012-08-05T13:46:00.001-04:002012-08-12T11:34:57.549-04:00Sovereignty Imposes Responsibility<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="background-color: #d0e0e3;"><span style="font-family: "Arial Black"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Sovereignty,
</span><st1:state><st1:place><span style="font-family: "Arial Black"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Washington</span></st1:place></st1:state><span style="font-family: "Arial Black"; font-size: 10.0pt;"> has informed the world,
comes with responsibilities. Sounds good so far, but I have yet to hear </span><st1:state><st1:place><span style="font-family: "Arial Black"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Washington</span></st1:place></st1:state></span><span style="font-family: "Arial Black"; font-size: 10.0pt;"><span style="background-color: #d0e0e3;"> enumerate the
responsibilities that come with its own sovereignty. Presumably the list would
include the responsibility to attack every bad guy it wants to attack anywhere
on the planet regardless of the attitude of the local population and regardless
of whether or not that guy has actually been proven, by any standard, to be “bad,”
and regardless of whether or not that guy has directed his “bad” behavior at
the U.S. Presumably, the responsibilities of U.S. sovereignty do not include
attacking corporate criminals who despoil the earth or allied politicians who
foment war. The list of responsibilities adherent to the sovereignty of other
states is of course different.</span></span><br />
<a name='more'></a><span style="font-family: "Arial Black"; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial Black"; font-size: 10.0pt;"><a href="http://www.thebureauinvestigates.com/2012/08/01/july-2012-update-us-covert-actions-in-pakistan-yemen-and-somalia/">U.S.
drone attacks inside Pakistan</a> returned with a vengence immediately
following </span><st1:city><st1:place><span style="font-family: "Arial Black"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Islamabad</span></st1:place></st1:city><span style="font-family: "Arial Black"; font-size: 10.0pt;">’s agreement to allow the NATO supply trucks
to start rolling into </span><st1:country -region="-region"><st1:place><span style="font-family: "Arial Black"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Afghanistan</span></st1:place></st1:country><span style="font-family: "Arial Black"; font-size: 10.0pt;"> again and <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/jul/07/drone-strike-us-pakistan-tokyo">just
before a meeting</a> of the </span><st1:country -region="-region"><st1:place><span style="font-family: "Arial Black"; font-size: 10.0pt;">U.S.</span></st1:place></st1:country><span style="font-family: "Arial Black"; font-size: 10.0pt;"> and Pakistani foreign
ministers. Whatever the true attitude toward drone strikes in </span><st1:city><st1:place><span style="font-family: "Arial Black"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Islamabad</span></st1:place></st1:city><span style="font-family: "Arial Black"; font-size: 10.0pt;">, that constitutes an
egregious public slap in the face by </span><st1:state><st1:place><span style="font-family: "Arial Black"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Washington</span></st1:place></st1:state><span style="font-family: "Arial Black"; font-size: 10.0pt;">. Now that strikes me as a
curious way for </span><st1:state><st1:place><span style="font-family: "Arial Black"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Washington</span></st1:place></st1:state><span style="font-family: "Arial Black"; font-size: 10.0pt;"> to thank </span><st1:city><st1:place><span style="font-family: "Arial Black"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Islamabad</span></st1:place></st1:city><span style="font-family: "Arial Black"; font-size: 10.0pt;">. But if the political elite
ruling in </span><st1:city><st1:place><span style="font-family: "Arial Black"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Islamabad</span></st1:place></st1:city><span style="font-family: "Arial Black"; font-size: 10.0pt;"> have ever demonstrated true sympathy for the
poor marginalized people of </span><st1:place><span style="font-family: "Arial Black"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Waziristan</span></st1:place><span style="font-family: "Arial Black"; font-size: 10.0pt;">, it has escaped me, so an
alternative interpretation offers itself:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<u><span style="font-family: "Arial Black"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Hypothesis:</span></u><span style="font-family: "Arial Black"; font-size: 10.0pt;"> The ruling elite in </span><st1:state><st1:place><span style="font-family: "Arial Black"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Washington</span></st1:place></st1:state><span style="font-family: "Arial Black"; font-size: 10.0pt;"> and the ruling elite in </span><st1:city><st1:place><span style="font-family: "Arial Black"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Islamabad</span></st1:place></st1:city><span style="font-family: "Arial Black"; font-size: 10.0pt;"> both see themselves as
having certain interests: keeping the lid on, remaining in power, satisfying
the demands of those in their respective societies with influence. <o:p></o:p></span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial Black"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Note
that the above list says nothing about morality or patriotism; these are
practical men and women, not philosophers.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial Black"; font-size: 10.0pt;">To
the degree that the above hypothesis may be accurate, it would follow that the
two respective elite groups might concur that a few well-placed bombs will postpone
serious problems until they, personally, have left office, at which point they
will allow themselves the patriotic wish that their successors will do so well
during their own turn at the helm. And so, the world keeps getting worse and
worse.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial Black"; font-size: 10.0pt;">But
that is not all there is too it. In fact, there is some evidence that this
short-sighted approach may fail even before the current batch of power-holders
has its day.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<ul style="margin-top: 0in;" type="disc">
<li class="MsoNormal"><st1:country -region="-region"><st1:place><span style="font-family: "Arial Black"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Pakistan</span></st1:place></st1:country><span style="font-family: "Arial Black"; font-size: 10.0pt;">’s High Commissioner to
</span><st1:country -region="-region"><st1:place><span style="font-family: "Arial Black"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Britain</span></st1:place></st1:country><span style="font-family: "Arial Black"; font-size: 10.0pt;"> has just warned that </span><st1:country -region="-region"><st1:place><span style="font-family: "Arial Black"; font-size: 10.0pt;">U.S.</span></st1:place></st1:country><span style="font-family: "Arial Black"; font-size: 10.0pt;"> drone attacks are “<a href="http://www.thebureauinvestigates.com/2012/08/03/us-drone-strikes-undermine-pakistani-democracy-says-top-diplomat/">undermining
democracy</a>.”<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal"><st1:country -region="-region"><st1:place><span style="font-family: "Arial Black"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Pakistan</span></st1:place></st1:country><span style="font-family: "Arial Black"; font-size: 10.0pt;">’s </span><st1:country -region="-region"><st1:place><span style="font-family: "Arial Black"; font-size: 10.0pt;">U.S.</span></st1:place></st1:country><span style="font-family: "Arial Black"; font-size: 10.0pt;"> ambassador has just
protested that <a href="http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/pakistan-official-slams-drones-ahead-cia-talks-16874760#.UB6j62Ge5rg">drone
strikes “<span style="background: white;">are now only serving to recruit
new militants.</span></a><span style="background: white; color: #333333;">”</span><o:p></o:p></span></li>
</ul>
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<span style="background: white; font-family: "Arial Black"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Without citing, as reported, any “responsibilities” that may
apply to </span><st1:country -region="-region"><st1:place><span style="background: white; font-family: "Arial Black"; font-size: 10.0pt;">U.S.</span></st1:place></st1:country><span style="background: white; font-family: "Arial Black"; font-size: 10.0pt;">
sovereignty or to its claimed right unilaterally to attack people it dislikes
inside other countries, the </span><st1:country -region="-region"><st1:place><span style="background: white; font-family: "Arial Black"; font-size: 10.0pt;">U.S.</span></st1:place></st1:country><span style="background: white; font-family: "Arial Black"; font-size: 10.0pt;">
spokesperson responded to </span><st1:country -region="-region"><st1:place><span style="background: white; font-family: "Arial Black"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Pakistan</span></st1:place></st1:country><span style="background: white; font-family: "Arial Black"; font-size: 10.0pt;">’s
ambassador that “Sovereignty has privileges but also comes with responsibilities</span>.”<o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="background: white; font-family: "Arial Black"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Even those defending the drone attacks as good tactics
sometimes admit that they only serve to gain time for a more reasoned <a href="http://nationalinterest.org/how-drones-changed-the-game-pakistan-7290">long-term
political solution</a>. Of that long-term political solution, only minimal evidence,
such as small <a href="http://centralasiaonline.com/en_GB/articles/caii/newsbriefs/2012/08/01/newsbrief-04">farmer
training programs</a>, is visible. As for the short-term military effectiveness
of drone strikes, a February statistical analysis found them to be <a href="http://patrickjohnston.info/materials/drones.pdf">effective in reducing
both the number and severity of Taliban attacks</a>. </span><st1:place><span style="background: white; font-family: "Arial Black"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Waziristan</span></st1:place><span style="background: white; font-family: "Arial Black"; font-size: 10.0pt;"> elders
have recently accused the <a href="http://patrickjohnston.info/materials/drones.pdf">U.S. of destabilizing
the region</a>, Taliban control appears in the process of being consolidated,
and the years of military intervention by </span><st1:city><st1:place><span style="background: white; font-family: "Arial Black"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Islamabad</span></st1:place></st1:city><span style="background: white; font-family: "Arial Black"; font-size: 10.0pt;"> and </span><st1:state><st1:place><span style="background: white; font-family: "Arial Black"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Washington</span></st1:place></st1:state><span style="background: white; font-family: "Arial Black"; font-size: 10.0pt;"> appear to
have accomplished little, according to a <a href="http://mobile.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/asia-pacific/pakistan/110520/al-qaeda-osama-bin-laden-north-waziristan?page=full">2011 report</a>:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial Black"; font-size: 10.0pt;"><a href="http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/asia-pacific/pakistan/110520/al-qaeda-osama-bin-laden-north-waziristan"><span style="color: windowtext;">It is a Wild West</span></a> where everyone is
watching everyone else, a semi-autonomous region where, according to the
country’s constitution, normal judicial and criminal laws don’t apply.</span><span style="font-family: "Arial Black"; font-size: 10.0pt;">There are no
police here, no army and no courts.</span></blockquote>
<div style="background: #FAFAFA;">
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<span style="font-family: "Arial Black"; font-size: 10.0pt;">With
effective <a href="http://www.azadtimes.com/blog/2012/08/03/fewer-female-voters-in-n-waziristan/">suppression
of female voting</a> in some portions of the border region, <a href="http://www.thenews.com.pk/Todays-News-8-121564-Polio-violence">disruption
of polio vaccinations</a>, <a href="http://www.thenews.com.pk/Todays-News-8-121564-Polio-violence">urban
attacks</a>, a wave of <a href="http://weeklypulse.org/details.aspx?contentID=2619&storylist=2">cross-border
attacks</a> by the Taliban into Afghanistan since NATO supply lines were
reopened, and the tendency of the 80,000 Pakistani soldiers stationed there to
hunker down in their quarters while the <a href="http://archive.truthout.org/article/taliban-front-line-pakistan-border">Taliban
consolidates political control</a>, the underlying socio-political situation
appears, despite all the high-profile slaughter descending from the skies, to
be moving in the Taliban’s favor.<o:p></o:p></span></div>William deB. Millshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07103937881679464836noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1414025411716568353.post-9567880093975488322012-08-05T11:33:00.000-04:002012-08-12T11:35:12.270-04:00The Enemy of Society<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="background-color: #d0e0e3; line-height: 14px;"><b>U.S. society remains, despite war and recession, sufficiently comfortable and deluded so that it refuses to face up to the harm it is suffering from allowing its pro-business/anti-people system to continue to exist. It is not necessary to eliminate business, which is a useful tool, but when that tool is transformed by a misguided elite into an idol existing not to benefit society but for its own sake, then the fundamental shape and values of society are warped, and the tool becomes a weapon employed by rich CEOs to plunder the wealth of everyone else. The solution is to create institutions that serve, not exploit.</b></span></span><br />
<a name='more'></a></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="line-height: 14.399999618530273px;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="line-height: 14.399999618530273px;">The campaign by the super-rich to profit by stealing from the poor and using the funds for financial manipulations (rather than investment in productive enterprises) is the worst of all possible worlds for the long-term economic health of the country. Wisconsin Governor Walker’s union-busting campaign and the Supreme Court’s replacement of “one man, one vote” with “one dollar, one vote” are symptomatic. Whatever his sins, at least Stalin did concentrate funds on industrial growth; Wall St. today is worse – using the funds it takes from society for leveraged gambling that destroys lives quite as effectively as Stalin did but without building anything in return. The Obama Administration has wasted four years carefully refusing to face the need to punish financial crime, so the behavior that caused the Financial Crisis of 2008 remains unchanged, as illustrated by the libor scandal and mess at Morgan. As for the millions who lost jobs and homes, they are being defined as “<a href="http://shadowedforest.blogspot.com/2012/07/superfluous-people.html">superfluous</a>,” like the Neo-Liberal victims of Pinochet and the Argentine junta’s “dirty war.” More precisely, if the populations of Chile and Argentina were suppressed with tanks and torture by a capitalist elite while the U.S. population faces little worse than mass unemployment combined with bank-plotted and court-supported foreclosures, in a capital-first, people-second society, that preferential treatment is no more than a momentary privilege for the oppressed. <span style="color: blue;">Either the U.S. population must demand a new system that puts people first or Chile's past will be our future.</span></span><br style="line-height: 14.399999618530273px;" /><br style="line-height: 14.399999618530273px;" /><span style="line-height: 14.399999618530273px;">In the U.S., as is now commonly observed, we do indeed face a major economic challenge, but that challenge is not the cause of our troubles; it is the result. The cause, i.e., the real challenge facing the U.S., is socio-political: the social contract we call the New Deal essentially allowed the super-rich to remain super-rich as long as they accepted sufficient controls (regulation) so that the pie would continue to grow and the rest of society would also get steadily larger pieces. The class war is the decision by the super-rich over the last generation to break that agreement and ignore the size of the pie (long-term economic growth) in order to focus on increasing the size of their pieces by seizing slices from the vastly smaller but more numerous pieces in the hands of everyone else (short-term consumption of the seed corn). Roubini’s enumeration of our economic problems focuses only on second-order effects caused by our first-order socio-political challenge: we are under attack by the super-rich.</span></span></span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6wgzDMpImCZ3JPiG39hb-MGb6qPlfUDnkYw6IzX252pd2KDvj4j6i_409vDHxIf5v9MXbXbDP4W3iPpAdcKoaRh0ApmNWXWlo8d9rItZE9NbT5m8iFvIH7uOXWsba6g2vk7oyZgw63JM/s1600/Tools.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6wgzDMpImCZ3JPiG39hb-MGb6qPlfUDnkYw6IzX252pd2KDvj4j6i_409vDHxIf5v9MXbXbDP4W3iPpAdcKoaRh0ApmNWXWlo8d9rItZE9NbT5m8iFvIH7uOXWsba6g2vk7oyZgw63JM/s320/Tools.png" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="line-height: 14.399999618530273px;"><span style="color: blue;">Like matches in the hands of a two-year-old, a corporation in the hands of a CEO whose primary value is self-enrichment is a dangerous misuse of a good tool.</span> Wall St. would have burned the house down if its financial conflagration had not been doused by a flood of cash from the poor taxpayers it was fleecing. Corporations, whether financial firms or oil companies, constitute far too powerful a tool to be allowed to exist without the strictest oversight and the firmest sanctions for corruption. In practice, neither of those two forms of "social security" will function in the absence of a solid bolt locking the revolving door. We need a value system that makes it crystal clear that corporations may be useful institutions that society may choose to permit, but that they have no inherent moral or legal "right" to exist any more than a road or a red light or a sewer system has a "right" to exist. Sewer systems are not people; sewer systems are tools. Society constructs and uses sewer systems and red lights and, if it is wise, corporations to the degree that they appear to constitute the best tools available at the moment to achieve social goals. It should be perfectly clear that I am describing a fundamentally restructured political and economic system, with a fundamentally distinct moral foundation in comparison with that currently in place in the U.S. </span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="line-height: 14.399999618530273px;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">To put it briefly, economics and politics can be structured for capital (profit) or social well-being. In practice, the two are obviously not mutually exclusive: economic crumbs may trickle down to the masses and a decent, moral, caring society can--given tight regulation, harsh punishment for financial corruption, and firm oversight by an educated population--permit a degree of individual wealth. (Despite a half century of vigorous effort in that direction, it is now clear that the U.S. population lacks both the level of education and the will to exercise sufficient oversight to create such a society.) </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">To the degree that capital accumulation is preferred over creating a good society, then that is exactly what will happen. Over the last decade, Wall St. has become a marvelous machine for short-term capital accumulation (except for those, like Lehman, that Wall St.'s political lackeys decide to sacrifice). The only problem is that society is being sacrificed. Wall St. need not be, but in its hubris has defined itself to be, the enemy of society.</span><br />
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<br />William deB. Millshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07103937881679464836noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1414025411716568353.post-10718339663935249682012-08-02T14:49:00.002-04:002012-08-05T13:46:56.605-04:00Venezuela: Victim or Target?<br />
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<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="background-color: #a2c4c9;"><st1:state><st1:place><span style="font-family: "Arial Black"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Washington</span></st1:place></st1:state><span style="font-family: "Arial Black"; font-size: 10.0pt;">, </span><st1:city><st1:place><span style="font-family: "Arial Black"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Bogota</span></st1:place></st1:city><span style="font-family: "Arial Black"; font-size: 10.0pt;">, and </span><st1:city><st1:place><span style="font-family: "Arial Black"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Caracas</span></st1:place></st1:city><span style="font-family: "Arial Black"; font-size: 10.0pt;"> agree that the cocaine that
used to be exported from </span><st1:country -region="-region"><st1:place><span style="font-family: "Arial Black"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Colombia</span></st1:place></st1:country><span style="font-family: "Arial Black"; font-size: 10.0pt;"> to the </span><st1:country -region="-region"><st1:place><span style="font-family: "Arial Black"; font-size: 10.0pt;">U.S.</span></st1:place></st1:country><span style="font-family: "Arial Black"; font-size: 10.0pt;"> is now being exported from </span><st1:country -region="-region"><st1:place><span style="font-family: "Arial Black"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Venezuela</span></st1:place></st1:country><span style="font-family: "Arial Black"; font-size: 10.0pt;"> to the </span><st1:country -region="-region"><st1:place><span style="font-family: "Arial Black"; font-size: 10.0pt;">U.S.</span></st1:place></st1:country><span style="font-family: "Arial Black"; font-size: 10.0pt;"> A decade of </span><st1:country -region="-region"><st1:place><span style="font-family: "Arial Black"; font-size: 10.0pt;">U.S.</span></st1:place></st1:country><span style="font-family: "Arial Black"; font-size: 10.0pt;"> arms and money has
apparently just moved the drug gangs’ headquarters to a neighboring piece of
jungle. MSM rhetoric has a profound anti-Venezuelan bias. As Washington appears to be shifting its focus from the Mideast to Latin America, will Venezuela be treated as victim or target?</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Arial Black"; font-size: 10.0pt;">From
the <i><a href="http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10000872396390444320704577565020463797512.html">Wall
St. Journal</a></i>, the classic mouthpiece of the </span><st1:country -region="-region"><st1:place><span style="font-family: "Arial Black"; font-size: 10.0pt;">U.S.</span></st1:place></st1:country><span style="font-family: "Arial Black"; font-size: 10.0pt;"> corporate elite, we are
informed that Hugo Chavez is funding social programs to provide free housing
and food to the poor. The <i>Wall St.
Journal</i> does not see fit to point out that things are much better in the
U.S., where some ten million of those citizens made newly poor by banker mortgage
fraud and Wall St. financial “irresponsibility” (the most delicate and polite
word I can think of) have effectively been defined as “superfluous” in a
country swept up in the passion of electoral rhetoric about maintaining the
position of the nation’s treasured super-rich capitalist class (considered to
be 0.1% of the population, perhaps similar in size to the real ruling class of
Venezuela in pre-Chavez days). Since the <i>Wall
St. Journal</i> of course cannot imagine a leader actually wanting to help the
poor escape from a life of poverty to which they have been condemned by virtue
of an economic system run by the rich and for the rich, it concludes that the
only reason Chavez is helping them is “to shore up support” for his own
upcoming election. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial Black"; font-size: 10.0pt;">No
criticism of the <i>Wall St. Journal</i> is
intended here. After all, that newspaper is naturally accustomed to operating
in the </span><st1:country -region="-region"><st1:place><span style="font-family: "Arial Black"; font-size: 10.0pt;">U.S.</span></st1:place></st1:country><span style="font-family: "Arial Black"; font-size: 10.0pt;">, where politicians shore up
support for re-election not by handing out money to the poor but by declaring
themselves “<a href="http://shadowedforest.blogspot.com/2012/07/the-meaning-of-being-pro-business.html">pro-business</a>.”
For an example of being “pro-business,” one need only think of the new <a href="http://shadowedforest.blogspot.com/2012/07/globalizing-paraguay.html">pro-Monsanto
president of Paraguay</a>, just installed by a smooth little afternoon
impeachment.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial Black"; font-size: 10.0pt;">The
<i>Wall St. Journal</i> soundly rebukes the
hapless populist president of </span><st1:country -region="-region"><st1:place><span style="font-family: "Arial Black"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Venezuela</span></st1:place></st1:country><span style="font-family: "Arial Black"; font-size: 10.0pt;"> by quoting a Venezuelan
broker…kind of like asking Jamie Dimon for an assessment of the 2010 <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/05/20/senate-clears-way-for-fin_n_583802.html">financial
reform legislation</a>. I guess that settles that.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial Black"; font-size: 10.0pt;">The
<i>Wall St. Journal </i>overlooked one point – the growing Latin trade bloc Mercosur
just announced that </span><st1:country -region="-region"><st1:place><span style="font-family: "Arial Black"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Venezuela</span></st1:place></st1:country><span style="font-family: "Arial Black"; font-size: 10.0pt;"> has been invited to join.
Perhaps there is hope for </span><st1:country -region="-region"><st1:place><span style="font-family: "Arial Black"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Venezuela</span></st1:place></st1:country><span style="font-family: "Arial Black"; font-size: 10.0pt;">’s economy, burdened by the
legacy of impoverishment resulting from the long tradition of rule by the rich and, for whatever complex set of reasons, the <a href="http://www.theglobeandmail.com/commentary/editorials/chavezs-socialist-populism-perpetuates-inequality/article4324887/">failure of Chavez' economic policy completely to overcome that legacy</a> despite the <a href="http://venezuela-us.org/2012/01/13/eclac-venezuela-has-third-lowest-poverty-rate-in-latin-america/">enormous progress</a> he has made (according to the UN):</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial Black"; font-size: 10.0pt;"><br /></span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 15px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">from 2002 to 2010, poverty was reduced by 20.8 percent, descending from 48.6 percent to 27.8 percent, while extreme poverty went from 22.2 percent to 10.7 percent, which translates to a reduction of 11.5 percent.</span></span></blockquote>
</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial Black"; font-size: 10.0pt;">The
<i>Wall St. Journal </i>also failed to note the impact on </span><st1:country -region="-region"><st1:place><span style="font-family: "Arial Black"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Venezuela</span></st1:place></st1:country><span style="font-family: "Arial Black"; font-size: 10.0pt;">’s government budget of
defending itself against the Colombian cocaine gangs that have flourished
during the U.S.-supported civil war against the FARC. </span><st1:country -region="-region"><st1:place><span style="font-family: "Arial Black"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Venezuela</span></st1:place></st1:country><span style="font-family: "Arial Black"; font-size: 10.0pt;"> just arrested a Colombian
drug dealer living in </span><st1:country -region="-region"><st1:place><span style="font-family: "Arial Black"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Venezuela</span></st1:place></st1:country><span style="font-family: "Arial Black"; font-size: 10.0pt;"> in a <a href="http://www.foxnews.com/world/2012/06/03/suspected-drug-smuggler-captured-in-venezuela/">joint
U.S.-Colombian-Venezuelan effort</a>. Will </span><st1:state><st1:place><span style="font-family: "Arial Black"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Washington</span></st1:place></st1:state><span style="font-family: "Arial Black"; font-size: 10.0pt;"> now provide </span><st1:country -region="-region"><st1:place><span style="font-family: "Arial Black"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Venezuela</span></st1:place></st1:country><span style="font-family: "Arial Black"; font-size: 10.0pt;"> with economic aid in
gratitude? The arrested drug dealer had formerly been a member of the "paramilitaries," according to <i>Fox News</i>—that is, the AUC, the paramilitary organization supporting </span><st1:city><st1:place><span style="font-family: "Arial Black"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Bogota</span></st1:place></st1:city><span style="font-family: "Arial Black"; font-size: 10.0pt;"> in the civil war while </span><st1:city><st1:place><span style="font-family: "Arial Black"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Bogota</span></st1:place></st1:city><span style="font-family: "Arial Black"; font-size: 10.0pt;"> was the recipient of <a href="http://www.state.gov/www/regions/wha/colombia/fs_000328_plancolombia.html">massive
amounts of U.S. aid</a>. He was, according to <i>Fox News</i>:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial Black"; font-size: 10.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-family: 'Arial Black'; font-size: 10pt;">the leader of the
"Rastrojos," or Leftovers, a violent offshoot of the Norte del Valle
cartel that engages in drug trafficking, extortion and murder as it competes
with other criminal bands that grew out of the far-right militias known as paramilitaries.</span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: 'Arial Black'; font-size: 10pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'Arial Black'; font-size: 10pt;"><i>Fox News </i>did not describe the past relationship between the paramilitaries and the government of Colombia (though it did briefly review that history in a <a href="http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/politics/2012/04/12/colombia-uribe-accused-helping-launch-militia/">previous article</a>), nor did any of the articles referenced here dwell on the <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2002/apr/21/usa.venezuela">history of U.S. treatment of Chavez</a>.<br />
<br />
<st1:state><st1:place><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Washington</span></st1:place></st1:state><span style="font-size: 10pt;">’s response, instead, may be
signaled by a scary piece in the <i><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/27/world/americas/venezuela-is-cocaine-hub-despite-its-claims.html?_r=1">New
York Times</a></i> on July 27 that portrays </span><st1:country -region="-region"><st1:place><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Venezuela</span></st1:place></st1:country><span style="font-size: 10pt;"> as the source of a (bright
red, in the enclosed graphic) flood of cocaine headed for the </span><st1:country -region="-region"><st1:place><span style="font-size: 10pt;">U.S.</span></st1:place></st1:country><span style="font-size: 10pt;"> So it may be; all sides
appear in complete agreement that Colombian drug gangs are solidly entrenched
in </span><st1:country -region="-region"><st1:place><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Venezuela</span></st1:place></st1:country><span style="font-size: 10pt;"> after a decade of </span><st1:country -region="-region"><st1:place><span style="font-size: 10pt;">U.S.</span></st1:place></st1:country><span style="font-size: 10pt;"> support for </span><st1:city><st1:place><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Bogota</span></st1:place></st1:city><span style="font-size: 10pt;"> in its civil war against
the poor and a decade of </span><st1:country -region="-region"><st1:place><span style="font-size: 10pt;">U.S.</span></st1:place></st1:country><span style="font-size: 10pt;"> hostility toward the
populist regime in </span><st1:country -region="-region"><st1:place><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Venezuela</span></st1:place></st1:country><span style="font-size: 10pt;">. The question is: <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial Black';">How
is it that all the flood of </span><st1:country -region="-region"><st1:place><span style="font-family: 'Arial Black';">U.S.</span></st1:place></st1:country><span style="font-family: 'Arial Black';"> money and arms to </span><st1:city><st1:place><span style="font-family: 'Arial Black';">Bogota</span></st1:place></st1:city></span></span><span style="font-family: 'Arial Black';"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: large;"> in recent years served not
to end the flow of cocaine north but simply to divert it from the Colombian
jungle next door to the Venezuelan jungle?</span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></blockquote>
<br />William deB. Millshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07103937881679464836noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1414025411716568353.post-45963866716818694162012-08-01T13:02:00.001-04:002012-08-05T13:47:06.787-04:00Class War in America<span style="background-color: #a2c4c9;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The super-rich have launched a class war against the people of the U.S., a war that, for most of our politically naive population, was revealed only with the Financial Crisis of 2008, yet the super-rich continue to gain ground. An extraordinarily clear statement describing how this class war against America is being fought was given in testimony before Congress on July 10, 2012 by Dennis Kelleher, President and CEO of Better Markets, Inc. His statement is invaluable in outlining concisely what occurred and forecasting in detail the likely consequences of a continued failure of Washington to start representing the interests of, not corporations and the super-rich, but the American people. Every word is worth reading. What follows is just the outline.</span></span><br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Customers, credit and credit markets, job creators, businesses, investors and</i><br /><i>consumers – all of Main Street and much of America, for that matter – have been devastated by a terrible economy that is a direct the result of the financial collapse and economic crisis that began in 2007, reached a peak in 2008-2009 and continues to this day. Indeed, it was the worst financial collapse since the Stock Market Crash of 1929 and it is the worst economy since the Great Depression of the 1930s. </i></span></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>While many played a role in the recent collapse and crisis, </i><span style="color: blue; font-style: italic;">Wall Street </span><i>is at the top of the list of those responsible because it </i><span style="color: blue; font-style: italic;">caused that collapse and crisis by the reckless and irresponsible creation and distribution of toxic and often worthless securities</span><i>, among their many other actions. </i></span></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Unfortunately, Wall Street, many of the major financial industry participants, and their trade groups and other allies deny or minimize their role in the financial collapse and the economic crisis. Moreover, they are trying to obscure and conceal the cost of the collapse and crisis. Perhaps most importantly, they are also engaged in a comprehensive misinformation campaign that attempts to refocus the public debate away from the crisis and Wall Street’s role in creating it to the new financial reform law and the rules being put in place to prevent</i><br /><i>another crisis and protect the American people, taxpayers, Treasury and economy.</i></span></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Thus, before the “impact” of the Dodd-Frank financial reform law–more properly</i><br /><i>understood as the Wall Street re-regulation law – on customers, credit and job creators can be properly considered, a thorough discussion of the Wall Street-created financial collapse and economic crisis that gave rise to that law must come first. After all, it would be impossible to evaluate the impact of a law without the context and an understanding of why the law exists, what the law was intended to do and how it was designed to do it.</i></span></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: blue; font-style: italic;">Wall Street was able to cause the collapse and crisis largely because it used its<br />economic power to gain political, academic, media and other power that enabled it to tear down the many laws, rules and regulations put in place during the Great Depression of the 1930s to protect the American people from Wall Street’s recklessness and greed. </span><i> It must be remembered that, after those laws, rules and regulations were put in place, our country did not have a financial or economic crisis on that scale for more than 70 years. </i></span></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>It must also be remembered that, even with all those many laws, rules and regulations– a truly unprecedented degree of government regulation of Wall Street and the U.S. capital markets – our country prospered; we built the largest and most broad-based middle class in the history of the world; and Wall Street, our financial industry, our nonfinancial businesses and our economy all thrived. </i><br /><i>By 2000, virtually all of those protections were torn down and Wall Street was not just de-regulated, but almost entirely un-regulated. The results are clear: </i><span style="color: blue; font-style: italic;">after 70 years of regulation that protected the American people, our financial system and our economy, it took just 7 years for Wall Street’s unregulated investment, trading and other activities to cause what almost became a second Great Depression.</span><br /><i>Those actions by Wall Street required the U.S. government to spend, lend, guarantee, pledge, assume, or otherwise use trillions of dollars to save Wall Street from itself and to prevent the crisis from becoming even worse. While they may deny it, every single major bank and all of the other too big to fail financial institutions would have collapsed into bankruptcy but for the actions of the U.S. government and the taxpayer dollars used to bail them out and put them back on the road to profitability. Thus, JPMorgan Chase, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Merrill Lynch, Bank of America, AIG, Citigroup and the others are only</i><br /><i>in business today because they were all bailed out by the U.S. government and the American taxpayer. </i></span></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>But, those bailouts were only part of the costs of that crisis. The economic wreckage caused by Wall Street’s actions has touched every corner of our country: high and persistent unemployment and under-employment, historically high foreclosures and underwater homeowners, slow-to-no economic growth, business failures, untold wealth destruction, widespread and growing poverty, and so many other costs continue to mount, including, increasingly, a loss of belief in the American Dream. </i></span></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Just one measure of these costs reveals how deep and overwhelming the crisis has been and continues to be on our country: the Federal Reserve Board recently released a study that shows that </i><span style="color: blue;"><i>the net worth of the median family declined 38.8% in just three years, from 2007-2010, wiping out more than $7 trillion in wealth – almost two decades of crisis.</i> </span>[<a href="http://www.bettermarkets.com/sites/default/files/Full%20Testimony%207-10-12_0.pdf" style="color: blue;">Dennis Kelleher</a><span style="color: black;"><a href="http://www.bettermarkets.com/sites/default/files/Full%20Testimony%207-10-12_0.pdf"> </a>in testimony before Congress.]</span></span></blockquote>
<br />
That is what class war in America looks like.William deB. Millshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07103937881679464836noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1414025411716568353.post-71583708499843496342012-07-30T18:13:00.000-04:002012-08-10T12:43:08.993-04:00Globalizing Paraguay<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="background-color: #d0e0e3; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial Black';">After
decades of oppression, a reformist president was finally elected in </span></span><st1:country -region="-region"><st1:place><span style="font-family: 'Arial Black';">Paraguay</span></st1:place></st1:country><span style="font-family: 'Arial Black';">, only to be suddenly
impeached last month. In the ensuing five weeks, </span><st1:country -region="-region"><st1:place><span style="font-family: 'Arial Black';">Paraguay</span></st1:place></st1:country><span style="font-family: 'Arial Black';"> has rushed to open the
country to the </span><st1:country -region="-region"><st1:place><span style="font-family: 'Arial Black';">U.S.</span></st1:place></st1:country><span style="font-family: 'Arial Black';"> military and controversial </span><st1:country -region="-region"><st1:place><span style="font-family: 'Arial Black';">U.S.</span></st1:place></st1:country><span style="font-family: 'Arial Black';"><span style="background-color: #d0e0e3; font-size: small;"> corporations.</span></span><br />
<a name='more'></a><span style="font-family: 'Arial Black';"><span style="background-color: #d0e0e3; font-size: small;"> </span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></blockquote>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'Arial Black'; font-size: 10pt;">In what
had all the appearance of a blatant kangaroo court, the elite-controlled
parliament of </span><st1:country -region="-region"><st1:place><span style="font-family: 'Arial Black'; font-size: 10pt;">Paraguay</span></st1:place></st1:country><span style="font-family: 'Arial Black'; font-size: 10pt;"> voted on </span><st1:date day="22" month="6" year="2012"><span style="font-family: 'Arial Black'; font-size: 10pt;">June
22, 2012</span></st1:date><span style="font-family: 'Arial Black'; font-size: 10pt;">
to impeach the reformist president, giving the president’s lawyers two hours to
present their defense. [<a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/southamerica/paraguay/9350682/Paraguay-President-Fernando-Lugo-impeached-by-Congress-over-land-dispute.html">Telegraph</a>,
</span><st1:date day="23" month="6" year="2012"><span style="font-family: 'Arial Black'; font-size: 10pt;">6/23/12</span></st1:date><span style="font-family: 'Arial Black'; font-size: 10pt;">.] Ousted President Lugo championed land
reform, albeit without major success. Surprisingly, Vice President Franco, who
automatically replaced him, is already claiming successes on land reform,
though with a statistically insignificant number of farmers so far. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'Arial Black'; font-size: 10pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrj8_gQRlkq4mbYwuWTB48jaNXIiNAj_JLegs3OKl88QECY4_40cHRZAe59ZGxVpCBxjX9siXP0I_9Na0w56rubi5lkFRyuC_vk8qvOWJvGOsIoww2a9_qwSZHlhKkkpzSA-WF76_I0V0/s1600/Blog+Slides.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrj8_gQRlkq4mbYwuWTB48jaNXIiNAj_JLegs3OKl88QECY4_40cHRZAe59ZGxVpCBxjX9siXP0I_9Na0w56rubi5lkFRyuC_vk8qvOWJvGOsIoww2a9_qwSZHlhKkkpzSA-WF76_I0V0/s400/Blog+Slides.png" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'Arial Black'; font-size: 10pt;">Vastly more
important to Paraguayan society and democracy, however, are the contradictory
signs of Franco cosying up to international corporations. He has already met
with </span><st1:country -region="-region"><st1:place><span style="font-family: 'Arial Black'; font-size: 10pt;">U.S.</span></st1:place></st1:country><span style="font-family: 'Arial Black'; font-size: 10pt;"> oil and Canadian mining
companies and spoken out against “<a href="http://ea.com.py/franco-acelera-tramites-para-que-trasnacionales-operen-en-paraguay/">las
invasions de tierras</a>,” presumably code words for signaling that when poor
farmers protest former theft of their lands by the rich, Franco will support
the rich. Coincidentally, </span><st1:country -region="-region"><st1:place><span style="font-family: 'Arial Black'; font-size: 10pt;">U.S.</span></st1:place></st1:country><span style="font-family: 'Arial Black'; font-size: 10pt;"> oil interests center on </span><st1:place><span style="font-family: 'Arial Black'; font-size: 10pt;">Chaco</span></st1:place><span style="font-family: 'Arial Black'; font-size: 10pt;">, according to a company
spokesperson, the Paraguayan region that the </span><st1:country -region="-region"><st1:place><span style="font-family: 'Arial Black'; font-size: 10pt;">U.S.</span></st1:place></st1:country><span style="font-family: 'Arial Black'; font-size: 10pt;"> military currently has an
interest in (see below). And suddenly the new, temporary president is
“accelerating” the decision-making process on the admission of foreign
companies, a move that former President Lugo had been examining for its
potential environmental and social threats. The proposed deal with a Canadian
mining company alone would use an amount of electricity equal to that of <a href="http://truth-out.org/news/item/10610-paraguays-bitter-harvest-monsanto-and-rio-tinto-reap-benefits-from-coup-government">9.6
million people</a> and be subsidized by Paraguayan taxpayers, according to a
Paraguayan social research institute. Simultaneously, Franco has suddenly
opened </span><st1:country -region="-region"><st1:place><span style="font-family: 'Arial Black'; font-size: 10pt;">Paraguay</span></st1:place></st1:country><span style="font-family: 'Arial Black'; font-size: 10pt;"> to <a href="http://online.wsj.com/article/SB126862629333762259.html">Monsanto’s
infamous seeds</a> that “<span style="background-color: white; color: #2a2a2a;"><a href="http://grist.org/industrial-agriculture/bitter-seeds-documentary-reveals-tragic-toll-of-gmos-in-india/">require
an expensive regimen of pesticides</a>, and must be fertilized and watered
according to precise timetables.” </span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 7.5pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Arial Black'; font-size: 10pt;">With elections scheduled for
April, private interests are evidently desperate to push through these deal.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'Arial Black'; font-size: 10pt;">Opponents
of </span><st1:city><st1:place><span style="font-family: 'Arial Black'; font-size: 10pt;">Lugo</span></st1:place></st1:city><span style="font-family: 'Arial Black'; font-size: 10pt;"> in Congress accused </span><st1:country -region="-region"><st1:place><span style="font-family: 'Arial Black'; font-size: 10pt;">Venezuela</span></st1:place></st1:country><span style="font-family: 'Arial Black'; font-size: 10pt;">’s ambassador of <a href="http://www.brazildispatch.com/2012/06/venezuela-attempted-foment-paraguayan-revolt.html">interfering
in the impeachment</a> process by inciting the Paraguayan military to revolt.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'Arial Black'; font-size: 10pt;">The
questions at this point include at least the following:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<ol start="1" style="margin-top: 0in;" type="1">
<li class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Arial Black'; font-size: 10pt;">Was </span><st1:city><st1:place><span style="font-family: 'Arial Black'; font-size: 10pt;">Lugo</span></st1:place></st1:city><span style="font-family: 'Arial Black'; font-size: 10pt;"> fired for trying to
redress historical elite theft of land from farmers?<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Arial Black'; font-size: 10pt;">Do Franco’s tiny
initial land reform achievements forecast a real land reform policy?<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Arial Black'; font-size: 10pt;">Why is the elite in
such a rush to give foreign companies access to Paraguayan resources and
put farmers under Monsanto’s control?<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Arial Black'; font-size: 10pt;">Is </span><st1:state><st1:place><span style="font-family: 'Arial Black'; font-size: 10pt;">Washington</span></st1:place></st1:state><span style="font-family: 'Arial Black'; font-size: 10pt;"> playing <strike>the </strike></span><st1:country -region="-region"><st1:place><span style="font-family: 'Arial Black'; font-size: 10pt;"><strike>Honduras</strike></span></st1:place></st1:country><span style="font-family: 'Arial Black'; font-size: 10pt;"><strike> game </strike> {updated text: old game} of sabotaging
democracy, and, if so, why?<o:p></o:p></span></li>
</ol>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="background-color: #eeeeee; font-family: Arial Black; font-size: x-small;">[Update: According to evidence provided by <a href="http://in%20honduras%2C%20secret%20post-coup%20dispatches%20make%20clear%20that%20washington%20did%20not%20sponsor%20the%20overthrow%20of%20president%20jos%C3%A9%20manuel%20zelaya%E2%80%94even%20though%20us%20officials%20later%20acquiesced%20to%20it.%20%E2%80%9Cthe%20actions%20taken%20to%20remove%20the%20president%20were%20patently%20illegal%2C%E2%80%9D%20us%20ambassador%20hugo%20llorens%20reported%20in%20a%20cable%20titled%20%E2%80%9Chonduran%20coup%20timeline.%E2%80%9D/">Wikileaks</a> (!), as quoted in The Nation, evidently there was no "Honduras game," at least in the sense that Washington did not provoke the coup, whatever its post-coup tolerance or support may have been. The reference to Honduras in Ques. 4 is thus my error and hence deleted.--WM]</span></blockquote>
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<st1:state><st1:place><span style="font-family: 'Arial Black'; font-size: 10pt;">Washington</span></st1:place></st1:state><span style="font-family: 'Arial Black'; font-size: 10pt;">’s Role<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<st1:country -region="-region"><st1:place><span style="font-family: 'Arial Black'; font-size: 10pt;">Paraguay</span></st1:place></st1:country><span style="font-family: 'Arial Black'; font-size: 10pt;">’s elimination of
traditional dictatorship in favor of a supporter of land reform made the
country a natural target for </span><st1:country -region="-region"><st1:place><span style="font-family: 'Arial Black'; font-size: 10pt;">U.S.</span></st1:place></st1:country><span style="font-family: 'Arial Black'; font-size: 10pt;"> imperialists, and </span><st1:country -region="-region"><st1:place><span style="font-family: 'Arial Black'; font-size: 10pt;">U.S.</span></st1:place></st1:country><span style="font-family: 'Arial Black'; font-size: 10pt;"> officials have reportedly
been concerned about </span><st1:city><st1:place><span style="font-family: 'Arial Black'; font-size: 10pt;">Lugo</span></st1:place></st1:city><span style="font-family: 'Arial Black'; font-size: 10pt;">’s independent attitude
toward </span><st1:country -region="-region"><st1:place><span style="font-family: 'Arial Black'; font-size: 10pt;">U.S.</span></st1:place></st1:country><span style="font-family: 'Arial Black'; font-size: 10pt;"> military involvement in his
country. [Nikolas Kozloff in Al-Jazeera </span><st1:date day="8" month="7" year="2012"><span style="font-family: 'Arial Black'; font-size: 10pt;">07/08/12</span></st1:date><span style="font-family: 'Arial Black'; font-size: 10pt;">.] Kozloff describes the
Bush Administration’s attitude toward </span><st1:country -region="-region"><st1:place><span style="font-family: 'Arial Black'; font-size: 10pt;">Paraguay</span></st1:place></st1:country><span style="font-family: 'Arial Black'; font-size: 10pt;"> in clearly imperialist
terms:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i><span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Arial Black'; font-size: 10pt;">the Bush White House was careful to employ the
stick, bluntly informing Asunción that if the authorities failed to host US
troops then </span></i><st1:state><st1:place><i><span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Arial Black'; font-size: 10pt;">Washington</span></i></st1:place></st1:state><i><span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Arial Black'; font-size: 10pt;"> would
cut off millions in aid.<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></span></i></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i><span style="font-family: 'Arial Black'; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="background-color: white;">In the event, such threats were probably
unnecessary: a right wing Colorado government proved all too willing to comply,
and, in May 2005, the Paraguayan Senate dutifully approved entry of US troops,
granting the forces total immunity from local jurisdiction.</span></span></i></blockquote>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Arial Black'; font-size: 10pt;">After </span><st1:city><st1:place><span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Arial Black'; font-size: 10pt;">Lugo</span></st1:place></st1:city><span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Arial Black'; font-size: 10pt;"> was elected, he publicly rejected a new </span><st1:country -region="-region"><st1:place><span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Arial Black'; font-size: 10pt;">US</span></st1:place></st1:country><span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Arial Black'; font-size: 10pt;"> proposal to send troops to </span><st1:country -region="-region"><st1:place><span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Arial Black'; font-size: 10pt;">Paraguay</span></st1:place></st1:country><span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Arial Black'; font-size: 10pt;">. The </span><st1:country -region="-region"><st1:place><span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Arial Black'; font-size: 10pt;">U.S.</span></st1:place></st1:country><span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Arial Black'; font-size: 10pt;"> ambassador responded that the military
deployment would have been for “humanitarian reasons,” without explaining why
armed troops were the appropriate method of providing “<a href="http://www.infodefensa.com/?noticia=lugo-rechaza-la-presencia-en-2010-de-500-militares-de-eeuu">medical”
aid</a>. Whatever the reasons, the fact is that Obama, not just Bush, has been
pushing hard to expand the </span><st1:country -region="-region"><st1:place><span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Arial Black'; font-size: 10pt;">U.S.</span></st1:place></st1:country><span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Arial Black'; font-size: 10pt;"> military presence in southern </span><st1:place><span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Arial Black'; font-size: 10pt;">South America</span></st1:place><span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Arial Black'; font-size: 10pt;">.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<st1:country -region="-region"><st1:place><u><span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Arial Black'; font-size: 10pt;">Argentina</span></u></st1:place></st1:country><u><span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Arial Black'; font-size: 10pt;">.</span></u><span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Arial Black'; font-size: 10pt;"> In the spring of 2012, the </span><st1:country -region="-region"><st1:place><span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Arial Black'; font-size: 10pt;">U.S.</span></st1:place></st1:country><span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Arial Black'; font-size: 10pt;"> inaugurated a <a href="http://lo-de-alla.org/2012/05/us-establishes-new-military-bases-in-south-america/">military
facility</a> in </span><st1:country -region="-region"><st1:place><span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Arial Black'; font-size: 10pt;">Argentina</span></st1:place></st1:country><span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Arial Black'; font-size: 10pt;">, according to a Southern Command spokesperson
(as quoted in Argenine media). As protests occurred in an </span><st1:country -region="-region"><st1:place><span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Arial Black'; font-size: 10pt;">Argentina</span></st1:place></st1:country><span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Arial Black'; font-size: 10pt;"> that still remembers with horror the vicious
U.S.-supported fascist dictatorship, the <a href="http://www.argentinaindependent.com/currentaffairs/humanitarian-relief-or-military-intelligence-the-us-base-in-chaco/">U.S.
Embassy denied it was in fact a military base</a>. According to Argentine
writer Walter Goobar:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="background-color: white;"><i><span style="font-family: 'Arial Black'; font-size: 10pt;">the
</span></i><st1:place><st1:placetype><i><span style="font-family: 'Arial Black'; font-size: 10pt;">province</span></i></st1:placetype><i><span style="font-family: 'Arial Black'; font-size: 10pt;">
of </span></i><st1:placename><i><span style="font-family: 'Arial Black'; font-size: 10pt;">El Chaco</span></i></st1:placename></st1:place><i><span style="font-family: 'Arial Black'; font-size: 10pt;"> is
of great importance for several reasons. “In this specific case, (a base) gives
the Southern Command control over a strategic area where the borders of </span></i><st1:country -region="-region"><st1:place><i><span style="font-family: 'Arial Black'; font-size: 10pt;">Argentina</span></i></st1:place></st1:country><i><span style="font-family: 'Arial Black'; font-size: 10pt;">, </span></i><st1:country -region="-region"><st1:place><i><span style="font-family: 'Arial Black'; font-size: 10pt;">Brazil</span></i></st1:place></st1:country><i><span style="font-family: 'Arial Black'; font-size: 10pt;">
and </span></i><st1:country -region="-region"><st1:place><i><span style="font-family: 'Arial Black'; font-size: 10pt;">Paraguay</span></i></st1:place></st1:country><i><span style="font-family: 'Arial Black'; font-size: 10pt;">
converge and where the famous Guarani Aquifer flows.” As it loses political
leadership in </span></i><st1:place><i><span style="font-family: 'Arial Black'; font-size: 10pt;">South America</span></i></st1:place><i><span style="font-family: 'Arial Black'; font-size: 10pt;">,
the </span></i><st1:country -region="-region"><st1:place><i><span style="font-family: 'Arial Black'; font-size: 10pt;">United States</span></i></st1:place></st1:country><i><span style="font-family: 'Arial Black'; font-size: 10pt;">
needs a territorial kind of control ; Goobar adds that “the installation of
bases in El Chaco and in </span></i><st1:country -region="-region"><st1:place><i><span style="font-family: 'Arial Black'; font-size: 10pt;">Chile</span></i></st1:place></st1:country><i><span style="font-family: 'Arial Black'; font-size: 10pt;">
will also allow for the recruitment of local forces in order to have them under
its command and on its payroll.”</span></i></span></blockquote>
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<st1:country -region="-region"><st1:place><u><span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Arial Black'; font-size: 10pt;">Chile</span></u></st1:place></st1:country><u><span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Arial Black'; font-size: 10pt;">.</span></u><span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Arial Black'; font-size: 10pt;"> Meanwhile, Southern Command has admitted that it has opened a new base
in </span><st1:country -region="-region"><st1:place><span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Arial Black'; font-size: 10pt;">Chile</span></st1:place></st1:country><span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Arial Black'; font-size: 10pt;">. With an unbelievable display of crassness, the base will be
used to <a href="http://www.argentinaindependent.com/currentaffairs/humanitarian-relief-or-military-intelligence-the-us-base-in-chaco/">train
the Chilean Army in urban warfare</a>, which can hardly help but be seen in </span><st1:country -region="-region"><st1:place><span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Arial Black'; font-size: 10pt;">Chile</span></st1:place></st1:country><span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Arial Black'; font-size: 10pt;"> as a direct threat of a return to the Pinochet days of fascist violence.
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<st1:country -region="-region"><st1:place><u><span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Arial Black'; font-size: 10pt;">Paraguay</span></u></st1:place></st1:country><u><span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Arial Black'; font-size: 10pt;">.</span></u><span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Arial Black'; font-size: 10pt;"> Precisely as </span><st1:city><st1:place><span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Arial Black'; font-size: 10pt;">Lugo</span></st1:place></st1:city><span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Arial Black'; font-size: 10pt;"> was being impeached, a group of </span><st1:country -region="-region"><st1:place><span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Arial Black'; font-size: 10pt;">U.S.</span></st1:place></st1:country><span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Arial Black'; font-size: 10pt;"> generals was reportedly in </span><st1:country -region="-region"><st1:place><span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Arial Black'; font-size: 10pt;">Paraguay</span></st1:place></st1:country><span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Arial Black'; font-size: 10pt;"> negotiating the establishment of a new base
there, with local conservatives proclaiming the “threat” to </span><st1:country -region="-region"><st1:place><span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Arial Black'; font-size: 10pt;">Paraguay</span></st1:place></st1:country><span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Arial Black'; font-size: 10pt;"> posed by </span><st1:country -region="-region"><st1:place><span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Arial Black'; font-size: 10pt;">Bolivia</span></st1:place></st1:country><span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Arial Black'; font-size: 10pt;">’s new “military arms race.” The speaker,
Paraguayan Congress head of the Commission on Defense Jose Lopez Chavez helped
organize the impeachment of </span><st1:city><st1:place><span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Arial Black'; font-size: 10pt;">Lugo</span></st1:place></st1:city><span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Arial Black'; font-size: 10pt;">, has ties to “former coup leader and retired general Lino
Oviedo,” and reportedly met with the </span><st1:country -region="-region"><st1:place><span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Arial Black'; font-size: 10pt;">U.S.</span></st1:place></st1:country><span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Arial Black'; font-size: 10pt;"> <a href="http://www.wsws.org/articles/2012/jul2012/pers-j03.shtml">delegation of
generals</a>. Coincidence is of course possible. Chavez was </span><st1:city><st1:place><span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Arial Black'; font-size: 10pt;">Oviedo</span></st1:place></st1:city><span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Arial Black'; font-size: 10pt;">’s lawyer representing him concerning charges
that he <a href="http://www.latinnews.com/component/k2/item/34689-paraguay/'s-oviedo-closer-to-freedom.html">masterminded
the murder</a> of an ex-vice president of </span><st1:country -region="-region"><st1:place><span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Arial Black'; font-size: 10pt;">Paraguay</span></st1:place></st1:country><span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Arial Black'; font-size: 10pt;"> in 1999 and member of </span><st1:city><st1:place><span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Arial Black'; font-size: 10pt;">Oviedo</span></st1:place></st1:city><span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Arial Black'; font-size: 10pt;">’s party Unace.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Arial Black'; font-size: 10pt;">A month after leading
the successful campaign to impeach Lugo, on July 29, Chavez introduced a motion
that carried in the Congress’s lower house to impeach the defense minister on
debatable charges, only three months after he had first been threatened with
impeachment charges for <a href="http://www.laht.com/article.asp?ArticleId=363746&CategoryId=12394">criticizing
the U.S. ambassador</a> by letter for “interfering in” the internal affairs of
Paraguay.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<st1:country -region="-region"><st1:place><span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Arial Black'; font-size: 10pt;">Paraguay</span></st1:place></st1:country><span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Arial Black'; font-size: 10pt;"> already hosts what is widely reported in the
media to be a </span><st1:country -region="-region"><st1:place><span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Arial Black'; font-size: 10pt;">U.S.</span></st1:place></st1:country><span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Arial Black'; font-size: 10pt;"> air force base, at Mariscal Estigarribia,
featuring an <a href="http://axisoflogic.com/artman/publish/Article_56597.shtml">impressive
air base (photo)</a> and bizarrely located in the same region as an enormous,
98,000-acre ranch <a href="http://www.godlikeproductions.com/forum1/message491249/pg1">reportedly
purchased by George W. Bush</a>. If </span><st1:state><st1:place><span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Arial Black'; font-size: 10pt;">Washington</span></st1:place></st1:state><span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Arial Black'; font-size: 10pt;"> is indeed as fearful of Hezbollah and Iranian
activities in the region as some militaristic conservatives claim, one can only
wonder why the Bush family would wish to live there. Stridently pro-Netanyahu
Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, for example, has ominously referred to “<a href="http://interamericansecuritywatch.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/The-Miami-Herald-01.png">nefarious
activities</a>” by </span><st1:country -region="-region"><st1:place><span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Arial Black'; font-size: 10pt;">Iran</span></st1:place></st1:country><span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Arial Black'; font-size: 10pt;"> in the region including (how dare they?) a
Spanish-language TV network.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Arial Black'; font-size: 10pt;">Meanwhile, </span><st1:country -region="-region"><st1:place><span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Arial Black'; font-size: 10pt;">Brazil</span></st1:place></st1:country><span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Arial Black'; font-size: 10pt;">, </span><st1:country -region="-region"><st1:place><span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Arial Black'; font-size: 10pt;">Argentina</span></st1:place></st1:country><span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Arial Black'; font-size: 10pt;">, and </span><st1:country -region="-region"><st1:place><span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Arial Black'; font-size: 10pt;">Uruguay</span></st1:place></st1:country><span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Arial Black'; font-size: 10pt;"> have banned </span><st1:country -region="-region"><st1:place><span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Arial Black'; font-size: 10pt;">Paraguay</span></st1:place></st1:country><span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Arial Black'; font-size: 10pt;"> from participating in their joint trade group
until it holds elections to legalize the post-impeachment regime, and have <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/06/30/us-mercosur-idUSBRE85S1JT20120630">admitted
Venezuela</a>, thus seeming to respond to </span><st1:state><st1:place><span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Arial Black'; font-size: 10pt;">Washington</span></st1:place></st1:state><span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Arial Black'; font-size: 10pt;">’s military initiative with an economic
countermove to bolster Latin independence.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Arial Black'; font-size: 10pt;">In sum, while the </span><st1:country -region="-region"><st1:place><span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Arial Black'; font-size: 10pt;">U.S.</span></st1:place></st1:country><span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Arial Black'; font-size: 10pt;"> superpower is clearly working hard to expand
military involvement in southern </span><st1:place><span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Arial Black'; font-size: 10pt;">South America</span></st1:place><span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Arial Black'; font-size: 10pt;">, as far as </span><st1:country -region="-region"><st1:place><span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Arial Black'; font-size: 10pt;">Paraguay</span></st1:place></st1:country><span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Arial Black'; font-size: 10pt;"> is concerned, two hypotheses have supportive
evidence:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<ol start="1" style="margin-top: 0in;" type="1">
<li class="MsoNormal"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Arial Black'; font-size: 10pt;">In an attempt to get </span><st1:country -region="-region"><st1:place><span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Arial Black'; font-size: 10pt;">U.S.</span></st1:place></st1:country><span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Arial Black'; font-size: 10pt;"> soldiers on the ground in </span><st1:country -region="-region"><st1:place><span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Arial Black'; font-size: 10pt;">Paraguay</span></st1:place></st1:country><span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Arial Black'; font-size: 10pt;"> to minimize Iranian or Hezbollah influence, </span><st1:state><st1:place><span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Arial Black'; font-size: 10pt;">Washington</span></st1:place></st1:state><span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Arial Black'; font-size: 10pt;"> is coordinating with factions in the Paraguayan
military and elitist political supporters of the military to return </span><st1:country -region="-region"><st1:place><span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Arial Black'; font-size: 10pt;">Paraguay</span></st1:place></st1:country><span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Arial Black'; font-size: 10pt;"> to pro-U.S. dictatorship.<o:p></o:p></span></li>
</ol>
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<ol start="2" style="margin-top: 0in;" type="1">
<li class="MsoNormal"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Arial Black'; font-size: 10pt;">While more than willing to use its excess soldiers
to provide humanitarian assistance, the U.S. is being drawn into domestic
Paraguanan politics by sly Paraguayan military officers and elitist
politicians who, eager to simultaneously prevent social reform and give
tiny Paraguay a larger regional military role, are playing up the
ever-present fear in Washington of independence-minded Latin populism.<o:p></o:p></span></li>
</ol>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Arial Black'; font-size: 10pt;">The </span><st1:country -region="-region"><st1:place><span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Arial Black'; font-size: 10pt;">U.S.</span></st1:place></st1:country><span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Arial Black'; font-size: 10pt;"> Military in </span><st1:place><span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Arial Black'; font-size: 10pt;">South America</span></st1:place><span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Arial Black'; font-size: 10pt;">:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiN_xUXQtz2xAVgelhrHWy4VaicgOBux6tNxHPYsTuFnn3XuhRKT64oQFPSLZcxeWe-r8V2qIm8KbTeT_73mfhZJvdeVlI5Hi_Bf3Bi0EBZJRpanf6cP9jTMvgOhs2WbNs6305T5XeGUBs/s1600/US+Defense+Spending+DOD.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="153" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiN_xUXQtz2xAVgelhrHWy4VaicgOBux6tNxHPYsTuFnn3XuhRKT64oQFPSLZcxeWe-r8V2qIm8KbTeT_73mfhZJvdeVlI5Hi_Bf3Bi0EBZJRpanf6cP9jTMvgOhs2WbNs6305T5XeGUBs/s320/US+Defense+Spending+DOD.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<st1:place><span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Arial Black'; font-size: 10pt;">Latin America</span></st1:place><span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Arial Black'; font-size: 10pt;">, it seems, will participate fully in <a href="http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=5564">U.S.
global military plans</a>. Even according to DoD, which no doubt omits many
off-budget items, U.S. military spending has been explodingrising exponentially both since the end of the Cold War and despite the U.S. retreat from Iraq.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuyrGkh-RglrHXg7kNSKWgcbL9SbJv5-3XMttKysxIUg-WV54GO_nqMPEPk_tB7Kch7HhCashQV1T4Qpem0QpW4QfgRywjf6POCFznJAB8aWWeQRxClXZl1fIouOvxYuxfQG2iCXMiSi0/s1600/us-spending-2001-2013.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuyrGkh-RglrHXg7kNSKWgcbL9SbJv5-3XMttKysxIUg-WV54GO_nqMPEPk_tB7Kch7HhCashQV1T4Qpem0QpW4QfgRywjf6POCFznJAB8aWWeQRxClXZl1fIouOvxYuxfQG2iCXMiSi0/s320/us-spending-2001-2013.png" width="302" /></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Arial Black'; font-size: 10pt;">Figures out through
2013 show a slight drop that still leave <a href="http://www.globalissues.org/print/article/75#USMilitarySpending">the
budget more than $100 M above its level in the aftermath of the U.S. invasion
of Iraq</a>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Arial Black'; font-size: x-small;">That budget evidently remains sufficient for a wave of expansion into one of the most peaceful regions on earth, despite the raging conflicts throughout the Muslim world, the rising power of China, and continuing recession back in the U.S.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Arial Black'; font-size: x-small;">___________________________</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Arial Black'; font-size: x-small;">Further Reading:</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial Black; font-size: x-small;"><a href="http://www.towardfreedom.com/home/americas/2898-a-coup-over-land-the-resource-war-behind-paraguays-crisis">Paraguayan Landowners' War on Farmers</a></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: 'Arial Black'; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div>William deB. Millshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07103937881679464836noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1414025411716568353.post-80112197079706498142012-07-29T14:08:00.000-04:002012-08-05T13:47:25.809-04:00The Meaning of Being 'Pro-Business'<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="background-color: #d0e0e3;"><b>Words, these days, lack straightforward meanings, but the meanings are nevertheless there, and you can understand the meanings if you try. Consider the loaded phrase "pro-business."</b></span><br />
<a name='more'></a></blockquote>
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When a politician claims to be "pro-business," it means "anti-worker." Do you work? If so, why would you vote for a politician who opposes your welfare? "Pro-business" means:<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li><span style="background-color: white;">supporting millionaire CEOs;</span></li>
<li><span style="background-color: white;">using government to slant the bargaining table to the advantage of corporations rather than employees;</span></li>
<li><span style="background-color: white;">defending corporate profits overseas at the expense of the welfare of the societies they may be either serving or pillaging (incidental details of business tactics and no concern of American voters).</span></li>
</ul>
<br />
<br />
It follows that if you design a government to support CEOs who become wealthy, you are unlikely to jail those CEOs when they defraud their workers or stockholders or customers. Most corporations, unlike the famously far-sighted Henry Ford, focus on hiring low-cost labor rather than stimulating the growth of a wealthy customer base, so the politicians they support financially will be those who break unions and give away the nation's resources. When the corporations decide that setting up shop overseas is more profitable than breaking unions at home, they do not do so in order to help the new host country develop its economy but to bled that economy dry for corporate profit; a pro-business regime in Washington will assist that pillage rather than helping a friendly country to become a well-to-do and stable democracy. If <a href="http://shadowedforest.blogspot.com/2012/07/superfluous-people.html">people are superfluous</a> in the eyes of corporate leaders, why not countries?<br />
<br />
American voters need to understand a couple fundamental things about all this. First, there is nothing "American" or "un-American" about any of these policy choices. After the 1980s S&L scandal, hundreds of corporate criminals were jailed in a pro-society policy (under Reagan!!). After the 2008 financial scandal, essentially no high-level corporate criminal suspects were even brought into court and given the opportunity to clear their names, in a pro-millionaire policy (under Obama).<br />
<br />
Second, a "pro-business" policy is a logical (if selfish) and coherent program with very real and serious consequences for every citizen...everywhere. A given corporation may choose to focus domestically or internationally. If popular demands for reining in particularly egregious corruption, say murdering too many foreigners or giving dirty drinking water or defective armored vehicles to "our boys in uniform," makes things a little hot for a corporation and it decides to change its name or move its headquarters overseas, that is simply a tactical decision. If a corporation wants domestic natural resources badly enough to buy an election, that is another tactical decision. Corporate patriotism is a contradiction in terms. Corporations are in no sense people; they do not have feelings. Corporations are organizations, and as we know them today, they are organizations designed to serve their leaders and only their leaders. Whatever else they do is only a momentary tactical step in pursuit of service to their corporate officers or in response to <i>force majeure</i> from government or an otherwise organized public. None of this should surprise anyone. Millionaires and wanna-be millionaires do not form corporations to help society or support democracy; they form corporations for wealth and power.<br />
<br />
It follows, then, that it is impossible to be "pro-business" and "pro-society" simultaneously. A government that supports the emergence of a healthy society will no doubt see the emergence of healthy businesses, but a government that is "pro-business" is necessarily "anti-society." If the emphasis is on helping millionaires, everyone else will be harmed. Being "pro-business" inevitably means slicing the pie so that CEOs get bigger pieces by making everyone else's pieces smaller. Being "pro-society" means slicing the pie evenly, which forces businesses to bake a bigger pie in order to get a bigger piece. Baking a bigger pie means developing the economy and creating a comfortable, secure society...which is a society composed of individuals who are good customers, thus producing profitable businesses over the long term, and that is why corrupt corporate leaders who defraud mortgage-holders or stock owners or employees or customers to become millionaires are, over the long term, the <a href="http://mwcnews.net/focus/analysis/20365-enemies-of-capitalism.html">enemies of capitalism</a>.<br />
<br />
Everybody obviously includes businessmen; they can and should get a bigger slice right along with all their neighbors--as long as they are compelled to design their businesses to serve society rather than pillage it--but never, ever first because <span style="color: blue;"><b>once a corporate leader gains the advantage of a bigger slice up front,</b> </span>he will inevitably let some crumbs trickle down...not to the people but to the politicians he wants to buy, and they will inevitably smile as they nibble. That leads to what I trust is an obvious reinforcing feedback loop <span style="color: blue;"><b>that undermines the welfare of the population and transforms democracy into rule by the elite with elections as gladiatorial games.</b></span>William deB. Millshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07103937881679464836noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1414025411716568353.post-62407712462920717202012-07-28T15:31:00.000-04:002012-08-05T13:47:39.096-04:00Superfluous People<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<b style="background-color: #a2c4c9;">Washington is run by and for rich businessmen. When politicians brag about being "pro-business," they really mean favoring rich executives, not the millions of workers who form the productive core of business. From this attitude flows an essentially predatory foreign policy; what we should all have learned from the Financial Crisis of 2008 and the reaction of Washington (under both major parties) to that crisis is that a business-friendly elite of the rich will, in the end, have the same attitude toward the people of U.S. society as it does toward the struggling poor everywhere else.</b><br />
<a name='more'></a></blockquote>
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In 1992 Noam Chomsky, perhaps the most brilliant living U.S. world affairs thinker, in <i>What Uncle Sam Really Wants</i>, offered the key to understanding the Financial Crisis of 2008. Back in 1992, Chomsky was thinking about U.S. foreign policy. Unfortunately for Americans, what Washington does to other societies paves the way for how the U.S. elite treats the American people. According to Chomsky:<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
According to US intelligence, the Soviet Union poured about 80 billion dollars into Eastern Europe in the 1970s. The situation has been quite different in Latin America. Between 1982 and 1987, about $150 billion were transferred <i>from</i> Latin America to the West. The <i>New York Times</i> cites estimates that "hidden transactions" (including drug money, illegal profits, etc.) might be in the $700 billion range....<br />
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In a global economy designed for the interests and needs of international corporations and finance, and sectors that serve them, most people become superfluous. They will be cast aside if the institutional structures of power and privilege function without popular challenge or control. [Noam Chomsky, <i>How the World Works</i> (Soft Skull Press, 2011), 54-55.]</blockquote>
Later, Chomsky explains the idea of superfluous people as follows:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Since they're superfluous for wealth production (meaning profit production), and since the basic ideology is that a person's human rights depend on what they can get for themselves in the market system, they have no human value. [154.] </blockquote>
Virtually no U.S. citizen cared that Washington viewed the people of Copper Country...ah, Chile, or Brazil or Argentina or Nicaragua as superfluous. If U.S. citizens thought about the citizens of Latin states at all, they certainly did not see their neighbors' lack of democracy or lack of economic security as in any way predictive of the future that U.S. citizens might soon face. Even when the rampage of Wall St. and mortgage firms through the U.S. population came to light and the Washington elite promptly covered the billionaires' losses by handing over trillions of tax dollars, virtually no one made the connection between the attitude of the U.S. ruling elite toward Third World societies and its attitude toward the 99% at home. Yet, when you think about it, how can a ruling class that puts a Pinochet in power or destroys a society battling to free itself from a banana company-backed thugocracy (Nicaragua, El Salvador, Guatemala) logically be expected to refrain from robbing the poor at home?<br />
<br />
Educated Americans (a small minority) in the 1990s knew that the global economy was "designed for the interests and needs of international corporations and finance." They also calculated that they would personally benefit forever from this situation. Then, the super-rich decided to rip off American homeowners and Washington responded by bailing out its business friends, ignoring whatever crimes they might have committed along the way, and leaving an odd ten million U.S. citizens unemployed. As the brave survivors of Chile, Argentina, and Nicaragua will understand all too well, these 10 million U.S. citizens have become the latest superfluous group. Perhaps a few more U.S. citizens are now educated in how the world works. The demonstrations by tens of thousands of Wisconsinites against Republican union-breakers last winter and the Occupy Movement offer supportive evidence. On the other hand, Republicans retained the governorship of Wisconsin and the real alternative to continued pro-business, anti-people rule by the rich--the Green Party--remains virtually invisible to the average voter.<br />
<br />
The Financial Crisis of 2008 and Washington's response to it show that an elite that will provoke wars, launch coups, overthrow democracies, and impoverish populations around the globe to enrich itself will, sooner or later, treat the U.S. population exactly the same. The lesson of 2008, one cannot but conclude, has yet to be learned by the 99%. But despair not! They will have further opportunities to open their eyes.<br />
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<br />William deB. Millshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07103937881679464836noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1414025411716568353.post-8532529032187417362012-07-21T15:01:00.003-04:002012-08-05T13:47:52.620-04:00Enemies of Capitalism<div class="MsoNormal">
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<b style="background-color: #a2c4c9;"><br />Does our capitalism system have enemies? You bet it does…but they are not who you think.</b><br />
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A new report from the <a href="http://www.bis.org/publ/work381.pdfhttp:/www.bis.org/publ/work381.pdf">Bank
of International Settlements</a>, which one might think of as the apex of the
global financial system, has slammed the system it coordinates in no uncertain terms. But the
system is very good at ignoring criticism, even when it criticizes itself. The
report asks, “like a person who
eats too much, does a bloated financial system become a drag on the rest of the
economy?” Then it answers its own question
with a resounding yes:</div>
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<i>First, as is the case
with many things in life, with finance you can have too much of a good thing.
That is, at low levels, a larger financial system goes hand in<br /> </i><i>hand with higher
productivity growth. But there comes a point </i><i>– one that many advanced economies
passed long ago </i><i>– where more banking and more
credit are associated with lower growth.<br />
<o:p></o:p></i><br />
<i>Our second result
comes from looking at the impact of growth in the financial system </i><i>–
measured as growth in either employment or value added </i><i>– on real productivity growth. Here
we find evidence that is unambiguous: faster growth in finance is bad for
aggregate real growth.<o:p></o:p></i></blockquote>
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The report notes that in theory “a more developed financial system is supposed to reduce
transaction costs, raising investment directly, as well as improving the <span style="background-color: white;">distribution of capital and risk across the economy.” But everyone has long since
learned in the five sorry years since the financial elite from <a href="http://www.thenation.com/article/153929/aig-bailout-scandal#">AIG</a> to <a href="http://dailybail.com/home/government-lawsuit-says-bank-of-america-mortgage-fraud-even.html/">Bank of America</a> to <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/12/05/countrywide-whistleblower-mortgage-fraud-systemic_n_1129637.html">Countrywide</a> ripped us off (in a striking analogy to the war profiteer scam simultaneously being played by the likes of <a href="http://www.democracynow.org/2011/7/26/exclusive_fired_army_whistleblower_receives_970k">Halliburton</a> and <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/17/world/17XE.html?_r=1">Blackwater</a>) that <span style="color: blue;">the U.S. financial system</span> has not “developed” in that direction over the last several decades.
Rather, it <span style="color: blue;">has “developed” toward multiplying transaction
costs, replacing investment with gambling, evading distribution of capital, and
focusing risk away from the elite.</span> Officials of Countrywide and their competitors throughout the mortgage and banking system enriched
themselves precisely by raising transaction costs – sell junk mortgages and transfer them elsewhere ASAP
while charging a few dollars more for each mortgage’s transaction fees, which they pocketed: the higher the
fees, the lower the responsibility. The objective of finance was shifted from
supporting corporate investment in the means of production (enrichment of the
business sector for the benefit of the whole society) to supporting financial
manipulation by the financial sector (enrichment of the financial sector for the
exclusive benefit of that financial sector). Meanwhile, capital was not
distributed to productive businesses but concentrated in the hands of CEOs
where it was squandered on idiotically lavish lifestyles. And <span style="color: blue;">the whole scam
was run with the exchange of a smirk and a wink between corrupt finance CEOs
and corrupt politicians, an unstated but clearly understood deal by which the
politicians would use taxpayer funds to cover all risk incurred by the CEOs.</span></span></div>
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All of this sorry story could easily be used as evidence
that the <st1:country -region="-region">U.S.</st1:country>
capitalist system needs to be replaced, but in fact this scam does not
represent the <st1:country -region="-region">U.S.</st1:country>
capitalist system. <span style="color: blue;">The <st1:country -region="-region">U.S.</st1:country>
capitalist system is a compromise between the piracy of the super-rich, whose
appetites otherwise give both them and everyone else financial
artereoschlerosis, and pure socialism, which risks both inefficiency and abuse
by micro-managing bureaucrats. </span>The scams of the S&L crisis and the 2008 recession represent the failure of a system under attack from the inside, by the very people who profited the most: the kings of capitalism.</div>
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<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<u><span style="background-color: silver;">Former financial regulator
William Black:</span></u><br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
<u><span style="background-color: silver;"><span style="background-color: silver; color: #444444; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">...our agency, in the
savings and loan crisis, made over 10,000 criminal referrals to the FBI.
That same agency, in this crisis, made zero criminal referrals. If you don’t
get people pointing the way and pointing to the top of the organization, you
don’t get effective prosecutions. So, in the peak of the savings and loan
crisis, we had a thousand FBI agents. This crisis has losses 70 times
larger than the savings and loan crisis. And the savings and loan crisis, when
it happened, was considered the largest financial scandal in </span><st1:country -region="-region" style="background-color: white;"><st1:place><span style="background-color: silver; color: #444444; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">U.S.</span></st1:place></st1:country><span style="background-color: silver; color: #444444; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;"> history. So we’re now 70 times
worse. And as recently as 2007, we had 120 FBI agents—one-eighth as
many FBI agents for a crisis 70 times larger. And they looked not at the
big folks, but almost exclusively at the little folks.</span><span style="background-color: #f0ede1; color: #444444; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;"> [William
Black on <a href="http://dangerousintersection.org/2011/10/20/william-black-turning-a-blind-eye-to-bank-fraud/">Dangerous
Intersection</a>.]</span></span></u></div>
<u><span style="background-color: silver;">
</span></u></blockquote>
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It is true that the scam has been run before, but the last
time it was run at anything like the 2008 scale with anything like this level of
political cover-up was 1929…and
then a reformer took office and put a stop to it. When the S&L industry
tried to repeat the scam in the 1980s, a major FBI initiative “resulted in over 1,000 felony
convictions” [William Black
interview on <a href="http://www.financialsense.com/contributors/2011/09/14/william-black/transcript">Financial
Sense</a>]. <span style="color: blue;">In both 1929 and the 1980's, the scam was seen in <st1:state>Washington</st1:state>
as breaking the rules, as an attack on the system, as an attack on <st1:country -region="-region">America</st1:country>.</span>
But the <st1:country -region="-region">U.S.</st1:country>
today is neither the <st1:place><st1:placetype>land</st1:placetype> of <st1:placename>FDR</st1:placename></st1:place>
nor the <st1:place><st1:placetype>land</st1:placetype> of <st1:placename>Reagan: it has become the battlefield of a <a href="http://shadowedforest.blogspot.com/p/class-war.html">class war</a> by the super-rich to overthrow what may be called our "social-capitalist" democratic system</st1:placename></st1:place>.
Today, the misbehavior of the super-rich and their political and regulatory
allies are assiduously ignored. Stuff happens (but not to those too big to have
stuff happen to them); no one is guilty; things come out of the blue. And <span style="color: #cc0000;">thus
ironically it is the captains of capital who have emerged the true enemies of capitalism and, far more importantly, of democracy.</span></div>
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Capitalism is not a goal but a tool, and a powerful tool it is. Wielded with skill, it is the sharpest economic sword ever invented, but the capitalist sword has two edges and can kill a fool who wields it as easily as enriching the society wise enough to control it. And the key to exercising that social control over the sharp economic sword of capitalism is transparent democratic regulation.<br />
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Stellar examples of this transparent democratic regulatory process have emerged over the last decade (e.g., efforts by <a href="http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/warning/interviews/born.html">Brooksley Born</a> at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission in the 1990s to regulate derivatives, reform efforts by <a href="http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/business-economy-financial-crisis/money-power-wall-street/sheila-bair-from-regulator-to-watchdog/">Sheila Bair</a> at FDIC, and the 2010 Congressional Oversight Panel investigation under <a href="http://www.charlierose.com/view/interview/10895">Elizabeth Warren</a>). Unfortunately for the future prospects of both U.S. economic stability and the health of U.S. democracy, such reform efforts have been steamrolled by the momentum of the insider attack on the system. Now, the insider's insider--the Bank of International Settlements--is joining the reformers, saying, “Hold on a minute! You are killing the goose that lays the golden eggs!” We’ll
see if anyone in <st1:state>Washington</st1:state> hears
their protest.<o:p></o:p></div>William deB. Millshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07103937881679464836noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1414025411716568353.post-56993045647915525112012-07-18T14:12:00.000-04:002012-08-05T13:48:06.335-04:00Designing a Peace Government<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="background-color: #a2c4c9;"><b>The U.S. and most other countries have political structures with a subtle and dangerous bias toward war, a design that counterintuitively encourages leaders to launch wars. Political systems so designed are irrational and urgently need reform.</b></span><br />
<a name='more'></a></blockquote>
<br />
The fog of war that clouds the state of the battle is nothing compared to the fog of causality that makes nearly impossible the distinction between a war launched for national security and a war launched for the personal profit of the leader who gave the order to attack. By the time a leader works up the nerve to risk all on war, even he likely cannot make the distinction. Recent wars are swamped with evidence that politicians and leaders of the broader military-industrial complex gained such massive personal profit from the wars that it begs credulity to imagine that the visions of that personal profit did not color their decision to support the decision to launch the war.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: blue;">Illogically, the political system is designed to encourage war for personal gain.</span> Leaders, during war, are almost guaranteed support, and later few will want to uncover old dirt by looking into the motivations of those who "defended" the nation, for even the most egregious aggression is always called "defense." Voters, sick with war fever, can seldom differentiate between supporting the war leader and being patriotic, even though the two positions have no necessary relationship whatsoever. Making the argument that "harming the war effort" would be the patriotic course if the war were being fought for the benefit only of some corrupt political faction seems logical enough in an academic setting but gets nowhere in an angry crowd. Saying you love your country so much you want to make it admit that the ultimate decision (to start a war) was not correct and should be reversed is simply too much for most humans to contemplate (call that arrogance, cutting off your nose to spite your face, or--if you want to be polite about it--cognitive dissonance).<br />
<br />
<span style="color: blue;">Leaders tend to benefit personally by committing the worst sin any leader can commit - launching an unnecessary war</span>, but the argument over whether the leader's motivation for starting a war was primarily to win reelection/line his pockets or primarily to protect society will never be decided in time to matter if it ever be decided at all. Therefore, logically, the political system should be designed to protect society from the disaster of an unnecessary war.<br />
<br />
For the U.S., a "war amendment" to the Constitution might be considered, with provisions designed, first, to clarify what legally constitutes a "state of war" (something that has become utterly meaningless with the advent of mercenaries beyond the reach of Congress and drones) and, second, to implement reforms that would impose personal costs on any leader launching a war, with those costs not so onerous that a patriotic leader would not accept them as the price of doing his duty but sufficiently onerous so as to persuade most leaders not to start wars for career advancement.<br />
<br />
To clarify the "state of war," the following might be useful:<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li><span style="background-color: white;">No military forces may be maintained under the direct command of the President without the oversight of Congress;</span></li>
<li><span style="background-color: white;">When forces representing the U.S. employ force overseas, whether uniformed or <a href="http://www.democracynow.org/2007/10/3/mr_prince_goes_to_washington_blackwater">mercenary</a>, "war" exists;</span></li>
<li><span style="background-color: white;">"War" is illegal without the express permission of Congress, with the automatic penalty that the President be immediately removed from power.</span></li>
</ul>
The following provisions might help ambitious or greedy leaders to think twice before launching a war:<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li><span style="background-color: white;">Within 24 hours of launching a war, the President and Vice President shall both resign, with no right to hold elective office for five years and no right to work ever in their lifetimes for any firm that produces weapons or holds government contracts related to the war effort or engages in the financing of the war effort;</span></li>
<li><span style="background-color: white;">Members of Congress who vote for war shall be ineligible for reelection when their term ends and similarly prohibited from working for the military-industrial complex;</span></li>
<li><span style="background-color: white;">Presidents cannot be reelected without leaving power for one term;</span></li>
<li><span style="background-color: white;">Members of Congress can only be reelected twice;</span></li>
<li><span style="background-color: white;">CEOs of corporations that sell weapons or provide contractors and supplies for the war effort shall have their salaries cut to minimum wage levels for the duration of the war.</span></li>
</ul>
<div>
Finally, the electoral system must be reformed to prevent buying elections. The easiest step in this direction is to provide free TV time for campaigns. The real free speech issue in modern society is not the corrupt idea that dollars equal votes but the defense of the "communications commons:" TV stations should be required, as a condition of using the common airwaves, to offer free time to all candidates and prevented from offering any paid time. However society decides to allocate time to candidates on TV, money should have nothing to do with it.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
The message of these reforms should be that holding office is a privilege and <span style="color: blue;">launching a war constitutes the failure of the leader to carry out his responsibilities to society</span>: war may be necessary, but the mere fact that it became necessary demonstrates that the leader has failed to prevent the situation from becoming so dire. Firemen should not be placed in the tempting position of being invited to start fires so they can be rewarded for putting them out. Surely, these reforms would not, by themselves, make war obsolete, but they might remove some of the personal incentive, so blatantly obvious in recent years, to commit the nation to a course of aggression.William deB. Millshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07103937881679464836noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1414025411716568353.post-69391638130597704712012-07-17T14:26:00.001-04:002012-08-08T16:11:06.585-04:00Circumstances Cause Behavior<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="background-color: #a2c4c9;"><b>To figure out what makes a foreign regime tick, take a look at the circumstances in which it exists.</b></span><br />
<a name='more'></a></blockquote>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Imagine a fat and happy fundamentalist religious plutocracy,
i.e., a regime divided between rich guys and religious extremists dreaming
about the 8<sup>th</sup> century, sitting next to an ostracized and angry
regime with its own (different) fundamentalist faction allied with a military
that sees itself quite correctly as on the rise, intensely resentful about the
discrimination it faces from the world’s
powers. Now imagine that the fat and happy plutocracy can see that it is losing
its grip, perched precariously at the top of a restive population in an
unstable region, fighting a Talleyrand rear-guard campaign against the course
of history. Further imagine that the angry emerging power has just won two wars
in a row – the first through eight years of
bloody trench warfare and the second simply by sitting back and <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/14/iraq-iran-ties_n_1664728.html">letting
its main enemy do the fighting</a> on its behalf!</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
What kind of behavior might one expect from the two sides? First,
<a href="http://www.cablegatesearch.net/cable.php?id=09RIYADH447">the
plutocrats will warn endlessly</a> about the “threat” posed by the emerging power, so
their words should be taken with a large grain of salt. Second, the plutocrats
will become increasingly <a href="http://www.progressive.org/ap031611.html">erratic
in their desperation to build a political dike against the flow of history</a>,
so they will make increasingly dangerous allies. Third, the marginalized
militants will be troublemakers to the degree that they continue to suffer from
discrimination, because they have no choice (except return to subservience), because they have been getting away with it, and because when you are the only neighbor not invited to the party you naturally resent the noise.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
So arguments about who is a “good
guy” and who is a “bad guy” miss the point entirely. <span style="color: blue;">The behavior of the two sides is
entirely predictable on the basis of their respective situations.</span> If you want
them to change their behavior, you need only <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/jan/27/iraq-sanctions-iran-ineffective">alter their circumstances</a>. Telling a marginalized troublemaker that he will be punished until he proves he will play by the very rules that are being used to punish him is not a logical approach to making him a model citizen.</div>William deB. Millshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07103937881679464836noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1414025411716568353.post-77933035557451448402012-07-16T19:28:00.003-04:002012-08-08T16:11:34.900-04:00Whadda Ya Mean, a War on Islam?<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="background-color: #a2c4c9; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/jul/15/iraq-war-briton-us-military">Emma Sky</a> is talking, and every American interested in the position of the U.S. in the world should be listening very carefully.</b></span><br />
<a name='more'></a></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Former military governor of Kirkuk Province under the U.S. conquerors, Emma Sky, now opening up in public, recently noted about the U.S. post-9/11 policy toward the Muslim world:</span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 14.399999618530273px;"><i>It has been seen by many Muslims as a war on Islam. Now, we are saying, 'We've pulled out of Iraq, we are pulling out of Afghanistan, and it's all over now.' It may be over for the politicians. But it is not over for the Muslim world</i>. </span></blockquote>
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 14.399999618530273px;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 14.399999618530273px;">Just because both parties have trivialized collateral Muslim damage, that does not mean Washington has been fighting a war on Islam, does it?</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 14.399999618530273px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 14.399999618530273px;">Just because the decade (so far, no end in sight) of war in Muslim states by the U.S. has tended to classify all Muslims who disagree with Washington's policy as "enemies" does not make it a "war on Islam," does it?</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 14.399999618530273px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 14.399999618530273px;">Just because a wave of anti-Muslim paranoia has been sweeping those portions of U.S. society most supportive of the military effort that responded to the tiny al Qua'ida gang, as though it had been a superpower, does not make it a war on Islam, does it?</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 14.399999618530273px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 14.399999618530273px;">Just because both parties kneel low before the most fundamentalist and aggressive faction in Israel does not make it a war on Islam, does it?</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 14.399999618530273px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 14.399999618530273px;">Just because the U.S. effort began in reaction to a marginalized terrorist gang and instantly shifted to an attack on a nasty secular dictator and then smoothly transformed into a cyber?/terrorist?/economic/diplomatic war against a very cautious and rather non-aggressive Shi'i power trying to rise to its natural potential does not make Washington's policy a war on Islam, does it?</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 14.399999618530273px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 14.399999618530273px;">Just because Washington, even under what claims to be a different political party, still has not attempted to hold former officials accountable for the last disastrous decade, does not mean that Washington is fighting a war against...well, surely not "Muslims"...after all we're over the Crusades...but against...uppity Muslims, does it?</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 14.399999618530273px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 14.399999618530273px;">I mean really, where did she (I mean, the Muslims) ever get this idea???</span></span>William deB. Millshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07103937881679464836noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1414025411716568353.post-61095701188171921712012-07-10T16:12:00.000-04:002012-08-08T16:14:42.467-04:00Surrender<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<b style="background-color: #a2c4c9;">The <a href="http://www.rawstory.com/news/2007/Iran_The_Road_to_Confrontation_0123.html">famous letter</a> sent by Cheney and others to the White
House late in Clinton’s presidency
advocating a global “take charge” foreign policy made quite clear
the kind of America the neo-cons wanted and for a decade they got it: violence
amazingly profitable for a handful of CEOs, vast losses of U.S. blood and
treasure, and a string of Muslim societies trashed and radicalized. What kind
of <st1:country -region="-region">America</st1:country>
equivocating Obama wants still remains a mystery, and his <st1:country -region="-region">Iran</st1:country>
policy does little to solve that mystery.</b><br />
<a name='more'></a></blockquote>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
If Obama wants to shine an American beacon of hope to all
aspiring to peace and democracy, his careful avoidance of a positive-sum
outcome in relations with <st1:country -region="-region">Iran</st1:country>
is likely to be the death knell of such aspirations. Whether Iran is even half
as significant as Washington lackeys of the Israeli right wing make it out to
be, the wild-eyed rhetoric of this faction and its hypnotic hold over
Washington have made (relatively) little Iran the symbol of defiance to the American
superpower. Bloodying <st1:country -region="-region">Iran</st1:country>’s nose has become the measure of
manhood on the <st1:place>Potomac</st1:place>. These are not the men who
defeated <st1:country -region="-region">Japan</st1:country>
and met the victorious Soviets in <st1:state>Berlin</st1:state>
or remotely the men who succeeded in sailing between the Scylla of Soviet
expansion and the Charybdis of World War <st1:stockticker>III</st1:stockticker>.
Men on the <st1:place>Potomac</st1:place> stand short in the 21<sup>st</sup>
century.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Nevertheless, the fact is that Tel Aviv and Washington have
handed <st1:city>Tehran</st1:city> an image it did not
have the remotest chance of obtaining by itself: any country capable of
inspiring such fear on the part of the world’s
only superpower and the <st1:place>Mideast</st1:place> region’s nuclear monopolist must be a
giant! If little (by all standard measures of state power) <st1:country -region="-region">Iran</st1:country>
can defy the <st1:country -region="-region">U.S.</st1:country>,
then who will ever again be impressed by its image?</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
By essentially doing nothing, just following a classic “don’t
ask, don’t tell” policy of nuclear ambiguity, little <st1:country -region="-region">Iran</st1:country>
has tied the world’s last superpower
in knots. If, in the end, the humiliated superpower destroys <st1:country -region="-region">Iran</st1:country>,
it will prove exactly nothing…except
that the superpower cannot even control itself, much less its pushy allies or
little, irritating regimes that demand recognition. Giants gain no credit for
smashing mosquitoes.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Conversely, if Obama wants to turn the neo-con aberration
into <st1:country -region="-region">America</st1:country>’s course for the future, creating
a permanent violence-addicted Imperial America, his <st1:country -region="-region">Iran</st1:country>
policy seems likely to puncture that balloon as well. If it was the “greatest generation” that won WWII and laid the
foundation via self-restraint for a half century of peace, historians will see
those who ran the U.S. during the first 15 years of the 21<sup>st</sup> century
as the “dwarf generation:” a pathetic, unimaginative bunch
of toadies for out-of-control capitalist greed destroying everything Americans
have labored for two centuries to construct. If this generation manages to turn
<st1:country -region="-region">Iran</st1:country> into a
large <st1:country -region="-region">Iraq</st1:country> or <st1:country -region="-region">Somalia</st1:country>
or <st1:city>Palestine</st1:city> or <st1:country -region="-region">Yemen</st1:country>
or <st1:country -region="-region">Afghanistan</st1:country>,
exactly who will sigh with admiration? Will Turks and Indians and Brazilians
strive to emulate <st1:country -region="-region">America</st1:country>?
Will the politicians of <st1:city>Moscow</st1:city> and <st1:city>Beijing</st1:city>
tremble with fear at a global superpower that finally, after 30 years, succeeds
in punishing <st1:country -region="-region">Iran</st1:country>
and once again forcing it into submission? On the other hand, if <st1:state>Washington</st1:state>
fails to curb <st1:city>Tehran</st1:city>’s penchant for independence even
after all this sturm und drang, then what? The whole world will be laughing.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
To be fair, <st1:state>Washington</st1:state>
policymakers may well be putting great effort into seeking a solution that
avoids both Iranian militarization of its nuclear technology and open war.
Maybe. But even if so, effort by itself does not suffice at their pay grade.
Policymakers, to deserve the power they wield, must also have vision, and none
is detectable on the <st1:place>Potomac</st1:place> today.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Precisely, policymakers need a vision of the kind of world
they hope to create. <st1:country -region="-region">Iran</st1:country>
is not Hitler or the <st1:country -region="-region">USSR</st1:country>
or Genghis Khan or the 7<sup>th</sup> century Arab expansion or any of the
greats of yore (Alexander, Cyrus). <st1:country -region="-region">Iran</st1:country>
is a political mirage, a puffed up image in the eye of the beholder of a much
smaller and more distant reality. <st1:country -region="-region">Iran</st1:country>
does pose a small potential military challenge, but a host of options are
available to <st1:state>Washington</st1:state> were <st1:state>Washington</st1:state>
to decide that persuading <st1:country -region="-region">Iran</st1:country>
to forego nukes was really the objective. More important, <st1:country -region="-region">Iran</st1:country>
poses a political challenge, but so do <st1:country -region="-region">Russia</st1:country>,
<st1:country -region="-region">China</st1:country>, <st1:country -region="-region">Pakistan</st1:country>,
<st1:country -region="-region">Israel</st1:country>, and
many others. Yet <st1:state>Washington</st1:state> has
chosen to replace the “10-foot-tall” Soviets with Ahmadinejad as the “main enemy.” Like a man crawling across the desert desperate for
water, <st1:state>Washington</st1:state> politicians are
desperate for a “mission,” which they sadly interpret to
mean an “enemy” and absurdly identify as the Islamic Republic. A far
better mission for a superpower would be the positive articulation of the kind
of world one wants to create. Were that done, it would immediately be apparent
that the road to glory does not go through <st1:city>Tehran</st1:city>.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
If Ahmadinejad really wants to tie <st1:state>Washington</st1:state>
in knots, he should snap his fingers and move <st1:country -region="-region">Iran</st1:country>
to a different dimension. Without poor <st1:country -region="-region">Iran</st1:country>
to hate, what would all the little men on the <st1:place>Potomac</st1:place>
do? Not one of them would have a clue what the goal should be, and no two of
them would agree on anything whatsoever, not even on what to argue about first.
The last figment of unity gone, they would be running in circles, tripping all
over each other, until each and every one of them was stuck in the mud that lines
the Potomac’s banks. Then
everyone on earth would see that there really was no superpower at all, and
Ahmadinejad could safely come back to our dimension again. </div>William deB. Millshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07103937881679464836noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1414025411716568353.post-47758385448594050802012-07-09T10:11:00.001-04:002012-08-08T16:15:26.983-04:00Surrender<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><st1:state>Washington</st1:state> has
deployed even more military forces against <st1:country -region="-region">Iran</st1:country>
and intensified its economic war against <st1:country -region="-region">Iran</st1:country>,
<st1:country -region="-region">Iran</st1:country>’s Revolutionary Guard generals
have launched a rhetorical broadside against <st1:state>Washington</st1:state>,
and <st1:country -region="-region">Israel</st1:country> has
again threatened to commit aggression against <st1:country -region="-region">Iran</st1:country>.</span></b><br />
<a name='more'></a></blockquote>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><st1:country -region="-region">Iran</st1:country>’s egregious insult of pointing out
the obvious—that it can
threaten the massive array of <st1:country -region="-region">U.S.</st1:country>
military bases that have come to surround it since the neo-con push for an
Imperial America—is a starving fox
poking around a grizzly’s catch. The
ability of Iran to respond to attack by hitting the bases comes as no surprise
and while its articulation of the threat may play well in Tehran, it is
otherwise is likely only to empower the Israeli-American war party, the grizzly
pretending that the fox is threatening its existence by trying to steal scraps.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The egregious nature of <st1:state>Washington</st1:state>’s behavior—ratcheting up both military and economic pressure
against a <st1:city>Tehran</st1:city> that is doing
nothing new—is of a totally
different order. Imperial <st1:country -region="-region">America</st1:country>
under Democrats is proving hard to distinguish from Imperial America under
neo-cons: be sure you have a new war ready (<st1:country -region="-region">Iran</st1:country>
for both Obama and Bush) before you end the old war you are currently fighting
(<st1:country -region="-region">Afghanistan</st1:country>
for Obama; <st1:country -region="-region">Iraq</st1:country>
for Bush). Keep tensions at a fever pitch. Distract voters from the mess at
home.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">One can only wonder at the idea of distracting voters. Does
a man whose bank has cheated him out of his home really not care as long as he
can cheer U.S./Israeli aggression against yet another Muslim society? Not only
does such a strategy on Obama’s
part make the assumption that the American voter is extremely ignorant, it
plays right into the hands of the Republicans and the even more dangerous
expansionist faction in Israel –
the greater the tensions, the easier it is to argue that “nothing less than the immediate
destruction of XXX can save the world!”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div style="background: white; line-height: 18.0pt; margin-bottom: 11.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The
<a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/oil-sanctions-against-iran-will-not-be-enough/2012/07/08/gJQAjW8pWW_story.html">Washington
Post</a> betrayed the lack of sincerity in <st1:state><st1:place>Washington</st1:place></st1:state>’s position, advocating that <span class="apple-converted-space"> “</span>Like any good pugilist, <st1:state><st1:place>Washington</st1:place></st1:state> should follow the heavy
blow of oil sanctions with further unrelenting pressure.” The author insults
the intelligence of his readers by his childish comparison of a boxing match to
U.S.-Iranian relations. Perhaps the analogy is indeed apt in describing the bias
of <st1:state><st1:place>Washington</st1:place></st1:state> decision-makers, however, for they do indeed
appear to sum up the relationship in their minds as a battle to the death. For
their own self-respect, as long as they refuse to offer <st1:country -region="-region"><st1:place>Iran</st1:place></st1:country> an honorable way out
(security, participation in world affairs as an equal, and independence), they
must insist that the relationship is a zero-sum battle until one side scores a
knock-out.</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><st1:country -region="-region">Iran</st1:country>,
meanwhile, is trapped: <st1:state>Washington</st1:state>
will not offer a deal because, egged on by a sneering <st1:place><st1:city>Netanyahu</st1:city>,
<st1:state>Washington</st1:state></st1:place> does not want a “deal;” <st1:state>Washington</st1:state>
wants <st1:country -region="-region">Iran</st1:country> to
surrender. Perhaps the New York Times finds it appropriate to interpret rising
U.S. military pressure as primarily <a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/48054863">designed to persuade Israel not to
start a war</a>, but the timing immediately following yet another round of
talks in which Washington apparently chose again not to offer Iran a balanced,
compromise deal suggests that the main message Iran should hear—and certainly the message it will
hear—is a demand that it play by
Washington rules. The talks recently concluded in <st1:city>Istanbul</st1:city>
were technical-level talks; following them with renewed military threats makes
little sense if <st1:state>Washington</st1:state>
genuinely wants a solution. The purpose of technical-level talks is to pave the
way for a political solution, not achieve it; that is the job of senior
policy-makers. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><st1:state>Washington</st1:state>’s behavior suggests a more ominous
interpretation: <span style="color: blue;"><st1:country -region="-region">Iran</st1:country>
must confirm without qualification that <st1:country -region="-region">Israel</st1:country>
is and will forever remain Master of the Mideast Universe.</span> Recognition of Israel’s right to a regional nuclear
monopoly backed up by its already overwhelming conventional military
superiority resulting from the open arms pipeline from the U.S. and in the
context of its blank check authorization to tell other countries what arms they
are allowed to possess and to attack any who break its rules means that no
country in the region but Israel shall be permitted independence.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But independence, for <st1:country -region="-region">Iran</st1:country>,
is the whole ball game. <st1:country -region="-region">Iran</st1:country>
has been struggling mightily for a century to reemerge from its recent
obscurity and define for itself in its own terms a path forward. Nukes are not <st1:city>Tehran</st1:city>’s goal; its goal is international
respect as a player whose voice needs to be listened to. <st1:city>Tehran</st1:city>
plays its nuclear card because that is the only way to get <st1:state>Washington</st1:state>’s attention. If <st1:country -region="-region">Iran</st1:country>
ends up building the bomb, Tel Aviv and Washington will be to blame for
teaching it the lesson that the big boys sneer at everyone who lacks the bomb. <st1:country -region="-region">Iran</st1:country>’s immediate enemy, Saddam’s <st1:country -region="-region">Iraq</st1:country>,
has vanished only to be replaced by a new string of <st1:country -region="-region">U.S.</st1:country>
bases and an armada of <st1:country -region="-region">U.S.</st1:country>
ships that serve no purpose except to threaten it with nuclear annihilation.
Meanwhile, <st1:country -region="-region">Israel</st1:country>
continues to swallow those pieces of <st1:city>Palestine</st1:city>
it did not digest in 1949 and has now defined <st1:country -region="-region">Iran</st1:country>
as its main enemy. How can <st1:city>Tehran</st1:city>
ensure Iranian national security except by playing the nuclear card? <st1:state>Washington</st1:state>
is not offering a rational deal--a trade of terminating its economic war
against <st1:country -region="-region">Iran</st1:country> in
return for nuclear transparency—because
nuclear transparency is not <st1:state>Washington</st1:state>’s goal. <span style="color: blue;"><st1:state>Washington</st1:state>’s goal is formal Iranian
acceptance of permanent Number 2 status in the region and that indeed
constitutes, for <st1:country -region="-region">Iran</st1:country>,
a surrender.</span></span></div>
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<br /></div>William deB. Millshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07103937881679464836noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1414025411716568353.post-25940356775154511282012-07-05T17:14:00.004-04:002012-08-08T16:14:17.011-04:00Three Stooges Diplomacy<br />
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<b style="background-color: #a2c4c9;"><st1:state>Washington</st1:state> has
deployed even more military forces against <st1:country -region="-region">Iran</st1:country>
and intensified its economic war against <st1:country -region="-region">Iran</st1:country>,
<st1:country -region="-region">Iran</st1:country>’s Revolutionary Guard generals
have launched a rhetorical broadside against <st1:state>Washington</st1:state>,
and <st1:country -region="-region">Israel</st1:country> has
again threatened to commit aggression against <st1:country -region="-region">Iran</st1:country>.</b><o:p><b style="background-color: #a2c4c9;"> </b></o:p><br />
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Iran’s egregious insult
of pointing out the obvious—that
it can threaten the massive array of U.S. military bases that have come to
surround it since the neo-con push for an Imperial America—sounds like the last gasp of a
very insecure country under a very real threat. The ability of Iran to respond
to attack by hitting the bases comes as no surprise and while its articulation
of the threat may play well in Tehran, it is otherwise is likely only to
empower the Israeli-American war party.</div>
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The egregious nature of <st1:state>Washington</st1:state>’s behavior—ratcheting up both military and economic pressure
against a <st1:city>Tehran</st1:city> that is doing
nothing new—is of a totally
different order. Imperial <st1:country -region="-region">America</st1:country>
under Democrats is proving hard to distinguish from Imperial America under
neo-cons: be sure you have a new war ready (<st1:country -region="-region">Iran</st1:country>
for both Obama and Bush) before you end the old war you are currently fighting
(<st1:country -region="-region">Afghanistan</st1:country>
for Obama; <st1:country -region="-region">Iraq</st1:country>
for Bush). Keep tensions at a fever pitch. Distract voters from the mess at
home.</div>
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One can only wonder at the idea of distracting voters. Does
a man whose bank has cheated him out of his home really not care as long as he
can cheer U.S./Israeli aggression against yet another Muslim society? Not only
does such a strategy on Washington’s
part make the assumption that the American voter is extremely ignorant, it
plays right into the hands of the Republicans and the even more dangerous
expansionist faction in Israel –
the greater the tensions, the easier it is to argue that “nothing less than the immediate
destruction of XXX can save the world!”</div>
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<st1:country -region="-region">Iran</st1:country>,
meanwhile, is trapped: <st1:state>Washington</st1:state>
will not offer a deal because, egged on by a sneering <st1:place><st1:city>Netanyahu</st1:city>,
<st1:state>Washington</st1:state></st1:place> does not want a “deal;” <st1:state>Washington</st1:state>
wants <st1:country -region="-region">Iran</st1:country> to
surrender. Perhaps the New York Times finds it appropriate to interpret rising U.S.
military pressure as primarily <a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/48054863">designed
to persuade Israel not to start a war</a>, but the timing immediately following
yet another round of talks in which Washington apparently chose again not to
offer Iran a balanced, compromise deal suggests that the main message Iran
should hear—and certainly the
message it will hear—is a demand that it
play by Washington rules. The talks concluded this week in <st1:city>Istanbul</st1:city>
were technical-level talks; following them with renewed military threats makes
little sense if <st1:state>Washington</st1:state>
genuinely wants a solution. <st1:state>Washington</st1:state>’s behavior suggests a more ominous
interpretation: <st1:country -region="-region">Iran</st1:country>
must confirm without qualification that <st1:country -region="-region">Israel</st1:country>
is and will forever remain Nuclear Master of the Mideast Universe. Recognition
of <st1:country -region="-region">Israel</st1:country>’s right to a regional nuclear
monopoly backed up by its already overwhelming conventional military
superiority and its blank check authorization to tell other countries what arms
they are allowed to possess and to attack any who break its rules means that no
country in the region but <st1:country -region="-region">Israel</st1:country>
shall be permitted independence.</div>
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But independence, for <st1:country -region="-region">Iran</st1:country>,
is the whole ball game. <st1:country -region="-region">Iran</st1:country>
has been struggling mightily for a century to reemerge from its recent
obscurity and define for itself in its own terms a path forward. Its immediate
enemy, Saddam’s <st1:country -region="-region">Iraq</st1:country>,
has vanished only to be replaced by a new string of <st1:country -region="-region">U.S.</st1:country>
bases and an armada of <st1:country -region="-region">U.S.</st1:country>
ships that serve no purpose except to threaten it with nuclear annihilation.
Meanwhile, <st1:country -region="-region">Israel</st1:country>
continues to swallow those pieces of <st1:city>Palestine</st1:city>
it did not digest in 1949, and has now defined <st1:country -region="-region">Iran</st1:country>
as its main enemy. <st1:state>Washington</st1:state> is
not offering a rational deal--a trade of terminating its economic war against <st1:country -region="-region">Iran</st1:country>
in return for nuclear transparency—because
nuclear transparency is not <st1:state>Washington</st1:state>’s goal. <st1:state>Washington</st1:state>’s goal is formal Iranian
acceptance of permanent Number 2 status in the region and that indeed
constitutes, for <st1:country -region="-region">Iran</st1:country>,
a surrender.</div>
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<o:p>U.S. voters may be somewhat distracted, but meanwhile the Three Stooges pie-throwing contest is generating dangerous momentum. How is Obama to extract himself after the election from a situation in which he has acted as though the world were in a crisis as the result of Iran's insistence on being held to the same standards as everyone else? Will he have the guts to tangle directly with a Netanyahu facing humiliation? Will he have the creativity to defeat Netanyahu? If Obama continues to allow tensions with Iran to build and ends up giving Iran what it quite reasonably demands (to be allowed to play by the same nuclear rules as others) only to be forced to sacrifice U.S. national interests to please Netanyahu, then the end result (whatever happens to Iran) will constitute an historic humiliation of the U.S. Some may think Americans will deserve it, but a triumphant semi-fascist and militant Israel humiliating the U.S. will make the world a very unpleasant place for everyone.</o:p></div>William deB. Millshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07103937881679464836noreply@blogger.com0